Yankees planning to offer Brian Cashman a new contract this winter

Despite being on pace to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season, the Yankees are planning to offer general manager Brian Cashman a new contract that would bring him back for next season, and several more years after that, reports CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman.

According to Heyman, higher-ups in the Yankees' front office like the mid-season pickups that Cashman has made this season -- like Brandon McCarthy, Martin Prado, and Chase Headley -- and are not putting any of the blame on him for the struggles of prized free-agents, like Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran.

Cashman's current three-year contract runs out at the end of the season, and reports earlier in the year suggested that the Yankees would be looking to bring back their long-time general manager.

The Yankees have averaged more than 96 wins a year and won four World series championships in his previous 16 seasons at the helm, so even with the arguments that the team isn't focused enough on younger, more in-their-prime players, Cashman's strategies have made him a very successful GM for  over a decade.

The Yankees have a policy of waiting until after the season to talk about renewing contracts for any upcoming free-agents, and Cashman won't be anything different.

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David Robertson needs a "legit offer at this point" to sign extension with the Yankees

David Robertson has yet to talk about a contract extension with the Yankees, who would have been very smart to lock him up on a multi-year deal before the season started.

“It would have to be a legit offer at this point of the year," Robertson told the NY Post on Wednesday night after the Yankees' 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Robertson, who did not pitch in the game, has been given the past couple of days off after recording three saves in three nights earlier this week, giving him 30 saves in his first season as the Yankees' closer.

“This offseason I probably would have gone for a discount, although I wasn't a closer,’’ said the 29-year-old right-hander, who is in the final year of his contract. Putting together a great year so far, one that has made people seemingly forget that Mariano Rivera is no longer here, Robertson likely won't be re-signing at a cheap price this winter.

The Yankees are known for not talking about extensions before a player's contract runs out, but they broke that rule during spring training this year when locking up Brett Gardner on a four-year, $52 million extension -- how great is that deal looking right now? -- and the Yankees really missed an opportunity to keep Robertson on less money.

So he'll likely become a free-agent this winter, and can easily command a lot of money. There is a chance that the Yankees give him a qualifying offer for about $15 million, which would make him the highest paid closer in the league.

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Yankees made Jhonny Peralta a three-year offer to play third base

Jhonny Peralta, who signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals this past offseason, told the NY Post on Sunday that he drew more than just a little bit of interest from the Yankees and New York Mets while on the market -- both teams made him an offer.

“The Mets talked to my agent, but the offer they made was not really good. But they were really serious,” Peralta told the Post on Sunday. “The Mets came in first and they offered only two years and the Yankees offered three, but I decided to come here to the Cardinals.

“The Mets said they had a little problem with [Ruben] Tejada and they were looking for a shortstop. The situation for the Yankees was a little bit different because they wanted me to play third base and shortstop. They were looking more for third base.

“I would have liked to play in New York, because I have a lot of family there. But I wanted to play for the Cardinals a long time ago, so it’s good that I decided to come here.”

It was reported by FOX Sports back in November that the Yankees were showing interest in Peralta, especially with the impending suspension of Alex Rodriguez, they wanted his mostly as a third baseman. The Yankees also made Stephen Drew an offer to play third base, but he, too, turned it down and is still a free-agent.

Before being suspended 50-games for his role in the Biogenesis scandal, Peralta earned the second All-Star selection of his career. He finished the season with an .815 OPS in 107 games with the Detroit Tigers.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog

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Yankees on the verge of extending Brett Gardner

Brett Gardner and the Yankees have agreed to terms on a four-year, $52 million extension with the Yankees, says YES Network's Jack Curry. The new deal includes a 5th year club option for $12.5 million or a $2 million buyout.

The extension won't start until 2015, meaning he will still be paid his 2014 salary of $5.6 million.

"I don't want to be anywhere else," Gardner said. "There's no better place to play baseball than in New York. I've never been anywhere else. I got drafted here almost nine years ago, and I love it here. I love everybody in the organization, the coaching staff and all my teammates, and this is where I want to be."

Gardner's extension does not include a no-trade clause, but we will get a $1 million bonus if traded at any point.

The Yankees don't typically give out contract extensions to players, but did try to negotiate with Russell Martin before the 2012 season, and also tried talking with Robinson Cano during last season. Neither player came to an agreement with the Yankees on an extension, and left the Bronx via free-agency.

