Yankees avoid arbitration with everyone

Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli and Shawn Kelely were all eligible for arbitration and the Yankees agreed to deals with everyone but Nova.

Francisco Cervelli signed on the 16th for $700,000 which was less than his projected $1 million but he did have almost no playing time the last two years and was suspended for 50 games this season.  I honestly thought he was going to be non tendered but the Yankees are keeping him at only somewhat above league minimum so its a deal for them. This was his first time through arbitration and so he has two years of team control remaining. Shawn Kelley signed for $1.7625M with a $25 thousand bonus if he appears in 55 games. Kelleys 4.39 ERA is helped by a 3.69 FIP and a ridiculous 11.98 K/9 (31.3 K%) in 53.1 innings across 57 games. Unless the Yankees sign someone I expect that he will be the Yankees setup man this year.  This is also his first time going through arbitration. Brett Gardner received $5.6 million in his last arbitration year which is a decent amount more than his projected $4 million but the MLBPA had said that they thought he would get more than $4million and they were right. David Robertson who projects to be this years closer earned $5.215M which was under his projected $5.5 million, he has one more year of team control and unless something goes horribly wrong his salary will increase quite a bit more than his roughly $2 million raise for this year. Saves pay in arbitration and he could easily rack up a  lot of saves this season. '
Ivan Nova remains unsigned but all that really means is that they could not come up with an agreement today and they will file an amount with the arbitration court and likely agree to a compromise, the Yankees have not gone to an arbitration hearing since 2008 with Chien Ming Wang. 

The Yankees signed Ivan Nova for $3.3 million and so they avoided arbitration with all five of their players signing them for a grand total of $16.58 million. Nova was projected at $2.8 million and so he received half a million more than projected, this is Nova's first time through arbitration and that's always the best for players because its when they starts making bigger money, Nova made $575K last year.

Nunez activated off 60 day DL, Phelps to DL.

The Yankees have activated Eduardo Nunez off the 60-day DL. He is playing short and batting 8th behind Luis Cruz. In a corresponding move it appears that the Yankees have placed  David Phelps on the 15 day DL with a forearm strain and it appears that Ivan Nova will stick around for at least one more start before the all star break. Nova's complete game 3 hitter last night was arguably the best start by a Yankees starter all year and so the Yankees will give him another start at least. Nunez will help the Yankees if he can hit at all as they have gotten no production from Shortstop this year.

Nova to the DL

Ivan Nova was sent back to New York on Wednesday after feeling something pull in his shoulder in the 6th inning of his start in Chicago. Nova has been diagnosed with inflammation in his rotator cuff and has been placed on the 15-day DL. The treatment is just rest and medication, and he won’t pick up a baseball for at least five days. I expect the club to be very conservative given the Pineda stuff, so it wouldn’t be a total surprise if Nova has already pitched his last game of 2012. Phelps will take his spot in the rotation and CC Sabathia will take Nova's spot on the roster. CC will start on Friday against Cleveland and Phelps will open the series at home against the Blue Jays.

The Case for doing nothing

The Yankees have been linked to numerous free agents and trade candidates this winter but all they have done so far is resign Freddy Garcia. There are still some free agents out there and the Yankees could still trade for a starter, but the Yankees could very well end up doing what they unintentionally did last year which was stand pat. The Yankees already have five starters in CC, Hughes, Nova, Burnett and Garcia  and they also have plenty of depth at AAA with Warren, Phelps, Noesi and Mitchell all ready and Banuelos and Betances right behind them. CC is CC and will continue to be the ace of the staff while Hughes will look to bounce back from a poor 2011 and pitch like he did in 2010. Burnett for all his faults did eat inning last season and if he can bounce back to a sub 5 era then it would be very appreciated. Garcia will look to make his smoke and mirrors style of pitching work for another year and Nova will try and keep doing what he had been doing last season. The Yankees won 97 games with that rotation and Bartolo Colon so its not that strange of an idea. Also if one of the starters falters then Noesi is ready to move into the rotation, as the Yankees have been saying that he will be the next guy up to the Bronx and they aren't going to waste him as the long man this year.
The Yankees can still make a move for a starter but they have some young starters with high upsides and I think that's why they aren't that interested in  spending a lot of money or trading for a starter. They also could be hoping to pursue some of the 2012 free agents like Greinke, Hamals or Sanchez. The Yankees do want to get their payroll down and building their own starters is the best way to do that.

