ANAHEIM – At one time, Eric Milton appeared to be a lock to join the Yankees. He is left-handed, wanted the challenge of The Bronx and was looking forward to rejoining the team that drafted him in the first round of the 1996 draft.
On the other side, the Yankees wanted Milton to bolster the middle of their staff, were convinced his knee problems were history and loved Milton’s ability to eat innings.
Now, as GM Brian Cashman leaves the Winter Meetings today, Milton’s chances of being a Yankee are dwindling quickly.
“It’s going nowhere,” a person familiar with the situation said.
The reasons are multiple. One, Milton wants a three-year deal for $24 million and the Yankees aren’t willing to budge off a three-year offer for $21 million. The other is that if you subscribe to the theories that Randy Johnson will eventually be dealt to the Yankees and they can’t trade the unmovable Kevin Brown, there is no room in the Yankees’ rotation.
And even the deep-pocketed Yankees don’t spend $7 to $8 million a year for a sixth starter.
Of course, Johnson isn’t a Yankee yet and while nobody wants Brown, the 39-year-old right-hander is a huge medical question. So, by letting Milton get away over a $3 million difference is a gamble.
Why the sides don’t split the $3 million difference is puzzling, but the 29-year-old lefty, who was 14-6 with a 4.75 ERA for the Phillies last year, could be looking elsewhere.
The Indians and Mets have expressed interest to agent Casey Close in the event it didn’t work out with the Yankees. And now it appears it hasn’t. If the Tigers don’t sign Derek Lowe, Milton could be an option for the Tigers.
While the Yankees would have liked to add a left-hander to the rotation, they aren’t brokenhearted about leaving the meetings without him. Prior to the meetings they agreed to a three-year deal with Jaret Wright for $21 million and are putting the finishes touches on a four-year, $39 contract with Carl Pavano.
After some initial concern that Wright’s right shoulder wasn’t 100 percent healthy, the Yankees’ medical staff gave the contract the green light. Pavano, whose agent Scott Shapiro will be in New York this week to finish the contract language, could be introduced later this week or early next.
With the starting staff addressed and the bullpen bolstered by the additions of Mike Stanton and Felix Rodriguez, the Yankees will turn their attention to bagging Carlos Beltran, the jewel of the free-agent class.
“That’s going to go into January,” a Yankee official predicted.
That’s because agent Scott Boras never does things quickly. With the financial market way up over a year ago when AL MVP Vladimir Guerrero received a five-year deal worth $69.5 million, Beltran could crack the $100 million mark across a seven-year contract, even if the Yankees don’t appear to have a strong contender for the 27-year-old switch-hitting center fielder.
Boras and Cashman met at the meetings and will continue talking but while Boras is the master of creating markets, it appears it’s a two-team race between the Astros and Yankees. Reportedly, the Astros have offered Beltran a five-year deal for $70 million to stay in Houston. They are expected to go a bit higher but won’t go near the century mark to retain the man who carried them to Game 7 of the NLCS against the Cardinals.
“I came here to focus on pitching and I am still focusing on pitching,” Cashman said when asked at what point he will start working hard on securing Beltran.