Bronx Bombers | A New York Yankees Franchise [Archive]

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 02:26 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Mussina announces his retirement

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Mike Mussina tips his hat as he walks off the field in his final start at Yankee Stadium.

NEW YORK -- Having attempted to keep a secret close to the vest for an entire year, Mike Mussina opened the first afternoon of his post-baseball life by unburdening himself of a confession.
The Yankees right-hander said that he knew all along that 2008 would be his final Major League season, having reached the decision to walk away from the game in January, looking to complete what would be his 18th and final tour around the American League.

The fact that he was able to walk away on top, less than two months after completing the first 20-win season of his career, just made his fond farewell all the more sweeter.

"I don't think there was ever a point where I looked around and said, 'You know what? I'm going to change my mind,'" Mussina said Thursday in a conference call to discuss his retirement.

"I just felt so good about the season, the way it was going, and enjoying it and not getting caught up in the bad times. It was like the last year of high school. You know it's going to end, and you just enjoy the ride."

Mussina said he kept the secret from reporters, teammates and even front-office executives because he did not want to become a focal point of the season. But by the time the year was over, he had emerged as the Yankees' most prominent pitcher, making Mussina's situation difficult to ignore.

"People who talk to you about it say, 'Make sure you're doing it for yourself,'" Mussina said. "Every decision you make, there's other factors involved. I have young children and they're getting involved with things. I've been away a long time and I want to be involved more. I'm certainly not getting younger, they're not getting younger and you can't get that time back. It's just the right time for me."

Completing his career with two clubs, the Yankees and Orioles, Mussina notched 270 victories, putting him within striking distance of the conversation for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Having already seamlessly transitioned into a lifestyle of cleaning closets and shoveling snow -- his activities on his first day as a non-active player -- the decision is not Mussina's to make. His supporters will point to a high-octane offensive era and his standing with two AL East clubs among his many credentials.

"It was a great pleasure playing against -- and even more so -- with Mike Mussina since I entered the league in 1995," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "He was a true professional both on and off the field. Moose's accomplishments in the game over the last 18 years represent a Hall of Fame player."
Enjoying a resurgent season that saw him bounce back from injuries and inconsistency that marred his 2007 campaign, Mussina made adjustments to his style on the mound and remained healthy off of it.

Finishing the year 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA, Mussina becomes the first pitcher to retire immediately following a 20-win season since Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax hung up his spikes after winning 27 games for the Dodgers in 1966, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

As Mussina approached that 20th victory on Sept. 28 at Boston's Fenway Park, he addressed his proximity to the game's vaunted 300-win plateau, analyzing his situation in a typically cerebral style.

Mussina said that he could not count on having another 20-win season if he were to return, and if the more realistic goal was to win approximately 10 games a year, he'd be pitching to the age of 42 just to attain a milestone mark -- hanging on, even though his best work had already been completed.

"I didn't want to be one of those guys that bounces all over the place," Mussina said. "That's not how I feel about the game. If I can't contribute at the level I want to contribute at, then someone else should be doing it."

The Yankees had not been operating as though they were expecting Mussina to return, as both manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman expressed doubts. Girardi said Wednesday that he was not surprised by reports of Mussina's retirement.

"He had led me to believe that that's what was going to happen at the end of the year," Girardi said. "I wasn't quite sure, in a sense, that I believed him. Sometimes when you get away from it, you really miss it and your family might encourage you to go. But I know he talked about wanting to be home more, and if he does, I won't be surprised."

Mussina has spoken often about how much he enjoys his hometown of Montoursville, Pa. -- certainly, his free-agent signing was one in which New York City was not to be a major selling point. His home features a collection of vintage automobiles and John Deere tractors that demand attention.

Now that he is unburdened of the ticking clock toward pitchers and catchers reporting, Mussina said he is unsure if he will remain in baseball in some capacity. He plans to spend much of his time this April at his son's baseball games, cheering him on alongside the other parents and playing Dad.

"I don't have any real plans -- I'm just enjoying the free time," Mussina said. "Guys who have retired before, I've asked them what they do with themselves, and they say they're busier now than when they were active players. I've been home for 8 1/2 weeks and I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already. The time is flying and the days are busy."

A seven-time AL Gold Glove Award winner, Mussina spent the last eight years of his career with the Yankees, signing as a free agent before the 2001 season after pitching his first 10 years in the Majors with the Orioles.
He compiled a record of 123-72 with a 3.88 ERA in pinstripes, and since signing with the Yankees, no other AL pitcher recorded more wins than Mussina.

"I think I made a name for myself in Baltimore, but I had a lot more exposure and opportunities in New York," Mussina said. "We had seven trips to the postseason, a couple of trips to [World Series].

"You're on a bigger stage pitching for the Yankees. I played my last game as a Yankee, and I think if I would have chosen to return, they would have asked me. I loved playing in both places, but when retirement came around, I was still a Yankee."

Thanks to www.Yankees.com

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 02:39 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Girardi unveils 2009 coaching staff

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Manager Joe Girardi will have five coaches returning to his staff in 2009

NEW YORK -- The Yankees officially announced their coaching staff for the upcoming season on Thursday, adding Mick Kelleher to the mix and returning five members of last year's staff -- albeit with two of them in new roles.
Kelleher, 61, will join the big club as the first-base coach, after spending three seasons as the team's roving infield instructor. He will join third-base coach Rob Thomson, bench coach Tony Pena, pitching coach Dave Eiland, hitting coach Kevin Long and bullpen coach Mike Harkey on the staff.

"Mick is someone I love," manager Joe Girardi said. "I think Mick is an outstanding teacher of infield. He has a ton of experience. He's a very good first-base coach."

Kelleher also served as a first-base coach with the Tigers from 2003-05, and with the Pirates in 1986. Formerly the Yankees' roving defensive coordinator, Kelleher has also held Minor League coaching jobs in San Diego, Milwaukee and Chicago, where he originally worked with Girardi. Due to his role with the Yankees over the past three years and the latter half of the last decade, Kelleher already boasts ample experience working with the team's infielders.

"Mick has a relationship with all these guys," Girardi said. "He's taught guys like Robby Cano and Derek Jeter as they've come through the system."

With Kelleher now occupying his old spot in the first-base coach's box, Pena will move alongside Girardi on the bench. A big league manager with the Royals from 2002-05 -- and the American League's Manager of the Year in 2003 -- Pena had served as the Yankees' first-base coach for the past three seasons.

A catcher over 18 big league seasons, Pena has worked with Jorge Posada on his defense in recent years.

"Tony brings managerial experience, as well, and I think that's important," Girardi said. "He has played a lot of baseball in his lifetime."

Former bench coach Thomson will become the third-base coach, taking the spot of Bobby Meacham, whose contract the Bombers did not renew. Thomson has now been in the Yankees organization for two decades, holding Minor League jobs as a coach and manager, field coordinator, director of player development and vice president of Minor League development, along with big league jobs as a special assignment instructor and the Major League field coordinator.

chad0034

February 19th, 2009, 02:45 PM

nice start Havok.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 02:47 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks acquire Swisher from White Sox

NEW YORK -- Before setting their sights on the rotation holes that are sure to dominate their offseason agenda, the Yankees on Thursday made an acquisition unrelated to their pitching staff. Just hours before they can begin signing free agents, the Bombers instead made a trade, acquiring power-hitting first baseman Nick Swisher from the White Sox for three players.
"I know one thing about Nick Swisher from afar," general manager Brian Cashman said. "He's a very competitive player. He's a grinder. He plays at one level at all times."

Swisher, 27, came to New York in exchange for utility infielder Wilson Betemit and Minor League pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez. The Yankees also received Minor League reliever Kanekoa Texeira from the White Sox.

"We're excited with the addition of Nick Swisher," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said in a statement announcing the trade. "We feel he has a ton of upside. He's a patient switch-hitter, adds versatility at a number of defensive positions, including first base and the outfield, and will be a positive presence inside the clubhouse."

What attracted the Yankees to Swisher was the versatility that saw him play at least 18 games at all three outfield positions, and split the bulk of his time between first base and center field. With Johnny Damon likely to start most games in left field and Xavier Nady in right, Cashman said he envisioned Swisher playing at first base nearly every day.

Despite playing 70 games in center field last season, Swisher, whom Cashman called an "average" defensive center fielder, is not likely to see much time there next year. He will instead play first base and fill in at the corner outfield positions, where the Yankees consider Swisher a "plus defender."

"One of the reasons we were attracted to Nick," Cashman said, "is that he's got the flexibility, the versatility to play left, center, right, first. We obviously have a vacancy at first base, but the winter is early."

It originally seemed as if the Yankees would attempt to fill that void by throwing money at Mark Teixeira, far and away the top free-agent first baseman on the market. And even though Cashman said that the addition of Swisher wouldn't preclude him from pursuing Teixeira, it stands to reason that Girardi's lineup is now all but set heading into 2009.

Instead of spending money on a first baseman, the Yankees can now focus almost exclusively on pitching -- their top priority all along.

That's not to say that the Yankees acquired Swisher for free. Marquez ranked among the organization's top pitching prospects heading into 2009, and one of a select few capable of stepping in and helping the big club right away. Despite missing nearly two months last season with a right shoulder strain, Marquez produced an 8-8 record and a 4.47 ERA in 19 games split between Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Double-A Trenton.

They Yankees also dealt away Betemit, a utilityman who saw most of his playing time at the corner infield positions, and Nunez, a reliever who struck out 26 batters in 19 1/3 Double-A innings following a midseason trade.

The Yankees received Texeira, who was 6-3 last season with 21 saves and a 1.33 ERA in 51 relief appearances between Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. Those numbers included 20 saves and a 0.93 ERA with Winston-Salem, and a scoreless-innings streak that hit 22 straight appearances before the 22-year-old's promotion.

Yet from a Yankees perspective, the most intriguing numbers are the 26 homers that Swisher, a former first-round Draft pick of the Athletics, has averaged over his four full big league seasons. As impressive as that is, a steep drop in average and on-base percentage -- he fell more than 40 points in both categories from 2007 to '08 -- made Swisher expendable, and New York offered enough to pry him out of Chicago.

Cashman was the first to admit the risk of acquiring a player who hit .219 overall last season and .197 from the left side, though he pointed to past seasons for justification. In 2007, Swisher hit .262 with 22 homers, following a career year that saw him hit .254 with 35 home runs in 2006. He has also averaged 93 walks over the past three seasons.

"The fact of the matter is he had his worst Major League season as an everyday player," Cashman said of 2008, "which probably put him in play for an acquisition."

The Yankees attempted to acquire Swisher during their search for a first baseman last winter, but they could not convince the Athletics, his employer at the time, to bite. Swisher instead went to the White Sox for three Minor Leaguers, and seemed out of play until his subpar season forced Chicago to look at other options.

Swisher's reputation as a positive clubhouse presence also intrigued the Yankees, as did his baseball pedigree -- his father, Steve, played nine seasons for the Cubs, Cardinals and Padres. Add that to the fact that Swisher is just entering the prime of his career, and the Bombers seem justified in pursuing a player wholly capable of approaching Jason Giambi's numbers over the past two seasons.

If nothing else, the acquisition means one less void for the Yankees to fill come Friday, when they can begin to negotiate contracts with free agents.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 02:49 PM

nice start Havok.

Thanks man :thumbsup:

patssox2004

February 19th, 2009, 02:58 PM

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:01 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Jackson makes Top Prospect team

NEW YORK -- Austin Jackson, projected as a major piece of the Yankees' future plans, has earned accolades as a member of the Arizona Fall League's Top Prospects team.
The 21-year-old outfielder hit .246 (28-for-114) with one home run, 18 RBIs and 17 runs scored in 28 games for the Peoria Javelinas this season. With six doubles and a triple among his hits, Jackson worked seven walks and struck out 30 times.

Selected by Fall League managers, coaches and administrators, the Top Prospects Team identifies the players who distinguished themselves throughout the league's seven-week 2008 schedule against other top prospects from every organization. Voters were asked to consider Fall League performance and Major League projectability.

Jackson played in 131 games for Double-A Trenton of the Eastern League this year, batting .285 (148-for-520) with nine home runs, 69 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. He was selected as the Eastern League's postseason MVP after going 6-for-16 (.375) with a home run and five RBIs in the championship series.

An eighth-round selection of the Yankees in the 2005 Draft, Jackson projects to open the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but could make a case for a 2009 callup to New York, beginning with a strong Spring Training.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:02 PM

I remember last year, your franchises were so unrealistic. For example, you were the Rays and you were like 12-0 to start the season and every person was batting .400 almost. I hope you add more realism this year.

No, that wasn't me i'll give u a link http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170387

patssox2004

February 19th, 2009, 03:04 PM

No, that wasn't me i'll give u a link http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170387

I'm pretty sure you made this thread last year. It's made by the same person- YOU.

http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170387

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:07 PM

Dude just look at page 6 and tell me the record

patssox2004

February 19th, 2009, 03:12 PM

Dude just look at page 6 and tell me the record

You were 57-38 on page 18 and half the AL all-star team was from the Rays.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:14 PM

You were 57-38 on page 18 and half the AL all-star team was from the Rays.

6 players man thats it also the real life rays were similar to that plus it was Tmizzle who started 12-0 and had all them players over 400

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:19 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Sabathia to accept Yankees' offer

LAS VEGAS -- Closing the deal required a mixture of firepower and finesse, with a smidge of midnight magic thrown in for good measure.
With their double-barreled checkbooks and convincing speeches too much to ignore, CC Sabathia has decided to become the new staff ace of the New York Yankees. The left-hander will be handsomely compensated for his commitment, agreeing Wednesday to sign the richest contract of any pitcher in Major League history.

Ready to flex their financial muscle at a time when many other clubs have turned a cautious eye to the bottom line, the Yankees rescued a languishing winter by procuring their No. 1 target, bolstering their rotation by adding the top starter on the open market.

With negotiations stalled for weeks, the clincher was executed in clandestine and dramatic fashion. Given quick notice, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman abandoned his schedule at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas and boarded a flight for Sabathia's home in California, meeting with the hurler for the third time in three days.

The extra effort paid off. A source familiar with the situation confirmed that Sabathia, the 2007 American League Cy Young Award winner, relayed to Cashman early Wednesday morning that he intends to accept the Yankees' offer and wear pinstripes for the upcoming season and beyond.

Cashman said that he could not discuss the reports of an agreement because it had not yet been finalized, but a baseball official confirmed that the parameters are set and that Sabathia has accepted the offer in principle.

An official announcement will not be made until numerous items can be completed, most prominently the passing of a physical examination, but no issues are anticipated in the agreement. For the Yankees, Sabathia represents the man they had wanted all along.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:27 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Bernie hopes to play in 2009 Classic

NEW YORK -- Former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams wants to play for his native Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, ESPN reported Thursday.
The report said Williams will fly to Puerto Rico next week to play winter ball and hopes to play in the Classic in March, most likely as a DH, pinch-hitter and backup outfielder.

Williams, 40, won four Gold Gloves in 16 seasons with the Yankees, recording a .297 average with 287 homers. He hasn't played since 2006 and has been focusing on his music career.

mgb

February 19th, 2009, 03:30 PM

Nice posts, I am warning you that you will be bored from winning so much with the Yankees.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:32 PM

LOL I hope not

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:37 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Burnett reaches agreement with Yanks

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A.J. Burnett won 18 games last season for the Jays and led the AL with 231 strikeouts

ATLANTA -- A.J. Burnett entered the free-agent market with a "buyer beware" tag because of past injury problems, and exited it counting the riches the Yankees will provide him over the course of the next five years.
Furthering their aggressive rotation reconstruction process, the Yankees have won the bidding for Burnett. Major League Baseball sources confirmed late Friday afternoon that the 31-year-old right-hander has agreed to a reported five-year, $82.5 million deal. The Yankees have not confirmed an agreement has been reached.

Before the deal becomes official, Burnett will need to pass a physical and the two parties will have to iron out some contract terms.

While luring both CC Sabathia and Burnett to The Bronx in a span of three days, the Yankees have significantly upgraded their starting rotation with a pair of hurlers whom many considered to be the elite options of the 2008 free agent starter class. They've done so at a combined cost of more than $240 million if reported terms are accurate.

After landing Sabathia on Wednesday, the Yankees began their aggressive pursuit of Burnett and immediately erased the belief that the Braves would eventually win the bidding for the 31-year-old veteran hurler, who notched a career-high 18 wins and led the American League with 231 strikeouts this past season.

While the rotation reconstruction process has gone smoothly for the Yankees, the same can't be said for the Braves, who provided Burnett with a reported five-year, $80 million offer.

"All I will say is that we made a very competitive offer," said Braves general manager Frank Wren, while only confirming that Burnett wouldn't be coming to Atlanta. "I would say geography was a primary factor."

When Wren returned from the Winter Meetings late Thursday night, Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker, informed him that Burnett was having difficulty with his decision and needed more time.

One thing the Braves couldn't offer was a geographical overhaul that might have made Atlanta more appealing to Burnett's wife, Karen, who chooses not to fly.

Now she'll have the opportunity to take a three-hour train ride from their Baltimore-area home to see her husband in New York.

"We knew we couldn't move Maryland closer to Atlanta," Wren said. "We were swimming upstream all along."

Over the course of the past two months, the Braves have proven unsuccessful in their determined efforts to bring Jake Peavy and Burnett to Atlanta to serve as their ace. They now find themselves looking at a thinner free-agent market that is now highlighted by Derek Lowe, who may find himself as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman's next primary target.

Motivated by the fact that his club missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993, Cashman has cornered the top available free-agent starters. With Sabathia, he gained the top prize, and with Burnett he appears to have landed what might be the most profitable gamble.

During his eight full Major League seasons, Burnett has completed 200 innings just three times, totaled as many as 30 starts just twice and made 10 trips to the disabled list.

Whenever money has been on the horizon, Burnett has found a way to be both healthy and productive. Of the three seasons during which Burnett completed 200 innings, one preceded his first arbitration-eligible season and the other two came when he had an opportunity to test the free-agent market during the ensuing offseason.

Still with electric stuff that some have compared to that of John Smoltz during his younger days, Burnett drew tremendous interest from both the Yankees and Braves, ironically a pair of teams that just said goodbye to Carl Pavano and Mike Hampton, a pair of pitchers who have had their share of injury problems.

Braunecker says that his client is as healthy as he's been since undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery in 2003. Statistically, it's currently hard to argue with this assessment.

While making a career-high 34 starts for the Blue Jays this past season, Burnett went 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA. Fueling the interest that he gained this offseason was the fact that he went 9-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 113 strikeouts in his 15 starts after the All-Star break.

"A.J. Burnett has great stuff," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said recently. "I think he's matured a lot as a pitcher, as well. He's learned to control the running game a lot better. He attacks hitters and gets hitters out quickly, throws a lot of strikes, fields his position. I think he's much more complete as a pitcher than he was a couple of years ago."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:43 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Revamped staff starts with CC, A.J.

NEW YORK -- Two months have passed since Brian Cashman sat in the basement at Yankee Stadium and vowed, through clenched teeth, that he was "staying to change the story."
Derided in some circles for decisions that led, in part, to the Yankees missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993, the general manager has all but ordered a full rewrite so far.

The Yankees landed their top two choices from the free-agent pitching market within the span of 72 hours this week, with A.J. Burnett joining the party on Friday and agreeing to terms on a five-year, $82.5 million contract.

Once again, Cashman has his man, two days after flying to the San Francisco area to pitch the Yankees' wares at new ace CC Sabathia. Cashman barely had a moment to exhale, even as he conducted a shoes-off briefing with reporters on Wednesday in Las Vegas, but he is due to have a very good weekend.

"I can sense the excitement and the confidence that's spreading around the entire organization about what we're getting done and what we may get done still," Hank Steinbrenner told The Associated Press. "A rising tide lifts all boats, and the confidence and the excitement right now among the team and the organization is contagious."

The drum beat in the Yankees' offices has concerned adding more and more starting pitching since the day the season ended on Sept. 28 in Boston.

The Yankees' pitchers for that day-night doubleheader at Fenway Park were Mike Mussina and Sidney Ponson, two contributors who will not be back to help New York's chances in 2009.

The Yankees have already crossed items off their holiday shopping list to plug those vacancies -- all that is left is the gift-wrap. No wonder those who call the old ballpark home are feeling so optimistic.

"A.J. Burnett has great stuff," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said recently. "I think he's matured a lot as a pitcher, as well. He's learned to control the running game a lot better.

"He attacks hitters and gets hitters out quickly, throws a lot of strikes, fields his position. I think he's much more complete as a pitcher than he was a couple of years ago."

The Yankees held Burnett in high regard, especially this season, when he was 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA in 35 games for Toronto. They had a tantalizing look at him when he went 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts against the Yankees. Just as importantly, Burnett is 5-0 lifetime against the Red Sox.

"He's a real good pitcher," Johnny Damon said after Burnett's 10-strikeout performance on Aug. 19. "I hope he opts out of his deal."

The right-hander, 32 in January, will slot in as the Yankees' No. 2 starter. Sources have indicated that would be of great appeal to Burnett, considering his level of comfort in allowing Roy Halladay to be the center of attention in Toronto's rotation.

Sabathia will be the big image in Yankees camp this spring -- both figuratively and literally -- whereas Burnett will be able to avoid some of the spotlight that would have been there had Sabathia not signed with New York.

With just one rotation slot remaining, it will be Andy Pettitte's call to accept the Yankees' one-year contract offer or decide that his pitching days are through.

Cashman visited with the free agent on Thursday, leaving the Bellagio in Las Vegas in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, and made it known that the Yankees still want Pettitte back -- but not at the $16 million price tag Pettitte earned in 2007 and '08.

New York's one-year, $10 million offer remains on the table for Pettitte, who stated numerous times that he intends to pitch in '09 and wants to be a part of the opening of the new Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees feel that to be a fair deal for Pettitte, who was 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA but just 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA from the July 31 trade deadline on.

And there is a caveat. If Pettitte does not join a rotation that also includes Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees are prepared to look elsewhere, as they remain engaged with representatives for both Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets.
If the Yankees choose to go from within, Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves and Dan Giese could earn mentions as fifth-starter candidates.

With Burnett locked in, the Yankees' success in landing their top two starting-pitching choices appears to ensure they will not lay out a big cash offer for a free-agent hitter.

Though Cashman met with first baseman Mark Teixeira in Maryland last week and called him a "special player," the Yankees have not made an offer to agent Scott Boras.

Neither have they done so with Boras' other marquee offensive client this winter, Manny Ramirez, even though Hank Steinbrenner has said that he would not mind having Ramirez -- dreadlocks and all -- in the heart of the Yankees' lineup.

More likely on the immediate front are the paused talks with the Brewers for outfielder Mike Cameron, rumored to be headed to New York in a swap for outfielder Melky Cabrera. Discussion of that deal with Milwaukee took a back seat on Friday as Cashman worked on the Burnett agreement.

A baseball source indicated that the two clubs could continue talking about adding a pitcher from the Yankees' 40-man roster, as well as discussing how much financial compensation -- if any -- the Brewers should relieve the Yankees of in dropping Cameron's $10 million commitment for 2009.

Despite committing approximately $243.5 million of future payouts over the span of three days, shocking much of a baseball marketplace that has spoken about financial restraint during an economic recession, the Yankees' spending is not hindering them in the short term.

When the 2008 season ended, the Yankees were relieved of some $86 million in payroll obligations, bidding farewell to free agents like Jason Giambi ($21 million), Bobby Abreu ($16 million) and Mike Mussina ($17 million). Sabathia and Burnett are earmarked to earn a combined annual average of $39.5 million.

Adding two ace-type hurlers like that will not qualify the Yankees for the scrimp-and-save coupon-clipper award, but it also will not drastically change their payroll for the upcoming season, barring another free-agent signing that further changes the landscape.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 03:57 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks welcome CC, A.J. to New York

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A.J. Burnett (left) and CC Sabathia share a light moment during their news conference.

NEW YORK -- Inside the construction site that Yankee Stadium has become, they gathered Thursday for one last hurrah, a look ahead to the future in a building so well-known for its past.
The white message board and its familiar black font still stared down at the Major Deegan Expressway, relaying just the words a passing fan would want to see: "Let's play two -- CC and A.J."

Side by side, it was a 2-for-1 deal -- a pair of talented arms, with just four letters needed to identify them. As the Yankees introduced CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett in a dual ceremony, the organization spoke optimistically about an upcoming return to dominance.

Representing the organization's top offseason priorities, the Yankees trotted out the top pitching prizes of this year's free-agent market in what may be the final news conference at the classic facility.

"I think it adds an urgency to get back to where this organization is supposed to be," Sabathia said. "I wouldn't say it's pressure. I would just say that people will play with a sense of urgency in the new stadium, getting back to that. It's definitely exciting."

They shed their jackets for pinstriped jerseys at the downstairs Stadium Club -- Burnett's a snug No. 34, Sabathia's a very baggy No. 52 -- across 161st Street from where both pitchers will ply their trade next season.

"People are excited, that much is obvious," Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner said. "People are excited about this new stadium. Going out and getting these two great guys is going to be exciting, too."

Such was the vision. General manager Brian Cashman had been plotting the image of Sabathia in a Yankees uniform since last winter, when the club shunned a chance to trade for Johan Santana. Cashman vowed to have patience then, and push aggressively now.

"The one thing that I think today represents is just another example of that we're going to keep swinging for the fences," Cashman said. "We're going to keep trying. We're going to keep finding people and the right circumstances for a group that can make it happen."

With an 18-win season for Toronto, Burnett soon shot to the top of New York's list as well, boosting a club aimed to upgrade after missing the postseason in the old ballpark's farewell season.

"This is a dream come true," Burnett said. "I'm looking forward to it; it's going to be a fun ride. I want to pitch in the postseason, and I'm here to win. I think both of us are dedicated to winning, or else we wouldn't be here."

Both hurlers agreed to wear pinstripes last week, with Sabathia agreeing to terms on a seven-year, $161 million deal and Burnett accepting a five-year, $82.5 million pact. The pitchers were in New York to complete physicals and finalize paperwork this week.

"We got the two gentlemen we really wanted," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I'm proud to say they're Yankees."

The concept of family, specifically as it relates to the Yankees, was a prominent piece of the introduction. Girardi lent his 6-year-old daughter, Serena, to the process, presenting wives Amber Sabathia and Karen Burnett with bouquets of red roses in a photo opportunity.

"We're all family now," A.J. Burnett said.

It was a bond that the Yankees had hoped to affirm for some time. The club left no doubt of its intentions with Sabathia, leaping to offer him a six-year commitment on Nov. 14, the first day it could do so.

But the California-born left-hander waited, holding a short list of three clubs close to his vest. The Yankees easily bested the Brewers' five-year, $100 million proposal, a deal that New York financially blew away.

Yet Sabathia said he held off on accepting the pact until he knew for sure that California would not enter the fray -- the Angels were his remaining club and never really seriously materialized, aiming to retain first baseman Mark Teixeira.

With the Yankees' needs in focus and negotiations stalled for weeks, Cashman took the initiative. Using Reggie Jackson as a pitchman during their first get-together at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Cashman was later invited to the hurler's home in Vallejo, Calif., approximately 30 miles outside of San Francisco.

There, Cashman met with Sabathia's wife and his young family to "educate." That included discussing entertainment options, educational opportunities and the leafy suburbs from which to commute.

The sales pitch clicked. With another year and $21 million placed on the table, Sabathia not only agreed to wear pinstripes, but he will also move his permanent residence to the New York area.

"It was kind of a stressful deal," Sabathia said. "I was just trying to make sure I made the right decision. Being here now and coming here and seeing the way people are, I definitely made the right choice."

With their top target in the fold, the Yankees then moved quickly to secure Burnett, who was weighing an offer to join the Braves. But Sabathia's signing put the market in motion, and Burnett liked the idea of being No. 2 behind an ace, the way he was with Roy Halladay in Toronto.

"I wish he would have signed about a month earlier, to be honest with you," Burnett said.

New York agreed to commit a fifth contractual year to the right-hander, and that was enough to land Burnett. Geographical proximity played a large role: Burnett's wife dislikes flying. New York is only a three-hour ride away from the couple's home in Maryland, and now New York will become an in-season weekend home.

The Yankees held Burnett in high regard, especially this season, when he went 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts against them. Just as importantly, Burnett is 5-0 lifetime against the Red Sox; in 10 big league seasons, Burnett is 87-76 with a 3.81 ERA.

"You've got to keep your perspective," Cashman said. "It's great and I'm happy. But at the same time, we haven't won any games. It's nice print, but everybody's got to come together to form a team and go up against some stiff competition."

On adjusting to life in New York and dealing with the increased media scrutiny, neither pitcher felt they would have trouble making the transition.

"I've talked to guys like [Derek] Jeter, guys who have been here," Sabathia said. "I'll answer questions whether there's 100 reporters at my locker or five. I'm not afraid of telling you how I feel, whether I pitched good or bad."

"I think I'll fit right in," Burnett said. "I grew up in this game. You don't point fingers, you take the blame like a man and be accountable."

