Yankees May Have to go to Plan B Due to Posting System Disagreement

All reports had the Yankees going hot and heavy this winter for Nippon Professional Baseball star Masahiro Tanaka, but because of changes to the posting system Tanaka may be staying in Japan in 2014.

Up until now Major League teams put in blind bids on the rights to negotiate with a NPB player. The team that had the highest bid than had a month to negotiate a deal with the player. If no deal was struck, the amount of the bid was not sent to the Far East.

The complete details have not been announced, but the MLB players union has agreed to the new deal. There's a possibility that the two or three highest bidders would get the chance to negotiate with the player rather than just one team. CBS Sports' Matt Snyder reported that the NPB did not like the proposed idea and would like to receive a fee even if the player doesn't end up signing with an MLB team.

A bigger snag, reported by the NY Times' David Waldstein is coming from MLB, specifically the small market owners. They would like the bid amount to count towards the $189MM luxury tax. In a word, absurd.

The MLB players union will not go along with small market interference and in order to make that kind of a change, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) would have to be re-opened. I don't believe anyone wants that.

One possibility would be for NPB officials to allow a player to negotiate with MLB teams, with a fee to be determined. In the meantime though, the Yankees are going to have to start looking harder at alternatives to the 25-year old Japanese star. Unfortunately, the crop of current free agent pitchers are not in high demand.

MLB Starting Pitcher Free Agents (alphabetical order):

Bronson Arroyo: The 36-year old is a solid National League pitcher, having spent the last 8 years in Cincinnati. Puts up a decent ERA and WHIP, but is a fly ball pitcher. That didn't bode well at the Great American Ballpark and it won't in Yankee Stadium either. Just ask Phil Hughes.

A.J. Burnett: Not Funny!

Bartolo Colon: 40-years old, busted for PED use in 2012. Time to get younger, not fatter.

Matt Garza: About to hit the big 3-0 mark. Never been a big fan of his, think he is overrated. Has been banged up the last two seasons. No thanks.

Roy Halladay: Only if this was five years ago.

Tim Hudson: Remember that part where I said the Yankees need to get younger? Screw that. Hudson knows how to pitch and knows how to win. He'll be 39 in mid-July and I don't care. He's coming off a catastrophic injury (fractured ankle) that occurred when the Mets Eric Young Jr. accidentally stepped on his ankle on a play at first base, and I don't care. Hudson made $9MM the last four years, so give him a two-year, $24MM deal. Hell, throw in a third year.

Ubaldo Jimenez: This is a big risk, with either a big or little reward. Jimenez was bright lights, big city back in 2010 when he won 19 games, had a sub-3.00 ERA and topped 200 in innings and strikeouts. He's had some arm issue since then with the Rockies and Indians, but had a resurgence in the second half (ERA under 2.00) last season.

He'll be looking to get paid after he earned $5.75MM in 2013 and turned down Cleveland's $14.1MM qualifying offer. Despite the fact that he won't turn 30 until January, I don't see the Yankees committing the amount of money Jimenez and his reps will want.

Ricky Nolasco: I can't take another pitcher who spent the bulk of his career with the Marlins. He's likely to stay in the NL anyway.

Ervin Santana: Which Ervin Santana are you going to get? The guy who had an ERA of 3.24 last year or the one who had an ERA of 5.16 the year before. Santana isn't as up and down as it always seems to be, but his performance is inconsistent.  A bigger issue may be money. He made $13MM this past season and had one of his better years. Though he'll still be only 31 when the '14 season starts, I'm not willing to give him multiple years at many millions.

Jason Vargas: Became a free agent when the Angels did not extend a qualifying offer to him. I wouldn't mind this guy as a #4 starter in the rotation. Granted, his best days came in a pitcher's ballpark in Seattle, but he's a decent innings eater. He made $8.5MM last year, so a two-year, $18MM offer with an optional third year might do the trick. I wouldn't guarantee three years though. There's a good chance he'll re-sign with the Angels.

