Thursday, January 10, 2013

Kevin Youkilis Will Wear #36 For The Yankees


Kevin Youkilis caused a little bit of controversy when he signed with the Yankees, at least in the blogosphere, because he wore #20 with his time in Boston and Chicago. The Yankees and their fans hold someone near and dear to their hearts that used to wear #20, maybe you have heard of him? Jorge Posada? While the number is not retired it would not have went over well for Youk to take Jorgie's old number and good news Yankees fans, he didn't! Kevin Youkilis will wear #36 for the Yankees next season. Buy your jerseys now!



Justin Upton Still In Mix For NY, Rejects Trade To Sea


Justin Upton has been part of every trade rumor we have heard it seems this off season but the Diamondbacks finally had a deal in place to trade Justin Upton to the Seattle Mariners for a package of young talent. Upton has a limited no trade clause and has reportedly rejected this trade so he is still in the mix for the Yankees to acquire. This has to excite Yankees fans and employees alike because obviously there was a reason that Justin did not want to go to Seattle. The obvious reason you would think would be playing for a contender which the Yankees seem like they will be in 2013 and beyond. Also the Mariners have a much better farm system then us so if they are taken out of the mix this only improves our chances.

Meet Our 2013 Utility Infielder : Eduardo Nunez


Brian Cashman has said from the very beginning of the off season that Eduardo Nunez would be a short stop only going forward into 2013 and beyond. That tune changed a little bit today when Cashman was quoted as saying that if Nunez made the big league club, which I cannot fathom a scenario where he doesn't, that it would have to be as a utility infielder. His defensive struggles and woes are well documented and probably scares the crap out of everybody reading this, including myself, but it is what it is. Eduardo is not going to move Jeter out of the short stop position and we have Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Youkilis for third base so the choice was obvious.

Obviously the Yankees could always waste Nunez like they did with Ramiro Pena and send him down to AAA to either be an every day short stop or let him learn another position or twelve and never make it back to the majors. We always could plug in Jayson Nix, who is currently assigned to AAA and not on the 40 man roster, to play utility infielder and let Nunez get some reps and work down in the minors. There is always that whole trade scenario as well but he has not been linked or rumored to be a part of any deal so I did not think it was worth mentioning.

MLB Announces Random Drug Testing For HGH In 2013


Major League Baseball has announced that they have modified their Joint Anti Drug program to include random HGH drug tests starting as soon as 2013. In the current plan we had drug testing for minor league players and in Spring Training, the off season, and if a player showed reasonable cause for the major league players. Now everyone is eligible for a random test at any time in the year thus continuing to make baseballs anti drug and steroid program the strongest and best in all of sports. Say what you will about Bud Selig and the whole proactive vs. reactive argument but Bud is doing what he has to do to clean up the game with full cooperation from the players and the union and I think the fans win for it.

Maybe The $189 Million Plan Is Not Set In Stone


Hal Steinbrenner left a little wiggle room regarding the 2014 luxury tax thresh hold plan of getting under $189 million in payroll. When asked about it by Ken Davidoff down in Tampa Hal responded by saying "Is our goal 189 next year? Yes, but only if I'm convinced the team I see, that we've put together, is a championship caliber team." He also went on to say that he did not believe you needed to have a payroll of $220 million to win a World Series which I can agree with. Maybe there will be a little wiggle room in this and we have been already putting Cano on a farewell tour and looking at being a 3rd or 4th place team for nothing...