The slowest off season possible, thanks to Hal

Don't expect many big signings this year.

Yes this off season has been slow and dreadful, almost as slow and dreadful as my lack of posts on here. I apologize for that, and hope to post more often. It seems strange that the Yankees season ended about two months ago, since that time the only two transactions the Yankees made were re-signing CC Sabathia and Freddy Garcia, two moves that could be considered obvious.

Part of how slow this off season has gone is because rumors have circulated that the Yankees hope to trim payroll by 2014 to avoid the higher luxury tax. While that could be part of it, another thing is that the free agents this year are not that good. No need to over pay for CJ Wilson, when he is practically a left handed A.J. Burnett (without being a headcase) or to give light tossing lefty Mark Buehrle three or four years just because he is the second best pitcher on the market. This off season should reflect the future Yankee off seasons could be with Hal Stienbrenner at the helm.

Sure last season the Stienbrenners over ruled Brian Cashman on Rafael Soriano, setting off a fire storm that the Yankees GM would be leaving after the season. But other then that (and the terrible A-Rod contract) Hal doesn't exactly embody his father. With Cashman in charge of the baseball operations, Hal has seemed to set a strict budget, even if in Yankee-land that budget can be over $200 million.

Hal: You spend over budget and your dead.

We saw it last year, the Yankees pursued Cliff Lee and lost out. It looked like rock bottom when all the other free agents had signed by the time Lee made his choice. Andy Pettitte then retired, leaving a gapping hole. At the time I felt like the 2011 season would be like the 2008 Yankees all over again when the young pitchers failed and the lack of depth killed the bombers playoff dreams. But lucky for the Yankees at one point they had so much pitching they were able to send 16 game winner Ivan Nova to the minors. But what made that decision was the additions of Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon, two minor league deals that combined for 20 wins and 51 starts.

The same could be said about this year. With possibly six starters already on the roster and a handful of top prospects lurking in the minors the Yankees don't need to over spend. The 2013 free agent crop looks to be on of the better Cole Hamels,John Danks, Zach Grienke,Matt Cain, Anibal Sanchez, and Shawn Marcum could all hit the free market. The Yanks just need some bench help, which should cost under $5 million all together. Once again making it a long boring off season, something many Yankee fans are not accustom to.