If Pettitte is dead set on retiring, the Yankees have another big rotation hole to fill.  In a market where its Cliff Lee, Greinke or fail it looks like the Yanks are going to have a hard time finding adequate replacements.  They need an elite pitcher.  A strike throwing machine who walks very little.  There's not much on the market but this guy is very interesting.  He's good and he's cheap and not even in his prime yet. 

Of course I'm talking about Gavin Floyd.

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HAHA! According to Heyman, the deal has fell through as the Sox failed to sign an extension in their exclusive negotiation period.  A deal may still happen but the Sox probably won't give as 'much.'  I think the Sox got a good deal the first time as I dont think any prospects can be near the level of production AGon has.

The small media market Red Sox didn't want to cough up the dollars for AGon and they mgiht lose their man.  Let's enjoy the show boys.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2010/11/24/1835123/community-positional-prospect-3-runoff

Go and vote for who you want to win.  Jesus has the best minor league bat but Brown is more toolsy guy.  He's got the defense which Jesus lacks.  Perosnally I fidn the whole thign overblown sicne you're rarely going to find a good defensive and offensive catcher but meh...

It brings up great discussion so check the link out and vote for whoever you like.

The Joba debate has finally been closed with Cash's statements on how Joba is a releiver for life.  That is a gross misuse of resources.  Resources that are very very very hard to come by and resources that have good value.  Vin Mazarro with his 5ish FIP has been a replacement elvel but young pitcher.  Who did he get traded for?  David Dejesus who produced a 3 WAR last year.  IPK who missed the ENTIRE 2009  season except for one inning was one half of the Granderson trade whow as the ONLY piece the Diamondbacks got.  Young starting pitching is a very valuable commodity.  The Yankees are simply showing that they frankly have no patience at player development.  Even if Joba struggles if you put him in the rotation a team will be willing to pay the price to get him.  Now he's a middle reliever that will never be in high trust again.  He's pitching one percent of the team's total innings and gives barely any value to the team.  That's a big waste. 

Despite common belief, the Yankees goal is not to win the World Series in 2011.  The Yankees goal is to win in 2011, 2012, 2013 and every damn year.  To do that the NEED to develop their own pitching and show patience.  Killing your resources and dumping them in a role that helps no one is nearly Marlins retarded.  (If confused see Dan Uggla trade.  See John Buck signing.)

If we assume the Yankees sign Cliff Lee the Yankees have at least one opening in their rotation.  There is one notable free agent starting pitcher and that's Wandy Rodriguez.  All the good staretrs are being locked up good  because starting pitching is rare.  Lester is on a team friendly deal.  Same with Verlander.  Top tiered guys like King Felix won't hit the market in a long time.  Now if the Yankees want a rotation that's 100 million dollars they'll kill flexibility and won't improve the team in other areas such as an aging lineup.  If they have the money which all signs point NO.  So you have at elast one gaping hole.  What's worse? Two is worse and that's AJ Burnett.  It's a 50/50 chance whether he sucks or not next year.  If he sucks then you have two openings in the most expensive rotation in baseball history.  Either you buy another pticher to make it incredibly expensive or we actually develop someone correctly.

The Yankees need to go to the development route.  Despite it breaking the Yankees hearts that young and unproven players have to play for this team it's the onyl logical choice.  There are plenty of prospects to choose from. The Killer B's along with Warren, Stoneburner, Noesi and Jose Ramirez are the cream of the pitching heavy system.   But in all likelyhood every one of these ptichers are going to the bullpen and being wasted there proving 1.0 WAR isntead of being given a shot.  It's ridiculous.  Cashman HAS to change this line of thinking.  After Cliff Lee thats it.  The Yankees won't be able to sign a top tiered starter again with CC and Lee on the books for the next 6-7 years with Hughes needing a good contract too.  Oh and this AJ fellow is here for another 3 years.  Good news for the Yankees.  If you develop someone they are dirt cheap.   But all something is telling me we're getting stuck with Sidney Ponson again for 2-3 years while ManBan is a LOOGY waiting for King Felix to graceus into free agency.

TLDR version:  Development is pretty damn important.  Dont' screw over the B's as you did Joba.

From Buster Olney though a subscription is needed.  http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=olney_buster&id=5770934

Another report here.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2010/11/06/2010-11-06_it_wont_be_a_cliffhanger.html?r=sports/baseball/yankees&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+nydnrss/sports/baseball/yankees+(Sports/Baseball/Yankees)

It seems the Yanks aren't desperate as they were to get Lee as they were in getting CC.  As midnight stroke CC got his offer.  This time the Yankees only think the Rangers are going to be able to financially compete for Lee so they can afford to wait a bit.  They'll still attack early FWIW.  Hopefully Lee can be had for less than CC money.  Sign soon please! 

1. Jesus Montero, C: "may be the best all-around hitter in the minors, capable of hitting .300 with 30-plus homers annually … best-case scenario is that he develops into the second coming of Mike Piazza”
2. Gary Sanchez, C: “has a higher ceiling than anyone in the organization, including Jesus Montero”
3. Dellin Betances, RHP: “If Betances can build on the progress he made last season, he’ll be a frontline starter for New York … he still could wind up in the mix to eventually replace Mariano Rivera“
4. Manny Banuelos, LHP: “has the poise to move quickly, and now he has frontline stuff”
5. Andrew Brackman, RHP: “For some scouts, Brackman’s whole is less than the sum of his parts, earning comparisons to A.J. Burnett and Kyle Farnsworth”
6. Austin Romine, C: “Montero has more star potential with his bat, Romine is a more well-rounded player … may become trade bait”
7. Hector Noesi, RHP: “lacks the breaking ball to pitch near the front of a rotation, but his fastball command should allow him to be a No. 4 or 5 starter”
8. Eduardo Nunez, SS: “Yankees see him in the Chone Figgins mold as a utility player”
9. Slade Heathcott, CF: “physically resembles Brett Gardner and has some similarities to New York’s left fielder, but Heathcott should develop  more power and has a stronger arm”
10. Brandon Laird, 3B: “profiles as a third baseman in the Kevin Kouzmanoff mode … could become trade fodder

It's a decent list. Not big concerns other than Nunez and Laird not being top 10 in this system. 

Teams can complain all they want instead of making a model to reach the postseason like the Rays have but what really grinds my gears is when Red Sox fans complain.  They have no reason to complain about high payrolls.  They have what 170 million invested on their team?  Sorry John Henry that you are so deprived of money. My apologies.  People say that the Yankees have no farm and that the Sox are the best franchise ever with a top 1 farm every year and have money to sign them or sign free agents.  People say the Yankees only rely on free agency for wins.  Well using FanGraph’s WAR system, Jon from Waiting for Next Year, shows us that isn’t the case.

He makes graphs that show where each team acquires their talent from.  The Yankees are evenly distributed from IFA’s, trades, free agents and draft picks as you see. 

Now on to the Red Sox.

The Yankees use any means necessary to acquire talent and it's even distributed from all facets.  If you want to read more or check out other team graphs here's the link.  It's a great read.

http://www.waitingfornextyear.com/?p=34360