Following the introductory news conference, there was a photo opportunity across 161st Street, where Sabathia and Burnett will catch some of their first glimpses at the Yankees' new home -- rising quickly in anticipation of its first game action in April 2009.

After that, both players said they'd be on their way to complete house-shopping in the New York area, weather permitting. Though snow may be in the immediate forecast, Spring Training is just eight weeks away.

"Enjoy them now," Girardi told the wives, "because I get them pretty soon."

DurantPwnsYou

February 19th, 2009, 04:02 PM

Nice but I hope you lose all your games. :)

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 04:10 PM

Nice but I hope you lose all your games. :)

:D U must be a Red Sox Fan :D

soldaderyan

February 19th, 2009, 04:41 PM

Wow, havok are you going to post a yankee thread too?, thats cool we can compare stats and team records, but did you had an inspiration attack or something like that? :D

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 05:50 PM

Wow, havok are you going to post a yankee thread too?, thats cool we can compare stats and team records, but did you had an inspiration attack or something like that? :D

Yea man i got inspired but yea thats cool plus u said u might start melky and i might start gardner

mgb

February 19th, 2009, 06:08 PM

Melkey is going to split a lot with Swisher and Gardner. Anyway I like this thread.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 19th, 2009, 09:58 PM

Melkey is going to split a lot with Swisher and Gardner. Anyway I like this thread.

Thanks man i hope they make a sub section

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 21st, 2009, 04:43 PM

I wil update this once they make a sub section if they do at all :)

XxPRiM3TiMExX

February 21st, 2009, 05:00 PM

3 Yankee Chises before the game is even out.... :salute:

Anyway, your Franchise looks good.

soldaderyan

February 21st, 2009, 05:52 PM

no, 4 yankee chises

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 21st, 2009, 08:12 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yankees sign Wang to one-year deal

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Chien-Ming Wang went 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 starts last season before spending the rest of the year on the disabled list..

NEW YORK -- Overlooked throughout this offseason of spending has been Chien-Ming Wang, a starting pitcher who has proven that when he is healthy, he can be every bit the ace that CC Sabathia or A.J. Burnett is.
The Yankees are quite aware of that fact, and so they wasted little time in signing Wang to a one-year, $5 million contract on Monday, thus avoiding arbitration.

Wang, 28, was 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 starts for the Yankees last season before spending the rest of the year on the disabled list with a sprain of the Lisfranc ligament in his right foot and a partial tear of a tendon in the same foot. He remained in a cast until the end of July, but spent the rest of the season rehabilitating and never made it as far as a Minor League rehab stint.

The Yankees stated publicly throughout the summer that they hoped to have Wang back on the mound by September, though he fell well short of that goal. His cast came off at the end of July, and he began throwing off a mound in mid-October.

The injury was a critical one. Wang had won 38 games over the past two seasons for the Yankees, and he finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2006. His 19 wins ranked first in the league that season, and his 3.63 ERA ranked seventh.

Wang, a non-drafted free agent, asked for $4.6 million through arbitration last season, his first as an eligible player, but he lost the case and made $4 million. He likely would have been due for a substantial raise this year if not for the injury, which placed something of a damper on the team's expectations. Still, his 46 wins since 2006 rank third-most in the AL, and his .754 winning percentage ranked second in the Majors, behind Boston's Jon Lester.

Known for his heavy sinker, a pitch that has allowed him to succeed despite abnormally low strikeout rates, Wang will join new acquisitions Sabathia and Burnett in New York's rotation. Though the rest of the rotation remains unclear -- the Yankees are reportedly in talks to re-sign free agent Andy Pettitte, who would join Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in the mix -- Wang, Sabathia and Burnett could form an impressive trio at the front end of the rotation.

And if Wang can rediscover his success of 2006 and '07, he would be a relative bargain at $5 million. Sabathia, by comparison, will make $9.5 million before he even throws a pitch for the Yankees, plus another $8 million throughout the first year of his seven-year, $161 million contract. Burnett is entering the first season of a five-year, $82.5 million deal.

Wang will be eligible for both arbitration and free agency following the 2010 season. Though general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this offseason that the team would proceed cautiously with Wang in Spring Training, the right-hander is a good bet to start the season in the rotation, or at least be close to returning to active duty.

The Yankees have two other arbitration-eligible players, outfielders Melky Cabrera and Xavier Nady. Cabrera will be eligible for the first time, Nady for the third and final time. If the Yankees cannot strike a deal with either player as they did with Wang, they will need to exchange salary figures with those players on Jan. 19, then meet for arbitration hearings in February.

A star in his native Taiwan, Wang, who has won more games than any other Taiwanese-born pitcher, was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2007 for the fact that the Taiwanese stock market rises and falls based on the quality of his starts.

His 54 career wins rank third among Asian-born pitchers, and helped him become the third-fastest Major League pitcher in the last 50 years to reach 50 career wins. Wang did it in his 85th career start; Dwight Gooden and Ron Guidry both did it in their 82nd career starts.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 21st, 2009, 08:27 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Teixeira signing stirs Yankees' rivals

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Mark Teixeira is the third marquee free agent the Yanks have acquired this offseason..

NEW YORK -- As the Major League playing field tilted dramatically toward the Bronx on Tuesday, rivals kowtowed with resignation and admiration to the latest master stroke of the Yankees' master plan.
Things good and bad happen in threes, and the third lightning bolt struck the American League East on Tuesday, with the Bronx Bombers' signing of free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira to an eight-year deal believed worth $180 million.

Already established by Las Vegas oddsmakers as favorites to win the 2009 World Series after signing left-hander CC Sabathia under their nose during the Winter Meetings earlier this month, the Yankees have since added another high-profile pitcher, A.J. Burnett, and the punch-and-pick double threat of Teixeira.

To secure the 28-year-old switch-hitter, the Yankees had to beat out four teams, including two in their own division -- the Orioles and, more significantly, the Red Sox.

Boston club owner John Henry, who foresaw following a meeting with the Teixeira camp last week that the Sox "would not be factor" in subsequent negotiations, accepted the Yankees' strike as reaffirmation of their rank as MLB's iconic franchise.

"From the moment we arrived in Boston in late 2001, we saw it as a monumental challenge," Henry said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "We sought to reduce the financial gap and succeeded to a degree.

"Now with a new stadium filled with revenue opportunities, they have leaped away from us again. So we have to be even more careful in deploying our resources."

"We still have a team that is very similar to the ones we've had the past two years," said Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, the AL's reigning Most Valuable Player. "We won the World Series two seasons ago and came within one win of playing in another one this year. We can't worry about what other teams are doing."

Following closely in the wake of the signings of Sabathia and Burnett -- whose introductory media conference at old Yankee Stadium unfolded only last week -- the Teixeira collar caps a remarkable free-agent haul for the Yankees.

The latest signing also came the day after the Yankees were assessed a luxury tax of nearly $27 million based on a 2008 payroll of $222 million, moving at least one owner to call for something baseball has long resisted -- an enforceable ceiling on salaries.

"At the rate the Yankees are going, I'm not sure anyone can compete with them," Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said in an e-mail sent to Bloomberg News Service. "Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap.

"They are on a completely different economic playing field," added Attanasio. "I paid $220 million for my team [in September 2004]; now they get three players for $420 million."

"You're used to it to a certain extent," said Vernon Wells, the center fielder of the division-foe Blue Jays.

"Obviously, you're not used to them going out and getting the top two or three guys on the free-agent market. But they have a checkbook that's never-ending."

The most direct impact of the Yankees signing Teixeira is that the two division rivals who had also pursued him, Boston and Baltimore, did not.

Orioles GM Andy MacPhail implied his club had already extended itself just to play on Teixeira's periphery, and could stretch no further.

"We would've liked to have the player," MacPhail said. "We sort of deviated from our plan a little bit to see if we could accommodate him, but at the end of the day, it was really just too much of our resources devoted to one player. My preference would've been [for Teixeira to sign] outside of the division, but it is what it is.

"We're just dealing with a club that has resources way beyond the great majority of the rest of us."

Realistically, though, the ones being chased by the Yankees aren't the Red Sox but the Tampa Bay Rays, their division's defending champions.

Even on their way to a breakthrough 97-win season that did not end until Game 5 of the World Series, the Rays went only 7-11 against the Yankees; they were 36-18 against their three other divisional foes.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon had a what-else-is-new? reaction to the Bombers pairing Teixeira with Alex Rodriguez in the heart of their lineup.

"I figured he would land in our division someplace," Maddon said. "The big names are going to normally land within the AL East. We still have to remain focused on what we are doing regardless of how the other rosters stack up. We need to control what we can and play the game our way."

Added Matt Silverman, the Rays' club president, "We plan for and expect the Yankees and Red Sox to have the highest payrolls in the game. Their player expenditures are four to six times ours.

"This puts into perspective what we were able to accomplish in 2008 and it highlights our challenge in 2009 and beyond."

Toronto's J.P. Ricciardi, the other AL East general manager who stayed clear of the Teixeira hunt, accepted the signing as yet another confirmation of the division's reputation.

"We know what division we play in and it's not going to change. It's business as usual," Ricciardi said. "They've got resources and they're going to be able to go after players like this every time.

"We keep saying it every year ... Guess what? The sun rose in the east and set in the west. This is why it's the toughest division in baseball. But, it doesn't affect us. It's business as usual from our end. We know they're going to be involved with these guys and we go out and just try to be the best that we can."

"I don't think this really says anything that everyone didn't already know," said Frank Wren, the Atlanta GM who had dealt Teixeira to the Angels in July, landing replacement first baseman Casey Kotchman and right-hander Steve Marek.

"[The Yankees] have more resources than anyone else by a good margin which allows them the latitude to do things others cannot."

"I guess we know why they have such high prices for seats at the new stadium," noted Mariners left-hander Jarrod Washburn.

"It doesn't surprise me. They always go out and get some of the marquee players that are available in free agency, although I don't know if they have ever gone as big as this year."

Nobody has. That bar has been raised to unprecedented heights, which is the altitude at which the Yankees now expect to spend the next year or decade.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 22nd, 2009, 08:14 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks might move Nady or Swisher

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Xavier Nady hit .268 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs in 59 games with the Yankees last season..

NEW YORK -- The chain reaction of Mark Teixeira's big contract may create a ripple effect in the Yankees' outfield, where Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher may be sent to a new destination in advance of Spring Training.
While both players may be available for discussion, a baseball source indicated Thursday that the Yankees may be more inclined to deal Nady than Swisher, citing the difference in the players' respective contracts.

Nady is one of three remaining Yankees eligible for salary arbitration -- reliever Brian Bruney and outfielder Melky Cabrera are the others -- and will be due a raise over the $3.35 million he earned last season while splitting his campaign with the Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Yankees have proceeded with the expectation that the 30-year-old Nady would be the starting right fielder in 2009, filling the position vacated by the expected departure of free agent Bobby Abreu.

But New York's eight-year, $180 million pact with Teixeira has changed the landscape somewhat, displacing Swisher, who was acquired in November from the Chicago White Sox in a five-player deal.

The 28-year-old Swisher was originally envisioned as the Yankees' starting first baseman, but Teixeira's addition has relegated him to a backup role at first base and as a corner outfielder.

Swisher actually played the majority of his games in center field for the White Sox in 2008, appearing in 70 games there, but Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has said that the club does not consider him an option for center field.

Instead, Brett Gardner and Cabrera are expected to fight for the position in Spring Training, barring another addition. The Yankees flirted with the idea of trading for veteran Mike Cameron of the Milwaukee Brewers last month, but both sides mutually moved away from the idea.

New York is less likely to deal Swisher for a second time this winter, considering his contract -- he has approximately $21 million remaining over the next three seasons, plus a club option for 2012.

Swisher's uncertain bounce-back from a disappointing season also may raise questions among clubs. Swisher hit just .219 with 24 home runs and 69 RBIs in 153 games for the White Sox, and his contributions reportedly did not endear him to Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen.

But the Yankees are betting that Swisher will return to the form he displayed with the Oakland A's in 2006 and '07, when the switch-hitter belted a combined 57 home runs while serving as a reliable performer on the bases.

"Swish can pretty much play anywhere," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said this week. "That's the great thing about Swish, he's versatile. It's something that we'll have to manage."

Multiple clubs would have interest in Nady, who also drew significant attention at the Trade Deadline in July before the Yankees acquired him to help upgrade for a possible run at the postseason.

Nady hit .268 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 59 games for New York, batting .305 with 25 home runs and 97 RBIs in 148 games overall. Having played across town with the Mets for part of the 2006 season, Nady was thrilled to return to New York and fit into the Yankees' clubhouse well.

Concerning their crowded outfield mix, the Yankees are not likely to be able to move designated hitter Hideki Matsui, who has one year at $13 million remaining, a full no-trade clause and is coming off arthroscopic left knee surgery.

Also in a contractual walk year at $13 million for 2009, Johnny Damon might have been able to draw interest, but the Yankees envision Damon serving as their Opening Day leadoff hitter and left fielder.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 22nd, 2009, 08:25 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks add former top rookie Berroa

NEW YORK -- Angel Berroa, the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year, will attend Spring Training with the Yankees hoping to land a job as a reserve infielder.
The 30-year-old shortstop has agreed to a Minor League contract with New York. According to The Associated Press, Berroa is guaranteed $66,000 under his deal.

He would get an one-year, $800,000 contract if added to the 40-man roster, and could earn an additional $300,000 in performance bonuses based on plate appearances from 100 to 375.

Berroa's main competition to go north with the club would likely be utilityman Cody Ransom, who appeared in 33 games last year for New York and the Yankees feel can capably play all of the infield positions.

Berroa's arrival is notable in a trivia sense: Berroa edged Hideki Matsui for the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, batting .287 with 17 homers and 73 RBIs for the Kansas City Royals, but his numbers have declined in recent seasons.

Berroa hit .230 with one home run and 16 RBIs in 84 games for the Dodgers in 2008 after being acquired from the Royals on June 6 for Minor League infielder Juan Rivera. Berroa became a backup during the postseason when Rafael Furcal returned from the disabled list, batting just twice.

After earning $4.75 million last season, Berroa saw a $5.5 million option turned down by the Dodgers, who instead paid a $500,000 buyout and declined to offer him salary arbitration. Berroa is a career .260 hitter in eight Major League seasons.

The Yankees have not officially announced Berroa's signing, as they typically announce their Minor League contracts and Spring Training invitations en masse during the offseason.

Backup catcher Kevin Cash, right-hander Jason Johnson and outfielder John Rodriguez all have finalized Minor League agreements with the Yankees, though of that group, only Johnson's contract has been publicly acknowledged.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 22nd, 2009, 08:35 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Pettitte holding onto his pinstripes

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Andy Pettitte's 2009 base salary is $5.5 million, but he could earn up to $12 million with incentives.

NEW YORK -- Andy Pettitte never needed to hear the offers that might have awaited him in free agency. He had decided that by the time winter turned to spring, he would have somehow wound up back with the Yankees.
It took longer than expected, but Pettitte has finally crossed the finish line. The veteran left-hander agreed Monday to a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the Yankees, with incentives that could push the total value of the deal to $12 million.

"There was no other team ever brought into the equation," Pettitte said. "My mind never changed. I wanted to come back to the Yankees, and in my mind, I was going to be back."

Discussions between Pettitte's representatives and general manager Brian Cashman had continued for weeks, with both sides insistent that they wanted to work out a deal. But, as Cashman said at one point, it had grown more complicated.

"Andy said every step of the way that he wanted to be a Yankee," Cashman said. "I remember him telling me at one point in this process, 'Cash, if you guys want me back, we will find a way to get this thing done.' He honored that."

While the negotiations were described as cordial, the two sides had one major stumbling block to get past. The 36-year-old's agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, advised Pettitte that the Yankees' initial offer -- one year at $10.5 million -- represented too large of a pay cut it represents from the $16 million he earned in each of the last two seasons.

Pettitte said that he believed Cashman's word that the Yankees wanted him back, and once he had decided to pitch in November, he decided that it would only be for the Yankees.

He did check in with Joe Torre at one point about possible relocation out west, but even the Dodgers manager expected Pettitte would eventually hammer something out in New York.

"I felt quite sure that one way or the other, we were going to get something worked out," Pettitte said. "I'd be lying if I didn't say, 'Heck, is this going to ever get done?' It was taking so long. I was very impatient, and it tried my patience. But I just trusted that things would work out."

Though Randy Hendricks said that he was certain Pettitte could have found more money in free agency, he was tethered to his client's wishes of pitching for only the Yankees. Pettitte isn't thrilled about the pay cut, but the end destination is what he was more concerned with.

"I guess it does take a shot at your pride a little bit," Pettitte said. "But when you put all that aside, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. That was the bottom line. I wanted to be there and play in that new stadium."

The Yankees remained unwilling to budge from the neighborhood of their original offer, exhibiting tight wallets in harsh contrast to the $423.5 million in combined commitments that wooed CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira.

After the Yankees inked Teixeira to an eight-year, $180 million deal two days before Christmas, even Pettitte began to wonder if there would be anything left in the organization's coffers for him.
Had Pettitte not agreed to get creative with the structure of his deal, there might not have been. After completing business at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Cashman met with Pettitte face-to-face in Houston on Dec. 11, a detour that set the negotiations back on track.

There, Pettitte informed Cashman that he had "absolutely no problem" with the idea of an incentive-based contract, a concept that the Steinbrenners signed off on. With less than three weeks remaining before Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, Fla., Hendricks called Pettitte and informed him that the club had made its last offer.

"I think Cash and I both knew that if we don't get it done now, we'll probably never get it done, and time will pass this by," Hendricks said. "We just made a committed effort to roll up our sleeves and put a pencil to everything."

Pettitte said that, having heard the final parameters, his response did not require much thought.

"We were at the end of the line and I needed to make a decision," Pettitte said. "I'm extremely happy to be coming back."

Hendricks was asked if his camp had any regrets in not taking the original flat offer of $10.5 million, which would have represented a $5.5 million cut. Instead, Pettitte is taking a gamble by decreasing his base pay by $10.5 million.

"I think time will tell," Hendricks said. "If in fact Andy does in 2009 what he's done before, he'll actually make more money, so in that case we'll have no regrets. If things go wrong, we might be in a position to say we should have taken the left fork in the road."

If Pettitte remains healthy and performs to caliber, an increase should be reachable. Last season, Pettitte was 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA in 33 starts last season and has logged at least 200 innings in four straight seasons.

But he was hampered by a shoulder injury that forced him to falter down the stretch last year, going 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA over his last 11 starts. The Yankees ordered a medical exam on Pettitte late in September and were pleasantly surprised when it came back clean, with only rest needed to restore Pettitte's strength.

Pettitte slots in as the likely fourth starter in a rotation that will be headlined by Sabathia and Burnett. Chien-Ming Wang is expected to serve as the No. 3 starter, coming back from his season-ending foot injury, and Joba Chamberlain rounds out the rotation as the No. 5 starter.

"I'm very excited about it," Pettitte said. "With every signing that we did, for me, it was, 'OK, I'm coming back. I want to be part of this.' I just think that we're going to have an unbelievable staff."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 22nd, 2009, 11:43 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yankees trade lefty Wright to Brewers

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Chase Wright (left) was designated for assignment when the Yankees needed to clear room on the 40-man roster for Andy Pettitte. .

NEW YORK -- The Yankees moved Wednesday to bolster their Minor League depth chart, acquiring catcher and outfielder Eric Fryer from the Brewers for left-hander Chase Wright.
The 23-year-old Fryer played last season for the Class A West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League, batting .335 (129-for-385) with 10 home runs and 63 RBIs in 104 games.

Fryer was Milwaukee's 10th round selection from Ohio State in the 2007 Draft, playing 55 games in left field and 39 games behind the plate. The Yankees said he would be assigned to Class A Tampa of the Florida State League.

At an appearance Tuesday in Pleasantville, N.Y., Yankees general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged that he would consider trading some of the club's pitching talent to procure position players in the near future.

"You have to trade from strength, and our current picture of our franchise on the development side is that we are top-heavy on pitching depth, with both starters and relievers," Cashman said. "The bottom end, we have a lot of position players that we think are coming, but they're in A-ball or below."

Wright, who turns 26 in February, was designated for assignment last week when the Yankees needed to clear room on the 40-man roster for left-hander Andy Pettitte.

He was in the Yankees' Minor League system for all of 2008, spending most of his season between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Wright was 8-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 16 starts at Double-A, and went 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA in six starts at Triple-A.

With the Yankees in need of starting pitching in early 2007 after injuries to Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano, Wright appeared in three games for New York, faring 2-0 with a 7.20 ERA.

On April 22 of that season against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Wright became just the second pitcher in Major League history to give up four straight home runs, a feat also accomplished by the Angels' Paul Foytack in 1963.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 07:43 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

CC throws first pitches for Yanks

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"What I saw was just a heavy ball," said Yanks backstop Jorge Posada after catching CC Sabathia (pictured).

TAMPA, Fla. -- Pinstripes in news conferences only mean so much. For the Yankees, even watching CC Sabathia saunter into camp for the first time this week only held a limited appeal. It wasn't until they saw their new ace lumber onto a mound and begin firing fastballs and changeups that they began to realize just what they had acquired.
"What I saw was just a heavy ball," said Jorge Posada, who caught Sabathia during All-Star Game bullpen sessions in 2004 and '07. "The ball was coming good. I like the hesitation that he's got now in the middle of his windup; I think that helps him a little bit. I'm really looking forward to catching all of these guys. I'm really excited."

So, too, was Sabathia. Climbing onto a bullpen mound behind the right-field grandstand of Steinbrenner Field, Sabathia looked up Saturday morning to see hundreds of Yankees fans peering back down at him. And that was during the first day of pitcher and catcher workouts, long before the games begin and the masses head south.

Sabathia, by contrast, was used to the Indians' old Spring Training digs in Winter Haven, Fla., an hour away from the coast.

"There were fans," Sabathia said. "Not as many, though."

These fans were expectant, too -- even hopeful. Sabathia's bullpen session was their first glimpse at the big man in action, throwing in uniform, even if only for a few minutes. He, fellow newcomer A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain headlined a group of pitchers in the morning session, all three of them slated to step into this year's starting rotation.

Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang, the other two rotation probables, headlined a group that did not throw on Saturday. But they were still on the minds of many.

"With so many good pitchers in the rotation, I think everybody's going to be trying to outdo the other," Sabathia said. "And that just makes our team better."

Position players don't have to report to camp until Tuesday, and they won't work out at Steinbrenner Field until the following morning. But just having pitchers and catchers take batting practice, throw bullpen sessions and participate in fielding drills this weekend helped temporarily relax those in command around Tampa, considering the firestorm that is sure to arrive soon.

With the position players will come Alex Rodriguez, followed by questions regarding his use of performance-enhancing substances from 2001-03. Steinbrenner Field will convert into a circus, and the Yankees have busied themselves preparing for it.

Consider Saturday the calm before the storm.

"The focus today is more on what is happening on the field, and that's a good thing," manager Joe Girardi said after watching Sabathia and Burnett finish their workouts. "It was nice to see them playing catch today, just listening to the sound of the ball hit the glove. For the first day of Spring Training, I thought they both looked great. They seemed free and easy."

Much of Sabathia's success has been credited to the improvement of his slider -- which he calls a cutter due to the downward force he puts on it -- and his development of a two-seam fastball. Sabathia began tinkering with that pitch at the behest of Brewers pitching coach Mike Maddux late last season, then utilized it throughout his successful run toward the end of the year.

"I just started playing around with it in the bullpen, and in that next start, I just tried to use it," Sabathia said. "It's been pretty good."

And at this point in Spring Training, "pretty good" is plenty good enough.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 07:50 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Teixeira may be Yanks' No. 3 hitter

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Mark Teixeira took part in his first Yankees workout on Wednesday afternoon. .

TAMPA, Fla. -- At least the Yankees can scratch one Alex Rodriguez controversy off their Spring Training to-do list. It appears Mark Teixeira will bat ahead of the three-time MVP this season.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said on Wednesday that he is leaning toward slotting Teixeira third and A-Rod fourth in New York's lineup this season, believing that alternating lefties and righties in the order will frustrate opposing clubs.

"I went back and forth a little bit," Girardi said. "I just know from catching and managing, you hate teams that do that left-right to you. It's hard to bring in situational lefties. Obviously, [Teixeira] is a plus, because he's a switch-hitter.

"If you want to bring in a righty to face Derek Jeter, you've got to decide what you want to do against Tex. It just makes it harder to navigate through our lineup and set up an opposing team's bullpen."

Teixeira batted fourth behind Chipper Jones with the Braves, but after getting traded to Los Angeles, he then moved to third in front of Vladimir Guerrero with the Angels last season. Teixeira hit .358 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in 54 games with the Halos, and he said that Guerrero's presence gave him more opportunities to hit for power and drive in runs.

Teixeira expects that hitting in front of Rodriguez will be a similar experience.

"You've got one of the best players in the history of baseball batting behind you -- I think you're going to get some good pitches to hit," Teixeira said. "I'm looking forward to that."

Girardi said that both Teixeira and Rodriguez would hit in either spot in the order, but going left-right made sense. Left-handed Johnny Damon would lead off, followed by right-handed Jeter, then the switch-hitting Teixeira and the right-handed A-Rod.

Hideki Matsui, a left-handed hitter, would likely be the No. 5 hitter, with switch-hitter Jorge Posada to follow, though Girardi said that is up for discussion depending on the spring performance and the health of both players.

Girardi said that the addition of Teixeira -- beginning a eight-year, $180 million deal with New York -- changes the dynamic of the lineup.

"It seems the Yankees have been a club that everyone wants to throw their lefties against," Girardi said. "He's a professional hitter, and he knows how to drive in runs. He knows how to run the bases, hit for average, take his walks. He's a tough at-bat -- you watch him grind things out -- and he's just a professional hitter."

Teixeira said that he is excited with the offensive potential of the Yankees' order.

"If any pitcher looks at our entire lineup, there's not any one guy you can pitch around," Teixeira said. "I'll still take my walks now and then, but it's not going to be as many as I would have had to take if I hit somewhere else in the lineup. With the guys that are hitting behind me, I'm going to get a lot of pitches to hit."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 07:55 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Matsui to be perched as Yanks' DH

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Hideki Matsui made just 21 appearances in left field during the regular season in 2008. .

TAMPA, Fla. -- Over the past half-dozen years, Hideki Matsui's presence in left field has been a staple at George M. Steinbrenner Field, with his own media horde and fan base following his every move.
Yet this year, for the most part, they'll have to squint into the dugout to see Matsui. The Yankees announced on Wednesday that all of Matsui's Spring Training action will come as a designated hitter, and that he won't play much left field during the season, either.

Coming off knee surgery for the second successive winter, Matsui entered camp saying that his goal was to rehab his knees back to full strength. And for Matsui to achieve that, the Yankees decided he would be better served as a DH, without the rigors of regular outfield play.

"We just feel it's not in our best interest to push it there in that situation," manager Joe Girardi said. "For him to hit, he has to have his legs underneath him."

Matsui had arthroscopic surgery in his right knee in 2007, before undergoing the same operation on his left knee this past offseason. The result is a player who, at 34 years old, possesses only a shell of his former defensive skills.

As such, Girardi decided that he will only use Matsui as an emergency left fielder during the regular season, on days when starter Johnny Damon cannot play. In the Grapefruit League, Matsui will not play a single inning in left.

Matsui made just 21 appearances in left field during the regular season last year, after playing 112 games there in 2007. And that was almost entirely because of his knees, the health of which has deteriorated steadily over the past two seasons.

"It's not really my decision, as far as how I'm used in the lineup," Matsui said through an interpreter. "I'm going to continue to make sure I prepare for the game. I'll make sure I prepare to play defense as well. But as far as the decisions are concerned, that's beyond my control."

Regardless, Matsui said that he agrees completely with the decision, but he won't completely abandon his defensive preparations. Despite his age and injury history -- he's had two knee surgeries and a major wrist injury over the past three seasons -- Matsui said that he envisions playing the outfield again in the future.

"As long as I do the things I need to do, take care of the knees and make sure I be diligent in my preparations," Matsui said, "then I believe that I will be able to continue playing in the outfield.

With Matsui at designated hitter, most of the left-field burden will fall to Damon, who has played a total of 119 games there since learning the position two seasons ago. Something of an injury risk himself, Damon has nonetheless played in at least 141 games every year since his first full season. If Damon can't play, then either Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady -- whichever one of them does not win the full-time job in right -- would likely start.

Matsui said recently that it doesn't hurt him to swing a bat and that his greatest obstacle is running at full speed -- something he hasn't attempted since his surgery. He will begin a light running program this week, according to Girardi, in an attempt to return to some semblance of health before Grapefruit League games begin next week.

Matsui, despite his knees, could be the starting DH when the Yankees open their Spring Training schedule against the Blue Jays on Feb. 25.

"We just felt it was in the best interest for him to just not play the outfield," Girardi said. "Now that could change as the year goes on, if we feel like everything is great. He has not had any setbacks. He's doing fine. We just don't want to push this thing."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 08:01 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Sabathia flying under the radar

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Left-hander CC Sabathia threw 30 pitches during his session on Thursday. .