"It's a demonstration from our end," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "We don't typically do this, but it shows the level of confidence, belief and trust in the type of person and player he is, and we're excited to know he's going to be part of this thing going forward."

This deal obviously eliminates any talks of the Yankees using Gardner as a trade chip to get a pitcher.

But even throughout the trade talks, Brian Cashman has been a big supporter of Gardner, and never really wanted to move him. Back in December, the Yankees reportedly shot down a trade proposal from the Cincinnati Reds that would have sent Gardner to the Reds for Brandon Phillips, straight up.

After locking up Jacoby Ellsbury on a seven-year, $152 million deal this winter, it seemed like the Yankees were ready to trade, or let Gardner walk after this season.

"Free agency is something that, it kind of intrigued me, and it also kind of scared me," Gardner said. "It's probably the biggest decision I ever had to make in my life. I put a lot of thought into it, but at the end of the day, it's a lot of money.


"Where I come from, that money or twice that much money, I'm not going to change the way I live my life."

Gardner said that his hope is to remain with the Yankees for the rest of his career, and retire as a one-team player, just like his former teammate Mariano Rivera, and soon-to-be former teammate Derek Jeter.

"It's meaningful being able to play for New York, and hopefully one day I can retire and say that I didn't play for another team," Gardner said. "I think that would be awesome. There's definitely a lot more media to deal with on a daily basis, and it seems like a lot more on the line day in and day out, but it's something that I enjoy and it's something that I take a lot of pride in. I love putting on these pinstripes every day."

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @GavinEwbank.

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Report: Yankees have verbal agreements with mutiple international players

Because people were essentially stealing his information, Kile McDaniel has released key details about the 2014 international free agent class.

(A link to McDaniel's story can be found here: http://sbb.scout.com/2/1375072.html.)

The Yankees may spend up to $20 million on this year's international free-agent class. According to Kiley they are thought to have deals with: 3B Dermis Garcia, 3B Nelson Gomez, OF Juan De Leon, OF  Jonathan Amundaray, SS Chris Torres, and SS Diego Castillo. In total, the contracts to these players would add up to about $12 million. 

The position of this class is essentially four shortstops, but Kiley feels that Garcia and Gomez are more likely to play third base. This isn't a bad thing, as the Yankees have a need for both positions. The Yankees will have room for these players, as they have two DSL and two GCL teams. Hopefully all these players are talented enough to begin there careers in the GCL in 2015, but there's no way of knowing that right now.

The Yankees are expected to spend even more money in this years 2014 class. And according to @Yankeesource, an international scout's twitter account, the Yankees also have a verbal agreement with prospect Ricardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez is a catcher, and is thought to have good power. It's possible that Rodriguez is a part of the Yankees second wave, but it has not been confirmed by McDaniel. 

At the moment fans have to be happy with the way the Yankees have enacted their strategy, the whole second wave strategy allows them to sign late bloomers that weren't great prospects when the team signed their first six prospects. 

Hopefully the Yankees have made the right choices and find some cheap talent in their second wave. At this point the team has yet to sign any pitchers, and that should change before the year ends.

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 Josh Sabo is a Minor League writer for Yanks Beat Blog.

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Yankees avoid arbitration with Gardner, Cervelli and Kelley

The Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $5.6 million contract with Brett Gardner, and a one-year, $1.765 million contract with reliever Shawn Kelley, both avoiding arbitration. Kelley also has a $25,000 bonus if he appears in 55 games this season.

Gardner has been a hot topic on the trdae market this winter. With the Yankees badly needing a pitcher, and Gardner being their best trade chip, the Yanks could decided to move him in order to get a starter.

Kelley was one of Joe Girardi's go-to strikeout pitchers in the bullpen late in games last season. He kinda of dropped in value towards the end of the season, but was still one of the important pieces in the bullpen.

Kelley had an ERA of 4.39 and 71 strikeouts in 53.1 innings pitched for the Yankees last season, his first year in the Bronx.

The Yankees also avoid arbitration with catcher Francisco Cervelli on Thursday. Th two sides agreed to a one-year, $700,000 deal.

Cervelli will come into spring training battling with Austin Romine and JR Murphy for the backup role behind newly signed catcher Brian McCann.

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Vernon Wells released by the Yankees

The Yankees have released outfielder Vernon Wells, according to the official transactions page on MLB.com. Wells was designated for assignment by the Yankees last week in order to make room for LHP Matt Thornton on the 40-man roster.

