The return of Andy Pettitte and the Yankees rotation

The Yankee rotation was originally supposed to be Sabathia, Nova, Hughes, Garcia and Burnett and we all were hoping that the rotation would be better than the mediocre rotation that it appeared to be. Then the Yankees shocked everybody and traded Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda and signed Hiroki Kuroda and now that rotation had too much depth as there were seven arms for five rotation spots. Then Burnett was traded to the Pirates and it seemed that the rotation was set. Then Andy Pettitte blew everyone's mind and decided that he would come back to the Yankees. Once we all got over the collective shock we were in, some people started criticizing the move and thought that bringing back Pettitte would be bad for the Yankees young pitchers. Then of course Pineda got hurt in Spring training and the rotation issue solved itself as Garcia proved to be ineffective in his starts in April and May. Andy Pettitte went from being a nice story to a necessity for the Yankees and now the Yankees are bringing him back before he is really ready. I'm not saying that Pettitte will be bad, but I think he needed one or two more starts in the minors and now he will struggle more than he needs to as he shakes rust off that could have come off in the minors. With the addition of Pettitte we will probably see little chnage in the Yankees rotation barring any injuries as it looks like most of the rotation has started to settle in. One of the great things about the Yankees right now is that they have insane pitching depth and even if Pettitte bombs, which is a possibility that fans need to accept, they have three immediate and decent rotation options in Mitchell, Phelps and Garcia. You wanna see how no depth pitching depth can screw you, look at the Red Sox.
On the note of the depth, I do hope that the Yankees send Phelps to the minors because if they wanna keep their payroll down then they will try and fill a spot internally and that's with the hope that Pineda is back at the beginning of the season. I'm excited about Pettitte coming back but I seriously doubt that he is coming back next season and the Yankees have five guys in AAA who could be in the majors and Phelps, Warren and Mitchell need to have something happen for them soon as they are repeating AAA this year.

Tim Norton trying to “make the transition into being a pitching coach”

Despite earlier reports that Tim Norton was throwing bullpens and feeling fine, Brendan McGair reports that Norton is currently serving as an interim pitching coach in Extended Spring Training, and there’s a chance he’ll work in a similar capacity for the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League team once the season starts in June.
“He wants to stay in the game, but I don’t think his arm was responding like he wanted it to,” said Pat Roessler, the Yanks’ director of player development. “He just didn’t come around like we had hoped … Right now Tim is trying to make the transition into being a pitching coach for us.”

You should definitely read the whole story here.

Norton, 28, was the an eighth round Yankees pick out of UConn in 2006. He's a New England guy and grew up in Rhode Island and obviously went to school at Uconn and obviously this blog loves guys with Connecticut ties. He’s battled significant shoulder problems as a pro, though last season he was so close to getting called up to the Bronx after striking out 46 and walking just eight in 30 IP for Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton. The shoulder acted up again and while it was initially reported as a minor issue, he was lost for the year and now maybe lost forever as a pitcher. Norton’s injury is part of the reason why the Yankees had to pick up Cory Wade. Norton's story is sad because he definitely had big league ability out of the bullpen and could have really contributed. The door to return is still open as Norton has not ruled it out, but his arm issues are out of his control.

Yankees official 25-man

Well its here Opening day is upon us and as a result the Yankees have submitted their 25 man roster to begin the season. The starters were already known as was most of the bench but because of the recent injuries their were a few spots up in the air. The final bullpen spot and the rotation had a competition going through most of the spring, but injuries solved both of them and opened up the long man spot.

Starting pitchers:
Sabathia
Kuroda
Hughes
Nova
Garcia

Bullpen Pitchers:
Rivera
Robertson
Soriano
Logan
Wade
Clay Rapada
David Phelps

Starting Position Players
Jeter
A-Rod
Cano
Teixeira
Granderson
Swisher
Gardner
Ibanez
Martin

Bench
Chris Stewart
Eduardo Nunez
Eric Chavez
Andruw Jones
So as you can see there are really only three names that won a spot out of Spring training and two of those guys came as a suprise. It looked like Cesar Cabral would win the final bullpen spot but then he broke his elbow and so it was clear that Rapada would get the spot. Before Pineda got injured Garcia was either going to be the long man or get traded but when he was put in the rotation the long man spot opened up and it was a competition between Phelps, Mitchell and Warren. It seemed like Mitchell would win but today Girardi said that Phelps will be the last man in the bullpen. For Stewart he came as a complete surprise to be the backup catcher, but he will be until Romine is healthy.

Yankees trade Kontos to Giants for Stewart. Demote Cervelli to AAA

In a move that absolutely nobody saw coming the Yankees traded George Kontos to the San Francisco Giants for Chris Stewart and he will be the backup behind Russel Martin. Francisco Cervelli has been demoted to AAA and it looks like Austin Romine will be out longer than we originally anticipated. What especially sucks for Cervelli is that he hit a Home Run and threw out a runner in today's exhibition against the Mets.

The biggest surprise for me is that the Yankees would trade Kontos, a useful bullpen arm for a guy that the Yankees could have found in free agency. The Yankees are loaded with bullpen depth and so the move isnt a significant blow to them it just seems like a bad move.

