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Joel Sherman reports that he got the feeling from Hal at the Texeira press conference that the Yankees are done with big contracts this offseason. The last possible deal is Pettitte for 1 year at 10 million. Peter Abraham makes a good point on his blog that the Yankees need Pettitte. They have invested a lot of money into 2009 and they are a bad elbow from Burnett and limited innings from Joba away from having to rely on some bad pitching. I think they should lock up Pettitte. Give him a couple more million if he wants it. They need a workhorse in the back end of their rotation. With limited innings from Joba and the potential for injuries, Hughes will get his work in.

The Yankees will have to get blown away before they deal Swisher or any of the other outfielders. Similar to pitching, injuries happen and the team wants competition in spring training. Competition always brings out the best in players. Especially when they will be free agents like Matsui and Damon. I am expecting big years from both in left and DH.

The Yankees signed Angel Berroa as a potential utility guy. He was the rookie of the year for the Royals a few years back and hasn’t been heard of since. He has mainly been a SS so I am not sure how much other infield positions he can play.

The Yankees also signed 35 year old Jason Johnson. He will compete for the 5th spot in the rotation. Not sure why they signed this guy. Maybe they know something we don’t. He missed all of 2007 and pitched very little in the bigs last year and when he has pitched, he has not been very good. I rather see Igawa out there than this guy. Again, maybe he has something left.

The Yankees also released hyper Shelley Duncan. He had his 2 seconds of fame but baseball is an incredibly tough sport to be good at and Duncan never really did much. Good chance the Cardinals will sign him. Best of luck to him.

Lots of minor moves today. Check out mlbtraderumors.com for a lot of up to date rumors and deals.

Should Pettitte be brought back for more than 1 year, 10 million?

My baseball people are telling me things may start heating up on the free agent market. Spring training is a little over a month away and now that the holidays are in the rear view mirror and the new year is here, free agents will be getting antsy.

Pat Burrell signed a 2 year, 16 million deal with the Rays. Very nice signing by the small market team. He can DH for them and play a little outfield. He hits lefties well and the team last year had trouble against lefties. He should hit .275, 25 HRS and 80 RBI’s.

The Cubbies are also close to signing Milton Bradley to a 3 year, 30 million deal. Not sure this is a very good signing. There is no DH in the NL and they guy is always hurt. They will be lucky to get 80 games from him in the outfield. I wonder where this leaves Abreu? 8 million and 10 million for guys that are about as good as Abreu. He will be lucky to get 12 million a year.

Tex is scheduled to be announced tomorrow by the Yankees. It is funny how the Yankees sign these guys to huge contracts and then it takes 2 weeks to be official. I wonder what they do during the 2 weeks before it is official? They seem to get vetted better than an Obama cabinet member. The Yankees would never have signed Bill Richardson.

The Dodgers have reworked Jones contract and he will only be due 5 million in 2009, then will be a free agent in 2010. Should the Yankees trade for him or wait for him to be released and sign him?

He will be 32 this season. He has had some really great years as a centerfielder. He has won gold gloves playing centerfield. Is he overrated? Is he on the quick decline of his career? Would New York revitalize his career?

When he is right, he is a very good right handed bat. The Yankees would not have to give up much for a trade. He would be cheaper than Cameron.

I lean towards taking a chance on him but then I have always thought he is overrated. He never hits for average (.259 career BA), strikes out a lot like Cameron and will make the great play in centerfield but is not solid.

A while ago I heard Aaron Rowands name thrown around. Now that guy can cover some ground and is a gamer. It would take more to trade for him but I have read the Giants are shopping him.

So, who should battle for centerfield in spring training? Melky vs. Gardner? Cameron? Jones? Rowand?

Welcome to 2009. Hopefully it will be a great year for the Yankees. On paper, they look very good but games are not played by what is on paper. The team has to go out and produce. Torre needs to do a good job managing, they need to stay healthy. Injuries were a big factor last year. Losing Wang and Posada were 2 big loses. Every team has to deal with injuries but the Yankees lacked depth last year. This is why I think the team needs to hang onto Swisher, Nady, Matsui and Damon. This is also why I think they need to sign Pettitte. Having Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves, and others at AAA will be better than having to rely on Ponson again if Burnett’s elbow acts up or Pettitte shows his age.

The team still needs some bench help and as January rolls on and free agents get desperate they should be able to add to the bench. Funny how Boras is now talking with the Dodgers after they contacted Dunn. Lowe was offered 3 years and 36 million from the Mets, a far cry from the 5 years, 90 million he was looking for. Giambi and others may only get 1 year deals. Small market clubs like the Rays love that.