The Yankees roster was simply too crowed for Wells, with there being six outfielders on the roster after the signings of Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury, and looking to move at least one of them before the seasons begins, Wells, along with Ichiro, figured to be the odd man out.

Wells got off to a good start last season for the Bombers, hitting .300 in the month of April with 6 homeruns and 13 RBIs. But his production dropped badly over the rest of the season, hitting just 5 more homeruns and finishing with a .233 average in 430 at-bats.

The Yankees still owe Wells $2.4 million in 2014 while the Los Angeles Angels owe him $18.6 million. That is the final year on the seven-year, $126 million contract he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2008. Any team that signs him will likely only have to pay a pro-rated salary, with the Angels and Yankees picking up the bulk of the tab.

Even with Wells now out of the picture, we can still speculate that the Yankees will still be trying to move Ichiro, who is owed $6.5 million in 2014. His market might not be, but finding a place to move him shouldn't take too long.

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Hal Steinbrenner calls Alex Rodriguez an asset, talks about Masahiro Tanaka

Alex Rodriguez's recent actions may have left a bad taste in the mouth of baseball fans everywhere, but his own, Hal Steinbrenner, doesn't appear to see things that way.

At the Major League Baseball quarterly owners meetings, Steinbrenner called A-Rod an "asset" to the club, and didn't rule out the suspended slugger from returning to play in pinstripes again in 2015.

“He’s a great player,” Steinbrenner said in his first public comments since Fredric Horowitz reduced A-Rod’s suspension from 211-games to 162-games. “I have not thought about 2015, nor am I going to right now. My focus has to be right now. But when he’s on and when he’s healthy, he’s obviously an asset. We’ll see what happens.”

The Yankees, even though they're saving $22 million by Rodriguez being suspended this upcoming season, still owe him $61 million over the final three years of his contract. Many have been calling for the Yankees to just write him the check and let him go him away.

“When Alex Rodriguez is healthy and himself, I think most objective baseball people would say he could be an asset to a club.” Steinbrenner said.

Of course, though, some of the biggest talk about what happens next with A-Rod is about the Yankees will do it he tries to show up at Spring Training in Tampa next month. Because he isn't on the 40-man roster, the Yanks can technically send him the minor league camp across the street, but we'll see what happens when the time comes.

“We haven’t even talked about it." said Steinbrenner. "Cross that bridge when we come to it kind of thing. We’re going to reach out to [Major League Baseball], get their advice obviously, but haven’t even addressed it.”

Hal speaks about Masahiro Tanaka:

An even bigger issue for the Yankees other than A-Rod has been their pursuit of free-agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Hal confirmed that he and the Yankees have had talks with Tanaka's agent, Casey Close, but would not comment on any face-to-face meetings.

“I think a lot of teams are interested,” Steinbrenner said. “This is a great, young pitcher. I’m sure he’ll come here and do great things with someone. We certainly have an interest. I believe we need another starter. But we’ll see what happens.”

And Tanaka is the top starter on their radar. There hasn't been much interest in any of the other top starting pitchers on their market. A report from Newsday in New York on Wednesday, the Yankees don't plan on making anymore moves until the Tanaka situation is resolved.

“I can only tell you we’re in the market for another starting pitcher,” Steinbrenner said, “and (Tanaka) is certainly going to be one we’re looking at.”

The Los Angeles Dodger appear to be the biggest threat to steal Tanaka away from the Bombers, and Close, who also represents Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw, just landed the two-time Cy Young winning in Kershaw a record-breaking contract extension for seven-years, $215 million, and it's possible that Los Angeles could still be in the race to get the Japanese right-hander.

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Five Yankees file for arbitration

Tuesday was a pretty low-key date in Major League Baseball. It was the final day for players to file for arbitration. The five Yankees that were eligible filed for arbitration today -- Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Shawn Kelley, Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli.

After filing today, the team and the players will exchange salary numbers on Friday, and they can't come to any agreement on a number, the two sides will take their business to an arbitrator for him to decided.

Based on the projections, the five players combined are expected to cost the Yankees somewhere around $15 million next season. Let's use the numbers projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to see what we have.

Robertson: D-Rod has been one of the leagues best relief pitchers over the past few seasons whlie setting up for the great Mariano Rivera as the Yankees' closer. Now that Rivera is gone, Robertson is expected to take over the closer role in 2014, and that in return should give him a bump in pay from the $3.1 million he made last season.