Jorge Vazquez is Unhappy

El Chato cleverly disguised as New York Yankee

If you haven't heard of Jorge Vazquez he is a 30 year old "prospect" who the Yankees signed out of Mexico and has spent the last three seasons in the minors. El Chato as he has been nicknamed has a ton of power as his 32 Home runs are not just Home runs they are absolute bombs, but he is the very definition of a hacker as he struck out 166 times last season in 455 AB and only walked 30 times unintentionally. There was a lot of call to bring him up to DH when Posada was struggling last season but ultimately he stayed with the AAA Yankees and in fact is not even on the 40 man roster. The problem for Vazquez is that he seems like a classic Quad-A type player due to his strikeouts and he likely would not excel as a hitter in the big leagues; on top of that he is technically a 1st/3rd player but his fielding is poor at both positions. For these reasons the Yankees have shown no real interest in promoting El Chato and it does not look likely that their interest will change. 
Jorge Vazquezs best option would be to go to Japan and this winter there was a report that he was close to signing a deal to play in Japan for the Rakuten Eagles, but that was apparently untrue as the deal never came and Brian Cashman shot down any idea that he would be playing in Japan. This as well as the outlook that he will remain in the minors has caused caused Jorge Vazquez to voice his displeasure with being stuck in the minors. According to the president of Jorge Vazquez's old Mexican League club Cuauhtémoc "Chito" Rodríguez , Vazquez is growing impatient with being stuck in the minors saying "If they don't give him an opportunity this year, he wants them to trade him, or to go to [play] baseball in the east. He doesn't want to continue on in Triple A anymore, not just with the Yankees, but with any other organization as well." MLB Trade rumors reported this as coming from Spanish baseball blog Puro Beisbol. The Yankees are not likely to respond well to this, but they also probably already knew that he was unhappy. This doesn't change his chances of contributing for the New York Yankees as Juan Miranda had better numbers and defense in the minors at 1st base and he was given very few plate appearances and he struggled mightily when given more playing time in 2010 with the Yankees and 2011 with the Diamondbacks. The Yankees could trade him but they are not likely to get anything of value in that trade and so their is really no reason for them to do that.
Vazquez's only real chance of making a contribution would be if the Yankees turned to him if Ibanez gets hurt or struggles because he is not even the Yankees backup first baseman if Mark Teixeria gets hurt, as they would probably move Swisher to first and call up an outfielder. Some could say that he may develop an ability to walk but Vazquez has been around for 11 seasons and has been using this same approach the whole time so that's not happening. Vazquez is a quad-A player, but quad-A players want a shot in the big leagues and if he doesn't get it I expect that he will head to Japan as he will make a lot more money there then he will sitting in the minors.

Andy Pettitte is back

Yeah those are words that I never thought anybody would write in anything ever. I saw it when I was teaching and I thought it was a prank, but I decided to double check before the kids came back from lunch and when I saw that it was real I practically leaped out of my chair. I unfortunately had to wait the rest of the day before I could talk to anybody about it and I was met with several unbelivably supised responses. I mean honestly who saw this coming? From what i heard from Brian Cashman not even the Yankees players knew about this. Cashman apparently offered Pettitte a $10-12 million contract over the winter after Andy let him know he was thinking about returning. After Cashman added Kuroda and Pineda he told Andy that he did not have room for him, but Pettitte kept working out and the Yankees offered him a $2.5 million minor league deal which he accepted.The Pettitte signing is very exciting but Pettitte will not be ready for opening day and it looks like the Yankees will looking for him to contribute around mid-May to early-June, if he will be able to contribute at all. If Pettitte can be as good as he was in 2010 then his contribution will be huge, but the Yankees did have 6 starters for 5 spots already and a 7th will make that rotation hard to figure out if everyone is healthy. Rotations and situations change all the time and if Andy Pettitte is able to make his succesful comeback then there is a chance a spot won't need to open for him because one will have been created already. You can hear Andy Pettitte do a phone interview with the YES Network guys here if you haven't heard it, he called in during the game against Washington and he said he feels good but he needs to get his legs ready. I really hope that we can see Andy in one way or another, even if it is just a handful of starts but at the very least as of right now Pettitte is BACK!

He's back!

Swisher vs. Martin

One of the biggest storyline's this spring training has been Hal Steinbrenner reasserting that the Yankees will try and be under the luxury tax when it rises to $189 million in 2014. This has been met with some skepticism since the Yankees have Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez all making $20 million a year until at least 2016 and Robinson Cano may soon join them. This has led to some speculation about this seasons soon to be free agents of Nick Swisher and Russel Martin. The problem for the Yankees is that these guys are going to be looking for long term deals as well as their first and likely only large free agent payday.
Swisher is going to be the best power hitting outfielder available on the market with the possible exception of B.J Upton. Swisher has been a good supporting piece for the Yankees since they got him from the White Sox and his personality has been loved in New York, but he has been criticized for struggling in the postseason and some fans wanted to see the Yankees dump him and sign Carlos Beltran. Swisher is making $10.5 million this season and will be looking at making more money with this new deal. The problem facing the Yankees is that they really have no good internal options for the Outfield options that will be ready by next season and a platoon would be most likely.
Russel Martin is a more recent example and both he and the Yankees expressed interest in signing a long term deal but a deal was never completed. Martin had a good season offensively and defensively last year and good catchers are a luxury that Yadier Molinas $75 Million deal shows. However the Yankees do have a plethora of Young cathcing and unlike Swisher, Martin could be replaced by Austin Romine. The question though is whether or not Romine could be a productive player in the majors and that's a big risk to take.
The Yankees could retain both of these players but more likely they will have to pick one and its hard to gauge who the Yankees will try and retain, but both players will be looking at 3-4 year deals with a definite possibility that Swisher could try for a fifth year on the free agent market. Both Martin and Swisher are nice complimentary pieces who have hit in the bottom third of the lineup and while I think the Yankess may wish to retain Swisher more than Martin, the market may end up pricing Swisher out of the Yankees range. Do not forget Jayson Werth received a huge deal last offseason and Swisher could get a team to overpay him like the Nationals did with Werth. There also exists the possibility that the Yankees will retain neither player and opt to trade or sign a cheaper Swisher and Martin solution or simply go with their current internal options. If I had to pick a player for them to retain it would be Swisher, but I think it is more likely that they will retain Russel Martin as I expect that Swisher will become too expensive for the Yankees to put in their new plans and a team like the Dodgers, who will have new ownership, may look to add one one of the biggest bats on the market.

Chris Dickerson clears waivers

On top of the fact that I had no idea he had been placed on waivers it’s also surprising that he actually cleared waivers. He has been out righted off the 40-man roster and because he cleared waivers he can be assigned to AAA when the season starts. Dickerson will reportedly remain in the Yankees organization and he will remain in big league spring training camp as well. His removal clears a spot for Eric Chavez whose deal had not yet been made official. It may seem odd that they removed Dickerson when they can and still need to put Joba Chamberlain and David Aardsma on the 40 man roster, but Dickerson was out of options and they must not have been able to find someone interested in trading for him. I expect that the also out of minor league options Justin Maxwell will be out righted off the roster by the end of spring training.

The battle for the last bullpen spot

The Yankees resigned Eric Chavez and now have 24 of their 25 roster spots settled barring any injuries, like Cervelli's broken foot last year and Pedro Feliciano's brokenness. The Yankees could decide to go with another fielder and carry only 11 pitchers, but it seems more likely that the Yankees will have a 12 man bullpen which leaves one roster spot open until Joba recovers from his Tommy John Surgery. The frontrunner to that spot was Hideki Okajima, but he failed his physical so the competition is very open for that last spot and the competition will be the only way some of the non roster players will make it on the team.

