So... the number of pitchers with 2 arms dwindles.
I still thing Cashman will get a SP and an RP before Spring. Roger? I don't think so.

Any predictions on the 2 next (NON farmhands) pitchers to wear pinstripes?

carl pavano.

(he'll seem like a new acquisition, anyway.)

...i'm telling you, he will shock the world with his relatively consistent middling performance. mark my words.

It used to be money was the main ingredient for signing a premier arm but now prospects are the key. Too many other organizations are capable of stepping forward and making a "statement" and the competition for guys like Zito tend to bring out the business side of the game. Witness the statement move by that nitwit real estate organization in Boston (god rest ye merry nitwits, let nothing you dismay, remember matsuzaka was signed the other day -- adapted from soxoholics without permission).

Real baseball execs look at these money + prospects deals. If the Twinkies come up with a couple of baby santanas in the group above, they get them for 5 or 6 years -- two santanas for one as it were. In the meantime one of the premier players in the game gets to strut his stuff on the true field of dreams, New York City, baby.

I think Cash is going all out to bring us a Ron Guidry type performer. This team is aching for that and will not survive the playoffs without one. Andy, Moose and Wang do not a series winner make. But you put Johan my Johan into that mix and flavor with a Rocket's red glare, you suddenly see George surrounded by Cash, Joe, and the son-in-law uncontrollably sobbing into the microphone -- a montage of such horror for sawks fans that one could only envision victory in Iraq and a draft W movement for a third term as anything worse.

George is getting old and they WILL win once before the old man does not go off gently into the night. Rage for Johan my Johan, George.

It also means Melky is gone and Bernie gets to drive in the winning run in game 5 -- of course we will have to survive an entire year of GOB negativity for that to happen but to those of us who write golden endings on behalf of the divinity, let me humbly say, go for it.

Whaaat!?

The guy projects as the second best pitcher in the organization, behind Phil Huge, and they're going to convert him why? So Rasner, White, and Karstens can stay in the rotation?

Better, that means the Yanks acquired, in their minds, six RH relief pitchers this off-season. Brilliant!

At least Sheehan is making sense regarding the Unit deal, as SStN points out in the other thread.

It's a good dream, though, I guess.

And I, for one, will be shocked if: a) Rocket comes back to the Yanks 8; and (b) if the GM makes any other moves before Spring, outside of minor league contracts 2. The GM's modus operandi is to get things done early then sit until June.

Are you saying that "sawks fans" would think a victory in Iraq would be worse than the Yankees winning the Serious?

You know the "closer" of the sawks was supposed to be some kid whose name we can't remember and who is working out at Boston College now, hoping to make a mark in spring training. Who knew what Popplearm was supposed to be until he actually did it. How many innings does he throw this year before he gets shut down?

The point is that the twinkies need to move santana in 2007 to get a boatload of pitching prospects from somebody. We have a boatload of prospects + melky. And the GM egos are there for something big to go down.

Cash is in a win-win. He can afford to sit back and wait and still come up smelling like roses (maybe)

Or he can make the santana move and come up smelling like roses (maybe).

Clemens->Giambi->Johnson->Santana. Cash has a history of making big name moves.

24 days to spring training...

Most notable is probably Rasner in February.

Weaver's Eighth Law: The best place for a rookie pitcher is in long relief.

I think you would have to go back to Claire Booth Luce and hatred of FDR to capture the present mood of liberal dems and W. So the answer to your question, given a trade off of Yanks in '07 vs W returns in '08, yes,these nitwits would don the NYY logo in a heartbeat.

That said, remember that I always reserve the right to wildly exaggerate on any topic. There are some who feel these diversions are an offense to humanity and "the game". I apologize for my senseless injection of cultural politics into what otherwise is a brilliant conspiracy theory on why Johan My Johan will be atop the mound in the bronx this year.

There are two legitimate uses for a farm system: to supply new players directly, or to supply trading chips. And for that second purpose, you have to trade some of your top-rated prospects.

Of the Top Ten prospects list each year, I can guarantee at least one thing: some of them are overrated. The trick is to scout your own players well and identify them. You'll make some mistakes...but you'll make some mistakes by keeping everyone, too.

Not that long ago, a lot of writers felt it was foolhardy to trade away a 24-year-old lefty like Brandon Claussen.

[Bernie] Can you make with the retirement speech already??

Johan in 07, now that is a bandwagon that even Jim Dean (if that is your real name) could jump on (sorry Jim ;-).

I think it's our job to be responsible and keep things civil in here. When I read anything about politics around here, I just ignore it, no matter how strong the urge to go off on some tirade.

19

Let's look at that list:

1/6/06: Signed Cairo
2/11/06: Claims Rasner off waivers
2/16/06: Signed Scott Erickson
4/6/06: Claims Koyie Hill off waivers
4/15/06: Signed Colome and Pena
5/19/06: Signed Terrence Long
5/21/06: Signed Durazo

This shows what?

That Cashman will sign has-beens between now and June. And none are up-grades in any sense of the word. Rasner is the exception, not the rule, and even then it's because Bowden is a worse GM than CASH-man. Before and after Rasner? That shows you all you need to know about the GM's m.o.

In the second half of the year maybe a Guiel or a Bruney will come along. But not now because other teams want to see what they've got.

The Unit trade was the last chance to upgrade for 2007. And they failed miserably.

The quote was something like, "Wang, Moose, and Pettitte do not a Series winner make."

Well what about Weaver, Reyes, and Carpenter? Or Rogers, and Bonderman?

You don't need Santana to win the World Series.

