Former & Current Yankees Well Represented In WBC

The Yankees, both current and former, are going to be well represented in this years World Baseball Classic that will be played this March. We have already heard that Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira will play for Team USA and we have also heard reports that Andy Pettitte will pitch for Team USA although that is still unofficial. Yankees 2B Robinson Cano will play for team Dominican Republic and Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli will play for team Italy in this years classic. Former Yankees will also be in this years classic like Russel Martin for team Canada, Melky Cabrera on team Dominican Republic (please stay away from Cano.. please), Jose Molina will play for team Puerto Rico, Andruw Jones will play for team Wife Beaters Netherlands, and Luis Ayala, Alfredo Aceves, and Ramiro Pena will play for team Mexico.

Former Yankees Update : Ramiro Pena

Former Yankees utility man Ramiro Pena has signed on with the Atlanta Braves for the 2013 season. He was named one of the top minor league free agents going into this off season and will be a back up utility guy for the Braves this season. Surprisingly Ramiro got a major league contract instead of a minor league contract to play for Atlanta next season. Thanks for the memories Ramiro.

Yankees List Of Minor League Free Agents

Baseball America has listed their list of minor league free agents and a ton of Yankees names made the list including Ramiro Pena's name at the very top of the list. Here is the complete list broken down by organizational affiliate.

AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre

Jason Bulger RHP

Manny Delcarmen RHP

John Maine RHP

Jon Meloan RHP

Tim Norton RHP

Ramon Ortiz RHP

Kevin Whelan RHP

Mike O'Connor LHP

Jose Gil C

Gustavo Molina C

Craig Tatum C

Kevin Russo 3B

Doug Bernier SS

Ramiro Pena SS

Cole Garner OF

AA Trenton 

Grant Duff RHP

Lee Hyde LHP

Josh Romanski LHP

Walter Ibarra SS

High A Tampa 

Ronny Marte RHP

Rookie Ball

Kelvin Castro RHP

Short Season Ball

Edwin Beard OF

Melky Mesa Promoted, Ramiro Pena DFA'd

Melky Mesa has been promoted to AAA Empire State Yankees today. The Yankees released Jack Cust, Colin Curtis, and Ray Kruml so they had an opening in their outfield and Mesa is their guy. He is an all or nothing kind of hitter with excellent power but does is not expected to be much in the majors. Let the speculation begin though about this move having ANYTHING to do with the impending free agency of Yankees RF Nick Swisher.

Recent International Free Agent Adonis Garcia , already 27 years old , has been promoted from Tampa to Trenton to take Mesa's spot. Mesa will have to share the outfield in "Scranton" with Darnell McDonald, Kosuke Fukodome, Ronnier Mustilier, and Chris Dickerson.

In a shocker and a head scratcher the Yankees designated Ramiro Pena for assignment yesterday. I cannot for the life of me understand why this happened, especially less then a month away from expanded rosters and with two of our infielders hurt. This one I do not get.

Wise Released, Pena Sent Down

DeWayne Wise refused his AAA assignment and the Yankees had until today to either release him or trade him... so they released him. His bunt and his "catch" will be two of the things we will remember in his short, but very solid, career with the Yankees

Ramiro Pena has been sent back down to AAA Empire State Yankees to make room for newly acquired Casey McGehee. Good Luck Ramiro, see you in September.

Yankees Call Up Ramiro Pena.... For Now

The Yankees announced today that they have called up Ramiro Pena to replace Alex Rodriguez on the 25 man roster. Ramiro has been down in the minors becoming a super utility player learning the outfield while perfecting his in-fielding skills. This is just a  temporary fix though , in my opinion, with the trade deadline less then 6 days away.

The Yankees, right away, were linked to guys like Chase Headley, Ty Wiggington, Placido Polanco, and a slew of other available third basemen. Chase Headley makes the most sense with him being cheap, fiscally, and under team control for a while but then you run into the problem of what to do with the guy when Alex Rodriguez gets back. Also for that cheapness and that team control you also tend to have to pay more.... I do not want to have to pay more for a guy for two months then to ride the bench.

The Yankees, who looked to have a quiet trade deadline, look to be buyers now. This should be an interesting July 31st trade deadline to say the least. 

Mock Trade: Justin Upton

I Got Traded Where?