According to MLBTR, Robertson can expect to get a $2.4 million raise through the arbitration process, effectively earning him $5.5 million this season.

Nova: Nova has seen a lot of up and down throughout his short career with the Yankees. He got off to a rough start in 2013, but put together the best second half of the season on the Yankees' staff. He's 27 and going through his first year of arbitration, and is expected to get paid nicely for his performance this past season.

He'll be the Yankees' third starter in the rotation when the season starts, and MLBTR thinks he'll be making $2.2 million in the position.

Gardner: Gardner has found himself in an interesting spot heading into the final year on his contract with the Yankees. They can value him as their best trade piece, and he can value himself as a player close the talent level of Jacoby Ellsbury. He's probably going to have a nice payday one he hits free-agency -- or if the Yanks sign him to an extension.

The might trade him at some point this season is they don't get the starting pitcher they're looking for, but until that happens, MLBTR thinks they'll be paying him $4 million through arbitration.

Cervelli: Likely to be the Yankees' backup catcher behind newly acquired Brian McCann, Cervelli missed most of the 2013 season because of injuries, and would have missed 50 games because of a PED suspension -- of you don't remember, he was one of the 12 players that accepted suspensions in the Biogenesis case while Alex Rodriguez if fighting until he dies.

Well, he's back, he's presumably healthy, and he's ready to battle for the backup job with Austin Romine this spring. MLBTR also thinks he'll be ready to play under a $1 million salary.

Kelley: Kelly pitched pretty well out of the Yankees' bullpen last season as their go-to strikeout guy late in the game. He wasn't as great to end the season as he was in the first half, but he still could be one of the go-to pitchers out of the bullpen again this season.

MLBTR has him making $1.5 million through arbitration, which is a pretty fair number, if you ask me.

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Cutting A-Rod is the only way for the Yankees to stop the madness

Not even the Bronx Zoo can compare to the circus that Alex Rodriguez has brought to the Yankees. With all of the chaos surrounding A-Rod and the 162 game suspension that was announced on Saturday, the embattled third baseman still plans to show up at the Yankees' Spring Training complex when the team gets there in mid-February.

Because the suspension removes him from the 40-man roster, A-Rod has to be invited to Spring Training by the Yankees, and there is no way that would ever happen.

In all likelihood, he's going to show up -- along with the 10,000 media members following him around -- and the Yankees are going to tell him that he can do his business across the street, away from the Major League that is actually trying to prepare to win a championship this season.

But no matter what the Yankees try to do to him, he's going to fight it tooth and nail just like he's done with everything else.

At this point, no one wants to have to deal with another minute of the A-Rod fiasco. Not MLB. Not the Yankees. And I'm sure the MLBPA is tired of having to defend him.

And there is only one way that the Yankees can truly get this to stop being a distraction in the clubhouse -- they cut him. Even after the season-long ban, the Yankees will still own Rodriguez $61 million over the next three seasons. All in guaranteed money that they're not getting back.

So no matter where A-Rod is two, three years from now, the Yankees are going to be paying him, and there is almost nothing they can do about -- the best they could do to this point was hope that Frederick Horowitz ruled in favor of a long suspension, and they got that.

But there are a few different factors that play into Hal Steinbrenner having to make that decision: 1. How good is he going to be once he comes back in 2015, and 2. Is eating $61 million really worth getting rid of this guy for good?

You can look at it from a few different angles, mainly depending on who's side you're on here.

From the on-the-field perspective, A-Rod would be the best third baseman on the Yankees' roster if he were allowed the play this season. Remember how bad Yankees third baseman were performing last season until A-Rod stepped in? Let's just say he hit more homeruns and drove in more RBIs in his short stay compared to the rest of the players that trotted out there combined.

Obviously A-Rod is far from the player he was in his prime, but he's still a heck of a lot better than Eduardo Nunez, when healthy.

Of the Yankees choose to keep him on the team, they can let him come back in 2015, see what he has to offer to the team on the field, then make a decision from there. The Yankees don't seem to be making any trade for Chase Headly anytime soon, so giving A-Rod a chance to prove himself is worth the shot.

