New York Yankees News & Notes 11/4: Qualifying Offers, Hall of Fame Ballot, Free Agency

Sep 21, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees second baseman

(24) singles to left allowing a runner to score during the third inning against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Many things are going on, on this day before free agency. Once Tuesday begins, teams can begin signing players to contracts. Don’t expect a lot of big names to sign until closer to the winter meetings which will be next month. As always, we’ll keep you posted on what goes on with the bombers. Lets take a look at what went on today.

Qualifying Offers: Teams had until 5pm today to extend qualifying offers to free agents who qualify for draft pick compensation. The Yankees extended the $14.1 million option to Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Hiroki Kuroda. What that means is that any team that doesn’t pick in the top 11 will give their first round pick to the Yankees if they sign one of the three. A team in the top 11 would give the Yankees their second round pick. Those three also have the option of taking the one year deal within the next week. Rumored targets of the Yankees in free agency who also got qualifying offers were Carlos Beltran, Stephen Drew, Shin-Soo Choo, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann.

Hall of Fame Ballot: Many former members of the Yankees organization are on the Hall of Fame expansion committee ballot which will be voted on December 8th. Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and George Steinbrenner were added to the ballot that includes Tommy John and Billy Martin. Ron Guidry was dropped.

Backup Plan:  In case Cano leaves, the Yankees will need a backup plan at second. That plan could be to sign free agent Omar Infante. According to the New York Post, the Yankees checked in with the veteran second baseman. The 31 year old hit .310 with 10 homeruns and 51 RBI. The Yankees are doing their d0-diligence in case Cano leaves, or they are getting leverage in negotiations.