I probably will not tell you ANYTHING that you already know here but the Yankees are apparently checking in on Justin Upton. While I know a deal in the offseason is more likely, and makes more sense for Arizona, I still wanted to throw a trade out there. Joel Sherman reports on Twitter that the Diamondbacks would want one of the Yankees top prospects, someone who can play shortstop now, and a pitcher who can pitch now. 

It is no secret that Kevin Towers and Brian Cashman are friends and with Towers working in the Yankees system for a season knows our players quite well. Using the outline that Joel Sherman gave us I came up with this mock trade. Whether it gets it done or not is one thing but these are for fun anyway so here we go...

The Yankees receive:
Justin Upton

The Diamonbacks receive:
Mason Williams/Tyler Austin
Eduardo Nunez/Ramiro Pena
David Phelps/Adam Warren
Mark Montgomery/PTBNL

I Hear He Likes Snakes Too...

Either Mason Williams or Tyler Austin would have to be included in a deal for this to happen. I think the Diamondbacks would want Mason Williams because he is more of a "sure thing" as the Yankees were once struggling to find a position for Tyler that fit. Eduardo Nunez is the only guy we have that can play short stop now unless they want Ramiro Pena so he will have to do. David Phelps has much more trade value then Adam Warren right now but maybe the Yankees could swing a deal that kept Phelps and included Warren although I doubt it. I added Mark Montgomery because it gives the  D Backs another projectable arm in the pen and sort of makes up for Nunez's short comings. 


Note that I do not think this deal would get it done. I truly believe that the Yankees would have to include a Phil Hughes or an Ivan Nova to make the deal work, in which I would want to pass on, but I am just going with what Joel Sherman said. 

Official Campaign Starts Here

If the Yankees are offered this trade I make it 11 times out of 10. If Justin Upton is really "on the outs" with Arizona, as he seems to be, then the Yankees may (and would) steal him with a similar deal like this one. Get it done Cash.

Oh I Will

"Stuck With You", Starring Eduardo Nunez

Derp!

Like it or not, the Yankees are stuck with Eduardo Nunez for the time being. Even if Joe Girardi stuck with 12 pitchers, giving him a fourth spot on the bench for a bat, the team still doesn't have a better alternative for a back-up middle infielder.

Let's start by looking at the Active Roster. First, subtract the 12 pitchers, and you have 13 hitters. When healthy, this is what the Yankees have...

Catcher - Russell Martin
1st Base - Mark Teixeira
2nd Base - Robinson Cano
3rd Base - Alex Rodriguez
Shortstop - Derek Jeter
Left Field - Brett Gardner
Center Field - Curtis Granderson
Right Field - Nick Swisher
Designated Hitter - Raul Ibanez
Bench - Chris Stewart (C)
Bench - Eric Chavez (1B, 3B)
Bench - Andruw Jones (LF, RF)
Bench -

So the Yankees have one more bench spot. Clearly they need a back-up middle infielder. Jeter has already started four games as the DH, and hasn't taken a day off. If you think Derek can play every game this year you're more delusional than I am when I think "if I ever met Mila Kunis in person, I could get her to go out with me". The Captain has never played all 162 games in a season, even when he was healthy all year long. Robinson Cano has started one game at DH, and also has yet to have a game off. And I wouldn't count on Cano for all 162 games either, even though he played 159 games last year. Not that it would surprise me if he did, it's just that the baseball season is a very long one, and these guys must need a day off at least a few times a year.

Looking at the infielders on the 40-man roster, outside of Nunez, Cano, and Jeter, you have Brandon Laird, Corban Joseph, David Adams, Ramiro Pena, and Jayson Nix (currently on the Active Roster).

You can cross Brandon Laird off the list right away, as he has never played shortstop or second base since becoming a pro in 2007. Even so, his line of .256/.323/.366 isn't any better than Eduardo's .270/.317/.297. And remember that Laird is hitting against AAA pitchers, so his line is bound to be lower in MLB.

The next guy to cross off the list is Corban Joseph. Other than 43 games at 3B, Joseph has spent his entire pro baseball career at 2B. And that doesn't count the fact he's never played above AA ball. Speaking of playing, Corban hasn't even played a game this season anyway. Which could be too bad, because although he probably wouldn't hit .277/.353/.415 in MLB, like he did last season for Trenton, he might be better than Nunez with the stick.

When it comes to being able to play some at shortstop, David Adams is in the same boat as Corban Joseph.... except for the fact that Adams is healthy. Adams has played 238 games at 2B, and only 14 games at 3B, with zero experience at short. Plus, Adams has only played in 3 games this year, while Kevin Mahoney is the Thunder's starter at 2B.

