Yankees Arbitration Rumination

You never used to hear that much about team's offering free agents arbitration.  Now you hear it every year, presumably because people actually treat the draft like it's important.  Imagine that.  Or it could be the fact that these guys get ridiculous money for amateurs. So, why should we care about who the Yankees offer arbitration to? MLB.com lays it out pretty simply:

By offering six-year free agents arbitration by midnight ET, clubs can guarantee two Draft picks for any Type A free agent it loses, and one draft pick (sandwich pick) for a Type B free agent. The club will not receive compensation for any free agent it loses if it does not offer arbitration.

What can we expect the Yankees to do, or at least, what should they do? Pettitte and Abreu are type A free agents and will almost certainly be offered arbitration.

• In Abreu's case, he wants a multi-year deal and with few choices on the free agent market, he's a good pickup for some teams (people keep crowing about the Cubs).

• Pettitte is worth the risk.  Worst case, he accepts, they go to arbitration and he gets the same $16 million he made last year.  It's more than Cashman wants to pay but, let's face it, it's not the end of the world.  If he signs somewhere else, which despite the Dodgers reports seems unlikely, the Yankees get a couple of nice picks.  Win-win in my book.

Giambi (also a type A) had a decent year in Big Three stats and likely wouldn't be offered arbitration for fear of him being awarded anything close to last year's $23.5 million salary.  Giambi might get a few years out of another club but for far less than last year's salary.  Not worth the risk, especially with Nick Swisher now in the fold. Carl Pavano most certainly won't be given the courtesy of arbitration.  The Yankees might consider bringing him back for a year or a year plus an option at a reduced rate.  I think Pavano would have to show some contrition during the negotiations or Cashman wouldn't even bother.  Either way, it's not worth the risk. Pudge Rodriguez is a type B free agent.  Pudge is probably the hardest choice for the Yankees to make.  On one hand, they have concerns about Posada's ability to bounce back from surgery, which leaves Jose Molina as the default starting catcher.  His backup could be Francisco Cervelli, a minor leaguer who missed a lot of 2008 with a broken wrist from a spring training collision at home plate. Pudge would be a good insurance policy, but if Posada is healthy, where would he play?  He probably wants the playing time and could possibly get a two year deal somewhere else.  Hell, the Astros are supposedly looking at

Paul Lo Duca,

so there's a market somewhere.  Also, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the way he handled the Yankee starters upon his arrival.  It's tough to jump into a staff and somehow know their ins and outs, but Pudge looked particularly bad.  I think he would probably turn down arbitration so it's worth the risk for a delicious sandwich pick.