The Yankees like this September so far

I know its only been 5 days but what a September the Yankees have had so far especially compared to  September 2010 when the Yankees went 12-15 and scored 5 fewer runs than they allowed. Lets hope we continue the winning because last year we won the first 4 games and so we really went 8-15 after September 4th. The Yankees looked like they were trying to lose this game with Garcia giving up a season high 7 runs in just 2.2 innings as Garcia himself said "I got my ass whooped". The Yankees would have been really screwed if the Orioles pitching wasn't equally terrible with Matusz giving up five before Buck yanked him but then Jakubauskas came in and gave up Cano's grand slam Eyre, Johnson and Patton pitched the rest of the game with Johnson giving up two Home runs to Montero and nobody gave up anything else but the Yankees needed all 11 runs. After Garcia Scott Procter came in and pitched 2 innings giving up a game tying home run in the 5th to Robert Andino and Laffey actually did a decent job and got the two lefties out but walked hardy before Ayala came in and despite giving up a walk and a hbp he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. Logan i guess retired the two lefties when he got Hudson to ground out and the Yankees got Nick Markakis out trying to advance to third on Dickerson's error. Rivera came in and had a very interesting 9th with two singles a HBP and 3 I don't give a fuck despite it being a one run game Stolen bases before striking out JJ Hardy. Mo is only 3 saves away from 600 and there is a decent possibility that he breaks the all time saves record this year.

Jesus is Loose

 The Yankees called up Noesi and George Kontos who has been very good out of the bullpen this year, Ramiro Pena and Greg Golson also got called up today. Brackman, Garrison and Whelan also have a possibility of getting the call but garrison or Whelan will likely get DFA for Kontos and apparently Cashman wants to get Betances up.
The Yankees started off the month with not a lot of hope, we were facing the Red Sox and John Lester and were sending out A.J Burnett who had not inspired confidence with an ERA over 11 in August and was looking like he would be the odd man out in the rotation. Russel Martin hit a double to put the Yankees ahead in the 7th and Mariano Rivera struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the to save the game. Come from behind wins would be a theme of this first week as only CC Sabathia's  Sunday start wasn't  a come from behind victory. Ivan Nova started the Series against the Jays with giving up two runs in the first and was only limited to two thanks to two big defensive plays from Brett Gardner. Gardner also tied the game with one of his rare home runs and Robinson Cano hitting a go ahead single in the 5th. On Saturday the Yankees knocked around the very good Rickey Romero behind a shaky Colon and Robbie Cano put the Yankees ahead in the 7th with a clutch double, but we got another clutch home run from Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli doesn't get cheated on his home runs as all three of his this year have been absolute bombs. On Sunday Carston Charles Sabathia went 7.1 and gave up just two to earn his 19th win of the season. Soriano tried to make it interesting in the 8th by giving up a home run to Bautisa but the Yankees scored 4 in the 8th with a 2 runs Swisher bomb and a captain 2 run single.
The Yankees have three more games against the Orioles with the Friday game being at Camden to make up the rain out from Hurricane Irene and then they head off to a west coast trip against the Angels and Mariners. The pitching rotation for this week will be Phil Hughes, A.J Burnett, Ivan Nova facing the Orioles and then Colon, Sabathia and Garcia. Hopefully the only bad start of this week was Garcias because the offense, especially Robinson Cano, have been great and we will need that when we play the Angels this weekend.

I think he knew

Remember how awesome the Red sox rotation was going to be? Well Josh Beckett sprained his ankle in his start against the Jays today and so now their next time through the rotation will be Lester, Wakefield, Miller, Lackey and somebody for Beckett. The Yankees need to pad the lead right now and with a great week they could get several games up. The Yankees need to keep their foot on the gas because they could pick the Red Sox in the rear view this week.

