Andy Pettitte To Give Timetable This Week

Dan Martin makes another appearance at this blog, this time because of Andy Pettitte.

Andy has said that he'll give the Yankees a "timetable" some time this week. Whether that means he'll make a decision about returning next year, or he'll let the Yankees know when he'll make the decision, is unclear. Pettitte had said he was going to make his decision soon after the ALCS, apparently meaning about a month, and we're about at that point.

Unlike Hiroki Kuroda, who has interest from other teams, when it comes to Andy it's Yankees or retirement. We all want what's best for Andy and his family, but I don't think I'm alone in hoping he comes back for another season.

Yankees Looking At Scott Hairston

You want to know how slow things have been lately? Here's the guy I'm writing about now...

That uniform probably doesn't make Yankee fans any more excited.

According to Dan Martin of the NY Post, the Yankees have been speaking with Scott Hairston. I'm sure the Yanks are looking at Hairston to fill the hole left by Andruw Jones, which honestly isn't that difficult after Andruw put up a line of .197/.294/.408 last season, which included only .202/.294/.411 vs. left-handed pitchers.

Hairston did smack 20 home runs last season, but his batting average of .263 and on-base percentage of .299 probably doesn't excite many people in the Yankee Universe. But against lefties Scotty did hit .286/.317/.550.

Hairston is also a decent corner outfielder, while being able to fake center field in an emergency.

List Of Yankees 2012 Arbitration Eligible Players

It is that time of the year where the Yankees, and all other clubs for that matter, have to go through the arbitration process with their eligible players. This season the Yankees have 8 players that they will go through the process with and a couple of them will not be cheap. Let's take a look at the list and MLBTR's projected salaries.

Boone Logan RP (4th time eligible) $2.8 Million

Phil Hughes SP (3rd time eligible) $5.7 Million

Joba Chamberlain RP (3rd time eligible) $1.8 Million

Brett Gardner OF (2nd time eligible) $2.8 Million

David Robertson RP (2nd time eligible) $2.7 Million

Eli Whiteside C (2nd time eligible) $600 K

Jayson Nix UTIL (1st time eligible) $900K

David Herndon RP (1st time eligible) $600 K

I do not know if we should be thankful or not for injury riddled seasons by Joba Chamberlain and Brett Gardner but the past is in the past now and MLBTR does not expect a raise for either of these men due to missing so much time in 2012 so that helps. I know Joba made $1.675 million in 2012 and to go up to $1.8 million is obviously a raise but I did not think it was noteworthy. Boone Logan would be getting around a $1 million raise after making $1.875 million in 2012 which is not much at all if he pitches like he did in the first half of 2012. Phil Hughes made $3.2 million in 2012 so he would get a $2.5 million raise for 2013 which is pretty significant for someone who pitched like a 4th starter for most of the season. David Robertson made a bargain $1.6 million in 2012 so the jump to $2.7 million seems like a bargain for us looking at the Boone Logan jump. Eli Whiteside is a non tender candidate and will not be receiving a raise from his 600 K salary of last season and David Herndon would only be receiving a $125 K raise from 2012. Overall if MLBTR is close on these numbers I think they are very much in the Yankees favor so let's hope for the best.

Hiroki Kuroda Prefers A Return To California

Hiroki Kuroda has come out and said that he would prefer a return to Southern California so he can be near his daughter and her grade school. This would automatically put the Dodgers and the Angels, both who have expressed real interest in Kuroda, at the top of the list. The Dodgers were not financially able to offer Kuroda a deal last year so that may be the only reason we got him in 2012, hopefully he enjoyed himself enough to want to give it one more go. I would hate to lose Kuroda but the money the Dodgers and Angels are spending and their new dedication to winning it may be enough to lure Kuroda back West...

