Maybe at some point age rolls over, like an odometer.

Well, since the Yankees are roughly 900 for 900 on these type of signings, I imagine this one would work too.

Well, since the Yankees are roughly 900 for 900 on these type of signings, I imagine this one would work too.

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haven't actually read the article, but if the plan is to also bring back Suzuki, that has the makings of a decent, but not great group as long as they are willing to sit hunter against some righties, and the suzuki is more of the 4th OF'er than gardner...with spot starts a couple of times a week in left or right. If they are willing to move granderson to left...then a granderson, gardner, hunter/Suzuki OF left to right would be real solid defensively...granderson/hunter would be at worst average offensively, and gardner's bat/speed would look a lot better in center than it does in a corner. Even with the age issues, I'm still more optimistic about the Yankee's offense than I am about the pitching heading into next year.

I'm still more optimistic about the Yankee's offense than I am about the pitching heading into next year.

Really?

Assuming they bring back Kuroda and Pettitte, I like the pitching. Sabathia/Kuroda/Hughes/Pettitte/Nova/Phelps/Warren is a fine rotation, and they've gots lots of good arms in the pen.

With the continued aging of ARod/Jeter/Teixeira, the offense scares me to death.

What is Hunter "the best" at? Naked BP?

Snapper - maybe optimistic was the wrong way to put it...I think the offense, even if Jeter regresses, and Tex/Arod continues to slump, would be adequate at worst - Cano should be very good, Granderson above average, and gardner average to slightly above. Martin if he's brought back in my mind is acceptable as a catcher, though the days of him being a true asset on offense are probably gone. Need a RF obviously, and, since they'll want to DH jeter/a-rod a lot, ideally a shortstop/3B who can hit (and throw since they have no confidence in nunez defensively)...but I don't see the possibility of complete collapse on that side as very likely...on the pitching side, they have the potential to be very good - but each one of their starters has some sort of question mark...and you really can't project the bullpen's performance with much certainty, while it has a strong starting point in robertson (and ideally rivera and/or soriano if the price is right).

Long story short, the way I look at it - the offense has a lower ceiling and higher floor in the range of possibilities, while its easy to envision the pitching staff either being excellent or a disaster if they get unlucky.

its easy to envision the pitching staff either being excellent or a disaster if they get unlucky.

Doesn't that describe every team's pitching staff every year? Except the Royals, who always suck.

It would be interesting to see Torii's leftover Twins mojo collide with the Yankee uniform. It would be kinda like Superman with an old Kryptonite wallet in the Bronx.

Doesn't that describe every team's pitching staff every year? Except the Royals, who always suck.

Probably true...just seems more so for the yankees at this veryearly point in the off-season...which I will freely admit is odd considering how good (for the most part) the yankees staff was in the postseason, in comparison to how bad the offense was.

I don't know the details about CC's elbow procedure - is that concerning or a routine minor thing?

I don't know the details about CC's elbow procedure - is that concerning or a routine minor thing?

They've said he'll be ready for Opening Day. It was arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur. Pretty minor from what I've read.

Doesn't that describe every team's pitching staff every year? Except the Royals, who always suck.

Yes, but especially a rotation that goes "elbow surgery", "old man", "failed prospect", "old man", "non-prospect who had one fluky good season".

I'm equally optimistic about the chances of the Yankees rotation and lineup sucking next year, but the Yankees have the resources to come up with some pretty good insurance policies.

I'm a bit surprised the Angels aren't making a QO on Hunter. Hunter at 1/$13 is maybe a bit of an overpay but it's just one year. They might prefer to spend that $13 elsewhere of course in which case I can understand it although it would seem to mean plenty of playing time for Vernon Wells again.

I wouldn't mind Hunter over overpaying Swisher for a while. The Hunter/Ichiro! platoon could approximate Swisher's production.

