WHY NOT ROY OSWALT?

There is this new attitude among the Yankee brass that lowering the payroll tax below the $189 luxury tax threshold by 2014 is important. OK, I'm on board...I get it, but what's to say we can't pick up a pitcher for 1 year at a reasonable price? It's just support, it's clearly not to sign a veteran for 5 years, right?Hell, they did it last year with Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon, and while I really wanted a big time number 2 or 3 starter this winter, I understand what we're doing. That being said, Roy Oswalt fits that mold.

Oswalt originally wanted a multi-year deal, but with the bad back issues that the Yankees are so "worried" about, I guess he changed his mind. It turns out he would accept a 1 year deal. The Yankees, who want to save every penny, just got back their $2 million from the Hiroyuki Nakajima "exclusive rights" bidding because that negotiation fell apart so, if we're going to count pennies anyway, that's $2 mil more in the pot.Yes, we still need to lock in Eric Chavez, who has a bad back too mind you, but you can't possibly tell me the Yankees are willing to take a chance on guys like Chavez and Garcia again and not Roy Oswalt, are you? AJ Burnett had a history of injury before he came to New York, yet we threw over $82 million at him. I'm sure they're kicking themselves for that, especially if you force it into this scenario. The point is, why NOT Roy Oswalt at this point? It's clearly a support move, just another arm and just until the Yankees can go big on guys like Matt Cain and Cole Hamels.

Then again, if we're going the Oswalt route, who by the way, would demand more than someone like Hiroki Kuroda (read Ken Davidoff HERE), then why not just lock the old man Kuroda in? Sure, I'm not totally jazzed about any of this, but staying put and rolling the dice on our rotation now is definitely taking a chance. If you believe in your pitchers Cashman, that's fine, I believe in my Yankees too, but there is nothing wrong with throwing in alittle competition among peers come Spring Training to really see the talent come out. That's all I'm saying. It may be Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia all over again... that is, until we go after Hamels.

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YANKEE RUMORS & BYB: PART 23

Eric Chavez: The Yankees and Hirojuki Nakajima did NOT come to a deal by deadline, read HERE and expect the Yankees to immediately sign Eric Chavez now. It just makes sense. The Yankees will need to move fast on Chavez though because Jon Heyman writes HERE, that the Nationals, the Rays and the Padres are also interested in him. My opinion on Nakajima is simple thinking... the Yankees never needed Nakajima in the first place and Chavez is a former Gold Glover who can handle first and third base. Plus, he still can hit. Too bad he’s accident prone, but I’ll take him back in a second, the dude plays hard.

Chad Gaudin: An update on our favorite fall back relief pitcher, former Yankee Chad Gaudin. The guy was able to cling on to the Florida Marlins and sign a minor league deal with them.Good for him. Read about it HERE.

Hiroki Kuroda: It looks as though the Kuroda ship has sailed and the Yankees and Yankee fans do not seem particularly upset about it. It was a strange rumor any way. First he didn’t want to come to New York, then he did. Then the Yankees made him an offer, then they didn’t...read HERE. Then… it vanished. I wouldn’t offer this guy more than a 1 year deal, it’s just not worth it. It seems like he likes Los Angeles better any way.

Hideki Matsui: No one has even reached out to Matsui as far as I can see, except for the Dodgers, read HERE. To me, him getting picked up to help the Yankees bench just makes perfect sense. He still has a bat and sure, Matsui didn’t play much outfield in New York near the end of his tenure, but he did in Oakland and in a pinch, we could use him out in left field if necessary.This move is a plus if the price is right, a reunion is definitely in order.

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WHY NAKAJIMA HAS TO BE A SIGN & TRADE

Unless the Yankees can convince Hiroyuki Nakajima to be a bench player with the mighty New York Yankees, the Yanks are either not signing him at all or they will sign and flip him for starting pitching. That’s been my theory all along and I really can’t see much more happening with this. Jack Curry of YES has tweeted HERE that unless the Yanks and Nakajima can decide on a one year deal, this isn't happening. Thank God Jack gets the real story for us, all the speculation is silly now. All i have to say is....come on, seriously? What are we doing here?

