… and here we go.

As we all know by now, when it comes to the media, Brian Cashman can’t win.  If he signs a lot of free agents, the Yankees are buying a team (which is nonsense, because every team is “bought”).  If he doesn’t sign anyone, he’s an idiot for passing.  Example, courtesy George King of the the Post:

Among those clubs are the Yankees New York Yankees, a team that desperately can’t leave Vegas a loser. They might not bag two of the top three free-agent pitchers by Thursday, but CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe can’t be signed by another club when GM Brian Cashman leaves or you can add the Yankees to the long list of Vegas losers.

I am excited to see what the Yankees plan will be this offseason and I think they’re in a very good position. Guys like Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixiera are going to get paid, sure, but due to the economy, most players’ value seem to be slipping. Consequently, it’s an excellent time for the Yankees to pick up a lot of talent for “cheap,” relatively speaking.

While I think Cashman is serious about keeping payroll flexibility, I still wouldn’t be surprised to see the Yankees’ come out swinging and really show their financial muscle. I don’t think they come away with both Sabathia and Tex, which many Yankee fans are hoping for, but I think they could easily end up signing 3 big name free agents.

Everything starts with CC though, and I like that Cashman is going to meet with him personally. I think the Yankees learned from the Randy Johnson deal that you have to be able to gauge a player’s desire to be in NY. If CC won’t take the Yankees’ money, which I still think is unlikely, Cashman needs to go to plan B, which I hope isn’t “give Derek Lowe whatever he wants.”