As most of you may already know Martin has agreed to a deal with the Pirates. I find it hard to believe that the New York Yankees will go with any of their internal candidates so lets take a look at what else is out there.
1. Mike Napoli : Napoli played with the Rangers last season and I believe he probably will resign there. He had 24 HR and good defense although his batting average was only .227 at 31 he will be the most coveted after catcher now that Martin is gone.
2. A.J. Pierzynski: Coming off a career year with the White Sox AJ is 35 years old and knocked in 27 HR with 77 RBI and a .277 BA last season. The question is can he repeat this performance. AJ would thrive in the Big Apple being a player that plays with alot of passion and energy. If you think Joba and his fist pump are media worthy in NY I can hardly imagine what AJ would bring. Like Martin I think the Yankees will show interest but he may seek more money than they are willing to spend. But If he would take a one or two year deal at say 7m a year the Yankees would be dumb not to jump.
3,Rod Barajas: 37 years old, very little power, HORRIBLE DEFENSE. Only got out like 6% of base runners
4.. Henry Blanco: 41 years old played off the bench for the Diamondbacks. Not even a consideration for back up so don’t even think about him. He should retire before embarrassing himself further.
5.Migel Olivo: He is borderline in every aspect hitting fielding ect… I dont think the Yankees would show an interest in him but he is a better choice than anything they have in house.
6.David Ross: last years back up for the Red Sox at 35 still has some pop left in his bat but not an everyday player in my mind.
7.Mike Nickeas lol NO
so basicly the only free agent catchers to be considered are AJ and Napoli, both of which may be to expensive for the Yankees to fit into their newly tight purse.
There seems to be some talk that perhaps a trade makes sense. Anyone for a Granderson for Mauer trade? I love the Idea. Granderson is very Overrated. OK, he does hit for a ton of power last year hitting 43 long balls but its the .223 BA and the 195 strikeouts that concern me. Mauer is a career .300 hitter that has been plagued by injuries the last couple of years but when healthy there is no a better catcher in the game. certainly not one that can hit .300 double digit homers and has a career .995 fielding percentage. 3 gold gloves and 4 silver sluggers by age 29 certainly make mauer worth the big price tag that he holds. Yes its a very big price tag. In order for something like this to happen the Twins would have to eat some of the 23 million a year and he also has full no trade protection.
mike rook
Mike Genovese
rotufaro
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December 4, 2012 at 12:32 pm
silver price
To me this years Yankees was built to be sluggers. There wasn’t enough building runs and small ball but there sure were a lot of HR. They need to figure out what will be a good balance of both. The Pitching was outstanding. Bringing back Kuroda and Pettitte should be a priority. I feel like Nova and Hughes should be given a opertunity to compete for a spot but should also be considered trade bait while their value is still decent. Garcia should be done and Phelps should definitely be part of the rotation. Most of the bull pen should try and be retained however there is a good chance that Soriano will exercise his opt out clause and not return. Boy will it be good to see Mo back on the mound though huh? Eppley,Logan,Robertson,Chamberlain were all great and should be retained. I wouldnt even mind seeing Lowe come back on a non Roster invite if he is unable to sign elsewhere with a chance to compete for a Rotation spot.
December 12, 2012 at 7:44 pm
mike rook
I couldnt agree more although I think that David Ardsma will be a sleeper in the back of the pen and will provide some insurance if Mo goes down. It will be interesting to see how the roster will look this year and next as they try and get under the lux tax cap