The deadline to sign Nakajima is Friday. At that point if the Yankees don’t sign him, they don’t have to pay the $2 million posting fee. That’s a little tid-bit many have failed to report. It’s an important part of this especially when you see a lot of people suggesting on twitter that the Yankees are “wasting” $2 million. Sure, I guess one can make an argument that they are wasting money if they sign a backup shortstop from Japan when there are much cheaper alternatives right here in the states, but bottom line is, if the Yankees don't sign Nakajima, they don't pay that posting fee, it’s worth noting. Read about it HERE. Hell, I would argue that this is all just a big waste of time unless the Yankees can sign and flip Nakajima to a team for a decent #2 or #3 starter, but that’s just my opinion. The speculation surrounding this has clearly absorbed me... because my only other theory on this ridiculous story is that maybe the Yankees were trying to cock block the Red Sox or another eastern division rival from winning exclusive negoiation rights with Nakajima. Maybe? Who knows, the bottom line is, it's puzzling, I'm tired and it's time I went to sleep. After all, I thought pitching was the Yankees priority, wasn't it?

Geez, I can’t wait until baseball starts…. How man days until Spring Training? 43? Bring it on baby… bring it on.

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HIROYUKI NAKAJIMA?

Jon Heyman for CBS Sports says that the Yankees and Hiroyuki Nakajima's camp can't come to a common ground on a contract...but they may. The deadline is next week. Read Heyman HERE.

I never understood the Nakajima deal. The Yankees have guys that can play shortstop and they don't need him, unless, they want to trade him once they sign him. To me, this is an exercise I would rather the Yankees not waste their time with. That being said, they ARE wasting their time with it and we just need to sit and wait for it to be resolved.

Just to recap, the Yankees won the exclusive bidding with Nakajima for $2 million. Once that happened, there is a 30 day window to try and hammer out a deal. Bryan Hoch of MLB believes this will be resolved soon...read HERE. Hoch also suggests that the reason why the Yankees have not done a thing with Eric Chavez yet is because they are trying to finalize details with Nakajima. We wrote WHY WE DON'T HAVE ERIC CHAVEZ YET about all this. Check that out.

Hurry up and wait I guess... hurry up and wait.

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WHY WE DON'T HAVE ERIC CHAVEZ YET

Bryan Hoch tweeted that the reason why the Yankees and Eric Chavez have not moved on a re-sign is because the Yankees won the exclusive rights to negoiate with Hiroyuki Nakajima and that has not been resolved as of yet. Read Hoch's tweet HERE.

I'm not afraid to say it... I want Eric Chavez back. The Yankees claim to have the Nakajima thing mapped out within the next week or so...read HERE. Once that is complete, I assume we move forward with Chavez. True, Chavez was once a superstar with the Oakland Athletics and dare I say, he was working his way toward the Hall of Fame if those pesky injuries didn't destroy this guy's career. That being said, Chavez continues to come back, he doesn't quit and he is still just as bad ass as he always was, the problem is he's older and still get's hurt a lot.
And while I'm on the subject of Nakajima, I didn't understand why we went for exclusive bidding rights for him. The only thing I can conclude, and this is my opinion, is that the Yanks were willing to trade him as fast as we signed him for pitching. Otherwise, I'm not sure. Buster Olney tweeted my feelings on this perfectly right HERE.

Stay tuned on this one. I feel like a few minor moves are about the happen in Yankeeland. I'll keep ya'll posted t he best I can.

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NO YANKEE SIGNINGS? NOT SO FAST...

There are a few notes that are important to know about. Believe me, there is no superstar name attached to the Yankees in this notes post, but still important.

