Jeter Wins In October

Woohoo…

Weighing Retirement

From the NY Post:

PHILADELPHIA – Arn Tellem will travel to Montoursville, Pa., shortly to find out what Mike Mussina’s future holds.

“I am going to see him at the end of the week,” Mussina’s agent said yesterday. “Nothing has been decided.”

While Mussina strongly hinted to Yankee staff members and friends he was going to retire, he hasn’t officially done that. And while that is the way to bet, several Yankee officials believe the 40-year-old righty will file for free agency following the World Series to keep his options open.

If Mussina does, indeed, return for 2009, you can expect him to play in 2010, and 2011, as he’ll attempt to conquer the 300-win milestone (assuming that he doesn’t just die out before then).

Cashman’s Thoughts

Brian Cashman spoke publicly on a variety of topics Tuesday night, commenting on Joba Chamberlain’s recent DUI, Chien-Ming Wang’s health, Mike Mussina, free agents, and on the vacancy at third base (the coaching position). Here’s what he had to say, starting with Joba’s situation.

“He’s part of our family,” Cashman said. “We’re going to support him, but at the same time, he knows that stuff like this can’t happen.”

Obviously, Cashman sees that the situation, albeit troubling, can be an insightful moment that may even serve as a learning experience. Of course, he also states that this type of behavior isn’t reasonable or tolerable, and therefore, Joba needs to make sure this is the last time it’ll happen (although he later noted that he couldn’t foresee the future, and wouldn’t commit to saying that such a situation will absolutely never happen again, as that is Joba’s job). Cashman also commended the police for making sure Joba didn’t hurt himself or anyone else in Nebraska that night.

Now, onto our buddy Chien-Ming Wang, who completed a bullpen session on Monday and reported no pain afterwards. When asked about Wang, Cashman said the following:

“He’s doing terrific,” Cashman said. “He had no pain, no problem.”

That better be the case, because, as we all know, the Yankees need Chien-Ming Wang to compete in the very tough AL East. Even if the Yankees sign CC Sabathia, it would be like having Chien-Ming Wang and no #2 (assuming CC wins as many games as Wang does, usually). A potential Sabathia-Wang duo could turn out to be one of the best pitching combinations in the majors, and may even rival the very talented Beckett-Matsuzaka combo in Boston (among others). Also, in addition to feeling pretty good, CMW, as well as 9 others, was actually recognized as one of Taiwan’s most outstanding people, which is a pretty tremendous award, to say the least.

Cashman continued with the info when asked about Mike Mussina.

“Moving forward, he’s not part of our rotation, because he’s a free agent,” Cashman said of Mussina. “We need to pursue starting pitching, and where that comes from, whether it’s the free-agent or trade market, remains to be seen. But obviously, I’m not counting on him right now, because he’s not signed, and I don’t know if he’s even interested in playing any more.”

Basically, we know as much as Brian Cashman does, at this point. Mike Mussina seems like he’s headed towards retirement, however, that could possibly change with a Cashman phone call. If Cash’s pitching plans buckle under the weight of grandeur, he’s a last resort, although I think the team will really try to get him to return and fill out the third spot in the rotation (with Pettitte and Joba filling out the end). The Yankees have options though, and, as Cashman stated Tuesday night, they will be very aggressive in their pursuit of viable and valid players (how that aggressive pursuit ultimately works out is another story for another day). These options will be discussed during the GM meetings, next week (in Cali.).

Finally, when asked about the third base coaching job, Cashman didn’t have any new information. He basically reiterated that it would either be someone from the organization (maybe Tony Pena to third) or, they could always look to an outside party. Currently, the outlook seems hazy. I don’t think the Yankees want to get burned by a new third base coach like they did last year, therefore I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tony Pena move to third and maybe an outsider like Dale Sveum move to first (or maybe another guy like Luis Sojo will return to the top of the organization).