Manny Delcarmen: Mostly known for being a native Boston kid who spent 6 seasons as a reliever for the Sox. His control disappeared in 2009 and 2010 and his walk rate went up and his strike out rate fell and he was traded to the Rockies but fared badly and spent all of last year in AAA. His numbers in AAA were bad last year, but the Yankees hope that they can capture some of his old stuff and he could be this years Luis Ayala.

Clay Rapada: After Rapada was released by the Orioles and Okajima failed his physical the Yankees signed Rapada to a minor league deal. A report on Rapada gets into a lot of detail about him, but the overall point is that Rapada is great against lefties and absolutely unusable against righties. Rapda would be the second lefty in the pen and a true LOOGY for the team.

Brad Meyers: Myers is a rule 5 pick from the Nationals who really hates walks, only walking 15 batters in 138 innings and still striking out 116. However he has always been a starter and would have fit in well for the long relief role, but now that will go to either Garcia or Hughes. If he looks good in relief though I expect that the Yankees will take him over Manny.

Cesar Cabral: The other rule 5 pick has twice been exposed to the draft by the Sox and has been the most talked about of the two rule 5 picks. Cabrel is actually better against righties than lefties and was fantastic in winter ball with .77 ERA and held lefties to  a .211 BA. If he has a good spring then he has a good shot of making the club, but he has never pitched above AA and really hasn't been consistent against lefties as his changeup is his best pitch.

Adam Miller: Miller has been called this years Mark Prior as hes been kept out of the majors by injury. Millers injury is weird looking and has kept the former first round pick in the minors this long and its very doubtful that he will make the club or even stick around past spring training as the Yankees would have to give him a $100k bonus because of the new CBA.

Matt Daley: The 29-year-old was born in Queens and raised out on Long Island, and he’s currently rehabbing from an August surgery on his rotator cuff. He struck out a good number of batters and gave up a lot of home runs in Colorado. Daley has appeared in 92 games and thrown 80.2 IP for the Rockies over the last three seasons, and he does have a funky little delivery you can see here.

George Kontos: Kontos had a real shot to make the big league club out of spring training and then he suffered an oblique injury and may not even be ready to start the year in AAA. Kontos will likely be the first arm to get called up from AAA, but it doesn't look like he will make the club because of that setback.

Kevin Whelan: Whelan was great in AAA last year and made his debut last year, but was never called up in September which was odd. He was DFA to make room for Hiroki Kuroda, but I expect that he could earn a 40 man spot back if he has another great year in AAA. However if he is great in spring training then I expect he could earn the spot and i would love to see him given a real opportunity.

David Phelps/D.J. Mitchell: I really doubt these guys will make the club because they are much better off starting in AAA than being the last man in the bullpen. These guys will be the first call-ups if a starter gets injured but probably wont move to the bullpen yet.

Overall Rapada is the most likely to make the club, but a good spring from Manny, Whelan, Cabral or anyone else could mean they get the spot. A spot could also open up if the Yankees trade Freddy Garcia, but I do not think that will happen in the spring if at all.

Tim Norton reportedly Healthy

Tim Norton

Tim Norton is a New England guy who was born in Massachusetts, grew up in Rhode Island and went to college at the University of Connecticut. He was drafted by the Yankees in the seventh round in 2006 as a starter and pitched to a 2.60 ERA in 72 innings with a K/9 rate of 10.3 for the Staten Island Yankees. At the time his scouting report said 23, RHP (SP): mid-90s FB, sharp slider and a devastating splitter, he says that he does not throw a splitter anymore because of the injury, but apparently his slider and fastball have picked up the slack. Then he had shoulder surgery in 2007 and was moved to the bullpen after missing all of 2008, but ha another shoulder surgery in 2009 and was shut down during his 2010 campaign due to a lat injury that didn’t require surgery. Since then Norton has been lights out in the minors with an excellent ERA and a K/9 rate over 13 in 2010 and 2011. It looked like Norton had put the injuries behind him, was throwing with that same mid-90s velocity and was on the fast track to the majors last year after Soriano and Joba went down, but alas Norton got hurt again and nobody could not find any information about where he was in his recovery. 
Now we have a report from Donnie Collins, a AAA Yankees writer, that according to Yankees VP Mark Newman; Norton is “He is throwing bullpens and feeling fine,”. This is great to hear as many had thought that Nortons career was over after his injury that ended his season. Norton has blown away all the competition in AA and if he is healthy then the Yankees will probably put him in AAA with a strong possibility of he or George Kontos being the first bullpen callups when somebody gets hurt.

Hideki Okajima fails his physical

Hideki Okajima

 Left-hander Hideki Okajima failed his physical and as a result his minor league contract with the Yankees is now voided. This ends his very short Yankee career and it would seem to have to be something pretty bad to cancel out a minor league deal. After posting a sterling 2.72 ERA with an outstanding 8.3 K/9 rate and a 2.89 K/BB ratio in 198 games for Boston between 2007-09, he struggled the last two years and spent most of last season in the minors. The 36 year old was the early favorite to win the last bullpen spot, but with Okajima out the competition has opened up and it would be a little surprising if they did not bring in another left-hander to compete for the job.

Burnett traded to Pirates

Well after several days of speculation the Yankees and Pirates completed a trade that sent AJ Burnett to the Pirates in exchange for $13 Million in salary relief and two small time prospects. The deal had seems to work for both sides as the Pirates provide $13 million in salary relief and get a starter who can eat 200 innings from the Yankees who have too many starters and need to clear some salary. The Pirates will pay $5 million this year and $8 million next year, leaving the Yankees to pay the remaining $20 million. The Yankees will get Outfielder Exicardo Cayones and Right-hander Diego Moreno, they are both the ultimate blah prospects and neither have a very high ceiling. This now clears up the 5th starter question as it will be a direct competition between Hughes and Garcia with the loser getting the long relief role. It appears that the Yankees will use this money to sign Raul Ibanez as the Left handed half of the DH platoon and resign Eric Chavez.

Burnett may not have endeared himself to Yankees fans the last two years as he had two of the worst statistical seasons for a Yankees starter ever, but the Yankees probably would not have won in 2009 without him especially his amazing game two.

A's agree to sign Yoenis Cespedes

The Athletics have agreed to terms with Yoenis Cespedes, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter) .She says that it's a four-year deal worth approximately $36MM. This comes as a suprise to everybody as Miami had just shown him around their stadium and were thought to be the only intrested team. Its a bit of an odd move by the A's becuase they already have a set outfield with Josh Reddick, Seth Smith, Jonny Gomes and Coco Crisp, but Cespedes is a big bat and they got him to Oakland becuase they offered him four years instead of the six most teams were. Aparently the A's are not done this offseason and have been linked to Mike Gonzalez, Manny Ramirez and Koji Uerara. The Yankees were never really considering Cespedes and the risk factor on him is very high, but Oakland has struggled to atract free agent bats and this is a non traditional move. I really did not expect this as I thought that Cespedes to Miami was a sure thing. The offseason has definately been dominated by the #Mysteryteam but this is likely the last big move by any team this offseason.

