Andrus to Yankees Not Likely to Happen

Though the idea of the Yankees acquiring Rangers' SS Elvis Andrus this offseason may sound exciting, a source in contact with The New York Daily News' Mark Feinsand says it's unlikely.

Or, rather, the source said the exchange happening is the "longest of long shots." According to it, the Yankees have no interest in taking on the length or cost of Andrus' contract, which doesn't even start until next seaason.

From Feinsand's report:

"A source told the Daily News a trade for the Rangers’ 26-year-old shortstop is nothing but the longest of long shots, as the Yankees have no interest taking on his massive contract.

One executive believes it would take “a huge leap of faith” to deal for Andrus, who signed an eight-year, $120 million extension with the Rangers that begins this upcoming season."

The Yankees were rumored to be "intrigued" by Andrus a few days ago, and with good reason. Andrus is still relatively young, has made two All-Star teams since 2009, and is a .272 career hitter. 

Nonetheless, it appears the Yankees just don't see him as worth the price. Expect them to now turn to cheaper options (probably Stephen Drew, but nothing's guaranteed) to fill the position.

BREAKING NEWS: Cervelli Traded to Pittsburgh for Justin Wilson

Francisco Cervelli has been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for relief pitcher and left handed throwing Justin Wilson. Wilson is a hard throwing lefty that touched the mid 90's with his four seam fastball, two seam fastball, and can touch the 90's with his cutter. Wilson's biggest problem is his control as he has struggled with that for much of the 2014 season before falling out of Clint Hurdle's circle of trust.

Wilson has just two years of service time meaning the Yankees have at least four seasons of team control for the lefty. The Boone Logan comparisons started as soon as the trade went down and I can't say I wouldn't mind having another Logan in the pen. Wilson can face lefties and righties and actually gets righties out a little more often then he does lefties.

The Yankees had to trade a catcher this offseason as Austin Romine is out of options, Gary Sanchez is sniffing Triple-A, and John Ryan Murphy is Major League ready. Cervelli will presumably get the opportunity to catch every day in Pittsburgh replacing Russell Martin, Murphy will get the back up job unless Romine simply steals it, and Wilson will likely fight for a bullpen spot in spring training.

David Phelps is a Super Two

Players with less than three years of Major League service may qualify for an early arbitration hearing if they exceed expectations on the field and have enough service time. Josh Donaldson leads the 2015 crop of Super Two's but a familiar Yankees face made the list as well in David Phelps.

What does it mean? David Phelps is getting a raise in 2015. He deserves it too, good for him.

David Robertson Looking for "Papelbon Money"

And the hot stove is officially turned on and ready for business....

Today it was announced that rumors are circulating that David Robertson is looking for "Papelbon money" after rejecting the Yankees qualifying offer this week. Papelbon signed a four year deal worth $50 million with the Philadelphia Phillies for an AAV a shade under $13 million.

I am in the camp that believes New York should bring David back at all costs so this scares me a little. Stay tuned...

Yankees sign LHP Jose De Paula

When I first read this I thought the team was getting Rafael De Paula back from the San Diego Padres after acquiring Chase Headley. Boy was I disappointed when I realized it was Jose De Paula and not Rafael that the New York Yankees signed today.

De Paula was signed to a major league contract today as he enters his age 26 season. De Paula has no big league experience and has spent his minor league career in the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants organization. De Paula has been a left handed starter in his career and shows no signs of needing to be moved to the bullpen anytime soon.

This is not uncommon for the Yankees to make these kind of signings early, think David Herndon the last season or two, and cut them later if they aren't working out. This is not a look at the future it is merely getting a legit shot at a player before everyone else does.

Major League Baseball Players Born on November, 12

As you can see by the graph below there were more than a few notable players in Major League Baseball history born on this day. That list includes the former corked bat using, PED abusing, home run hitting Sammy Sosa and former Yankees Homer Bush, Don Johnson, and Carl Mays.