TAMPA, Fla. -- TAMPA, Fla. -- Put a circle around March 6, the date that CC Sabathia will make his first Spring Training start. Then skip forward six turns in the rotation, factor in some logic and the result is clear: Sabathia is primed to be the Yankees' Opening Day starter.

"I have not necessarily made an announcement," manager Joe Girardi said. "But that's a pretty good assumption."

Though that April 6 game in Baltimore remains weeks in the future, it seemed somewhat closer on Thursday, when Sabathia threw batting practice for the first time as a Yankee. He fired 30 pitches at around 80 percent velocity to a quartet of Minor Leaguers, focusing on location for his two-seam and four-seam fastballs.

It wasn't anything like an Opening Day assignment, but it was certainly a start.

"If I do get that opportunity, I'll definitely cherish it," Sabathia said. "It would definitely be an honor."

Sabathia's presence at Yankees camp has so far gone relatively unnoticed, considering the circus revolving around Alex Rodriguez and his admitted use of performance-enhancing substances. But now that baseball has again become relevant at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Sabathia's batting-practice session was a popular attraction.

Girardi said that he was surprised at how fluid Sabathia looked this early in the spring, at a time when most pitchers struggle with their command.

"He was hitting his spots," Girardi said. "Obviously, CC's an ace kind of pitcher, and it's what you expect from those guys as the season gets going. But you're never sure they're going to do it right away."

Batting practice always offers some interesting matchups, with position players taking hacks off their own pitchers. Most of them don't swing much -- if at all -- during the first few sessions, preferring to use the opportunity to work on their timing.

But it creates an interesting dynamic nonetheless. Joba Chamberlain, for example, spent Thursday morning playfully challenging Mark Teixeira who -- along with Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Johnny Damon; the meat of the Yankees' lineup -- was scheduled to stand in against him. Privately, though, Chamberlain held a more realistic outlook.

"Yeah, it'll be good," Chamberlain said of facing that quartet. "I'll throw a heater right down the middle and Whack! It'll make me feel real good about myself."

Sabathia enjoyed something of an easier assignment on Thursday, much as he has throughout the first week of camp. With Rodriguez dominating the headlines, Sabathia has used his relative anonymity to bond with Andy Pettitte, a lefty with an extra half a dozen years of big league experience.

Sabathia may be one of the most dominant starting pitchers in the game, but he is not above searching for a few pointers.

"There are always things that you can learn in this game," Sabathia said. "Once you think you've got it figured out, you're in trouble. There are always little things you can pick up in a guy's routine or just the way they throw bullpen [sessions] that can make you better."

And Sabathia put that into practice on Thursday, firing his fastballs in a 30-pitch session.

"You're curious, because in a sense, you've never seen him throw from up that close," Girardi said of Sabathia. "You see guys take swings off him. You watch for the crispness of his slider. You're not necessarily looking for too much, but it's good when you see him come out of it if he throws well, if he feels good. That's the best part of it."

But it's hardly reason to be content.

"I've still got a lot of work to do," Sabathia said.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 02:10 PM

I will post a couple more articles then position battles(CF, RF, LF)

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 03:54 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

With Bernie in camp, the gang's all here

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Bernie Williams took some cuts in the batting cage on Thursday afternoon. .

TAMPA, Fla. -- It was the height of rush hour in the traffic-clogged streets of Tampa, and Bernie Williams was in his car, driving toward his first day of workouts at the Yankees' Minor League facility. He had almost arrived when his phone rang. Yankees equipment manager Rob Cucuzza's voice crackled over the line.

Cucuzza relayed Williams to manager Joe Girardi, who gave his former teammate a piece of news: The Yankees didn't want Williams, working out in preparation for the World Baseball Classic, to practice with the Minor Leaguers. No, they wanted him here, in big league camp, with his former teammates and fellow legends scattered across George M. Steinbrenner Field.

"And how can you say no to that?" Williams said.

So he changed his route, made a hard left into George M. Steinbrenner Field and he pulled his old No. 51 Spring Training jersey over his head. It fit. Then Williams spent the morning hitting in the cages, taking hacks in batting practice and reconnecting with old teammates.

"I think it's important for Bernie to be around," Girardi said. "Your friends want to see you. The fans want to see you. Obviously, he has other things that he's doing in his life, but he was an important Yankee. I think it's important that he's around."

Thursday marked the first of 11 days in Yankees camp for Williams, who is working into game shape for next month's Classic. Though he won't know for sure whether he has made the final Puerto Rican roster until next week, team officials have already taken his uniform size -- "so that's always a good sign," Williams laughed. He will work out with the Puerto Rican team beginning March 2 in Fort Myers, Fla., then will likely come off the bench to spell starting center fielder Carlos Beltran in the tournament.

From there, it's anybody's guess. If all goes well in the Classic, Williams said he might not be able to resist the temptation of a return to the big leagues.

"Right now, I'm taking it as it comes," Williams said. "I'm really concentrating on representing my country well and not embarrassing me or the team. And then, from that point on, if I still feel the competition in me and I still have the fire, I may have to consider seriously taking the opportunity of perhaps playing somewhere else. But right now, it's a very premature statement. I'm saying that my focus right now is the World Baseball Classic, and that's about it."

It was peculiar -- almost surreal, in a sense -- to see Williams in his pinstripes, playing amongst his teammates for the first time since 2006. Williams' awkward disengagement from the Yankees became something of a controversy the following offseason, preventing him from returning for one more season with the team.

In then-manager Joe Torre's book, "The Yankee Years," Torre discussed how badly he wanted Williams to return, and how he and general manager Brian Cashman engaged in a heated battled over his future. Cashman, despite Torre's protest, offered Williams only a non-guaranteed Minor League contract, and Williams refused it.

On reflection, Williams now says that he was ready to walk away from baseball anyway, wanting to spend more time with his family. The fact that the Yankees wouldn't commit to him only made his decision easier.

"It was just a perfect situation in which I really felt a need to take a step back and try to consider what was important at that point in my life," Williams said, citing his desire to reconnect with family. "And it has taken two years."

In that time, Williams has pursued his career as a musical artist, recording a CD set to be released in April. Gray flecks poke through his shaven head and unshaven face, revealing his age.

Williams is 40 years old now, old for a baseball player, but not yet too old to make a contribution. He knows this. And that's why he's become so set on playing for the Puerto Rican team, in what might certainly be his last opportunity to make an impact on the diamond.

In some ways, it's as if he never left the Yankees. Girardi, the manager, is here, along with Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. Tino Martinez is here, too, posing as a special instructor. All of them were once together on the teams of the last decade, and all of them, with Williams back, remain Yankees in some capacity.

"He's a part of our family," Girardi said of his old teammate Williams. "Obviously, he's retired as a Yankee. But once you're a Yankee, you're always a Yankee."

Still, much has changed. Jose Veras has moved into Williams' old locker at George M. Steinbrenner Field, relegating himto an unmarked stall in an adjacent row. Hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of free agents have descended upon Tampa. And Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner are battling for a center-field job that never used to be a worry.

It's unlikely that Williams will ever roam center field at the new Yankee Stadium, even if a certain glint comes to his eye when he considers that thought. But Spring Training lends credence to certain fantasies, ones that Williams can't deny. He can hit, he can field and his uniform still fits.

He's a Yankee, and that seems to be the most important thing.

"I feel that I never left," Williams said. "There's always going to be this small kid inside of me saying, 'You can still do this, man. You can still do this.'"

slantedeyematt

February 23rd, 2009, 05:27 PM

Glad to see bernie with a yankee helmet, weather hes gunna play with us or not i still think he is one of the best yankees ever. Cant wait to see him play for my team puerto rico

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 23rd, 2009, 05:58 PM

Hell yea he's my favorite player of all time wore his number #51 for every year i played also puerto rico gonna win the WBC!

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 25th, 2009, 05:47 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Wang back on mound facing hitters

TAMPA, Fla. -- Chien-Ming Wang's first 19-win season was also to be Bernie Williams' last go-round in the big leagues, though the Yankees teammates could not have known that as they handled the disappointment of the club's early playoff exit in 2006.

Even less predictable was the situation that Wang and Williams found themselves in on Friday, as the pair stared each at other on the sun-splashed diamond of George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Facing hitters for the first time since a June foot injury derailed his 2008 season, Wang fired all his pitches to a group that included Williams, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Working out to prepare for Puerto Rico's squad in the World Baseball Classic, Williams had one solid stroke off Wang, driving one fat offering to deep center field.

"I left one sinker up high," Wang said. "He hit it far."

Wang, who turns 29 on March 31, has been throwing off mounds since mid-October, when he traveled to Tampa during baseball's playoffs and worked out at the Himes Avenue Minor League complex.

The right-hander was 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 starts for the Yankees last season before he pulled up running the bases in a June 15 Interleague game in Houston and was diagnosed with a sprained Lisfranc ligament and a partial tear of the peroneus longus of the right foot.

"It's normal," Wang said. "I don't feel anything."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 25th, 2009, 06:00 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

CC falls ill; A.J., Joba throw

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CC Sabathia missed batting practice with the flu on Saturday. A.J. Burnett threw his first live session. .

TAMPA, Fla. -- Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia missed a scheduled live batting-practice session and left the team's Spring Training camp Saturday with the flu.

Sabathia, the Yankees' expected Opening Day starter, had been scheduled to pitch to hitters for the second time this spring on Field 2 of the George M. Steinbrenner Field training complex.

"He said he wanted to throw his BP, and he ended up throwing up again," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He just said, 'I'll wait until tomorrow.'"

Sabathia told Girardi that his children were sick and that he had probably picked up the virus at home. Sabathia, who signed a seven-year, $161 million contract in the offseason, is scheduled to throw BP on Sunday and remains on track to make his first start of the spring on March 6.

Right-hander A.J. Burnett, who inked a five-year, $82.5 million deal, threw his first live batting-practice session on the main field, while Joba Chamberlain worked two simulated innings on Field 2.

Chamberlain threw 20 pitches to catcher Jose Molina, sat down on a dugout bench, then threw another 20 pitches. He said that his focus was on throwing his fastball for strikes on both sides of the plate.

"I threw everything," Chamberlain said. "For Feb. 21, I feel all right. It feels good. I'm excited to get in a routine of every five days."

The workout brought a rare day in camp without an Alex Rodriguez-related distraction, as the focus was largely on baseball. That pleased Girardi, who said that his players have done a good job blocking out distractions.

"I think our practices have been quality, crisp," Girardi said. "Guys are doing what they're supposed to be doing. I see pitchers throwing strikes, I see hitters doing a lot of work, I see defenders doing what they need to do to get ready. I'm extremely pleased."

Exhibition games start for the Yankees on Wednesday, when the club's few remaining position battles will begin.

Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher are vying to be the Opening Day right fielder, while Melky Cabrera turned down a chance to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic to fight Brett Gardner for the starting job in center field.

"The one thing you can't predict is, you can't predict how we're going to come out of Spring Training," Girardi said. "It's something that I have to balance and juggle and make some possible tough decisions when Spring Training ends."

Designated hitter Hideki Matsui is set to resume light jogging on Monday and will not be ready for the club's Grapefruit League opener. Girardi said that the Yankees expect Matsui to be ready for Opening Day and that Matsui will not play the outfield in the spring.

The Yankees took the field for their workout without Bernie Williams, who had spent two days with the club while using the facility to prepare for joining Puerto Rico's roster in the Classic. Williams is expected to return on Monday.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 25th, 2009, 11:12 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Swisher not worried about spring battle

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Outfielder Nick Swisher is all smiles signing autographs for fans at Spring Training. .

TAMPA, Fla. -- It was November when Nick Swisher jumped on a conference call with the New York media, excitedly saying all the right things and introducing himself as the Yankees' new first baseman.
That assignment lasted only a month. Two days before Christmas, the Yankees agreed to an eight-year, $180 million contract with Mark Teixeira, immediately displacing Swisher and sending him into what figures to be a fierce spring competition for right field with Xavier Nady.

"At first, I was like, 'Man!'" Swisher said. "It would have been fun to play first base for the Yankees and be in one spot for the entire season. But getting a player like [Teixeira] with that sort of talent ... it's nice to have him on our side, instead of him killing us."

With the opportunity to fill a need for future and deal a blow to the Red Sox, few could argue with the move to acquire Teixeira. But it threw a wrench into the Yankees' Grapefruit League plans, which already had set one battle between Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner for center field.

With Johnny Damon entrenched as the left fielder and Hideki Matsui using the designated hitter role to recover from left knee surgery, the battle for right field pits Swisher and Nady in a fight for playing time and at-bats.

Asked about the circumstances before Sunday's workout, the hyper-caffeinated Swisher immediately sought out Nady.

"X! Everybody's trying to stir all that controversy again, bro," Swisher said, as Nady shook his head in an amused fashion.

Settling back to his clubhouse chair, where his iPod often can be found cranking pop and dance music into the room at loud volumes, Swisher said that he and Nady are not taking the roster crunch seriously.

"That's really not our style," Swisher said. "Everyone just keeps trying to stir stuff up. At least, it's not my style. We've got a bunch of great players. What's so bad about that? I know that we're all really, really excited about what this team is capable of doing."

Nady said that he has not wasted much time thinking about the situation, since it's out of his control.

"I'm just coming to camp with the same mind-set I've had the last nine years," Nady said. "I'm just going out to stay healthy and most importantly get ready for the season. That's all I've really known how to do. I feel like it's a chance to get going and see where you're at, and hopefully, find something before the season starts."

Nady said that he was excited when the Yankees signed Teixeira, and did not offer a second thought to the idea that it might somehow affect his job security.

"Anytime you can add someone like that to the middle of your lineup, everyone benefits from it," Nady said. "It's a good presence to have in the clubhouse. Hopefully we'll be all right and find ourselves playing in October and November."

While Swisher still may see some time at first base in a backup role, the Yankees envision him as a corner outfielder, only assigned to center field in emergency circumstances. Manager Joe Girardi said that he does not plan on using an outfield rotation, wanting instead to have as constant a lineup as possible.

Though Swisher hit only .219 with 24 home runs and 69 RBIs for the White Sox last year, posting a .743 OPS, there is plenty the Yankees like. Girardi said that the switch-hitting Swisher's ability to get on base, hit for power and work the count can make him an asset for the club this year.

But the Yankees also enjoyed what they saw from Nady down the stretch last year, acquiring him from the Pirates on July 26. Nady hit .268 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 59 games for New York, with a .794 OPS, but those numbers were impacted by a September skid as the club disappeared from playoff contention.

The numbers don't crunch on paper -- New York simply has too many outfielders for it to make sense right now. But injuries have a way of working things out; the Yankees could be one unfortunately placed fly ball away from suddenly being down an outfielder.

"You can't predict how we're going to come out of Spring Training," Girardi said. "Swish gives us a lot of flexibility; Nady did a wonderful job for us. You hope everyone comes out healthy, but you can't predict it.

"It's something that I have to balance and juggle and make some tough decisions when Spring Training ends -- or the decisions might be made for us."

General manager Brian Cashman could also intervene. The Yankees not-so-quietly shopped both players over the winter, telling teams that they would be more inclined to trade Nady because he is a free agent after the 2009 season and -- with Scott Boras as his representative -- is likely to test the waters.

While there was considerable interest in both Nady and Swisher, the Yankees never heard an offer that blew them away. That told Cashman it was prudent to bring both players to camp, just in case a development warranted keeping both players on the roster or a new deal proposal cropped up from outside the organization.

"I don't pay attention to that stuff -- you can't," Swisher said. "If somebody is interested in Swish or interested in X, that stuff has been going on for like three months now. All I can really worry about is just going out there and play every day. I love what I do and I have been blessed to be put in an unbelievable situation. I want to go out and make the best of it."

While the same might not be able to be said for Swisher's music selection, Girardi said the arrangement is not creating a disturbance in the clubhouse.

"You know that each one of them wants to play every day," Girardi said. "The more great players we have on the team, the better team we're going to be. There are necessarily no edges. You want them both to play at a very high level, and then we go from there."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 25th, 2009, 11:17 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

CC back in action after bout with virus

TAMPA, Fla. -- After a one-day delay to combat an intestinal virus, Yankees ace CC Sabathia returned to the mound on Sunday, bringing some sizzle to his batting practice session at the George M. Steinbrenner Field complex.

The left-hander showed few signs of illness in an impressive session against the heart of the Yankees lineup, working to Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez on Field 2 of the complex.

Johnny Damon and Minor League catcher Kyle Anson were also handcuffed by the $161 million hurler, as pitchers remain ahead of hitters in the early days of camp.

"Everything felt good, free and easy," Sabathia said. "It feels good just to get out there."

Sabathia had been scheduled to pitch Saturday, but he was unable to make it to the mound, fighting a virus that he acquired from his children, who had been ill earlier in the week.

He is set to make five or six starts this spring -- the first is set for March 6 -- and Sabathia said that he is working on improving his fastball command and tinker with his cutter during these sessions.

"The consistency of his mechanics, the strikes that he throws -- it's very impressive," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We all know he's a polished pitcher. His personality is awesome. People want to be around him, he has a way of attracting a crowd, a fun-loving guy. I heard people call him the big teddy bear."

As the Yankees completed their fifth full-squad workout, Girardi noted several routine issues. Shortstop Derek Jeter was instructed not to run on Sunday because of soreness in his right hamstring, though the team captain fully expects to play when exhibition games open on Feb. 25.

"It's no big deal," Jeter said. "I did everything but run. I'm sure tomorrow you'll see me running. It's really not an issue. If I had a game today, I would have played."

Non-roster first baseman/outfielder Shelley Duncan has also been fighting shoulder tendinitis, and right-hander Jonathan Albaladejo is battling a respiratory ailment and was excused from running drills. Left-hander Damaso Marte has recovered from leg stiffness and is taking part in all exercises.

"Guys are going to go through sore periods at this time of Spring Training -- that's why we do this before we start playing games," Girardi said.

The Yankees do have one point of concern with right-hander Edwar Ramirez, who shut down a throwing session Sunday after only a few pitches. The club believes Ramirez has tendinitis in his pitching shoulder, but he will be examined Monday by Dr. Allen Miller in Tampa.

Ramirez said that he felt something similar in his final three appearances of the 2008 season and is not worried.

"We have to see first, because I don't know exactly what I have," Ramirez said. "Tomorrow, I'll see the doctors and I should know."

Girardi said that he is planning to use Brett Tomko as the Yankees' starting pitcher on Wednesday against the Blue Jays at Dunedin, Fla., beginning a sequence that will see Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain start New York's next three Grapefruit League exhibitions.

In planning his lineup for the first games of the spring, Girardi said that he would give consideration to playing World Baseball Classic participants like Jeter, Rodriguez and Robinson Cano more, so they are at less risk of injury for the tournament.

"We want them to be ready, because we don't want them to go there and feel like they're not prepared or not in the shape that they need to be," Girardi said.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 27th, 2009, 08:37 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Melancon savors experiences at camp

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After first attending camp in 2008, Mark Melancon describes this time around with the Yanks in Spring Training as "a good opportunity.".

TAMPA, Fla. -- The pitch zipped out of Mark Melancon's hand and sailed inside, producing the sickening thwack of big league lumber instantly becoming a useless piece of junk.
From behind the batting cage, Derek Jeter cackled and taunted the bat's former owner, Robinson Cano, yelling, "Get him, Mark, get him!"

If the plan progresses as expected, Yankees fans might soon have the same opportunity to cheer on the hard-throwing 23-year-old right-hander.

While sports radio jockeys continue debating if Joba Chamberlain really is best served by life as a starting pitcher, Melancon has become the readiest available answer to this eternal question: Who will replace Mariano Rivera as the Yankees' closer?

"I think it's able to be done, so I'm excited for that," Melancon said. "I'm excited that people are throwing that out there, but I know it's not true until I make it true."

With only a season and a half of professional experience, Melancon knows that the Yankees aren't about to hand him the task of replacing a legend. But Melancon believes he is in Spring Training competing for a Major League bullpen job, and the soft-spoken Coloradoan is not shy about stating his designs of making it to New York in 2009.

"I knew this year would be a good opportunity for me to possibly get in and have a shot at making the team," Melancon said. "I think I'm ready. I still think I have a lot of learning to do. I'm definitely not at the level that I want to be at."

Melancon said that he was helped by attending camp last year, even though he had no chance of making the big league club -- not coming off of Tommy John elbow surgery, which cost him all of the 2007 campaign. That familiarity is boosting him, as he can find his way around the clubhouse and spot faces he recognizes.

"I feel comfortable here," Melancon said. "I don't have to get to know everybody. I kind of know what it's about a little bit. That aspect of it is easier."

When the Yankees headed north for their maiden campaign under manager Joe Girardi, Melancon hung around in Tampa, appearing in 13 Florida State League games before earning promotion to Double-A Trenton, where he spent most of the season.

Wrapping up by helping Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to a championship title, Melancon combined to throw a total of 95 innings in 44 games, compiling a 2.27 ERA between the three levels and increasing his walk-to-strikeout ratio at each checkpoint.

It took him a while to find his location and harness his stuff coming off surgery, but by June, Melancon said he was on a roll.

"Every day, I'm happy my arm feels good," Melancon said. "You take that for granted if you're not hurt. Once you get hurt, you realize how important it is. Every day I am thankful for that."

For the purposes of 2009, the late-inning mix is expected to be filled more by the likes of Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte than Melancon, but Girardi is not ruling anything out.

"We have a lot of very good arms in camp, but [Melancon] did very well last year and he's got good stuff," Girardi said.

But good enough to replace Rivera? That will be a tall order, no matter who it is assigned to. Rivera isn't about to hang up his trademark cutter, but he acknowledged this spring that the end is coming. When it inevitably does, Melancon seems as good a bet as any to fill the vacancy.

"I think we'd like to see him get his feet wet before we start talking about that," Girardi said. "Those are extremely big shoes to fill. But he's got a chance to learn. He's got a chance to be around a lot of big leaguers here and a lot of guys that have a lot of experience. That's good for him."

Melancon seems to be taking advantage, tapping those veteran sources for their wisdom. He said he spent some of the 2008 Grapefruit League discussing pitching with Rivera, lauding him for his willingness to share tidbits of his craft. The conversation has continued this spring.

"Mo is awesome," Melancon said. "Obviously on the field, he's great. But off the field, he's a standup person and you can see that by the way he carries himself. That was fun for me to try and get to know him. What I realize about the older guys -- [Andy] Pettitte and Mo -- they just know the game like the back of their hands."

Jorge Posada caught Melancon during his batting practice session Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, offering rave reviews. Jeter may have crowed when Cano splintered his lumber, but Jeter also cut and missed at two pitches from Melancon, grinning widely after the second one made him look silly.

"His ball cuts, it sinks, it's got late life to it," Girardi said. "That usually translates into swings and misses, and not solid contact."

Posada said that Melancon's two-seamer was even more impressive than his 12-to-6 curveball, widely regarded as his strikeout pitch. Posada said that Melancon's two-seamer cut to lefties -- the reason Cano's bat was taken out of service -- and that the four-seamer was the one that prompted Jeter to flash his pearly whites.

Viewing the Yankees' bullpen mix, Posada does not seem to expect Melancon will be on the first-base line April 6 at Baltimore. But it seems safe to wager that he'll have his share of Opening Days if everything continues on this track, projecting as a late-inning reliever or closer type.

"We'll see how he progresses," Posada said. "I think they don't really want to rush him right now. They want him to get a full year in and see what happens. But he's got a bright future. There's no doubt about that."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 27th, 2009, 09:15 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Posada zipping back into old form

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Jorge Posada underwent season-ending surgery on his right shoulder after playing 51 games in 2008..

TAMPA, Fla. -- It was all part of the process, they assured Jorge Posada. But that didn't change the strange sensation the Yankees catcher was feeling in his surgically repaired right shoulder.
After years of firing seeds to second base, Posada was starting all over again, re-teaching himself to play catch across the vacant fields of the Yankees' complex. And now that he may have put the wobbliest days behind him, Posada can feel the difference.

"I'll tell you the truth -- when I came down here and started throwing, it felt like I was throwing a Ping-Pong ball against the air," Posada said. "The ball wasn't getting there, and I wasn't feeling the ball. It's a different feeling to throw the ball and not be able to feel the weight of the ball. Now I'm able to extend."

Reporting to camp well ahead of pitchers and catchers, Posada has had plenty of time to work out the kinks. He is incrementally moving closer to getting behind the plate in a big league game, and he is still eyeing Opening Day on April 6 at Baltimore as the moment he will stick a few fingers down for CC Sabathia.

The 37-year-old made 15 throws from distances as far as 220 feet Sunday, drawing praise from Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who called it "substantially different than what I saw just four or five days ago."

It's a far cry from the frustrating moments of last April, when the Royals figured out that Posada's stiff shoulder wasn't permitting him to throw. Kansas City ran wild, and Posada later admitted his shoulder was weak. Suddenly, backup Jose Molina was seeing much more action than anticipated.

Sent to the disabled list for the first time in his career, Posada attempted to regain strength through rehab, but eventually succumbed to season-ending surgery in July as the Yankees traded for veteran Ivan Rodriguez as a stopgap. Posada insists that he will be there to catch upwards of 110 to 120 games this time around.

"It's night and day," Posada said. "Last year, I couldn't do the things that I'm doing right now."

Posada has been regularly catching pitchers in their bullpen and live batting practice sessions. In a workout Sunday, Posada said that he also made 10 throws at a distance of 120 feet, which is as far as he'll need to throw in a regular season game.

Girardi joked that if Posada needs to make 10 throws under real conditions, the Yankees will probably be involved in some kind of slugfest. But for late February, they'll gladly take it.

"The ball was coming good," Posada said. "I only forced the last three. Tell you what, I feel good today. There's no pain, and every day I'm able to bounce back. I'm still progressing and really happy with it."

While Posada will not be available to catch when exhibition games begin Wednesday, he will be used as a designated hitter in the early days of the Grapefruit League schedule. There is no exact date for Posada to get back behind the plate, but Posada has already circled one spring date on his calendar.

On March 20, Posada will be honored by the Ted Williams Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla., during a dinner on the artificial turf at Tropicana Field to benefit the Children's Dreamfund.

Posada will receive a community award for his work with the Jorge Posada Foundation, which provides support to families with children affected by Craniosynostosis.

"I'm really excited about it," Posada said. "You do a lot of stuff with the foundation, and awards like this really keep you going. It's tough to maintain a foundation, and we're really excited."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 27th, 2009, 09:18 PM

Man i get no love lol

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 28th, 2009, 10:01 AM

I will update around 6:00 EST

soldaderyan

February 28th, 2009, 01:42 PM

yeah, because we have like 5 yankee chises... maybe :)

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 28th, 2009, 03:11 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Kennedy puts lessons into practice

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Ian Kennedy struck out 31 and walked 12 in six starts in the Puerto Rican Winter League..

TAMPA, Fla. -- The advice that Ian Kennedy heard was confusing in its simplicity -- trust your stuff, attack the zone, throw strikes.
It made sense, certainly, in that consistently falling behind big hitters never translates to long-term success. But it took a winter trip south for the lesson to really sink in, as Kennedy finally found something that he hopes will help him flourish.

"I was told that a lot last year, and when I played in Puerto Rico, I had that mind-set," Kennedy said. "I noticed different results."

Pitching for Indios de Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League, Kennedy posted a 1.56 ERA in six starts. He walked 12 and struck out 31 in 34 2/3 innings, scattering 19 hits.

The success was therapeutic in a way. If nothing else, it certainly washed away the bitter flavor of Kennedy's 2008 big league campaign, when he was 0-4 with an 8.17 ERA in 10 games (nine starts), drawing criticism from both Yankees manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland.

"I really think Ian got his confidence back when he went to Puerto Rico," Girardi said. "He got back to where he was before he went through the difficult year."

Girardi was careful not to overly celebrate Kennedy's two scoreless innings of Grapefruit League work on Friday, when the 24-year-old right-hander allowed a hit and a walk, while striking out three.

In the manager's eyes, it was just a step in the right direction -- a good curveball here, a well-placed pitch there, on par with the sixth inning of one-run ball that prospect Andrew Brackman turned in.

But for Kennedy, those six outs against the Twins were a continuation of what he learned in Puerto Rico -- that his aggressiveness there was the way he should pitch once the big league season got under way.

"Even if a guy knows a fastball is coming, if you throw it with more conviction and a 'try-to-hit-this' attitude, you get a different result. You get a better quality pitch," Kennedy said.

Kennedy admits that this spring is different for him, one year after he was essentially penciled in as the Yankees' fifth starter, the job his to lose. His mistakes weren't just on the mound -- Kennedy also drew heat for his postgame comments, which were perceived by some as brash.

"When you're in the middle of it, it's really frustrating, but I think you've got to learn and grow from it," Kennedy said. "It was all a learning process. I still think it's going to make me better as my career goes on."

Kennedy admitted he felt content with having the fifth starter's role as his to lose, but this year, nothing is promised. Girardi said that the sting of disappointment at the big league level can be a positive for a young player.