Former Yankees Update : Ryota Igarashi

So you know it is a slow off season thus far when the first post of the day is updating you on where Ryota Igarashi signed. Ryota has signed a three year deal to pitch in Japan worth an estimated 600 million Yen. Last season with the Yankees in very limited service Ryota gave us 36.2 IP in the minors and a meager 3 IP in the Bronx. What did we expect after getting him off the waiver wire from the Toronto Blue Jays back in May anyway, right? I hope he enjoys his next three seasons in Japan and his, what sounds like, insane salary that comes along with it.

Arizona Fall League Wrap Up

The Yankees sent three of their big time prospects down to the Arizona Fall League to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions this off season including David Adams, Dellin Betances, Slade Heathcott, Mark Montgomery, and Austin Romine. The Scorpions ended the season with a 15-16 record and finished 2.5 games behind the Rafters.

Dellin Betances had a AFL to forget, much like his entire 2012 season, finishing with a 1-3 record and a 5.25 ERA in 12 IP. While he started off really slow and really ugly he finished with some solid outings out of the bullpen. He did fight with a groin injury that nagged him a little and kept him on the bench but he apparently has a clean bill of health now and is ready to build on his recent success and take it into 2013.

Austin Romine missed almost all of the 2012 season with a nagging back injury that he got in Spring Training with the Yankees. He finished with a triple slash of .222/.342/.286 over 18 games with 4 doubles and 6 RBI's. He struck out 13 times and drew 12 walks. Not exactly the kind of stats you wanted to see from your closest positional prospect in the system but he was down there more to get work in than for the results so I guess that is the silver lining.

Zach Nuding and Danny Burawa were also sent down to the AFL but neither had spectacular seasons in the AFL. Burawa went down to Arizona to get some work in after missing the 2012 season with a back injury as well. Nuding actually took a step back after what was a stellar season in Tampa.

Slade Heathcott may just end up being the Arizona Fall League MVP for this go around around putting up a triple slash of .388/.494/.612 over 18 games and 67 at bats. He hit 1 HR, 3 triples, 6 doubles, and 15 RBI's. In his last 10 games he hit exactly .500 with two 4-5 games that earned him the Player of the Week Award for the week of November 6th. This is huge news that he is healthy and knocking the cover off the ball because if he can build on this and continue at this pace he may be in the majors in the next 2-3 seasons.

Mark Montgomery continued to do what Mark Montgomery is becoming known for, well known for by Twitter followers and prospect huggers alike anyway, and that is striking people out and bring kind of a cocky kind of guy. In 10.1 IP Mark had a 2.91 ERA only giving up three runs while shutting down offenses for seven straight games. He struck out 19 batters while only walking five batters allowing five hits and those three runs. His batting average against, or BAA, was a minuscule .174 which is a truly great sign for a guy that could conceivably make the jump to the majors as soon as 2013 if the situation in the Bronx got bad enough.

David Adams has been riddled with injuries for the past 2-3 seasons but put together a nice bounce back healthy season in 2012. He built on that down in Arizona while putting up a triple slash of .286/.388/.524 in 22 games played. Adams hit 3 home runs, 2 triples, 7 doubles, and 15 RBIs while playing 2B and 3B for the Scorpions. He was also nominated for the Stenson Sportsmanship Award that will be handed out during tomorrow's Championship game at 3:00 pm ET on MLB Network.

Jeter May Not Be Ready For Opening Day After All

It seems like forever ago that the Yankees were eliminated from the ALCS by the hands of the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees got swept and had to play three of the four games without Derek Jeter after finally breaking the ankle that he had nursed for the better part of two months. Derek has had surgery on the ankle and is still non weight bearing on it and now his status for Opening Day 2013 is up in the air. At age 38 Derek Jeter may need a little longer then his normal 4-5 months to recover from this like the doctors say but then again he is Derek Jeter so we will never know.

Former Yankees Update : Melky Cabrera

Former New York Yankee and San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera signed a two year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays today. The deal is worth $16 million which is a ton more then I ever expected him to get after missing the last 2 months of the season, including the playoffs and World Series, due to a PED suspension and forged website. Now the speculation game can start all winter long whether Melky Cabrera without PED's is closer to the guy that got him traded from New York and dropped from Atlanta or the guy that excelled in Kansas City and broke out in San Francisco.