Or you can look at this situation the way a lot of people are: Get the distraction out of there as soon as possible. Like I said before, the last thing Derek Jeter wants to do this Spring Training is answer questions about a guy that's not even going to be on the field with him this season. Instead, he wants to focus about getting back on the field and helping the Yankees get back to the playoffs.

The Yankees didn't spend a ton of money for A-Rod to be the headline of the team. Getting ready for for the upcoming season should be priority No. 1, not what A-Rod is doing across the street at minor league camp.

No matter how you look at this situation, A-Rod is also effecting the team with everything he is doing. I know that just about every guy in the Yankees' clubhouse has been around the game for awhile and knows how to conduct business in a professional manner, but this is a distraction that can't be a part of the daily schedule.

So, Hal Steinbrenner, you've got a choice to make: Do you let this A-Rod story become a part for the clubhouse all season and what for his return in 2015, or do you write the check for $61 million and waive goodbye to Alex Rodriguez for the final time? It's not an easy decision, but it's one he has to make.

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MLBPA expects Gardner’s salary to be higher than projected in 2014

The MLB Players' Union expects Brett Gardner's salary for 2014 to be high than the $4 million MLBTradeRumors.com projected he would earn, a union official told Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com.

Rosenthal noted that Michael Bourn made $6.845 million two years ago in his final year of arbitration, and his career on-base and slugging percentages were lower than Gardner's at that point in his career, and although Bourn is a much better base stealer than Gardner, Gardner is a better defender.

Gardner had a career year offensively in 2013, hitting .273/.344/.416 with eight homers and 52 RBIs, 33 doubles and a league-leading 10 triples.

He made $2.85M in 2013 and the projected $1.15M actually seems like too little of a pay raise. Gardner is a year away from becoming a free-agent, and could get expensive, unless the Yankees decide now to extend his contract.

Some expect Gardner to get a contract near the one the Bourn got from the Cleveland Indians last winter. If you take a look at the number, Gardner is a player very similar to Jacoby Ellsbury, and he just signed a seven-year, $153 million with the Yankees.

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Shin-Soo Choo rejected seven-year offer from the Yankees

When the Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year, $153 million deal, many thought that Robinson Cano would be the next big signing. Not exactly.

According got Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the Yankees made a seven-year, $140 million offer to Shin-Soo Choo right after they had signed Ellsbury. When Choo rejected the offer, they moved on and signed Carlos Beltran to a three-year deal instead.

Choo has been searching for a contract at his price, all while his market appears to be shrinking every day. Passan says that Choo has multiple offers on the table at the moment. The Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks has been the teams showing the most interest lately.

Choo is the best available player on the market -- until Masahiro Tanaka gets posted, if he'll even be posted -- is worth paying a lot of money, but maybe not anything more than the $140 he rejected from the Yanks. A lead-off hitter that can get on base would fill a hole on a lot of teams.

The Yankees were likely trying to sign him to fill the void of Cano's impending signing with the Mariners. The Bombers signed Ellsbury a few days before Cano signed in Seattle, the same day the Yanks agreed to terms with Beltran.

It'll be interesting to see if Choo ends up landing a contract bigger than what the Yankees offered him.

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Yankees sign Carlos Beltran to three-year deal

This busy, busy, busy day just got even more busy. Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News reports that the Yankees and free-agent outfielder Carlos Beltran have agreed to a three-year deal. Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown reports that the deal is worth $15 million per season.

The Yankees had been very hesitant to go give Beltran a third year, and after the Kansas City Royals jumped into the running for him, it seemed less likely that the Yankees would land him. Then they signed Jacoby Ellsbury and things almost looked dead between the two.

But after the Yankees let Robinson Cano walk to the Seattle Mariners today, that put them back in play with just about every free-agent on the market, and they clearly aren't waiting around to make moves.

Signing Beltran most certainly takes the Yankees out of the running for Shin-Soo Choo, who became a much more like signing after Cano went to the Mariners. Choo can also become the most coveted bat on the market.

Just my thought, but I would guess that trading Brett Gardner becomes much more likely now that the Yankees have six outfielders, and still need to add another pitcher.

Beltran, 36, hit .296 with 24 home runs and 84 RBIs in 145 games this past season for the St. Louis Cardinals.

He had been drawing a ton of interest from around the league, including the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Royals and Yankees. The Arizona Republic also reported that the Arizona Diamondbacks offered Beltran three-years, $48 million. He took $3 million less to join the Yankees like he's always wanted.