No matter how you slice it, not a lot to choose from. The Yankees will also want to reserve some money for Tanaka if they have to wait until 2015 to try to get him.

Steinbrenners Must Decide: Pass or Play

The Yankees need their big man to come through in the clutch.

The All-Star break has arrived and the New York Yankees are slowly fading into the sunset or AL East basement. If not for the underachieving Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees would already be dwelling in the place where no Yankee has finished since 1990. That team won just 67 games and finished last among seven teams. It's remarkable that entering Sunday's play the Yankees were only six games out of first place.

It's all well and good that the Steinbrenners want to meet a $189MM payroll goal next year, but they have to decide what to do this year. Either make moves, somewhat regardless of salary implications, to try to make the playoffs or sell parts and start to build next year's team.

Injuries and salaries have hamstrung the current squad and the chances of getting those injured players back are getting less and less probable. Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis are already out for the year. Derek Jeter came back after missing the entire season and immediately got hurt with a different injury. Will his second half be a wash or will he contribute? 

Curtis Granderson broke a forearm when he was hit by a pitch, then it was his finger's turn when he came back and got hit by another pitch. He has just gotten the go ahead to take dry swings. A return in mid-August seems to be the likeliest scenario..

Francisco Cervelli appeared to be very close to a return from a broken hand when an old elbow injury acted up. He's also facing possible suspension due to the Biogenesis case.  Speaking of which, Alex Rodriguez is on a slow road back from his second off-season hip surgery and may be hit with a whopper of a suspension. Rumors came out on Sunday that A-Rod was working a plea deal with MLB. Considering this is not yet a judicial matter for A-Rod, the term "plea deal" is awfully strange for this process.

The Yankees need help with their lineup, starting rotation, and bullpen. Hiroki Kuroda has emerged as the ace of the staff with CC Sabathia in a #2 or #3 slot. Sabathia is as competitive as ever, but his fastball and pitch location is not what it was. Andy Pettitte has won a couple of games of late, but has struggled for most of the year and has looked more like a #5 starter than a middle of the rotation guy.

Some of the help for the pitching staff could come from within the organization. Ivan Nova has appeared to recapture his 2011 form, but that is based on a small sampling of work. That being said, his last two starts have produced 17 innings pitched, 17 strikeouts and just three runs (1.59 ERA). He's also limited opponents to eight hits and three walks (0.65 WHIP). Nova has allowed nine earned runs in 35.1 innings (2.29 ERA) over his last six appearances, half of which were starts.

The secret weapon/unknown factor could be Michael Pineda, who has returned strong from career threatening shoulder surgery. It appears that Yankees want to take things slowly with their prized possession, acquired from Seattle in the Jesus Montero deal. After a rehab stint, the Yankees activated Pineda and sent him to Scranton to continue his way back to the Major Leagues. The hard throwing right-hander has had mixed results in his two starts. He allowed two runs and struck out seven over five innings in a win against Lehigh Valley, but gave up a pair of home runs and six runs in four innings in a loss to Syracuse.

Then there's Vidal Nuno, who was impressive in Spring Training and made three starts and a couple of relief appearances in April and May. The southpaw allowed four runs over 17 innings in his starts, but won just one of them due to a lack of run support. Unfortunately, he's been out of action since June 8 with a strained groin.

Among the current starters, Phil Hughes continues to look good one moment and bad the next. Sometimes both at the same time as he did Saturday against the Twins in his final start before the All-Star break. Hughes dominated for much of the game, but allowed four runs and three home runs and took a tough loss. Word is that the Yankees are aggressively shopping him and they should. They need to get near-ready prospects or a Major Leaguer in return rather than wait to see if the draft pick they get as compensation when Hughes leaves, will pan out.

David Phelps started out strong, but has struggled of late and ended up on the DL. Phelps could move back to the pen, possibly sharing a long man role with Adam Warren,  or work on his stuff in Scranton, or return to the rotation.  The Yankees might even try Warren as a starter since he's done such a good job in long relief. A lot will depend on how Nova does while Phelps is out or if Hughes is moved.

