BYB HOT STOVE: VOLUME III

What has sparked my interest, as far as the Yankees go, is the idea of a deal with Washington Nationals' starter Gio Gonzalez.  The left-handed starter has one year left on his contract and with an ERA below 4 for 2014, he could be of interest to teams this year.  "Lefties are essential at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees would love CC Sabathia to bounce back and Manny Banuelos to show his potential. But if they don’t, the Yankees aren’t winning without quality left-handed pitching. Not in that ballpark," stated Sweeny Murti who also said that the Nationals would consider anyone on their team if the deal was right.  I like him and I think his youthfulness is an asset for us. You may recall that Gonzalez had an opportunity to work with Jorge Posada in the off season last year.

"Gonzalez called training with Posada a “childhood dream” and an “inspiration.” The 29-year-old is alright with me.  Let's make a deal.

I guess we can't talk starting pitching without bringing up the Jon Lester conversation again. Interestingly enough, teams are anxious about what the Yankees and Brian Cashman are thinking. According to the Boston Globe on Sunday, "You don’t think the Red Sox are fretting about the Yankees being the team that swoops in and takes Jon Lester, for all the talk about the Cubs being the competition? Of course everyone is worried about what the Yankees might do."  It could happen or the Bombers could wait it out for Max Scherzer.

We are getting a big name pitcher or we are going to be left out of the playoffs again in 2015.  Scherzer or Lester?  Time will tell, but frankly, the Lester clock is just about up.  "With free agency moving quickly this year, the Yankees probably have to start making decisions on Lester in particular, since he’s already visited Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta, and possibly Toronto in the near future. It appears Lester doesn’t want this process to drag on," according to the Globe.  Peter Gammons also reported that Lester wants a deal before the winter meetings, which are scheduled to start on December 7th.  Lester is also set to meet with the St. Louis Cardinals next week.

According to MASN's Roch Kubatko, the Baltimore Orioles have a real interest in Melky Cabrera if they can't sign Nick Markakis.  "What's the appeal with Cabrera? He's a 30-year-old switch-hitter with a career .339 on-base percentage." I say they have to sign Markakis, but the Orioles feel the outfielder's "power numbers are in decline." The Blue Jays may not want to re-sign Cabrera after signing Russell Martin last week.  He may in fact head to the White Sox who are also reportedly interested in the Melk Man according to CBS Sports.

Finally, according to Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox and Cubs are both interested in Phillies' ace Cole Hamels.  I say don't count the Yankees out of that conversation as Cashman has a reputation of not revealing his hand and doing a lot of bluffing along the way.  It will certainly be a domino effect once Lester gets signed.  Teams will begin scrambling after that.  The sands in the free-agency hour glass are moving briskly now as far as starting pitching.

That's it for BYB Hot Stove for this week.  Happy Thanksgiving...hoping to have a Yankee deal on the table before next week.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @suzieprof






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