Ken Rosenthal has a bunch of Yankee items in today's column, so let's tackle it piece-by-piece.
Nick Swisher might not be a Yankee for long. The signing of free agent Mark Teixeira eliminated any chance of Swisher playing first base, and the team's outfield surplus almost certainly will lead to a trade."The Yankees are not in a rush to trade either; their only desire is to make the best possible deal."
Both Swisher and Xavier Nady are drawing significant interest, according to major-league sources. The Yankees are not in a rush to trade either; their only desire is to make the best possible deal.
The versatility of both players is appealing; Nady plays both outfield corners and first base, while Swisher plays all three outfield positions and first.
Nady, 30, is a free agent after next season. Swisher, 28, is signed through 2011 with a club option for '12. Either would be more affordable to the Giants than Ramirez. Swisher also would fit for the Braves and Pirates.
Exactly. The Yankees don't need to trade either. They fit into the lineup just fine. Depending on the returns, the Yankees should just sit tight.
Before free-agent left-hander Brian Fuentes signed with the Angels, his agents proposed an interesting concept to the Yankees.But we have Joba Chamberlain to take over as closer when Mariano Rivera retires, remember? Fuentes ended up signing a two-year, $17.5 million deal.
Their idea was for Fuentes to serve two years as a setup man for Mariano Rivera, then replace him as the team's closer — assuming that Rivera, 39, was ready to retire.
"We had some serious talks," said Fuentes' lead agent, Rick Thurman. "It didn't end up happening. At the end of the day Brian's preference was to close. And when push came to shove, he wanted to be on the west coast, close to home."
The Yankees liked Fuentes, but they were not willing to pay him closer money as a setup man and never made him an offer, a major-league source said.
The Yankees still want to re-sign free-agent left-hander Andy Pettitte, with one source saying, "The door is not closed. When there's a will, there's a way." Pettitte, 36, has balked at the Yankees' one-year, $10 million offer, but the two sides could compromise by enabling Pettitte to approach his previous $16 million salary through reasonably attainable appearance-based incentives ...An incentive-laden contract could be the best way to handle this situation. It's obviously about the money at this point, but it still would be nice to have Pettitte eating innings at the back end of the rotation.