The Orioles sign Luis Ayala

The Orioles have agreed to a major league deal with Luis Ayala. The former Yankees gets $825,000 this year with a million dollar team option for 2012 and a $100,000 buyout, so $925,000 guaranteed. Just like last year Ayala pitched in Mexico to try and get a better deal and he definitely did get a good payday.
To make room for Ayala on the 40-man roster, the Orioles designated outfielder Matt Angle for assignment. Angle, 26, played in 31 games for the Orioles in 2011, hitting .177 and stealing 11 bases in 12 attempts. Ayala was ultimately deciding between the Orioles and Los Angeles Angels and his holding out is what probably got him the option year. Its really good for Ayala and it could be a good deal for the Orioles, but before last year Ayala hadn't had a good year since 2007 but the deal isn't a lot of guaranteed money and the Orioles always need pitching.
The Orioles also signed Nick Johnson to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

Yankees trying to trade Burnett

The Yankees are trying to move AJ Burnett and the only team that has been reported to have any interest is the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates have been trying all offseason to get a pitcher and they really have had no luck in attracting any free agents. They offered Edwin Jackson a three year $30 million deal and he turned it down for a one year deal in Washington, Roy Oswalt has also told them that he has no interest in signing with them. This is really the only reason they are looking at Burnett as his ability to eat innings would be very useful for the team and they would probably hope that a move to an easier league would make him pitch better. The Yankees are willing to pay a substantial part of the $33 million that Burnett is owed over the next two years, but they want a player in return and reportedly asked the Pirates for Garret Jones. Jones would fill the Yankees need at lefty smashing DH and can still play 1^st base and the corner outfield. Even though Jones is going to be turning 31 in June he still has three years of team control after 2012 and is one of the Pirates few decent bats so it seems unlikely that they will acquire him. However the Yankees and Pirates are still negotiating and a deal can still get done, I think the Yankees will keep trying for Jones but if they can not get him they will probably ask for a player like Brad Lincoln who can either start or relive and who the Yankees almost acquired for Francisco Cervelli last season.

Other than the Pirates Burnett has not been linked to anyone, but the Orioles are a possibility even though he probably would be worse with them than he has been with the Yankees. However some of Dan Duquette’s moves this offseason have been questionable and he could pull out a trade like this.

The Charleston RiverDogs are loaded for 2012

The Yankees had four players featured in MLB's top 100 prospects, those being Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Gary Sanchez and Mason Williams and Keith Law ranks the Yankees farm system tenth overall even with the departure of Jesus Montero.

“I might be jumping the gun here, but I see a lot of star potential on their bottom few affiliates, including new acquisition Jose Campos from Seattle, to go with the two power arms from their Scranton club (Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances),” said KLaw with his obvious anti-Yankees bias. “The flaw in the system is the lack of near-in talent, especially position players, who could either help the big club soon or provide more fodder for trades.”

Here is the Yankees top 20 prospects:

Prospects with projected starting level

 I do not give much credit to players in the lower levels because the farther away a player is the more likely he is to completely bust, but the quantity of high level talent in the Yankees lower levels is exciting.  What will make this year especially interesting is that normally you may see 2-4 high level prospects together, but this year the Yankees will have a lot of talent in the South Atlantic leagues Charleston RiverDogs. Next year the Yankees are projected to start Nine of their top twenty in Low A Charleston, in fact the only player in the top ten who isnt starting in Scranton or Charelston is Slade Heathcott. Every member of the infield and almost every position player is a top prospect, with two members of the rotation in the top twenty as well as several other interesting names. 

Infield:

Dante Bichette Jr. 3rd will more than likely man the hot corner in Charleston after tearing up the Gulf coast league and doing everything he can to prove wrong those of us who were stunned (meaning everyone) that the Yankees took him in the 1st round. The Yankees could decide to start him in Staten Island, but the general consesus is that he will start the year in Charleston.

Tyler Austin 3rd/1st will likely start on the other side of the infield at 1st base but he could easily start at third if Bichette doesn't start the year in Charelston. For all the hype that Bichettes bat got, Austins was even better and starting him anywhere but Charelston would be unfair to the New York-Penn league pitchers.

Angelo Gumbs 2nd may move to a new position but for right now he will look to be the starting second baseman with Charelston and is the youngest of the group having just turned 19 in October.

Cito Culver SS Like Bichette last year Culver was a surprise 1^st round draft pick. Culver spent all of last year with the Staten Island Yankees and will make the natural move to Low-A Charleston. Culver had a decent year with his bat last year but his defense and speed are what people are excited about. Hopefully Culver doesn’t sink in his first try at full season ball.

Gary Sanchez C I think Sanchez will start the year at Charleston, but there is a very good chance that he will share time with J.R Murphy in Tampa. The only thing holding Sanchez back from Tampa is that he got hurt, which is the same reason why Murphy isn’t starting in Trenton. Sanchez’s bat is the best in the system now that Montero is gone and his defense is considered to be better than Montero, but still not very good. If Sanchez does start the year in Charleston he will likely be the first of the group to move up to Tampa.

Outfield:

Mason Williams OF Williams broke out last year and is now considered to be the Yankees top outfield prospect. Williams had an amazing year and he will man Center Field in Charleston, if he continues to play to the high level he did last year and matures into some power then he quickly become the Yankees number one prospect. The Yankees hope is that Williams can become a Shane Victorino type; a gold glove centerfielder with a high average and decent power. No pressure

Ben Gamel OF His brother Matt Gamel is going to be the starting 1^st baseman for the Brewers this season and while he doesn’t have the power that his brother does he will be able to play the field well in a corner spot and continue to hit for average and get on base a lot. Right now Gamel looks like a Colin Curtis type with less fielding ability, which may not sound great but players like that are always good to have.


Pitchers:

Jose Campos SP If you haven’t heard Campos was the other pitcher the Yankees acquired in the Pineda for Montero deal and is now ranked as the Yankees 5^th best prospect and best non-killer B pitching prospect. He’s only 19 but runs his fastball up to 95 and a very good curveball, to go along with a developing changeup. Campos will jump into the Low-A Charleston rotation for his first time in full season ball. He is going to be very exciting to watch.

