Brian Cashman Lets Paul Byrd Pass to Red Sox

Say what you will about the speculative firing of Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, the next baseball executive to walk the plank in New York may be Brian Cashman of the Mets crosstown rivals.


That gleam reflecting off the forward deck of that sinking Yankee clipper ship on the East River Waterfront is coming from the hardened steel sabre of Yankees Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner, who watched as Cashman failed to claim Indians hurler Paul Byrd off the waiver wire, thus allowing Byrd to fall to Boston.


How convenient for the Red Sox, whose precarious five-game wild-card lead over the Yankees had just been been seriously jeopardized by the loss of starter Tim Wakefield to his all-too-familiar shoulder problems.


What can Cashman be thinking?


All the Red Sox had to pay was a bag of balls, six cans of chowder and a David Clyde rookie card for Byrd, a playoff experienced, veteran starter with a 1.46 ERA and 4-0 record since the All-Star break. Though 37, Byrd already all season had been a perfectly serviceable option, but suddenly is even more valuable since discovering he can stop surrendering homers by not tipping his pitches.

This is Cashman's second dubious decision, since he, Gene Michael and Stump Merrill were believed to have ganged up on Steinbrenner to talk him out of signing free agent home run king Barry Bonds.

Cashman opted instead to trade for Xavier Nady of the Pirates. There's nothing particularly , wrong with Nady -- and Bonds comes with his share of baggage -- but Cashman had to give up prospect Jeff Karstens to acquire Nady, and all Karstens has done since leaving the Yankees is pitch 15 scoreless innings, including a two-hit complete game.


Bonds would have cost Cashman nothing more than a major league, season pro-rated minimum of $150,000, yet would have been an unmistakable force in the middle of the lineup, providing a desperately needed spark in the Yankees flat, demoralized lineup.

Hopefully Cashman has an explanation that will become evident in the next few days. It had better be good.

It's Over for Barry Bonds, Yankees, Yogi Berra Says

"It ain't over until it's over," Yankees immortal Yogi Berra has often been quoted as saying, and for unemployed home run king Barry Bonds, it's over.

Berra -- special advisor adviser to the Yankees front office -- said Monday in comments to MLBnewsonline that any chance of Bonds signing with the team is dead.

"They're not going to do anything with it," the former Yankees catcher, coach and manager said flatly at the conclusion of National Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at Cooperstown, N.Y. The returning 1972 Hall of Fame inductee dismissed any speculation to the contrary as "a lot of paper talk."

A confidential clubhouse source at the same said that the speculative signing of Bonds had been a subject under consideration at the urging of team Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner, but that it had been rejected largely after the team had weighed the terms of the deal.

Though the source last week said a proposed contract had been drafted, it could not be learned whether it had been tendered to Bonds or his agent Jeff Borris. General Manager Brian Cashman had earlier been reported in The New York Times as virtually confirming Borris had been contacted, saying without elaborating: "I would not say that I have not."

Borris had claimed Bonds was working out and would be ready to face major league pitching in 10 days.

Bonds has maintained his innocence as he he faces trial next March on federal charges of justice obstruction and lying to a grand jury about his alleged abuse of performance enhancing substances.

Bonds had been the subject of vague speculation that he was under consideration to be signed by the Red Sox and Diamondbacks, but had been directly confirmed as being up for discussion last week as Steinbrenner and the Yankees brain trust met in Tampa. But the idea was undermined shortly thereafter when the team traded prospects to acquire Pirates outfielder Xavier Nady.

A key impetus to sign Bonds in the first place had been that no prospects would be be given up to acquire him, as Bonds contract was not renewed last year by the Giants and he was unattached to any team.

Pointless to Sign Barry Bonds, Says Pete Rose

All-Time hit leader Pete Rose says free agent slugger Barry Bonds should be considered innocent of crimes until proven guilty and thus should not be prevented from playing baseball, but it would be pointless for the Yankees to sign him.

"He could play, but is he going to be effective?" asked Rose during a storefront autograph session coinciding with National Hall of Fame induction week in Cooperstown. "...I don't care what any body says, you need spring training and he's let it go on too long. When I played I needed two weeks just to get callouses on my hands."

Bonds is preparing to defend himself a federal indictment charging him with purjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to a grand jury about performance enhancing drugs. Rose is seeking reinstatement to the major leagues after being banned for betting on the game, and has formerly served time for income tax discrepancies.

The three-time batting champ and all-time record holder with 4256 hits questioned whether Bonds would even have a position to play with the Yankees, and doubted whether the longtime National League veteran could make a dramatic switch to the American League as a designated hitter.

"It's a pinch hitter. That's what it is. You're asked to pinch hit four times in a single game, and that (kind of hitter) is a difficult breed," Rose said in an exclusive interview with MLBnewsonline.

Rose, 67 -- wearing a beige ostrich skin hat with matching cowboy boots -- scoffed at Bonds' agent Jeff Borris' claims that his 44-year-old client would be ready to face major league hitters in 10 days. "You just can't get ready that fast, as good as he is, at that age," Rose said.

Bonds has been the subject of speculation that he would sign with the Yankees, a rumor underscored by a recent MLBnewsonline report from a confidential clubhouse source that the team had drafted a proposed contract which would be offered to Bonds once injured right fielder Hideki Matsui is declared out for the season. Matsui is continuing to try to make a comeback and has put off season ending knee surgery.

Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner has since acknowledged that the Yankees front office has discussed signing Bonds. However, cryptic comments by General Manager Brian Cashman have been interpreted in some quarters as indicative that the proposition to sign Bonds is no longer on the table.

Rose considers Bonds one of the top five all-time greatest players along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, but contends he would be a superfluous addition to the Yankees as the team is playing well enough without him.

