Yankee Notes: Manny, Cameron, Sabathia

Here are some Yankees notes from today:

From the Daily News

One baseball official told the Daily News that the Yankees' interest in Ramirez is more than cursory, that they see the slugger as the perfect complement in their lineup to Alex Rodriguez, forming a 1-2 punch like he did in Boston with David Ortiz.

The official believes that the Yankees are "going hard" after Ramirez, to the point where they are willing to give him a three-year deal worth from $22 million to $25 million per year.

Two other officials are skeptical that the Bombers would commit three years to the enigmatic Ramirez, who has already seen the Dodgers make and withdraw a two-year, $45 million offer this winter. Both of them believe the Yankees will linger in the background while agent Scott Boras works to gather offers, and if the market is limited, the Yanks will try to jump in with a two-year, $50 million package.

According to a source familiar with the Yankees' thinking, Brian Cashman has been lukewarm to the idea of signing Ramirez, but the rest of the front office - most notably Hal and Hank Steinbrenner - believes he is precisely what the Yankees need to bolster a lineup that underachieved in 2008.

Two other analysts seem to disagree that the Yankees are serious about Manny. As i've said several times, I hope they are serious about Manny, Teixeira or even Adam Dunn. The Yankees would look great if they could add that other bat.

According to Kat O'Brien the Melky Cabrera for Mike Cameron trade seems to be all but off.

The Yankees will introduce A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia both tomorrow at the old Yankee stadium. The same article mentions this interesting snip of information:

Sabathia checked into the Essex House on Monday night under an alias, believed to be the name of one of his agents. After a photo of Sabathia standing in front of the hotel appeared in Tuesday's Daily News, the hurler decided to check out and switch hotels Tuesday afternoon, according to a source.

This is not a promising way to start the CC/New York relationship. If Sabathia doesn't know this is what New York will be like, he is in for a long 3 or 7 years.