Brian Cashman: Rafael Soriano no longer an option for Yankees

Enough with the “Yankees interested in Rafael Soriano” talk, so it seems. Great, now there's no chance of me resurrecting my old Alfonso Soriano shirt!

Via LoHud:

“I will not lose our No. 1 draft pick,” Brian Cashman said. “I would have for Cliff Lee. I won’t lose our No. 1 draft pick for anyone else.”

Finally, a credible source: the man who actually makes the decisions. Let this be a lesson to all when free agent and trade reports surface. Don’t bet your house on anything from a “source close to the Yankees” or a “baseball executive.”

Thoughts on Cashman’s Statement:
I’m a little, well, baffled. I’m starting to like that word. The Yankees still will have a pick in the top 50 because Javier Vazquez was a good sport and declined arbitration. Like I said yesterday, I think Soriano could have been the right move for the Yankees just as long as it came after Andy Pettitte’s decision.

If not Soriano, then who? Brian Fuentes and Jon Rauch are still on the market and are trustworthy bullpen guys that won’t cost them a draft pick.

Fuentes spent most of last year with the Angels, but spent the last month with the Twins working alongside Rauch. Fuentes is the better of the two by the numbers, and he’s a lefty, but Rauch is a few years younger and I’m a big fan of the big fella (6-foot-11, 290 lbs.