Five Most Underrated Seasons By A Yankees Infielder

Our friends over at Pinstriped Bible have been putting out some really great posts here lately so I want to commend them for that. I want to share their latest post that I read this morning by Andrew Mearns which showed us the five most underrated seasons by a Yankees infielder. You can read the post HERE but I am also going to syndicate it here on TGP for you guys. It really is a great read so I encourage you to at least click the link and give him the views and leave some comments because it is well written. Thank you Andrew!

Spoiler Alert! I have a feeling that Tino Martinez and Ken Griffey Jrs personal Home Run Derby of a 1997 season MAY make the list, I'm just saying. Enjoy!

Most fans of the New York Yankees can rattle off numerous seasons of excellence by any of the legends to ever play for the team. Babe Ruth, 1921. Lou Gehrig, 1934. Joe DiMaggio, 1941. Mickey Mantle, 1956. Derek Jeter, 1999. Alex Rodriguez, 2007. The list goes on and on. These were some of the finest seasons in the history of baseball, and it's unsurprising that they are so fondly remembered.

However, these fantastic seasons have overshadowed some terrific years by other players who were Yankees as well. They might not have been stars, but they had campaigns worthy of recalling in the many years after. Yet they have fallen by the wayside in the memories of most Yankee fans. Let's give them the moment of honor they deserve with this list of the most underrated seasons by position among forgotten players in Yankee history. The criteria will be fairly simple--if the player is not honored in Monument Park or destined for that location, then he is eligible.

Catcher

Mike Stanley, 1993 (.305/.389/.534, .401 wOBA, 147 wRC+, 26 HR, 5.2 fWAR)--When Stanley was allowed to depart to the rival Boston Red Sox after the Yankees' first playoff season in 14 years, fans were in an uproar. While this reaction might seem surprising for a guy who did not come up through the system and spent just four years with the team (398 games), the step down in offense from Stanley to successor Joe Girardi was immense. Stanley did not have a great defensive reputation, but that '93 season really stuck in the minds of Yankee fans. Stanley snatched the starting job from incumbent Matt Nokes, then thrashed American League pitching with a season that would easily fit into the season-by-season ledger of fellow slugging catcher Mike Piazza. In '93, the Yankees were in the playoff mix for the first time in five years, and they had Stanley to thank in part for that.

First Base

Tino Martinez, 1997 (.296/.371/.577, .396 wOBA, 141 wRC+, 44 HR, 5.5 fWAR)--Curiously, the best season of Tino's Yankee career came in the only season of his first run in New York that the Yankees failed to make the World Series (discounting his return in '05 as a part-time player). The defending champion Yankees were eliminated by the Cleveland Indians in a hearbreaking five-game Division Series, but it was hard to blame Tino for the Yanks coming up short. In an alternate universe where Ken Griffey, Jr. had already decided to force the Seattle Mariners to trade him to his hometown Cincinnati Reds, Tino might have carried home AL MVP honors in '97. Alas, he finished second to Junior, who deservedly won it with arguably the best season in a Hall of Fame career. Still, Tino's 40-homer season was the first by a Yankee in 17 years, a surprising drought for a team known as the "Bronx Bombers." Adding to the fun, he became the first Yankee to win a Home Run Derby with his victory at Jacobs Field in the '97 All-Star festivities back when the contest was done in daylight and didn't drag on deep into the night. '97 was disappointing after the fun of '96, but at least we got to see Tino at his best.

