I have some thoughts about Teixiera.  Pete A doesn't think the Yanks are really going to go after him.  I agree with his analysis on the economics. 

But:

1. What if Boston makes a real play for Teixiera?
2. Even if we sign CC and another FA pitcher, how do we make the playoffs when we have lost the production of Abreu and Giambi?  (nearly 200 runs created between them)

First, If Cash doesn't make an effort to sign Tex and the Sox nab him - and they subsequently club us into submission in '09 - wouldn't that be tantamount to suicide?

Second, If we want to make the playoffs next year we have to leapfrog either Boston or Tampa Bay; that's doable, but not necessarily easy.  Why throw $20+M per at CC and hope that your hitters will put up enough runs to jump the Sawks and/or the Rays?  That doesn't make sense to me.  If they are going to go the free agent route, why not commit to the strategy and get the best position player on the market (who, by the way, plays a position where we have been weak defensively for the last few years - and plays it well).

Otherwise, why throw any money at CC at all?  Clearly we are not on a 5 year plan.  If we were, then why not wait to see if Joba and Hughes develop into the starters we think they can be and avoid sacrificing draft picks by signing big free agents?  If we drop in the standings, all the better, we will get higher draft picks and be able to build a farm system capable of producing some real talent in the position player department (a la Stick's work in the early 90's).  As it stands, we don't have any real hitters/position players in the pipeline.  Yes, Ajax is highly touted.  But he's at the top of a short list of position players with a high ceiling and he's not ready for the majors yet.  On top of that we have no idea if he will ever be as good as Tex - who is clearly the best position player on the market - let alone how good he will be when he first makes it to the show. 

The Bronx unloaded a TON of payroll (perhaps as much as $80M, with almost $40M between Giambi and Abreu alone, according to USA Today) but the offensive production of those two players hasn't been replaced (Swisher ain't bad, can you honestly make the argument that he replaces both Abreu and Giambi?).  So even if our starting rotation gets better assuming we get CC and for the sake of argument, Lowe - our lineup as it stands today is weaker than last year's - wouldn't the Yanks just be treading water?  Do you think that's good enough to jump either the Sox or the Rays in the standings?

Hopefully we will get better production out of Jorge (if he's healthy enough to catch all year) and Cano - but those are still big question marks to my eyes.

It's not like Cash couldn't make room for Tex.  Moving either Nady or Damon could be possible (preferably Damon, though the Yanks would probably have to eat some of his contract if they could find a trading partner - and I'm not sure whether he has a no-trade in is contract).  If he could pull that off, there would re room for Swisher in one of the corner OF positions.  Cashman's own words seem to suggest he would be OK with starting Swisher at a corner position, "He’s a guy who can give us plus defense at the corners".

I would love to see left to right: Nady, Gardner/Melky/Ajax, Swisher in the outfield with Arod, Jeter, Cano and Tex left to right in the infield and Jorge catching.  DH Matsui or Damon (if you can't get rid of him) and rest Jorge once a week.  Bat them however you like.

I could see why Cashman would want to give the impression that he's not in the running for Tex (he can be Greenspanian in his vagueness).  But I don't see them making the playoffs next year if they don't sign Tex (as well as signing CC and another starter who can fit into the 3rd slot in the rotation).  The thing is that they have a lot of money to spend and a decent amount of ground to cover in order to bridge the gap between them and Boston and Tampa.

I acknowledge that they will go after FA pitchers aggressively because they have the money and want to stock up so that they are not depending on the young arms like they were last year.  I also am aware that Boras wants 10 years for Teixiera and that's likely out of the range of the plausible for the Yanks, but given the current state of the economy, isn't that a bit unrealistic for just about any team?  If the Yanks can't afford him, who can?  Plus we got Boras to come down on his demand for 7 years with Damon a few years ago - maybe we could nab Tex with an offer of 6 years / $20M per.

The only limitation that I'm aware of is that Cashman said they wouldn't spend more than they did last year (approx. $382M on long term free agent signings).  So we are almost halfway there already with our offer to Sabathia, and there is only so much room in there.  But I don't see the door as totally shut to Tex, unless you think Lowe or Burnett can command the kind of salary that CC can.

I realize that I might be splitting hairs here, "Is the door totally shut?" vs. "Is the door open just a crack?"  Last year was pretty good evidence that pitching is more important than hitting, but I don't see Swisher as enough of an addition to keep them at the level they will need to be at in order to compete in the AL East even if we get CC.