I posted about Haren on another thread. I got a bad, bad gut feeling about him. Completely irrational, I know.

MLBTraderumors is in fact an awesome site. One of my daily checks.

Alex, I've been advocating Dan Haren for a few days now, but I am not as hot for the deal as I was earlier. I would still like to have him, though.

I saw the recent game vs the Mets. He's got a 91-92 mph fastball, a decent curve and an 87 mph cutter. Very similar repetoire as Hughes. Hughes has more zip, Haren more polish and command.

He is signed to a good contract from now thru 2012, w/ an option for 2013, so that part is tricky depending on Andy's plans. If Andy is going to retire, Haren becomes more attractive because we have to replace him and Javy. But if not, we only need one, and that's gotta be Lee.

My guess is TB will open the checkbook and get and impact bat.
I won't say Boston is dead, but I don't think they will make any big moves, unless it's one for the future.

I'm still not sure which way Cashman blows. I'll guess a UINF who has a decent bat. We need BP help, but so does everyone, and I'm not sure there are many impact choices. The best choice might be Hughes, which mean a Haren/SP could be a possibility.

[1] I don't think it's irrational at all. When a guys suddenly can't keep it in the park, in the NL, I think it's very wise to be cautious.

[2] Lee is tasty, but I wonder if dollars are an issue. ARod and Jeter will be expensive over the next 2/3 years, and we probably won't get our money's worth. I just wonder how many big/expensive FAs we can get over the next 2/3 years.

Are people still willing to give Jeter 4/$80m? Would Cashman have the balls to offer him 2/$30m? If Joba being Joba continues, we may need to go out and get an impact closer ($10+m)

3) I’m still not sure which way Cashman blows.

I'm not sure that's any of our business! ;)

5) the Yankees are going to overpay to keep Jeter, that's pretty certain. It doesn't really matter whether the contract is for two or three or four years...twenty million in payroll three or four years down the line is simply not much of a concern when you consider how much is coming off the books over that time. The worst case scenario is that They give him four years and have to eat the last couple. Oh well.

What really matters is next year and maybe the year after. So, is it worth it to bicker with Jeter for the different of five million (your 4/80 v. 2/30 scenario).

5) what impact closer would you target?

[5] I don't have any concerns about the Yanks ability to handle the Lee contract.

I don't know how it plays out with Jeter, but I suspect it will be basically whatever he wants.

I guess Mariano will be here for at least 2 more years b4 we have to worry about the closer role.

With those 2 guys, I don't worry too much because I think they have no interest in hanging on and performing badly.

3) I'm not picking on you...you just raise a bunch of interesting questions. I disagree that the team necessarily needs a BUIF who can hit, though that would be nice. Rather, they need a bat plain and simple, someone who can fill the DH spot. Given that it is pretty hard to find a BUIF who can hit, I wonder if a corner OF is the better way to go?

[9] Would you prioritize finding a DH for the remainder of 2010 over a starting pitcher for several years? I can see both arguments.

The DH might be cheaper in prospects and may not be necessary w/ Montero/Posada assuming DH at bats in 2011. The pitcher could cause a logjam in the rotation if Andy wants to return.

A small timeout for a nice "small world" story:

25 years ago (or more) I took part in an in-person Strat league. I played in it for about 10 years. Then I left to take up Scrabble (and roto) more seriously. Flash forward to early this year .... I discover that a good many of the old league members are on Facebook, and many of us reconnect. One fellow invited me to his apartment (the same one I visited back in the day) to have dinner and meet his wife and kids. Tonight he and I are going to the Yankee game, in the Todd Drew seats.

Pretty cool!

p.s. He's a die-hard Red Sox fan, but still a nice guy! :-)

I really dislike the current look of the Trade Rumors site. Is it supposed to scare people or something?

10) I'm not sure what you have in mind, but i was referring only to priorities for this season. In general I am skeptical of trying to line up pitching for several years in advance. The yankees are already tied into CC longterm and AJ for a couple more years. Presumably Hughes will be on the team for the foreseeable future. That is a solid core, though not without question marks. Also, doesn't Javy have an option for next year? Lastly, surely one of the Yankees minor leaguers will pan out as tbleast a serviceable starter.

Given that, i would be les a interested in trying to make a big trade for a stud pitcher, since it will costnmoney and prospects. I think that good or even very good pitchers can be obtained in the off season via free agency.

[13] I was referring to fact that there are a couple of good pitchers available who are signed for multiple years (Oswalt and Haren) vs a one and done hitter, like Dunn. Both make a certain amount of sense.

And I don't think Javy has an option for next year. I think he a free agent, in fact I think he's the second best free agent on the market after Lee.

14) Javy is the second best FA...Yikes!

Still, I tend to be very skeptical of signing a bunch of pitchers long term. Oswalt would be great, but he is already 32. But then the Yankees would simply take over his contract and he would be gone in a couple of years. Tough call.

As it is, I think the Yankees will massively overpay for Lee in the offseason anyway, so i am less worried about the pitching going forward.

Hmmm....

According to Cots, NO option on JV for 2011.
It looks like Oswalt to the Cards.
Cashman was willing to give prospects for Lee, but I think he is one of the few (we would give up quality kids for)
If you get a COF, do you sit Grandy? I preder Gardy to Grandy, AB AND in the field.
As mentioned, Po/Montero is probably the DH for 2011, and ARod down the road (2013/2014), so I can only see a short term solution there for 2010..... and I still think Po can only Catch 60% of the time, so we already have 40% of a DH and Miranda ain't terrible.

I think our biggest concern is the BP.

16) yeah, I would target a corner OF/DH so that Grandy can sit v. LHP.

I'm still not convinced that Posada can only catch 40% of the time. But that's an argument for another day. In any case, i seriously doubt Montero will see much MLB action even next year unless they entirely give up on him as a catcher.

16) whoops...you wrote Po catching 60% of the time. Yeah, that probably sounds about right.

I highly doubt that ARod will be a full-time DH by 2013/2014, and anyway I would never worry planning about that far in advance. That is, I would not avoid signing a big bat now because the hitter has a longer term contract and you want to 'save' the DH for Arod or whoever down the road.

I wonder what DeJesus' injury does to his trade value. Several teams were reportedly interested in obtaining him.

19) I thought the same thing last night. It has to hurt it. How bad is the injury? Last night they only said he would miss the rest of the series, but I read a quote somewhere, I can't remember, predicting he would be out 'for some time'.

[20] The first report was a sprained thumb, which has the tendency to linger.

i think i've read every damn post at mlbtr for over 5 years now. i check in there multiple times a day. yeah, it's never had an easy to read layout, but the content is rather excellent...