A variety of news in recent days regarding some potential and former Yanks, so I decided to put it all in one handy-dandy post for all you fine folks. Here goes:

Randy Johnson to retire-Start the countdown to 1st ballot Hall of Fame induction. He wasn’t the most charming fellow that’s passed through here, and his time as a Yankee was disappointing all around. But he played his ass off for us. Never begged out of a start despite nagging chronic back pain. Anyone who takes an epidural to make a playoff start is someone I’ll never say a bad word about. Check out Tyler Kepner’s ‘appreciation’ piece on the Big Unit.

Eric Hinske signs with Braves-The King of Queens body double has found yet another home for himself, this time with Atlanta. This will be his 6th team in the past 4 years. This of course means that the 10′ Braves will be in the World Series (07 Red Sox/08 Rays/09 Yanks).

Jason Giambi likely to return to Rockies-The infamous golden thong wearer has garnered little interest as a free agent this off season, so it appears likely he will return to Colorado, who has expressed a desire to bring him back for 2010.

Shelly Duncan signs with Indians-Girardi will have to find a new henchman to do his dirty work for him. How cool would it be if Jonny Gomes ends up with the Tribe as well?

In other news, Aroldis Chapman appears ready to make a decision within the next few days. The Angels, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Marlins all appear to be in hot pursuit, but don’t count out the Yanks. This is a classic case where they’ll stay quiet, allow the market to set itself and swoop in with a last minute offer. That is, if they liked what they saw enough to give him 20-25 mil, which appears to be what it will take to land him.

Finally, for those of you still lighting candles for Johnny Damon, Brian Cashman was quoted by Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record  saying “Our team is set” and “We have a left fielder. We do like Brett Gardner”. He’s just looking for bench players at this point.

Roy may be wearing a new red cap

Is anyone else not all that worried if the Red Sox get Roy Halladay?

To be clear, I don’t think it will happen with them for the same reason it won’t happen with us. Despite their recent statements to the contrary, the Blue Jays really don’t want to deal him in division if at all possible. They’ll use both teams to drive the price up and then trade him for the next best package that comes from out of their division. They don’t want to see him in the visitors dugout 19 games next year, possibly pitching 4-5 games against them. The fact that he’s so popular in Toronto makes it an even tougher pill for fans up there to swallow. For most of the past few seasons, having the best pitcher on either team was all that Blue Jays fans had to hang their hat on when facing the Yanks or Sox. Trading him is bad enough, trading him to their rival would really be rubbing it in.

But I just can’t get all worked up if the Sox unload their farm system AND give a 100+ mil extension for a 33 year old (next season) pitcher. I think it’s bad move, if you look at the entire deal and not just the first few seasons. It’s the kind of move bad, desperate teams make and moves like this are a big part of why some teams are bad more often than not. Halladay makes sense for the Phillies, and where they are on the win curve. He’s that one piece that can put them over the top. For the Yanks or the Sox, trading away a Joba/Hughes/Buccholtz plus another top bat to get him, you’re trading away more productivity than you will receive in all likelihood. You’re worse off as a franchise long term, and tomorrow does come around sooner than you think.

Yes, he’s one of the best pitchers around right now. But that’s past performance. The team that signs him will be paying him for what he did with the Blue Jays, and the overwhelming likelihood is that he will not be the same pitcher over the course of his next contract. He’s already been banged up a bit in recent years, and the guys who continue dominate in their late 30’s (especially in the tough AL East) are few and far between. The one guy who we all thought was the exception to the rule was Randy Johnson and he went from dominating the NL West at age 40 (ERA+ 177) to becoming a very ordinary pitcher the very next season in the AL East with the Yankees (ERA+ 112) and even worse the following season (ERA+ 90) with the Bombers.

If I’m going to give up a huge package of prospects, I want it to be for someone who is entering their prime years. Someone who I can project should put up his best seasons here, not have already had them elsewhere. The Red Sox deal for Josh Beckett comes to mind. A trade for King Felix or Josh Johnson would fit the bill. Those I guys I’d break the bank for. For Halladay, I’d only give up one of our young studs. A package of Joba+ a B-prospect? Fine. A Hughes+ filler deal? I’ll live w/it. But not multiple studs who I’ll be watching enter their prime as I watch Roy age. The ‘trade in your division’ stuff cuts both ways for me. Watching Montero hit 40 HR’s while a 36 year old Halladay spends 2 months on the DL will drive me batty,and I’m sure many other Yankee fans as well.

So while a 2010 BoSox rotation of Halladay/Beckett/Lester would be scary, and undoubtedly the best in Baseball on paper, I’ll still take my chances with the young guns we have now. Let Boston have 23 mil per year of dead weight on their books in the out years of the deal, it will affect them more than the Yanks. The Yanks are just exiting a period when they had old, unproductive dead weight on their books year after year and I don’t want to go back there anytime soon. I don’t make this deal for the same reason we didn’t make the Santana deal. I don’t want to pay twice for a pitcher who’s already showing signs of slipping (health-wise) and I think we’re better off in the long run if we stand pat.

Eric Seidman at FanGraphs has a great read up in which he assesses Carlos Beltran’s underlying value to the Mets. In the end, the findings are very clear — offensively and defensively, Carlos Beltran is a terrific baseball player. In fact, from a contractual standpoint, even though he was awarded a 7-year deal worth $119 million following his 2004 season, he’s actually being underpaid (average annual value) in relation to his win value.

Now, in 2004, Scott Boras actually called the Yankees and offered Beltran to them at a discounted price (so, less than the $119 million). However, wary of the luxury tax implications, the team decided to upgrade their pitching staff instead, as they acquired Randy Johnson.

In 2005, Johnson had a good year with the Yankees while Beltran barely produced for the Mets. I’m sure fans would have been disappointed in the Beltran over Johnson decision, if it had occurred (at least in that year). Nonetheless, Beltran would have been the better long-term investment, since he has produced ever since the first year of his mega-contract.

Right now, I think the decision haunts the team. Currently, Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera are both vying for CF. Imagine what the team would have looked like if they had avoided the Johnson move and signed Beltran (and at a discount)? They’d be in a much better place today (offensively and defensively). Hindsight — it’s a killer.

. . that we all knew and loved well, let’s just leave it at that.

-Sir Sidney Ponson signed with the KC Royals.

-Chris Britton isn’t going to make the Padre’s 25 man roster.

-Randy Johnson (who’s 45) speculates on pitching until he’s 50.

-Ivan Rodriguez’s deal is done, 1.5 mil with the Astros.

Steve’s post this morning about the strong feelings that people have about A-Rod got me to thinking about Yankees that I have found it difficult to root for. As the team has met with failure over the last few years, more and more players enter that category of guys who force you to remind yourself that you root for the laundry, not the individual. So the discussion question that I pose today is, who is your least favorite Yankee player of all time? For me, the answer is easy. Randy Johnson came here with an awful attitude and continually came up small. He lost two playoff games that cost the Yankees postseason series, and never was comfortable here. He was glad to be traded, and I was glad to see him go. Who did you hate to love?