They just declined to make a qualifying offer to Russell Martin, I wonder what the catching plan is. Try and sign him for less? Not sure that's a great idea after the way he played last year although he's decent enough. I have no idea what the other options might be.

They just declined to make a qualifying offer to Russell Martin, I wonder what the catching plan is. Try and sign him for less? Not sure that's a great idea after the way he played last year although he's decent enough. I have no idea what the other options might be.

Napoli is a FA and the Rangers did not make him a QO either. Of course you really need another good catcher to pair with Napoli since he'll probably only catch around 80 games a season.

I'm guessing Martin re-signs for one or two years at around $8M a year.

The Angels aren't gonna make a QO to Hunter because they have Trumbo, Bourjos, and Trout all penciled in, and they need to put their money in pitching. That's a quality outfield for the money, which makes up (a little) for having to still pay Wells.

The Red Sox should go after Napoli aggressively.

Wow, I'm puzzled by the Rangers not making the QO to Napoli. I have no idea what they don't like about him – not that $13.3M is chickenfeed, but in explaining his strategies Jon Daniels noted that the Rangers need more & better catchers, so what's their plan? They might try to sign Martin, but he won't exactly come cheap either, and he's not as good as Napoli. Otherwise it's Geovany Soto and a cast of journeymen.

Napoli is a FA and the Rangers did not make him a QO either. Of course you really need another good catcher to pair with Napoli since he'll probably only catch around 80 games a season.

I'd like the Yankees to go for Napoli, now that there's no pick lost. Given their pipeline of catching prospects, he can transition into less catching and more DH-ing as he ages.

martin-napoli with martin getting about 100 games behind the plate, and napoli in the lineup as dh/1B most of those games plus 50-60 catching is probably not realistic, but should be appealing - still leaves 60 games or so for jeter and a-rod to DH to stay fresh, and I (without anything beside a gut feeling) would guess that 90 % of martin's decline has simply been the wear and tear of catching so much. They might feel the need to keep a 3rd catcher on the roster in that case, but martin being able to fill in at 3rd (and 2nd in an emergency) would mitigate some of the roster crunch in that case. Probably not realistic, but I've always been a napoli fan, and there is not a whole lot out there right now.

The Angels aren't gonna make a QO to Hunter because they have Trumbo, Bourjos, and Trout all penciled in

Yeah, but that requires faith in Trumbo (and Morales's health). Now I didn't see Trumbo play and bWAR puts him at average defensively and, if that's true, then fine. But Trumbo followed his awesome first half bat with a 2nd half of 227/271/359. I know, both halves count ... and you could point to Hunter's ridiculous BABIP in 2012 and reach a similar conclusion.

It's also that they could have gotten a nice mix going of guys rotating around the OF/1B/DH and doing a bit more mix and match. Also, Trumbo and Hunter both had 590ish PAs last year ... they won't be replacing Hunter with Trumbo they'll be replacing him with a mix of Bourjos, Wells, Callaspo/Izturis (or whoever's at 3B) and Kendry against LHP.

But, yes, they may have better places to spend their money.

I'm also surprised the Rangers didn't make a QO to Napoli. It's close but he seems worth it. They must have reasonable faith in Soto but it also suggests another year of Young. And if both Hamilton's and Napoli's bats are gone, that's a seriously deflated offense.

Yeah, but that requires faith in Trumbo (and Morales's health). Now I didn't see Trumbo play and bWAR puts him at average defensively and, if that's true, then fine.

I think the Angels have a lot more faith in Trumbo than you or I, and I do think this is where salaries come into play. They clearly want Greinke (especially with both Santana and Haren gone), so they need to money from Hunter's expiring to move towards that deal. As for Morales, he got better as the year went on, which isn't so strange considering he missed a year and a half of pro ball.

Trumbo isn't great, but he's cheap, and he is what he is -- a big power guy with a .300 OBP. The Angels can happily live with that if Bourjos hits like 2011 and the pitching improves.