We finally come to a guy with experience at both middle infield positions. Both in the majors and the minors, Ramiro Pena has plenty of experience at second base and shortstop. And Ramiro has played for the Yankees in three different seasons, between 2009 and 2011. So clearly this is a fine option, right? Sorry. Pena may not boot as many ground balls, or throw away as many balls, as Nunez has, but I don't think that makes up for his inferior bat. In 334 MLB plate appearances, Pena has a triple-slash of .233/.255/.288. And in AAA so far this season he's hitting .250/.304/.361, so I wouldn't expect him to do much better in 2012 for the Yanks.

Now for the guy that is currently in MLB with the Bombers... Jayson Nix. Jayson started in his first day with the Yankees in 2012, and went 0-3 with a strikeout. Can we expect better than that out of him? Sure. But keep in mind that he was only hitting .233/.314/.367 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Empire State before getting called up yesterday. So again... he'll be better than what we saw last night, but it won't be by much. Shoot... if it wasn't for the fact Nix can play every position but center field and catcher, then I doubt he would be wearing Yankee pinstripes right now.

So that last guy on the bench has to be Eduardo Nunez. The only way Yankee fans will be able to turn on a Yankee game, with no chance of seeing Nunez get in, is if the team acquired another middle infielder. I don't expect that to happen anytime soon, but it is a possibility.

Yankees Injury Update For 3/16/12

Derek Jeter, no matter how much he is downplaying it, has a sore right calf. He is going to miss a couple of days with it but it does not seem like it should be a lingering issue.

Although Nick Swisher was able to take batting practice and run the bases he is still going to be taking a few more days to rest that sore groin muscle of his. Nick's, like Jeter's, injury is not that big of a deal and if this were the regular season I think both players would be in the games.

Ramiro Pena has a sore ankle and Eduardo Nunez has a bruised right hand.. so much for that SS depth huh? Thank goodness for Doug Bernier.

George Kontos has thrown two bullpen sessions and is considered "100%" from his oblique injury. Time is running out Mr. Kontos so get to work.

Russell Martin has a sore groin as well and will miss a couple of days.

Hopefully no more news to come unless it is positive.

Raul Ibanez or Eric Chavez?

"What should I do?"

There is some debate among Yankee fans regarding what's more important... signing a DH or a 3B/IF. Joel Sherman said on Twitter that the Yankees only have enough in the budget, even after the AJ deal, to sign one or the other. And Bryan Hoch, on Twitter as well, said that Cashman is not sure about a return of Eric Chavez. So what do you think is best?

I took a look at the current 40-man roster to see what choices the team has within the organization, as I don't believe a 40-man roster move would be made for either position (excluding a FA signing).

I found that Chris Dickerson is the only option the team has for a DH against right-handed pitchers, who also plays the OF. Chris hit .260/.296/.360 in 55 plate appearances with the Yankees last season, and .231/.341/.325 in 247 PA with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season. More importantly, in 490 career PA in MLB his career triple-slash vs. RHP is .270/.355/.415. So it seems like he'd be a fine option, should Cashman decide against pursuing Ibanez.

Here is where I can understand why Cashman isn't so sure about Chavez. Because, unlike the "DH vs. RHP" thing, the Yankees have a few different options.

Eduardo Nunez saw 391 PA in MLB, in which he hit .276/.314/.382, and Girardi seems to like Nunez. Ramiro Pena has seen some time in MLB as well, where he's hit .233/.266/.288 in 334 MLB plate appearances, so he's certainly less idea for that bench spot than Eduardo. And finally there's Brandon Laird, who hit .260/.288/.422 in AAA last season, and saw a few MLB at bats in 2011 as well. The fact that Laird played a bit in the OF last season helps his case too.

In all I would be perfectly okay if the Yankees went with what they currently have, placing Dickerson in the "DH vs. RHP" role, and having Nunez on the bench in the IF/3B slot. But due to the fact that the team has 3 viable options, already on the 40-man roster, for the IF/3B slot I can totally understand Cashman's stance on Ibanez before Chavez.

Pictures From Spring Training Day 1

Early Stretching

Hiroki Kuroda Wants "To Win A Championship"

Some Guy Named Jeter Taking BP

Joba, Rivera, Hughes, and Nova in order

Jeter and Ramiro Pena Laughing

Mason Williams

Joba and Nova Throwing With Larry Rothschild

Michael Pineda

CC Sabathia