The Yankees are close to signing Dewayne Wise to a minor league deal. This is the guy that pretty much saved Mark Buerhle’s perfect game in 2009 with a fantastic catch in center. Wise is a 4^th outfielder with good speed. With the Yankees designating Greg Golson for assignment after the Rule 5 Draft and then doing the same thing to Colin Curtis once they made Freddy Garcia official, this move would be key. Again, this is nothing huge, but a piece to the Yankee puzzle.

The Yankees want Hiroyuki Nakajima to be a utility player for the Yankees , but also believe that because of that role, Nakajima will most likely not come to the Bronx. Why would he? Honesty? If he’s got it good in Japan, wait it out for a full-time job in the Majors. While this move may be great for many, I could care less.

The Yankees would like to have Andruw Jones back in a part time role much like last season. Read it HERE. I loved Andruw Jones in the role he had with the Yankees. I wrote about it in WHY THE YANKEES BENCH WILL BE A FACTOR because I believe that having Jones there as some extra pop in his bat and an OK 4th outfielder will help things along. I am wondering at what price this happens, but there is no doubt, it should happen.

Prince Fielder is still out there as a free agent ladies and gentlemen and if George Steinbrenner were still alive, we would sign Prince first and figure out where he would play second. Well, it’s not 1996 anymore and we need to be realistic. I love Prince Fielder, but much like Brian Cashman stated to Albert Pujols agent (Read HERE), the Yankees have one of the best defensive first basemen in the game tied up until 2016. Tex isn’t going anywhere and Prince Fielder isn’t going to take a back seat if he came to the Bronx. The timing is wrong, it’s unfortunate, but it’s true.

Adam Miller, a righty pitcher is also close to signing a minor league deal. I didn’t know this but Joel Sherman of the NY Post did (HERE); Miller “was ranked among the majors’ top 100 prospects by Baseball America every year from 2005-2009." I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know anything significant about Miller, Click on his name and check out his stats.

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YANKEE RUMORS & BYB: PART 21

Yu Darvish: If you read our last rumors piece, YANKEES RUMORS & BYB: PART 20, you knew that we didn't know when Darvish-mania would get underway. But, according to Darvish's agent, Don Nomura (Read HERE), his client will be posted Thursday. The Yankees have scouted Darvish since 2009, so you know for sure they'll put a bid in. Personally, I'm not as high on Darvish as most seem to be, but that doesn't mean I don't think he'll be a quality pitcher in the states.Hiroyuki Nakajima: In cased you missed it, the Yankees won the bidding for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima. Read BYB BREAKING NEWS: YANKEES WIN RIGHTS TO HIROYUKI NAKAJIMA for more details. Although the Yanks won the rights, Jon Heyman reports (read HERE) that the Yankees aren't confident that they'll strike a deal with Nakajima because he may not get the money he desires. Also, Ken Rosenthal reports (read HERE) that Nakajima strongly prefers to play on the West Coast. This is a tricky situation, and at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if the two sides didn't agree on a deal. But, if they did, I'd be perfectly content if Nakajima was the 2007-2009 version of Akinori Iwamura.
Joel Zumaya: Joel Sherman reports that next week the Yankees will send a scout to watch Joel Zumaya throw. Read it HERE. I'd definitely be all in for signing Zumaya, just as long as it's not a guaranteed major league contract. At this point in Zumaya's career with all the arm injuries he's gone through, he'll probably only get a minor league deal as it is. Sure the Yankees bullpen is stacked, but it wouldn't hurt to give him a shot.

Finally, The Rule 5 Draft was Thursday, and the Yankees acquired two players. First, they acquired 22 year old left handed pitcher Cesar Cabral from the Royals--who was picked with the fifth overall selection in today's draft--for cash. Cabral pitched in the Red Sox minor league system from 2006-2011. Then, with the 29th pick of the draft, the Yanks selected 26 year old right handed pitcher Brad Meyers. Meyers pitched in the Nationals minor league system from 2007-2011.

