Barring a Mets deal, Bobby Abreu’s days as New York resident are numbered. To that end, Abreu is looking to sell his two-bedroom apartment in One Beacon Court, and Luxist takes a tour of the property. Abreu is asking $7.9 million, but as will be the case when he finally signs with a new team, he won’t get his asking price for the apartment either. No matter though; he’ll turn a profit on his original $3.5-million investment. (Hat tip to Shysterball.)
Open Thread: Catching up on some Yankee rumors
Now, that guy looks pretty good in pinstripes, eh? As the Yanks welcomed their newest addition today, let’s catch up on some rumors.
- Bobby Abreu is still looking for a three-year, $48-million offer, and I’m looking for a rainbow with a leprechaun and a pot of gold at the end of it. Neither of us are going to find what we’re looking for, and Jerry Crasnick says that no one is really interested in Abreu.
- Ken Rosenthal reports that Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher are “drawing significant interest.” Joe will have more on this for the overnight tonight, but to sum up my thinking, the Yanks don’t really need to trade anyone right now. Unless they are blown away by an offer, they are far better off holding Swisher and Nady than they are trading them right now.
- In the same piece, Rosenthal drops in a tidbit about Brian Fuentes. Apparently, Fuentes’ agent tried to pitch the closer to the Yanks as a possible set-up man and future heir to Mariano Rivera’s throne. The Yanks weren’t interested in paying Fuentes closer money and never made an offer. While some folks in the Mark Teixeira press conference liveblog believed that this news shows that the Yanks are nervous about the 8th inning, I completely disagree. They weren’t keen on bringing in Fuentes, and it seems as though the closer’s agent just wanted the Yankees in on the negotiations. Nothing to see there really.
Anyway, use this as your open thread for the night. Anything goes. Just play nice.
Update by Mike (7:04pm): The Yanks signed outfielder John Rodriguez to a minor league deal. The Bombers originally signed J-Rod as an international free agent back undrafted free agent out of an NY area high school back in ’96 for $1,000. He has a 110 OPS+ in 332 big league at-bats, which came for the Cardinals back in ’05 & ’06.
With Burrell, Bradley near deals, Cashman is justified
Pat Burrell is a 32-year-old power-hitting outfielder with some pretty good career numbers. He’s a .257/.367/.485 hitter with an OPS+ of 119. While he’s not as good as Bobby Abreu, he is two and a half years younger than the former Yankee and was hoping for a significant payday this off-season.
Milton Bradley is two years younger than Burrell and seems to be fulfilling the offensive potential that earned him rave reviews while a top prospect for the Expos. He has a career line of .280/.370/.457 and is coming off a season with an OPS+ of 163. He too was set for a big deal.
It’s fairly shocking, then, to learn that Bradley has signed a three-year, $30-million deal with the Cubs while Pat the Bat is on the verge of signing a two-year, $16-million deal with Tampa Bay. Burrell made $14 million alone in 2008 and was coming off of a six-year, $50-million deal. I highly doubt that a 40 percent salary reduction was in his head while the Phillies were celebrating their World Series Championship.
Now, what, you may be wondering, does this have to do with the Yankees? Well, Burrell and Bradley are the next two — behind Raul Ibañez — in the group of corner outfielders to sign, and they’re both doing so at AAVs well below what anyone would have expected just a few months ago. With these signings, the market for Bobby Abreu is further defined, and there is virtually no way that in 2009 Bobby Abreu will earn anywhere close to the $16 million the Yankees paid him last year.
In other words, had the Yankees offered arbitration to Bobby Abreu, there is a very good chance Abreu would have accepted, and the Yankees would be paying a 35-year-old Abreu far above market value for his services. While they may have sacrificed a draft pick in the process, the Yankees made the right choice when they let Abreu go, and each outfield signing this winter just emphasizes that reality.
Bay Area calls some ex-Yankees
While the Yankees are sleeping soundly this week knowing that their Christmas presents are safe and sound in New York, across the coast, some former Yankees are making headlines. In concrete news, the Giants have signed the Big Unit to a one-year, $8-million deal. He will join a rotation that includes Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez. If the team can find some offense, they may just have the pitching to compete in the NL West in 2009. The Giants appear to be a potential trade partner for the Yanks in their efforts to move a spare outfielder.
Across the Bay, we know that the A’s are interested in bringing back Jason Giambi, and according to recent reports, they’ve been in touch with Bobby Abreu too. Abreu is the classic Billy Beane guy. He’s a high-OBP outfielder who should come at a decent price. The A’s would be well served to have both Giambi and Abreu around for 2009.
The free agency of Bobby Abreu
Bobby Abreu is almost 35 and with a career offensive line of .300/.400/.500. He’s been one of the steadiest and best producing outfielders in the Majors for a while, but what should be his last big payday of his career came at a terrible time. The market is flooded with corner outfielders, and teams are wary of a player like Abreu who may have already started a steep decline. Despite his pedigree, as Jerry Crasnick explains, GMs across the game see Abreu as a piece of the puzzle rather than the center piece of a team, and the former Yankee is waiting for a market to emerge.
Rays meeting with former Yanks
While nothing may come of this news, at least it’s real and tangible. The Tampa Rays, as evidenced by a photograph and confirmed report on the St. Petersburg Times’ Heater blog, have met with Jason Giambi and plan to talk to Bobby Abreu as well. Giambi makes a lot of sense for Tampa. He could play the Cliff Floyd role and would do so better than Floyd did in 2008. I’m not quire sure what Tampa wants or needs with Abreu, but they’re just checking out all the options.
Reassessing the arbitration decisions
By the time the dust settled last night, only two players accepted their clubs’ offers of arbitration. Of the players I thought might accept — Jason Varitek, Jon Garland and even Mark Grudzielanek — none accepted. So I have to wonder if the Yanks misread the market. Should they have offered arbitration to Bobby Abreu and Ivan Rodriguez? Of course, their decision would have impacted the Adam Dunn and Pat Burrell decisions as well, and it’s really hard to play the “What If?” game here. Yet, I wonder who is making the bigger mistake: the second-tier players for not accepting arbitration or the risk- and cost-averse clubs who simply do not want these players around at any cost anymore?
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- …
- 8
- Next Page »