Happy Position Players Report Day! That’s right, today’s the day position players report to Yankee camp in Tampa which means we will soon be hearing about who showed up first, who showed up last, who was wearing what and all of that good stuff.

I don’t know about you but I am so relieved that this day is finally here. And no offense to the pitchers and catchers but for me, today’s the day that Spring Training really starts.

When I was working full time I couldn’t wait for today. I’d search google, yahoo, and various websites for pictures of the guys arriving to camp. I’d ‘right click and save as’ a whole bunch of them and then make a Spring Training slideshow for my work computer’s screensaver.

Ahh the good old days.

The big talk around baseball today has nothing to do with our New York Yankees. It’s all about Ryan Braun’s successful steroid ban appeal and the aftermath. There is a lot of information and now there’s word that MLB is looking to sue to get the decision overturned. For once, the Yankees are under the radar so to speak but that doesn’t mean they’re completely out of the news.

Here are some Spring Training photos from Tampa courtesy of Newsday.

Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York reports that the Yankees have discussed restructuring Russell Martin’s current contract. GM Brian Cashman said Martin turned down the first offer but will be meeting with Martin’s agent again to discuss more options.

Both Michael Eder and Michael Imbrogno of the Yankee Analysts thinks the Yankees are wise in trying to extend Martin and think it’s the right move.

The captain, Derek Jeter, met with the media this morning, wearing a t-shirt that says “Greatest” across the chest. Maybe it’s an homage to Mariano Rivera? He discussed a myriad of subjects ranging from the current state of the AL East to Rivera to Michael Pineda.

Happy Friday everyone!

Roses are red,
violets are blue,
baseball is almost here
WOOOO HOOOOOO!

Okay, so that was pretty terrible – I’m better at writing angry poems – but you know what isn’t terrible? The reports we’re getting from Tampa about the players who have arrived early to camp.

Thanks to Twitter, we can get real time reports about what’s going on down in Florida?

For instance Eric Boland of Newsday tweeted a few minutes ago about watching Michael Pineda throw a bullpen session. And just as I was writing that sentence, Boland tweeted again that the session was over and that Pineda was running sprints in the outfield.

I love modern technology.

Let’s stay with the Twitter and pitcher news theme shall we? Boland also reported via the Twitter that Joba Chamberlain threw off a half mound today. Chamberlain also said he’d be speaking to Dr. James Andrews later this week to find out if he can increase his workload. Joba seems like a man on a mission which could be a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, it’s nice to see him so determined to come back but on the other hand you don’t want him to risk injury by rushing his rehab from Tommy John surgery.

Phil Hughes, another pitcher who wants to make a comeback of sorts after a not so stellar 2011, has added muscle to his physique.

“I replaced some weight with some muscle,” said the 6-5 Hughes, who said he now weighs 240. “I didn’t lose like 40 pounds or anything, but I feel a lot better, and hopefully it will pay off.”

For Yankee fans hoping they’d be rid of A.J. Burnett as a Valentine’s Day present, well, you may have to wait a few days. It looks like the deal – as sure as it is to happen – may not happen until the weekend at least according to Bob Klapisch. Too bad, so sad for you.

Johnny Damon still doesn’t have a job and according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, it’s because he wants to hit the 3,000 hit milestone. He wants it so badly that he’s losing his good eye at the plate.

Damon’s batting average dropped 10 points from 2010 to 2011, but his on-base average fell a more dramatic 29 points to .326 from .355, his career average entering last year. His walk percentage fell to 7.9 per 100 plate appearances after he had averaged 10.7 over the previous five years, never falling below 10.0.

Hmm, that’s interesting.

And how could I forget? Happy 8th Anniversary of A-Rod Day everyone!

Happy Groundhog Day! It’s Thursday February 2, 2012 and it’s the early so you know what that means. It’s news time!

Brian Cashman stands behind A.J. Burnett. Hey, I wrote about that yesterday! Curt Schilling felt the need to open his big mouth to declare that the Yankees are the favorites in the American League East. Oh and that he thinks the Yankees did an unbelievable job trading for Michael Pineda – Can this guy just go away already? Oh, wait, he won’t go away. It’s almost time for him to be up for the Hall of Fame vote, isn’t it?

