Dr. Giganto

Well, to answer my own question, this is what I would do:

First of all, I would resign Posada and Rivera. Posada, because catcher is such a thin position, and a powerful switch-hitting catcher is hard to come by. He's getting up there in age, but he was effective enough that if you sign him to only a 3-year deal, you might still get money's worth. Let's say, hypothetically, they can sign him for 3 years, 14 mill per. Rivera is Rivera. He wasnt nearly as effective last year, but the Yankees are really having trouble with their relievers, and he is their anchor. Let's say you can get him for 12 million. Including the previous figures, that adds up to $156 million in salary.

btw, i realize i messed up with the starters...the starters will be Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Chamberlain, and Hughes...Kennedy will start the year in the minors.

So, on that note, let's continue with the pitching staff. We have the 5 starters, plus Rivera, Farnsworth, Igawa, Bruney, and Edwar Ramirez. I think 1 more reliever would do the trick. I like Linebrink...let's say the Yankees can sign him for 3 million per. So, the Yankees would have Rivera as the closer, Ramirez for the 8th, Linebrink for the 7th, Farnsworth and Bruney to pitch in blowouts, and Igawa as a lefty specialist/long relief. Also, I'm gonna end up one player short, so we'll call up Ross Ohlendorf to be another middle reliever. Now, the pitching staff is set.

Let's go around the infield. I already mentioned resigning Posada, and if thats the case, he's so good you can keep Nieves as a mediocre back-up. So, catcher is set. For the middle of the infield, you obviously keep Jeter and Cano as starters with the young kid Gonzalez and/or Betemit as the back-ups. But then the corners become a problem. At first, you could play Shelley Duncan but he's not really proven, and not that great defensively. You can play Giambi, but he cant field a lick. Or you can play Andy Phillips. Phillips and Duncan are both righties, so a platoon doesnt really work here. The free agent crop is pretty awful, too. So, I think I would go with Duncan as the starter, occasionally play Giambi there when Duncan needs a rest, and keep Phillips on the roster for late-inning defensive help. One thing to keep in mind is that you're losing a lot of pop in your line-up by losing A-Rod, so going with the big sluggers (Duncan and Giambi) helps the line-up tremendously. Plus, Duncan can occasionally fill in in the outfield.

That just leaves third base. The simple solution is to just plug Betemit in there. But there is nothing that Betemit has shown to prove that he's ready to be an everyday player for a contending team. Then again, he's only 25 (he turns 26 tomorrow...happy birthday Wilson!) and still has time to come around. Since next year might be a transition year anyway, I see no harm in starting the year with Betemit as your starter, and hoping that everday playing time helps him reach his potential.

That just leaves the outfield. You have Melky, Matsui, and Damon under contract. The ideal situation would be to play either Matsui OR Damon, but not both. Damon throws like a girl, but covers a lot of ground in a big left field. Matsui isnt all that great a fielder, but he throws better than Damon, and has the bigger bat. A platoon makes sense here. It would have to be a 3-way LF-DH platoon though, with Damon, Matsui, and Giambi. Three guys for two positions, so each guy would get a day or two off per week.

Which brings us to right field. There are two options here: Keep Melky in center and sign a FA right fielder, or move Melky to right and sign a FA center fielder.

Let's first consider the situation where Melky goes to right. The potential free agents are Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Aaron Rowand, and Corey Patterson. Andruw Jones scares the piss out of me, in a bad way. I'm truly afraid he'll be one of the Giambi-type signings that we end up regretting in the long run, despite his stellar career thus far. I'd prefer not to go this route.

Torii Hunter is a solid player all-around player, but he'll be 32 next year and the Yankees will have to pay up the ass for him. I would think something in the neighborhood of 14-15 mill. per year is not out of the question. We've done a decent job of budgeting thus far, so let's keep him in mind...

Rowand is ok offensively, very strong defensively, and coming off a career year. He will turn 31 next year. Considering how strong a year he had last year, in an extreme hitter's park, I think he wont be worth the money he will command (about 10 mill per). I think that for that money, you spend the extra 4-5 million it takes to get Torii Hunter.

Patterson is a light-hitting, high-speed guy. I hate these guys. Let's move on...

Then, there is the option of keeping Melky in center. The quickest solution is to exercise the option on Abreu. But here are a few things to keep in mind. First, abreu will be 34 at the start of next season. Secondly, his numbers slipped considerably last year.

On the other hand, you keep a strong arm in left, you have a guy who gets on base a lot, steals a decent number of bags, makes pitchers work, plus you would only have him for one more year, at which time a ton of payroll comes off the books.

I hate all the other RF options. So, it comes down to keeping Abreu for one more year and replacing him for '09, or signing Torii Hunter to a huge contract and making Melky switch positions.

Right now, I'm leaning toward signing Hunter. He's a quality player who's faced AL pitching and will vastly improve the team's shaky defense. Let's say it costs 15 mill to sign Hunter.

So, these would be the 2008 New York Yankees (with salaries):

1. C Jorge Posada $14.0
2. C Wil Nieves $0.4
3. 1B Shelley Duncan $0.4
4. 1B Andy Philips $0.4
5. 2B Robinson Cano $4.5
6. SS Derek Jeter $20.0
7. SS Alberto Gonzalez $0.4
8. 3B Wilson Betemit $1.5
9. LF Hideki Matsui $13.0
10. LF Johnny Damon $13.0
11. CF Torii Hunter $15.0
12. RF Melky Cabrera $0.5
13. DH Jason Giambi $21.0
14. SP Chien-Ming Wang $5.5
15. SP Mike Mussina $11.0
16. SP Andy Pettitte $16.0
17. SP Joba Chamberlain $0.4
18. SP Phil Hughes $0.4
19. RP Kyle Farnsworth $5.5
20. RP Scott Linebrink $3.0
21. RP Brian Bruney $0.8
22. RP Kei Igawa $4.0
23. RP Edwar Ramirez $0.4
24. RP Ross Ohlendorf $0.4
25. CL Mariano Rivera $12.0
DL Carl Pavano $11.0

That brings the total salary to about $175 million, considerably lower than last year. Plus, after 2008, you lose Pettitte's $16 million, Giambi's $21 million, Farnsworth's $5.5 million, and Mussina's $11 million. Thus, there will be about $120 million under contract for 2009, giving plenty of financial flexibility to give guys extensions and sign whoever they need to patch holes in the roster.

*edit* Here's the starting line-up in the Damon in LF, Matsui at DH, Giambi at 1B scenario (i.e. Philips sits):

1. Johnny Damon
2. Derek Jeter
3. Torii Hunter
4. Hideki Matsui
5. Jorge Posada
6. Jason Giambi
7. Shelley Duncan
8. Wilson Betemit
9. Melky Cabrera

If Damon sits, you bat Melky leadoff, and Philips 9th

If Matsui sits, everybody below him moves up except Melky, who bats 9th. Philips bats 8th.

If Giambi sits, Duncan and Betemit move up, Philips bats 8th, Melky 9th

I like having fast guys who arent very strong hitters (i.e. Melky Cabrera) hitting 9th, so their essentially an "extra" leadoff hitter in front of Damon, Jeter, and potentially Torii Hunter