According to a source, the Yankees aren’t planning to make a hard charge for Crawford or Jayson Werth, the top two offensive free agents available this winter.

Brett Gardner’s breakout year, Nick Swisher’s solid season and the late-season emergence of Curtis Granderson have the Yankees convinced that paying top dollar for an outfielder isn’t the most sensible way to spend their money.

“Unless they parted with one of those guys, I’m not sure where they would fit,” the source said of Crawford and Werth.

The Yankees’ number one priority in free agency is Cliff Lee. If for some reason the Yankees aren’t able to sign Cliff Lee, then I could foresee a scenario where the Yankees package either Gardner or Swisher with a prospect like Jesus Montero in a trade for a starter. In that case, the Yankees may enter the chase for either Crawford or Werth to replace the outfielder that was traded.

Down 5-0, Robinson Cano hit a solo home run in the 7th to get the Yankees on the board. In the 8th, the Yankees scored five runs, all with no outs, and took a one run lead into the bottom of the 8th. Kerry Wood pitched the 8th and Mariano Rivera closed the door on the Rangers in the 9th.

Yankees’ starter CC Sabathia looked rusty and pitched out of the strike zone all day. His command wasn’t there and Ranger hitters took advantage. The two big blows were Josh Hamilton’s three-run homer in the 1st inning and Michael Young’s two-run double in the 4th inning.

Rangers’ starter CJ Wilson stymied the Yankees, but after he was relieved in the 8th, the Rangers’ bullpen couldn’t hold the lead he handed them. The Yankees’ rally started with a hustle play by Brett Gardner, which was followed by a Derek Jeter double that knocked Wilson out of the game.

This has to be such a disheartening loss for the Rangers. If this carries into Game 2, the Yankees could be heading home with a 2-0 series lead.

This article wasn’t supposed to be about starting pitching. It was supposed to be about how the Yankees are getting offensive contributions from different and sometimes unexpected guys each night. Going on a tangent about starting pitching shows you just how important it is. Yankee fans don’t need to be reminded of that, however, because they learned the importance of starting pitching throughout the years and saw it at it’s peak in the playoffs last year.

The Yankees’ bullpen hasn’t pitched very well, but the offense has given the bullpen a nice cushion in most games to work with. The source of offense has been a story for the Yankees thus far. With Nick Johnson and Mark Teixeira, the number two and three hitters in the lineup, batting under .200, and Teixeira and A-Rod hitting two home runs each so far, you would think the Yankees were having problems offensively. There is a reason they are still winning games at a high rate. They have actually gotten contributions from unusual sources and strong contributions from one man named Cano. 

Cano has been red-hot and for a few games he was hitting every single ball on the nose and driving them to right field. His nine home runs and 21 RBI can’t go overlooked as a reason they keep winning. It has also been another typical, strong season for the Captain. He is actually second on the team with 20 RBI.

The unusual contributions have come when Randy Winn hit a big three-run home run while replacing the injured Granderson, Cervelli having a big all around game against the Orioles, Thames batting over .400 and taking advantage of his playing time, and Gardner batting over .340 and heating up the base paths. Getting contributions from these guys while some of the big guns are struggling tells you a lot about a team. Somebody has been there to pick up the slack. They’ve been a great “team”. 

Granderson’s hurt, Vazquez is struggling, Posada’s banged up, Mo is stiff, Johnson’s not hitting, Tex is just waking up and A-Rod is having a power outage. This team should be hovering around .500. Instead, other guys are doing their jobs plus a little more, and the incredible starting pitching is allowing the Yankees to score four or five runs and win games. A few years ago they had to score seven or eight runs to win games. That’s no longer the case with the pitching staff the Yankees have today.

The Yankees are a year older, but that’s what was said last year when they were coming off a year in which they didn’t make the post-season. The “Core Four” is growing old together, but there is a great mix of young players and multiple championship-winning veterans that will make up the 25 man roster to start the season.

I hear a lot of talk about the Yankees’ 7-8-9 hitters, of Granderson, Swisher and Gardner, being weak. That may be “weak” when considering it to Yankee standards, but that bottom three is still one of the best in the majors. How many teams can say that they have a guy coming off a 30 home run season batting 7th and a guy coming off a 29 home runs and a .371 OBP season batting 8th? I know Granderson is stymied by lefties and that concerns a lot of people, but I’m willing to deal with him being an automatic out most of the time against lefties if he can tear the cover off of the ball against righties. That becomes a different story in the playoffs, but I’m optimistic that Granderson’s average against lefties won’t be sub-.200 (.183 vs. lefties in ’09).

Another question for the Yankees is which Javier Vazquez will they be getting? The one that struggled somewhat in 2004 (14-10 record, 4.91 ERA) with the Yankees or the one with a 2.87 ERA (15-10 record) with Atlanta in 2009? Since he will be the team’s fourth starter, I’d be extremely happy if he has 13 or 14 wins and an ERA ranging anywhere between 3.40 and 4.00 in 2010. The Yankees haven’t had double-digit wins out of its fourth starter since Jaret Wright won 11 games in 2006 (4.49 ERA). I’d be concerned if Vazquez was being asked to be the No. 2 starter, but as a No. 4 starter, he is more than capable of giving the Yankees more than they’ve had in recent years out of the pitcher in that spot.

