The New York Yankees found enough cash last off-season to get Mark Teixeira(notes), CC Sabathia(notes), and A.J. Burnett(notes) off the free-agent marketplace, putting them in a pretty good position to be the powerhouse they were in 2009 on the way to a championship. But the team is supposedly not taking the same course this winter.

There are really only three highly valuable free agents this off-season -- Jason Bay(notes), Matt Holliday(notes), and John Lackey(notes) - and the Yankees aren't expected to go after any of them, according to the New York Post.

It looks like the Yankees are closing up the wallet a little and letting a whole lot of money flow in right now instead of out.

The team may be at the point of no return on expenditures, anyway. The Yanks will spend $100 million next season Alex Rodriguez(notes), Sabathia, Teixeira and Derek Jeter(notes) alone and have another $70 million already committed to 13 other players from Kei Igawa(notes) to Juan Miranda(notes).

Holliday's agent, Scott Boras, apparently wants him to be paid around the same as Teixeira (eight years, $181 million), Lackey is expected to get around $100 million for five years, and Bay could get around $90 million for five years.

Source: New York Post

Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is apparently saying he "bought low on a player with considerable promise" when he snagged Jeremy Hermida(notes) from the Florida Marlins yesterday, according to MLB Trade Rumors. "He hasn't fulfilled his potential yet," Epstein said, according to MLB Trade Rumors. "We acquired him today to see if he can fulfill that potential." The Red Sox are apparently hoping the change in geography will help Hermida.

Red Sox fans have got to hope the 25-year-old outfielder can do better than hitting .259. He reportedly won't be expected to be an incredible defensive presence.

Contractually, Hermida has two years to show that Epstein's prediction was true.

Source: MLB Trade Rumors

Cincinnati Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez(notes) could get paid $8.5 million next season if the team would just pick up his option. But it's not looking likely that the Reds are going to do that, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

It's looking like the team is going to buy him out for $1 million, which is still a nice payday for a guy who didn't play after mid-July due to knee surgery. The rumor is that the team will try to re-sign the 11-year vet after that.

Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty has met with Hernandez's agent. "We've made some progress. I don't know if we're close. But we'll try to work something out," he said.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

The rumor yesterday that Mark Teahan should might as well pack his bags and head to the airport because the Kansas City Royals had traded him to the Chicago White Sox for second baseman Chris Getz(notes) and third baseman/outfielder Josh Fields(notes).

But that deal isn't apparently finished just yet, according to the Kansas City Star. And it might never be. As of midnight last night, none of the players had supposedly been informed of the trade.

"We're in discussions with a lot of clubs about a lot of things," Royals general manager Dayton Moore told the Star. "There is nothing to announce yet, and we won't comment (about trade rumors) until there is something to announce." Drat!

Source: Kansas City Star

The New York Mets are apparently telling reliever J.J. Putz(notes) to take a hike this off-season.

The New York Post is reporting that the team won't be picking up his $9.1 million option for next season. Why should it after he pitched only 29 1/3 innings and gave up 18 runs in the process. Not exactly what you want from a reliever, particularly one who was the centerpiece to a three-team deal that involved the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians. We went through all that trouble for this?

Putz has a $1 million buyout clause. Mets GM Omar Minaya is sure to take it. And watch Putz take some kind of incentive-laden deal somewhere else.

Source: New York Post

Godzilla crushed a city last night. It was New York Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui's(notes) six RBIs pounding at the walls of every Philadelphia Phillies fan home and favorite bar. But this could be Matsui's last call as a Yank. His four-year contract has now ended (as has Johnny Damon's)(notes) and the talk has been for some time that the team won't bring back both, according to the New York Daily News.

General manager Brian Cashman has apparently been saying that he'd like the team to get younger and more athletic and more versatile (and you'd hope cheaper), so paying Matsui a load of dough to DH doesn't seem to fit that mold. Damon is at least out in the field.

Catcher Jorge Posada(notes) will turn 39 next season so he may want to DH some. Alex Rodriguez(notes) may be getting some hip surgery this off-season so this team isn't getting any younger. Though they sure looked like a bunch of 6-year-olds bouncing up and down after the last out last night.

So Yankees fans may want to spend a little extra time cheering for the Series MVP Matsui when he floats by during the parade. Word has it he could be moving to the Great Northwest to play for the Seattle Mariners.

Source: New York Daily News

The Philadelphia Phillies are obviously feeling pretty down today, but there are plenty of signs of hope for the former world champs and one of them is pitcher Cliff Lee(notes), who was an unstoppable force in the postseason.

And the Phils have him for the relatively cheap price of $9 million next year. But there have apparently been discussions within the organization of trying to get a long-term extension done this off-season, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"Clearly, it's on our minds, but we haven't made a decision if we will yet," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said before Game 6.

While Lee was incredible in the postseason and pretty dang good in the regular season since joining the Phils, going 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA, one never knows what will happen so there are some in the organization who apparently want to wait and be sure Lee doesn't turn into the next Cole Hamels(notes), who was the MVP of last year's NLCS and World Series and then a disappointment during the regular season this year and even bigger one in the postseason.

Lee will likely want some kind of similar deal to the one his best friend and former teammate with the Cleveland Indians, CC Sabathia(notes), got last off-season from the New York Yankees: seven years for $161 million.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Trying to do everything it could to win the American League Central, the Detroit Tigers traded two young pitchers to the Seattle Mariners for Jarrod Washburn(notes) right at the deadline this year. That didn't work out for them: He went 1-3 in eight starts and collected a 7.33 ERA. Oh, and a knee injury that put him under the knife on Oct. 20.

And now after all that the lefthander may be returning to play for Seattle, according to the Detroit Free Press. The 35-year-old free-agent lefty has apparently told the M's that Seattle is on the top of his list of teams to play for in 2010.

Washburn was a whole lot better for Seattle than he was for Detroit. He went 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA in 20 starts for the M's and was the American League pitcher of the month in July with Seattle.

Source: Detroit Free Press

The agent for Livan Hernandez(notes) is saying that his client wouldn't mind returning to the lowly Washington Nationals, and the team apparently has some interest, according to MLB.com.

Hernandez started off the season with the New York Mets and then got released with a 5.47 ERA and 135 innings under his belt. His ERA came down a whopping .11 when he pitched for Washington later in the year.

He does like to pitch and will stay in games, but he needs a lot of run support: In the last two years, he's pitched 363 2/3s innings and has a 5.74 ERA.

Source: MLB.com

Boston Red Sox ace Josh Beckett(notes) would like to stay in New England for a while, it appears. He's apparently planning to meet with the team in the next few weeks to discuss a contract extension, according to WEEI.

He'll make $12.1 million next year but is free to roam the streets of any city he wants after next season if a new deal can't be worked out.

It looks like Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is plenty aware of the big bucks it will take to retain Beckett: "He's put himself in a position to be valued very highly by us," he said to WEEI, but he wasn't predicting a definite deal: "Those things have a way of taking care of themselves. ... We'll see what happens."

Source: WEEI