Yankees spent close to $3M on international players in 2011

By Mike Axisa

The Yankees have traditionally been one of the biggest spenders on the international market, but last year they only spent approximately $2.93M on players according to Ben Balder. That ranks 11th out of the 30 teams. The Rangers were by far the biggest spenders last year at $12.83M, with most of it going to two outfielders: Nomar Mazara ($4.95M) and Ronald Guzman ($3.45M). Those are the first and third largest bonuses in history. The Yankees top signing was Dominican third baseman Miguel Andujar at $750k.

Thanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, every team will be allowed to spend just $2.9M on international free agents in 2012 starting July 2nd. The spending pool will be based on winning percentage starting in 2013, with the good clubs getting the least amount of money to spend. Once a team exceeds their spending pool, they lose future international free agent money. Cuban outfielder Jorge Soler can sign for any amount prior to July 2nd, and it sounds like he’s going to get close to $20M, if not more.

My Apologies

My apologies for the lack of posting this weekend. My son's 2nd birthday party has consumed most of my weekend, mixed in with a friend coming up to visit that I have not seen in years consumed the rest of it. My partner was out being a drunkard.. I mean also visiting with friends (love you Bryan lol).

My apologies again and we will be back at full strength tomorrow!!! (Monday)

Heathcott expects to be out until May

Via River Avenue Blues

It’s been a rough few years for 2009 first round pick Slade Heathcott, who signed for $2.2M and has since undergone two left (throwing) shoulder surgeries and battled alcoholism. As the now 21-year-old outfielder says in the video above, the latest shoulder procedure is expected to delay the start of his season and keep him out until May.

“I’m trying not to rush it,” he said. “I’m trying to take as long as possible without being aggressive. I’m trying to be in games around May.”

Heathcott is known for his very aggressive and hard-nosed style of play, which has been a bit of detriment. He was limited to mostly DH duty as a high school senior because of a torn ACL and a left shoulder injury he suffered diving after a ball. This latest surgery is his third major left shoulder problem in the last four years. Since signing, he’s only played in 132 of ~240 possible games. That’s a lot of development time he can’t get back.

I had Heathcott 13th on my annual Top 30 Prospects List, though Baseball America, Keith Law, and FanGraphs each had him in the top ten. He was having a really nice season in 2011 before the injury (.279/.347/.437 in 242 PA), so now he’s got to just focus on staying on the field. The kid just won’t be able to get any better if he doesn’t stop getting hurt.

Spring Training 3/17/12

From River Avenue Blues

(J. Meric/Getty)

The Yankees beat the Astros 6-3 today. Hiroki Kuroda was fantastic, allowing just one run on three hits in his four innings of work. He struck out two and walked zero, and threw a whopping 49 strikes with his 59 pitches (83.1%). That’ll work just fine thank you. Mariano Rivera needed eight pitches to hit a batter and record three outs in his scoreless inning. He hasn’t allowed a Spring Training run since March 15th, 2008 according to the team.

Robinson Cano was the offensive star of the day, clubbing a three-run homer over the right field bleachers and out of the stadium in an 0-2 count. Bill Hall also chipped in a solo shot, and Andruw Jones had a pair of knocks. Both Curtis Granderson (double and walk) andBrett Gardner (two walks) each reached base twice as well. Dellin Betances showed us all he had in his scoreless inning, including nasty offspeed stuff for swings and misses, on-and-off fastball command, and ugly fielding. Here’s the box score and here’s the rest from Tampa…

• Eduardo Nunez played today for the first time in close to two weeks. He took batting practice and fielding grounders before the game to test his injured right hand, then wore a protective glove during the game. “It feels better,” he said. [Chad Jennings]
• Nick Swisher went for a precautionary MRI on his sore groin, which came back clean. He expects to play tomorrow, but since they’re playing a night game an hour away in Sarasota and they have Monday off, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t return until Tuesday. [Bryan Hoch]
• David Robertson will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday, his first time back on a mound since suffering the bone bruise in his right foot. [Sweeny Murti]
• Austin Romine resumed baseball activities today. He took some hacks off a tee and soft toss, and played catch as well. He’s been out for most of camp due to back inflammation. [Jennings]
• Ravel Santana was scheduled to take batting practice in minor league camp today. There’s been some confusion about his status for this summer following the brutal ankle injury that ended his 2011 season, but at least he’s taking BP. Running and playing the outfield is another matter entirely. [Josh Norris]
• Rule 5 Draft pick pick Brad Meyers threw live batting practice today. He has yet to appear in a game after hurting his shoulder working out this offseason, so his chances of making the team are basically zilch. For shame. [Jennings]

The Pettitte News Confuses Me

I didn't plan on writing again until Monday, as I traveled out of town for St. Patrick's Day, but I had to chime in regarding Andy Pettitte returning to the Yankees.

On the surface this is awesome news. Andy Pettitte has been a key part of 5 World Championships for the Bombers, and put up a 3.98 ERA in 405 starts (2535.2 innings pitched) for them over 13 seasons. And even though he only threw 129 innings in 2010, Pettitte did give up only 4 runs in 14 innings (2 starts) in the postseason (if the Yankees could have figured out Cliff Lee at all Pettitte may have won both of those starts). So it's hard to be upset by the news.

But I'm still confused by this.

The Yankees certainly don't need another starter. We already have Phil Hughes or Freddy Garcia lined up to be the #5 starter. And that right there already has concerns attached to it, as Freddy has very limited experience out of the bullpen (4 out of 2076.1 innings in his career), and many (myself included) want to see Hughes get another shot as a starter. So bringing Andy into the equation causes more issues than it solves.