Brian Cashman could look at the number of pending free agents to supply another starter as well.  There's quite a list of starters that might be available, but not a lot of quality.

Matt Garza: The Cubs right-hander had a stress fracture in his elbow last season and a latissimus dorsi strain during Spring Training this year. He came back seven weeks later and has been an effective member of the Cubs' starting rotation. Garza is 6-1, 3.17 with a 1.141 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched. With his  fastball clocked in the mid-90s, the 29-year old is in demand. ESPN's Bruce Levine has Toronto and Texas as the leading candidates to land the former Tampa Bay Ray. Thus far there has not been any indication the Yankees are interested. (At least if the Yankees did get Garza they can rip that ugly as hell goatee off of him.) Whoever does land Garza will pay a hefty price to land him.

Ervin Santana: This guy is one of the biggest enigmas in baseball. One minute he looks like he's pitching likeJohan Santana (Ervin's actual real name) in his hey day with the Twins, the next he's pitching like Carlos Santana...the guitarist not the Indians catcher. He's had two seasons with an ERA above 4.00 and three season over 5.00. He's also had four seasons under 4.00 and once finished 6th in the AL CY Young voting.
Santana is a streaky pitcher in the way some sluggers are streaky home run hitters. It's hard to tell what you'll get out of him from one start to the next. So far he's not available, but I would expect that to change.

Bronson Arroyo: It's hard to believe that Arroyo is 36-years old. It seems like just yesterday he was a young, brash pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and mouthing off to A-Rod. Arroyo's been in Cincinnati eight years now after Theo's Epstein dealt him for Wily Mo Pena. Yes, Epstein would like to forget that deal ever happened. Arroyo is one shy of 100 victories in a Reds uniform and has been a workhorse, averaging better than 200 innings a season. With the Reds in the thick of a pennant race he isn't likely to go anywhere.

Of the three, the Yankees have the best shot at getting Santana.

Unfortunately, the remaining pending free agents are either not available (i.e. Atlanta's Tim Hudson) or aren't any better than what the Yankees have now (Guys like Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Vargas). Another option for Cashman is try to obtain a pitcher currently on a team that is already out of the pennant race. One such pitcher would be John Danks from the Chicago "almost everything must go sale" White Sox. On the plus side, Danks is left-handed, but he is coming off shoulder surgery and is ridiculously overpaid at $14.25MM a year and has three more years on his current contract. No thanks.

Kyle Lohse is on a horrible Brewers team, but is in the first year of a three year, $33MM contract. Lohse also seems to be strictly a National League pitcher. He wasn't very good or consistent in the AL. Perhaps a pitcher like Kyle Kendrick could become available closer to the deadline if the Phillies decide to rework the team. That is the biggest problem in trying to obtain front line talent. There are just too many teams still in the playoff race, particularly with the addition of a second wild card in both leagues.

For now it looks like the Yankees will have to do some fixing from within. Guys like Nova and Pineda may be better than anything Brian Cashman can up with in the next month.

BD Hot Stove: Window Shopping | Baseball Digest

BD Hot Stove: Window Shopping | Baseball Digest

A look at some of the biggest trades in the Hot Stove over the last decade. Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Miguel Cabrera.

Around the Horn - 5/13

Pitching was the name of the game in Cleveland last night as the Blue Jays and Indians split a doubleheader. Both teams won by 3-0 margins as all four starting pitchers were on their game. In the opener, Fausto Carmona and A.J. Burnett locked horns in a scoreless duel until the 6th when David Dellucci provided the Indians with an RBI single. One inning later Asdrubel Cabrera smacked a 2-run home run to put the game out of reach. Carmona finished with his second career complete game shutout.

The two teams went scoreless in the night cap after the Jays Shaun Marcum pitched 2-hit ball thru 8 innings and Indians starter Cliff Lee's scoreless 9 innings lowered his ERA to 0.67. The Jays finally put 3 on the board in the 10th to gain the split. Cabrera topped off his night with an unassisted triple play.

