Aftermath of Teixeira Deal

Despite their denials all along, it looks like the Yankees were scared off by the possibility of Manny Ramirez coming to the Bronx and being Manny enough to sign Mark Teixeira to a eight-year $180 million deal.

It sounds like a huge contract, but with Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady as free agents next year they needed to upgrade their offense at some point. Like Joel Sherman of the Post said, it’s better bet to sign Teixeira now to this kind of a deal than to gamble with a Matt Holliday type next off-season.

They could also afford to make such a deal even after committing $243.5 million to two other players already because they have so much money coming off the books. There was about $83 million in salary spent last season on Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Ivan Rodriguez and Kyle Farnsworth. So far they have replaced with the signings of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Teixeira, trading for Nick Swisher and giving raises to Damaso Marte and Chien-Ming Wang. That should only total about $70 million with the difference being enough to give a couple of more players scheduled raises and to deal with arbitration eligible players like Nady.

They also could trim payroll by dealing with the glut of outfielders they’ve amassed thanks to the Teixeira signing. Previously Swisher was tabbed to start at first, but with Teix in the mix he is expected to get the bulk of his time in the outfield. He could play center where he appeared in 70 games in 2008, or Damon could play center, but the Yankees apparently would rather not play out either scenario. Instead one of their outfielders would have to be dealt.

The one they would feel most comfortable dealing is Matsui, but thanks to a pair of knee surgeries over the past two years he is probably the least attractive of the group. Although it’s not hard to imagine a team taking a chance on him with just one-year and $13 million left on his contract. Instead it could be Nady who is dealt as he is probably the most attractive out of the group.

Finally this deal could have the biggest implications for Pettitte. The Yankees insisted this off-season that despite giving out big money to free agent starters they too were worried about the economy and were looking to cut payroll. Well most of that talk took place before dolling out another $180 million, but afterwards the focus has to be more on keeping costs low. That means that Pettitte may have bargained his way out of the Bronx.

Now there are no reports that the offer has been taken off the table, but many writers are speculating that while Pettitte still hasn’t made up his mind the Yankees may choose to go with young starters to fill the number five spot. It might not be a bad idea to keep a spot open and have Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Alfredo Aceves compete for it.