Now to the main question. Can the Yankees repeat in 2010?

Yes.

Having a healthy A-Rod for the entire season could mean an MVP season for Mark Teixeira. He finished second in the AL MVP voting last year and he had a poor start to the season. If he can get off to a good start in April and May (unlike last year) he could be looking at an MVP season with 40+ home runs, 140+ RBI and a .315+ average.

A pitching staff of Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, Vazquez and Hughes should be better than last year’s staff when they pieced together a fifth starter and the fourth starter, Joba Chamberlain, was on inning restrictions.

If Mr. Consistent, Derek Jeter, stays Mr. Consistent, and Nick Johnson remains healthy the entire season, those two guys will score a ton of runs in front of A-Rod and Teixeira. Robinson Cano becomes a key part of the lineup with the departure of Hideki Matsui. He’ll be counted on to produce with men in scoring position more often while batting either 5th or 6th. He didn’t hit well with runners in scoring position in 2009, so that may be a concern. If he lives up to his abilities, though, it shouldn’t be a problem. We still haven’t seen the best of Cano yet and hopefully we’ll see the peak of his talent in upcoming years.

It’s hard to argue that this team did not improve from a year ago for the mere fact that the pitching staff is deeper now. But other teams have improved as well. The Yankees should be able to hold off the demons in the AL East and get back into the World Series in 2010 barring any major injuries, which sometimes comes with age. I like this team’s chances to repeat as World Series champions.

Versatility is key for the Yankees in the outfield. Gardner and Granderson can each play left or center. This gives the Yankees options. When Winn plays in left, either Gardner or Granderson can play center field.

Most people will yawn at this signing, but the Yankees brought in Winn as a veteran insurance policy if one of their outfielders gets injured and he will be an experienced player to use to give Gardner and Granderson days off.

I would have liked to see the Yankees go with a young player as their fourth outfielder, but I understand their need for a veteran outfielder. This means youngsters like rule 5 draft pick Jamie Hoffman and recently acquired Greg Golson won’t make the 25-man roster.

The left field free agent market is dwindling. Jason Bay signed with the Mets, Marlon Byrd signed with the Cubs, Mike Cameron signed with the Red Sox and Mark DeRosa signed with the Giants. Matt Holliday and Johnny Damon have ridiculous high price tags.  An addition of a “big piece” for left field is becoming increasingly less likely.

Who is still out there for the Yankees to grab that won’t cost a major chunk of cash? Reed Johnson and Jermaine Dye would all be worth a look if their price tags are in the Yankees’ range. Other than those guys, Gardner may be the best option for the Yankees at left field.

Brett Gardner would be a viable outfielder for most teams. He’s an athletic player with outstanding  speed and plays good defense. He will steal bases, have a bunch of infield hits and will hit more triples than home runs. Typically, corner outfielders are more known for their power, but the addition of Granderson in center field allows them to play a guy like Gardner in left. Having Melky and Gardner starting in the outfield would not have made sense. With Granderson in center, Gardner in left works.

The Yankees pride themselves on having a deep lineup with no easy outs. They strive to bring out a lineup that can kill you at any spot in the order. Comparable to the rest of the lineup, Gardner would be an easy out. It’s uncertain how Gardner will do over the course of an entire season. Can he sustain a .270 average over 500 at-bats? That has yet to be determined.

Brian Cashman is always looking ahead. He’s already thinking one, two or even three years down the road. The moves he makes, or doesn’t make, is telling of that. He didn’t pull the trigger on the Santana deal a few years ago because he knew that CC Sabathia would be a free agent the following year. He made a trade for Javier Vazquez because Vazquez has one year left on his contract and if he turns out to be a bust, the Yankees won’t have to live with it long. Vazquez for one year is better than signing a second-tier free agent pitcher like Jason Marquis or Joel Piniero and being tied up with a guy that could be a bust for three years. Cashman can see that the free agent pitching class is stronger next year.

The same thing goes with a left fielder. Cashman doesn’t want to overpay for a left fielder. Holliday and Damon are asking for way too much. That doesn’t fit in with the Yankees’ goal of keep payroll down below $200 million, although it doesn’t look like they’ll be below that mark anyway. The Yankees have a lot of players in-house to deal with next year (Jeter and Mariano) and there are also some big names that could potentially be on the free agent market (Mauer, Crawford and Cliff Lee). Putting a ton of money into Holliday or another left fielder isn’t the best thing for the Yankees to do right now.

Cashman isn’t only worried about the 2010 Yankees. He’s worried about the team for 2011, 2012 and beyond. Joe Girardi is high on Gardner so it looks like we could be looking at him being the opening day left fielder. He was the Yankees 2009 opening day center fielder after all. If the Yankees sign somebody his name won’t be Holliday. If Damon doesn’t find a suitor at the price he covets, the Yankees and Damon could converge on a one-year deal for $5-7 million. I wouldn’t be surprised if Damon drops his price tag by late January if he’s still on the market.