The Twins took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox with a 7-3 win. Livan Hernandez got roughed up early, but then settled in to improve to 6-1. Clay Buchholz couldn't hold a 3-0 lead as Craig Monroe and Delmon Young drove in 2 runs each. Monroe had 6 RBI in the final 2 games of the series.

Crazy one in Arlington; Seattle blew 5-0 and 6-5 leads, then the Rangers blew a 4-run lead in the 9th. Ruben Vazquez finally settled things with a walk off home run in the bottom of the 10th for a 13-12 Rangers win. Earlier in the game Vazquez exchanged words with M's reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith after Vazquez took exception to Rowland-Smith's reaction to his strikeout (imagine if it were Joba). That lead to Baseball Tonight's John Kruk delivering the line of the night. "Neither of those guys is good enough to be yelling like that."

The Angels snapped a 4-game losing streak by out scoring the White Sox 10-7. Vlad Guerrero homered and drove in 4 runs to help Nick Adenhart pick up his first major league win.

The Nationals embarrassed the Mets 10-4 on a career night for Odalis Perez. And that was just at the plate. The veteran left-hander turned a so-so outing for his first win of the year, but he was 3-3 with 2 RBI, a run scored, and a sacrifice. Lastings Milledge had his first two RBI against his former mates.

The Pirates and Braves split a twinbill in Pittsburgh. Zach Duke and company blanked the Braves 5-0 in the opener. Freddy Sanchez drove in 3 runs and Adam LaRoche homered. Tim Hudson dominated the nightcap as the Braves earned a split with an 8-1 win. Brian McCann and Mark Kotsay drove in 3 runs each.

The Cubs pounded the Padres 12-3 to boost Carlos Zambrano's record to 6-1. Alfonso Soriano homered and is 6-10 in his last 2 games.

The Astros moved 5 games over .500 and Roy Oswalt won his 4th straight in Houston's 7-3 triumph over the Giants. Lance Berkman homered and his 3 hits have him batting .393.

The Reds held off the Marlins 8-7. Jeff Keppinger and Brandon Phillips homered to help Aaron Harang win his second game.

Around the Horn - 5/13

Pitching was the name of the game in Cleveland last night as the Blue Jays and Indians split a doubleheader. Both teams won by 3-0 margins as all four starting pitchers were on their game. In the opener, Fausto Carmona and A.J. Burnett locked horns in a scoreless duel until the 6th when David Dellucci provided the Indians with an RBI single. One inning later Asdrubel Cabrera smacked a 2-run home run to put the game out of reach. Carmona finished with his second career complete game shutout.

The two teams went scoreless in the night cap after the Jays Shaun Marcum pitched 2-hit ball thru 8 innings and Indians starter Cliff Lee's scoreless 9 innings lowered his ERA to 0.67. The Jays finally put 3 on the board in the 10th to gain the split. Cabrera topped off his night with an unassisted triple play.

The Twins took 3 of 4 from the Red Sox with a 7-3 win. Livan Hernandez got roughed up early, but then settled in to improve to 6-1. Clay Buchholz couldn't hold a 3-0 lead as Craig Monroe and Delmon Young drove in 2 runs each. Monroe had 6 RBI in the final 2 games of the series.

Crazy one in Arlington; Seattle blew 5-0 and 6-5 leads, then the Rangers blew a 4-run lead in the 9th. Ruben Vazquez finally settled things with a walk off home run in the bottom of the 10th for a 13-12 Rangers win. Earlier in the game Vazquez exchanged words with M's reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith after Vazquez took exception to Rowland-Smith's reaction to his strikeout (imagine if it were Joba). That lead to Baseball Tonight's John Kruk delivering the line of the night. "Neither of those guys is good enough to be yelling like that."

The Angels snapped a 4-game losing streak by out scoring the White Sox 10-7. Vlad Guerrero homered and drove in 4 runs to help Nick Adenhart pick up his first major league win.

