THAT TIME CHRIS ARCHER WAS A YANKEE OPTION...

Source: Brian Blanco/Getty Images North America

This rumor has been loosely floated, but nothing is really definite or even happened. And of course, the word "rumor" is important here.  That being said, BYB has historically written about how we like Chris Archer of the Rays and even connected him to the Yanks on occasion.  Now that that's out of the way... here's that rumor, brought to you by the Sporting News first...

Source: David Banks/Getty Images North America

"It remains to be seen whether the Rays’ front office will commit the cardinal sin of trading stars to division rivals, but if the Yankees can swing a deal for Archer, they should do it in a heartbeat."

You're looking at that sentence and saying "Well, that's not a rumor at all, it's a suggestion." Well... that's how it starts. Now here's the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

"The Yankees offered packages of prospects and young players similar to what they are offering the Pirates to the Tampa Bay Rays, for Chris Archer...Archer, 29, is under contract through 2019 for only $13.75 million total, with club options for 2020 ($9 million) and ’21 ($11 million). He also plays for a division rival, albeit one that is retooling."

Photo: Getty Images

And, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Rays said no way.  But again... this is a rumor... and interesting.  Look, the Yankees really could use 1 top pitcher.  Not a superstar, a winner that can fall into place with the current Yankee rotation of Severino, Tanaka, CC and company.

I would LOVE to see Archer in pinstripes, but I gotta be honest here... I will bet this 'alleged' offer and talks are now officially dead, even if this report is true.

Oh well...

A YANKEE THEMED CHRISTMAS WISH

There have been many firsts here at BYB, and I am sure many more to come. Here's a new one for me....writing on Christmas Eve night. We are all about "family first" here so this will be somewhat short and sweet.

I've come across two new firsts here, one personal and one more baseball reflective. On this Christmas Eve I have a new personal first. I hope all of you who do celebrate this day have a truly amazing Christmas filled with wonderful memories with your friends and loved ones. The holidays are a very special time of year. For me, this is a Christmas like no other.

For those of you who do read our blog regularly you may know that I got engaged earlier this year and I will be getting married very shortly (holy cow, I just looked at the calendar and counted days) so of course as I journey into married life traditions are starting to change.

For the first time in my entire life I will be spending Christmas away from both of my parents and instead am celebrating in California with my fiance's family. It's weird having my parents all the way in New York and not doing our traditional family things. Instead, I am creating new memories with my in-laws. I grew up an only child and have no children of my own yet, so for the first time I get to see the excitement of Christmas and Santa Claus through the eyes of my adorable two year old nephew. I can't wait to see his eyes light up as he opens his presents. It's just a real example of how life is all about changes.

And as I sit back and watch my nephew open up what is under the Christmas tree instead of thinking about things I have or for big moves that the Yankees will make....I have a new experience of wishing for one thing that WON'T happen to the Yankees. The Gerrit Cole talks have been going on for what feels like months now. I am all for adding some more pitching. You can never have too much of it right? It's true....but it can come with too much of a cost.

I have nothing against Cole per-say. I do have some concerns, but all players come with them. If the Yankees can add him then that's great but only if they continue with the path they have been on which is maintaining their strong farm system. The Yankees are going to have to give some guys up to get him there's nothing new with that but....there is one name that should absolutely be off limits here.

Kim Klement / USA Today Sports

A lot of people are high on Cole, and likewise I am equally high on Chance Adams. The Pirates want Clint Frazier and that's no surprise and considering our outfield depth I am okay with that, finally. Realistically, there's no immediate place for him right now. Adams on the other hand is ready for his shot and just like I said....you can never have enough pitching. I really think Adams is going to be something special and I think Cole for Adams AND other players are too much. I'm high on Adams, and not yet sold on Cole. I hope Cashman sticks to his guns.

Kim Klement / USA Today Sports

We've had a great off-season so far and ultimately I hope that Adams sticks around. My Christmas would be even better if the Yankees kept Adams in pinstripes. If Cole's price tag includes Adams then I just don't want him.

But for the time being I have a feeling that Cashman won't be working on this today, at least I hope not. Business can wait, today is all about reflection and time with friends and family.

From all of us at BYB, we wish you all a Merry Christmas. We're signing off for the day and you should too.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

THE YANKEES COULD PLAN TO LIVE WITHOUT

Source:  Getty Images

This holiday season, we have all made sacrifices in order for our kids, our significant others, and friends to have something special.  We perhaps have gone without so that others could have something special or we realized that we could live without it after all.  The understanding of needs versus wants continues to balance us.  The same goes for the NY Yankees.

