Six Protected & Moved To 40 Man Roster

The Yankees have moved six of their prospects to the 40 man roster, thus protecting them from a potential Rule 5 Draft pick. The list includes Nik Turley, Manny Banuelos, Ramon Flores, Francisco Rondon, Brett Marshall, and Jose Ramirez. Manny B will miss 2013 with Tommy John surgery so this is more of a procedural move in my eyes. Brett Marshall went 13-7 with a 3.52 ERA in 27 starts in Trenton. This is the next line of Yankees prospects coming up together and this excites me.

Yankees Re-Sign Hiroki Kuroda

Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that the Yankees have resigned starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one year deal. The deal is worth $15 million with $1 million in incentives which will keep the 38 year old will be in pinstripes for at least one more season. This makes me feel a whole lot better about 2013 then I did just five minutes ago. Welcome back #HIROK!

Former Yankees Update : Cory Wade

Remember the spectacular season that Cory Wade had for the Yankees in the bullpen in 2011? Probably not after the horrific 2012 season he followed it up with which resulted in him being designated for assignment and later picked up by the  Toronto Blue Jays. Well the Toronto Blue Jays, I do not know if you guys have heard or not,  raped robbed pillaged dismantled the Miami Marlins and the 40 man roster spots are now at a premium so the Jays announced they have DFA'd Cory Wade and two others to make room for new players. I wonder if the Yankees will give him a shot because we are giving everyone else's scraps a 40 man roster spot why not one of our own?

Yankees Claim Mickey Storey

The Yankees continue their boring off season with yet another guy picked up off the scrap heap today when the Yankees signed Mickey Storey from the Houston Astros. Storey is a right handed pitcher that pitched out of the Astros bullpen in the last season. In his age 26 season Storey pitched to a 3.86 ERA with a 10/1 K/9 ratio with a 3.0 BB/9 ratio in 30 innings and change. He posted better numbers in 65 innings in AAA last season as well with a 3.05 ERA and a 10.0 K/9 with a 1.99 BB/9 ratio. Seems more like a depth move to me with very few, if any, spots available in the bullpen but I guess those never hurt. It may also mean a trade involving Joba, David Robertson, or whoever else has trade value right now may be in the works... #NinjaCash

News Corp. To Buy Up To 80% Of YES Network

News Corportation has announced that they and the Steinbrenner family have announced that agreed on a deal that would sell 49% of the YES Network to News Corp. After three years News Corp. has the opportunity to buy up to 80 % of the YES Network which is currently worth more then the New York Yankees team at $3 billion. This really adds some validity, in my eyes at least, to the rumors of the Steinbrenners willingness to sell the team somewhere soon down the road.

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.