Yankees closing in on signing Sabathia

I wonder with the signing of CC Sabithia will the Yankees be able to return to the top of baseball. Or if they are going to continue their slippery slope until they find a better manager. I think the Yankees have a good enough owner so I don't think the problem is with him.

USA TODAY's in-season baseball blog, the Daily Pitch, is being revived during this week's winter meetings to keep up with all the activity in Las Vegas. Reporters Paul White, Jorge L. Ortiz and Bob Nightengale are on site, and will be filing periodic updates each day on the latest developments.

The New York Yankees moved into the driver's seat Tuesday night in their attempt to lure free-agent starter CC Sabathia as general manager Brian Cashman flew to San Francisco to meet him for the third consecutive day.

The Yankees aren't saying they are close to signing him, already offering $140 million over six years, but they're ready to sign on the dotted line whenever Sabathia is ready.

Meanwhile, the New York Post is already reporting the big left-hander will accept the deal. ESPN says the contract would total $160 million over seven years ($22.86M per season).

Just perhaps, Yankees manager Joe Girardi suggests, Sabathia is warming up to New York, after all.

"CC has pitched in New York, he's pitched in New York in the playoffs and he was in the American League for a long time," Girardi says. ""He knows what New York is about, and I think CC's personality would work very well in New York."

The San Francisco Giants, meanwhile, are hoping to step in the way. The Giants are considering a meeting with Sabathia and his agents in the Bay Area after the winter meetings.

"If we decide we're going to get involved we will have a meeting and make our presentation," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said. "But we're not there yet. …We don't have any expectations. He's certainly playing the field. There's no pressure on us to do something or to sign him. It's a fallback position to look at because there's player interest, and why wouldn't we be interested if he is? It's as simple as that."

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Free agent starter Rafael Furcal and agent Paul Kinzer says he has narrowed his free-agent list to four teams: the Oakland A's, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Kansas City Royals.

The trouble, of course, is that Furcal has already rejected a four-year offer exceeding $35 million from the A's, and is seeking a contract that will pay him close to the $13 million average salary he earned with the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, Furcal was so enthused about Andruw Jones playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, the free agent shortstop greeted his onetime Dodgers and Braves teammate at the airport.

Jones, trying to revive a career that has taken a precipitous decline, arrived Tuesday in the Dominican. He's following Furcal's suggestion and will play for the Aguilas Cibaenas – beginning no later than the weekend – after knee injuries and atrocious hitting (.158) limited him to 209 at-bats in his first season in Los Angeles.

Furcal told the Dominican media he plans to join the Aguilas squad shortly after he signs his next major league contract.

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Known as an innovator, A's GM Billy Beane likes the idea of going back to the past, at least when it comes to the bullpen.

The trade of Huston Street to the Rockies left Oakland with two young candidates to assume the closer's role next year in Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler.

Given their different styles – Devine can be overpowering, while the side-arming Ziegler tries to induce grounders – the A's will consider the relievers sharing closing roles depending on the situation. That would allow one to be available for crucial innings before the ninth.

"Your best bullpen guy should theoretically be there in the highest-leverage situation," Beane said.

"A lot of times that might be the eighth inning."

Ziegler set a rookie record with 39 consecutive scoreless innings before yielding his first run, and he collected 11 saves after Street faltered. Devine posted an 0.59 ERA in 45 2/3 innings.

There may be room for both in the ninth inning.

"If I as a GM were going to create a perfect bullpen, I'd do I the old White Herzog way," Beane said. "If this guy matches up better and this guy's through the eighth, let him finish it out. We've created that position (of closer) over the last 15-20 years, but that's not the way it used to be."

Beane also said he interviewed Rick Down, currently an advance scout with the Giants, for the job of hitting coach. He would replace Ty Van Burkleo, who left to join Don Wakamatsu's staff in Seattle as the bench coach.

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The rumor mill creates some strange combinations. Dodgers manager Joe Torre was asked what he thought about reports that the Red Sox might have some interest in longtime Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, who Torre managed in New York.

"Andy came through the Yankee organization," Torre said. "I know in Don Mattingly's case, he was even holding his breath that the Red Sox didn't draft his son for obvious reasons, the fact that the rivalry was so strong. Yeah, I would find it hard to believe that Andy would go there."

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The winter meetings are awash with rumors, most untrue and many contradictory. With many members of an organizaition moving around between meetings and negotiations, even communication within an organization can get muddled.

Consider this exchange between Red Sox manager Terry Francona and a reporter:

"Did you meet with C.C. (Sabathia)?" the reporter asked.

Francona: "Did I? No, not to my knowledge. Did Theo (Epstein, Red Sox general manager) say we did?"

Reporter "I haven't seen Theo."

Francona: "I haven't done much, to be honest with you. I would bet that Theo is checking in with everybody. I'm answering that a little bit vaguely because I don't know exactly what he did."

Reporter: "But were you part of the group that met with C.C.?"

Francona: "I was upstairs. I didn't do much today."

Reporter: "So, no, you were not part of it?"

Francona: "I'm pleading the fifth on that one only because I don't know. I apologize. That's a weak answer. What did Theo say?"

Reporter: "He said he met with a free agent but he didn't say who."

Francona: "That's what I say. That's my answer. I said, 'Theo, I need to talk to you before I go out and talk to the media,' and I whiffed on him."

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While high-profile free agents are lining up their next jobs, plenty of other job seekers are visible at the winter meetings.

Among them are players such as Michael Tucker, who hasn't played in the majors since 2006. Tucker, 37, says he so far hasn't been able to convince a club to even give him a non-roster invitation to spring training.

Then there's former Astros and Angels manager Terry Collins, who spent the past two seasons managing in Japan. He's ready to return to the USA in whatever still undetermined position he can land. He's under consideration for at least a short-term job as the manager of China's entry in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Jim Lefebvre, another former major league manager, handled the Chinese team in this year's Olympics.