"It makes you realize how hard it is to stay here," Girardi said. "You've got to work. Everyone wants to take your job. You have to find ways to get better, because people are going to make adjustments to you. You have to find ways to stick."

Going into camp, Kennedy is at best the Yankees' sixth starter on paper, though he will have to vie with Phil Hughes to be the first hurler called up from Triple-A if all breaks right. Kennedy said that the situation agrees with him.

"I like it, because I know that I have to compete, I have to be at my best," Kennedy said. "I think it's going to bring out the best in me. Even back in October, I wanted Spring Training to be next month. I couldn't wait for it to come around."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 28th, 2009, 03:23 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Waiting for a call, Hughes prepares

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"If I could go back, I would, but I'd go about things the same way," Phil Hughes said of 2008..

TAMPA, Fla. -- The fanfare has died down from last spring, when the Yankees were banking that Phil Hughes would step up as the youngest pitcher in the Majors and handle the American League with aplomb.
It didn't work out as expected, and by adding CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett over the offseason, the Yankees have effectively pushed Hughes' timetable back. All Hughes can do now is prepare for another chance.

"I feel like if I can stay healthy and pitch well wherever I'm at, I'll do pretty well," Hughes said. "I'm just trying to get ready, and if I do go to Triple-A, I'll just be working there to get back up."

The right-hander started his course on Thursday, pitching two innings of scoreless, hitless ball in the Yankees' 5-1 victory over the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Working on pitching inside, Hughes hit two of the first three batters he faced and walked another, but he also struck out two and left manager Joe Girardi with a positive impression.

"He was pretty good for the first time out," Girardi said. "I knew he nipped a couple of guys, but he threw strikes and threw his curveball for some strikes. He mixed in his changeup, and I thought he had good downhill plane on his fastball. I think all of our guys did pretty well for the first time out."

By spending a combined $243.5 million to woo Sabathia and Burnett, the Yankees are hoping to avoid the gamble they took last spring, when Hughes and 23-year-old righty Ian Kennedy were slotted in from the early days of camp.

Because of injuries and ineffectiveness, both prospects finished the year winless, leaving the Yankees to search for patchwork additions to the rotation and wonder if they had rushed Hughes and Kennedy.

Opening last season at the age of 21, Hughes completed the year 0-4 with a 6.62 ERA in eight starts, spending three months on the sidelines with a fractured right rib.

"I was given a great opportunity, and I didn't come through," Hughes said. "That's the bottom line. I didn't feel like I was ill-prepared. I struggled out of the gate and got hurt. If I could go back, I would, but I'd go about things the same way."

This year, Hughes and Kennedy will vie to be the players next in line should anything happen to the Yankees' rotation. Girardi said that fighting for a callup may turn out to be a better situation for them.

"Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way we wanted, the way they wanted it," Girardi said. "They went through some growing pains, and they probably learned a lot.

"They're going to have to continue to improve. It's not easy to be a young player and to have a lot of expectations on you, especially in New York."

Hughes said that despite the fact that the Yankees' rotation is full on paper, nothing has changed in his approach toward camp. He plans to spend the next few weeks working to refine his fastball and changeup.

"I'm going about it the same way I always have," Hughes said. "It doesn't feel too different."

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 28th, 2009, 03:44 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Battles: Right Field

#22 | Xavier Nady
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2008 Stats- AVG: .305 HR: 25 RBI: 97 SB: 2

#33 | Nick Swisher
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2008 Stats- AVG: .219 HR: 24 RBI: 69 SB: 3

TAMPA, Fla. -- Unlike the center-field battle in which the prize is a full-time starting job with the loser likely to be banished to Triple-A, the far end of the bench, or perhaps even another organization, the battle between Swisher and Nady is simply over who will have the upper hand in right field. Regardless of the outcome this spring, both are likely to make more than 400 plate appearances this year.

That said, Nady, who was acquired at the trading deadline last year and finished the season as the Yankees’ left fielder, entered camp as Bobby Abreu’s successor in right field. It will be up to Nick Swisher, acquired in a November trade with the White Sox, to prove to Joe Girardi and his staff that he is the superior option for right field, which, truth be told, he is.

Superficially, Nady and Swisher are very similar players. Both have played all three outfield positions and first base in the majors. Both have career major league slugging percentages in the .450 after similar numbers of plate appearances. Neither has ever played on an All-Star team, picked up an MVP vote, or lead the league in any category, no matter how marginal, but both are considered useful, productive second-tier players. The differences start to show up when you note that Swisher is two years younger, a switch-hitter, and a far better fielder regardless of position.

According to Dave Pinto’s Probabilistic Model of Range, Nady was a sub-par defender in left field last year, ranking below such renowned glovemen as Manny Ramirez, Jack Cust, and Adam Dunn, was worse than that when he played right field, and worse still in right field in 2007. According to Ultimate Zone Rating, Nady has cost his teams 3.8 runs with his play in right field over the course of his career. From watching him play last year, I’d describe Nady as a below average fielder. He’s not a butcher out there, like Bobby Abreu was last year, but his defense isn’t going to help. If you play Nady, you’re doing it for his bat and his bat alone.

Swisher was overextended as a center fielder in Chicago last year, but as a right fielder in 2007, he ranked third in all of baseball according to Pinto’s system (behind only Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino). UZR rates Swisher as 10.1 runs above average in right field over the course of his career, a nearly-14-point improvement over Nady. All else being equal, Swisher should be the Yankees’ right fielder simply because of his defense, which would represent a drastic improvement over Abreu, whom UZR rated as 22.9 runs below average in right field in 2008 alone.

But not everything else is equal. Swisher and Nady may have similar career slugging percentages, and Nady may have bettered Swisher’s slugging in the minors, but it’s Swisher who has more power, as more of Nady’s slugging is due to his solid career batting average. Certainly having a lower career batting average, as Swisher does, is not a virtue, but Swisher’s .207 isolated slugging (compared to Nady’s .178) suggests Swisher can both better survive an dip in average, like the one he experience last year, and has the greater potential to have a huge season should his batting average spike. Consider that last year, Nady hit .303 to Swisher’s .219 but only out-homered his rival by one, 25 to 24.

The same is true, but to a greater degree, when it comes to plate discipline. Not only is Swisher’s career on-base percentage nearly 19 points higher than Nady’s, but it’s 110 points above his career batting average, while Nady’s career “isolated discipline” is exactly half that at 55 points (well below the major league average). Indeed, despite that .219 average, Swisher posted a .332 on-base percentage last year, just two points shy of Nady’s career mark.

The good news is that, unlike Cabrera and Gardner, Swisher and Nady make sense as a platoon, with the switch-hitting Swisher taking the bulk of the playing time as the left-handed half of the pair. Swisher’s career splits are fairly even. He’s shown more power against righties, but has hit for a slightly better average and shown considerably more plate discipline against lefties. That would seem to run counter to the proposed platoon, as Swisher’s ultimately more valuable against lefty pitching, but he’s still been more productive against righties than Nady over their careers, while Nady has been something of a lefty-killer in his career (.308/.383/.470 vs. LHP though that split has been evening out and even reversed in his career year last year).

The plan entering camp was for Nady to be the primary right fielder and for Swisher to pick up several starts a week spelling Nady in right, Damon in left, Matsui at DH (likely by pushing Nady or Damon to DH), the winner of the center-field battle (likely by pushing Damon to center), and even Teixeira at first on the odd occasion (though, despite his fondness for the position, Swisher rates as a sub-par defensive first baseman–right field is easily his best position). The Yankees would be much better off with the superior glove and lefty bat of Swisher in right as a rule, with Nady picking up starts against lefty starters in relief of Swisher, lefty-hitting Damon, and, via the methods above, the lefty-hitting Matsui and the winner of the center-field battle, who will also be diminished by facing lefty pitching.

I0I HaVoK I0I

February 28th, 2009, 03:47 PM

I will post CF battles tommorow

soldaderyan

February 28th, 2009, 05:58 PM

Damn thats a very low avg. for Swisher I might trade him

XxPRiM3TiMExX

February 28th, 2009, 06:03 PM

Swish aint that bad in the game, and he is valuable off the bench.

Lostkiwi

February 28th, 2009, 06:39 PM

great writing. I'll follow...

Can't wait to see your team lose in the ALCS again!:p

bluejays1992-93

February 28th, 2009, 07:51 PM

as much as i despise you yankees(jk) i'll follow.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 10:23 AM

Thanks guys i'll post CF battles now

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 10:38 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Battles: Center Field

#53 | Melky Cabrera
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2008 Stats- AVG: .249 HR: 8 RBI: 37 SB: 9

#11 | Brett Gardner
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2008 Stats- AVG: .228 HR: 0 RBI: 16 SB: 13

TAMPA, Fla. -- With the Grapefruit League schedule kicking off on Wednesday, I wanted to take these last two day of inaction to take a look at the key position battles being waged in Yankee camp. I’ll start today with the most significant: the center-field battle between Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner.

Cabrera is theoretically the incumbent, but Gardner started in center in 12 of the Yankees’ last 15 games of 2008 after Cabrera effectively lost the center field job in early August. Cabrera made just five starts in center after August 3 and was even demoted to Triple-A for three weeks and recalled only after rosters expanded in September. In that sense, Gardner is the incumbent, but really, despite the large discrepancy in their major league service time, neither player entered camp with the upper hand in this battle.

This battle is topsy-turvy in other ways. For example, the less experienced Gardner is the win-now player given his minor league promise of solid on-base numbers (.389 mL career OBP), excellent defense, and spectacular speed on the bases (153 minor league stolen bases at an 83% success rate, 13 for 14 on the bases in the majors). Meanwhile, the appeal of Cabrera, the experienced major leaguer, is his potential. Cabrera has shown flashes of power at the plate, particularly early last season when he slugged .505 with six homers through May 4. Cabrera is unlikely to ever develop into a serious home-run threat, but Gardner is a pure slap hitter, with just nine career home runs as a pro and an isolated slugging in the minors of just .094. Gardner seems unlikely to ever hit for much power, but there remains some hope that Cabrera, who is a year younger, may yet blossom into a complete hitter.

The problem is that Cabrera’s performance on the field has been heading in the opposite direction. Cabrera hit .280/.360/.391 as a rookie left fielder in 2006, displaying solid plate discipline for a 21-year-old as well as some doubles power (26 in 524 PA) and falling just short of a league-average performance overall. In 2007, however, his plate discipline melted away without a corresponding increase in power (.273/.327/.391), and last year, after that hot start, he simply stopped hitting, batting .235/.280/.286 from May 5 through the end of the season, a line worse than Gardner’s seemingly pathetic rookie showing.

Given that Gardner was just breaking into the majors last year, been reliably productive in the minors, and seemed to heat up at the end of last season, hitting .294/.333/.412 in 73 PA his second of two major league stints, there’s every reason to believe that Gardner will significantly improve on his overall major league line if given the chance this season, but given Cabrera’s steady regression, there are far fewer reasons to continue to believe in Melky. It’s not as though Melky does anything else better than Gardner. Melky can steal bases, but he might steal 15, while Gardner could easily steal more than 50 and lead the league if he starts every day, and he’ll do it at a higher success rate than Cabrera’s. Melky has shown flashes of brilliance in the field, but Gardner, thanks in part to his superior speed, is going to turn more balls into outs in center, just as he’s likely to make fewer outs at the plate.

According to Dave Pinto’s Probabilistic Model of Range, Melky was the best defensive left fielder in baseball in 2006 but has displayed merely average range in center over the last two years. Gardner did not play enough to register on Pinto’s major league-only system, but per Ultimate Zone Rating, Gardner’s defense in center was worth 9.1 runs to Melky’s pedestrian 0.6 last year, a remarkable stat given that Gardner played just 160 2/3 innings in center for the Yankees, while Melky played 973 2/3. Of course, the small sample warnings about Gardner’s major league statistics are particularly acute when it comes to fielding, both because he spent a significant chunk of his first major league stint in left, and because fielding stats are so suspect to start with. It would be cherry-picking to write off Gardner’s poor performance at the plate in the majors as a small sample while emphasizing his absurd advantage over Cabrera in UZR. That said, what I saw watching the games supported the statistics’ assertion that Gardner has the superior range in center. Cabrera still has the better arm, but not by as much as one might think; Gardner recorded four assists in his 22 major league games in center, showing a strong and accurate throwing arm that opposing runners would be ill-advised to test.

So Melky’s case comes down to power and potential, and it seems unlikely that he has shown enough of either to outweigh Gardner’s advantages on the bases, in the field, and in getting on-base. Melky’s 2008 season cracked the lenses of the rose-colored glasses that looked at his first two seasons and saw shades of fellow switch-hitting center fielder Bernie Williams’ early-career struggles. Bernie didn’t really start to come on until his age-25 season, which would give Cabrera another year, but it’s hard now look at the stocky, stumbling Cabrera and see any resemblance to the fawn-like awkwardness of the blossoming Bernie.

Hitting coach Kevin Long seems to believe that he can get Gardner to hit with doubles power by increasing the involvement of Gardner’s lower body in his swing. If Gardner shows any signs of proving Long right this spring, the job should be his. The catch is that, due to Cabrera’s pennant-race demotion last year, Melky is now out of options, meaning the Yankees would have to either keep him on the 25-man roster as a fifth outfielder (a platoon with Gardner wouldn’t work–Melky hit just .213/.279/.299 against lefties last year and has hit just .251/.319/.329 against southpaws in his major league career, while Gardner actually had a reverse split in Triple-A last year), or expose him to waivers in an attempt to outright him to Scranton. The latter would almost surely result in Cabrera being claimed by another team. The Yankees avoided arbitration by signing Cabrera to a $1.4 million contract last month, which would seem to strongly indicate that the Yankees have no intention of divesting themselves of Cabrera, but as a fifth-outfielder, Cabrera would be a drain on the roster and would stand little chance of restarting his development. Then again, perhaps that $1.4 million price tag is just enough to prevent the sort of team that might make a claim on Cabrera from doing so. If Cabrera can’t win the center field job in camp, that may be a chance the Yankees have to take, particularly with Austin Jackson headed for Triple-A already having already unseated Cabrera as the team’s Center Fielder of the Future.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 01:42 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

A-Rod's power gives Yanks first win

YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS 1
at Dunedin, Fla.
Wednesday, Feb. 25

Yankees at the plate: Third baseman Alex Rodriguez, making his first appearance in a game since his admission of using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-03, belted a two-run home run in his first official at-bat against the Jays. Outfielder Brett Gardner opened the game by drilling an 0-1 offering from left-hander Brett Cecil to right field for a homer. Todd Linden and Juan Miranda each added an RBI single.

Blue Jays at the plate: Toronto shortstop John McDonald drilled a pitch from reliever Jose Veras down the third-base line for a one-out double in the third inning. Three batters later, right fielder Alex Rios lined an offering to center for a sacrifice fly that scored McDonald from third base.

Yankees on the mound: Brett Tomko started for New York and logged two shutout innings against Toronto, allowing just one hit. Veras didn't far as well, loading the bases twice in the third inning. Veras had two strikeouts, walked two, hit one batter, threw a wild pitch and allowed a run-scoring sacrifice fly. Dan Giese turned in one shutout inning for the Yankees.

Blue Jays on the mound: Cecil, who is vying for a spot in Toronto's starting rotation, turned in two decent innings. Cecil allowed just one hit -- Gardner's blast -- and finished with four strikeouts, one walk and 41 pitches (26 strikes). Ricky Romero, also in the mix for a starting job, turned in 1 2/3 innings and allowed the two-run blast to A-Rod.

Grapefruit League records: Yankees 1-0; Blue Jays 0-1.

soldaderyan

March 2nd, 2009, 03:26 PM

Are you going to post every Spring training game??

and why did melky changed his number to 53? maybe boby was his hero or something like that

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 04:51 PM

Are you going to post every Spring training game??

and why did melky changed his number to 53? maybe boby was his hero or something like that

I'm going to post every spring training game cause i won't play a franchise game til April 6 and melky said he just said he liked the number.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 06:55 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Posada carries Yankees over Rays

YANKEES 5, RAYS 1
at Tampa, Fla.
Thursday, Feb. 26

Rays at the plate: Ben Zobrist logged the Rays' first hit of the afternoon with a fourth-inning single, and Tampa Bay got on the board in the seventh inning with an RBI single by Jon Weber off the glove of backup shortstop Eduardo Nunez to score Elliot Johnson.

Yankees at the plate: Jorge Posada opened the third inning with a solo home run, clubbing the first pitch he saw this Grapefruit League season onto the right-field picnic deck, and he followed with an RBI ground-rule double to center field in the fifth. Mark Teixeira stroked a single in his first game wearing pinstripes, and Xavier Nady hit a ground-rule double, scoring on Posada's double. Shelley Duncan hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to put the game away.

Rays on the mound: Wade Davis turned in a strong outing to open his spring season, hurling two innings of hitless ball while striking out three. Chad Orvella surrendered a home run in one inning, striking out one, and Winston Abreu fired a scoreless fifth around a hit.

Yankees on the mound: Phil Hughes pitched two scoreless, hitless innings, though he hit two of the first three batters he faced. Hughes walked one and struck out one, throwing 33 pitches, including 22 strikes. Phil ***e turned in two scoreless innings of one-hit ball, striking out one. Brian Bruney pitched a perfect fifth inning, recording one strikeout.

Grapefruit League records: Rays 0-2; Yankees 2-0

slantedeyematt

March 2nd, 2009, 06:58 PM

My franchise will start tomorrow so WATCH FOR IT biotchez

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 07:04 PM

My franchise will start tomorrow so WATCH FOR IT biotchez

Royals right?

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 07:25 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Pesky Gardner impressing early

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"If you have guys that can do things on the basepaths, you can win a lot," manager Joe Girardi said, singling out Brett Gardner..

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Grapefruit League campaign may only be getting started, but Brett Gardner is already showing the Yankees some of what they'd hope to see if they carry him on the roster.
Playing for the third consecutive day, the speedster made his presence known at the top of the Bombers' lineup, stroking two hits and stealing a pair of bases in a 5-4 loss to the Twins on Friday.

"That's just my game, that's just my job," Gardner said. "If I didn't do that, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't be in Minor League camp either. I'd have a desk job somewhere. That's the main part of my game and that's why I am where I am."

In a battle with Melky Cabrera to be New York's Opening Day center fielder, the 24-year-old also belted a home run on the second pitch he saw Wednesday in the Yankees' Grapefruit League opener, though he acknowledges that was a fluke.

This showing, in front of 7,998 at Hammond Stadium, was more like it. Gardner flashed bunt in the first inning, moving the infield, and then legged out a infield single before stealing second base and scoring on Cody Ransom's RBI hit.

In his second at-bat, Gardner stretched a single into a double in the fourth inning by challenging center fielder Carlos Gomez into bobbling the pickup. Finally, he worked a walk in the fourth inning and again stole second on catcher Mike Redmond.

"That's what we love to see, because he creates havoc," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He can be a pest, and we like that."

Said Gardner: "This early, I think the main thing you worry about is your timing and seeing the ball out of the pitcher's hand. I feel pretty comfortable and I'm pleased with the way things are going."

Friday presented an opportunity for Girardi to take a closer look at both of his continuing outfield battles, boarding Cabrera and Gardner onto the pair of buses along with right-field competitors Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.

For at least one game, Gardner was the clear-cut winner, as Cabrera went 0-for-3 and left three men on base. The plan is now for Gardner to sit Saturday and Cabrera to play against the Twins at home.

"It's a fair battle, and these guys are going to fight it out the whole way," Girardi said.

It is too early to handicap a winner. The Yankees themselves won't begin serious evaluations until the last two or three weeks of camp, but most of his teammates already know what kind of player Gardner could be if and when he settles into a big league job.

"He leads off the game and gets on base, and he already puts the pitcher in defensive mode," said pitcher Ian Kennedy, who played with Gardner at Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

"You have to think about him always at first base. He's going to steal -- it doesn't matter what pitch. He's one of those guys that's a pest. You love to have him on your team, because he's always going to make things happen."

Swisher shares the same agent, Joe Bick, with Gardner, but the Yankees newcomer had not met the center fielder face-to-face until this spring. That doesn't mean he hadn't seen him.

When Gardner was up last September, the Yankees played a four-game series against the White Sox in New York. Residing in manager Ozzie Guillen's doghouse at the time, Swisher did not play, but he still noticed Gardner.

"This dude comes running around first base like a bolt of lightning, and it's like, 'Wow,'" Swisher said. "This dude is moving."

Kennedy said that Gardner has the type of speed that permits him to challenge even routine ground balls, gushing that Gardner is "one of those special players that is probably going to play in the big leagues for a long time."

Swisher agreed.

"That is his game, and I love that," Swisher said. "I try to push him every day. He's that scrappy guy -- one of those guys that if he gets on the basepaths, he's going to kill you. I love the way he plays. He grinds out every at-bat, he grinds out every day."

In fairness, neither Cabrera nor Gardner match up well with the prototypical "Yankees center fielder," not that anyone is waiting for Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio to walk out of the corn fields.

Girardi acknowledges that Gardner isn't the type of big power guy that even Bernie Williams was during the dynasty years, but there are other ways he can contribute and shake up an offense. Johnny Damon is the Yankees' leadoff hitter for '09, but it's not out of the realm of possibility to think Gardner could eventually be there.

"The game has kind of changed a little bit, where second basemen are hitting 25-30 home runs," Girardi said. "You like having that balance, because every day you can't slug it out. If you have guys that can do things on the basepaths, you can win a lot."

In fact, Girardi believes it may soon become a necessity to lean more upon players with speed.

"I think it's going to go back to that, probably because of the testing, just to be flat-out straightforward," Girardi said. "You're going to probably see some speed in the game, because you're not going to have as many home runs. You're going to have to find ways to create offense."

The landscape nearly changed in December. Gardner said he had heard reports that the Yankees were close to dealing Cabrera to the Brewers for Mike Cameron, talks that eventually fizzled into a forgotten rumor.

Never paying much attention, Gardner said he would not allow the winter buzz to impact the way he prepared for the season. He is taking a similar approach to the center-field competition, saying that he does not think about it.

"I don't think Melky does either," Gardner said. "It's beyond our control. All we can do is come out and play hard every day and hope we play a part in this season.

"There's only one spot and there's two of us. If he's the starting center fielder on Opening Day, I don't know where I'll be. That's why I don't worry about it. I don't know what's going to happen."

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 2nd, 2009, 08:13 PM

I will post the top 10 prospects for the yanks 2morow

soldaderyan

March 3rd, 2009, 08:59 AM

cool, nice job Gardner, if melky struggles. I´ll move gradner to CF and 1st bat

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 3rd, 2009, 11:36 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Baseball America’s Top 10 Yankees Prospects

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Austin Jackson is the #1 prospect in the Yankees system.

The last season of Yankee Stadium II figured to end in October. After all, since Major League Baseball added wild cards, there never had been a postseason party that didn't include the Yankees.

Yet when New York played host to the Orioles on Sept. 21, that was it for The House That Ruth Built. In their first season under manager Joe Girardi, the Yankees got within three games of first place in late July, just as they bolstered their roster by acquiring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pirates. But New York never got any closer and finished in third place at 89-73, eight games back.

Nothing went as planned, starting with a shoulder injury that limited Jorge Posada to just 51 games. Righthander Chien-Ming Wang went down with a season-ending foot injury in mid-June, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano regressed (with Cabrera sent down to the minors), Joba Chamberlain broke down after moving into the rotation, and young pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy flopped.

The failure of the Yankees' top young players was especially galling as the Rays and Red Sox rode theirs to the postseason. That subject was a focus of the organization's postseason meetings—trying to figure out why New York's young players haven't translated minor league success to the majors while those on rival teams have.

New York nevertheless re-signed general manager Brian Cashman to a three-year contract shortly after the season ended. Cashman has several significant decisions to make, such as what to do with Chamberlain. The contracts of veterans Bob Abreu, Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina come off the books—they made a combined $48 million in 2008—and the Yankees had more resources than any organization to begin with. That will be even more true with the opening of a new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium, and they can outspend any club for the services of top free agents such as C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, both of whom would be ideal fits.

The Yankees haven't leveraged their financial advantages well this decade, however. They have spent more than $1.3 billion on player salaries since winning the 2000 World Series, and have seen Boston and now Tampa Bay surpass them. New York's only titles this year came at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Double-A Trenton.

Despite their willingness to spend on draft and international talent, the Yankees have not developed any recent impact players beyond Chamberlain. (Cano would have counted before he regressed offensively and defensively in 2008.) They failed to sign two of their top three picks in the 2008 draft, including first-rounder Gerrit Cole—considered the most electric arm in the class of prep pitchers.

The Yankees did see significant progress from high-dollar investments such as Austin Jackson, who could claim their center-field job at some point in 2009, and catcher Jesus Montero, a $1.65 million bonus baby who had an all-star season in low Class A. Righthander Andrew Brackman, who got the largest draft bonus in club history ($3.35 million) as part of a big league contract that could reach $13 million with incentives, finally got on the mound in Hawaii Winter Baseball. He had Tommy John surgery shortly after signing in 2007 and an appendectomy this July.

Top 10 prospects
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Austin Jackson, OF
Played the entire 2008 season at double-A Trenton…..Hit .285 with 9 HR, 69 RBI and 19 stolen bases…..Played in one game for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the end of the 2007 season.

Jesus Montero, C
Had an outstanding season at class-A Charleston in 2008…..The 19-year-old played in 132 games hitting .326 with 171 hits, 34 doubles, 17 HR and 87 RBI. He led the South Atlantic League in hits and was 2nd in average and total bases.

Andrew Brackman, RHP
Brackman is the Yankees #1 pick for the 2007 draft. He did not play while he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Austin Romine, C
Played at Charleston in 2008 splitting time at catcher and DH with Jesus Montero…..In 104 games he batted .300 with 10 HR and 49 RBI.

Dellin Betances, RHP
Pitched primarily at class-A Charleston as a starter…..Led the South Atlantic League in strikeouts per 9 innings (10.53) and was 4th in batting average against (.208)….Was 9-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 22 starts.

Zach McAllister, RHP
Played at Charleston and Tampa in 2008….Combined to go 14-9 with a 2.08 ERA……In 14 starts for Tampa he had a 1.83 ERA.

Alfredo Aceves, RHP
Had a rapid rise in 2008 after signing as a free agent out of the Mexican League…..Pitched at all three levels of the Yankees system before getting an end of season call-up to New York…..In 10 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre he was 2-3 with a 4/12 ERA. In 6 games for New York he was 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA.

Phil C0ke, LHP
Another quick rising pitcher in the system…..Began the year at Trenton (AA) going 8-4 with a 2.51 ERA….Made 14 appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (1 start) going 2-2 with a 4.67 ERA…….Promoted to New York at the end of the season and was dominating out of the bullpen. In 14.2 innings he struck out 14, allowed just 8 hits and posted a 0.61 ERA.

Mark Melancon, RHP
He dominated three levels in the Yankees farm system – Tampa (A), Trenton (AA) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)….Combined to go 8-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 44 relief appearances…..With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he allowed just 11 hits while striking out 22 in 20 innings.

Bradley Suttle, 3B
Starting 3B for Charleston in 2008……In 96 games he had 41 extra-base hits including 7 triples to rank 3rd in the league.

robrules62

March 3rd, 2009, 12:54 PM

what the yankees should do is make mark melancon the next rivera in a few years, and have them be the duo like john wetland and rivera of 1996, what i would do is trade swisher or nady for prospects and a solid mid relief pitcher

soldaderyan

March 3rd, 2009, 02:15 PM

Wow, awesome post Havok !!!
I think im going to calll up A. Jackson and J.Montero, at the end of the season. too bad you cant edit them, but the player progression sounds good :thumbsup:

mgb

March 3rd, 2009, 03:16 PM

Looking good, when are you going to play your first game?

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 3rd, 2009, 05:24 PM

Yea Rob i'll call up melancon prob around september or whenever the real yanks do. Thanks Soldade.
Mgb i'll start playing on april 6 when the season starts i like to have opening day rosters and a great set of sliders.

slantedeyematt

March 3rd, 2009, 05:28 PM

the only reason i started now is because im in leagues and stuff so i want to get started asap so i can get threw 162

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 3rd, 2009, 07:06 PM

the only reason i started now is because im in leagues and stuff so i want to get started asap so i can get threw 162

Alright thats cool:thumbsup:

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 09:29 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Kennedy strong in Yankees' loss

TWINS 5, YANKEES 4
at Fort Myers, Fla.
Friday, Feb. 27

Yankees at the plate: Brett Gardner, who is battling for the starting center-field job, went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk and a run scored. Nick Swisher singled in each of his first two at-bats. Justin Leone homered in the second inning.

Twins at the plate: Joe Crede walked in his first plate appearance as a Twin, but then grounded into a double play in his second and struck out in his third. Delmon Young went 2-for-2, including an RBI single in the fourth inning. Jason Kubel hit his first home run of the spring with a solo shot over the right-field wall in the sixth. In the eighth inning, Danny Valencia delivered the game-winner with an RBI single to left field.