Now, I readily admit that having too much pitching is never a bad thing. A team is much better off having too many options to choose from, as injury or ineffectiveness is bound to come up somewhere. But what about the AAA guys?

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Empire State Yankees rotation is already set with Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, David Phelps, Adam Warren, and DJ Mitchell. There's a chance that Pettitte is put into the MLB rotation, Garcia is in the bullpen, and Hughes (who has an minor-league option remaining) is sent to AAA. Which would bump one of the previous 5 guys down to AA. That wouldn't be a horrible thing, but I believe each of those pitchers should be working in AAA to prepare for a possible spot in the MLB rotation in 2013.

Andy Pettitte could also mean Freddy Garcia is traded. But what could the Yankees really get for him? Freddy should get the team something useful, as Garcia showed last year that he's still got plenty to offer a team's pitching staff, but the idea that the Yanks could just deal him doesn't exactly excite me. It's not like the Yankees could get Andre Ethier in return for Sweaty Freddy.

Look, the move is not awful by any means, but it's hard to grasp what the Yankees were thinking. Well, it's hard to grasp what they were thinking beyond "it's Andy f'n Pettitte, if he wants to pitch we're going to bring him back".

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.

Spring Training 3/16/12

The Yankees once again played the Washington Nationals and once again they won today by the final score of 4-3, in 10 innings. Brandon Laird had the game winning sacrifice fly after an error and a walk allowed the runners to be on base and in scoring position. The speedy Justin Maxwell scored the winning run for the Yanks after his lead off aforementioned walk. CC Sabathia has 6 hits, 3 runs allowed, and a walk over three innings against newly acquired Gio Gonzalez. Phil Hughes came in to save the day and threw four scoreless innings in route to the Yankees win.

Hiroki Kuroda will make his third spring start for the Yankees Saturday against the Houston Astros at George Steinbrenner Field at 1:05 pm ET.

Yankees Make First Cuts

LHP Manny Banuelos
RHP Dan Burawa
RHP Adam Miller
RHP Brett Marshall
RHP Ryan Pope
RHP Graham Stoneburner
RHP Chase Whitley
2B Corban Joseph
2B David Adams
C Gary Sanchez
C/3B J.R. Murphy
C Kyle Higashioka
OF Zoilo Almonte
OF Melky Mesa

I can understand losing some of these guys as they have no chance to make the big league club but as a fan first I really wanted to see as much Zoilo Almonte, Brett Marshall, and Manny Banuelos. Oh well maybe next year.

Andy Pettitte Is Coming Back To The Yankees!!!

2.5 Million Dollar Minor League Deal!!

Whooooooooo!

Yankees Yearly 2012 – Buy my Magazine!

Borrowed from our friends over at The Yankees Analysts

Please buy my magazine!

Longtime readers know that in each of the past four springs, I’ve written for a magazine called Yankees Annual. This magazine used to be published by Maple Street Press, and was distributed pretty widely throughout the Tri-State Area. Unfortunately, Maple Street Press has ceased doing business due to financial difficulties related to the NBA and NFL labor turmoil. That happened just after all of the Yankees Annual writers put together our work. As a group, we decided to self-publish the content online.

A few months later, the result? 109 pages of awesome content. A full 12 of those pages are my work. I wrote three articles: one on Michael Pineda, one on the 2011 ‘last great wild west draft’ class, and finally one on Dante Bichette Jr. I’m very proud of these pieces.

We’re doing this on a profit-sharing deal. This means that, unlike previous years, none of us earn money without selling enough copies to cover expenses. The cost is $9.99, and you can read it on any number of e-reader formats. That’s cheaper than the print edition would have been under Maple Street Press, and we believe well worth it for 109 pages of high-quality content. Don’t be fooled by the cover low-budget cover (no publishing company = no fancy graphic designers), because all of the writing is professionally quality.

If any blogger or member of the media would like a review copy, please email me at fagan.ej (at) gmail.com.

Details:

The team that brought you the Yankees Annual (and before that Bombers Broadside) now brings you the newly revamped YANKEES YEARLY! With all the features that fans of the world’s greatest baseball team have come to love and crave every new season, including our Top Prospects List, Team Roster Preview, interviews with current players, former players, and up-and-coming prospects, analyses of the lineup and team strengths, and great historical articles.

The 2012 edition features:

• Robinson Cano on Hitting, interviewed by David Laurila
• Top Prospects, by Howard Megdal
• Jim Bouton on the 50th anniversary of 1962, interviewed by Chip Greene
• Curtis Granderson’s grand 2011: stacking up against the great NYY center fielders of the past, by Dave Golebiewski 2011 Year in Review by Keith DeCandido
• E.J. Fagan profiles hot new pitcher Michael Pineda and number one draft pick Dante Bichette Jr.
• and much more!

ISBN 978-1-61390-048-2 EBOOK ONLY
ISBN 978-0-61561-659-9 paperback

B&N Nookstore: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/yankees-yearly-cecilia-m-tan/1109517546?ean=2940014307703
Amazon Kindle Store: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JW68V2
Not live yet but will be soon, Apple iBookstore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781613900482
Live at OmniLit: http://www.omnilit.com/product-yankeesyearlyanannuallookatthenewyorkyankees-751139-324.html (where people can buy the PDF, epub, OR Kindle/mobi version).