The rain is coming down in Boston right now and it looks like they're going to do everything they can to get in at least one game for Moose and his quest for 20 victories. It would be a travesty is Mussina missed out on his last chance for 20 wins because of a weekend of bad weather.
Anyway, through this delay I have been thinking a lot about various off-season decisions the Yanks are going to have to make. New York will be in a good position to contend next year. They have all the pieces they need to be successful next season, it seems to be more of a matter of execution by the players and their manager who now has a year of experience in the Big Apple under his belt.
Everyone knows that their first off-season move will concern Brian Cashman. The Steinbrenners have been nothing but vocal about their desire to bring back Cashman and pretty much every fan and media personality says they should bring him back. The only question is whether or not Cashman wants to come back. Obviously I don't have access to Cashman like some in the media, but I find it hard to believe that he would leave now, right as he is on the precipice of seeing the benefits of his rebuilding of the farm system. Not only that but Hal seems to be controlling his brother Hank a bit more which would also give Cashman more of that autonomy that he craves. I would have to say Cashman is probably coming back to the only organization he has ever known.
The next big question will be what free agents the Yankees decide to bring back. I think the answer to that question is fairly simply. You let almost of of them go.
Of the list only Pettitte and Mussina should come back, unless they sign a big free agent like CC Sabathia or Burnett (though they should avoid Burnett like the plague, all the numbers point to him being Carl Pavano Part II) then they should only bring back one of them.
They can afford to let Giambi walk even though he has been productive this year. I like Giambi, but he is 37-years-old and to much of an injury risk. Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui have both expressed interest at playing first base and in Matsui's case he can probably do little else anymore. Matsui at first base would be a smart move as the Yanks would lose little in terms of offensive production while insuring that Matsui could play most of the year.
The last move would be to let Bobby Abreu walk. Abreu is an ok player but he isn't great defensively and his bat will only get worse. He's 34 and will only get slower and more afraid of the outfield wall.
Of course they should offer all of these players arbitration. It would be stupid to let any of them walk without getting something for them. The only one who might accept it is Abreu but all of them are probably looking for one more big contract and if Abreu does accept it then the Yanks can tolerate one more year of good production from him.
All in all the Yanks should have $60 million coming off the books this year and an additional 25 next year. If Cashman comes back he will have a lot more flexibility in payroll and the Yanks will get younger and cheaper. Plus, if all of their free agents do sign elsewhere, the Yanks could have a treasure trove of draft picks next season.
That will be important considering the Yanks have got little to nothing out of their past four 1st round draft picks.
The tarp is off the field so I am off to watch the last meaningful game of the 2008 New York Yankee season.
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