While I like the signing of Johnson, I agree with Russ that this deal loses its luster given Matsui could have been retained for roughly $1 Million more and has considerably more power than Johnson. And both are DL risks.

I agree with Joe in that Boston will be hard pressed to aquire Gonzalez. Padres GM Jed Hoyer knows the Boston farm system as well as anyone, and he’s not going to do Theo any favors or allow himself to be fleeced with two months on the job. I definitely think Gonzalez will be traded, but not until July 2010.

I’m surprised that Halladay signed for as little as $60 Million over three years. Granted that’s $20 Million per year, but the belief was that it would take a Sabathia/Santana type deal to grab Halladay. This goes to show how badly Halladay wanted to get out of Toronto. I would have executed a trade for Halladay if I knew he could be signed for this type of deal. I would have gone as far as $80 Million over 4 years and considered that a fair deal.

This “working within a budget” garbage is annoying, but smart. The Yankees are setting the stage for the 2011 hot stove. The were extravagant last year, won’t be as flashy this year, but next year…

Next year the Yankees will be  – or pretend to be  – players for Beckett, Lee, Mauer, Werth, Berkman, Pujols, Cain AND will need to re-sign Jeter and Rivera.

The fact that Pujols is available next year is another indicator that the Red Sox will only go so far in a trade to aquire Gonzalez.

The work to build the 2009 Championship team began in 2007 when Cashman didn’t trade for Santana. He had a plan. And I believe he still has a plan for 2010 and beyond. No decision should be made in a vacuum.