Bryan Mitchell SP Mitchell is a project and full season ball will be his chance to show if he could put his very good stuff to good use. He will be testing the defense of this prospect laden infield as he gets a ton of ground balls.

Other prospects:
Evan DeLuca SP Another Right hander in the Charelston rotation and Just like Bryan Mitchell he has great stuff but has struggled with his command. He did do a good job last year of the ball in the park last year in giving up no home runs. However he did walk 32 batters in just 46 innings. He may not be a top twenty prospect but he is a lefty and lefties with goods stuff are always great to have.

Phil Wetherell RP,Brandon Pinder RP,Caleb Cotham RP: All three of these guys are power arms with a ton of strikeouts. Calbe Cotham has struggled to stay healthy and injury would be the only reason he wouldn’t be in Charleston’s bullpen. Pinder and Wetherell could easily move up the ladder from Charleston very quickly just like Dave Robertson.
Isaias Tejada C Tejada could start in Charelston if Sanchez starts the year in Tampa. He is another
talented hitting catcher and just shows how deep the Yankees are in terms of  backstop prospects.

Reymond Nunez 1st Nunez should probbaly be starting in Charelston but I expect that Tyler Austin will be Charelstons regular 1st baseman. If the Yankees think they can get him enough playing time at 1st and Dh then he will probably play in Charelston.

There is a lot of breakout potential in this group and some more players like center fielder Raval Santana or Outfiielder Cody Grice could start the year in Charelston.

Yankees sign Bill Hall

The Yankees have signed Bill Hall to a minor league deal and he will likely be joined by several other spring training invites to compete for the 2nd bench bat job. Bill Hall had a disappointing year last year hitting just .211/.261/.314 line in 199 plate appearances for the Astros and Giants last year. However in 2010 he had hit 18 home runs in more of a utility role for the Red Sox. I don't know if Hall still has anything left, but a minor league deal never hurt anybody and he will compete for the job with several other candidates, both internal candidates and spring invites.

The 2011 Yankees and the 2012 Red Sox

Last year the Yankees lost in the ALCS, missed on Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte retired so they were gonna have to rely on Ivan Nova a relatively untested rookie and Phil Hughes who faded bad down the stretch. The ownership was so desperate for a move that they went over the head of Brian Cashman and signed Rafael Soriano to a three year deal. The Yankees pieced together a rotation with Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon making major contributions. People thought that the Yankees would make a deal for a starter, but they didn't have to and their copious amount of starting pitching depth meant that they did not need to worry about finding starters. That may not seem like a big deal but remember bad the Red Sox starters were in September, they had no starting pitching depth and that was the reason they did not make the playoffs. The Red Sox have the top three starters and they only need to fill in the rest of their rotation, that's why its not a big deal for them to try Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard because those two just need to be not terrible. However if one or both of those guys falters they have to rely on the Andrew Miller, Carlos Silva type and they cannot even keep  Carlos Silva and Aaron Cook in the minors past the end of April because of their opt out. On top of that Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz are major injury concerns, especially Buchholz who has only been able to complete a full season of starts once in the last four years and is recovering from a stress fracture in his back.  There is a chance that everything will go well for the Red Sox and Aceves and Bard will be effective and everyone in the rotation will be healthy. If somebody has to miss a start then Andrew Miller can step in but if one starter is going to miss some time then who is gonna pitch?
The problem for the Red Sox is that they can't add a starter at the trade deadline very easily this season as they would need to move some salary to do so and if they can't eat salary then it will be very hard to acquire a starter as most teams looking to unload a starter want prospects or salary relief and the Sox system is barren at the higher levels. The Red Sox chief problem last year was a lack of pitching and it does not seem like they have done much to rectify that situation and it prove costly for them.

Boone Logan is last Yankee to settle on arbitration

Boone Logan and the Yankees avoided arbitration by signing Logan to a $1.875 million deal for 2012. By doing this the Yankees settled with their last arbitration eligible player and paid a grand total of $16.775 to their six arbitration eligible players. The list is as follows:

Boone Logan- $1.875
Logan was the Yankees only lefty out of the pen last season and while a solid arm he was inconsistent at times and could be the only lefty in the pen again this year. He did have some very good outing against the Sox in particular last season.

David Robertson- $1.6 million
This was Robertson's first arbitration year and its a nice pay increase from the league minimum salary that he was making the last 3 years. If he does what he did last year again he will get a good raise next year.

Joba Chamberlain- $1.675 million
While it may seem odd that Joba got payed more than Robertson considering that Joba only pitched 28 innings last year because of his injury. But arbitration is also largely based on service time and it was his second year of arbitration. He got a lot less than he might have.

Phil Hughes- $3.2 million
perfect example of how its based on service time. After his 2010 Phil Hughes got $2.7 million and with less than half the innings he pitched the year before he got a raise. Hughes however only has one year of arbitration left and so 2012 will need to be good for him.

Russel Martin- $7.5 million
After being non tendered by the Dodgers last season Martin had a good year with the Yankees and received almost double the $4 million he was paid last year. The Yankees had been talking about a two year deal with Martin before deciding on roughly the midpoint of Martins proposed $8.2 million and the Yankees $7 million. Hopefully the Yankees get another solid season from Martin in 2012.

Brett Gardner- $2.8
Like Robertson Gardner had his first year of arbitration and got a nice pay raise after making the league minimum the last three years. Gardner will look at find some offensive consistency this year in hope of signing a multi-year deal with the Yankees, while continuing to provide excellent defense.

All of these guys will be arbitration eligible again next year, except for Russel Martin who will be a free agent. Francisco Cervelli will also be arbitration eligible next season so he will have to try and stay healthy this year.

A.J Burnett for Mark Reynolds: In idea that will never happen but I will write about anyway

Without AJ Burnett the Yankees never would have won the world series in 2009 but he has been beyond bad the last two years and he still has two years left on his contract. The Yankees have better options in their rotation than him and they have been hoping to dump him on somebody else all off season, especially now that the Yankees have a logjam for the 5th starter. The idea is that the Yankees will try and trade Hughes or Burnett for a DH type who can platoon with Andruw Jones. River ave blues had a list of possible trade candidates and one that I thought might warrant some consideration is Mark Reynolds.
Now to be clear this deal is very unlikely to happen but the Orioles are faced with the issue of having two first baseman and one of them they are paying $7.5 million and the other isn't arbitration eligible for another year. The Orioles have no shot of contending and they wanted to have Reynolds play 3rd but his defense was so bad that he had to be moved to 1st. Reynolds was traded to Baltimore last offseason and has led the league in strike outs the last four seasons. He can however mash the ball and has hit 158 home runs in his five seasons including 37 last year. He is a right handed bat but he hits right handers a bit better than left handers. Reynolds would be good to have for the DH spot especially since he is a free agent after this year. The problem though is that the only way the Yankees would add Reynolds is if they traded AJ Burnett and unfortunately its very doubtful that he will get traded this season especially not to the Orioles who have enough mediocre pitching. Its also the fact that the Orioles don't like trading in the division and it doesn't make any sense for them to trade Reynolds and take on all of Burnett's salary especially since they won't be contending this season. Its a nice idea but it wont happen.

