is a no-brainer, from what I can see. The Yankees aren’t ready to go into a brand new direction and the list of free-agent GMs isn’t impressive. Go with the devil you know— and hope he doesn’t fork you in the end.

All indications were that Cole was going to sign. His father decided to take full control of this thing and wouldn’t even accept an offer from the Yanks.

This surprised everybody, including Scott Boras himself. And we all know that Boras wanted to get paid, so I don’t think he was thrilled that Cole’s father decided to go that route.

And I’m not sure what you saw in the CWS regarding Jeremy Bleich – but I saw a kid that pitched extremely well until his final start.

He mowed down two of the top offensive clubs in the country in back-to-back starts (Cal State Fullerton and Florida State) after coming back from arm trouble he had earlier in the season.

He’ll probably sail through the minors at a pretty fast rate.

A Yankee team that admits defeat and decides to win in a couple of years???? I don’t know…. that would be unlike this franchise to do that, and I think fans would be against it. The Yankees are about putting all they can into every year to win-win-win. Yes, one might bring up the late 80s/early 90s but, well, that choice was based on poor decisions that put them into a losing situation. Anyway, teams don’t usually announce they are following this type of strategy, though I’m sure it’s been done.

Do you think other teams will give up good young guys and prospects for Matsui, Damon, Posada and Pudge, which is what you want? Unless you know something the other team doesn’t, I don’t think these players will bring back anything of significance. All are older or just not as good as they used to be. If you just want young players heck just grab them from your own minor league system— there’s plenty of young players down there! Giambi and Abreu are off the books so you can’t trade them. Cano you can get a little for but maybe not as much since the Yankees would be “selling low”, in a sense.

Hughes and Kennedy probably shouldn’t be written off… yet. The Yankees will need to keep pitching them until is it overwhelmingly evident they will never be any good, especially since they weren’t traded for Johan Santana. Relying on young pitching is a tough thing to do. Sometimes it works right away, sometimes it fails right away but, sometimes, it takes a little time for a pitcher to come around. They might end up being “not that good”. It is still a little too early to tell, in my opinion.

That is my last Yankee comment of the day. I’m Nettles9.

Good day.

He is gone, this was his final year of his deal and its unlikely that the Yankees will resign him, or even offer him arbitration possibly. Like the poster above me said, its highly unlikely that anyone would want to trade for Matsui or Damon. Trading Cano would also be like selling low, not much profit to gain from it. Though getting a setup man would be nice, I am not sure there is anyone on the FA market that would be worth it. Our dilemma these past seasons when signing free agents is that they haven’t been able to handle the pressure here in NY. Look at Quantrill from a few seasons past, also Mike Myers. Latroy Hawkins as well. Building up young pitchers that can handle the spotlight is the best way to go, and is why I am backing up Jose Veras. He did a pretty solid job this season, and I think he has the stuff to setup. Its just whether he has the mental fortitude.