Yankees on the mound: Ian Kennedy held the Twins to just one hit over his two innings, walking one and striking out three. Right-hander Eric Hacker gave up one run on three hits in his one inning. Kubel's homer came off right-hander Andrew Brackman in the sixth.

Twins on the mound: Right-hander Scott Baker, who will be the Twins' Opening Day starter, gave up three runs on six hits over two innings in his first spring outing. Left-handed prospect Brian Duensing pitched two innings, allowing two hits and two walks.

Grapefruit League records: Twins 3-0; Yankees 2-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 09:40 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Joba has short-lived day vs. Minnesota

TWINS 7, YANKEES 3
at Tampa, Fla.
Saturday, Feb. 28

Yankees at the plate: Alex Rodriguez brought in the Bombers' first run with a sacrifice fly, following a Derek Jeter single and Mark Teixeira's booming double. Jeter added a sac fly in the second inning to bring across New York's third run.

Twins at the plate: Delmon Young put Minnesota on the board in the top of the first inning, blasting an RBI double to deep center, and Jason Kubel also stroked a ground-rule RBI double. Carlos Gomez belted a long home run to left in the second inning, Brian Buscher blasted a two-run double and Luke Hughes also drove in a run.

Yankees on the mound: Starter Joba Chamberlain worked one inning, allowing two runs on three hits. Dan Giese had a rough outing, allowing four runs in two innings, including a home run and a wild pitch. Jose Veras turned in a scoreless fourth, striking out two, and Michael Dunn hurled a blank fifth.

Twins on the mound: In his first start of the spring, Francisco Liriano hurled two innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with one walk. Jason Jones threw two scoreless innings in relief, walking one and striking out two.

Grapefruit League records: Twins 4-0; Yankees 2-2

soldaderyan

March 4th, 2009, 09:50 AM

oh oh, bad start for joba

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Yea thank god it's only spring training lol

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 09:59 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yankees honor top Minor Leaguers

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Phil ***e tossed 11 2/3 scoreless innings in his first 10 big league appearances..

TAMPA, Fla. -- Brett Gardner and Phil ***e received the Yankees' annual Kevin Lawn Awards, honoring them respectively as the club's top Minor League player and pitcher for the 2008 season.

Gardner, a 25-year-old outfielder, and ***e, a 26-year-old left-handed pitcher, were acknowledged prior to the Yankees' 1:05 p.m. ET game on Saturday against the Twins at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Gardner appeared in 94 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2008, batting .296 with 12 doubles, 11 triples, three home runs, 32 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. He led all Yankees Minor Leaguers in stolen bases, and tied for fourth in batting average.

Gardner served two stints with New York last season, batting .228 with five doubles, two triples, 16 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 42 games (17 starts). Gardner is currently in a Spring Training competition with Melky Cabrera to be the Yankees' Opening Day center fielder.

"Obviously, I know what's at stake," Gardner said. "I'm just coming out here to work hard and try to get better every day, and have some good quality at-bats and prove to them that I'm ready to compete at this level.

"I feel like my strengths are my defense and baserunning, and being able to get on base and make things happen."

***e combined at Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to go 11-6 with a 2.79 ERA and 137 strikeouts in 37 games (21 starts) last year.

***e ranked third among Yankees farmhands in strikeouts, fourth in wins and sixth in ERA, and he was selected to the Eastern League's postseason All-Star team as the league's top left-handed pitcher after posting a 2.51 ERA, good for second in the circuit.

"The most important thing I took from my Minor League season was to throw strikes, no matter what situation I was coming into, and taking those runners on as though they were my own," ***e said. "Going from the starting rotation to the bullpen played out really big for me."

As a September callup with the Yankees, ***e went 1-0 and allowed only one earned run in 14 2/3 innings pitched (0.61 ERA), including 11 2/3 scoreless innings over his first 10 Major League outings. He enters the spring hoping to secure a position in New York's bullpen.

"Derek Jeter told me, 'Hey, it's the same game, kid,'" ***e said. "That was before I got called into my first game. It just made sense. It's the same game -- just different faces. Getting told that by your captain and a high-caliber player, that tells you to go out there and get it done. Just go do your job. It was very comforting."

The annual awards are dedicated to Kevin O'Brien Lawn, the son of longtime Yankees vice president and chief of operations Jack Lawn, who passed away in 1999. The Yankees welcomed Jack and his wife, Virginia, to the stadium on Saturday.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 10:09 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks' offense runs on all cylinders

REDS 13, YANKEES 11
at Sarasota, Fla.
Sunday, March 1

Yankees at the plate: New York had 14 hits through the first five innings. Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Brett Gardner helped his cause for the center-field job when he hit a leadoff homer in the top of the third. In the fourth inning, Robinson Cano and John Rodriguez each hit solo homers. Derek Jeter went 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

Reds at the plate: A stiff wind was blowing out of Ed Smith Stadium, which helped both clubs to hit a combined eight homers. Left-field candidate Chris Dickerson hit a pair of home runs, including a two-run shot to right field in the first inning and a solo shot to center in the fifth. Joey Votto went 2-for-3 with a leadoff homer in the fifth. Brandon Phillips hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first. Laynce Nix hit a solo homer to right field in the sixth. Craig Tatum's grand slam in the bottom of the seventh put the Reds ahead for good. Cincinnati hit five homers, its most in a spring game since 2003.

Yankees on the mound: Starter Alfredo Aceves gave up three earned runs and two hits in his one inning of work with one walk and one strikeout. Jonathan Albaladejo pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed one earned run and four hits before exiting the game with a left calf injury. Damaso Marte worked one inning and gave up two earned runs and two hits with two strikeouts.

Reds on the mound: Reds starter Aaron Harang pitched three innings with three earned runs and six hits allowed, including a home run. Two of the runs and four of the hits came in the first inning. David Weathers gave up two earned runs and three hits in one inning, including two homers in the fourth. Arthur Rhodes gave up three earned runs and five hits over his one inning. Francisco Cordero allowed three earned runs and four hits in one inning with two strikeouts.

Grapefruit League records: Reds 4-1; Yankees 2-3

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 01:11 PM

More updates coming later

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 03:55 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Dodgers, Manny agree to two-year deal

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"Long negotiation process ends with $45 million contract"

TAMPA, Fla. -- PHOENIX -- The Dodgers have agreed in principle on a two-year, $45 million deal to re-sign free-agent left fielder Manny Ramirez, a baseball source said on Wednesday morning.
The deal was closed, pending a physical, at a meeting at the Malibu, Calif., home of Dodgers owner Frank McCourt that was attended among others by Ramirez, his agents Scott Boras and Mike Fiore, general manager Ned Colletti and manager Joe Torre, the latter duo both flying in from Spring Training camp on Tuesday night for the session.

Torre and Colletti arrived back in Phoenix just before the start of Wednesday's Cactus League game between the Dodgers and Giants at Camelback Ranch. And though the deal has yet to be formally announced, both men were ebullient about what transpired at the hastily arranged meeting, which began at 6 a.m. PT and lasted about two and half hours.

"The meeting went well," Colletti said. "It was really designed to get the personality back into the picture rather than just a negotiation, which was more than four months in transpiring. I thought it went great. Manny seemed very happy and excited about the possibility. I thought it was very, very good."

Ramirez accepted a similar deal to the one the Dodgers offered at a meeting of the principals in his Dodger Stadium office this past Wednesday -- two years, $45 million ($25 million in 2009, $20 million in 2010) with a player option after the first year. If Ramirez decides to stay, payment will be deferred over five years without interest at $10 million each for the first two years and $8.33 million each for the next three years.

If he opts out, he'll receive $25 million over the course of four years, $10 million, $5 million, $5 million and $5 million.

Boras, who wouldn't let the deal die despite some bruised feelings, regarding the direction of the negotiations, seemed relieved on Wednesday that it was done.

"It was a good, productive meeting that broadened the horizons of Frank and Manny's relationship," Boras said in a telephone interview with MLB.com. "They're on their way to defining each other in their respective positions in baseball."

Ramirez remained in Los Angeles and by mid-afternoon was nearing the end of his physical. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Ramirez was expected to be in camp on Thursday before the Dodgers play the White Sox at the Ranch and will take part in a pregame introductory media conference.

Torre said he anticipated it would "take a week" to get Ramirez ready for game action.

"We have plenty of time left," Torre said. "I wasn't worried about the period of time he wasn't here because I know he takes his conditioning seriously."

Torre was summoned back to Los Angeles along with Colletti for what turned out to be the final negotiating session in a 4 1/2-month effort to bring the free agent back to the Dodgers. Last year, he batted .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 53 games, leading the Dodgers as far as the National League Championship Series, where they lost to the eventual World Series-winning Phillies.

The manager who has taken his teams into the playoffs 13 consecutive seasons (1996-2007 with the Yankees), laughed when it was suggested he was brought in as the closer, a la Mariano Rivera.

"I don't know about closing the deal," Torre said. "We all wanted the same thing. That seemed to be apparent to me. Manny was comfortable here. After last year and the time he spent with us, we knew we wanted him back. It was just a matter of trying to find that common ground. You talk on the phone and you talk through the different people, the thing was to get face-to-face, for all of us.

"And Manny, I couldn't have been more pleased with how excited he was and just the prospects of getting back out on the field again."

Boras met for six hours with McCourt on Tuesday, not so much to bridge the gap financially, but to bridge it philosophically.

After the details were essentially in place, both sides decided that the deal could not be completed until all primary parties met face-to-face in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Ramirez flew in from Florida on Tuesday night for that express purpose.

Ramirez, 37 in May, originally sought a contract length of six years at a salary in the Alex Rodriguez neighborhood ($27.5 million a year). The Dodgers initially offered two years at $45 million plus a $15 million third-year option. They also offered salary arbitration, then made a one-year offer of $25 million before presenting an offer last week loosely based on the original two-year, $45 million deal, but dropping a third-year option year in favor of the team and adding the player opt-out clause at the request of Boras.

The negotiations broke down Thursday when Boras evidently rejected the Dodgers' proposal. McCourt said at the time that when they resumed, they would have to "start from scratch." Boras made three proposals on behalf of Ramirez to bridge the gap between the two principal offers. The Dodgers wanted two years for $45 million with $25 million deferred without interest. Ramirez wanted two years for $45 million paid over two years.

On Saturday at the direction of Ramirez, Ramirez's agent made an offer that reduced the difference in the deferred compensation from $3 million to $1.5 million.

Ramirez would be 38 when the contract expires, so in the end the Dodgers satisfied their strategy not to commit into his 40s without having the designated hitter available for a transitional role. The Dodgers' outfield this season would again consist of Ramirez, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, with Juan Pierre squeezed out of a starting role.

From Ramirez's point of a view, if he has another banner year, he can opt out of the contract and try free agency again next offseason, hoping that the economy stabilizes.

Ramirez captured the imagination of the Los Angeles area and its fans in 2008 like no Dodger since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. It's no wonder the Dodgers wanted him back. The meeting seemed to accomplish that quest.

"It was for everybody," Colletti said. "It wasn't for one individual or two individuals. We're really trying to build a team here. A team that sticks together, fights together and is built together. He was a very important member of the team. If we met for an hour and a half, there wasn't one uncomfortable moment in the whole thing."
.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 04:06 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Albaladejo, Montero leave with injuries

TAMPA, Fla. -- Yankees catching prospect Jesus Montero left Sunday's Grapefruit League exhibition against the Reds after suffering a strained right groin.

Montero was behind the plate in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 13-11 loss at Ed Smith Stadium when he attempted to block a wild pitch from right-hander Mark Melancon. Montero's knee got caught in the dirt, and he limped off the field after the play.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that Montero had been examined by trainer Gene Monahan and that the 19-year-old backstop would miss at least a few games.

Earlier in the contest, Yankees right-hander Jonathan Albaladejo was also forced to exit after being struck in the left calf by a batted ball.

Albaladejo was working in the bottom of the third inning, when Cincinnati's Jeff Keppinger hit a hard shot up the middle and off the pitcher into center field.

Albaladejo backed up the play and was walking back to the mound when Girardi grabbed him by the shoulders, turning him around. With little discussion, Albaladejo then left off the field with Girardi and Monahan, replaced by right-hander J.B. Cox.

Girardi said the Yankees would wait a day to see how Albaladejo reacts, but the hurler said he felt fine. The 26-year-old Albaladejo made the Yankees' Opening Day roster in 2008, but he missed a significant portion of the season due to injury.

Albaladejo was removed from a May 9 appearance in Detroit with what was later diagnosed as a stress fracture in his right elbow and did not return to the big leagues, though he pitched in four September games on a rehab assignment with Class A Staten Island and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 4th, 2009, 04:15 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Reserves carry Yanks against Astros

ASTROS 5, YANKEES 5
at Kissimmee, Fla.
Monday, March 2

Yankees at the plate: The Bombers jumped on Astros starter Mike Hampton immediately, plating three runs in the first inning and one in the second. Angel Berroa knocked a leadoff double in the second and scored on an RBI single by Melky Cabrera. Berroa knocked a solo homer off Russ Ortiz in the fourth.

Astros at the plate: Geoff Blum drove in Houston's first run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, plating Lance Berkman. Matt Kata knocked a solo homer off Anthony Clagett in the fifth, and Chris Johnson drove in two more runs with a hit in the eighth. Brian Bogusevic knocked in the game-tying run with an infield hit later in the inning.

Yankees on the mound: Chien-Ming Wang pitched two scoreless innings, allowing two hits without a walk or strikeout. Brett Tomko allowed one run in two frames.

Astros on the mound: Hampton was slated to throw three innings, but a high pitch count limited him to just two. Hampton yielded four runs on six hits, including an RBI triple by Cabrera that contributed to a three-run first. Jose Valverde struck out two in one inning, and Ortiz allowed one run over three frames.

Grapefruit League records: Astros 1-4-1; Yankees 2-3-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 5th, 2009, 08:07 AM

More updates coming later:thumbsup:

soldaderyan

March 5th, 2009, 08:51 AM

ouch, bad injuries

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 5th, 2009, 11:09 AM

Yea bro those are tough for the Yanks

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 6th, 2009, 12:52 PM

Got my 360 yesterday and i really like 2k9 can't wait for april 6

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 09:02 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks muster little offense vs. Braves

BRAVES 3, YANKEES 2
at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Wednesday, March 4

Yankees at the plate: Johnny Damon's fifth-inning single plated right-handed pitcher Dan Giese, who reached on a single to right off Todd Redmond. Xavier Nady's triple to lead off the sixth inning put him in position to score on a Juan Miranda RBI groundout.

Astros at the plate: First baseman Casey Kotchman's two-run double in the first inning gave the Braves a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Yunel Escobar's fifth-inning sacrifice fly scored Martin Prado, who had reached on a leadoff double.

Yankees on the mound: Ian Kennedy, who allowed two earned runs and three hits over three innings, surrendered doubles to three of the first seven hitters he faced but seemed to find his groove thereafter. Giese, who allowed one run and two hits in three innings, was damaged by Prado's fifth-inning double.

Astros on the mound: Kenshin Kawakami pitched around three walks while completing three hitless and scoreless innings. After issuing consecutive two-out walks in the third inning, the Japanese right-hander escaped trouble by getting Nady to ground out. Right-handed reliever Blaine Boyer allowed one hit while completing a scorless fourth inning.

Grapefruit League records: Braves 4-2; Yankees 2-4-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 09:32 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

A-Rod opts for surgery

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Alex Rodriguez could return sometime in May after having surgery on Monday..

TAMPA, Fla. -- Alex Rodriguez will have surgery on his torn right hip labrum, opting for a so-called "hybrid" approach that could have him playing for the Yankees about two months after the limited procedure.
Rodriguez will undergo the surgery on Monday morning in Vail, Colo., having the procedure performed by hip specialist Dr. Marc Philippon. Rodriguez is expected to return to Major League game-ready shape in six to nine weeks.

"The goal here is to allow Alex to rehab rapidly in a safe manner," Dr. Philippon said. "The approach we're using is much safer than letting Alex play the way he is now."

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that the club had been considering three courses of action to handle Rodriguez's labrum tear and paralabral cyst, which had limited his activities and prompted the slugger to complain of continued tightness and lack of movement.

The club could do nothing and see how Rodriguez got through the season, drain the cyst and allow him more flexibility, or select a complete surgical procedure that would cost Rodriguez approximately four months.

Rodriguez's cyst was drained on Wednesday and more information was gathered on how the slugger would react to that conservative procedure. In the past 48 hours, Cashman said, a fourth option emerged from Dr. Philippon.

That ultimately is the route the Yankees have decided to take -- having arthroscopic surgery to repair only the labrum tear for the moment, shortening Rodriguez's rehab. Following the conclusion of the season, Rodriguez will have the more complete procedure to repair the remaining aspect of his injury.

"Because of all the tests, findings, analysis and function of Alex, I feel it's in his best interest to have his labrum repaired, remove part of his impingement at the same time and therefore stabilize his labrum," Dr. Philippon said.

"[The procedure will] remove a little bit of the impingement, and by doing this, we will contain the cyst. The goal here is to stabilize Alex's labrum, remove a little bit of the impingement and allow him to have more freedom of movement in his hip."

After discussion of the risks and downside -- if any -- Rodriguez and the Yankees gravitated toward the new fourth option. Dr. Philippon said that he has performed similar procedures on other professional athletes, and that this would allow him to play more safely.

Cashman said that Dr. Philippon's expertise with the procedure gave Rodriguez and the organization comfort "that this was not only a legitimate option, but the best one."

"In a situation like Alex's, when we're trying to return him rapidly to his high-level function, it's certainly a very good option," Dr. Philippon said. "It's a little more demanding on the patient, but Alex is very athletic and has overall very good muscular strength. I firmly believe that this approach will be successful."

In medical terms, Rodriguez's labrum tear is a femoroacteabular impingement, which causes friction in the hip joint. Rodriguez has two types of impingement, "pincer" and "cam" -- Dr. Philippon will only repair the pincer impingement on Monday.

Dr. Philippon said that there is only a limited risk that Rodriguez could re-tear his labrum while playing through the 2009 season until the more complete surgery will be performed. He estimated his confidence of that fact "in the 85, 90 percent range".

Had Rodriguez undergone the complete procedure that he will eventually require, Dr. Philippon estimated that Rodriguez would have pushed his recovery time from 12 to 16 weeks.

"The belief is that it would be extensively longer than this current rehab process on this shorter surgery," Cashman said. "That's why Alex has gravitated to this decision."

Cashman said that Rodriguez will remain in Colorado "for the foreseeable future," working out under the supervision of Dr. Philippon. Rodriguez is expected to resume swinging a bat -- functional rehab and muscle memory -- as soon as one week after Monday's procedure.

"We will keep Alex with us, certainly for the first few weeks," Dr. Philippon said. "We are going to put him on the fast track. We will be very aggressive with his rehab and check on Alex twice a day."

As revealed by the club last week, Rodriguez had been managing tightness and discomfort in his right hip dating back to the 2008 season, but had never complained of pain.

An MRI taken Feb. 28 in Tampa, Fla., showed changes to an underlying bone deformity first catalogued by the Yankees last May, when Rodriguez spent time on the disabled list with a strained right quadriceps.

With Rodriguez sidelined until at least mid-April, the Yankees plan to enter the season filling from within. Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said that utilityman Cody Ransom is the most likely candidate to fill in at third base for the three-time American League MVP, who is in the second year of a 10-year, $275 million contract.

"The Yankees are confident that we have sent Alex to the best doctor that can address his needs, both in the short and long term," Cashman said. "We are very confident that Monday's surgery is the best approach to take at this time and we look forward to it."

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 10:06 AM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Ransom likely to sub if A-Rod stays out

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Cody Ransom (right) was described by Yankees manager Joe Girardi as "a professional player.".

TAMPA, Fla. -- Yankees manager Joe Girardi may not be prepared to consider it yet, but there is a chance that he will be scribbling Cody Ransom's name into his club's Opening Day lineup instead of Alex Rodriguez's.
Certainly, the Yankees would prefer to have their superstar third baseman ready and available to play come Opening Day on April 6, the torn labrum in his right hip carefully coached onto the field. But should that not occur, Ransom is the front-runner to help New York patch its lineup.

"Cody is a professional player," Girardi said on Thursday. "He has experience all over the infield, he has pop in his bat. Cody is one of those guys that gets dirty all the time and plays extremely hard. He has a great attitude."

Ransom, 33, hit .302 with four home runs and eight RBIs in 33 games for the Yankees last season as a utility man, including three starts at third base. Ransom said that while Rodriguez's injury may be opening up a starting job, it would not alter his mind-set.

"I'm not going to change the way I approach the spring or getting ready for the season," Ransom said. "I've got to go about my business the way I would, whether I was trying to get ready to be a utility guy or a third baseman. You hate to have something happen, especially to a guy who is such a big part of the team."

Ransom has logged 183 big league at-bats with three organizations, signing with the Yankees in November 2007 and earning a promotion to New York last August. He is 2-for-12 with an RBI this Grapefruit League season.

In the event of an extended A-Rod absence, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that the club is considering its contingency plans from within. That likely boils down to Ransom and 30-year-old infielder Angel Berroa, a former American League Rookie of the Year who is attending Yankees camp as a non-roster invitee.

"Right now, that's probably what we'd have to think about," Girardi said. "There's a lot that can change in the next four or five weeks, but Cody has a lot of experience playing on that side of the infield. He's shown that he's got pop in his bat. He's a very good defender. We'll have to wait and see."

Ransom said that should his opportunity come to pass, he does not have any illusions about single-handedly replacing the production of Rodriguez, a three-time AL Most Valuable Player. But he can be part of a puzzle that helps to fill the void.

"As a team, we can pick up the slack a little bit," Ransom said. "Everybody is in Spring Training, going about their business the way that they would had he not been injured.

"I know personally, I'm going about it the same way, trying to get ready for Opening Day and hopefully be on the team, and see where it goes from there."

soldaderyan

March 8th, 2009, 10:09 AM

Hey havok are you going to start w/o A.Rod ?

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 10:12 AM

Hey havok are you going to start w/o A.Rod ?

Nope with A-Rod :thumbsup: I also heard that they may try Nady at third :eek:

mgb

March 8th, 2009, 10:14 AM

Put Cano at third and either pick-up a 2nd basemen or bring someone up from the farm.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 01:11 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

CC debut results in Yankees victory

TIGERS 3, YANKEES 7
at Tampa, Fla.
Friday, March 6

Yankees at the plate: Cody Ransom accounted for the Yankees' first run in the second inning, stroking a double to right, moving up on a groundout and scoring on a passed ball. Johnny Damon added an RBI double in the three-run third inning, Nick Swisher had an RBI groundout and Shelley Duncan blooped a run-scoring single as the Yankees opened up a lead. Ramiro Pena had an RBI and stolen base in the sixth, and Jorge Posada also had a two-base hit.

Tigers at the plate: Placido Polanco doubled and scored on an error in the first inning to put Detroit on the board. Alex Avila stroked a two-run single to left in the sixth, drawing the Tigers within one run. Gary Sheffield was hit by pitches twice.

Yankees on the mound: Making his first start in a Yankees uniform, CC Sabathia hurled two innings of one-run ball, though the run was unearned on an Angel Berroa error. Sabathia walked none and struck out two, allowing two hits in a 26-pitch (20 strikes) outing. Alfredo Aceves came on next and hurled 2 2/3 innings of scoreless, one-hit ball, walking one and striking out one.

Tigers on the mound: Making his third start of the spring, Justin Verlander allowed four runs (three earned) in 2 1/3 innings of work, walking one and striking out two while allowing four hits. Verlander threw 50 pitches (29 strikes). Freddy Dolsi scattered three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Brandon Lyon pitched a scoreless fifth.

Grapefruit League records: Tigers 3-4; Yankees 3-4-1

K-Rod57

March 8th, 2009, 01:18 PM

dude, why aren't you playing til April 6th, nobody wants you to wait that long.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 03:01 PM

dude, why aren't you playing til April 6th, nobody wants you to wait that long.

Cause i want opening day rosters and i play around til i have perfect sliders:thumbsup:

soldaderyan

March 8th, 2009, 05:26 PM

Hey havok , if you are going to play with a rod , the surgery post dosnt make any sence, you should delete thaT post man :)

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 8th, 2009, 10:40 PM

Hey havok , if you are going to play with a rod , the surgery post dosnt make any sence, you should delete thaT post man :)

Thats true but i have been playing with ransom and i might not play with A-Rod til he returns but i aint sure :confused:

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 9th, 2009, 07:25 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yankees system is heavy on pitching

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Back from Tommy John surgery, Mark Melancon pitched at three levels in 2008..

TAMPA, Fla. -- When things go a little wrong up top, in the big leagues, even people in New York could do worse than checking out what's going on down on the farm. They might even like what they see.

After all, the Yankees had the Minor Leagues' best overall winning percentage in 2008, with two teams capturing titles. Some of the depth was traded away as New York tried to make a playoff run late last season, but there are still some players -- mostly pitchers -- who should contribute in 2009. Down a few levels, there are some exciting uber-talents just figuring things out.

So don't fret, Yankee fans. And not just because of the offseason spending spree in New York. That might help in the short-term, but for the Yankees to return to dynasty form, they'll have to get some help from within their own system. They may use some of it to make more deadline-type trades, but there will still be talent that rises to the top in due time.

Coming Soon
Alfredo Aceves, RHP
It took him a while -- six years in the Mexican League -- but he's ready to contribute. He spent one year with the Yankees and ended up helping out on the 'pen. A starter throughout his career, he showed he can handle a relief role, something for which he's auditioning this spring.

Phil ***e, LHP
Another arm who's taken a little longer to get here, but he's a lefty with some plus stuff. When moved into a relief role (he, too, had been primarily a starter), his stuff played up, with a few more ticks on his fastball. He provides the Yankees with some flexibility and he's looked very good while competing for a bullpen spot this spring.

Mark Melancon, RHP
He's pitched just one year of pro ball after undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out all of 2007, but he went through three levels last year ... finishing at Triple-A. He's got a shot to be a setup man this year and learn the closing craft from the best there is.

Under the Radar
Manuel Banuelos, LHP
The Mexican teenager pitched very well in the Gulf Coast League last summer, with a 2.57 ERA and .208 opponents' batting average in 42 innings. He's turning 18 and already has a pretty good idea of how to pitch, starting with a fastball in the 90-92 mph range.

Mike Dunn, LHP
The 2004 draft-and-follow began the year as a starter in Tampa, but took off when he was switched to the 'pen, becoming relatively unhittable and earning a promotion to Trenton, where he tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He's tough as nails with a fastball that ramped up to 94-95 mph in a relief role.

George Kontos, RHP
The 2006 fifth-rounder hasn't had a true breakout year, but he was pretty solid at Double-A Trenton last season, leading the organization with 152 strikeouts. There's been internal debate over whether he's a starter or reliever, with perhaps more consistent velocity coming out of the 'pen. He'll remain a starter for the time being.

Pat Venditte, P
He's not so much under-the-radar, but that's because of his ambidexterity and not his ability. Sure, there's some gimmick there, being able to pitch with both hands, but the 20th-rounder makes it work. He led Staten Island's bullpen into the playoffs in his first pro season.

Draft
Top Picks
2008: Gerrit Cole, RHP
The Yankees attempted to sign the California high school flamethrower but were unsuccessful. He's off to a very good start as a freshman at UCLA.

2007: Andrew Brackman, RHP
The big right-hander had Tommy John surgery right after signing. He's yet to actually pitch for a Yankees affiliate, but he went to Hawaii in the offseason and, while obviously rusty, showed some great pure stuff, striking out over a batter per inning.

2006: Ian Kennedy, RHP
The USC product made fairly quick work of the Minors, making it to the big leagues before his first full pro season was over. He stalled a little bit last year, dealing with injury and uneven performance in the bigs. A strong winter ball performance might get him back on track in 2009.

Predictions
Hitter of the Year -- Jesus Montero
It might be boring to pick the guy who was MLB.com's organizational Hitter of the Year in 2008, but Montero can flat-out rake. Look for him to continue to hit for average, add a little more power and drive in runs to become a true middle-of-the-order threat.

Pitcher of the Year -- Dellin Betances
It'd be easy to go 2-for-2 and pick last year's Pitcher of the Year, Zach McAllister. Instead, Betances gets the nod. Another year removed from arm trouble, the Brooklyn native is ready to break out and could challenge for the Minor League lead in strikeouts.

Notes of Note
Don't forget about reliever J. Brent Cox. The 2005 second-round pick was supposed to be a college reliever who'd move quickly. Injuries forced him out for all of 2007, but he ended up at Triple-A in 2008. He could be in the bullpen mix in the near future.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 10th, 2009, 06:54 PM

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A New York Yankees Franchise

Starting rotation to shape Yanks' fate

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Andy Pettitte (right) and CC Sabathia provide the Yankees with two left-handers in the rotation..

TAMPA, Fla. -- The flecks of gray hiding under Andy Pettitte's cap are more plentiful, and the years don't lie. That fresh-faced rookie left-hander has grown into the veteran sage of the Yankees' rotation.
Starters have come and gone during Pettitte's 11 seasons in pinstripes, interrupted on the back of his baseball cards only by those three lines in Houston. They say good pitching wins championships, and Pettitte has learned a hard lesson about forecasting that a staff will be able to bring one home.