The Prince Saga ends

I know a lot of Yankees fans hoped that the Yankees would sign Fielder, but it was never gonna happen. However I really did not expect that Fielder would sign with the Tigers which is what he did today when he signed for a 9 year $214 million deal. I really thought he would end up going to Washington, but apparently they were never offering him the money or years he wanted. This may have something to do with Victor Martinez's injury, but I have a hard time beleiving that they gave Fielder $214 million because Martinez would be out a year. It seems like Miguel Cabrera will move to 3rd which will be interesting but having both those guys in the lineup will be great for Detroit and they likely just pulled ahead of everyone in that division for the next few years. Its still possible that the Tigers will sign a DH but I find it more likely they will sign a defensive outfielder and have Delmon Young DH quite a bit. This also likely takes the Tigers out of the hunt for Yoennis Cespedes as I doubt they will add anymore payroll.

Yankees talking to Matsui about a return

According to Jon Heyman the Yankees have been in contact with Hideki Matsui. The Yankees reportedly only want to spend about $1-2 Million on a DH after trading Jesus Montero to Seattle.
Matsui posted a .251/.321/.375 line with 12 homers in 583 plate appearances last year in Oakland. He recovered from a slow start to produce better results in the second half (.753 OPS after July 1st), but the average DH posted a .265/.340/.429 line in 2011, so Matsui, and his lack of fielding ability, hasn’t drawn much interest. A return to Oakland doesn’t seem likely and no other teams have been publicly linked to the Wasserman Media Group client.
After his poor year in Oakland  Matsui will probably be looking for one last year before retiring as he will be 38 in June. The Yankees limited budget would seem like enough to bring back Matsui for one last year in Pinstripes before riding off into the sunset. The worst part is that even if Matsui put up the same numbers as he did last year it would still be better than the performance from Yankees DH since Matsui in 2009.
Personally I like this deal for two reasons. One is that Matsui has a proven bat in Yankee stadium and his cheap contract will provide minimal risk. After Matsui the Yankees would have to look at some minor league invites if they plan on staying on budget. The other factor is that I absolutely loved Hideki Matsui and it would be absolutely amazing if the Yankees could bring him back. Ive loved Matsui since he came over in 2003 and he hit a grand slam on opening day.
I really hope it happens, because if it doesn't work then the Yankees can fall back on Jorge Vazquez and I think we would all love to see Godzilla return to the Yankees.

The Yankees DH solutions

Are one of these men the Yankees DH?

I wrote earlier about Johnny Damon as a possibility at DH for the Yankees now that Montero has been traded and Jon Heyman stated that the two have been talking. Heyman also threw out the name of Posada, but said that the chances were probably was very remote. The Yankees have also said that they are about as high with their payroll as they will go so all of those hoping can forget about them signing Prince Fielder. In my view the Yankees have a few options that they will consider for the DH spot and the biggest factor will be in cost as I doubt that the Yankees will give any more than $5 million to a DH and it could be significantly lower than that.
The Yankees first choice is undoubtedly Carlos Pena who they claimed off waivers last August, but the Cubs pulled him back. Pena strikes out a lot and doesn't  hit for average, but he hits for a lot of power and gets on base at a very good rate. Pena is a good choice as he is a good fielder, but that's part of the problem in that he will want a multi year deal for a good salary and its a good bet that he will get a better offer. If the market for him falls apart then there is a chance but he is the top 1st baseman after Fielder.
After Pena the Yankees will look at Johnny Damon who the Yankees obviously know well. The problem with Johnny is that he is both declining and a complete idiot. Don't get me wrong I like Johnny Damon, but he is a total idiot. This is a guy who has been convinced the last three years that he was going to sign a large deal and has seemed shocked and offended when he did not sign a large contract. I do not think this will effect his play at all but he may not realize that he would need to drop his price to be signed by the Yankees and will instead insist on a salary that they will not pay him. I expect that Damon will sign with the Orioles who will pay him more than he is worth, just as they did with Vlad Guerrero. The chance of the Yankees bringing in Damon are better than them signing Carlos Pena, but I still do not view it as very likely.
Next there is the option of Vlad Guerrero who is likely on the same level as Johnny Damon as a declining player who will ask for money than he is worth. Guerrero held out for $8 million from the Orioles and generated a grand total of .1 WAR, but while Guerrero is certainly declining,  his talent is nothing to ignore.Guerrero could be a decent option, but he will ask for more money than he deserves and while somebody may give it to him it wont be the Yankees.
An option that is undervalued is bringing back Hideki Matsui. Matsui declined last season after a decent year for the Angels in 2010. His decline is real, but what makes him different than Pena, Guerrero or Damon is that Matsui could likely be had for a small deal perhaps as he already was only being paid $4.5 million by the A's and so would probably take something in the $2-$3 million range perhaps even lower. If Matsui stinks then they can DFA him and bring up someone like Jorge Vazquez and they have lost nothing. If he does well then he has one last year as a Yankee before retiring. This leads to another idea which is simply to make Jorge Vazquez, who has raked in ever level, the primary DH. Last year Vazquez hit .262 with 32 Home Runs, but he also struck out 166 times which is why people tend to believe that he is mostly a quadruple-A player. He could be a good fallback option but he is probably not a good guy to start the year as the DH. Going along with the cheap options the Yankees could also bring in several veterans to compete for the DH spot just like they did for the bench spot last year. This could included Jorge Vazquez and Hideki Matsui as well as some names like Marcus Thames, Russell Branyan, Carlos Guillen or even Manny Ramirez. They could also look at trading some of their rotation depth for a DH, with a suggestion of A.J Burnett for Carlos Lee being one that I have seen written about.
The Yankees could also go without a primary DH and instead use a rotation of players at DH, but most teams like to have somebody who will be the primary DH and I expect that the Yankees will have one to start the year.

