As for Sabathia, the Yankees have heard rumblings the Giants have made an offer to the lefty. But nobody feels the Giants can approach the Yank offer. The Brewers have made a $100M offer for six years.

- NY POST

If this is true it would be interesting to see what the offer will be worth. I still don’t think anyone out bids the Yankees or even comes 20 - 25 million close. The only thing that worries me is that CC seems like a man who wants what he desires and if taking 30 million less to play on the West Coast is that, maybe he does. I don’t know it’s a tough call on both sides. My prediction remains that he will accept the Yankees contract offer after Thanksgiving.

Hal Steinbrenner wants a decision from CC Sabathia as soon as possible. The Yankees have offered Sabathia 6 years and 140 million, which would be the largest contract ever for a pitcher. Here’s what Hal had to say:

“We’ve made him an offer. It’s not going to be there forever,”

I’ve been reading and also been told that the Yankees will look to make a trade for a CF. Now before you got Brett Gardner crazy lets just calm down first. This doesn’t necessarily mean the Yankees feel Brett isn’t a starter in the future. I think this actually has a lot more to do with the line-up then anything. If the Yankees got Tex and then traded Damon or Nady they wouldn’t mind having Gardner in CF, but with the Yanks not likely to land a big bat via free agency (I’d love Manny Ramirez in pinstripes, but I just don’t see it) they will turn to the trade market.

We all know the reports about the interest in Mike Cameron, but with the Yankees blowing away the Brew crew in the CC Sabathia sweepstakes they may not be the best trading partner. The player I think the Yankees will start to discuss is David Dejesus. David is a great left fielder and a good enough CF (think Melky Cabrera with better range, but a weaker arm) to be a stop gap in 2009 then move to LF in 2010. The Yankees could definitely work out a deal involving Ian Kennedy and others to land the 29 year old OF. Dejesus is finally coming into his own as he led the bad Royals in RBI with 73.

People E-mail me all the time asking if the Yankees need to add more power to their offense to compete. I always say when Joe Torre got away from his 96 – 01 Yankees he relied much more on the long ball. Joe Girardi proved late in the season that he wanted a more athletic team who can create runs. With Swisher (OBP) and Dejesus (speed and avg.) along with a healthy Jorge Posada (all around offense) and Hideki Matsui (never leaves a runner on at 3rd base with less then 2 outs, ask Arod about that one!) the Yankees have an offense that will generate runs along with hitting for power and stealing bases. If the Yanks want an upgrade in CF Dejesus is their man.

Mike Mussina to no surprise is going to retire a 20 game winner. Well good luck Moose and it has been great having you a member on the New York Yankees.

Also, there are some rumblings that the Padres, Braves and Yankees may work on a 3-way trade that involves Jake Peavy. I don’t know where the Yankees would fit in as I hear Peavy would land in Atlanta.

As we all know the Yankees have offered CC Sabathia a reported contract of 6 years and 140 million, but the Yanks are also prepared to offer a contract to AJ Burnett. The NY Post reported that the Yanks may offer Burnett 5 years 80 million, which would likely blow away most if not all of what Burnett will receive.

Catching up:

The Yankees traded for 1B/OF Nick Swisher. Nick struggled in 2008, but is destined for a nice bounce back season in 2009. I really like this deal for the Yankees as Nick adds a solid bat and great glove at 1B. Swisher still has a ton of upside and is entering his prime years. Look for Nick Swisher to make a splash this season.

The NY Post is reporting that the New York Yankees will make a hard run at free agent Manny Ramirez and honestly I cannot be happier about this news. According to the report Manny Ramirez would come to NY and play RF and finally offer Arod real protection in the line-up. Now some will say, “I thought the Yankees wanted to get younger and more athletic. “ Well there comes a time when you can get one of the best hitters in the game for just money you do it.

This would also open the door for the Yankees to land a top of the line young starting pitcher via trade. If the Yankees land Ramirez to play RF then they would have two very nice trading chips in Xavier Nady and Robinson Cano. Targets then could include Zach Greinke or Matt Cain. If the Yankees could land Sabathia, Manny, a young proven SP and a couple of other chips including a 1B, I think we would all be more then excited about the 2009 season.