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At the start of last season I didn't think we would need a fifth starter, what with Clemens-Pettitte-Mussina-El Duque pitching, but with the way injuries plagued our starters all year, it is very important that the Yanks sign another starter. Either one of these two pitchers would be better than a Lilly or a Choate.

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I was hoping I was hoping we could heal each other
I was hoping I was hoping we could be raw together
you got it bad lover no you got it good you saw the sun like you knew that you would in spite of my confusion up above all my pain i gotta death-grip on this vision here we go again... the face and ghost my guide i must move on its the face of one ravaged by love its both dead and alive...
USA

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So you basically want the team to remain the same? The same team whose offense was nonexistant in the World Series.

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Report: Torre puts in call to Giambi


ESPN.com news services


Mike Mussina signed with the New York Yankees last year after a phone call from manager Joe Torre swayed him, and Torre joined in the team's pursuit of the free-agent slugger Jason Giambi, speaking to him by telephone Monday, the New York Times reported.

"Much like with Mike talking to Joe, it was a very positive conversation," Arn Tellem, the agent who represents both Giambi and Mussina, told the Times. "Jason was very enthusiastic after talking to him."

Tellem would not say whether Giambi, who has spent his seven-year career with the Oakland Athletics, had received assurances that he would be the Yankees' first baseman and not a designated hitter if he signed to play in pinstripes. But Torre discussed where Giambi would play -- the Yankees will almost certainly not allow the first base/DH issue to become an obstacle in these talks -- and their conversation ranged into other subjects. Some Yankees players, including Mussina, are expected to speak to Giambi in the next couple of days.

"We're putting on the full-court press," one official said.

When Tellem negotiated Mussina's deal with the Yankees, there was a great deal of discussions about contractual parameters but no formal offers, a verbal dance right up to the minute Mussina signed a six-year, $88.5 million deal. Tellem is talking parameters with the Yankees again, and the level of his initial overtures on behalf of Giambi surprised some members of the Yankees' hierarchy. But executives familiar with the discussions believe that unless Oakland becomes much more aggressive in its efforts to retain Giambi, they are confident the Yankees will sign him within the next 10 days, according to the newspaper.

Tellem, who would not talk about contract negotiations, has discussed parameters in the range of eight years and $18 million annually, or about $144 million, one baseball official said. The Yankees, who initially seemed willing to offer $16 million to $17 million a year over six years, may eventually aim for parameters in the range of $115 million, or about $24 million more than Oakland's last formal offer of $91 million.

The Yankees have some reservations about paying such a huge sum to the hulking Giambi, who lumbers around the bases, at age 30. Yankees officials have had philosophical discussions in the past about whether any first baseman is worth an eight-figure yearly salary. It is not a coincidence that the two highest-paid position players in the Yankees' lineup are a shortstop (Derek Jeter) and a center fielder (Bernie Williams), rather than a corner outfielder or a first baseman.

But the Yankees' offense struggled last season, and club executives have devoted themselves to improving the production -- and, at a more elemental level, the team's on-base percentage. To that end, Giambi is a perfect fit, his .477 on-base percentage having led the American League by 54 points. Tino Martinez, who will almost certainly not be re-signed by the Yankees if Giambi agrees to a deal, had a percentage of .329.

No other free agent would fit the Yankees as well as Giambi, with Barry Bonds nearing age 40, and Moises Alou and Juan Gonzalez bearing dubious injury histories.

Oakland offered Giambi a six-year, $91 million deal last spring, but the proposal was laden with deferred money and did not include a no-trade clause. The Athletics eventually agreed to include the clause, but only after it became clear that Giambi was going to test free agency.

Oakland reportedly did not push to sign Giambi in its last two-week window of exclusive negotiating rights, and some officials in baseball say the Athletics are trying hard to finish a close second in the bidding.

"They don't act like they really want to sign him at the going rates," an AL official told the Times. "They're laying in the weeds right now, and who knows if they're going to make a strong bid before it's too late."

Everything else the Yankees try to do in the offseason, as they reshape a team that has won four of the last six World Series, will depend on whether they sign Giambi. If they pay Giambi about $17 million annually, the average salaries of seven players -- Giambi, Williams, Jeter and pitchers Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Mussina -- will approach $100 million (some of the contracts are heavily backloaded, easing the Yankees' immediate financial obligations).

General Manager Brian Cashman, who did not return several calls to the Times on Monday, has been speaking with agents for a number of pitchers, but he will probably not make a strong move on anyone until he knows how much he can spend. If the Yankees do not sign Giambi, they may try to go after a much more inexpensive hitter, and more money will be available for pitching. The Yankees have talked with the representative for the free-agent pitcher Hideo Nomo, but, according to a Yankees official, they are not pushing to sign Nomo any more than they are pursuing a deal for John Smoltz.

Everything depends on Giambi.

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I was hoping I was hoping we could heal each other
I was hoping I was hoping we could be raw together
you got it bad lover no you got it good you saw the sun like you knew that you would in spite of my confusion up above all my pain i gotta death-grip on this vision here we go again... the face and ghost my guide i must move on its the face of one ravaged by love its both dead and alive...
USA