"You don't fix what ain't broke."

Cashman Won't Deny Talk to Barry Bonds' Agent

In an already widely quoted report in The New York Times -- the city's quaint left-wing alternative newspaper -- Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman in a cryptically circumspect response stopped short of saying he had not spoken to Jeff Borris, Barry Bonds' agent.

“I wouldn’t say I have not,” Cashman was quoted as saying with discernable hesitation. Then he added: "I don’t want to take this down the wrong path.”

Clearly, whatever Cashman intended to convey by his comment, he hardly could be expected to desire another rash of internet rumors that the Yankees are about to sign Bonds. And still -- even with the acquisition of outfielder Xavier Nady -- it cannot be altogether ruled out that Cashman yet would find room for the free agent home run king.

Has the team reversed course? Has another option been chosen? Is Bonds still on the table? It would seem one is left to draw the conclusion: Where there is smoke, there is more smoke.

Though the prospect of signing Bonds appears more and more remote, team Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner, after all, is on the record as having confirmed Bonds would be under consideration, whether briefly or not so briefly.

The key is that a confidential source already had intimated to MLBnewsonline that Cashman had his legal department draw up a proposed contract to have inked and ready for Bonds' signature once right fielder Hideki Matsui was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. It would be difficult to imagine that Cashman had that far without at least a cursory communication with Borris.

The main question remaining is, what does it all boil down to now? It would be a simple matter merely to deny any interest in Bonds, yet the team continues to stop short of so doing, even to the point of neither confirming or denying the speculation on the record when flatly confronted.

One thing for sure, if the Yankees fail to sign Bonds at this point, the whole matter must be filed under the topic: Anticlimax.

Xavier Nady Deal Clouds Barry Bonds Picture

The Yankees trade of four minor leaguers to acquire Pirates outfielder Xavier Nady appears to cloud the outlook for the team to acquire free agent home run king Barry Bonds, as a key impetus of the theoretical Bonds deal was to have been the avoidance of giving up prospects.

Though the Yankees had virtually confirmed a recent MLBnewsonline report that the Yankees were contemplating a contract for Bonds, it would appear that the Nady deal might have superseded other considerations, especially since the team traded away coveted young pitcher Ross Ohlendorf, plus additional prospects Jose Tabata, Phil Coke and another, unnamed minor leaguer, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman.

As a matter of course the consummation of the deal awaits a medical evaluation of all the players.

Nady -- in the midst of a career year with 13 homers and 57 RBI while hitting .330 -- bats right-handed, meaning that the Yankees still might want Bonds to hit from the left side of the plate. But just exactly what the team is up to now would be anyone's guess.

Before the deal had been reported, Co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner confirmed the team had been discussing Bonds, but indicated the former Giant was only one of a number of options, according to the Associated Press.

An inside source previously had told MLBnewsonline that a Bonds contract had been drafted, but that it would not be tendered until it became clear that right fielder Hideki Matsui would be out for the season. Matsui is still attempting to avoid season ending surgery, and will reach a crossroads in about one more week, according to various published reports.

In addition to Nady, the Yankees also will acquire reliever Damaso Marte from the Pirates.

Yankees Consider Barry Bonds, But Wait for Now

An unnamed participant emerged from a meeting of the Yankees heirarchy at Tampa late last night, telling The New York Daily News that free agent home run king Barry Bonds is being considered but that the team's top executives "aren't ready to jump on that."

The report followed an acknowledgement by team co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner before the meeting that Bonds -- currently facing a federal indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice -- would be discussed. But after the group broke up, the unnamed executive said Steinbrenner talked about Bonds but "wasn't pushing it," according to the News.

Because of the lateness of the meeting, the report made it only into the city edition.

In a report from a contributor writing under the pseudonym Bronx Bomber, a confidential clubhouse source told MLBnewsonline last week that a contract had been prepared in anticipation of offering it to Bonds, but that it would be withheld until it became clear that injured right fielder Hideki Matsui would miss the remainder of the season. The loss of Matsui would leave the team without a key left-handed hitter, a void Bonds likely could fill.

Matsui continues to put off making a decision on season-ending knee surgery, opting for rehabilitation. The Yankees, however, are bracing for the worst, the MLBnewsonline source has previously reported.

Others participating in the talks are co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman and special adviser and former general manager Gene Michael, ESPN said.

Yankees Discussing Barry Bonds, AP Reports

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner -- in a statement possibly underscoring an exclusive report last week by MLBnewsonline -- has acknowledged that free agent home run king Barry Bonds will be among the subjects undertaken during a meeting of the team hierarchy in Tampa over the next few days.

"I'll mention it. We'll cover everything. No stone will be left unturned," Steinbrenner told the Associated Press in a report carried by ESPN.

Steinbrenner's statement could be interpreted as suggesting that this would be the first time the Yankees have considered signing Bonds. However, the aforementioned previous report by an MLBnewsonline contributor writing as " The Bronx Bomber" quoted a confidential clubhouse source saying that Bonds has been under consideration in recent days, and that a proposed contract was already being composed.

Before tendering the contract, the team was only waiting to see whether injured right fielder Hideki Matsui would be out for the season, the source said.

Others participating in the talks are co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman and special adviser and former general manager Gene Michael, the AP said.

Though majority partner George Steinbrenner resides in Tampa, there was no indication he would participate.

A team spokesman previously would neither confirm nor deny the MLBnewsonline report about Bonds, though it was generally ridiculed in legitimate media and across the blogosphere.

Matsui -- on the disabled list with a knee injury since June 23 -- is still attempting a rehabilitation regimen to see whether he can put off surgery until after the season. The surgery would likely sideline him until next spring or later.