"For me, you expect to get to a World Series," Pettitte said, "but I think we're realizing how much work and how difficult it is to do that. We haven't been there since 2003 and haven't won it since 2000. It's extremely hard to do.

"I think everybody is finally realizing, it doesn't matter how much you spend or what kind of team you put together. It's awfully tough to win in this league."

After missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993, the Yankees wasted no time in promising that they would make upgrading their starting pitching the top priority.

They all but telegraphed their intentions to the rest of the league. No matter what it cost, the Yankees were going to make sure they upgraded a rotation that was forced to stagger to the finish line last season with a patchwork array of arms.

If general manager Brian Cashman had to slip out of Las Vegas to dump more cash on CC Sabathia's doorstep, so be it. And after players like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon pestered Cashman to steal A.J. Burnett away, the Yanks promptly trumped the Braves' offer by a few measly million dollars.

The end result is a rotation that could be as strong as any since the championship seasons, those same ones that Joe Torre delighted in recounting for his book -- at least, before things turned sour with Javier Vazquez, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown and, yes, Carl Pavano.

"By far, our depth in the rotation is unbelievable," Pettitte said. "When you have a rotation like we're going to run out there, how can you not feel like you're as well equipped as anybody in baseball?"

Perhaps it won't all work out with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes. The Yankees have been fooled before.

Sabathia's arm could pay a heavy price for recording 1,482 outs in the past two regular seasons. With no contract to pitch for, Burnett's track record doesn't necessarily inspire confidence that his first Yankees season won't include a disabled list detour.

But if everything clicks right, the Yankees may have one of baseball's best staffs appearing every night at their sparkling new $1.5 billion cathedral.

"We've definitely got the talent in there, we've got the guys in there," Sabathia said. "I'm excited to see what our staff will be."

That feeling has been contagious. Upon arriving in camp, Burnett found the rotation so solid -- Pettitte as the No. 4, Joba Chamberlain as the No. 5 -- that he proclaimed each pitcher should win at least 15 games.

"There is," Burnett said convincingly, "no back end."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi has been careful not to count his blessings before the team gets to the blocks, especially considering how the club's season shifted on a steamy June afternoon in Houston last season.

The memory is still cringe-worthy: Chien-Ming Wang, a 19-game winner two years running and well on his way again, limping off the field while using Girardi's shoulders as a brace after a fluke baserunning mishap.

Now a sworn enemy of the National League, Wang was done, his final record stuck at 8-2. But now that Wang is back to pounding the strike zone with what former pitching coach Ron Guidry referred to as his "bowling ball sinker," Girardi calls Wang's return vital to the staff.

"I think this rotation is very strong," Wang said. "CC and Burnett are going to get a lot of innings. Pettitte and Joba, too."

Looking up and down the starting five -- Wang sandwiched as the No. 2 between the strikeout-heavy Sabathia and Burnett -- Girardi can't help but feel more confident about his rotation's chances over last year's five. That staff basically handed starting jobs to rookies Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, who finished the year without recording a win.

"It's definitely a lot more experienced," Girardi said.

"These guys have a track record of what they've done, what they're capable of doing. Mentally, you don't necessarily worry about them as much if they have a couple of bad starts in a row.

"If they don't get off to a good start, you don't worry about them as much because they have that track record to fall on."

The wild card could be Chamberlain, the owner of four quality pitches and a never-ending debate that follows him from city to city. So far, the bullpen supporters are losing the fight, as Chamberlain will have his opportunity to follow up on the promise he showed during a part-time starting stint last season.

Chamberlain's badge of honor, so far, came in a July 25 start at Fenway Park, when the right-hander locked heads with Josh Beckett and came away victorious in a 1-0 duel. Chamberlain walked none and struck out nine that night, a big see-told-you-so in his favor. He promises to be ready for encore performances.

"Nothing's 100 percent, and I understand that in this game -- especially with this team," Chamberlain said. "But I also understand that I have a pretty good idea that's what I'm going to do. I can stay in my routine and not shuffle and try to figure out what works during the year. As a starter, I know what it's going to take during the season."

But so much is still up for debate. On the topic of October -- the organizational motto so emblazoned in the public perception that it might as well replace the script word on the top-hat logo -- Pettitte takes a page from Jeter's book.

It's the captain's often-spoken belief that the best eight teams get into the postseason, but the hottest team comes away the champion. The biorhythms of the game play such a large part during that final dance, Pettitte's opening round of expectations for the Yankees are simply to crack back into that Division Series layer.

"First and foremost, the expectations for me are to get to the playoffs," Pettitte said. "We got knocked out last year and we didn't get there. If we get to the playoffs, we'll go from there -- see how everybody is pitching and how our health is.

"Hopefully you have things go right for you and you're able to advance to the World Series. But the way the league is now, it's awfully tough to go in and say, 'Our expectation is to win the World Series.' That's what you want, but it's just hard to do."

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 10th, 2009, 07:25 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Pitching no concern in Yankees' loss

BRAVES 3, YANKEES 1
at Tampa, Fla.
Saturday, March 7

Yankees at the plate: Justin Leone drove a run-scoring single into left field with two outs in the fourth inning, bringing home Mark Teixeira with New York's first run. Hideki Matsui went 1-for-2 as the designated hitter in his second game since returning to action with a surgically repaired left knee.

Braves at the plate: Casey Kotchman put Atlanta on the board in the top of the first inning, belting his first home run of the Grapefruit League season into the right-field picnic area for a solo shot. Greg Norton belted a one-out solo homer, his second of the spring season, in the sixth inning, and Brandon Jones hit another solo shot in the seventh. Yunel Escobar had two hits.

Yankees on the mound: Making his first start of the Grapefruit League season, right-hander Chien-Ming Wang worked three innings of one-run ball, scattering three hits while walking none and striking out two. Wang threw 33 pitches (27 strikes) but drew Dave Eiland to the mound for a visit in the third inning. Brett Tomko continued his early pitch toward a long-relief role, pitching three innings of one-run ball while striking out three.

Braves on the mound: Right-hander Jair Jurrjens worked 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits while walking none and striking out three. Jurrjens left two runners aboard for reliever Buddy Carlyle, who allowed one to score, and threw 64 pitches (41 strikes). Kris Medlen sent the Yankees down in order in the sixth.

Grapefruit League records: Braves 6-2; Yankees 2-5-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 11th, 2009, 03:49 PM

See guys thats why i wait to start my chise ->Patch#2 (http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211682)

K-Rod57

March 11th, 2009, 03:53 PM

what is so great about the patch anyways?!

it's mainly for online issues...

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 11th, 2009, 03:56 PM

I just want it cause i want to run this chise smoothly

XxPRiM3TiMExX

March 11th, 2009, 06:13 PM

Looks good, Im still following....

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 11th, 2009, 06:14 PM

Thanks Prim3time

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 12th, 2009, 02:16 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Berroa backs Burnett in Yankees' win

TIGERS 3, YANKEES 12
at Lakeland, Fla.
Sunday, March 8

Yankees at the plate: Angel Berroa's three-run home run started the Yankees' onslaught in the second inning, and Jose Molina's two-run single continued it. But the bulk of New York's scoring came in a six-run, three-hit fifth that started with Xavier Nady's solo homer and continued with his RBI bloop single next time up.

Tigers at the plate: Detroit had been blanked for five innings and faced a double-digit deficit until Will Rhymes hit a two-run homer off the scoreboard in right field. Don Kelly had a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Jeff Larish had two hits.

Yankees on the mound: A.J. Burnett's first start as a member of the Yankees saw the righty toss two scoreless innings and face just six batters -- he erased a second-inning single with an inning-ending double play. Phil Hughes followed with three hitless innings and four strikeouts before Brian Bruney gave up Rhymes' homer. Andrew Brackman loaded the bases to set up the seventh-inning sacrifice fly.

Tigers on the mound: With two outs in the fifth inning, Tigers pitchers had recorded 14 outs and issued 10 walks. Nate Robertson gave up four of them, but it was Berroa's homer on an 0-2 hanging slider that accounted for his scoring damage. Dontrelle Willis, pitching through a stomach virus, walked two batters in as many innings but was one strike shy of escaping without giving up a run, then he yielded Molina's single. Scott Williamson walked four batters and hit another in his six-run inning.

Grapefruit League records: Tigers 3-6; Yankees 4-5-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 12th, 2009, 02:23 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Gardner hits third homer in Yanks' loss

BLUE JAYS 6, YANKEES 2
at Tampa, Fla.
Monday, March 9

Yankees at the plate: Brett Gardner belted his third home run of the Grapefruit League season, cracking a two-run shot to right in the fourth inning. Mark Teixeira hit a booming double off the top of the center-field fence.

Blue Jays at the plate: Russ Adams put Toronto on the board first with his first home run of the Grapefruit League season, a solo shot to right in the third inning. Aaron Hill and Raul Chavez stroked doubles, and Adams tacked on a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the fifth. In a three-run sixth, Lyle Overbay gave the Jays the lead with an RBI double, Jason Lane lifted a sacrifice fly and Travis Snider connected for his second home run of the spring.

Yankees on the mound: Making his first start of the spring, left-hander Andy Pettitte faced six batters, working 1 2/3 innings. Pettitte allowed a first-inning double and walked one, striking out back-to-back batters to end the first frame. Dan Giese allowed a solo home run in 2 1/3 innings, and Ian Kennedy gave up three runs in the sixth, including Snider's long home run.

Blue Jays on the mound: Left-hander Brad Mills made his second start and third appearance, continuing his candidacy for Toronto's starting rotation. Mills worked 3 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and two runs, both on the Gardner home run. He walked one and struck out four. Casey Janssen pitched two shutout innings, allowing two hits and fanning two.

Grapefruit League records: Blue Jays 6-4; Yankees 4-6-1

XxPRiM3TiMExX

March 12th, 2009, 02:29 PM

Gardner>>>>>>Melky

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 12th, 2009, 02:35 PM

Yes man Gardner running away with this battle to bad Melky is gonna go to AAA and most likely traded

XxPRiM3TiMExX

March 12th, 2009, 02:48 PM

I hope so, Gardner is alot more potential, and his speed is needed on this team.

NYBballa621

March 12th, 2009, 03:52 PM

^^^ Yea seriously his like the fastest guy on the Yankees now cause damon slows down every year and nice chise man.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 12th, 2009, 04:08 PM

Thanks NYBballa621

mgb

March 12th, 2009, 04:12 PM

I traded Swisher in my franchise, since he is a waste. The trade was Swisher and Marte and I got Torri Hunter. Since Gardner and Melkey constantly made errors I had to make that trade.

Meekay08

March 12th, 2009, 06:05 PM

I love swisher....im The Yankees in a League online and he is litghing it up for me.. I traded Xavier nady and Andy Pettite for Daneil Murphy and Oliver Perez

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 13th, 2009, 04:43 PM

Updates after the Knicks game

XxPRiM3TiMExX

March 13th, 2009, 05:18 PM

Updates after the Knicks game

Hell Yeah, Knicks Vs. T-Wolves, Willi Danilli gunna put a show on tonight.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 13th, 2009, 05:22 PM

Hell yea i hope so

XxPRiM3TiMExX

March 13th, 2009, 05:26 PM

Hell yea i hope so

Du-Du's out so we should win. :lol:

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 13th, 2009, 11:07 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Surgery performed on A-Rod's hip

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"There were no surprises," Dr. Marc Philippon said of Alex Rodriguez's right hip surgery..

TAMPA, Fla. -- Alex Rodriguez underwent successful surgery on his right hip on Monday and is expected to return to the Yankees' lineup within six to nine weeks.
Dr. Marc Philippon performed the one-hour, 20-minute procedure at the Vail Valley Surgery Center in Vail, Colo., and said that Rodriguez would be able to check out of the hospital later in the day.

"Alex is doing very well," Philippon said on a conference call with reporters. "The surgery went exactly as planned, and we will start him on his rehab this afternoon."

Philippon said he repaired a torn labrum in Rodriguez's right hip and also addressed cartilage from a paralabral cyst, both of which had restricted Rodriguez's movement dating back to last season.

"There were no surprises," Philippon said. "It was exactly what we prepared for."

Rodriguez will be on the fast track to returning to baseball shape, beginning range-of-motion exercises and riding a stationary bicycle later Monday.

Rodriguez will continue working on muscle exercises using small resistance for the rest of the week, and by Sunday, he could begin handling a bat.

"There is no doubt in our minds that this was the best option for Alex and for the Yankees," Philippon said.

In medical terms, Rodriguez's labrum tear was a femoroacteabular impingement, which causes friction in the hip joint. Rodriguez had two types of impingement, "pincer" and "cam."

Philippon repaired only the pincer impingement on Monday, a so-called "hybrid" procedure. Rodriguez will eventually have another procedure performed, one the Yankees hope will take place after the season.

Philippon said that because Rodriguez had Monday's procedure, the rehabilitation time of the later procedure will be shorter than the three to four months he could have missed by having it now.

Philippon said that if Rodriguez has the surgery in November, he "absolutely" would be ready for Spring Training in 2010.

Rodriguez had been managing tightness and discomfort in his right hip dating back to the 2008 season, though he had never complained of pain.

An MRI taken on Feb. 28 in Tampa, Fla., showed changes to an underlying bone deformity first cataloged by the Yankees last May, when Rodriguez spent time on the disabled list with a strained right quadriceps. That prompted Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad to recommend that Rodriguez be sent to a hip specialist.

With Rodriguez sidelined until at least mid-April, the Yankees plan to fill their lineup from within. Cody Ransom is the most likely candidate to fill in at third base for the three-time American League Most Valuable Player, who is in the second year of a 10-year, $275 million contract.

"We're going to miss him -- that's the bottom line," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I'm glad things went well, the surgery. One thing about Alex, we know he's going to work and work and work. It might be a case where you have to hold him back a little bit, because he's going to be anxious to get back. Alex is not replaceable, but they said six to nine weeks, and hopefully it's fairly soon."

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 13th, 2009, 11:27 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yankee Stadium

(0-1)http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Tampa_Bay_Rays1.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/New_York_Yankees.png(1-0)

Yankees Win A Close One

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C.C. strikes out Lugo in the 4th

RAYS : 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |- 5 | 12 | 0 |
YANKEES : 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X |- 7 | 11 | 1 |

WP: C.Sabathia
LP: M.Garza
SV: None

Pitching Stats(Away)

M.Garza(L, 0-1) 9.0 IP | 8 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 2 BB | 3 K | 3.80 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

C.Sabathia(W, 1-0) 9.0 IP | 11 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 11 K | 2.82 ERA

Yankees Lineup

LF) J.Damon (0-4) 2 K

SS) D.Jeter (1-4) R

1B) M.Tiexera (3-3) BB RBI(1)

3B) A.Rodriguez (1-4) RBI(1)

RF) X.Nady (0-4) K

DH) H.Matsui (1-4)

C) J.Posada (1-4)

2B) R.Cano (0-3) BB

CF) B.Gardner (1-4) SB(1) 2 R

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Prospect Watch

C) Jesus Monetero(3-3) HR(2) 3 RBI(3)

SP) P.Hughes(W, 1-0) 9.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

***Updated***

-Took away other teams batting stats(it takes to much time to post thier stats)
-Added 2K9 in game screen shot
-I'm still updating this every day so let me know how it looks
-Got the right picture size
-Fixed the lineup layout
-Added prospect watch AAA only
-Made the pitching stats more readable made it Bold

XxPRiM3TiMExX

March 14th, 2009, 08:09 AM

I <3 It, really good.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 14th, 2009, 10:17 AM

Thanks XxPRiM3TiMExX

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 14th, 2009, 10:34 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Lesser-known Yanks hold off Reds

REDS 1, YANKEES 7
at Tampa, Fla.
Tuesday, March 10

Yankees at the plate: Hideki Matsui and Cody Ransom stroked back-to-back doubles in the second inning to create New York's first run. Ramiro Pena legged out a double and scored on Brett Gardner's third-inning single, giving the Yankees the lead again, and Juan Miranda belted his first homer of the Grapefruit League season in the fourth. Shelley Duncan put it away with a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.

Reds at the plate: Chris Dickerson drilled a run-scoring triple to deep center field in the third inning, driving in Cincinnati's first run. Dickerson and catcher Ryan Hanigan each had two hits.

Yankees on the mound: Joba Chamberlain was much improved in his third start of the spring, facing the minimum in the first two innings and spotting his fastball, curveball and slider with command. Overall, Chamberlain threw 29 pitches (20 strikes), allowing one run on three hits while walking none and striking out three. Phil ***e worked two scoreless innings of relief, scattering three hits while walking none, striking out three and picking off a runner.

Reds on the mound: Nick Masset made his second start of the spring as he continues a bid to be Cincinnati's fifth starter. The righty worked four innings and allowed three runs on eight hits, including the home run to Miranda. Masset walked none and struck out one.

Grapefruit League records: Reds 7-6; Yankees 5-6-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 14th, 2009, 10:45 AM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Cashman 'not proactive' in market

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that a trade opportunity presenting itself is "not realistic.".

TAMPA, Fla. -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Tuesday that he is "not optimistic" about acquiring another third baseman to fill in for Alex Rodriguez, believing his club can play on with what it has.
Until further notice, the Yankees are expecting to hit Opening Day with 33-year-old utility man Cody Ransom taking the place of the three-time American League Most Valuable Player until mid-May. Cashman said he does not anticipate that situation will change.

"I'm not optimistic about doing anything," Cashman said. "I'm not going to be proactive in trying to do something. If something presents itself that makes sense, which is not realistic, then maybe it will be somebody different. I think our answer is here in camp."

Rodriguez had an 80-minute surgical procedure performed on his right hip on Monday in Vail, Colo. Dr. Marc Philippon performed the surgery to repair a torn labrum and address cartilage from a paralabral cyst. Rodriguez is expected to return in six to nine weeks.

Cashman said that he has not spoken to any general managers regarding third-base options, though agents have called him. Yankees director of professional scouting Billy Eppler would be assigned to line up any potential options.

Cashman gave no inclination that he would pursue players like veteran free agent Mark Grudzielanek, but he balked when asked if he had seen any options that might be better than Ransom.

"I wouldn't say," Cashman said. "We'll do our due diligence to go through the process. The only thing I'd basically state is that we're not going to be all that proactive and I'm not optimistic that we'll run into something.

"The team [is] not wanting to add payroll and not wanting to hurt the farm system, and we're going to get Alex back. I think we're going to go with what we have in camp."

Ransom has said that, should he begin the season as the Yankees' third baseman, he would not try to replace Rodriguez. Teammates agreed that they would have to pick up the slack in Rodriguez's absence, and Cashman said that the Yankees could not match his production.

"I don't know if you're ever prepared to miss a player like Alex Rodriguez," Cashman said. "The drop-off from a player like Alex is so significant, you can never really prepare for that.

"One player doesn't make a team, and while he's gone, we have a lot of guys we're proud of with big names that we can run out there and have the expectation to win that day's game."

For the foreseeable future, Rodriguez will remain in Vail, Colo., where he will be on the fast track to returning to baseball shape. He began range-of-motion exercises and riding a stationary bicycle after the surgery on Monday, and he'll continue working on muscle exercises for the rest of the week.

Cashman said that Rodriguez will eventually return to Tampa when he can physically resume functional activities, like hitting in a batting cage and fielding ground balls. Until then, he will remain under Philippon's care.

"As long as he needs him out there, he's got him," Cashman said. "He's in good hands."

soldaderyan

March 14th, 2009, 04:40 PM

yeah, nice boxscore havok

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 15th, 2009, 12:37 AM

yeah, nice boxscore havok

Thanks soldade. More updates later today

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 16th, 2009, 12:59 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Sabathia knocked around

TIGERS 7, YANKEES 4
at Lakeland, Fla.
Sunday, March 11

Yankees at the plate: New York hitters waited out Tigers starter Justin Verlander for the second time in six days, this time for four runs over the first two innings. Mark Teixeira singled in a run in the opening inning, then drew a two-out walk that loaded the bases for Jorge Posada's RBI pass in the second. Kevin Cash added an RBI single, and Nick Swisher had a sacrifice fly.

Tigers at the plate: Gary Sheffield, 1-for-16 in Spring Training games entering the day, took a mechanical adjustment to the plate with him and responded with two home runs. His two-run shot paced a five-run second inning off CC Sabathia, and Sheffield added a solo homer in the fourth. Wilkin Ramirez and catcher Gerald Laird added two hits each, including a solo homer from Ramirez in the third.

Yankees on the mound: Sabathia's second Spring Training start with the Yankees didn't last through the second inning, thanks to five runs on six hits, including Sheffield's homer and three straight singles. Solo shots from Sheffield and Ramirez comprised the bulk of the damage against Alfredo Aceves in his 3 1/3 innings. Brian Bruney fanned two in a scoreless frame.

Tigers on the mound: A second inning that topped 30 pitches helped end Verlander's fourth Spring Training start before he could reach the third frame. His four walks included three in a row in the second, leading to a run before he stranded the bases loaded. Fernando Rodney stranded the bases loaded in a scoreless fourth, and Juan Rincon added two more scoreless innings.

Grapefruit League records: Tigers 4-8; Yankees 4-7-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 16th, 2009, 01:06 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Hughes, Kennedy seeking second shot

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Ian Kennedy (left) and Phil Hughes are linked by their similar plights to and from the bigs..

TAMPA, Fla. -- Just as they did last year, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy line up with the rest of the Yankees' starting pitchers, going through the same spring paces and cheering on the club's rotation during Grapefruit League play.
They are on the outside looking in. One season after being promised spots in the starting five, Hughes and Kennedy are assured of nothing, left to hope for another opportunity to succeed at the big league level.

"I guess the lesson learned," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said, "is that we're deeper. Somebody else can take it from you if they want. We have more choices, and that's a better thing."

That urgency was not present last season, when the Yankees pinned a large portion of their hopes on the idea that both Hughes and Kennedy would step up as major contributors in the starting rotation.

The idea was not without merit. Both were highly touted first-round picks who shot through the Yankees' farm system, making it to New York and finding success at the highest level during the 2007 season.

Few could have anticipated the struggles that would follow. Their campaigns marred by injuries and inconsistency, Hughes and Kennedy could not last as members of the Yankees' starting five, finishing the season a combined 0-8 with a 7.45 ERA in 17 starts.

"I came in and I had a penciled-in spot," Kennedy said. "It was almost my spot to lose. Now, I feel like I have to re-prove myself again as a competitor. I want to say, 'Listen, I want to be part of this team again.'"

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the hurlers' seasons were pockmarked with "growing pains," but there was also anguish of the physical variety -- each spent time on the disabled list, Hughes with a fractured right rib and Kennedy with a right lat muscle strain.

"It makes you realize how hard it is to stay here," Girardi said. "You've got to work. Everyone wants to take your job. You have to find ways to get better because people are going to make adjustments to you."

Because of the disappointing showing, the Yankees prioritized starting pitching over the winter, landing the top free agents in CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett for a combined $243.5 million.

Both pitchers say they understood, but if any member of the rotation falters, Hughes and Kennedy believe the chance could be theirs.

"Obviously, if the five starters we have stay healthy and make every one of their starts and we win 110 games, great," Hughes said. "That's the goal. But if that doesn't happen and I'm called upon, I'll be ready to go."

Hughes opened 2008 as the youngest pitcher in the Major Leagues, and he watched his ERA bloat to 9.00 through six starts. He walked off the mound on April 29 and would not pitch again in the big leagues until September.

Helping Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during its postseason drive, Hughes was able to finish his year on a high note, hurling eight innings of two-run ball on Sept. 24 at Toronto. He wrapped up in the Arizona Fall League, making seven starts for Peoria and going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

"I cleaned up some things mechanically and got my arm strength up," Hughes said. "I feel like I was in good shape last spring, but I've put on some good weight and worked on my changeup. My curveball is back to where I'd like it to be from 2006 and early '07, so I feel confident."

Hoping to avoid a third consecutive year of injuries, Hughes spent four days a week training at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Los Angeles. Concentrating on upper body strength, Hughes added eight pounds to inch up to 240, where he was in 2006 -- his last full healthy season.

"I know what I'm capable of doing," Hughes said, "but I still have to go out and show that I can do it on the highest level."

Kennedy's perceived lack of aggressiveness frustrated Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland, giving the impression that he did not trust his stuff. He was 0-4 with an 8.17 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) over three stints with New York, allowing opponents to bat .309 against him.

His last big league start came on Aug. 8, when Kennedy was dispatched to Anaheim after Joba Chamberlain was forced to the disabled list. Kennedy was shelled, allowing five runs in two-plus innings, and raised eyebrows when he told reporters that he was "just not real upset about it."

Kennedy said a turning point came in the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he spun a league-leading 1.56 ERA in six starts for Mayaguez. While there, Kennedy tweaked his curveball and recaptured some of his chutzpah.

"I feel like I grew as a pitcher, just as far as maturity and making in-game adjustments rather than postgame or post-inning," Kennedy said. "This offseason, knowing that every other day someone signed, it still didn't change my mentality.

"I knew if I wanted to make any part of the rotation or have a spot, I'd have to work really hard and come to Spring Training ready. All I can do is work hard and show them that I want this, that I want to have the chance again."

That's not to say there aren't still moments of rocky road. Kennedy allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings Tuesday against Toronto, and he came away "extremely frustrated," Girardi said.

"From an inside point of view, he wants to have his stuff right," Girardi said. "But from us looking at him, we want him to continue to get better and make a few adjustments."

Despite their highs and lows to this point, Hughes is still only 22 and Kennedy is 24. That youth influenced Cashman to resist trade offers on both hurlers this past winter. Their promise leads the Yankees to believe there will still be a future for both pitchers in their uniform, whenever it comes.

"I think they probably feel that they have time to get their stuff in order," Girardi said. "Maybe it's not as much of a rush as it was. For those guys, they know who's in front of them and what's in front of them. They know it's just important to be ready to be called upon and have their stuff ready."

It could well be that the Yankees need to make a call at some point during the year. But Cashman will not commit to saying Hughes or Kennedy would necessarily be the next arm up.

"We always tell our players to make sure when we call Scranton that you're the guy they recommend," Cashman said. "Those names can change throughout the year, and they typically do. Whoever is pitching the best is next in line."

Their travels so closely linked, Hughes and Kennedy have forged a friendship. Their lockers reside within distance of a soft conversation, and the pair often plays catch to warm up together. Sometimes, they can't help but laugh about their link in waiting for that second chance.

"Last year, we were in the same situation, and now we're kind of in the same situation," Kennedy said. "I think it's good that we're friends and we can talk about it. It makes it a friendly competition. It's kind of like we're together no matter what, whether we like it or not."

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 16th, 2009, 01:13 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Tomko continues revival in Yanks' loss

RED SOX 8, YANKEES 4
Fort Myers, Fla.
Friday, March 13

Yankees at the plate: Cody Ransom was 1-for-3, knocking an RBI double that fell just a couple of feet short of clearing the wall. Xavier Nady had a hit, scored a run and drove in two runs.

Red Sox: Mike Lowell, playing his second game of Spring Training and first at third base, went 2-for-2 with a solo homer and a single. David Ortiz, in his first game back from the World Baseball Classic, belted a two-run homer, his first of the Grapefruit League season, capping a seven-run second inning.

Yankees on the mound: Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang was belted around for six hits and seven runs over 1 2/3 innings, walking none and striking out one. Six of the runs were unearned, though Wang gave up two homers. Brett Tomko fired 3 1/3 shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out five.

Red Sox on the mound: Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield gave up five hits and four runs over 2 1/3 innings, walking three, striking out three and hitting a batter. Wakefield threw 64 pitches, including 35 strikes. Closer Jonathan Papelbon fired a scoreless inning, striking out one. Setup man Takashi Saito struck out two in his inning, allowing one hit.

Grapefruit League records: Red Sox 6-8; Yankees 5-8-1

NEPatriot77712

March 16th, 2009, 01:30 PM

so are you waiting for the opening day rosters before you start?

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 16th, 2009, 01:53 PM

so are you waiting for the opening day rosters before you start?

I'm waiting for opening day rosters(Pudge with the Astros) and great set of sliders and the 2nd patch.

chad0034

March 16th, 2009, 07:16 PM

Heres a banner if you feel like using one:
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/Cubbies0034/yankeesbanner.jpg

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 17th, 2009, 09:44 AM

Thanks Chad i'll start using it once i start the season

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 18th, 2009, 06:03 PM

Updates coming later

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 18th, 2009, 06:25 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Jackson paces Yanks past Pirates

PIRATES 10, YANKEES(SS) 13
at Bradenton, Fla.
Saturday, March 14

Yankees at the plate: Outfielder Austin Jackson's two-run homer in the sixth tied the game at 3. The homer was the first of the spring for Jackson and was a part of his two-hit afternoon. Jesus Montero then capped a seven-run seventh with a two-out grand slam over the right-center-field wall. Ramiro Pena drove in two runs, and Shelley Duncan recorded an RBI single in the seventh inning.

