Chris Dickerson clears waivers

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

The battle for the last bullpen spot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tim Norton reportedly Healthy

Tim Norton

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

Hideki Okajima fails his physical

Hideki Okajima

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

Burnett traded to Pirates

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

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

A's agree to sign Yoenis Cespedes

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

The Orioles sign Luis Ayala

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

Yankees trying to trade Burnett

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

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

The Charleston RiverDogs are loaded for 2012

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

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

Here is the Yankees top 20 prospects:

Prospects with projected starting level

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

Infield:

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

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

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

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

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

Outfield:

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

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


Pitchers:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yankees sign Bill Hall

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

The 2011 Yankees and the 2012 Red Sox

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