Tender Is Tonight
Tonight is the tender deadline which means that clubs have to offer contracts to their arbitration-eligible players or those players become free agents. For the Yankees there are four guys who fit that description: Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, Wilson Betemit and Brian Bruney.
Obviously, Wang, Cano and Betemit are going to be tendered and I will renew my plea that the Yankees talk to Cano and Wang about longterm contracts. The question is, what will they do with Bruney?
The Yankees face a numbers crunch right now because they have three players, Mariano, A-Rod and Hawkins, that they are finalizing deals with and 0 spots open on their 40-man roster. They have asked Carl Pavano to accept a minor league deal to help the crunch, but he doesn't seem thrilled by the idea.
I imagine the Yankees will just cut him if he doesn't accept because even if they lose some insurance money (and I am not sure if they would or not) they wouldn't want to lose a player who might help them in the future.
That's one spot and I think Bruney will be non-tendered tonight and offered a minor league deal as well. Bruney certainly has the arm, but I think his head just isn't there. With all of the other arms in the system, his loss won't be felt.
That leaves one more spot to open and I would guess Sean Henn is the most likely candidate to go. I will update later with the decisions.
On a side note, the Dodgers invited Tanyon Sturtze to Spring Training. If Torre can get Paul Quantrill to come out of retirement he will have all three of his favorite relievers to abuse next March.
