This Day in New York Yankees History 11/15: A Rod wins 2nd Yankee MVP

On this day in 2005 the Yankees Alex Rodriguez won his second MVP award in three seasons edging out the Red Sox David Ortiz in the vote. Ortiz may have won the award had he played a position and not been a full time DH, sparking a heated debate and controversy, but the Yankees and Alex will take it either way.

Also on this day in 2001 Roger Clemens won the American League Cy Young award with a 20-3 record with a 3.51 ERA. Roger would become the first player to win this award for the sixth time in his career and the first Yankees player to win the award since Ron Guidry won it in 1978.



Also on this day in 1961 Roger Maris won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award after setting the single season home run record with 61 round trippers. Maris only beat the second place finisher, his teammate Mickey Mantle, by four votes with a 202-198 vote.



Finally on this day in 1951 the Yankees Gil McDougald won the American League Rookie of the Year Award. It is worth noting that Willie Mays won the award in the National League on the same day. It is also worth noting that neither player were listed on their team’s original Spring Training rosters.

ICYMI: Meet a Prospect: Joe Mantiply Edition

The New York Yankees claimed a left-handed reliever from the Detroit Tigers named Joe Mantiply as the Yankees search and goal to restock their bullpen begins. Mantiply will likely be one of many members to join the Yankees bullpen in some way, shape or form this offseason so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Joe Mantiply Edition.


Joseph Newman Mantiply was born on March 1, 1991 and while playing amateur baseball in Virginia he caught the eye of the New York Mets in the 2009 MLB Draft with their 48th round selection. Mantiply decided to head to college rather than take the step from High School to professional baseball and ultimately attended Virginia Tech University where he was once again drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies in the 28th round of the 2012 Draft. Another drafting and another decision to return to school for Mantiply but after his senior season the Detroit Tigers came calling in the 27th round of the draft in 2013.



In four seasons in the Tigers minor league system the left-hander has put up a 2.44 ERA including 13 starts while only giving up 11 home runs in 239.1 innings of work. Mantiply can start or be a reliever for the Yankees and his value comes with his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark and keep runs off the board, something any team needs.



In order to make room for Mantiply the Yankees designated Branden Pinder for assignment. He will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2017 season anyway so expect a new minor league deal to follow for the Tommy John recipient.


Welcome to the family Joe.

Most Popular Article of the Week: Two Yankees Minor Leagues Suspended for Drugs

Well after a great day here is a somber end to the evening. Two members of the New York Yankees minor league family were caught with and suspended for performance enhancing drugs this week.


Edel Luaces and Erick Mendez both received 50-game suspensions without pay for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs according to NJ.com and their Advanced Media. Both were members of the GCL Yankees although Mendez received a promotion to Pulaski later on in the 2016 regular season.





Like I’ve said many, many times before. This game is still not clean and it may never be.

Ranking Brian Cashman's November Trade/Acquisition History

Brian Cashman in the past has wasted no time preparing for the upcoming season as the Yankees GM so I decided to take a quick look at what he has done in the month of November in recent years. If the past is any indicator of the future should we expect a trade sometime soon this month?

2008 - Wilson Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez to the Chicago White Sox for Nick Swisher and Kanekoa Teixeira.

2014 - The Justin Wilson for Francisco Cervelli trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates definitely benefited both teams as both teams traded from a position of depth and power to fill a need. The way trades are designed to be.

2007 - Cashman sent Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers for Humberto Sanchez, Anthony Claggett and Kevin Whelan. None of these prospects ever made the roster but Sheffield wasn't conspiring with Kenny Lofton about the "racist" Joe Torre either. Win/win.

2001- Cashman signs Melky Cabrera as a 16-year old out of Venezuela.

2015 - The Yankees sent John Ryan Murphy to the Minnesota Twins for Aaron Hicks and the team also acquired Ronald Herrera from the San Diego Padres on this day.

Weekly AFL Check In: Greg Bird

Greg Bird was a Arizona Fall League MVP just two years ago but this year he has been lacking a bit in the hitting department. Bird's average is hovering around the Stephen Drew line and his home run production has left much to be desired but he's healthy and his shoulder seems to be ready for big league action. There's always a silver lining in everything. 

Here is the stat line for the week from Mr. Bird. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 11/14: Enter A Rod… Again

On this day in 2007 Alex Rodriguez the reports started to fly around that Alex Rodriguez was close to a new deal with the New York Yankees somewhere in the neighborhood of $290,000,000. This was confirmed by Alex on his website and by the Steinbrenner family as well. This was done to try and soften Alex's look after the harsh criticism he received from opting out during Game 4 of the 2007 World Series.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

Yankees Have Ten Minor League Free Agents

Matt Eddy at Baseball American has the full list of 534 minor league free agents that will hit the market this offseason and that list included ten members of the New York Yankees. There are a couple names that are household names to even the most casual of Yankees fans while others are in the lower levels of the farm. Let's take a quick look at this list of free agents and see how it will potentially affect the Yankees farm system going forward.

RHP Tyler Cloyd
INF Cito Culver
RHP Claudio Custodio
INF Jonathan Diaz
RHP Gabe Encinas
C Santiago Nessy
OF Cesar Puello
C Eddy Rodriguez
UTIL Jose Rosario
C Sebastian Valle

Cito Culver and Cesar Puello are probably the most notable players on the list but truly Culver hasn't been on the Yankees prospects radar for quite some time. How far the once might have fallen. Puello is an outfielder in a system stocked full of outfielders so while he is talented he likely won't be a significant loss in the grand scheme of things.

Weekly AFL Check In: Brody Koerner

You remember all that stuff I said about JP Feyereisen this morning? The whole thing about facing advanced talent and the fact that the stats aren't as important as the experience. The same applies for Brody Koerner who reached High-A Tampa this season after starting the season with the Charleston Riverdogs.

Koerner's stats are not encouraging but one must remember that he missed most of the season with an injury. It's all about innings and getting his work in right now while trying to stay healthy.

Weekly AFL Check In: J.P. Feyereisen

The New York Yankees acquired J.P. Feyereisen from the Cleveland Indians in the Andrew Miller trade and after a half season in the Yankees organization the team wanted to see more out of their new right-handed arm. For this reason the organization sent Feyereisen down to the Arizona Fall League to pitch for the Scottsdale Scorpions against some advanced talent.

Now while the stats haven't been great the sample size is small. The experience is most important.

This Day in New York Yankees History 11/13: Enter Swisher

On this day in 2008 the Yankees landed right fielder Nick Swisher and AAA right handed pitcher Kaneoka Teixeira from the Chicago White Sox for pitching prospects Jeffrey Marquez and Johnny Nunez, as well as infielder Wilson Betemit.


Also on this day in 1998 the first home run ever hit in Yankees Stadium, thrown by Red Sox pitcher Howard Ehmke and hit by none other than Babe Ruth, was sold at auction for $126,500. Mark Scala was the seller after finding the historic ball in his grandmother’s attic.


Also on this day in 1978 the Yankees signed free agent pitcher Luis Tiant to a two year deal worth $875,000.


Finally on this day in 1931 the Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert would buy the International League's team out in Newark, New Jersey. The Newark Bears funneled many good players to the Yankees big league club while under Ruppert's watchful eye.