2008 offseason: Tex, CC, and…Manny???

The 2008 regular season for the New York Yankees is pretty much over. There are 10 games out of the AL East divison, and trail the BoSox by 7 or so games in the Wild Card standings. What a horrible way to end the final season in Yankee Stadium. That shows that the Steinbrenners should never have lost faith in Joe Torre. Oh well…I guess it’s not to early to talk about the upcoming offseason, seeing as October is lost.

The Yanks have a lot of players heading for free agency, and that takes millions off the payroll. My opinion is that any of the pending free agents should not be retained, but you can decide for yourself by submiting a vote on the poll to the right. Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Pudge Rodriguez, Carl Pavano and Jason Giambi are all headed to the open market. Moose, Pettitte, Giambi and Rodriguez are all too old, but Pudge should be the lone Yankee to resign. Jorge Posada recently had shoulder surgery so he’ll miss a chunk of next season. Pudge can catch more than 70% of the games while Jose catches the remaining. If Jorge returns, he might not be able to catch so he’ll mainly serve as DH. Abreu wants to come back but there are better, younger outfielders out there in the market.

Outfielder Targets: Adam Dunn & Pat Burrell. Both are in their prime and are power-hitters. Burrell has hit more than 20 homers each of the past 8 seasons and Dunn consistently provides 30-40 homers each season, occassionally topping the 40 mark as well. They can replace Abreu well, and hopefully add to the Yanks’ offense. Oh yeah, Manny Ramirez can help out, although he is old. He might be able to provide another year of good numbers. Only go at Manny if Dunn and Burrell leave the market.

Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets & AJ Burnett, among others. Sabathia is the top prize and should be pursued heavily. If the ace does not come, Sheets and Burnett can be fine replacements, but won’t be as hard-throwing and win-able as Sabathia. All three can eat innings and K’ a lot of batters, as well as keeping the team in the game. They are great pitchers, although Sheets is injury prone and might be another Carl Pavano. If Sheets is signed, hopefully he’ll stay healthy. Burnett is quality while Sabathia…well….Sabathia MUST be signed, along with another SP like Oliver Perez, Ryan Dempster or Derek Lowe. It’ll boost the rotation a lot.

First Baseman: Two words. Mark Texeira. Offer him a 8-year, 168m contract to lure him. If the Yanks acquire him…great, the World Series is in sight.

Who knows what’ll happen in the new House that George Built? Hopefully a world series ring, and a completely different, fearsome lineup.