As for the "Guidry in waiting," you don't know who it's going to be, so there is safety in numbers. Of all the Yankees' pitching prospects, Phil Hughes is the only one who projects as an ace, but he could still flop and someone else might emerge. Thirty years ago, Guidry was Alex Graman (short, ineffective major-league stints in '75 and '76). Thirty-one years ago, Tippy Martinez and Scotty MacGregor were Brian Bruney and Sean Henn, and we were drooling over Dave Pagan's fastball.

I will say that when Cashman says things like "pitchability" i want to light myself on fire.

Now that Shef trade is looking worse and worse. Two RH relief pitchers in return for a 40 HR 100 RBI guy. Brilliant!

I agree with you mehmattski that politics (and religion like yankz mentioned in 24) are probably places we should not go on a baseball site.

The best thing about this site for me is that we are like a big family. Even though I love my family, I generally do not discuss politics or religion with those who I know disagree with me as it mostly leads to heated arguments. That has always been my theory on this site. The only thing we all agree on (with the exception of the trolls) is our love for the Yankees.

Therefore, discussing others topics (while sometimes fun and entertaining) can certainly lead to problems. The civility displayed on this site usually helps us know when to stop and return to what we all love...

Let's go Yankees!

The roster is more flexible, the organization has more liquid personell assets, than it has had in years.

I still wonder what the bench is going to look like, and the lack of a league average backup catcher is worrisome.

But on the whole, I support the work Cashman has done so far, and the direction he seems to be taking with the team.

Also, I enjoyed the way you misspelled my "screen name." That was exceedingly clever.

if there are no children present, and you aren't working, and you aren't easily offended by profanity, take a listen to this:

http://tinyurl.com/y3eeyj

must've been a tough day at the ballpark.

What I don't understand is, why does everyone keep ignoring team payroll? In 2007, the Twins' payroll is probably going to be in the $65M range again. Let's presume it will be around $65-$70M in '08 and '09, and then can jump to $75-$80M (or higher) in 2010 when their new stadium opens. Don't forget, everyone is making a lot of money with the new TV deal, MLBAM, the XM deal, and revenue sharing.

In 2007, two Twins will make 8 figures: Santana ($12M) and Torii Hunter ($12M). The next highest paid Twin is Luis Castillo at $5.75M, then Joe Nathan at $5.25M, Carlos Silva at 4M, Rondell White at $2.5M, Jeff Cirillo at $1.5M, Dennys Reyes at $1M, and Mike Redmond at $1M. A couple of guys are arbitration-eligible, but most of the rest (10+ guys) will make $500K or less, having 3 years or less of MLB service time.

Of the $1M plus group, Santana ($13.5M), Nathan ($6M), Reyes ($1M), and Redmond ($1M) are the only guys under contract for '08. The Twins being the Twins, the other guys are likely gone, freeing up almost $20M (taking Santana and Nathan's raises into account).

My point is, even if Terry Ryan buys out Mauer and Morneau's arbitration years - which he probably will - and even if he has to pay Cuddyer $5M/year in '07 and '08, to pay Santana $20M (or more) a season isn't going to be hard. Especially with a likely increase in attendence (they did win the AL Central this past year, and have the MVP, Cy Young, and batting champ), the way revenues just keep growing MLB-wide, and with a new stadium on the horizon.

I think Ca$hmoney is stocking up on pitching prospects because he expects to have a 3/5 inexpensive, fantastic home-grown rotation by 2010, and to supplement those guys with some young hitters gained by trading pitching prospects. I believe things really have changed in Yankeeland.

Further, you've ignored most comments relating to the ability of Cashman to perform another trade with some of the many arms we have. It may not come before spring training, it may come closer to the trade deadline in July. The roster is fluid, it is not set. I suppose you would have opposed to making Rivera into a reliever in 1996.

(Flashback) Jim Dean: but mehmattski, he threw those 8 shutout innings against the White Sox last year! He's a bone fide starter! Bob Watson is an idiot!

The bench is worse, unbelievably. Cairo is a downgrade from Cairo and the eventual lump in the BUC slot is worse than Kelly Fasano. The 1B sinkhole is certainly worse than Shef. The only saving grace is Melky and the only upgrade is the failure to re-sign Bernie. We'll see if those hold.

The rotation, IMHO, is filled with more questions than answers. Sure, there's a spot for Hughes to win but only if Meat or Igawa both fail to produce. But the Yanks also have to give him the chance. Otherwise, Rasner and Karstens are cheaper but not necessarily better than Unit.

The bullpen is a bullpen. If Britton and Vizcaino help - great. But I'll believe it when I see it.

And all those prospects and flexibility mean squat if they never make the team or can't be trade for more established players. That's an unknown right now. But the players they acquired for Unit are upgrades in no area of their organization - that means they didn't need any of those guys.

The financial flexibility also means nothing for 2007 if they don't sign Clemens - which I don't think they will.

On the whole, Cashman gets a passing mark, but by no means is he at the head of the class. And for what he could have done, I'm more disappointed than anything else.

But should I just call you Steve or are you Rob Gee?

"There was some surprise that the Yankees didn't land pitching prospect Dustin Nippert in their Randy Johnson trade talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the Yankees were guided in their conversations by Kendall Carter, the former national scouting coordinator for the D-Backs; the Yankees just hired Carter last fall as a crosschecker, and based on his inside knowledge of the Arizona system, he recommended that the Yankees pursue Ross Ohlendorf, the sinkerballer who became the centerpiece of the deal. Executives with rival teams say that Nippert's stock has actually fallen in recent months, and say that at a time when organizations are hoarding their best pitching prospects, they [Arizona] have made it known they are willing to swap Nippert in the right deal."

Translation - Arizona was trying to sell high on Nippert.