Could Johnny Damon be a Yankee again?

Could he take #18 back from Jones?

In case you hadn't heard the Yankees and Mariners swapped Jesus Montero and Michael Pineada and while the biggest impact of this is improving the rotation, the Yankees gave up a young impact back who was going to be their primary DH next season. Now the Yankees have a need at the DH spot and it will be curious to see how they fill this hole. Johnny Damon was not resigned by the Tampa Bay rays after a decent season as the DH, after they initially signed him for left field and Manny to DH, but the Rays signed Luke Scott instead of resigning Damon. Now Damon could be a  fit for Yankee and we know they tried to bring him back in 2010 but Damon wanted a big  multi year deal and he eventually ended up signing in Detroit for $8 million. The problem of course is that Damon is declining, as would be expected from a 38 year old and the Yankees don't want another poor year from the DH spot after two bad years in a row. However most DH's are in decline and the first thing that I thought of after Montero was traded was that Damon would be coming back. We will have to wait and see what happens, but Damon is a strong possibility.

Cashman saved it all for Friday the 13th: trades Montero for Pineada and Signs Kuroda.

Rember when you woke up on Friday the 13th thinking that the Yankees were essentially done this off season and wouldn't make any major moves after passing on Gio, CJ Wilson and not really expressing any interest in Edwin Jackson. Sure the Yankees might sign Kuroda or Oswalt, but no major changes.Yup Brian Cashman lulled us all into a state of belief that he would do essentially nothing this off season and then he changes everything.  Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi were sent to Seattle for Michael Pineada and prospect Jose Campos. Then an hour later the Yankees signed Hiroki Kuroda for $10 million. All of the sudden the Yankees went from a rotation of CC,Nova, Garcia, Hughes,Burnett with Noesi as the first call up, to having no space in the rotation for Hughes or Burnett. Now the talk is going to turn to the Yankees looking to trade Burnett or Hughes and them looking for a DH. Montero was a great prospect, but the Yankees obviously didn't view him as a catcher long term and with the Yankees getting older there really wasn't any ideal long term spot for him. The trade makes sense but the fan base definitely feels conflicted about this trade. The fact is that there really isn't any winner or loser of this trade and its hard to gauge because the players swapped were all making the minimum salary, except for Campos who is still in the low minors.
I really liked Montero and I was looking forward to seeing him play a full year, but this is a good old fashioned baseball trade were two teams adressed their long term needs. The Yankees have pitching depth, but they needed a high end starter and the Mariners needed a power bat and they made the deal. Then not to be outdone the Yankees went and signed Hiroki Kuroda to a 1-year $10 million deal to really set up their rotation. You can see my earlier post about Kuroda here and I did predict that Kuroda would sign with the Yankees in my post about the remaining free agents that I put up yesterday. The last thing that I will point out is that before this trade the Yankees had a top three offense with a questionable rotation and now they may be questionable as a top three but have a much improved rotation and are going to be the clear favorites for the AL East.

Top Twenty Remaing MLB Free Agents

Well its officially January 12th and only a month until pitchers and catchers report, with two members of the top five free agent still available in number two Prince Fielder and number six Edwin Jackson. Neither of those guys were expected to last past 2011 on the market but the pool of potential teams has dried up. However there still are still a number of teams looking at free agents and still a lot of free agents available, with MLB trade rumors having a complete list. Here is my top twenty of the remaining free agents:

