KURODA IS A YANKEE. IBANEZ IS NEXT

 Hiroki Kuroda is coming back to the New York Yankees. A 1 year deal worth $15 million. You can read about it HERE. Look, if there was ever a pitcher that I believe needed to return to New York, it was Kuroda, and now that that's done, Cashman smells the turkey at his dinner table.  Personally I think the goal is to knock out a few of these signings before the holiday, maybe relax for a day and then knock out the rest. Who am I kidding, every time I see Cashman, he's on the phone. I suspect he'll be on the phone on Thanksgiving.

Look, this all makes sense. The Yankees will finally begin getting their ducks in a row. Now we can sign Raul Ibanez, who, when chatting with Bleeding Yankee Blue, didn't speak unsure of the possible marriage. He was confident saying "I can't wait to come back to the Yankees!" Read our interview with him HERE. Ibanez will be signed by the weekend. Originally I gave it 24 hours, but who the hell really knows these guys and their schedules and if they can get the deals done or the incentives or whatever.  Sometimes it's complicated. I do know this, it feels like an incredibly slow, drawn out process between the Yanks and Raul, doesn't it? For 2 parties that really like each other, what the hell is taking so long? Trust me though, it will be done...soon! 

Then, once we knock out the Raul deal, we still need to knock out the Mariano Rivera deal as well as get an answer from Andy Pettitte on whether or not he's retiring. For the record, my gut says Andy comes back. Chalk it up as unfinished business.

And back to Mariano for a moment. Rivera is truly an interesting dude and it's my feeling he'll play hard to get, meaning, he's not going to jump at the first figure the Yankees throw at him. He'll mess around with them alittle, negotiate, because after all, he knows the Yankees want him back and he also knows if he wanted to go anywhere, he could. He's a baseball God and he knows it.  Eventually Mariano Rivera will come back to the Yankees this winter, but it'll cost the Yanks a extra few bucks, because in the end, it may be a game and Mariano may be a Yankee for life... But it's also business.

The rest of the pieces will start to fall into place. I promise. You know the Yankees, they make moves slowly. Historically they do this. Why? Because of a few reasons lately. That $189 million payroll hanging over their head, and the magic of Brian Cashman. Remember Cash... he's pulled off some pretty incredible trades in the dead of winter not to mention free agent signings and it usually happens when no one sees it coming.

 Sure, while that payroll thing is a big deal, the genius of Cashman sometimes shows it's handsome little face.  Yeah. We may have passed on Torii Hunter, but that's because Cashman has another plan and hopefully, when the time is right, he'll execute. You know what I mean?

True, the slowness and lack of urgency is killing me too. But sit back, enjoy "the Cashman show", because I believe something good's coming down the pike... Something for the better of this Yankee team. What is it? Who knows, but trust me, it's pretty quiet right now... Almost too quiet. Something's coming, don't you think?

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