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Robbie Cano signs 10-year, $240 million deal with the Mariners

Ladies and gentlemen, Robinson Cano has left the building, and he's heading to The Rainy City.

In a deal first reported by CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman, with contract details provided by Enrique Rojas of EPSNDeportes.com, Cano shocked the world -- kinda -- by signing a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Seattle Mariners.

The deal, which is the third largest contract in baseball history, tied with the one Albert Pujols signed with Los Angeles Angels after the 2011 season, includes a full no-trade clause, sources told ESPN's Jim Bowden.

The agreement between Cano and the Mariners came just hours after talks broke down when Jay Z tried to overplay his hand and ask Seattle for 10-years, $250 million over the 9-year, $225 million they were preparing to offer.

Talks were said to be dead after Jay Z's demand, but that clearly wasn't the case. The Mariners' offer was almost $80 million more than the Yankees' highest offer seven-years, $175 million.

Adding Cano does not make the Mariners instant winners, because they still have a lot more work to do if they want to be better than the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers or Los Angeles Angels, who are all in Seattle's division.

The Yankees, on the other hand, who Cano is leaving, just introduced new addition Brian McCann on Thursday, and a couple days before that signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-years, $153 million contract. New York is in a much better position to win at the moment, and the Yankees will probably be in a better position than the Mariners for at least the next few seasons.

The Mariners come to the Bronx for a three-game series against the Yankees April 29th-30th and may 1st.

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Cano talks with Mariners break down, signing in Seattle unlikely

Jay Z has got 99 problems and asking for a reasonable contract for Robinson Cano is one.

By Thursday night, it was starting to look like Cano would be the next big superstar to play for the Seattle Mariners after Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. Cano was flying to Seattle to meet face-to-face with top Mariners executives, as they were reportedly ready to offer the all-star second baseman a 9-year, $225 million contract.

Cano's plane landed in Seattle shortly after 9pm EST, and was met there by his agent, Jay Z, who was able to attend because he had a concert in Anaheim on Friday.

Talks were said to be running fine, the Mariners believed that Cano was ready to accept their 9-year, $225 million offer, and then, as the NY Daily News reports, Jay Z tried to overplay his hand and asked for 10-year, $260 million. Seattle wanted no part of that, things go heated, and now Cano is unlikely to become the face of any Starbucks commercials in Seattle.

The Mariners' offer was $50 million more than what the Yankees are offering to Cano, at seven-years, $175 million. That's their sealing in terms of both money and years. The Yankees, according to reports, have no intention to ever offer Cano $200, and are standing firm at seven-years.

The Yankees haven't talked with Cano's representatives since early last week, and were suppose to resume talks on Monday, but because of the sizable gap between the two sides, they decided not to met.

During their last meeting with the Yankees, Cano lowered his asking price to nine-years, $250-$260 million.

Cano's father, Jose Cano, wants his son to stay with the Yankees because it's reasonably close to his Dominican Republic home, and close enough to where he can see his son often.

But Jose told the NY Daily News Thursday that he isn't impressed with the way the Yankees are pursuing his son, and thinks they don't really want him back.

"The Yankees don't seem to want him," Jose Cano told the Daily News on Thursday.

"Look, we're still talking," Yankees principal owner Hal Steinbrenner said Thursday. "Nobody has given up. We're still talking, but obviously we're a decent distance apart. We're just going to have to see, day by day. That's all we can do."

General manager Brian Cashman also said Thursday that the Yankees have been trying to re-sign Cano, but it's hard to get that done at the moment with all of the holes the Yanks still have to fill.

"We would love to have him," Cashman said. "Just like we took Brian McCann right now from the Braves and every other suitor because we were willing to pay a certain amount, that certainly could happen to us in the Robbie Cano sweepstakes. That's the way the process works.

"Some people wind up signing elsewhere for more money than the home club was willing to give and other players can take discounts to stay if they have better offers. Sometimes you find common ground and get a deal done. I can't tell you how this is going to shake out just yet. He's a great player, he's been a great Yankee, I've got nothing but good things to say about him."

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Yankees believe Kuroda is willing to come back

After spending a ton of money to land Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury, the Yankees still need to pick up at least two starting pitchers in order to be a serious contender next season. The Yankees are hoping that Hiroki Kuroda will be one of those two pitchers, but we still don't know his plans for next season.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman said today after the press conference introducing McCann that he believes Kuroda will certainly be pitching for a baseball team next season, but he doesn't yet know if it'll be here with the Yankees, or in his homeland of Japan.