Second Base

Snuffy Stirnweiss, 1945 (.309/.385/.476, .404 WOBA, 148 wRC+, 8.8 fWAR)--Ah, the Ballad of George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss. Declared "4-F" and ineligible to be drafted into the military, he instead rose to prominence as Hall of Famer Joe Gordon's replacement at second base for the Yankees in the World War II years. He was all over the AL leaderboard in both '44 and '45 while the majority of the Yankees struggled and went consecutive seasons without a World Series appearance for the first time in a decade. In both seasons, Stirnweiss finished behind Detroit Tigers ace Hal Newhouser for AL MVP honors, but he sure had a good case for the award. He won a batting title, led the league in slugging and wRC+, unheard of for a second baseman. It's really a toss-up between either of his two seasons in the wartime era; however, Stirnweiss was never up to snuff after the war. He stayed in the lineup after the war ended and Gordon returned by moving to third base, but Stirnweiss's hitting went down sharply with the better pitchers back on the mound. His career ended not long after and he died far too young at age 39 in a train crash. Poor Snuffy. Phil Rizzuto always credited Stirnweiss for calming him after the Yankees cut "the Scooter" in '56, preventing Rizzuto from lashing out against management and causing animosity between him and the team that would have probably prevented him from becoming the team's longtime broadcaster. Holy cow, indeed. Speaking of that '56 season...

Shortstop

Gil McDougald, 1956 (.311/.405/.443, .384 wOBA, 131 wRC+, 5.5 fWAR)--My goodness, was Gil McDougald an underrated player. Eat your heart out, Michael Young. The man played well defensively all around the infield, knew how to get on base, and was a key cog on five World Series championship teams. It was he, not Mantle, who won the '51 AL Rookie of the Year award, and his versatility was crucial to his platoon-happy manager, Casey Stengel. He had never played shortstop in the majors prior to '56, but Stengel asked him to step in at the position when Rizzuto continued his decline. It turned out that playing short fit McDougald just fine, and he had perhaps his best season at the plate in '56 as well. He only played in 120 games, but the reason for that can be pinned on Stengel's constant tinkering with the lineup. Mantle was the easy MVP choice thanks to his Triple Crown season, but McDougald surprised by finishing seventh in the balloting. Perhaps if casual fans took a closer look at his season, they would not be so shocked.

Third Base

Graig Nettles, 1976 (.254/.327/.475, .364 wOBA, 136 wRC+, 32 HR, 8.3 fWAR)--Fun fact: Graig Nettles has a career fWAR of 71.8 and a career rWAR of 62.8. Another fun fact: Graig Nettles finished just 10 homers shy of 400, led the AL with 32 in the Yankees' return to the Fall Classic in '76, and slugged 250 in his Yankee career (10th in team history). Not-so-fun fact: Graig Nettles is not a Hall of Famer, nor has he ever really been in a discussion for the honor. I think I could be persuaded that Nettles was not deserving of Cooperstown despite good hitting and tremendous defense over a 22-year career, but it kind of baffles me that he's not even briefly considered in discussions. The third-base position is pretty barren in Cooperstown, anyway. Meanwhile, Mr. Nettles frequently had All-Star seasons like his All-Star '76, yet the writers never seemed to consider him the fantastic player that he was. Hell, Nettles probably deserved that '76 AL MVP more than his friend and teammate, Thurman Munson. Nettles's greatness at third was often overshadowed by contemporaries Mike Schmidt and Brooks Robinson, and that hardly seems fair. It's not his fault he played in the same era as probably the greatest fielding third basemen in the history of the game. At least give him a plaque in Mounument Park, Yankees. Sheesh.

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I'll be back later in the day with the most underrated Yankee seasons by outfielders and pitchers.

Did I ironically ignore more deserving underrated seasons? Let me know.

Pettitte Signs On For 2013!

It is too bad we are talking about Josh Pettitte and not Andy Pettitte though huh? The son of Andy Pettitte, Josh, has signed a commitment letter of intent to pitch for Baylor University in 2013. Josh is a right handed starter just in case you were wondering. We are still waiting on Pettitte Sr. to decide on his 2013 commitments.  By the way that is obviously an old picture that we used with Derek Jeter greeting him at home plate, he is not a that short. Just wanted to throw that out there.