I’m not sure if I discussed it, but a couple of weeks ago C.J. Wilson (and/or his agent) requested to meet up with the New York Yankees. Brian Cashman did not respond with much urgency which may have been a bit puzzling if you’re looking at things from C.J. Wilson’s point-of-view (or from the New York Yankees’ point-of-view for that matter). After a couple of days without a response a lot of fans and media people (mostly fans) assumed that the answer was ‘no’. Well, we can stop assuming because the New York Yankees have “officially” denied C.J. Wilson’s request to meet.
This actually sparked even more speculation among fans and produced some interesting theories. Of course you have the fans who think that the Yankees are completely not interested in C.J. Wilson at all and are perplexed that their interest in Wilson could be so low despite the need for pitching. Some fans are buying into the idea that Cashman just doesn’t feel like being used to drive up a players’ price and others think that Brian Cashman is just playing the game of General Manager. Sometimes you attack from the start (CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee), sometimes you bluff (Carl Crawford) and sometimes you swoop in at the last minute to capture the prize (Mark Teixeira). Maybe Cashman is just employing a new strategy for Wilson.
Personally, I don’t think this means that Wilson’s chances of landing with the New York Yankees are 0%. People in the organization have already stated that they see Wilson as a No. 3 or 4 type of starter and if that is the case, there is no way they’re going to pay him like a No. 1 or 2. Maybe they’re waiting for the price to come down before they re-evaluate the idea of adding him to the staff. We could speculate for days on this. At least we know that the Yanks (knock on wood) are not interested in inking Wilson to an absurdly long and/or lucrative deal.
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C.J. Wilson is another over-rated and soon to be over-paid pitcher and I for one am happy that Cashman has decided not to meet with him. Wilson’s agent knows that any interest the Yankees show will only drive up his market value. The Yanks don’t need another lousy long term deal in their pitching staff (see A.J. Burnett). Right now I’d rather see them give Nova the shot he earned last season and see if Hughes can bounce back.
At the right price, I think I could warm up to the idea of C.J. Wilson in the Bronx. The price definitely isn’t right at this point though.
If you think about it, how many high priced free agents on the Yanks are worth their salary? Sabathia is the only one I can think of. I feel Teixeira, Burnett, A-Fraud and Soriano are all overpaid. As were Marte and Igawa. I don’t count Jeter and Rivera since there was really never any doubt they’d re-sign. And Granderson and Swisher came through trades. All the rest were either low-rent signings or are home grown talent. Now, how many free agents signings work out for other teams? Again, not too many. With free agents you’re always paying more than other teams think the player is worth (since players almost always take the top dollar offer) so the chance that he’ll be worth it starts off very small. It really only makes sense if it’s a star player, like Sabathia or Clif Lee. Otherwise you’re just overpaying.
In line with that thought I’d really like for the Yanks to trade for a starter. Someone like Garza, Danks or Wandy Rodriguez where the price in players is not that steep and the salary reasonable. Let other teams overpay and overcommit to C.J.Wilson or Edwin Jackson. But Cashman still should look into trading Burnett and Hughes for Garza and Zambrano!
Good point. The majority of big time free agents get contracts that cover the latter portion of their prime years and extend through their decline. That’s pretty much exactly what happened with Rodriguez and Burnett. It will be the case with Teixeira too, but I think he still has a couple of very good years left in him. That is also what is going to happen with Albert Pujols. To go along with your point, I think the Yankees should make an aggressive bid for Yu Darvish. The chance that he disappoints is as high (if not higher) than the chance that he delivers on his potential, but he’s young, talented and his actual contract probably won’t extend beyond 6 years and $60 million. That’s still a lot of money if someone turns out to be a disappointment, but the Yanks can cover it. With him in the fold the Yankees would still need a No. 2, but there would be less pressure to overspend in a trade.
As far as Garza and Zambrano, I think I’d rather have Burnett than the latter and Hughes is going to bounce back this year too. I think the Yanks should keep him unless a Josh Johnson type of talent becomes available.