Thread: Yanks set to send Wright to Orioles

BY PETER BOTTE AND BILL MADDEN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS

The tactic served them well with Gary Sheffield, and it appeared the Yankees were taking a similar approach with pitcher Jaret Wright last night.

Rather than buy out the final year of Wright's contract, the Yankees are in the process of shipping the righthander to Baltimore.

The Yankees had Wright under contract for 2007 for $7 million, but had an option to buy him out for $4 million. The Bombers aren't going to bring Wright back, but will manage to get something for him by trading him to the Orioles. They'll receive a top prospect or a player on Baltimore's 25-man roster - in which case the Yankees would pay $4 million of Wright's salary.

In essence, it would be the same as if the Yankees bought out the contract - but with the Orioles sending a player to the Yankees to ensure that they could get Wright for one year at $3 million, rather than having the veteran hit the open market.

With the GM meetings opening tomorrow in Naples, Fla., GM Brian Cashman called the Yankees' starting pitching "a question that isn't going to go away," with 19-game winner Chien-Ming Wang the only certainty among those on a path to return to the rotation.
To that end, the Yanks will learn no later than tomorrow New York time if they have fallen short in the Daisuke Matsuzaka sweepstakes. Also, teams officially were able to offer contracts as of 12:01 this morning to the primary alternatives on the free-agent pitching market - a group led by Oakland's Barry Zito, San Francisco ace Jason Schmidt and NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan.

Cashman acknowledged Friday that he is continuing to work toward a two-year deal to keep Mike Mussina in the Bronx. But the uncertain status of Randy Johnson and Carl Pavano, and the move on Wright - as well as the organization's six-year championship drought - mean the Yanks will spend yet another winter aggressively attempting to upgrade their pitching staff.

Pavano missed the entire 2006 season with a host of ailments and accidents, and the Yankees aren't inclined to bank on the $40 million bust until he proves himself trustworthy. Cashman also has said that Johnson, who is 43 and coming off back surgery, shouldn't be counted on as a sure thing to be ready for the start of spring training.

That leaves a top-heavy list of options in a relatively shallow free-agent pool once MLB and Japanese officials finally announce the winner of the secret posting bids for Matsuzaka, the 26-year-old ace of the Seibu Lions, by tomorrow's deadline. An ESPN report Friday indicated Boston may have topped all with a whopping bid between $38 million and $45 million. In addition to the Yankees, the Mets, Rangers, Angels, Diamondbacks and Cubs also have been mentioned as teams thought to have submitted bids for Matsuzaka's negotiating rights.
Zito, like Matsuzaka, is represented by agent Scott Boras, who reportedly will seek to extract a five-year contract approaching $80 million for the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner. Suppan, who has won 44 games the past three seasons for the Cardinals and three more in postseason play, could command a deal worth around $9 million-$10 million per season.

Andy Pettitte also reiterated Friday at Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation dinner that he's strongly considering retirement after three injury-plagued seasons in Houston; the 34-year-old lefty claimed he hasn't definitively decided if he'll pursue a contract for next season. The Yanks undoubtedly will monitor the availability of both Pettitte and Roger Clemens with agents Alan and Randy Hendricks, who also represent Schmidt.
Former Yanks lefty Ted Lilly, who went 15-13 in 32 starts for Toronto last season, and Seattle righty Gil Meche are lower-cost options who might intrigue the Yankees.

Originally published on November 12, 2006

Originally Posted by Triple Threat

Good riddance to Wright. Let him ruin some other team's bullpen. As for Pavano, I can't believe the Yankees are still counting on him. That was $40 million down the drain. Zito would look good in pinstripes, though.

Zito is a good pitcher, I never understood the Wright/ Pavano experiment.