The Nationals embarrassed the Mets 10-4 on a career night for Odalis Perez. And that was just at the plate. The veteran left-hander turned a so-so outing for his first win of the year, but he was 3-3 with 2 RBI, a run scored, and a sacrifice. Lastings Milledge had his first two RBI against his former mates.

The Pirates and Braves split a twinbill in Pittsburgh. Zach Duke and company blanked the Braves 5-0 in the opener. Freddy Sanchez drove in 3 runs and Adam LaRoche homered. Tim Hudson dominated the nightcap as the Braves earned a split with an 8-1 win. Brian McCann and Mark Kotsay drove in 3 runs each.

The Cubs pounded the Padres 12-3 to boost Carlos Zambrano's record to 6-1. Alfonso Soriano homered and is 6-10 in his last 2 games.

The Astros moved 5 games over .500 and Roy Oswalt won his 4th straight in Houston's 7-3 triumph over the Giants. Lance Berkman homered and his 3 hits have him batting .393.

The Reds held off the Marlins 8-7. Jeff Keppinger and Brandon Phillips homered to help Aaron Harang win his second game.

Around the Horn - 5/8

You can tack another loss on to Barry Zito's record. The Giants gave Zito a start yesterday and held their breath. Throwing 99 pitches in 5 innings is not good, but he gave his team a chance to win by allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. But the Giants bats couldn't do anything against Pirates starter Phil Dumatrait and the bullpen. They finally broke up the shutout in the 9th, but still lost, 3-1.

The Rockies looked like they were going down to defeat again after the Cards' Adam Wainwright shut them down for 7 innings. But Kyle McLellan, Randy Flores, and Jason Isringhausen each did their part to blow the game. The Rocks scored 4 times off of the 3 Cards pitchers in the 8th inning with Chris Ianette delivering the decisive blow- a 2-run game winning triple.

The Astros won their second straight over the Nationals in their final at-bat. In both cases, Carlos Lee delivered the game winning hit. Tuesday night Lee doubled in a pair with the Astros trailing by a run. Last night's game was tied in the bottom of the 9th when Lee singled home Kaz Matsui with the winning run a 4-3 contest.

The Marlins moved 5 games over .500 with a 6-2 win over the Brewers. Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla each homered against a Brewers team that fell back under the .500 mark.

The Mets took out their frustrations from the prior two games and pounded the Dodgers 12-1. Four different Mets drove in 2 runs each and John Maine came within 2 outs of a complete game shutout.

Tim Hudson picked up his 140th career win in the Braves 5-2 thumping of the Padres. The game was tied 2-2 in the 7th when newly acquired Greg Norton put the Braves ahead with a pinch-hit single. The Padres fell to 12-23, but got to watch Bobby Cox get ejected for the 137th time in his managerial career.

As we told you yesterday, Joey Votto smacked 3 home runs and the Reds totalled 7 in all in a 9-0 whitewashing of the Cubs.

The Phillies came back from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4. Eric Bruntlett and Chase Utley each knocked in runs in the go-ahead 8th inning.

Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle in the Twins 13-1 win over the White Sox. Gomez had the two hardest hits, a home run and triple, by the end of the 5th inning. He's the first Twin to achieve the feat since Kirby Puckett in 1986. Meanwhile the White Sox have dropped 7 out of 8.

Detroit blew a 3-run lead, but rallied against Jon Papelbon in the 9th inning to beat the Red Sox 10-9. Curtis Granderson tied it with an RBI ground out before Placido Polanco's 5th hit brought home the game winner for the Tigers. Kevin Youkilis homered twice for Boston.

Mark Ellis belted a walk-off home run in the A's 6-5, 10 inning win over the Orioles. The loss was a season high 5th straight for the O's.

Zach Grienke improved to 4-1 (1.80 ERA) and David DeJesus belted a 3-run HR in the Royals 9-4 thumping of the Angels. Jered Weaver was tagged for 8 runs in just 3.1 innings.

