Victorino Comes Off The Board, Signs With Red Sox

The Red Sox are using some of the money that they found when they traded away Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Adrian Gonzalez to name a few. Yesterday Mike Napoli came off the board and today the Sox grabbed another guy the Yankees had their eye on with Shane Victorino. Shane signed a three year deal worth $39 million to play for Boston. I cannot say that I was overly excited to have Victorino on the team but that does not mean I wanted him to go to Boston either.

Yankees Looking Hard At Jeff Keppinger

With bidding around 2 years and $8 million, the Yankees apparently have a strong interest in Jeff Keppinger.  The team met with Keppinger's agent yesterday, and are feeling more urgency towards 3B has they need a starter for around half a season, rather than a backup.

It should be noted that Jeff is recovering from a broken fibula, but it's not affecting his free agency very much.  That's not really a surprise, since the fibula is not a weight-bearing bone like the tibia or femur is.

A couple of days ago I would have been surprised that the Yankees would give somebody a 2 year deal, since he would be a bench player once Alex Rodriguez returns. But due to the news about the insurance on ARod, and the fact Alex may never be 100% again, the urgency is a bit higher for a guy that could be a legit starter at the hot corner.

ARod Physically Unable To Perform?

Seeing as how Alex Rodriguez is set to have surgery on his other hip, there are questions about him being able to play-out the rest of his contract.

Don't get too excited, as ARod has said he has no desire to retire, therefore the Yankees would still be on the hook for the $114 million remaining on his deal. However, reports indicate that the team has insurance on ARod's salary, which could cover 75% or more. 

Details on the insurance are unclear, but if the team has to go over the luxury tax threshold at some point recouping some of Alex's salary would be really nice.

Yankees Unlikely To Sign Stephen Drew

Reports are surfacing that will not make the Yankees or their fans very happy and that is that the Yankees are extremely unlikey to sign Stephen Drew this offseason. He has expressed that he is not crazy about a third base job, a utility job, or a part time job and that is basically all the Yankees would use him for. After not living up to his potential in Arizona or Oakland I cannot see how too many teams will want to give him a starting job but there is always the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros of the world so you never know. Either way it is a little disappointing.

Dan Haren Comes Off The Board, Signs W/ Nats

I do not know if Dan Haren was on the Yankees radar or not, if not then he should have been but I digress, but he came off the board this afternoon when the Washington Nationals scooped him up. The Nats got even more scary after they signed Haren today on a one year deal worth $13 million with no word on incentives and such. I am sort of surprised to see this much guaranteed money given to a guy coming off such a down year but I guess the market has been set.

Yankees Open To Trading Granderson

NYY have been open to talks about Curtis Granderson. If they move his $15m salary, it would provide more flexibility to do other things.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 4, 2012

With the signings of BJ Upton and Angel Pagan, I'm not sure how many teams would be in on Granderson. After all, we are talking about a guy that saw his walk rate decrease quite a bit, while his strikeout rate went way up. Of course, we're talking about a guy that's hit 84 home runs the last two years, and there are very few guys that could do that. So this could make things interesting.

The problem with trading Granderson is replacing his power. The Yankees have already lost a guy that can hit around 25 homers a year (Swisher), and couple that with ARod going down for while, which may lead to the loss of the #evilhomerun hashtag.

Mike Napoli Comes Off The Board, Signs With Red Sox

Another catching possibility has come off the board tonight as Mike Napoli has signed with the Red Sox for 3 years and $39 million to play primarily first base, play some DH, and catch when necessary. Much like the Toronto Blue Jays the Red Sox also have about 15 potential catchers on their roster, I'm obviously exaggerating, so this does not make much sense to me but neither does a lot of what the Red Sox do so whatever. Good luck in Boston Mike!

Derek Jeter Injury & Weight Update

Derek Jeter is healing as expected after having ankle surgery this off season and expects to shed his walking boot in the next 6-7 weeks. Derek Jeter is expected to be ready for Spring Training and Opening Day but even if he wasn't I think he wold be in there anyway so this should come as no surprise. Also he is not looking all that out of shape and fat in this picture so that is a great sign I guess not that I think anybody was worried about Derek.  Get well Jete!

Blue Jays Claim Eli Whiteside Off Waivers From Yankees

The Yankees designated catcher Eli Whiteside for assignment and he has been claimed by division rival the Toronto Blue Jays even though they already have 12 catchers on their roster (#sarcasm). Toronto will assume his entire contract for 2012 and add him to their 40 man roster. Good luck to Eli in Toronto!

Joakim Soria Signs With Texas

According to Ken Rosenthal, Joakim Soria has agreed to a two-year deal with the Rangers.

Darn, I really wanted to see the Yankees work out a deal with Soria.