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...

The Yankees Are Interested In Grady Sizemore

First and foremost I want to point out that in my free agency predictions post AND in my post looking at a possible 2013 bench player I had Grady Sizemore in pinstripes in both of them. With that said the Yankees have checked in on Grady Sizemore with the interest of signing him. Yesterday we learned that Grady would not sign with a team until he was physically ready to play and he does not expect that to be before mid season. While Sizemore has had his fair amount of injuries he is also only 30 years old and was an absolute stud from 2005-2008 so on a minor league deal this gets my seal of approval.

Yankees Farm System Ranked 11th In Preliminary Poll

Jim Callis of Baseball America ranked the top teams in baseball by farm system in his personal opinion and the Yankees were 11th on his list. Three of Callis' contributing editors also ranked the Yankees 11th in the farm system rankings. The St. Louis Cardinals finished first followed by Mariners and Marlins. The official rankings are released during Spring Training and a lot can change between then and now but that is where the Yankees sit as of today.

Nobody Elected Into Baseball Hall of Fame

The voting came out today and nobody, for the first time since 1996, was elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Craig Biggio got the most votes but still only managed to get 68.2% which was pretty  far from the 75% needed to get into the hall.  Lohud has the leading vote getting players listed here but here is some of the top ones.

Bernie Williams will fall off of the ballot with Kenny Lofton and David Wells for not getting at least 5% of the vote. Dale Murphy has reached his maximum 15 year stay so he will also no longer be eligible for the BBWAA ballot.

Craig Biggio – 388 votes (68.2%)
Jack Morris — 385 votes (67.7%)
Jeff Bagwell — 339 votes (59.6%)
Mike Piazza — 329 votes (57.8%)
Tim Raines — 297 votes (52.2%)
Lee Smith — 272 votes (47.8%)
Curt Schilling — 221 votes (38.8%)
Roger Clemens — 214 votes (37.6%)
Barry Bonds — 206 votes (36.2%)
Edgar Martinez — 204 votes (35.9%)
Alan Trammell — 191 votes (33.6%)
Larry Walker — 123 votes (21.6%)
Fred McGriff — 118 votes (20.7%)
Dale Murphy — 106 votes (18.6%)
Mark McGwire — 96 votes (16.9%)
Don Mattingly — 75 votes (13.2%)
Sammy Sosa — 71 votes (12.5%)
Rafael Palmeiro — 50 votes (8.8%)
Bernie Williams — 19 votes (3.3%)

Hall Of Fame Voting Happens Today At Noon

Today at noon on MLB Network we will see the final results from the most controversial  ballot ever voted on for the Hall of Fame. Here is the complete list of eligible players that will be voted on today by the Baseball Writers Association of America and I have included how many times they have been on the ballot as an FYI. I have bolded the 10 guys that I would vote for if I had a vote so if you do not agree then please comment in the box or tweet us @greedystripes.

Jack Morris (14)
Jeff Bagwell (3)
Lee Smith (11)
Tim Raines (6)
Alan Trammel (12)
Edgar Martinez (4)
Fred McGriff (4)
Larry Walker (3)
Mark McGwire (7)
Don Mattingly (13)
Dale Murphy (15)
Rafael Palmeiro (3)
Bernie Williams (2)
Barry Bonds (1)
Roger Clemens (1)
Mike Piazza (1)
Curt Schilling (1)
Kenny Lofton (1)
Craig Biggio (1)
Sammy Sosa (1)
David Wells (1)
Steve Finley (1)
Julio Franco (1)
Reggie Sanders (1)
Shawn Green (1)
Jeff Cirilo (1)
Woody Williams (1)
Rondell White (1)
Ryan Klesko (1)
Aaron Sele (1)
Roberto Hernandez (1)
Royce Clayton (1)
Jeff Conine (1)
Mike Stanton (1)
Sandy Alomar (1)
Jose Mesa (1)
Todd Walker (1)

Yankees Announce A Rod's Hip Surgery Set For Jan 16th

Yankees announce that ARod's hip surgery will be performed on January 16th.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) January 8, 2013

According to Sweeny Murti on Twitter the Yankees have announced that Alex Rodriguez's left hip surgery will be set for January 16th, just 8 days away. With a 4-6 month recovery time that puts A Rod back on the field back in mid May- mid July.