Source: CBS New York

"They use the dearth or absence of other suitors plus a willingness to wait and wait to kind of slow walk the other team toward their way of thinking. The Yankees didn’t, for example, desperately need Giancarlo Stanton so they let the Marlins know what they were willing to do, watched as other suitors fell away and, poof, there were the Yankees ready to throw Miami a lifeline, or noose, depending on how you view it," inked Joel Sherman of the Post earlier this weekend.

Source: NJ.com

And the team used the same strategy to nab Sonny Gray.  They waited and planned to live without Gray until the other team caved.  The A's needed to trade Gray more than we needed to add him to our pitching roster  Now, the Yankees' top elf, Brian Cashman, is doing the same thing with Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"According to a Yahoo! Sports report, the Yankees remain engaged with the Pittsburgh Pirates about right-hander Gerrit Cole, and there is "confidence" a deal will get done. Other potential pieces in the trade are unknown," reported CBS Sports.

With the CC Sabathia signing, the Yankees can afford to wait.  And don't forget, we already have a pitching staff that can anchor us, eat innings and get us to what is still being toted as one of the best in baseball again for a second year.

Being in a championship drought for almost nine years teaching you something.  It teaches you to live without but never give up.  It is with great excitement that we enter 2018 as the strongest team in baseball, one with options and depth.  And who knows, additional presents may be under the tree later this week.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof 

MAYBE ELLSBURY WILL GO TO THE GIANTS

then again... maybe he won't.

Source: Al Bello/Getty Images North America

Rumors drive me crazy because they are crafted to peak interest and click to read and usually... nothing happens. I admit it, I just fell for the trap. 

Here's the reality... the Yankees want to move Jacoby Ellsbury.  That's because they have too many outfielders and while Ellsbury is good, he's older, more expensive and not as great as he once was.

And so, yup... I clicked.  I clicked so you don't have to.  Read this...

Source: Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images North America

"Jacoby Ellsbury was said early this winter not to want to waive his full no-trade clause, but word now is that he might consider waiving it for a select few teams, and the San Francisco Giants could be one of them.

Ellsbury could fit in as the Giants’ center fielder, whereas with the Yankees he seems destined to be the fourth outfielder, as Yankees people say they are going with Aaron Hicks in center field. Ellsbury lives in the Phoenix area, so the Giants’ spring home in Scottsdale would be a plus for him, too.

Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America

He actually didn’t have a bad season last year with the Yankees, but was derailed by a concussion suffered while crashing into the center field wall at Yankee Stadium. He had been hoping to stay with the Yankees and try to win the center-field job, but Hicks is seen as a rising star."

And so, words like "could" are the most important part of this nugget from Jon Heyman.  And then you read it and you're like...

DAMN YOU, HEYMAN! Right?

Here's the reality, and BYB does this most because we hate the rumor season for this... we don't know if this is real or not. We don't know if this is a team actually considered.  We just need to wait.

That being said, the idea of Ellsbury out of the Bronx is intriguing.  And so... we wait.

WORKING TO SNAG GERRIT COLE, BUT AT WHAT COST?

Source: Justin Berl/Getty Images North America

Yahoo Sports is reporting that the talks between the Pirates and Yankees for Gerrit Cole are heating up. Now everyone is writing about it.

Photo: Getty Images

We've been alittle hesitant here at BYB just because we just don't know the specific details about any of it. 

From what we gather the names floated from the Yankees are everyone from Gleyber Torres, to Estevan Florial to Clint Frazier, and NO, it wouldn't be all of them. For all we know... IT MAY NOT BE ANY OF THEM... and that's what drives us crazy.  We can't truly pinpoint the names until a deal is done. 

Hand it to Cashman though... he's trying not to deal away our really good prospects, and that is why this deal is still lingering and not at completion.

Here's the New York Daily News with their latest:

(Sept. 28, 2017 - Source: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images North America)

"The Yankees’ pitching rotation is close to entering a Cole new world. Gerrit Cole will likely be a Bomber come next season as the Yankees and Pirates are “working on a deal,” according to Yahoo Sports.

An agreement has not yet been reached but it’s “a matter of when rather than if,” according to the report. It’s not clear whom the Yankees would have to send Pittsburgh in return for Cole, but FanRag Sports reports that the Pirates want Gleyber Torres, the top prospect in baseball.

Photo: Getty Images

The Yankees, on the other hand, are trying to build a package for the Pirates centered around Clint Frazier, who, thanks to the Giancarlo Stanton acquisition, is now quite expendable."