We will never be rid of Curt Schilling.

In case you missed it, Joe Pawlikowski of River Avenue Blues wrote a piece featuring the suggestions of RAB readers regarding some future free agent signings the Yankees should make. It’s pretty amusing.

Over at Pinstriped Bible, Steven Goldman reminisces about Shane Spencer and if you missed it yesterday, my girl Rebecca Glass introduces Yankee fans to Jim Hendry, the organization’s newest hire.

Michael Eder of The Yankee Analysts took a look at Michael Pineda’s rookie season and compared his numbers to some big names in the game. Conclusion: His rookie year was – as Larry David would say, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

With all the talk about Mark Teixeira and the shift yesterday, Brien Jackson of It’s About the Money, Stupid wonders if it’s even relevant.

William Juliano from the Captain’s Blog goes in depth on Teixeira’s numbers and wonders if Tex would be sacrificing too much by going the way. He looks at Teixeira’s numbers from the left side and right side.

And finally at Pinstripe Alley, Jedi Master A-Rod, writes about the Curious Case of David Adams. It’s a pretty interesting read about how Adams’ ankle played a specific role in the Yankees’ dealings with Seattle in 2010 and what effect it had in 2012. Considering the fact that David Adams has never set foot onto Yankee Stadium grass makes it even more entertaining.

*Okay, so it’s not exactly ruminating, it’s more like babbling. I can’t help it.*

It’s a late January afternoon and as I sit here listeing to the cars and trucks on the main road just above my house, I am thinking about how much closer we are to baseball season. In fact, we’re just 36 days removed from the Yankees’ first Spring Training game!

This off-season has been a relatively quiet one by Yankee standards. The biggest splash came when the team traded away one of its best known prospects, Jesus Montero for Seattle’s righty phenom Michael Pineda.

They were able to sign free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and agreed to one-year deals with Brett Gardner, Boone Logan, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Russell Martin.

» Continue reading “In Which I Ruminate About The Yankees On A Winter Afternoon”

Today is a sad day in the Bronx. Longtime catcher Jorge Posada is saying good bye to the only team he’s played for in his long and storied career. The press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST and will be shown on the YES Network. For those of you stuck at work, it will also be streamed live on yankees.com.

Naturally when players of Posada’s magnitude retire, discussions about their Hall of Fame credentials – whether they have them or not – always crop up. Here are a couple of articles – one pro and one against – Posada’s Cooperstown chances.

Lou DiPietro of YESNetwork.com talks about Posada’s career “by the numbers”.

62: Currently worn by Joba Chamberlain, 62 is the uniform number Posada wore on the night of his Major League debut. Although he’s best known for his iconic No. 20, Posada actually wore five different numbers as a Yankee, also sporting Nos. 41, 55, and 22.

The Michael Pineda/Jesus Montero trade was finalized and the 23 year-old Pineda is excited to be a Yankee (Well, duh, of course he is):

“It’s a tremendous team, with good pitching. It’s very exciting for me — for the first time in my life, I’ll have the pleasure of playing with Alex Rodriguez, a huge star, and Derek Jeter, one of the most well-known players ever. And Mariano Rivera, (Robinson) Cano, (Mark) Teixeira, Rafael Soriano,” Pineda says in Spanish, his voice trailing off as he sifts through the Yankees’ roster. “I never thought in my life that I would be in this situation.”

Pineda also added:

This is the best thing in the world. Pitching alongside CC Sabathia, I’m speechless.

Over at Needle Ball – Aerys’s home of all things Seattle Mariners – Ashley Varela introduces former Yanks Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to Mariners fans.

With the offseason winding down, the one thing left for the Yankees to do – or maybe not – is to find a DH.

At The Yankee Analysts Matt Imbrogno tries to think of ways the Yankees can avoid the rotating DH.

Happy Tuesday and don’t cry too much during Posada’s press conference (Okay, that was really for my benefit.)

After the Yankees made the trade for Michael Pineda and signed Hiroki Kuroda, the question that’s been on everyone’s mind has been “What will they do with high priced, low performing starter A.J. Burnett?”

