Juan Cruz and Other Trades: Rounding Up the New York Yankees Rumors

At this point, there shouldn’t be too many more Yankees rumors this offseason. There are some minor rumblings, though, which I have rounded up and posted for you here.

Juan Cruz is still a free agent, not because teams don’t want him, but because they feel he’s not worth giving up a first-round draft pick for. SI’s Jon Heyman thinks that he’s probably hoping the Yankees, who would only have to give up a fourth-round pick to get him, would be willing to give him a chance.

Heyman also has some news on other Yankee-related players. He says that even though Bobby Abreu’s numbers were better than Raul Ibanez, Ibanez was the more popular free agent. It probably has something to do with Abreu’s earlier demands of near $16 million a year. He also says that now Abreu could be lucky to get $20 million, which I imagine he means over two years.

It also seems like the Dodgers could be waiting to see what it will take to get Manny Ramirez before exploring the market for Abreu. Heyman also thinks that the A’s, Reds, Giants, Braves or maybe even the Mets could get involved. Nothing seems close at this point.

Since the Yankees have dropped their interest in Ben Sheets, it doesn’t seem like other teams are becoming more interested. That leaves only the Texas Rangers and not much leverage for Sheets.

There doesn’t seem to be much competition for Orlando Hudson this offseason either. Heyman said that is partially due to the Yankees' unwillingness to deal their own Robinson Cano. Also, the Mets have backed off because they cannot unload Luis Castillo.

Some Yankee fans wanted their team to sign Pedro Martinez this offseason. But with Andy Pettitte on the team now, there isn’t much chance for that. The only way it would even be possible is if they decided to move Joba Chamberlain to the bullpen, but the other day Joba said there was no chance of that. So, for you Pedro fans out there, it doesn’t look like it’s even possible anymore.