1. Prince Fielder- Washington Nationals: I did mention in my top 50 free agent post that if he did not go to the Cubs then he really didn't have a lot of potential suitors. The Mariners and Nationals were thought to be other suitors, but I think that the Mariners are a pipe dream that fans and the media came up with. Baltimore and Toronto have been mentioned as suitors but neither seems very interested in committing that type of money to Fielder and still don't. In fact the only suitor that has expressed any interest in a long term deal has been the Washington Nationals and that deal has some potential pitfalls as the Nationals already have Adam LaRoche at first and would like to move Michael Morse there soon. If the Nationals sign Fielder they would be forced to play Jayson Werth or Bryce Harper in Center  Field long term and that's not ideal. They also do not want to commit $20 million-plus salaries to three players before even making the playoffs. The idea has been brought up of Fielder taking a one year deal to try and sign a deal next year with the Dodgers who will have new ownership. This could make sense and the Brewers reportedly offered the deal to Fielder but Boras rejected it. The idea now is that Boras is going to wait until Yu Darvish signs to see if the Rangers can be interested in Fielder. However I doubt that the Rangers will commit to a big deal with Fielder when Kinsler, Napoli and Hamilton will need extensions. If Fielder decides to take a one year deal to look again at the market next year then it opens up, but the Nationals may be the only team that will offer Fielder anywhere near the money and years he wants and I think they are going to wait for his price to come down.
2. Edwin Jackson- Baltimore Orioles: Jackson wants a multi-year deal but his potential suitors, including the Yankees, do not seem interested in doing so. Boras reportedly even went to the Steinbreners to try and get them to sign Jackson and they wouldn't do more than a one year deal. Jackson is too young and talented to settle for a one year deal and so Jackson will have to look to non-contenders. The Orioles have signed Wei-Yin Chen and Tsuyoshi Wada out of the Japanese league but their unknowns and the rest of their starting staff has been mediocre to bad. Jackson has a lot of potential and has good stuff, but has never put it all together; however he eats innings and that's what the Orioles really want from their starters right now. Returning to St. Louis could always be in the cards but I haven't heard anything connecting them to Jackson. With a one year deal the field will open up just like it would for Fielder.
3. Yoenis Cespedes- Miami Marlins: He's not a free agent yet and I almost let him off the list as a result, but he reportedly is going to be a free agent soon and there is no better fit for both sides than Miami. All of our information about Cespedes has come from his Youtube videos and a few scouting trips, but the Marlins are interested in the 26 year old. Other teams need a center fielder but Miami is trying to restart its relationship with fans and is really trying to appeal to the Hispanic community in Souhern Florida. Their entire infield is Hispanic but the Cuban Cespedes could really appeal to the large Cuban community in Florida if he reaches his star potential. The Marlins are going to go hard after him and I expect that they will blow everybody else away.
4. Hiroki Kuroda- New York Yankees: Kuroda seems to me to be between two teams, the Yankees and the Red Sox. Kuroda is not going to return to Japan and while the Red Sox need a starter more than the Yankees do the Yankees will likely put out more money than the Red Sox will. It could really end up going either way but Kuroda is a great fit for either team, but the Red Sox just need pitchers who will eat innings so that may put Kuroda out of their price range.
5. Carlos Pena- Cleveland Indians: There are three big suitors for Pena in my mind and those are Clevaland, Texas and Tampa Bay. The problem is that only Cleveland has expressed serious interest in Pena and while the other two teams are fits, Cleveland seems to be the most aggressive team on the market for Pena. The addition of Pena would be great for Cleveland as they could try and take advantage of a potentially weak AL Central. I expect that he will sign a two year deal no matter who he signs it with
6. Joe Saunders: Saunders was non tendered by Arizona after a good 2011 and he wants to sign a three year deal. Unfortunately I do not think three years is extremely likely and I even question who will give him two years. The Red Sox have reportedly been pursing Saunders and he could be a good fit as he has eaten around 200 innings each of the last four years. However hes a soft tosser and will give up a lot of home runs and that seems to be the Red Sox's primary concern with him. I really like how he fits for the Tigers as a back end starter, but I don't know if they will be interested in paying him.
7. Casey Kotchman: I see Kotchman having the same suitors as Carlos Pena and I expect that he will sign with Tampa Bay or Texas. The issue is that as good as Kotchman was this year he had never has a year that good and he was terrible in Seattle. Being a Tampa Bay native I know that the Rays would like to bring him back but they got him for a bargain $750,000 last year and he will want to get paid. Kotchman could be an interesting fit for Texas as he is considered to be a good defensive 1st baseman and if he failed they could always turn back to Mitch Moreland.
8. Cody Ross: Ross is borderline starter and good fourth outfielder. As a result he has a lot of potential suitors with the Indians and Red Sox being the best fit if he still wants a two year deal. Both teams are lefty heavy and need a strong backup for Ryan Kalish and Grady Sizemore respectively. The Reds, Nationals, Mariners and A's could also pursue Ross and could play Center Field for the Nationals or A's.
9. Johnny Damon: I thought the Luke Scott deal was good for Tampa until I found out that they would be paying him $5 million, which is about $2-3 million more than I thought he would get. Damon will probably get $5-$7 million to DH but I see only two teams that could use a full time DH and those are the Mariners and Orioles. Damon can still sort of play the field but a team will want him to DH most days. I expect he will sign another incentive laden deal.
10. Roy Oswalt: Oswalt is an elite pitcher but he has had back issues for awhile and that's not going to go away. He is a big risk reward signing but someone will likely take a chance on him as a starter or he could sign with a team as a long reliever.
11. Francisco Cordero: Cordero was rumored to be close to a deal with the Reds before they signed Ryan Madson. Cordero could end up being a bargain for any number of teams and any number of teams could get him for cheap.
12. Bartolo Colon: Colon has scarred off a lot of teams because of how new his stem cell treatment is. I expect that he will end up signing for between $1.5-$2.5 million with somebody as a long reliever and teams looking for a bargain starter like Oakland or the Mariners could pick him up.
13. Derrek Lee: After Fielder there is Pena and Kotchman and after them is Derek Lee. Lee played well for the Pirates, after getting cut by the Orioles and is a cheap option. There are really three teams that I see potentially signing him and those are Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. All three would be good fits for Lee and Pittsburgh and Milwaukee have both expressed interest.
14. Kerry Wood: Wood wants to return to the Cubs, but this year he wants to get paid whats hes worth and if he doesn't then the Phillie's have been linked to him.
15. Rick Ankiel: Ankiel can play a great Center Field but he hasn't hit very well the last three years. Any number of teams could get him as a backup and a return to Washington or Kansas City or Washington is possible. The Reds have also expressed interest.
16. Jeff Francis: Francis didnt pitch exceptionally well last year but he did eat a lot of innings and teams still looking for a fifth starter could try Francis. The team I think he fits the best with is probably the Tigers, but they havent been linked to him. I expect that he will sign a deal about the same value as Bartolo Colon.
17. Ryan Ludwick: Ludwick has been bad the last two years and he will be looking for a backup job. The Reds have been linked to Ludwick and it would probably be a good fit as would the Indians and the Red Sox.
18. Kosuke Fukudome: Fuckudome played better than Ludwick last year but he doesnt seem to be getting a lot of interest. He could go back to Japan but I expect he will sign for cheap with a west coast team. Fukudome isn't bad he just was getting paid a lot more than he was worth in Chicago.
19. Mike Gonzalez: The best lefty on the market. I expect that he will resign with Texas but he could end up going anywhere. 
20. Juan Pierre: Still can play the field and is a speed threat but past that he is little more than a name with the skill level of Chris Dickerson. He will sign as a backup outfielder with somebody.

After this the free agent pool gets into a lot of borderline replacement level bench players, old DH types and mediocre or injured pitchers with some upside. There still are names out there like Hideki Matsui, Rich Harden, Joel Pineiro and Ivan Rodriguez. These guys will probably all get invites from one team or another as somebody tries to find a diamond in the ruff, Javier Vazquez could also decide to not retire and be a good boost for any number of teams. Bullpen arms provide a good opportunity for steals and any number of guys could sign for cheap deals and prove valuable in the bullpen.

Jorge Posada will retire

Posada had been linked to the Orioles, Phillies and Rays but obviously the deals never worked out for him. Posada hit .273/.374/.474 for his career with 275 home runs and may have some real Hall of fame credentials. Posada played his entire 17 year career as a Yankee and was probably the most unappreciated part of the core four. Posada will officially announce his retirement in the next two weeks.

Nakajima and Eric Chavez

Well the Yankees have announced that they failed to make a deal with Hiroyuki Nakajima and so he will go back to Japan for a year before being free to sign with a team next season as a free agent. The Yankees never expected to win the bidding on Nakajima and while they had a need on the bench they could not agree on the money. The Problem was likely that Nakajima wanted more money than he was making in Japan, but the Yankees wanted to pay him like he was a utility infielder. Some had suggested a sign and trade but obviously that did not work out. Nakajima could be released by his club to pursue a deal with another team but more likely he will just wait till next year. I was looking forward to Nakajima just because he would be something different, but it did not work out. With Nakajima going back to Japan the Yankees will likely look to resign Eric Chavez who they hope will be able to do what he did last year for them again this year, now that he is not retiring. The Yankees could also bring in a few guys to compete for the job in spring training much like they did last year. Chavez probably would have already signed a deal if the Yankees had not won the rights to Nakajima and I expect that the Yankees will sign him quickly. If Chavez does come back then this team will look almost exactly like it did at the start of last year with the only missing pieces being Joba and Bartolo.