'Close & late'...bases loaded, bottom of the 11th...no relief in sight for Yankee fans...

"The Yankees’ latest offer to Mariano Rivera — three years for $45 million — would make him by far the highest-paid closer ever, and team officials are somewhat surprised he has not yet accepted. The initial offer was for $5 million less, and the Yankees have no plans to improve it again.

• “I think we’re all pretty much in agreement that this is it,” Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ senior vice president, said in a telephone interview last night. “Make no mistake, I want him back, and that’s why this offer is what it is.”

Rivera was in the Dominican Republic on Monday, and his agent, Fern Cuza, did not return calls yesterday. Steinbrenner said he believed General Manager Brian Cashman was in contact with Cuza, but Steinbrenner said he did not know why Rivera has not decided on an offer that Steinbrenner says is more than generous.

• Rivera, who turns 38 this month, apparently is serious about testing the market to see if another team will outbid the Yankees.

• He is the major league leader in saves over the last 10 seasons, with 395.***

San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman has 389 and the Mets’ Billy Wagner, whose average annual salary is the highest for a closer, at $10.75 million, is third with 326.

• The Yankees have a possible replacement for Rivera in Joba Chamberlain, who was dominant as his setup man last season. But the Yankees want Chamberlain to start, and securing Rivera — even for a price that may be well above his market value — has the added benefit of giving younger pitchers time to develop."

From NY Times article by Tyler Kepner, "Rivera Turns the Tables, Making Yankees Wait," 11/14/07

• ***Tyler Kepner goes where no man dare go-eth before....declares Rivera MLB "total saves stat" leader 'for past 10 years.' OK, I'd prefer he'd recognize his 115 post season innings, which people in other cases say take more out of a pitcher than the regular season for a host of reasons. But, Kepner might be ostracized at the next BBWAA ski outing or winter solstice gathering, etc. After all, on 10/8/07 MLB/ESPN's Buck Martinez said on the YES Network and WFAN that Rivera does well in the post season "because hitters are more tired in October." Noted on this blog. He was quite serious.

All sides have earned the right for this day to come. I hope there aren't too many more like it.

• Comment from Joe Torre via Newsday:
• "Unlike Posada, Rivera is making the Yankees sweat, and he went as far as to say on Monday that if returning "is not possible, there is Joe with the Dodgers." "He used me as a shill," Torre said, laughing. "That's fine. I don't care. The only thing I told both he and Jorge is you guys have to do what's best for your family. You've been comfortable here." As for the possibility of Rivera joining him in Los Angeles even though the Dodgers have closer Takashi Saito, Torre said: "Anybody who doesn't want him is crazy. Put it that way.""

From Newsday article by David Lennon, "Torre Says LA Would've Courted Arod," 11/14/07

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