WHY THERE ARE MANY FACTORS

LEE FACTOR: Ken Rosenthal is reporting that a "mystery" major league team is going to offer Cliff Lee a 7 year deal. No one knows who it is, yet, I wouldn't be surprised if the Washington Nationals, who were supposed to be the sleeper in the Lee talks anyway, tried to pick him up at a big contract. It would make sense considering they just did it with Werth. I'm just not sure how much cash they have though, so we will see.

It's funny though, last night on MLB's Hot Stove, Rosenthal was in deep discussion with Kevin Towers behind Jon Heyman. They were intwerviewing Heyman and the convo was going down behind him. Alittle bizarre. Imagine if the Diamondbacks were that mystery team? We will wait and see.

CASHMAN FACTOR: I still feel good about the Yankees in these negotiations. Think about it, Cashman's a charmer and the Yanks have insisted that 6 years for Lee is enough. But think about it this way, they Yankees never say what they mean, that's what makes them so good at this negotiation game. Joel Sherman is reporting that Cashman will probably top out between $145 and $150 / 6 year deal for Lee and while it would be great to have Lee, it's not a necessity. I just think this is a tactic to take us off the trail. Cashman's known for this. At the end of the day, the Yankees are still stinging at the Mariners move to trade Lee to the Rangers last summer. They will not be out done again... Right? One thing's for sure, the signing of Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox just made the signing of Cliff Lee 10 tines for important for the Yanks. The Red Sox lineup is sick right now and needs to be shut down.

WOOD FACTOR: Cashman doesn't want to sign Wood for "closer" money, but if Wood wants $7 or $8 million to setup and sometimes close to give Mariano a day off, I say do it. Wood was awesome for us last year and really put some energy into that bullpen. He literally was the leader.

MARTIN FACTOR: A lot of talk about Russell Martin. He wants to play on the east coast, he is a good catcher, he was almost a Yankee. So what's the problem? The medical records have been reviewed, that's the problem. There is something the Yanks don't like about Martin's health. That's why they're gun shy. You can't blame them. The last thing they need is 2 broken down catchers and a rookie in Montero. They just want to be sure. Respect that.

POSADA FACTOR: Cash has already stated the Posada is the Yankees DH unless he can "play his way out of it". That's a win win for Posada. He's still getting at bats, plus he can fight for his job back.

DIAZ FACTOR: Matt Diaz is a solid free agent who just ended his marriage with the Braves. This guy can play the outfield and hits left hand pitching. If the Yanks can get him at a decent price, this could potentially be this years Swisher. A player everyone has written off, but the Yankees believe in him.

PETTITTE FACTOR: Cashman says he's retiring. Pettitte's friend says he's not. But Pettitte's another friend says he isn't. Oh yeah, and Pettitte's dry cleaner is friends with Kevin Bacon. What the hell is all this? Let's wait until we have some info. Plus, why wouldn't any Yankee fan just listen to what Cashman's tell us and leave it at that. I'm predicting Cashman's stalling for Andy until we know about Lee. That's all I got.

The next few days you will see many moves. Let's hope the Yanks don't stay quiet too long because, all I want for Christmas is Lee.

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