Yankees Won’t Stand Pat In Offseason
By Frank Russo ~ November 9th, 2009. Filed under: Frank Russo Rants and Raves, Offseason Speculation.
We are only a few days removed from the Yankees winning their 27th World Championship, and already many Yankees fans are eagerly looking forward to the “Hot Stove Season.”
The World Champions have several issues to address, including the status of several impending free agents, most notably Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. While most baseball people feel that Yankees GM Brian Cashman could easily stand pat this winter, most agree that he won’t. Hal Steinbrenner stated that the team will continue to put money back into the on-field product in order to field a world championship caliber team.
Our main Yankees source told us on Thursday that Cashman will most likely look to strengthen the pitching, both starting and in the bullpen, and also “possibly” look to strengthening the outfield. What this all means is anyone’s guess at this point, as it is still way too early to speculate, although we know for a fact that Yankees brass “loves” John Lackey, and have also had interest in the often mentioned Matt Holliday.
I spoke with an MLB official on Friday who told me that he once again expects the Yankees to be a player in regards to the Roy Halladay “sweepstakes,” particularly if the Red Sox are also involved. He also informed me that the Blue Jays “love” Ramiro Pena. If Brian Cashman does contact Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos about the availability of Halladay, Pena would almost surely have to be included in any trade. Anthopoulos of course, has already stated that he will most likely entertain trade talks in regards to his all-star pitcher.