All Rule 5 picks must stay on the 25-man roster for the duration of the regular season, or they must be returned to their original teams. Both of these guys have had some success in the minors with their respective teams, so it'll be interesting if at least one of these guys makes the big league club in April. The Yankees designated Greg Golson for assignment.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY THE YANKEES WILL PUSH HARD FOR YU DARVISH

There is no doubt about it, the Yankees don't seem interested in CJ Wilson and according to FOX Sports, he and the Angels are about to finalize a deal...home over cash as theywrite the FOX piece. The Marlins offered him 6 years and the Angels offered him 5...good for CJ to make that decision, I have a new respect for him. Read HERE.Then you have my pick, Mark Buehrle, dashing to Miami to be with his best buddy Ozzie Guillen and another report suggesting that Gio Gonzalez thinks Miami is really appealing right now read HERE... all that is fine and good. It's a very interesting off season so far when it comes to the Marlins. If the Miami Marlins sign all these guys, first Jose Reyes, then Heath Bell, then Buehrle, I want to hear the media blasting Miami for "buying" a championship like they do with the Yankees year after year... but they won't. Instead, they will praise Miami for making a huge splash in the Winter Meetings. Anti-Yankee bias at it's best? There it is, no doubt about it.

So where are the Yankees right now? Creeping. Cashman is making moves that he thinks will better the team, but they aren't the popular moves as of yet. For instance, the Yanks are looking at Jonathon Niese, read HERE and DeWayne Wise is rumored to sign with the Yankees in a minor league deal. Read Ken Rosenthal's tweet HERE. Then, read YANKEES WIN RIGHTS TO HIROYUKI NAKAJIMA for instance.

Then, of course, according to Frankie Piliere from Fox Sports, the Yankees are the clear frontrunner to sign Yoennis Cespedes. Read HERE. That only means 1 thing to me, if the Yankees sign Cespedes, Nick Swisher or Brett Gardner may be leaving the Bronx. My opinion of course, but when you see Gardy's name attached to trade talks with the Athletics and Nationals, it almost seems like something may be in the works. But everything has to fall into place.Now comes word from Yu Darvish himself that he will post today. Read from his agent HERE. If he does, I expect the Yankees to go hard to get him. We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue have told you for months that we believed the Yankees were going to push for Darvish if he posted, and it looks as though they will. Read WHY I'LL CONVINCE YOU ON YU.
I believe that Darvish is who the Yankees have wanted all along. Think of it this way, if they get Darvish and spend money and perhaps sign a Yoennis Cespedes, the Yankees are done. They will make small moves after that, but for the most part, that will be there winter.

Ladies and Gentlemen, when Brian Cashman hinted that the Yankees may not make moves after they signed Freddy Garcia, I wasn't quite sure that was true, and if they sign a big fish like Darvish, it would make sense, considering Hal Steinbrenner said the Yankees weren't afraid of going for it, even after the Kei Igawa mess. All I know if this is the new norm for the New York Yankees. Patience. It may not be the way we like it freaks, but it's the new New York Yankees, strategic moves, and not a knee jerk signing. It will be OK Yankeeland, it will be OK.

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BYB BREAKING NEWS: YANKEES WIN RIGHTS TO HIROYUKI NAKAJIMA

According to SI's Jon Heyman the New York Yankees have won the negotiating rights for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima. Heyman tweeted the Yanks paid $2million for the rights. The Yankees now have 30 days to work out a deal with Nakajima, the 29-year-old who last season hit .297 for the Seibu Lions.

Obviously we all know the Yankee SS position is occupied by a player, you might have heard of him...Derek Jeter! But, should the Yankees land Nakajima he would definitely fit the role of utility infielder quite nicely.

Be sure to check back with BYB for all the latest Yankee news...

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com
Twitter: @MikeyBlu23

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