Yankees' Pettitte, Damon, Matsui hit open market
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara | Will Johnny Damon remain with the Yankees or leave via free agency for another team?
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The Yankees' three most important free agents - Andy Pettitte, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui - were expected to officially have hit the market at 12:01 this morning.
General manager Brian Cashman was asked Thursday if he anticipated the trio being free to negotiate with other teams after the stroke of midnight. "Yes I do,'' he said. "We haven't talked to [any of them]."
The Yankees will at some point, of course, and the decisions reached with the three will impact on how the rest of the offseason plays out.
Cashman, who has not received his budget from ownership, spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the Stadium in meetings with the pro scouting department, rating the free-agent class and discussing who would fit.
"You just go through it player by player, and there's a lot of players," Cashman said of meetings he described as "tedious" earlier this week. "Some you might think don't make sense for you, but after going through the process, you find out they do. Some you think make sense and it turns out maybe they don't."
Should the Yankees not be able to reach a deal with Damon, that would make it more likely they would pursue one of the top two outfielders - Matt Holliday or Jason Bay - on the free-agent market.
Teams maintained exclusive negotiating rights for their free agents until midnight. Bay, according to SI.com, rejected a four-year, $60-million offer from the Red Sox Thursday.
If Pettitte, who filed for free agency Thursday, decides he doesn't want to pitch next season, the Yankees, who either way are looking for starting depth, would attack that area with more vigor.
The Yankees' other free agents are Jerry Hairston Jr., Eric Hinske, Jose Molina and Xavier Nady.
Conventional wisdom says the Yankees won't be nearly as active this offseason as they were last offseason, when they spent about $423 million on free agents. Yet they never should be discounted in the chase for a player - whether it's John Lackey, the best free-agent pitcher available, or Roy Halladay, whom the Blue Jays seem willing to deal.
Plenty of other names, including free agents such as Chone Figgins and Mark DeRosa and trade possibilities such as the Tigers' Curtis Granderson, will be linked to the Yankees between now and spring training, with today just the start of a long process.
That lengthy process was the reason Cashman said his plans last night didn't include phone calls.
"I will be sleeping," he said. "I hope anyway. I certainly won't be working."
Plenty of time for that between now and report day in Tampa.
Notes & quotes: Of the Yankees' 2009 coaching staff, only hitting coach Kevin Long is under contract for next year. Pitching coach Dave Eiland, first-base coach Mick Kelleher, third-base coach Rob Thomson and bench coach Tony Peña are among those without contracts. "We'd like to have them all back," Cashman said. "When we have agreements, we'll announce them."