Yankees update 3/26/11

The Yankees wasted no time and announced that Ivan "super" Nova and Freddy Garcia will get the 4th and 5th Starter jobs out of spring training and the Yankees will try and use Bartolo Colon as the long man. Girardi has says that Colon will fill the role that Alfredo Aceves did in 2009 and early 2010, where he will spot start, do long relief work and work as a regular reliever as well, personally I still think Alfredo Aceves could have filled the role of Alfredo Aceves very well.
Also the Yankees decided to mess with my prediction for 5th outfielder by not only acquiring two more potential back up outfielders but also by likely going without a 5th outfielder for the season. However Curtis Granderson's Injury has thrown a wrench into their plans and if they start the year without him then they will bring one of the Outfielders with them to opening day. In addition to the potential backup outfielders I discussed in my article the Yankees acquired Justin Maxwell from the Nationals and Chris Dickerson from the Brewers. In addition to that Colin Curtis, Greg Golson and Chris Dickerson have all decided to hurt themselves in varying degrees, Curtis jammed his shoulder, Golson had an oblique injury and today Dickerson pulled a hamstring (possibly just cramping)  in the game after going 3-3. If Dickerson does have a hamstring injury, then the most likely candidate is Justin Maxwell, because the Yankees still seem hesitant about Greg Golson and they seem to not want to rush him back from his oblique injury.
Also on the topic of injuries Pedro Feliciano is still battling a sore tricep and for the first time in his career he may end up on the Disabled list. If he does the Yankees do have some good bullpen depth options and another lefty in the pen. In my mind the most likely candidate for the bullpen in place of Felliciano is probably Romulo Sanchez who is already on the 40 man roster and is out of minor league option so the Yankees could get some use out of him before putting him on wavers. If not Romulo Sanchez then the likeliest candidate is Luis Ayala who has been very good this spring; Mark Prior also is still an option, but he will likely need to get more work in AAA before he is MLB ready despite a great spring.

Millwoood, Pitching, Outfield depth and more!

After a winter and spring full of courting the Yankees finally signed Kevin Millwood to a minor league contract. Millwood had been holding out for a major league contract but it became very obvious that nobody other than the Yankees was interested in his services. Millwood's deal is incentive laced and he could earn up to $5 million with base pay and incentives. He will have a base pay of  $1.5 million get half a million for every 5 starts and $1 million for 30 starts.  Unfortunately for Millwood he has been throwing 85 mph potato's and he hasn't thrown any real innings all spring; he also had a 4-16 record last year with a 5.10 ERA in 190.2 innings. Millwood deal is no risk for the Yankees and while some think he's going to battle for a rotation spot he will start the year in AAA, with an opt out date of May 1st. Millwood is a depth signing and he is only a year removed from a good year in 2009 when he went 13-10 with an ERA of 3.97 in 198.2 Innings for Texas. Millwood's stats are strange to see, in his last 4 seasons he had an ERA over 5 except in 2009. Brian Cashman made a smart move, he knows that Millwood is an experienced starting pitcher and this signing is a no risk with possible reward signing. I think that it's very unlikely that Millwood will ever be a true part of the rotation this year, but if Nova, Garcia or Colon falter early then he could be a useful depth pitcher to have until a better alternative can be found and that is what he was signed for.

The other notable transaction that occurred today was the trade of Sergio Mitre "The Experience" to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Chris Dickerson. Chris Dickerson is a depth outfielder who will likely take Granderson's spot if he is not ready for opening day, but he will likely spend most of the year in Scranton. Dickerson is a depth player, but he is a good return for a player was likely going to be released if he wasn't traded. The Brewers got a needed long man and spot starter who had his best ERA (3.33) last season and he will be in a much lighter hitting division that the AL East and could repeat his performance from last year if the Brewers are lucky. Chris Dickerson is now the most experienced depth outfielder for the Yankees to call up, he's a lefty batter and he hits better than our other lefty depth outfielder Colin Curtis.  that it's likely that one of the Yankee's depth outfielders will be traded/released or demoted to AA in the future as the Yankees will want to try and move their outfield prospects up the farm system and get people like Brandon Laird playing time in the Scranton outfield and that will be hard to do with 5 outfielders of AAA starting quality. Jordan Parraz, whom I wrote about in a previous article, is the likeliest candidate to be released and I would expect that he would be released before or when Colin Curtis has recovered from his shoulder injury. Best of luck to you Sergio, I was probably the only Yankee fan who actually liked you.

Good luck as a Brewer (Antonelli/News)

With the trade of Sergio Mitre the 4th, 5th and long relief spots are decided to be Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Ivan "Super" Nova. The only person whose role is more than likely set is Ivan Nova who will likely be the Yankees fourth Starter after having a great spring and a decent September, lets hope he can carry that over into the season. The last two spots will go to Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, coming into the spring it seemed likely that Garcia would get the 5th starter job and Colon would be released, however Colon decided to pitch very well this spring and seemingly earn himself a rotation spot over Garcia. However Colon hasn't pitched a single inning anywhere since 2009 and nobody seems to believe that he will be able to last the whole year, he is a former CY young award winner who used to pitch 200 innings every year. Colon has been throwing 93 consistently this spring, but he used to throw 96-97 and has not lasted a full season since he won the CY  in 05. Colon could be used in two ways, he could be given a rotation spot and used until he burns himself out or he could be given a long relief role and he might last the whole year, but Colon has made 1 relief appearance in his career and we don't know how he will fare. Colon is pictured below:

