Off-season Moves 2009-10

[Nate]

I figure we could use a tread to discuss off-season moves now that the World Series is over.

The off-season has just begun and already there have been several moves already...

• Brewers trade J.J. Hardy to Twins for Carlos Gomez [story]
• Phillies pick up Cliff Lee's $9 option [story]
• Diamondbacks pick up Brandon Webb's $8.5 option [story]

Of personal interest to me, the White Sox have also been busy:

• White Sox trade Josh Fields and Chris Getz to Royals for Mark Tehan [story]
• Sox buyout Jermaine Dye after he exercises his option [story]

[catman]

Thanks. I've been busy and didn't get the thread started.

[catman]

Here are some moves: Eleven Option Decisions Made Today: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

[doublee]

You missed the Red Sox getting Jeremy Hermida for a couple of prospects.

Buster Olney was on Mike & Mike last week saying he would not be surprised to see more deals like the Hermida and Teahan one's where teams like the Royals, Marlins, Nationals, etc. start dumping arbitration eligible players to teams willing to give them prospects in return because they do not want to significantly increase pay roll for next year.

[Marc]

I'll be curious to see what the champs do. They need to get younger and I doubt Matsui and Damon will both remain. Pettitte is another one. We might see a flurry of one-year deals, with them going after some FAs like Matt Holliday or Jason Bay.

[doublee]

The early speculation is that Matsui won't be back and Damon probably will. The thought is that Matsui will get a lot more money to return to Japan than any MLB team will be willing to offer him.

I am kind of curious to see what they end up doing with their pitching staff this winter. I kind of wonder if some folks in the front office are starting to have their doubts as to whether Joba Chamberlain and/or Phil Hughes are ever going to be successful major league starters. If Pettite decides to retire I am not so sure the Yanks are thrilled at the notion of going into the season with Chamberlain or Hughes as the #3 guy given that neither is close to being an established starter at the big league level who you can count on for 180 to 200 innings a year.

The free agent market is pretty slim pickings this year in terms of starting pitching. Most the "name" pitchers availabe this winter, John Lackey, Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, have had injury issues the past couple of seasons.

I am not so sure the Yankees go after a guy like Bay or Holliday. Boras is rumored to be looking for Texeira kind of money for Holliday and I think even the Yankees have their limits on how much they can realistically spend given they had trouble selling their high-end seats this year.

I could see them giving someone like Troy Glaus or maybe Jim Thome a one or two year deal to fill Matsui's spot at DH and then giving Damon a two or three year deal to stick around and play left.

If they make any drastic changes it will be in the starting rotation. They have no real need to make any significant changes to the lineup.