A Yankee source confirmed late Wednesday that the team turned down a trade offer from Cincinnati that would have sent all-star second baseman Brandon Phillips to the Bronx for Gardner. CBSSports.com first reported the news of the rejected offer.
The source would not say why the Yanks, who are looking to replace the departed Robinson Cano and have a glut of outfielders, rejected the deal.
It’s possible finances played a part with Phillips, who hit .320 last year, but is still owed $50 million over four years, while Gardner has just one year at $2.85 million left on his deal.
As for the holes in their rotation it might be Masahiro Tanaka or bust for the Yankees.
The Japanese sensation remains the Yankees’ top choice to fill the remaining vacancy in their starting rotation this winter, but Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball have still not finalized a new agreement on the posting system. Add in the fact that the president of Tanaka’s current team said Tuesday that it was no certainty the club would post Tanaka and his potential move to the Bronx appears to have hit several snags.
That would leave the Yankees searching for another arm, but top free agents such as Matt Garza, Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez don’t appear to excite the Bombers at the dollars they figure to command.
“I’d like to climb as high on the board as I can get, but that’s unrealistic,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “I just may have to settle for something better than what I’ve got, and that may not be realistic. We’re just going through the motions, trying to figure it out.”
Three years ago, the Yankees struck gold with the under-the-radar signings of Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon to minor-league contracts. If Cashman is unable to find the right arm to fill out his rotation, he might be forced to sort through the free-agent scrap heap again.
“Non-roster invitees might be key,” Cashman said. “I’d rather go the easier route and pull something down that someone’s like, ‘Good move,’ but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I might have to go the harder, longer route. We’ll see.”
A source indicated that the new posting agreement could be finalized within a week, but the Rakuten Golden Eagles will then have to decide whether to post Tanaka for the expected maximum fee of $20 million. If they do, the Yankees are likely to be one of about a dozen teams expected to make the bid, giving them a chance to negotiate with the 25-year-old.
As of now, CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova are slotted into the top three spots of the rotation, while Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno are expected to compete for the No. 5 spot.
“I think the starting pitcher market is a lot thinner than the position player market is,” Cashman said. “There are a lot more options and a lot safer bets in the position player market and that’s probably why it’s been more aggressive, more money and quicker-moving at times than the pitching market.”
Despite a published report that the Yankees were interested in Johan Santana, Cashman said he had not inquired about the former Met and had not looked at his most recent medical reports.
“I don’t know what to think of Johan right now,” Cashman said. “I did have a call from his agent (Peter Greenberg) about a lot of his players, so we agreed to have a conversation at some point. We haven’t had one yet.”
With the Yankees having agreed to deals with Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran in the two weeks leading up to the winter meetings, things have been relatively quiet for them here at the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel.
Cashman described his meetings this week as “productive,” as they have helped provide clarity on several free-agent and trade scenarios.
“There’s a number of things on my hand that I would like to get done that I have thrown out there,” Cashman said. “I need infield help, I need bullpen help, I need rotation help. I’m ready to plow through all that stuff.
“It’s been a lot of conversations thus far. There’s some things I could definitely do. As I’ve thrown out, ‘This is what I’m willing to do,’ I’m getting from the other end, ‘This is what they’re willing to do.’ It’s like a stare-down contest, I guess.”