Shaun Marcum allowed just 1 hit over 8 innings before losing the shutout in the 9th, but he came away with the win in the Blue Jays 6-2 triumph over the Rays. Scott Rolen hit his 2nd home run in Jays uni.

Vincente Padilla won his 3rd straight game as the Rangers blanked the anemic Mariners 2-0. Padilla has allowed just 1 earned run over his last 21.2 innings Erik Bedard took the hard luck loss and is just 2-2 despite a 1.99 ERA. The Mariners, who have scored 2 or less runs in 6 of their last 7 games, dropped into sole possession of last place in the AL West.

Around the Horn - 5/8

You can tack another loss on to Barry Zito's record. The Giants gave Zito a start yesterday and held their breath. Throwing 99 pitches in 5 innings is not good, but he gave his team a chance to win by allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. But the Giants bats couldn't do anything against Pirates starter Phil Dumatrait and the bullpen. They finally broke up the shutout in the 9th, but still lost, 3-1.

The Rockies looked like they were going down to defeat again after the Cards' Adam Wainwright shut them down for 7 innings. But Kyle McLellan, Randy Flores, and Jason Isringhausen each did their part to blow the game. The Rocks scored 4 times off of the 3 Cards pitchers in the 8th inning with Chris Ianette delivering the decisive blow- a 2-run game winning triple.

The Astros won their second straight over the Nationals in their final at-bat. In both cases, Carlos Lee delivered the game winning hit. Tuesday night Lee doubled in a pair with the Astros trailing by a run. Last night's game was tied in the bottom of the 9th when Lee singled home Kaz Matsui with the winning run a 4-3 contest.

The Marlins moved 5 games over .500 with a 6-2 win over the Brewers. Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla each homered against a Brewers team that fell back under the .500 mark.

The Mets took out their frustrations from the prior two games and pounded the Dodgers 12-1. Four different Mets drove in 2 runs each and John Maine came within 2 outs of a complete game shutout.

Tim Hudson picked up his 140th career win in the Braves 5-2 thumping of the Padres. The game was tied 2-2 in the 7th when newly acquired Greg Norton put the Braves ahead with a pinch-hit single. The Padres fell to 12-23, but got to watch Bobby Cox get ejected for the 137th time in his managerial career.

As we told you yesterday, Joey Votto smacked 3 home runs and the Reds totalled 7 in all in a 9-0 whitewashing of the Cubs.

The Phillies came back from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4. Eric Bruntlett and Chase Utley each knocked in runs in the go-ahead 8th inning.

Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle in the Twins 13-1 win over the White Sox. Gomez had the two hardest hits, a home run and triple, by the end of the 5th inning. He's the first Twin to achieve the feat since Kirby Puckett in 1986. Meanwhile the White Sox have dropped 7 out of 8.

Detroit blew a 3-run lead, but rallied against Jon Papelbon in the 9th inning to beat the Red Sox 10-9. Curtis Granderson tied it with an RBI ground out before Placido Polanco's 5th hit brought home the game winner for the Tigers. Kevin Youkilis homered twice for Boston.

Mark Ellis belted a walk-off home run in the A's 6-5, 10 inning win over the Orioles. The loss was a season high 5th straight for the O's.

Zach Grienke improved to 4-1 (1.80 ERA) and David DeJesus belted a 3-run HR in the Royals 9-4 thumping of the Angels. Jered Weaver was tagged for 8 runs in just 3.1 innings.

Shaun Marcum allowed just 1 hit over 8 innings before losing the shutout in the 9th, but he came away with the win in the Blue Jays 6-2 triumph over the Rays. Scott Rolen hit his 2nd home run in Jays uni.

Vincente Padilla won his 3rd straight game as the Rangers blanked the anemic Mariners 2-0. Padilla has allowed just 1 earned run over his last 21.2 innings Erik Bedard took the hard luck loss and is just 2-2 despite a 1.99 ERA. The Mariners, who have scored 2 or less runs in 6 of their last 7 games, dropped into sole possession of last place in the AL West.