In three full seasons with the Yankees, Burnett has been just a tad below mediocre record-wise with scant flashes of brilliance and with many abysmal outings under his belt.

Since joining the Yankees, Burnett has amassed a 34-35 record. His best year was in 2009 when he was 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA and helped the Yankees with a big start in Game Two of the World Series. Facing the prospect of heading to Philadelphia in an 0-2 hole, Burnett out pitched Pedro Martinez to knot the series at one game apiece and helping the Yankees to their 27th Championship.

Let’s take a trip down ‘bad’ memory lane, shall we?

» Continue reading “The A.J. Burnett Conundrum”

Bartolo Colon has signed with the Oakland A’s. Colon who made the team out of Spring Training started off strong – including pitching a complete game shutout against the A’s in May – but faded in the second half. Colon finished with an 8-10 record and a 4.00 ERA.

Help Wanted: Designated hitter. Among those mentioned as possible DH candidates, former Yankee Johnny Damon and Carlos Peña. Peña spoke with MLB Network Radio and said the Yankees had contacted him. Damon who last played with the Tampa Bay Rays had harsh words for his former team after they signed free agent Luke Scott.

“Didn’t realize the DH and 1B brought the offense down. Thought we would’ve had an offer.”

» Continue reading “Yankees News and Notes: 1/16/12″

Just as I was settling in for a relaxing Friday night after a busy day at work, all hell broke loose in Yankeeland.

Within a span of an hour and a half the Yankees added two potential starters to their pitching rotation. So much for Brian Cashman not doing anything this winter!

First, the Yanks pulled the trigger on a trade with Seattle that sent Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to the Mariners for starter Michael Pineda and prospect Jose Campos.

Then, just as the fans who were reeling from the Montero trade were beginning to calm down, reports surfaced saying that the Yankees had signed free agent Hiroki Kuroda to a one year deal worth between 10-11 million.

» Continue reading “What A Week For the Yankees On a Friday Night In The Bronx”

And Twitter crashes with the news…

Jon Heyman just broke the news a few moments ago, Jesus Montero is heading to Seattle in exchange for Michael Pineda.

We’ll have more when we find out the details…

Bye bye Jesus.

Updated: It’s being reported as a four player deal. The Yankees are sending Montero and Hector Noesi to Seattle for Pineda and Jose Campos – a 19 year old pitching prospect.

Here’s some info on Campos:

Notable 2011 Stats: 2.32 ERA, 2.38 FIP, 4 HRA, 13 BB, 85 K, 51% GB% in 81 1/3 IP with Everett (Short-season-A)

According to the Seedlings to Stars piece Campos has a very big upside. So maybe the Yankees are just trying to solidify their future pitching rotation.

In the two games in which they were supposed have trouble scoring off the starters, the Yankees were actually able to score off the starter. Last night, the bullpen blew the win for AJ Burnett. Tonight, Ivan Nova didn’t do himself any favors giving up four runs but the Yankees offense, was once again inept with runners in scoring position in the late – and extra – innings.

Mariano Rivera came into the game when it was tied in the bottom of the twelfth inning. He ended up surrendering three hits and one run and he picked up his first loss of the season.

Although that wasn’t the strangest thing to happen in this game. No. The strangest thing – or things, if you will – were the four people who ran onto the field – at different times – during the game. One of them was naked. Yes. Someone decided to do his best Frank the Tank impression and ran onto the field with his manly bits flopping around for everyone to see.

Too much caffeine maybe?

The thing that angers me the most about the past two nights is that fans were worried about how the Yankees were going to score off Michael Pineda and Felix Hernandez. Especially Hernandez, the Yankees hadn’t been able to score off him the last few times they faced him. Well, they didn’t have a problem with that. They scored four runs off him. The problem for the Yankees: their pitchers had trouble holding leads.

I really can’t wait for the time when all facets of the team are operating at a high level at the same time – hopefully it will actually happen.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Yankees. After they finish this series in Seattle tomorrow they head to Oakland to start a three game set with the A’s on Monday.

Help us CC Sabathia, you’re our only hope.