Rk	Name	Born	ASG	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	W	L	ERA	WHIP	SO
1	Marcell Ozuna	1990	0	223	840	103	225	26	117	8	.268	.313	.433	.746						FLA
2	Adrian Nieto	1989	0	48	106	8	25	2	7	0	.236	.296	.340	.635						CHW
3	Mike Leake	1987	0	172	295	37	69	4	15	0	.234	.261	.325	.587	53	42	3.92	1.294	611	CIN
4	Cesar Jimenez	1984	0	78	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	2	3	4.32	1.426	55	SEA,PHI
5	Charlie Morton	1983	0	135	213	3	17	0	5	0	.080	.088	.099	.186	36	61	4.50	1.454	515	ATL,PIT
6	Aaron Heilman	1978	0	477	47	1	1	0	1	0	.021	.061	.021	.083	35	46	4.40	1.362	548	NYM,CHC,ARI
7	J.D. Smart	1973	0	44	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	1	3	5.35	1.426	31	WSN,TEX
8	Homer Bush	1972	0	409	1274	176	363	11	115	65	.285	.324	.358	.682						NYY,TOR,FLA
9	Randy Knorr	1968	0	253	676	82	153	24	88	0	.226	.278	.382	.660						TOR,HOU,FLA,TEX,WSN
10	Sammy Sosa	1968	7	2354	8813	1475	2408	609	1667	234	.273	.344	.534	.878						CHW,TEX,CHC,BAL
11	Donald Harris	1967	0	82	117	17	24	2	11	2	.205	.248	.282	.530						TEX
12	Mark Small	1967	0	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	1	5.92	1.890	16	HOU
13	Dave Otto	1964	0	109	20	0	4	0	4	0	.200	.200	.350	.550	10	22	5.06	1.568	144	OAK,CLE,PIT,CHC
14	Gary Thurman	1964	0	424	798	121	194	2	64	65	.243	.297	.299	.597						KCR,DET,SEA,NYM
15	Wilfredo Tejada	1962	0	18	40	2	10	0	4	0	.250	.279	.325	.604						WSN
16	Jeff Reed	1962	0	1234	3101	311	774	61	323	7	.250	.334	.361	.695						MIN,WSN,CIN,SFG,COL,CHC
17	Greg Gagne	1961	0	1798	5673	712	1440	111	604	108	.254	.302	.382	.684						MIN,KCR,LAD
18	Donnie Hill	1960	0	756	2307	276	594	26	228	22	.257	.308	.343	.651	0	0	0.00	1.000	1	OAK,CHW,ANA,MIN
19	Jody Davis	1956	2	1082	3585	364	877	127	490	7	.245	.307	.403	.710						CHC,ATL
20	Bruce Bochte	1950	1	1538	5233	643	1478	100	658	43	.282	.360	.396	.756						ANA,CLE,SEA,OAK
21	Ron Bryant	1947	0	206	291	27	48	0	20	0	.165	.210	.179	.389	57	56	4.02	1.384	509	SFG,STL
22	Al Schmelz	1943	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0					0	0	3.00	1.667	2	NYM
23	Damaso Blanco	1941	0	72	33	9	7	0	2	3	.212	.308	.242	.550						SFG
24	Joe Hoerner	1936	1	493	59	2	6	1	3	0	.102	.131	.169	.301	39	34	2.99	1.243	412	HOU,STL,PHI,ATL,KCR,TEX,CIN
25	Harry Hanebrink	1927	0	177	317	32	71	6	25	1	.224	.279	.315	.594						ATL,PHI
26	Don Johnson	1926	0	198	155	1	9	0	7	0	.058	.087	.065	.151	27	38	4.78	1.580	262	NYY,BAL,MIN,CHW,SFG
27	Andy Hansen	1924	0	271	118	11	12	0	3	0	.102	.209	.110	.319	23	30	4.22	1.411	188	SFG,PHI
28	Billy Reed	1922	0	15	52	4	13	0	0	0	.250	.264	.250	.514						ATL
29	Emerson Dickman	1914	0	125	110	12	16	1	4	0	.145	.210	.200	.410	22	15	5.33	1.590	126	BOS
30	Gene Lillard	1913	0	44	44	9	8	0	2	0	.182	.321	.205	.525	3	6	7.09	1.944	33	CHC,STL
31	Red Evans	1906	0	42	28	3	6	0	2	0	.214	.241	.214	.456	1	11	6.21	1.719	47	CHW,LAD
32	Herm Merritt	1900	0	20	46	3	17	0	6	1	.370	.396	.478	.874						DET
33	Carl Mays	1891	0	502	1085	113	291	5	110	1	.268	.313	.350	.663	207	126	2.92	1.207	862	BOS,NYY,CIN,SFG
34	Elmer Leonard	1888	0	5	7	3	2	0	2	0	.286	.375	.286	.661	2	2	2.84	1.895	10	OAK
35	Red McDermott	1888	0	5	15	2	4	0	0	1	.267	.313	.333	.646						DET
36	Clyde Goodwin	1886	0	4	5	0	1	0	0	0	.200	.200	.200	.400	0	2	4.43	1.478	9	MIN
37	Moonlight Graham	1877	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0										SFG
38	Ed Killian	1876	0	220	609	56	127	0	47	6	.209	.230	.268	.498	103	78	2.38	1.217	516	CLE,DET
39	Solly Salisbury	1876	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	13.50	2.833	0	PHI
40	Fred Raymer	1875	0	371	1380	95	301	1	101	50	.218	.242	.259	.501						CHC,ATL
41	Jack Ryan	1868	0	616	2192	245	476	4	189	32	.217	.249	.281	.529						LOU,ATL,LAD,BLO,STL,MIN
42	Harry DeMiller	1867	0	4	10	2	3	0	5	2	.300	.417	.300	.717	1	1	6.38	1.875	15	CHC
43	Pat Dealy	1861	0	131	469	71	113	2	34	45	.241	.275	.301	.576						STP,ATL,WNL,SYS
44	John Humphries	1861	0	98	364	34	52	0	6		.143	.188	.151	.339						SFG,WST
45	Bill Gleason	1858	0	798	3395	613	907	7	298	70	.267	.313	.327	.640						STL,PHA,LOU

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/11/2014.