Yankees May Be Interested In Ryan Hanigan

The Cincinnati Reds signed a two year deal with catcher Brayan Pena giving them three catchers currently on their 40 man roster making Ryan Hanigan likely to be the odd man out. The Yankees have reportedly had interest in Hanigan in the past and may have interest in him again even though they have four catchers of their own on the 40 man roster in Francisco Cervelli, JR Murphy, Austin Romine, and THE Chris Stewart.

Hanigan struggled mightily in 2013 in his age 33 season posting a triple slash of .198/.306/.261 with only two home runs in a very home run friendly ballpark in Cincinnati. Hanigan is still arbitration eligible and is expected to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,300,000 in 2014 which may end up keeping him out of New York with the looming luxury tax threshold goal. If you look at Hanigans BABIP of .216 in 2013 and compare it to his career .283 BABIP you may find the reason why Hanigan struggled so much and may be reason enough to take a waiver on him  if the price is right.

Hanigan takes his walks, career 12% walk rate, and is tough to strike out which is always nice to have at the bottom of your order in the American League. Hanigan is also solid behind the dish, unlike the myth that is THE Chris Stewart, as evident in Ryan leading the league in caught stealing percentage to years in a row with a 45% success rate in 2013 and a 48% rating in 2012. Hanigan is also well known for his framing pitch ability so there is always that to look forward to as well.

The Yankees need to worry about their own catching situation before looking to take someone else's problems off their hands as one of our catchers has to go. There is zero possibility that the Yankees go with four catchers on the 40 man roster, that is before Gary Sanchez is protected from the Rule 5 draft. The Yankees for this reason will simply not have enough room on the 40 man for another catcher, even Brian McCann, without  a move or two going down via trades. If the Yankees were interested in Hanigan I would hope it would be as a back up catcher and not a starting catcher but either way I cannot see Hanigan in pinstripes in 2014.

Carlos Beltran To Decline Qualifying Offer

Carlos Beltran has said that he'll reject the qualifying offer given to him by the St. Louis Cardinals. Seeing as how the Cards have plenty of young talent, I see no way they re-sign Beltran, so I think it's safe to say that he will be available.

Carlos is reportedly looking for a three or four-year deal, which would likely be the final contract he'll sign in Major League Baseball. It makes sense that he'd try and cash in after two great years in St. Louis, in which he hit .282/.343/.493 with 56 home runs, not to mention some postseason heroics.

There will be plenty of competition for Beltran's services, so a 3+ year deal is not out of the question at all. However, I think a two year deal with an option for a third sounds more likely. Due to his age, I'm not sure Carlos will last three more years in the outfield, so having the DH spot available in a couple of years could be key.

Sabathia Pleads For Cano To Come Back

"It will never be behind me entirely. Some of that, what happened last year will drive me to hopefully be better in the future. Keeping that back there will help, not getting too comfortable and working, trying to get better and watching video, just trying to get better in every way and I think last year was a good reminder of that."

Last season CC set a career high in ERA, WHIP, and home run rate. Going by WAR, it was Sabathia's least valuable season of his career. Even if it weren't for the fact that three out of five starters from last season's Yankees are no longer under contract, the team needs their "ace" to get back on track.

So it's good to hear that CC hasn't suffered any setbacks this offseason, and is currently working out at full strength. Hopefully he and Larry Rothchild, who is now officially back as the Yankees pitching coach, can figure out what happened and fix it.

However, it's not just CC that needs to figure things out. Brian Cashman is going to be a very active man this winter, as he looks to plug a number of holes on the team. And Sabathia knows this...

"We’ve got some spots open and hopefully some of these young kids can step up, but we’re going to have to go out and look for some new guys."

Along with those "new guys" is Robinson Cano, who could be looking at a $200 million contract. The big guy is pleading with the second baseman that he comes back with the Yankees. When he was asked what advice he'd give to Robbie, this is what he had to say...

“Stay here. I’ve played with him [Cano] for five years now and I think he’s the best second baseman in the game. Obviously he is one of my dear friends, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

Sabathia said free agency wasn't fun for him, as uprooting his family was very stressful.

quotes courtesy of The New York Post

Yankees Interested In Bringing Back Eric Chavez

Dan Martin of the New York Post has reported that the New York Yankees are interested in bringing back Eric Chavez to the team in 2014. If this deal happened it would make so much sense for the Yankees as they would have their guy at third base if Alex Rodriguez was suspended and would also have a viable backup option for Mark Teixeira at first base a couple days a week. Chavez battled health issues again in 2013 after leaving the Yankees for his hometown Diamondbacks and the 35 year old has acknowledged that he can no longer play everyday which works perfectly into our plans next season. If Alex Rodriguez is suspended and we are looking for a good backup for Eduardo Nunez at third base and for Mark Teixeira at first base then I think Eric Chavez is the perfect fit for the Yankees.

Yankees Said To Not Be "In" On Ervin Santana

The New York Yankees are interested in almost every starting pitcher on the free agent market right now with the exceptions of Phil Hughes, for obvious reasons, and Ervin Santana, for not so obvious reasons. The Yankees brass does not feel that Santana would be a good fit in New York, which I disagree with, and do not like the fact that he would cost the Yankees a draft pick since Santana was offered a qualifying offer. Santana is expected to decline the offer fro the Royals and will test the market via free agency. There is no way that Santana would fit in with the Yankees goal of getting under the $189 million luxury tax threshold which may be the ultimate decision maker for the Yanks.

