| 20 November 2009
I always assumed that the Yankees would be involved in the Jason bay and Matt Holliday discussions, if for no other reason than to jack up the price on the Red Sox and Angels.
But Sean McAdam says he doesn't expect the Yankees to bid on Bay or Holliday. Instead, he thinks they will look to retain Johnny Damon at a much cheaper price and cut payroll as much as possible:
If there's one thing the Red Sox have going for them, in fact, it's the absence of the Yankees in the bidding for Bay. Despite the potential loss of free agent outfielders Johnny Damon and designated hitter Hideki Matsui, the Yankees are not likely to get involved on either Bay or Holliday, preffering instead to make conservative runs at their own free agents (Damon, Matsui and pitcher Andy Pettitte) while otherwise cutting back payroll, if only modestly, from last year's figure of $201.5 million.Bottom Line: I'm not sure I buy this, but if the Yankees don't get involved, it could make thing difficulty for Bay and his agent, Joe Urbon, to convince potential suitors to pay more than the 4 X $15M the Red Sox have already offered. Look for the Angels, Mariners and Red Sox in the Bay sweepstakes and the Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals to go after Holliday.
ps. If the Yankees are not going to get involved, I think the Sox could sign Holliday for much less than the 8-year, $180M Teixeira type deal Boras wants to get him... and I'm cool with that scenario.
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