Pirates at the plate: Nyjer Morgan and Ryan Doumit hit solo homers in the first. It was Morgan's first long ball of the spring and the second by Doumit. Nate McLouth, who entered the game with eight hits in his previous 18 at-bats, had an RBI double in the fifth. Third baseman Pedro Alvarez launched an RBI double off the center-field wall in the eighth. Garrett Jones hit a two-run homer in the ninth, and Jeff Salazar added a solo shot in the final frame.

Yankees on the mound: Starter Phil Hughes allowed two solo homers and three walks over three innings, while striking out two. Right-hander Ian Kennedy allowed an unearned run and three hits, while striking out five over three innings. Reliever Jonathan Albaladejo pitched a scoreless innings of relief.

Pirates on the mound: Ross Ohlendorf extended himself to four innings for the first time this spring, and he didn't allow a baserunner, while striking out two. It wasn't such a good day for the relievers. Closer Matt Capps walked two, including one with the bases loaded, in his inning. After seven scoreless appearances, reliever Craig Hansen was charged with five earned runs on three hits and two walks in just one-third of an inning.

Grapefruit League records: Pirates 10-5; Yankees 6-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 18th, 2009, 06:37 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Burnett flawless as Yanks top Astros

ASTROS 1, YANKEES(SS) 3
at Tampa, Fla.
Saturday, March 14

Yankees at the plate: Johnny Damon, who went 1-for-3, smacked a line drive over the right-field fence in the first inning for his first Grapefruit League homer. Cody Ransom went 2-for-3 and scored a run. Hideki Matsui had a hit and scored a run in three plate appearances.

Astros at the plate: J.R. Towles went 1-for-3 and hit his first home run of the Grapefruit League season, and former Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone went 1-for-3 with a single. Jason Michaels went 1-for-3, knocking a double that hit the top of the wall in center field.

Yankees on the mound: Right-hander A.J. Burnett was perfect across four innings, striking out three in his second start of the spring. Right-handed reliever Dan Giese allowed one run on two hits in two innings, striking out three.

Astros on the mound: Left-hander Wandy Rodriguez gave up one run on two hits in two innings, striking out one. Rodriguez threw 33 pitches, including 25 strikes. Reliever Alberto Arias, who allowed one hit and one run while striking out three in 1 1/3 innings, left the game in the fourth inning after being struck in the right hand by a line drive off Hideki Matsui's bat.

Grapefruit League records: Astros 1-12-2; Yankees 7-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 20th, 2009, 01:08 PM

Updates coming at 5:00 est

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 20th, 2009, 04:24 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Pettitte tosses three scoreless frames

TWINS 1, YANKEES 5
at Tampa, Fla.
Sunday, March 15

Yankees at the plate: Jorge Posada caught his first game of the spring and stroked two hits, while scoring a first-inning run on Hideki Matsui's fielder's choice. Melky Cabrera doubled and scored on a Ramiro Pena single for the Yankees' second run, and Mark Teixeira added a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Angel Berroa gave the Yankees some breathing room with a two-run double in the sixth. Infielder Doug Bernier left the game after being taken out with a hard slide at second base in the second inning.

Twins at the plate: Minnesota broke through in the top of the sixth inning, as Jason Kubel's RBI single drove home Luke Hughes. Mike Redmond had the first hit of the afternoon for the Twins, drilling a double to left.

Yankees on the mound: Toying with his curveball, Andy Pettitte allowed two hits over three scoreless innings, walking none and striking out one. Phil ***e relieved and pitched three innings, not allowing a hit through the first two before allowing a run in the sixth.

Twins on the mound: Glen Perkins pitched three innings, yielding three runs on five hits. He didn't return for the fourth after being struck by a broken bat as he recorded the final out in the third. Perkins walked none and struck out none. Nick Blackburn relieved and fired two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, and Robert Keppel pitched one inning of two-run ball.

Grapefruit League records: Twins 8-7; Yankees 8-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 20th, 2009, 04:30 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Swisher leads Yanks in rout of Phillies

PHILLIES 0, YANKEES 12
at Tampa, Fla.
Monday, March 16

Yankees at the plate: New York pushed its first run across in the third inning, as Cody Ransom walked and later scored on a Jason Donald throwing error. Jose Molina drove in a run later in the frame. Nick Swisher drilled a two-run single in the fourth, bringing home Eduardo Nunez, Brett Gardner and -- after Swisher was hung up between first and second bases -- Ransom with the Yankees' fifth run. Gardner added an RBI triple in a six-run sixth.

Phillies at the plate: Geoff Jenkins and Matt Stairs doubled for Philadelphia, which was limited to five hits through six scoreless innings by New York pitching.

Yankees on the mound: Joba Chamberlain worked three scoreless innings, scattering two hits. Chamberlain walked one and struck out three, hitting a batter and throwing 48 pitches (27 strikes). Brian Bruney had a shaky fourth, walking two and allowing a double but no runs. Kei Igawa hurled two more scoreless innings, running his spring streak to 11 frames.

Phillies on the mound: Continuing his bid to crack Philadelphia's rotation, Kyle Kendrick had a rough outing, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings. Kendrick walked three and struck out two, his spring ERA lowering to 12.10

Grapefruit League records: Phillies 6-10; Yankees 9-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 23rd, 2009, 01:44 PM

Updates coming later

chad0034

March 23rd, 2009, 01:47 PM

Nice job so far. Can't wait to see some games get going. Why are you waiting? The roster updates? If so, you can just make the moves yourself possibly. That's what I've done so far w/ Pudge, Juan Cruz, etc.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 23rd, 2009, 09:20 PM

cantgrow

March 23rd, 2009, 09:21 PM

Havok can you tell me how to change font size and color

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 23rd, 2009, 09:23 PM

Sure, I'll show u on the layout test thread

cantgrow

March 23rd, 2009, 09:25 PM

K just post it on there and I'll check

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 23rd, 2009, 09:28 PM

K just post it on there and I'll check

Yea i posted it hope that helps :)

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 25th, 2009, 09:39 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Sabathia, Mo help Yanks bounce Bucs

PIRATES 2, YANKEES 9
at Tampa, Fla.
Tuesday, March 17

Yankees at the plate: Hideki Matsui put New York on the board in the first inning with a two-run double to right, then belted a two-run homer in the third inning, his first dinger of the spring. Melky Cabrera added an RBI double, Ramiro Pena stroked a run-scoring single and Jorge Posada punched a two-run single to center in the Yankees' six-run third.

Pirates at the plate: Jose Tabata singled off the third-base bag, moved up on a balk and steal, then scored on Steve Pearce's second-inning groundout. Jeff Salazar homered in the ninth.

Yankees on the mound: Rebounding from a troublesome start last Wednesday against the Tigers, CC Sabathia struck out seven over four innings of one-run ball, walking one. Mariano Rivera made his first spring appearance as he comes back from arthroscopic shoulder surgery, pitching a perfect fifth inning with two strikeouts.

Pirates on the mound: Making his second start and third appearance of the spring, Virgil Vasquez worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits, including the Matsui home run. Vazquez threw 63 pitches (42 strikes), walking one and striking out one. Evan Meek relieved and allowed two runs on two hits and three walks in two-thirds of an inning, striking out one.

Grapefruit League records: Pirates 10-7-2; Yankees 10-8-1

MVP_Bryant_24

March 26th, 2009, 06:32 AM

franchise is looking nice man....

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 09:07 AM

franchise is looking nice man....

Thanks man :thumbsup:

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 03:34 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Wang grounds Astros in Yanks' win

ASTROS 1, YANKEES 4
at Kissimmee, Fla.
Wednesday, March 18

Yankees at the plate: The Yankees scored two runs off Doug Brocail in the seventh behind an RBI groundout from Melky Cabrera and a hit by Angel Berroa.

Astros at the plate: Mike Hampton threw five shutout innings, allowing four hits while striking out two. He recorded seven ground-ball outs. Jose Valverde pitched one scoreless inning, walking one.

Yankees on the mound: Chien-Ming Wang yielded one run on three hits over five innings, striking out two. Phil ***e allowed one hit in one inning.

Astros on the mound: Mike Hampton threw five shutout innings, allowing four hits while striking out two. He recorded seven ground-ball outs. Jose Valverde pitched one scoreless inning, walking one.

Grapefruit League records: Astros 1-15-3; Yankees 11-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 03:41 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Burnett, Yankees clip Blue Jays

BLUE JAYS 4, YANKEES 7
at Tampa, Fla.
Thursday, March 19

Yankees at the plate: The Yankees stroked three doubles in a three-run second inning, with Ramiro Pena, Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher all logging two-base hits. Xavier Nady tripled to open the third inning and scored on Melky Cabrera's RBI single, and Hideki Matsui was thrown out stretching a run-scoring single in the fourth. Eduardo Nunez hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning.

Blue Jays at the plate: Scott Campbell put Toronto's first run on the board with an RBI groundout in the second inning, scoring Jason Lane, who had walked and moved up on a wild pitch. Lane drilled a two-run double to left-center in the fifth, closing the gap.

Yankees on the mound: Facing his former team, A.J. Burnett held Toronto to one run on three hits in 3 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out one. Burnett was struck in the left triceps by a John McDonald line drive in the second inning, but remained in the game after being inspected by manager Joe Girardi and trainer Steve Donohue. Brian Bruney had a troublesome outing, allowing two runs and four walks in 1 1/3 innings, but Mariano Rivera was supremely efficient in the sixth, setting the side down on five pitches.

Blue Jays on the mound: Casey Janssen started for Toronto, but faced only four batters before leaving with right shoulder tightness. Brian Burres relieved and allowed four runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings, striking out two. David Purcey hurled 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs -- two earned.

Grapefruit League records: Blue Jays 8-8-2; Yankees 12-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 03:55 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Cabrera not going down without a fight

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Manager Joe Girardi said that the approach taken by Melky Cabrera after his demotion last season -- which he called "tremendous" -- showed signs of maturity..

TAMPA, Fla. -- If you have already written Brett Gardner in for Opening Day, it had better be in pencil. Melky Cabrera still has plenty of time left.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Thursday that Cabrera is very much alive in the spring battle to break camp as the team's starting center fielder, despite a scorching-hot start by the challenger Gardner.

"It's good to see both guys playing well, because it somewhat backs up your beliefs," Girardi said. "The season is different than Spring Training, but they both look very comfortable playing and they're both playing very hard. I'm happy with that. It's always nice to have your beliefs backed up."

Gardner entered Thursday batting .382 in Grapefruit League play, showcasing his plus speed on the bases and a surprising three home runs. But Girardi said that Cabrera has come on in the last week to 10 days, raising his average to .242 with two doubles and a triple in 33 at-bats.

"Melky's playing at a very high level, as well," Girardi said. "I'm happy with the way Melky is playing. He's really started swinging the bat, and you see him doing little things -- bringing the defense in with drag attempts and shooting balls by them.

"It's interesting. Gardy started a little quicker, but, to me, it's been a fun competition to watch."

Cabrera, 24, said that he never worried when Gardner got off to a hot start, which included a home run in his first at-bat of the spring and an early average that hovered well above .400.

"I feel pretty good with the opportunities that Joe is giving to me right now," Cabrera said through an interpreter. "He's the one that's going to make the last call. I don't worry about other people. I just worry about the things that I can do."

Cabrera said he reported to camp focused after a disappointing 2008 campaign that saw him optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in mid-August, when the Yankees promoted Gardner for a second stint.

Rejoining the Yankees in September, Cabrera hit .462 (6-for-13) that month, lifting his final average to .249 before he headed to play in the Dominican Winter League with Aguilas.

"This offseason, I worked really hard, so when the opportunity came, I'd be ready to play," Cabrera said. "I worked on defense and hitting and was working out every day. It's helping a lot. I'm ready to go."

Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, a close friend of Cabrera, said that the center fielder's troubling 2008 and demotion to Triple-A would pay dividends down the road.

"I would say it's going to make him a better player," Cano said. "He doesn't want to go down again. If you don't want to go down, you've got to do your work and you've got to play hard. It's frustrating for anybody to play up here for years and get sent back down. Nobody wants to go back there."

Girardi said that Cabrera's approach -- which he called "tremendous" -- showed signs of maturity.

"I think it's important, because it shows a player doesn't panic," Girardi said. "In this game, things aren't always going to go the way you want this day or the next day. Melky didn't panic -- he kept working and doing his thing."

Girardi said that he would hope to have all the decisions on his team made before the Yankees leave Florida on April 1, though some lingering choices could seep into the team's two exhibition games at the new Yankee Stadium on April 3 and 4.

Defense will be one important factor when Girardi and his coaching staff begin to break down the Cabrera-Gardner debate. Cabrera holds a distinct advantage with a strong throwing arm, but Gardner charges the ball and gets rid of it quickly, helping him make up some ground.

Both players get good jumps on balls and offer flexibility, Girardi said. Cabrera can play all three outfield positions, and Gardner will see time in left field this spring.

"We want those guys taking control of the outfield, running down as many balls as they possibly can," Girardi said. "Especially with the belief we have with our pitching. We feel that we're going to be able to win some games 2-1 or 3-2. We're not going to have to slug because of our pitching, so that defense becomes important."

There is even a chance, Girardi said, that the Yankees could wind up listing both Cabrera and Gardner on the Opening Day roster.

"I'm of the belief that we can carry them both and get production out of both of them," Girardi said.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 04:03 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Teixeira hits first spring homer

TWINS 2, YANKEES 4
at Fort Myers, Fla.
Friday, March 20

Yankees at the plate: Mark Teixeira hit his first home run as a Yankee on Friday afternoon, with a solo blast to right field off Twins closer Joe Nathan in the sixth inning. Todd Linden belted a solo home run in the eighth to knot the game at 2. Francisco Cervelli then drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right field later in the eighth. Outfield prospect Austin Jackson added an insurance run with homer in the ninth.

Twins at the plate: Nick Punto went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI single. Punto's single in the third scored Mike Redmond, who had doubled to right field in his first at-bat of the day. Carlos Gomez scored in the fifth on Redmond's groundout to third, after stealing third base.

Yankees on the mound: Right-hander Phil Hughes gave up one run on three hits over his 4 1/3 innings. Jason Johnson pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits.

Twins on the mound: Left-hander Glen Perkins pitched five scoreless innings against the Yankees, yielding just four hits while walking one and recording one strikeout. Nathan gave up just the one run, on the homer to Teixeira, in his one inning of work. Luis Ayala pitched a scoreless inning in his return from pitching for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Left-hander Jose Mijares, who is battling for a spot in the bullpen, continued to struggle. He gave up two runs in one inning and now has an 11.37 ERA over 6 1/3 innings this spring.

Grapefruit League records: Twins 9-10; Yankees 13-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 04:09 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Joba, Yankees keep Tigers at bay

TIGERS 3, YANKEES 4
at Tampa, Fla.
Saturday, March 21

Yankees at the plate: Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira connected on back-to-back RBI doubles in the third inning. Melky Cabrera had two hits, including a double, and Angel Berroa scored a run. Juan Miranda hit a two-run homer in the seventh.

Tigers at the plate: Ryan Raburn drove in Jeff Larish with a second-inning sacrifice fly, cashing in a run after Detroit loaded the bases on three consecutive singles. Gerald Laird singled in his first three at-bats, and Brent Clevlen logged hits in his first two plate appearances. Larish hit a solo home run in the eighth.

Yankees on the mound: Making his fourth start against a big league team this spring, Joba Chamberlain held the Tigers to one run on four hits over 3 1/3 innings. Chamberlain threw 61 pitches (41 strikes), striking out five and walking none. Jonathan Albaladejo worked 1 2/3 innings of scoreless, three-hit ball. Mariano Rivera pitched his third scoreless inning of the spring, striking out two in a 12-pitch frame, though he allowed his first hit.

Tigers on the mound: Making his third appearance and second start of the spring, hot prospect Rick Porcello allowed two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out one, throwing 42 pitches (23 strikes). Clay Rapada recorded two outs in relief and Zach Miner fired three scoreless frames.

Grapefruit League records: Tigers 8-11-1; Yankees 14-8-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 26th, 2009, 04:16 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Hughes among seven Yankees cuts

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Starter Phil Hughes allowed just three runs in 12 1/3 Grapefruit League innings..

TAMPA, Fla. -- With spring innings now at a premium, Saturday turned into moving day for the Yankees, as six right-handed pitchers were dispatched across the street to Minor League camp in the morning.
Anthony Claggett, Phil Hughes and Steven Jackson were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, while Humberto Sanchez was optioned to Double-A Trenton. Sergio Mitre and Jason Johnson were also reassigned to the club's Himes Avenue complex.

After the Yankees' 4-3 Grapefruit League victory over the Tigers, New York announced that catcher Francisco Cervelli had also been optioned to Double-A, lowering the number of players remaining in camp to 42.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman lauded Hughes' work this spring, but said the team would be doing a disservice to keep him in camp. The 22-year-old righty will continue preparing as a starting pitcher and could be among the first considered if there is an opportunity in New York.

"I told him that he had a great camp and to keep working," Cashman said. "We told him about all the things that we saw and what he needs to continue to work on. He's in a great frame of mind. He knows he did great here, but he also knows that it's not in his best interest to now be held back."

Hughes pitched Friday against the Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., allowing three hits and one earned run in 4 1/3 innings. In three starts against big league teams this spring, Hughes allowed five hits and three earned runs in 12 1/3 innings (2.19 ERA).

"He had a very good spring for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I thought he attacked the zone great for us. The thing is, we ran out of innings for him here and we want him stretched out. We can't do that here and we were very happy with the progress that he made from the fall into the spring. He's had some injuries and he hasn't pitched as much as he should have, but he was pretty good this spring."

Early in camp, the Yankees said that they had no intention of considering young pitchers such as Hughes or Ian Kennedy for long relief roles. In Hughes' case, the Bombers want to build his innings long-term after injuries limited him to only 69 2/3 frames last season and 108 1/3 in 2007.

Girardi said that Hughes will be on the short list of pitchers who could be summoned from the Minors in the event something happens to a member of New York's starting rotation.

"He'll get a lot of consideration because of what he did and the experience that he has," Girardi said. "Obviously, we're going to call up the guy that's pitching the best. Sometimes it comes down to where you're in the rotation, as well."

Johnson, 35, was set back early in camp after undergoing treatment for choroidal melanoma, permitted to throw only indoors for fear of infection in his right eye.

Returning to the field with a late start in his competition for the Yankees' long-relief mix, Johnson made two appearances for New York and had a 3.38 ERA in 2 2/3 innings.

"He went through a lot this spring," Girardi said. "He should be proud of what he went through this spring. We need him stretched out, as well, because he could be a guy that we use during the season. If you're only up to 30 pitches, then it's not the kind of role we see for him."

Johnson's reassignment thins the ranks of those competing to be the Yankees' long reliever and potential spot-starter to open the season. Alfredo Aceves, Dan Giese, Kei Igawa and Brett Tomko are among those who remain under consideration.

Sanchez was sidelined early in camp by right forearm tightness and has not pitched in spring action, though he has worked in the bullpen and is primed to begin game action.

Claggett, 24, was 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in six spring appearances (eight innings), while the 27-year-old Jackson had no record and a 2.58 ERA in eight games, spanning seven innings.

Mitre, 28, is recovering from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery and will begin the season serving a 50-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy.

Cervelli, 23, batted .250 (3-for-12) in eight Grapefruit League games for New York and also left the Yankees this spring to play for Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

In other injury updates, Cashman said there was little new to report on the recovery of third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who remains in Vail, Colo., rehabilitating from his March 9 right hip surgery at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic.

"We're in touch with them," Cashman said. "I talked to Alex [on Friday]. It's all going good."

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 30th, 2009, 09:00 AM

April 7 I will play my first game still waiting for patch 2 and opening day rosters updates coming later

cantgrow

March 30th, 2009, 01:54 PM

April 7 I will play my first game still waiting for patch 2 and opening day rosters updates coming later

cant wait man.

joker123123

March 30th, 2009, 05:16 PM

Good 'chise, but there is no Spring Training feature right, or is it there and I just never noticed it.

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 30th, 2009, 05:34 PM

Good 'chise, but there is no Spring Training feature right, or is it there and I just never noticed it.

LOL no there aint i just post real life scores

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 30th, 2009, 05:57 PM

Bronx Bombers
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A New York Yankees Franchise

Yanks held off board against Rays

RAYS 5, YANKEES 0
at Port Charlotte, Fla.
Sunday, March 22

Yankees at the plate: Brett Gardner hit in the leadoff spot Sunday, working Rays starter David Price to a 3-0 count before slapping a 3-1 pitch up the middle for a single to start the game. The speedy Gardner attempted to steal second and had the throw beat, but unfortunately he slid headfirst. Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett put his foot between the base and Gardner's hand, which prevented Gardner from touching the base and he was tagged out. Robinson Cano notched two hits.

Rays at the plate: Carl Crawford continues to look like he's healthy and ready to torment American League clubs in 2009. After reaching base on an error in the first, the speedster easily stole his fourth base of the spring. He again reached on an error in the third, then stole his fifth base before getting thrown out trying to steal third. Crawford later walked with the bases loaded and added a double in the sixth. Pat Burrell singled home Tampa Bay's first run in the third inning, his 13th RBI of the spring.

Yankees on the mound: Alfredo Aceves made his second start of the spring and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first by retiring Burrell and Dioner Navarro on pop outs. Aceves allowed one run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings. Steven Jackson walked in two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Kei Igawa faced bases-loaded jams in the sixth and seventh innings, escaping the sixth unscathed before walking in a run in the seventh.

Rays on the mound: Price tossed four scoreless innings, allowing three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Brian Shouse allowed a single in the fifth, but the lefty specialist cleaned it up by getting an inning-ending double play. Troy Percival, who is attempting to come back from December back surgery, pitched a scoreless sixth. The veteran closer has not allowed a run in four innings this spring. Jason Isringhausen pitched a scoreless seventh; he has allowed one run in three innings this spring.

Grapefruit League records: Rays 11-9-1; Yankees 14-9-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 30th, 2009, 06:08 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Wang, bullpen not sharp as Yanks fall

PHILLIES 8, YANKEES 3
at Clearwater, Fla.
Monday, March 23

Yankees at the plate: New York took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning when Mark Teixeira doubled and scored on Xavier Nady's single to left. Batting leadoff, Jorge Posada went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Posada had been scheduled to start in a Minor League game in Tampa, Fla., but once it rained out he came to Clearwater.

Phillies at the plate: Philadelphia scored a run in the second inning when Ryan Howard scored from third on a Matt Stairs double-play grounder. The Phils scored four runs in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. Eric Bruntlett, who went 3-for-4, doubled and scored on Jayson Werth's single. Werth scored on Raul Ibanez's two-out double. Ibanez went 3-for-3. Stairs followed Ibanez's double with a two-run homer to center field. Miguel Cairo added a two-run shot in the seventh.

Yankees on the mound: Chien-Ming Wang allowed five hits, three runs and two walks in five-plus innings. Wang struck out two. Brian Bruney allowed two runs in one inning and Dan Giese allowed three runs in one inning.

Phillies on the mound: Left-hander J.A. Happ, who is in a race with Chan Ho Park for the fifth starter's job, allowed five hits, two runs (one earned) and three walks in five innings. Happ struck out three. Clay Condrey and Brad Lidge each threw a scoreless inning.

Grapefruit League records: Phillies 9-12-2; Yankees 14-10-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

March 30th, 2009, 06:13 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Jackson reassigned after big moment

TAMPA, Fla. -- Austin Jackson's Grapefruit League grand slam earned him congratulations from Reggie Jackson, but they didn't have much time to celebrate. Moments after leaving the field, the Yankees prospect learned that he had been reassigned to Minor League camp on Tuesday.

Though the bittersweet evening ended with a closed-door meeting in manager Joe Girardi's office, the younger Jackson said he had accomplished what he intended in camp.

"That was the goal coming into Spring Training, just to get in the eyes of Joe a little bit and show him what I'm capable of doing," Jackson said. "I'm going to work hard in the Minor Leagues, get some more at-bats and accomplish some more things before I'm ready to play at the Major League level."

Through his four seasons in the Yankees' farm system, the 22-year-old prospect has struck up a Cooperstown friendship with Jackson, a special adviser in New York's front office.

Before Jackson connected on a full-count offering from the Red Sox's Devern Hansack, sending it high into the night above the left-field foul pole, he'd heard Reggie's voice chirping, "Get him! Get him!" from the home dugout at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

"It's one of those times," Reggie Jackson was saying later, "where a guy hits a home run and you feel so good, you feel like you hit one."

Jackson's career total will stand at 563, but he was still strutting around like a proud papa.

"He's been coming to pretty much every level I've been at, just helping me out when I'm down a little bit," Austin Jackson said. "It's a good thing. He comes back and works with me in the cage, and gets me back to where I need to be when I'm struggling a little bit. It's good to have a Hall of Famer working with you."

Jackson said that he has improved since playing in the Arizona Fall League last year, where he had been "drifting" at the plate and swinging at pitches in the dirt. He made adjustments to help with recognizing offspeed pitches and being more aggressive on balls he can handle.

Ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees' top prospect coming into this year, Jackson hit .333 (12-for-36) with a double, triple, three home runs and 10 RBIs in 23 spring games.

"I think it was night and day compared to last year's camp," Girardi said. "The adjustments that he's made, he's playing heads-up baseball. He's made a lot of progress in a year. He's an exciting young player."

Jackson spent all of last season at Double-A Trenton, where he was selected as an All-Star and batted .285 with nine home runs and 69 RBIs in 131 games. He will be ticketed to begin the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and depending on what transpires, Girardi said that the Yankees could see him sooner than some might expect.

"He could be here," Girardi said. "It's possible that we could see him at some point this year. You never know."

Jackson was one of three roster moves the Yankees made after the game. First baseman Juan Miranda and infielder Eduardo Nunez were also sent to the Minor League complex, reducing the number of players in camp to 39.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 11:17 AM

Updates coming later

stvncnkln92

April 3rd, 2009, 11:19 AM

dude if this was active i would have seen it and u coulda been in the poll. my bad man!

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 12:51 PM

dude if this was active i would have seen it and u coulda been in the poll. my bad man!

Yea thats cool bro i still havent played a game yet so it's cool

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:17 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Burnett on point in Yanks' win over Sox

RED SOX 1, YANKEES 7
at Tampa, Fla.
Tuesday, March 24

Yankees at the plate: Brett Gardner legged out a sixth-inning triple past a diving Jacoby Ellsbury in center field, then scored on Johnny Damon's infield single. Derek Jeter singled and walked in his first game action for the Yankees since returning from the World Baseball Classic. Angel Berroa delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI double in the eighth, and Austin Jackson hit a grand slam to put it away.

Red Sox at the plate: David Ortiz broke up a scoreless tie in the sixth inning, dropping an RBI single into right-center field and scoring Angel Chavez.

Yankees on the mound: Making his fourth start of the spring -- and his first against Boston in a Yankees uniform -- A.J. Burnett worked 5 2/3 innings, scattering three hits and one run. Burnett walked two and struck out four, with his spring ERA rising to 1.20. Mariano Rivera worked a perfect seventh inning, striking out two.

Red Sox on the mound: In his fifth outing this spring, Tim Wakefield kept the Yankees off balance with 5 2/3 innings of one-run, four-hit ball. Wakefield walked one and struck out five.

Grapefruit League records: Red Sox 13-11; Yankees 15-10-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:22 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Four homers prop up Yankees in win

PHILLIES 2, YANKEES 10
at Clearwater, Fla.
Thursday, March 26

Yankees at the plate: Derek Jeter hit leadoff, which is where he is expected to be in the Yankees' lineup on Opening Day. He hit a single in the first inning and scored on Hideki Matsui's two-run home run down the right-field line to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Cody Ransom hit a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Jeter doubled and scored on Johnny Damon's RBI single in the fifth to make it 4-2. Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera each homered in the eighth.

Phillies at the plate: Chase Utley put a great swing on a 3-1 pitch from Joba Chamberlain in the first inning for a solo home run to right field. It was his second homer of the spring and his second in as many games. Ryan Howard followed Utley with an opposite-field shot, his seventh of the spring to lead the Majors.

Yankees on the mound: Chamberlain allowed three hits, two runs and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three.

Phillies on the mound: Right-hander Carlos Carrasco entered the spring as a candidate for the fifth-starter's job. He is no longer a candidate, but he continues to pitch to gain experience before he starts the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He allowed six hits, four runs and one walk in five innings. He struck out four.

Grapefruit League records: Phillies 10-13-2; Yankees 16-10-1

joker123123

April 3rd, 2009, 01:26 PM

good updates, when are you going to play season games though?

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:28 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

CC simply superb against Cincy

REDS 1, YANKEES 4
at Tampa, Fla.
Friday, March 27

Yankees at the plate: Derek Jeter led off the game with a double to left-center and scored on Mark Teixeira's single. Jorge Posada scored a fourth-inning run on an error, and Xavier Nady came home on a passed ball. Jeter knocked in a run with a groundout later in the frame.

Reds at the plate: Norris Hopper put Cincinnati on the board with a second-inning single that scored Jacque Jones.

