From the Yankees side, they could offer Jesus Montero to Seattle to make the deal more enticing. They’ve done so before when Lee and Roy Halladay were on the trade market. The Mariners also like Yankees Double A second baseman David Adams.  Baseball America ranked Adams 22nd among Yankees prospects heading into the season, and he sports a .309/.393/.507 line at Trenton.

If the Yankees brass pulls the trigger, it could be lights out for the AL East and baseball. The Yankees already have the best record in baseball and the second best ERA in the AL.

Non-waiver trade deadline ends July 31.

Teams will be shuffling players like a deck of old maid.

My gut feeling is that the Yankees will not trade for Cliff Lee. The Yankees need a bat to come off the bench.

The Yankees can resign Damon by offering more than the Braves’, but I am not sure if the Yankees are compelled to put up $7-8 mill per year and may only offer $6 mill for one year with maybe an option for a second year.

Yankee fans want Damon back, but they unfortunately don’t make the decisions for the front office. Cashman has said “I will continue to look at any remaining piece, but it won’t be a big piece. Any speculation about some high-end player who has big ability and dollars attached on a large scale would be inappropriate.”

Damon can still hit!

His overall numbers were impressive in 2009: Damon hit .282 (six points off his career average) with a .365 OBP (10 points above his career mark), 36 doubles (his most since a career-high 42 in 2000) and 82 RBI (his most since a career-high 94 in 2004 with Boston).

He scored more than 100 runs (107) for the 10th time in 12 seasons which is a pretty good feat. He struck out fewer than 100 times to continue his streak of never reaching triple figures in whiffs in 15 seasons in the majors.

The Yankees were going to sign at least Damon or Matsui and not both, but Matsui has already signed with the Angels and it doesn’t look like Damon will be in pinstripes in 2010. Too bad!

Who’s left in the top ten and predictions to where they may end up

(The numbers indicate where they were ranked among free agents according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo)

1. Matt Holliday, LF – Cardinals made a proposal that could reach $140 million over eight years. What are you waiting for?

Prediction: Holliday will resign with the Cardinals.

4. Aroldis Chapman, SP – Never pitched in the majors, but for a lefty that throws in the upper 90′s and tops out at the century mark, it’s enticing. The Marlins have made a five-year offer worth about $13MM to Aroldis Chapman.

Prediction: Chapman will sign with the Marlins.

8. Erik Bedard, SP – No one knows when he will be healthy enough to pitch. If there’s any deal it will be heavily loaded with incentives. This is an unknown and a hard prediction, but I am going to take a guess at this one.

Prediction: My only guess and I mean a guess, is the Nationals.

10. Adrian Beltre, 3B – There has been a lot of chatter in Red Sox land about Adrian Beltre. I don’t think he will land with the Red Sox. In mid-December, Beltre was believed to be looking for a five-year deal worth $13 million-$16 million per season. This would put the Red Sox over the luxury tax threshold. Adrian Beltre, hit .265 with eight homers and 44 RBIs for the Seattle Mariners last season. I would not make a bid for more than $6 million per year even if he is one of the best third basemen in the majors.

Prediction: Red Sox, if they are willing to make the investment and pay for the luxury tax.

I am looking forward to the 2010 winter meetings when the free agent market will be full of All-Stars.