That's all folks.  That's all I have for you. Why? Because of all days, today I have a day off to actually START my Christmas shopping.  And so, I won't be making calls, sending emails or texts to try and get you answers as to who the Yankees may flip for Cole. You're just gonna have to wait like me.

Sorry. I have worked my ass off this year.  Turmoil with jobs, a lot of hustle and bustle with my kids and sports and my wife now more busy than I. Today I can't do the "baseball insider" digging thing.

Today I need to be around to make my family happy on Christmas morning... with Santa's help of course.

If anything develops with Cole, we will tell you.  For now... this is the latest.

Happy Friday.

DICK ENBERG: ANOTHER LEGEND HAS LEFT US

Photo: Getty Images

It's always sad when a person passes away around the holiday season.  That person is usually attached to a family that loves them very much. In this situation, the sports community is equally stunned because Dick Enberg was one of the best.  And now... he's gone.

The LA Times writes this, and offers such emotion and color about his final days:

(Sean M. Haffey U-T San Diego)

"He had a bad cold and his voice, what was left of it, was croaky and raw. This was his fourth NCAA basketball tournament game in two days, and Dick Enberg didn’t think he could finish it. That had never happened before, but it was happening now.

So, during a commercial break, Enberg turned to his broadcast partner Al McGuire and asked the former Marquette coach, who had never done play-by-play, to take over.

Shaking his head, McGuire said, “Dicksie, if you’re goin’, I’m goin’.” So, of course, Enberg carried on, whispering his way to the finish in true the-show-must-go-on fashion.

Enberg, who got into the broadcast business accidentally and stayed in it to supplement his teacher’s salary, died Thursday morning at his La Jolla home, his wife, Barbara, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was 82.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Barbara Enberg said the family found out later in the day when Dick Enberg failed to get off a flight in Boston, where they were scheduled to meet.

She said her husband had appeared to be waiting for a car that was set to shuttle him to the San Diego airport for a 6:30 a.m. flight. 'He was dressed with his bags packed at the door,” she said. “We think it was a heart attack.'”

Worked to death, but doing what he loved. And we in the sports community are saddened by this loss.

Rest in Peace, Friend.

THE YANKEES CHECKED IN ON YU DARVISH

Photo: LA Times

Not surprising, right? A lot of teams are interested in Yu Darvish and the Yankees are always tied to all of the biggest names. Darvish is no different, but the real question here is HOW interested are the Yankees and is he a realistic gift on the Yankees Christmas wish list?

Pitching wins ball games. You can never have enough pitching. We've all heard that before, and as much as Brian Cashman has improved this team already he's not done yet. Sure the Yankees signed CC Sabathia back but he's out there looking for more pitching. Talks with the Pirates for Gerrit Cole have "cooled off" so Cashman is looking elsewhere and for "creative" solutions.

Darvish is an intriguing option for any team right now. Since he did not play for the Dodgers the entire season they were not able to extend him an qualifying offer. Now whichever team signs Darvish won't have to give up their first round draft pick. The Yankees however have a different concern here....

The Yankees are still determined to get under the $197 million luxury-tax threshold and the addition of Giancarlo Stanton adds payroll. It also gives the Yankees another outfielder and Jacoby Ellsbury's role even more redundant than it was and extra costly.

According to the New York Post HERE "counting signed players, the cost of benefits and insurance and projected arbitration signings, the Yankees are at $172 million. Add in the $15 million or so for salaries for players with zero to three years’ service time and it climbs to $182 million. Then you need to leave money for salaries belonging to players acquired by trades during the season."

Not like we didn't know this before but....Ellsbury's gotta go. He's expensive and not needed. So if the Yankees want to add Darvish AND get under the luxury tax they will need to get creative and find a way to get him to waive his no-trade clause and get another team to take him and a chunk of his salary. It's a big piece of the puzzle, maybe too big?

Darvish is going to get a multi-year deal worth between 20-25 million a year. Even though he struggled in the World Series he's a big fish in a small pitching pool so he will be in high demand. Someone is going to pay for him so getting him at a discounted price is not likely.

Photo: William Perlman, The Star Ledger via USA TODAY Sports

We've already said that Cashman is a genius. Now if he can figure out a way to get Ellsbury to waive his full trade clause, get a team to eat some of his salary, sign Darvish and get under the luxury tax then there would be no doubt about it. 

Maybe Cashman can pull off another miracle.....if anything else develops with Darvish you know we'll have it here for you.

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj




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