Carlos Beltran Wants Three To Four Year Deal

Carlos Beltran is expected to decline his qualifying offer from the St. Louis Cardinals in hope of landing a three or four year deal this winter. I had a lot of interest in Beltran manning right field for the Yankees in 2014 and now it's gone. Beltran's days in St. Louis are numbered and now his chances of coming back to New York are dwindling as well, especially with the Boston Red Sox said to be in the mix for his services. Beltran turns 37 years old in April and I do not covet the idea of having another 40 year old in right field finishing out his career, I thought that is what we were trying to get away from here. I understand asking for the moon in November and settling in the middle in December but if there is an inkling of truth to this count me out of the Beltran sweepstakes.

Scorpions shutout by Desert Dogs, 1-0

Well, this one was absolutely terrible. In their home game tonight against the Glendale Desert Dogs, the Scorpions were able to get just 3 hits in a 1-0 loss. I get that this is just Arizona Fall League, but really, no runs and 3 hits in a home game? They're better than that. 

Anyway, Yankees outfielder Mason Williams went 0-for-4 in this one while reliever Brett Gerritse pitched two scoreless innings and reliever James Pazos threw one scoreless frame. With this loss, the Scorps record on the season is now just 10-16, 4.5 games out of first place in the AFL East. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/9

On this day in 2004, after coming out of retirement, Roger Clemens became the oldest pitcher to ever win a Cy Young Award. Clemens went 18-4 in 218 innings while throwing to a 2.98 ERA for the Yankees in his age 42 season. This would be Roger's seventh Cy Young award and would become the first player to ever win it with four teams including the Yankees, Astros, Red Sox, and Blue Jays.

Add Haren, Arroyo, & Feldman To The Yankees Wish List

Add a few more names to the Yankees Christmas wishlist and shopping list this evening as Jon Heyman is reporting that the Yankees are interested in pitchers Bronson Arroyo, Scott Feldman, and Dan Haren. Okay so I know that Brian Cashman has to work the phones, do his due diligence, leave no stone un-turned, explore every option, etc. I get that and I appreciate that and the effort but being interested in a guy like Arroyo makes absolutely no sense. Either way the Yankees seem to be ready to become very aggressive at next week's GM Meetings.

Arroyo is 36 years old and went to the National League because he could not cut in the American League anymore, specifically in the AL East, so I think a move back would be foolish. Arroyo is coming off of a 3.79 ERA and 4.49 FIP in a traditionally home run friendly ballpark in Cincinnati in 202 innings pitched. If the Yankees needed a 5th or 6th starter type and had every other position filled then sure you an make room for a big innings eater that can keep you into games but right now I still say we have to pass on Bronson.

Feldman had a pretty decent season split between the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles and may be a sleeper pick for whoever acquires him in 2014. Feldman is only 30 years old and is coming off a combined 3.86 ERA and  4.03 FIP in 182.2 innings pitched. Feldman will likely not command a long or big money contract and could fit nicely in or around the #3 spot in our rotation so I say make a guy like Masahiro Tanaka a priority but after that is in the bag I could see us going after a guy like Feldman.

Dan Haren scares the hell out of me after he struggled in a strong National League East division last year with the Nationals. That task is only going to get harder in the American League East with the Yankees if he were to come here although he did pitch better in the second half then he did in the first. I know we were after him at the end of last season but that was only to upgrade over Phil Hughes, now he has a little bit bigger shoes to fill so right now I may have to pass.

Current Batch Of Yankees Minor League Free Agents

Baseball America has listed their annual list of minor league free agents and quite a few members of the New York Yankees have made the list. Some of these guys you may have heard of and most you probably have not and some may be back for 2014 depending on how the winter goes. Oh and one was suspended for 50 games for being part of the Biogenesis scandal, go figure. Anyway, here is the list:

RHP: Cory Arbiso (AA), Sam Demel (AAA), Yoshinori Tateyama (AAA)

C: Bobby Wilson (AAA)

1B: Andrew Clark (AA), Randy Ruiz (AAA)

2B: Reegie Corona (AA)

SS: Walter Ibarra (AAA)

OF: Fernando Martinez (AAA), Corey Patterson (AAA)

Fernando Martinez was the third member of the Yankees to be suspended for the Biogenesis fallout just in case you were wondering and have been living under a rock for the past four or five months or so and is not expected to be back. Corey Patterson was a veteran depth signing to help an ailing Scranton outfield and is also not expected back in pinstripes in 2014. I do not expect Bobby Wilson, Andrew Clark, Cory Arbiso, or Yoshinori Tateyama back with the Yankees next season. 

Walter Ibarra may come back as the Yankees utility guy in the minor leagues as he has a lot of familiarity within the organization as long as he has been here. Same with Corona as he has spent his entire professional career with the Yankees bouncing around. Sam Demel pitched his butt off in Scranton and has major league experience and with so much uncertainty coming from the Yankees bullpen in 2014 he may stick around for a shot at the big club. 

Not any eye popping names here that we absolutely have to bring back but one thing the Yankees lacked last year was depth and bringing a few of these guys back, namely Ibarra and Demel, will be mutually beneficial in 2014.