Nady gets $6.55 million

According to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, the Yankees have avoided arbitration with Xavier Nady. He’ll earn $6.55 million in 2009. The figure is not a surprise as most thought he would earn betwen $6-7 million.

UPDATE - Via PA, Melky has agreed to a deal and the Yankees have yet to reach an agreement with Brian Bruney.

UPDATE – Melky will make $1.4 million. Good god. I can suck and be on the Yankees for way less.

Posada problem

From Steven Goldman:

“Posada will not be able to catch by the exhibition opener Feb. 25, Cashman said, but he is on track to be ready for the regular-season opener April 6.”

Eh. You could say that the Yankees would do themselves a favor by picking up another catcher. However, outside of Pudge and Varitek (no!) there aren’t really any guys worth picking up. Last year, with Jose Molina behind the plate the team still did fairly well. Not good enough to win the AL East or the WC, but 89 wins is still a good number. As long as Jorge will be back behind the plate for at least 3/4 of the regular season, the Yankees should be fine.

Late Night Bits: Salary Cap, WBC, Forbes

Quickly, yet again:

1. Bruce Jenkins produced a great text regarding the dreaded salary cap. If you were ever for such a spending ceiling, reading Jenkins’ article may change your mind.

2. The US roster for the WBC is like a big diamond bedazzled with smaller diamonds. It’s not everyday you get to see Dustin Pedroia, Derek Jeter, David Wright and Chipper Jones, all on the same team.

3. Here’s a story that I failed to post for whatever reason. According to Forbes (the all knowing source of financial info), the Yankees are valued at $1.3 billion and are the fifth most valuable team in sports. Big ballin’, indeed.

Quick Bits: Garcia, Dunn

Quickly:

1. The Mets, White Sox and Rangers appear to be the 3 teams with the most interest in free agent Freddy Garcia.  Garcia was rumored to be a Yankee target, however, as the article notes, it appears as though those rumors have subsided.

2. Adam Dunn’s price is reportedly dropping by the hour. In fact, one agent even believes that Dunn could end up getting only $5 million per year. While I think that’s impossible, the Yankees should still consider signing Dunn. Like Dunn, Nady isn’t a great defensive OF and if they trade him and his contract, they could then use the savings to bring Dunn’s bat into the fold (his bat is better than Nady’s). A 4-year deal worth $40 million would be an absolute steal (and he could be the DH after this year).

(Props to MLBTR).