Kuroda declined the Yankees' one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer in November, insuring that the Yankees would receive a draft pick if he decided to come back, but signed somewhere else. Kuroda currently does have a one-year offer on the table from the Yankees that is believed to be in the $15-$16 million range.

For the time being, the only sure locks for the Yankees' rotation next season are CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova. Kuroda, and fellow Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka have been the Yanks' top pitching targets this winter, as the Bombers have been hoping to add those two -- but Tanaka still has to be posted by his Japanese club, which we are now hearing might not happen -- with David Phelps, Adam Warren, Vidal Nuno and Michael Pineda fighting for the fifth spot.

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Cano flew to Seattle to meet with the Mariners Thursday

Probably hearing how I think the Seattle Mariners aren't a very serious threat to land Robinson Cano, they make us think otherwise.

Enrique Rojas of ESPN.com is reporting the Cano flew to Seattle on Thursday, and the Mariners told him they are willing to offer ten-years, $230-$240 million, far, far from what the Yankees, or any other team for that matter, have offered him so far.

Cano is seeking a deal within the ten-year, $250-$260 range, and who knows if he's willing to sign with the Mariners at that price, given the amount of money the Yankees already spent this offseason to improve the ballclub.

The Mariners haven't made the playoffs since 2001, and the Yankees have won 27 championships in franchise history, including 2009 with Cano as a member of the club.

What the report from ESPN doesn't say is how interested in the Mariners Cano actually is, or whether he is just trying to put pressure on the Yankees to offer him a better deal than the seven-year, $175 million contract they have been standing firm at.

The Yankees have said they don't plan to go past the seven-years they have been offering, and also have no plans to offer anything starting with a "2."

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Mariners are a "major player" to land Robinson Cano

For years, the Seattle Mariners have been desperate to land a big bat during the offseason, and they have failed every time. Well, this time they're going to try their luck at the biggest free-agent on the market: Robinson Cano.

Yes, ESPNNewYork.com's Wallace Matthews has reported that the Mariners have now joined in the running to land the All-Star second baseman.

A source told Wallace that the Mariners might be willing to offer more than the Yankees, being something worth $200 million over eight-years.

"I wouldn't presume to say that there's no one out there that will meet [Cano's] demands,'' said another source, who named Seattle -- along with possibly the Texas Rangers -- as a team that might be willing to outbid the Yankees for Cano's services.

"Now it's a question of, does (Cano) want to be a Yankee, or is he just about the money?," a baseball insider told Wallace.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik denied to confirm whether he had a meeting with Cano.

"We've talked to everybody," Zduiencik told ESPNNewYork's Andrew Marchand on Tuesday. "There's not a free agent we haven't talked to. We've cast a wide net.''

The Yankees haven't had talks with Cano's representatives since last Tuesday, and Cano was said to have lowered his asking price to nine-years, $250 million. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports says that the Yankees don't plan on offer Cano over seven-years, or anything over $200 million anytime soon.

The Yankees, according to multiple reports, have upped their offer to Cano to seven-years, $175 million -- an average salary of $25 million per year. A source told Wallace that the Yankees are now "50-50" on whether they even want to retain him at this point.

"(The Yankees) think this offer is incredibly fair,'' the insider told Wallace. "It's the highest average annual salary they've paid anyone except for Alex Rodriguez. Not even (Derek) Jeter got that kind of money.''

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Yankee Notes: Contract offered to Kuroda, Yanks not talking with Cano, and more

Kuroda has an offer from the Yankees: The Yankees have offered a contract to free-agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, reports Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. The Yankees are hoping that Kuroda will accept the deal, rather than retire or go back to Japan.

The deal on the table is expected to be in the $15-$16 million range over the course of the 2014 season. That price would be around what Kuroda earned last season in the Bronx. Kuroda became a free-agent after turning down a $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Yankees.

Kuroda went 11-13 with a 3.31 ERA last season and was that Yankees' best pitcher through mid-August before the fatigue of a long season caught up to him. His ERA in his final handful of starts was awful, and he was pitching nothing like he had in the first four months of the season.

