wang, pettitte, joba, hughes, ipk, and my gut says that they could lure moose out of retirement.

and don't forget Sir Sidney!

This article's title should read "What if nobody likes money?" or how about "what if everyone played baseball simply for the love of the game?"

Money talks stupid hypotheticals can take a walk.

I thought some other teams had money, too...are the Yankees the only one?

No chance they whiff on all three. No. Chance.

If they fail to get all three, it'd just speeds up the inevitable rebuilding this team needs. A lot people pay lip service about how the Yankees will always be in contention because of their financial resources. It wasn't coincidence their last run at the Championship came after being the worst team in the majors for about two or three years. Plugging in Sabathia will help the pitching staff, but doesn't fix the fact the Yankees haven't been able to produce a meaningful position player since Cano in 2005. This is still a team in transition and will continue to be so until Jeter, Mariano and Posada has retired for about two or three years.

I think the Yankees are mis-diagnosing their problem(s) if the focus is on obtaining expensive pitchers. In my view their highest priority should be Teixeira. Granted, the pitching on hand is suspect, but the upsides are pretty high on Chamberlain and possibly on Hughes, and with Wang returning, they need to fill two positions (1 if Pettitte remains) in the rotation which can be done with a mid level free agent or by trade. On the other hand, aside from A-Rod, there is not one offensive player with much upside left-or who does not have serious question marks. All are either old, fragile, of dubious value to start or coming off red flag types of years. In some cases, the situation is dire (CF), while in others NY is relying on wonderful players like Posada, Damon & Matsui who are unlikely to get better and very likely to decline rapidly. There is no question that Jeter may rebound from a somewhat pedestrian year as may Cano and Swisher, but overall the question marks tend more to the negative than the positive.

You sign Sabathia because pitchers of that caliber are rarely available on the free agent market.

You sign Teixeira because he fills two needs (a first baseman and a big bat to compliment A-Rod). There's no first baseman on the way up who he'd be blocking, and Swisher is a high-risk, medium-reward option there (he'd be better in left or right with Matsui DHing). You don't want to end up with a repeat of 2004-05 where you passed up on Beltran even though you REALLY REALLY needed a CFer, then four years later... you REALLY REALLY need a CFer.

You don't make a long-term commitment to an A.J. Burnett or a Derek Lowe unless a sweetheart deal falls into your lap somehow. You bring back Pettitte for one season, you make Joba the fourth starter, and then your only issue is fifth starter. And you plug Hughes into that. Yeah, he struggled last year, but it's ridiculous to think that what we've seen from him means he's suddenly not a prospect. And if he struggles again... it's your fifth starter. That's not what's going to bring you down.

But if he breaks through and becomes a stud... you really want him blocked by Derek F**king Lowe?