Happy New Year! Things are quiet….

As we usher in the New Year of 2013, things have been quiet in Yankeeland.

There are no hot rumors of trades or signings as we still wonder who will be the Yanks’ catcher and DH in 2013, not to mention who’ll fill out the bench.

A couple aging Hall-of-Famers are coming off major injuries (Jeter, Rivera) and another (?; steroid abuse, Alex) will miss half the year if not more because of an operation.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of free agents still available. None of the major ones really fit the Yankees needs, and with the Yanks cutting back on spending, the $$$ isn’t there for them.

Michael Bourn, Kyle Lohse and Rafael Soriano are still out there. Soriano could be a fit, only because he went 2-1, 2.26 with 42 saves in filling in for the injured Rivera last year. But Soriano probably wouldn’t want to go back to the setup role he was unhappily doing in 2011. But after a strong year, it’s interesting that he opted out and still is unsigned.

Boston has been talking to Adam LaRoche, since the Napoli deal may fall through.

Shaun Marcum and Joe Saunders are out there. So are Jose Valverde and Delmon Young.

Young is a righty bat, which the Yanks could use, and a .284 hitter. He was the ALCS MVP vs. the Yanks last year. Although his 162 g. average is .284-16-89, his OPS+ is just 98 due to a poor BB/K ratio. (27/115).

There is still Scott Hairston. There’s Thome or Berkman.

There’s …. (fill in the blank).

But it appears the Yanks are “dumpster-diving.” Who they pick up between now and the start of spring training (and it’s getting closer), who knows?

As of now, who will  be the C, DH or bench?

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has gone up 2%… and that’s just from all the NFL coaches and GMs being fired. Black Monday indeed.

 

Greinke traded to Brewers

MLBTR reporting that Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt and $2mm are headed to the Brewers for Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and Jake Odorizzi. There is a player to be named later, which may or may not be Jeremy Jeffress (conflicting reports).

Reports also are that before making this deal, KC had a deal with the Nats lined up but Greinke refused to waive a no-trade in order to go to the Nats.

This is the second move for a pitcher for the Brewers this offseason. Earlier, they traded for Shawn Marcum of Toronto.

Joel Sherman had an interesting comment in his column today, in which he thinks that the yanks may be overvaluing their prospects. You have to wonder. Not giving up Nova and/or Nunez (to replace injured David Adams) may have cost Cliff Lee last summer. But then again, I can see Cashman’s take that if he had given up Montero and more (Nova/Nunez, pitching) and Lee would have gone to his heart’s content after just 1/2 a year with the Yankees that it would have been too much to lose for a three-month rental. You would have had to keep the guy. But if Lee’s heart was always fixed on Philly….

As for now, are they still fixated on keeping the prospects? With a catching glut of Montero, Romine and (down the road) Sanchez (others are mentioned also, like a J.R. Murphy) you can expect a trade of one of them and even Cervelli, especially if Martin establishes himself. I read about ten pitchers the Yanks may have at the AA/AAA level, all decent prospects, and teams have inquired about nine of them.

So, at what point does Cashman pull the trigger? Who stays, and who goes?

And as we head into Christmas, we’re still waiting on Pettitte.

Cashman was dressed as an elf when he did that building thing. Now it’s time to be Santa and see if he can get Yankee fans some presents, especially in trying to find that #2 starter. As of now, a rotation of CC, Phil (a #3 for now), A.J, Nova and Mitre—especially on the back end—is as unappetizing as the gruel that Scrooge had on Christmas Eve, and the ghosts of season present and future don’t look good unless change comes.  …  and that, is a baseball  carol.                

How high for Lee?

Joel Sherman guesstimates the Yanks going six years and $144-$150M for Lee. There are reports Lee wants 7 years and that one team will go there but that it isn’t the Yanks going to 7 years.

Speculation abounds as to what the Tulowitzki and especially the Werth deal means to the market, and especially to Lee and Crawford.

I always liked Ty Wigginton as a utility guy (1B, 3B, DH, 2B, corner OF) for the Yanks, but he is going to the Rockies. Decent bat, good versatility.

The Marcum from Toronto to Milwaukee deal went through. Melvin Mora signs with AZ and will get some of the playing time that used to belong to Reynolds.

The NY Daily News on Moseley:

…was non-tendered because he was looking for something greater than what New York had offered, and New York didn’t want to go to arbitration.

  

Update, 10:20 a.m. — Buzz is the Nats could be going 7 years and throwing a ton at Lee as they did to Werth?    

Update II, Noon—So what is it? Bold emphasis (from MLBTR) mine to show how one says yes, the other says no…

• There is nothing to Lee and the Nats, tweets Kilgore, and Heyman agrees.  An exec Morosi spoke to insists they are still “on everybody” though.
• Lee’s agent Darek Braunecker described his discussions with the Rangers and Yankees as “positive” and “productive,” talking to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan.
• The Nationals are prepared to offer Lee a seven-year deal, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.  But talking to two Nationals sources, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reports that such an offer has zero chance of happening.  The contract length is very important to Lee, tweets SI’s Jon Heyman.  There is growing speculation among rival executives and agents that the Nationals will throw a huge number at Lee, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that the Yankees have vowed not to exceed six years or the $161MM that they gave Sabathia for Lee. Sherman feels the Yankees will top out at $144MM-$150MM over six years. As GM Brian Cashman said, Sabathia’s presence as an ace makes Lee a “pleasant addition,” but not a necessity.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports discusses how signing Lee could affect Sabathia.

 

Gee, one says nothing to it, another says preparing to offer, another zero chance, another with speculation  ….   So what is the TRUTH? Sheesh.

1 pm: From LoHud:

Meanwhile, the Orlando morning buzz is quickly becoming an afternoon non-story. There are now multiple reports that the Nationals are not in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. In this age of Twitter and 10-minute news cycles, this sort of thing is inevitable. Reporters hear something, and they report it. When it’s shot down, they report that too. This is the nature of the beast.

News on Lee / Is Marcum Milw. bound?

MLBTR has rumors on Lee, bold emphasis mine:

Lee told teammates that he would return to the Rangers if they offer him a sixth year, sources tell Tim Brown of Yahoo (via Twitter).

Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter) hears that Texas will not offer six years to Lee but expects the Yankees to do so.

The Yankees have yet to make a formal proposal to Lee and his agent Darek Braunecker is hoping to get a deal done in Orlando, says Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links).

It still looks like a two-horse race for Cliff Lee, who has been visited in person twice by the Rangers and once by the Yankees, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. “It appears the Rangers will draw the line at five years for the 32-year-old lefthander,” Cafardo says. “But the Yankees could put it over the top with a sixth year.”

MLBTR has more. … but 6 yrs and $140M?

MLB.com has reports of Toronto sending Shawn Marcum to Milwaukee for prospects.