The Yankees are hoping the Kuroda will come back to help fill a spot in the rotation that is currently headlined by a declining CC Sabathia and shaky Ivan Nova. The Yankees are also banking on Masahiro Tanaka being posted by his Japanese team once a new posting system is agreed to. Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno will battle for the fifth spot in the rotation during Spring Training.

Yankees have "nothing to talk about" with Cano: After closing the contract gap to about $80 million last week, the Yankees were expected to meet with representatives for Robinson Cano once again on Monday, but the two sides decided not to meet, Marchand says, because the gap is still too big.

As one source told ESPNNewYork.com, "There is nothing to discuss." That tone sounds a lot like what team president Randy Levine said during the GM meetings a couple weeks back: "Until he gets more realistic, we have nothing to talk about."

Cano's side was reportedly asking for a 10-year, $310 million deal, though Cano has denied ever asking for that amount of money. During meets last week, Cano's side was said to have lowered their asking price to a nine-year deal for $250-$260 million. The Yankees have raised their offer in terms of money, but only a little bit, to $170 over seven-years.

Canzler has been signed by the Yanks again: The Yankees have signed free-agent outfielder/first baseman Russ Canzler to a contract, says Matt Eddy of Baseball America.The terms of the deal are unknown.

Canzler has been a lefty-killer since 2011, hitting .307/.390/.531 (433 PA) with 17 HR, a 12 percent walk rate, and a 18 percent strikeout rate.

He was with the Yankees earlier this year, from February 4th to the 5th before being claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles the week before spring training.

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Yankees have decisions to make ahead of Monday's non-tender deadline

The Yankees will have until Monday's deadline to decide whether or not they want to tender a contract to a select few of players in order to make some room on the 40-man roster that currently stands at 39.

Brendan Ryan and Brian McCann still have to be added, meaning that moves are going to be happening within the next couple of days.

They may not all by via a non-tender, as some could be designated for assignment and pass through waivers completely to remain with the organization, but the Yankees will need to make decisions on several players when clearing room on the roster.

Here are a few players that the Yanks could clear of the roster tomorrow:

Chris Stewart -- After signing Brian McCann, the Yankees are now supplied with a handful of catchers that would seem to be more useful options than Stewart. With McCann being the starter, Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine are expected with battle it out in Spring Training for the backup job, with JR Murphy also sitting down in Triple-A.

We've heard some recent rumors that the Yankees could be trying to work out a new contract with Stewart in order to avoid arbitration. Stewart is also said to be drawing some trade interest, so the Yanks could decide to tender him a contract and trade him away for what ever they can get. However, I expect the Yanks to non-tender Stewart.

Jayson Nix -- He worked out well as a utility defender for the Yankees, but with Ryan now signed for the next couple of years, I don't see there be any fit for Nix on the roster. If they really wanted to, the Yanks could find another player like Nix on a minor league deal, but they also signed Yamaico Navarro not long ago, so there might not be any need for another infielder. Nix is also eligible for arbitration this year, and is expected to earn a raise, which also makes him worth letting go.

Others -- If the Yankees feel it to be necessary, they could non-tender a contract to Eduardo Nunez. To me, re-signing Ryan on a two-year deal means that Nunez isn't involved in the Yankees' future plans to replace Derek Jeter when he retires. They don't actually have to non-tender him, but I'm sure there would be some trade interest in a relatively young infielder with some potential. Could possibly trade him, maybe a non-tender, but unlikely.

David Huff and Brett Marshall are another pair players that could see themselves being axed off the roster. Marshall is expected to be one of the pitchers battling for the fifth spot in the rotation in the spring, but for the moment, he's already behind David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno in the competition. Could make a case to non-tender, but it wouldn't be very strong.

Huff would add a decent left-handed arm out of the bullpen next season. I could see him making the Opening Day roster as long as he can put together a decent Spring Training. The crowed 40-man roster might mean he has to be moved off, though, and it would be more likely to see him DFA'd, rather than non-tendered.

Likely tenders: Brett Gardner, Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Shawn Kelly and Cervelli are all up for arbitration this winter, and the Yankees are likely to tender them contracts in hopes to avoid going to arbitration.

Matt Swartz for MLB Trade Rumors predicts that all will earn raises after their 2013 performances. After a solid offensive and defensive year, Gardner is predicted to about $4 million next season; Robertson should get around $5.5 million; Nova should be a $2.8 million; Kelly could make $1.5 million after a good season as a late-inning pitcher for the Yankees; and Cervelli figures to be at $1 million.

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