Bartolo Colon

Freddy Garcia is another former top of the rotation pitcher who has never been the same since suffering a shoulder injury, but he went 12-6 last year with a 4.64 ERA in 157 innings and does historically have horrible spring trainings. Garcia will be with the team come opening day and the only real question is if he will start out the year as the 5th starter or the long relief man. There is really nothing Colon or Garcia can do to make their way into the rotation as the Yankees will decide their roles based on how they feel about their other assets in the minors. If the Yankees want to make Colon and Garcia last the whole year then the best scenario would be having Garcia as the 5th starter and put Colon in the long relief role where he can stretch out his innings over the year and hopefully make it through the season free of serious injury. But if they simply want to get as much use out of Colon then Garcia will likely start the season as the long man before he moves into the rotation when Colon eventually falters or if anyone else is ineffective or injured. This may be interesting for the Yankees as they can replace the long man in the bullpen much easier than a new starting pitcher, the Yankees can use any number of their AAA pitchers to replace a long man including Hector Noesi, D.J Mitchell or any number of other players.

You can listen to some much better blogger than me talk about  the Yankees pitching and outfield depth on the RAB radio show:

Mark Prior is also still around and he provides the Yankees with some very good bullpen depth if he can prove himself in AAA. The only note with Prior is that if he really starts doing well in AAA then the Yankees will likely deal him before he has the opportunity to opt out. I'd really like to see Prior get called up but ideally he will never pitch an inning in pinstripes as that would mean that the Yankees bullpen stayed healthy and didn't need him. Prior has looked good this spring and if he can keep it up he will be pitching in the majors this year, but hopefully not with the Yankees.

Another depth not is that the Yankees may be going with Gustavo Molina (no relation to the Molina brothers) as their opening day backup catcher until Francisco Cervelli returns from injury. Doesn't look like Montero will be on the opening day roster but I still fully expect that we will see him at some point this year. Molina is not notable for anything and takes light hitting to the extreme, which makes me think that the Yankees could be knocking on Chad Moeller's because despite his full knolledge that light hitting catchers are great defensively Molina has decided to have never thrown out a base runner in the majors before.

Spring Training assesment after day 2

Spring training began yesterday with the Yankees falling 5-4 to the Phillies at Steinbrenner field and we got our first look at some Yankees and Phillies starters and prospects. We saw even more Yankees prospects and more Phillies starters today as the Yankees beat the Phillies 7-3 in Clearwater.
We got our first look at Bartolo Colon and he went two innings with 2 Hits, 1 BB and 1 ER with no K's. People have been talking about how good Colon looked and while he didn't give up a lot and did hit 93 on his fastball, he has been pitching in the Winter league and so i expected him to be way ahead of the Phillies, but there is a lot more spring training to go and the Phillies are very good.To me through Colon could likely be the odd man out behind Garcia and Nova, but would he accept a AAA assignment.
Joba and Robertson both looked very good with Joba pitching a perfect 3rd with 1K, while Robertson K'd 2 and gave up a walk. These guys are going to be looking to win the primary RHP/7th inning role and I think they will make it hard for Girardi to choose.
Maxwell had a nice catch in the outfield, Curtis once again looked lost at the plate and Andrew Jones had a weird stolen base attempt where he kind of flopped toward second.
The Highlight of yesterdays game was Jorge Vazquez who won the Winter League MVP and went 2-2 Yesterday with a Home Run and 1-1 Today with a Home Run. He looked really good and he is making a case to be a solid piece of trade bait for the Yankees and i expect that we will see him if Tex or A-Rod get hurt as he can play 1st and 3rd.
Today Ivan Nova started and he looked great pitching two perfect innings with 2 strike outs and he kept the ball down and on the ground. I have to agree with Jack Curry that he looks like he could be 4th Starter , but one spring training start doesn't mean anything and he will have to keep it up for all of spring training and hopefully for the whole season.
Logan and Mitre were effective but a little shaky, especially Logan who seemed to be getting behind in the count on every batter.
Dellin Betances wowed everybody today with 3k's and 1 BB in an inning of work and was hitting 97 on the gun. His command wasn't great for his one BB, but the batters had no chance against him on his 3k's. He also credited Montero with his great outing and the two seemed great together. Speaking of Montero he impressed everybody with a great broken bat single that had a lot of power behind it and Yogi Berra said he looked good behind the plate.
Domenic Brown did not look good for the Phillies at all as he went 0-5 with 4 K's and that has got to make people with the Phillies a little nervous and look to Ben Francisco who looked good at the plate. If he has a good spring while Brown continues to struggle then he could possible earn the Starting RF job.