According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the New York Yankees want to sign at least two of the three premier free agent starting pitchers on the market—A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe and CC Sabathia.
Although Sabathia has said that money will not be the ultimate factor that drives a decision for him, I have a difficult time taking him at his word. Sabathia has said all the right things to the local Milwaukee media, but he is going to follow the money.
Since the Yankees have unlimited financial resources to work with (especially when moving into a new ballpark), there is no team that can match them in a bidding war. Sabathia recently shot down the rumors that he is interested in returning to California. He certainly could end up in a number of other potential cities, but New York—with the Mets as a slim possibility—seems like the best bet.
Lowe, a Scott Boras client, has had a nice season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, posting a 3.24 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 34 starts. Using his excellent sinker, the 35-year-old right-hander posted a 7-3 record with a 2.38 ERA after the All-Star break, limiting hitters to a .226 batting average in 87 innings. He has also pitched well in the postseason to this point, picking the right time, for Boras and his bank account, to find his groove on the mound.
Burnett has not told the Toronto Blue Jays if he will opt out of his contract—yet. Odds are, though, this will happen fairly soon, leaving him as a realistic option for Brian Cashman and the Yankees.
He won 18 games in Toronto in 2008, but posted a 4.07 ERA, which is slightly higher than his 3.81 career average. The 31 year-old right-hander is also always an injury threat, but can miss bats as well as anyone in the business, which was evident by his 231 strikeouts in 221.1 innings pitched. If I were a betting man, I would say that he will be pitching in the Pinstripes next year alongside Sabathia, not Lowe.
The Chicago Cubs picked up the option on Rich Harden’s contact yesterday. This was the right decision by the Cubs.
While Harden is always at risk of injury, he is a dominant pitcher when he is healthy enough to pitch. Since coming over to Chicago in a mid season trade with the Oakland Athletics, he posted a 1.77 ERA while striking out 89 in 71 innings pitched. Jim Hendry was not left with a lot of time to make a decision, sure, but he made the right choice. A recent test showed that he had no structural damage in his right shoulder.
There is a lot of talk about whether or not Troy Percival will be put on the Tampa Bay Rays’ ALCS roster. Well, if it were up to me, I would say no.
Percival is a veteran who has World Series experience. These two factors have led several mainstream analysts and writers to talk about how he is an essential piece to the puzzle and needs to be on the roster. To their credit, he certainly has had a tremendous positive impact on several of the Rays’ young talented arms, all while helping to instill a culture of winning in the clubhouse.
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