Yankees on the mound: Continuing to tune up for his dual Opening Day honors, CC Sabathia worked 7 2/3 innings, limiting Cincinnati to one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out seven.

Reds on the mound: Making his sixth start of the spring and second against the Yankees, Aaron Harang pitched six innings of two-run, four-hit ball. He walked two, struck out five and tossed a wild pitch in his 104-pitch, 58-strike outing.

Grapefruit League records: Reds 12-15; Yankees 17-10-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:30 PM

good updates, when are you going to play season games though?

When the 2nd Patch is out and opening day rosters are out so around April 6 or 7

joker123123

April 3rd, 2009, 01:32 PM

ok have you checked out my brewers franchise?

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:32 PM

Yea man it's good

joker123123

April 3rd, 2009, 01:34 PM

seriously??

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:37 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Tomko, Yanks' offense click in win

Braves 4, YANKEES 6
at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Saturday, March 28

Yankees at the plate: Having some fun at his former team's expense, Mark Teixeira enjoyed a two-hit performance that was highlighted by his fifth-inning solo homer off Jair Jurrjens. Teixeira also drew a walk during a four-run second inning that began with the first of three singles registered by Melky Cabrera; Xavier Nady went 3-for-4.

Braves at the plate: Jurrjens singled and scored his club's first run on Yunel Escobar's fifth-inning sacrifice fly. Jordan Schafer enhanced his bid to start the year as Atlanta's center fielder with a three-hit performance that included a first-inning bloop double, a fifth-inning single and an RBI single in the ninth.

Yankees on the mound: Brett Tomko allowed three hits over three scoreless innings and improved his chances of beginning the season as the club's long reliever. Alfredo Aceves, who is also bidding for that role, allowed one run on two hits in three innings.

Braves on the mound: Jurrjens, who allowed six runs (three earned) on nine hits in five innings, struggled through the four-run second inning and then retired the next six batters he faced. But his afternoon was marred when he surrendered fifth-inning solo homers to Teixeira and Robinson Cano.

Grapefruit League records: Braves 17-9; Yankees 18-10-1

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:39 PM

seriously??

Yea, the only thing i would do is add some more stats probrably like my lineup and pitching stats

joker123123

April 3rd, 2009, 01:41 PM

yeah, i am going to do updates on stats every two series, there will be an update on stats in about half an hour.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:44 PM

Alright then

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 01:48 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Gardner wins Yanks' center-field job

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/CQSrwxSK.jpg
Brett Gardner will likely hit ninth in the Yankees' lineup on Opening Day vs. the Orioles..

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Yankees have officially announced that Brett Gardner has won a starting job to open the 2009 season, likely making him the first player to patrol center field at the new Yankee Stadium.

Gardner, a 25-year-old rookie, beat out Melky Cabrera in a Spring Training competition, which manager Joe Girardi had declared to be relatively even leading into the final week of camp. Girardi informed both players of his decision early on Sunday.

"Both of them played great," Girardi said. "Melky had a tough year last year, but he came into camp and was ready to go and played very well. Gardy finished up strong and had a great camp. We're just going to go with Gardy."

Gardner hit .385 (20-for-52) with three home runs, six RBIs and five stolen bases in 22 spring games for the Yankees, impressing the coaching staff by continuing to showcase plus speed in the outfield and on the bases.

The 24-year-old Cabrera skipped an opportunity to play in the World Baseball Classic in hopes of securing a job, putting up a good fight. Through 21 spring games, Cabrera batted .340 (18-for-53) with one home run, nine RBIs and two stolen bases.

Speaking highly of what Gardner had done to win the job, Girardi also repeatedly complimented Cabrera's work.

"The thing about Melky is, Melky is still a young player," Girardi said. "He's only 24 years old. If he continues on what he did this spring and the work that he put in, Melky can be a force, too."

Girardi said that the Yankees plan to carry Cabrera as a reserve outfielder to open the regular season, playing all three positions in backing up Johnny Damon, Gardner and Xavier Nady. Cabrera is out of options, so he would need to be exposed to waivers in order to be sent to the Minor Leagues.

"Melky is going to have a lot of important things for us," Girardi said. "There's a lot of things Melky can do. He's a switch-hitter, we can put him anywhere in the outfield and he can run. What happens April 6 doesn't necessarily mean that's what's going to happen June 1st."

Gardner made a positive impression with the Yankees in his second stint last season, promoted from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when the slumping Cabrera was optioned to the Minor Leagues. Gardner hit .294 (20-for-68) after being promoted for the second time, including four doubles, two triples and eight steals.

"He continued what he did the last three weeks, where he was patient and saw a lot of pitches," Girardi said. "He hit a lot of hard line drives and was productive for us the last three weeks of the season. He just carried it over."

Gardner left George M. Steinbrenner Field before the Yankees' 9-8 victory over the Pirates was complete on Sunday. But he addressed his spring in a group interview with reporters on Friday, saying that he had shown enough to prove he could play every day in the Major Leagues.

"I feel like I can," Gardner said. "Obviously, a lot of people don't take Spring Training too seriously because a lot of times you're not facing top guys every day. I think it's a time for everybody to get ready and show they're ready for the season to start."

As strong as his spring was, Gardner said that it could have been even better.

"I think there's things that I could have done and probably should have done, some at-bats that I gave away," Gardner said. "For the most part, it's gone well and it's been a good learning experience for me, and I've continued to make strides at the plate."

According to Girardi, Gardner did not show much emotion when informed that he would begin the season as the Yankees' center fielder. Of Cabrera's reaction, Girardi said: "Any player is going to be upset with that decision."

Speaking through an interpreter, Cabrera said he would be ready for defensive duty or pinch-running assignments when needed.

"That's the manager's decision," Cabrera said. "I'm going to be ready for whatever they need me for. I'm just going to be part of this team."

The Yankees will likely use Gardner as the No. 9 hitter in their order on April 6 at Baltimore, which would allow them to use Derek Jeter to break up the lefty combination of Gardner and Damon to counteract late-inning bullpen moves.

Girardi said that there would not be any additional demands on Gardner with the high-profile assignment.

"Just do your part -- that's all we're asking guys to do," Girardi said. "Play good defense, be smart on defense, have tough at-bats. [It's] no more than we're asking any other guy."

soldaderyan

April 3rd, 2009, 02:08 PM

Yeah thats crazy.
I´ll start with gardner too, I´LL post my new lineup too I made a lot of chenges today :)

joker123123

April 3rd, 2009, 02:12 PM

gardener should be a good fit in center.

Meekay08

April 3rd, 2009, 02:49 PM

I think if the Yanks ship either Melky or Swisher we will See Jackson this season, He had a fantastic spring

aabar4518

April 3rd, 2009, 09:52 PM

dude, love what you're doin with it... although i am a sox fan at heart, i cant wait to see how ur yanks chise is gonna pan out...are you gonna hav arod start on the DL or keep him in ur starting lineup?

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 09:57 PM

On the DL just like in real life

aabar4518

April 3rd, 2009, 10:02 PM

nice..keepin it right like real life

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 3rd, 2009, 10:04 PM

Yea thats my goal

DARKSPACE

April 6th, 2009, 08:29 PM

Sup HaVoK,
I have no other way to show you appreciation for your franchse so I'll just go Historic.

"In Memory of the House that Ruth Built".... Allow me to take you to the Boogie Down.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/e25bde14.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/9914bd6d.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/c541b6e3.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/388e92f2.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/e2d7d3dc.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/880b3a75.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/071b2e79.jpg

DARKSPACE

April 6th, 2009, 08:36 PM

And I'll close it off with my own customized MLB Yankee whip riding through
Money Makin Manhattan

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/b055b44e.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/7e738fe9.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/c473aeb5.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/54ad5238.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/703173a6.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/JAYSDAY/HDTV%20pics/3f71aafd.jpg

..Good luck with your chise..

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 11:42 AM

Thanks Darkspace, Hey guys got opening day rosters gonna post the 25 man rosters and then series preview and then should have a game update!!

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 12:06 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Starting Lineup

1..#2 Shortstop | Derek Jeter

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_116539.jpg

2.#18 Left Fielder | Johnny Damon

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_113028.jpg

3.#25 First Baseman | Mark Teixiera

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_407893.jpg

4.#55 Designated Hitter | Hideki Matsui

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_425686.jpg

5.#20 Catcher | Jorge Posada

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_120691.jpg

6.#22 Right Fielder | Xavier Nady

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_294558.jpg

7.#24 Second Baseman | Robinson Cano

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_429664.jpg

8.#12 Third Baseman | Cody Ransom

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_285068.jpg

9.#11 Center Fielder | Brett Gardner

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_458731.jpg

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 12:28 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Bench

#19 Utility Infielder | Ramiro Pena

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/pena.jpg

#33 Outfielder | Nick Swisher

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_430897.jpg

#53 Outfielder | Melky Cabrera

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_466320.jpg

#26 Catcher | Jose Molina

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_150040.jpg

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 12:38 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Starting Rotation

#52 Left Hander | C.C. Sabathia

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/sabathia.jpg

#40 Right Hander | Chien-Ming Wang

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_425426.jpg

#34 Right Hander | A.J. Burnett

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/aj.jpg

#46 Left Hander | Andy Pettitte

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_120485.jpg

#62 Right Hander | Joba Chamberlain

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_501955.jpg

Bullpen

#63 Long Relief | Jonathan Albaladejo

#38 Middle Relief | Brian Bruney

#48 Middle Relief | Phil C0ke

#36 Middle Relief | Edwar Ramirez

#41 Set Up Man | Jose Veras

#43 Set Up Man | Damaso Marte

#42 Closer | Mariano Rivera

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 01:26 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

(0-0)http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/New_York_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Baltimore_Orioles4.png(0-0)

AVG: N/A - AVG:N/A

HR: N/A - HR: N/A

SB: N/A - SB: N/A

ERA: N/A - ERA: N/A

Projected Starters

Game 1
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/sabathia.jpg -Vs- http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Opponents/JG.jpg
C.Wang(0-0) J.Guthrie(0-0)

Game 2
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/ph_425426.jpg -Vs-http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Opponents/ku.jpg
A.Pettite(0-0) K.Uehara (0-0)

Game 3
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Players/aj.jpg -Vs-http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/Opponents/Alfredosimon.jpg
A.Burnett(0-0) A.Simon (0-0)

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 05:04 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Camden Yards

(0-1) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Baltimore_Orioles.png (1-0)

Guthrie dominates in season opener

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32549.jpg
G.Sherrill makes the save after a scare in the 9th

YANKEES : 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |- 1 | 10 | 0
ORIOLES : 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X |- 2 | 8 | 1 |

WP: J.Walker
LP: B.Bruney
SV: G.Sherrill

Pitching Stats(Away)

C.Sabathia(ND) 6.0 IP | 4 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

D.Marte 1.0 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

B.Bruney(L, 0-1) 0.0 IP | 1 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 1 BB | 0 K | 0.00ERA

J.Veras1.0 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 2 K | 0.00 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

J.Guthrie(ND) 6.2 IP | 7 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 3 K | 0.00 ERA

J.Walker(W, 1-0) 1.1 IP | 0 H | 0 R | ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

G.Sherrill(S, 1)1.0 IP | 3 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 9.00 ERA

Yankees Lineup

SS) D.Jeter (0-3) BB SO

LF) J.Damon (1-4)

1B) M.Tiexera (0-4) SO

DH) H.Matsui (2-4)

C) J.Posada (1-4) R SO

RF) X.Nady (1-4)

2B) R.Cano (2-4)

3B) C.Ransom (2-4) RBI(1) SO

CF) B.Gardner (1-4) SO

joker123123

April 7th, 2009, 05:17 PM

are you going to do game recapr like other chises?

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 05:17 PM

Nope cause then i will be like the other chises

joker123123

April 7th, 2009, 05:20 PM

haha, good luck

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 05:21 PM

Thanks bro

xxBuck Nutsxx

April 7th, 2009, 05:22 PM

Just wondering, how do you get in game pics like that on your chise?

chad0034

April 7th, 2009, 05:26 PM

Love your layout. Nice game pic too w/ Texiera.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 06:51 PM

Thanks Chad, And Buck Nuts just save a replay then go to 2k reelmaker and save screenshot then load it and upload it to 2ksports

xxBuck Nutsxx

April 7th, 2009, 07:04 PM

Thanks man

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 7th, 2009, 08:47 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Camden Yards

(0-2) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Baltimore_Orioles.png (2-0)

Orioles shut down Yanks

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32548.jpg
G.Zaun's great play at the plate helped the O's shutout the Yankees

YANKEES : 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |- 0 | 7 | 1
ORIOLES : 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | X |- 7 | 12 | 0

WP: K.Uehara
LP: C.Wang
SV: None

Pitching Stats(Away)

C.Wang(L, 0-1) 6.0 IP | 8 H | 6 R | 2 ER | 0 BB | 5 K | 3.00 ERA

J.Albaadejo .0 2 IP | 4 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 4.50 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

K.Uehara(W, 1-0) 5.1 IP | 5 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

J.Walker 1.2 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

C.Ray 2.0 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Lineup

SS) D.Jeter (1-3)

LF) J.Damon (1-4)

1B) M.Tiexera (1-4) 3B(1) SO

DH) H.Matsui (0-4) SO

C) J.Posada (2-4) SO

RF) X.Nady (1-3) BB

2B) R.Cano (0-4) SO

3B) C.Ransom (0-3)

CF) B.Gardner (1-3) SO

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 8th, 2009, 06:42 AM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Camden Yards

(0-3) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Baltimore_Orioles.png (3-0)

O's sweep the Yankees

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32550.jpg
Teixiera great slide can't help the Yankees as they fall short 4-5

YANKEES : 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |- 4 | 10 | 2
ORIOLES : 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X |- 5 | 12 | 0

WP: M.Albers
LP: P.C0ke
SV: G.Sherrill

Pitching Stats(Away)

A.Burnett(ND) 5.0 IP | 10 H | 4 R | 3 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 5.40 ERA

P.C0ke 2.0 IP | 1 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 4.50 ERA

J.Veras 1.0 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

A.Simon(ND) 3.0 IP | 1 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 3 K | 3.00 ERA

M.Albers(W, 1-0) 3.0 IP | 7 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 9.00 ERA

J.Johnston 2.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

G.Sherrill(S, 2) 1.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Lineup

SS) D.Jeter (0-4) 2 SO

LF) J.Damon (1-4) CS(1)

1B) M.Tiexera (2-4) R 2B(1)

DH) H.Matsui (0-4) SO

RF) N.Swisher (3-4) 2 R 2B(2) RBI(1)

2B) R.Cano (1-3) R RBI(1) 3B(1)

3B) C.Ransom (1-3) 2 RBI(3) 2B(1)

C) J.Molina (0-4)

CF) B.Gardner (2-3) SO SB(1) CS(1)

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 9th, 2009, 09:35 AM

Sorry for not updating but i went to the Yanks vs O's game i'm kinda mad the Yanks lost but i still had fun.

xxBuck Nutsxx

April 9th, 2009, 09:37 AM

haha, the O's look tough so far, and this chise is looking great!

NYBballa621

April 9th, 2009, 09:40 AM

Sorry for not updating but i went to the Yanks vs O's game i'm kinda mad the Yanks lost but i still had fun.

I was watching that game. I was disappointed they lost. But at least they came back a little bit in the 9th.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 9th, 2009, 09:41 AM

Thanks Buck Nuts, Yea man they did Jeter looks good so far

NYBballa621

April 9th, 2009, 09:48 AM

Yea he looks so good leading off for the yanks like he did a few years ago. Nice chise btw.

stvncnkln92

April 9th, 2009, 10:52 AM

nice chise man. i love the team logos, i used them in my chises on another board

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 9th, 2009, 02:26 PM

Thanks guys

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 9th, 2009, 02:53 PM

Looks good, I'm waiting for the opening day rosters so I can start... I just got my game back, so I'm going with my Yankees chise, what sliders would you suggest?

xxBuck Nutsxx

April 9th, 2009, 03:12 PM

Looks good, I'm waiting for the opening day rosters so I can start... I just got my game back, so I'm going with my Yankees chise, what sliders would you suggest?

BigFnJoes opening day sliders, a lot more power, so you can actually hit HRs with guys other than the big power bats, but there is still not too many HRs

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 9th, 2009, 07:32 PM

Will update in a hour

K-Rod57

April 9th, 2009, 07:44 PM

HaVok, come post your chise over here:

bleacherseatsgfx.co.nr/

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 11th, 2009, 01:54 PM

Sorry for not updating this i was doing my rosters(which u can download ;) ) i should have a couple of games done by tommorrow

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 12:24 PM

Hey guys just updated the first 3 games check them out Page 21 and Page 22 i'm gonna post the series preview against the Royals.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 12:41 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

(0-3)http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/New_York_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/KansasCity_Royals.png(1-2)

AVG: .270 - AVG: .188

HR: 0 - HR: 4

SB: 1 - SB: 1

ERA: 3.38 - ERA: 5.04

Projected Starters

Game 1
A.Pettitte(0-0) 0.00 ERA 0.00 WHIP -Vs- S.Ponson(0-0) 0.00 ERA 0.00 WHIP

Game 2
J.Chamberlain(0-0) 0.00 ERA 0.00 WHIP -Vs- H.Ramirez(0-0) 0.00 ERA 0.00 WHIP

Game 3
C.Sabathia(0-0) 0.00 ERA 0.67 WHIP -Vs- G.Meche(0-1) 23.63 ERA 2.63 WHIP

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 02:37 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Kaufmen Stadium

(0-4) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs- http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/KansasCity_Royals.png (2-2)

Yanks defense come's short

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32600.jpg
B.Gardners error in the 5th caused this team the win as A.Gordon comes all the way around to score the game winning run

YANKEES : 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |- 1 | 8 | 2
ROYALS : 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X |- 3 | 11 | 0

WP: J.Wright
LP: A.Pettitte
SV: J.Soria

Pitching Stats(Away)

A.Pettitte(L, 0-1) 6.0 IP | 9 H | 3 R | 2 ER | 1 BB | 3 K | 3.00 ERA

E.Ramirez 2.0 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

S.Ponson(ND) 3.2 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 2 K | 2.45 ERA

J.Wright(W, 1-0) 2.1 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 3 K | 0.00 ERA

R.Mahay 2.0 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

J.Soria(S, 1) 1.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Lineup

SS) D.Jeter (2-4) R

LF) J.Damon (3-4)

DH) N.Swisher (1-4)

1B) M.Teixiera (1-3) RBI(1)

RF) X.Nady (1-4) SO

C) J.Posada (0-4) 2 SO

2B) R.Cano (0-4) 3 SO

3B) C.Ransom (0-4) SO

CF) B.Gardner (0-3)

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 02:40 PM

Tough Start Man, You'll get used to them.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 05:11 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Kaufmen Stadium

(1-4) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs- http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/KansasCity_Royals.png (2-3)

Yankee offense finally wakes up

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32622.jpg
M.Teixiera blasts a 3 run homer as he leads the Bombers past the Royals for the 1st win of the season

YANKEES : 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |- 8 | 11 | 2
ROYALS : 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |- 2 | 5 | 1

WP: J.Chamberlain
LP: H.Ramirez
SV: NONE

Pitching Stats(Away)

J.Chamberlain(W, 1-0) 7.0 IP | 4 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 0 BB | 6 K | 2.57 ERA

B.Bruney 1.0 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

M.Rivera 0.2 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

D.Marte 0.1 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

H.Ramirez(L, 0-1) 2.0 IP | 4 H | 4 R | 3 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 13.50 ERA

D.Waecher 2.0 IP | 2 H | 3 R | 2 ER | 3 BB | 1 K | 9.00 ERA

J.Cruz 3.0 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 1 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

K.Farnsworth 2.0 IP | 4 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 1 BB | 1 K | 6.00 ERA

Yankees Lineup

SS) D.Jeter (2-3) 2 R 2 BB 2B(1) 3B(1)

LF) J.Damon (1-4) 2 R 2 RBI(2)

1B) M.Teixiera (1-3) R 4 RBI(5) HR(1) BB 2 SO

DH) H.Matsui (2-5) R SO

RF) X.Nady (1-3) BB

C) J.Posada (0-3) RBI(1) BB

3B) C.Ransom (1-5) RBI(4) SO

CF) B.Gardner (1-4) R

2B) R.Pena (2-4) R

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 05:28 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Breaking News: Marino Rivera Out!

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32634.jpg
Rivera pitched just 0.2 innings before going down in Kansas City.

Bronx, New York. -- Major injury: Mariano Rivera(New York Yankees) has suffered a torn calf muscle, he is expected to be hurt for 106 days and has been placed on the 60 day DL. The Yankees have called up veteran pitcher Brett Tomko(Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees) he is expected to middle relief while Brian Bruney has closing duties.

tij7

April 13th, 2009, 05:35 PM

dang man tough injury

best of luck to you and nice franchise

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 05:39 PM

Thanks bro, i kinda of like this cause it make it more of a challenge

slantedeyematt

April 13th, 2009, 05:42 PM

wow bro that blows.....are you looking to get a reliver from somewhere?

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 05:47 PM

Thanks bro, i kinda of like this cause it make it more of a challenge

Yeah, thats suck.. But on the flipside, Mo is not that good in this game, he doesn't have a change up / breaking ball, but I'm leading the lg. In saves with him.

IMO, Pick Up Gagne, or trade Swish/Nady for a reliever.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 05:49 PM

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 05:54 PM

Nope i got Bruney closing and i called up Brett Tomko from AAA. I'll just wait for Mo to come back cause it seems that in every other franchise here when someone gets hurt they trade a player instead of using the farm systems

Ooh, I would bring up Giese, Hughes, Sanchez, Kennady over Tomko, even Igawa... Yeah man, I've had a few injuries too though. So far I have pitched:

C.C.
Burnett
Joba
Wang
Pettitte
Hughes
Sanchez
Igawa
Kennady

Thats 9 starters in 13 games. :eek::lol: I havn't used Free Agency in pitching because the Yankees are filled with pitching prospects....
Yeah, but I wouldn't use Tomko, I would bring up Giese/Hughes/Ian/Sanchez all before him, they all have a ton of upside/youth.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 05:57 PM

yeah primetime i was thinking of calling up Giese but then i remembered that tomko almost made the team coming out of spring training.

Meekay08

April 13th, 2009, 06:00 PM

Ya..when i lost alot of my people to injuries i used my Farm system..thats untill i started loosing to many lol

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 06:01 PM

yeah primetime i was thinking of calling up Giese but then i remembered that tomko almost made the team coming out of spring training.

Yeah...

Humberto Sanchez is a beast, I started him for Joba, who btw had his face changed which is bs, because I brang him to the minors to rest, and Sanchez pitched shutout 6 innings 9 k's. :eek:

I used Giese once, and in 3 innings, 1 hit, 5 K's, lights out.

Igawa was hard to use, but went 5 innings 1 run, 7 hits 3 k's.

Hughes was awesome. 6 inninngs 10 K's 2 Hits 0 ER.

The Yankees don't have a long man, so I'm keeping Sanchez in the majors for the season.

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 06:03 PM

Oh yeah, I wouldn't close Bruney, I am dirt with him, I have him in AAA right now. It's all prefrence.

And, Ramiro Pena is great off the bench, and Aceves is great in the pen.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 06:04 PM

Igawa was hard to use, but went 5 innings 1 run, 7 hits 3 k's.

The Yankees don't have a long man, so I'm keeping Sanchez in the majors for the season.

LOL Igawa sucks. But yea i got albadellego as my long man

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 06:05 PM

LOL Igawa sucks. But yea i got albadellego as my long man

Yeah, I had 0 starters avialable, and he was the only guy in AAA that was 100% stamina left. Can Albadejo give you innings?

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 06:05 PM

Ya..when i lost alot of my people to injuries i used my Farm system..thats untill i started loosing to many lol

yea bro u use the system but man your players were dropping like flys lol

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 06:07 PM

Yeah, I had 0 starters avialable, and he was the only guy in AAA that was 100% stamina left. Can Albadejo give you innings?

So far so good for me :thumbsup:

XxPRiM3TiMExX

April 13th, 2009, 06:07 PM

yea bro u use the system but man your players were dropping like flys lol

Yeah... The Yankees system is filled with pitching, I won't ever need to sign a FA, but thats it.

The only hitters I can bring up are Jackson and Montero, so for offense I would need to pick someone up.

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 06:25 PM

Yea man the yanks are deep with pitching

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 13th, 2009, 09:55 PM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

Kaufmen Stadium

(2-4) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs- http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/KansasCity_Royals.png (2-4)

Sabathia dominate as Yankees roll

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32690.jpg
C.Sabathia was great in this start but his shutout was broken in the bottom of the 9th

YANKEES : 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |- 9 | 20 | 0
ROYALS : 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |- 1 | 5 | 0

WP: C.Sabathia
LP: G.Meche
SV: NONE

Pitching Stats(Away)

C.Sabathia(W, 1-0) 9.0 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 7 K | 1.00 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

H.Ramirez(L, 0-1) 2.0 IP | 4 H | 4 R | 3 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 13.50 ERA

R.Mahay 2.2 IP | 5 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 2 K | 0.00 ERA

J.Soria 0.2 IP | 5 H | 5 R | 5 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 67.50 ERA

K.Davies 0.1 IP | 4 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 81.00 ERA

Z.Greinke 0.2 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

Yankees Lineup

SS) D.Jeter (3-4) R 2 RBI(2)

LF) J.Damon (2-5) R RBI(3) SO CS(2)

1B) N.Swisher (2-5) R 2 RBI(3) 2 SO

DH) H.Matsui (2-5)

RF) X.Nady (2-4) R RBI(1) BB SO

2B) R.Cano (2-4) R SO

3B) C.Ransom (3-5) 2 R RBI(5)

C) J.Molina (3-4) R 2 RBI(2) SO

CF) M.Cabrera (1-5) R 2 SO

stvncnkln92

April 13th, 2009, 10:01 PM

nice game. Check out my chose and tell me what you think?

soldaderyan

April 14th, 2009, 08:58 AM

Though start havok, I started like this and I´m 18-19 right now :(
Hey the Real nick Swisher is crazy!!!
Quadruple Crown AVG. 450, HR 3, RBI 10, AND ERA 0.00

slantedeyematt

April 14th, 2009, 09:58 AM

HAHAHAHAHAH yea lmaooo a 6 tool player lmao

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 14th, 2009, 11:05 AM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

(2-4)http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/New_York_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Tampa_Bay_Rays1.png(4-2)

AVG: .307 - AVG: .352

HR: 1 - HR: 19

SB: 1 - SB: 5

ERA: 3.26 - ERA: 3.47

Projected Starters

Game 1
C.Wang-Vs-S.Kazmir
(0-1) -W/L- (1-0)
3.00 -ERA- 1.00
1.33 -WHIP- 0.44

Game 2
A.BurnettVs- M.Garza
(0-0) -W/L- (0-0)
5.40 -ERA- 2.16
2.00 -WHIP- 0.96

Game 3
A.Pettite-Vs- A.Sonnanstine
(0-1) -W/L- (0-0)
3.00 -ERA- 3.00
1.67 -WHIP- 1.00

I0I HaVoK I0I

April 14th, 2009, 11:13 AM

Bronx Bombers
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll274/havokpr51/yankeelogo.gif

A New York Yankees Franchise

(2-5) http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/NewYorkA_Yankees.png-Vs-http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g160/truthserum607/07%20MLB%20logo%20set/Tampa_Bay_Rays1.png (5-2)

Wang gets rocked

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww241/RicardoCalderon51/MLB%202K9%20Screen%20Shots/m32787.jpg
Wang got crushed today as he allowed P.Burrel to hit 2 homers

YANKEES : 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - 1 | 10 | 1
RAYS : 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | - 11 | 17 | 1

WP: S.Kazmir
LP: C.Wang
SV: NONE

Pitching Stats(Away)

C.Wang(L, 0-2) 2.2 IP | 9 H | 4 R | 4 ER | 0 BB | 2 K | 13.50 ERA

J.Albaladejo 2.1 IP | 5 H | 5 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 3 K | 3.86 ERA

B.Tomko 2.0 IP | 2 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 9.00 ERA

P.C0ke 1.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 0 K | 0.00 ERA

Pitching Stats(Home)

S.Kazmir(W, 2-0) 5.0 IP | 6 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 2 BB | 5 K | 0.00 ERA

L.Cormier 2.0 IP | 0 H | 0 R | 0 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 0.00 ERA

D.Wheeler 2.0 IP | 4 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 1 K | 4.50 ERA

Yankees Lineup

CF) B.Gardner (2-5) 2 SO CS(2)

SS) D.Jeter 1-5) 3 SO

1B) M.Tiexiera (2-4) SO **
1B) N.Swisher (0-1)

DH) H.Matsui (0-3) BB SO

RF) X.Nady (0-3) BB

C) J.Posada (3-4) RBI(2) 2B(1)

2B) R.Cano (1-4)

3B) C.Ransom (0-4)

LF) M.Cabrera (1-4) SB(1)
**M.Tiexiera has suffered a groin pull. He is expected to be hurt for 9 days. He will not be placed on the 15 day DL.