The Yankees waved goodbye to both Phil Coke and Mike Dunn this offseason, two of the more promising left-handed relievers the farm system had produced in many years. Coke posted a reasonable 4.50 ERA and held left-handed batters to a .195 AVG in 60 innings while Dunn posted an impressive 5.6 K/BB ratio and 3.31 ERA in 73 innings split between Double and Triple-A. Now the oft-injured Damaso Marte remains as the lone left-handed reliever in the Yankee pen. If Joe Girardi elects to carry a secondary lefty, there could be an interesting – but not fierce – competition.

Kei Igawa and Boone Logan will likely lead the pack before camp starts. Albeit underwhelming, ..read more

This week in Yankees Minor League News

Non-roster invitees are players that are not on the 40-man roster, but are invited to the big league camp at spring training. Typically each team in the league brings about 20 of these players to camp and that’s the exact number the Yankees expect this spring.

There are different reasons the Yankees would invite these players. Some are young prospects who the Yankees want to get a look at like lefty pitcher Jeremy Bleich and catcher Jesus Montero. Some are guy who could help the team at some point down the road this season like outfielder Colin Curtis, and some are like Marcus Thames and actually have a shot at making the 25-man roster. Then there are ..read more

For the past couple of weeks we’ve been looking back at how the players performed in 2009 and trying to predict how they are going to do in the upcoming season as part of our Player Previews.

Here is a list of players already previewed:

Catchers Jorge Posada

Infielders Mark Teixeira Robinson Cano Derek Jeter

Outfielders Nick Swisher

Pitchers CC Sabathia AJ Burnett Andy Pettitte Javier Vazquez

We’re not done yet though and over the next couple of weeks you’ll get a chance to see how our writers think these players will do in 2010:

Catchers Francisco Cervelli

Infielders Alex Rodriguez Nick Johnson Ramiro Pena

Outfielders Brett Gardner Curtis Granderson Randy Winn Marcus Thames

Pitchers Joba Chamberlain Phil Hughes Mariano Rivera Damaso Marte David Robertson Alfredo Aceves Boone Logan Chad Gaudin

So be sure to ..read more

So far this offseason the Yankees have reacquired Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez, two players they had previously traded away, now according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated they have added another former Yankee, outfielder Marcus Thames.

For weeks rumors persisted that the Yankees were looking to add one more right handed hitting outfielder on a minor league contract and it looks like they got their man in Thames. There is no word as to whether or not Thames got a minor league or a guaranteed major league contract yet, but you can probably assume this is of the minor league variety.

In 258 at bats last season, Thames had ..read more

Throughout the debate on whether or not Joba Chamberlain should be starting or relieving one thing that keeps coming up is this idea that his velocity suffers in his starts which supposedly means he should be coming out of the bullpen.

While watching games, I have noticed this to some extent, but I am the type of person who doesn’t trust his own eyes. I like to have data to backup my observations otherwise I end up doubting myself. To remove some of the doubt I have this morning I went through Pitch FX and pulled out some of the velocity numbers of Joba’s appearances last season and I put together a couple helpful charts.

Here ..read more

2009: Javier Vazquez struggled mightily during his 2004 campaign in the Bronx and was promptly dropped from the Yankees roster. That year, however, should be considered an anomaly. In his 11 year career he has thrown under 200 innings only three times; in 2004 and during his rookie and sophomore years in the MLB. Including those seasons he has averaged 226 innings every season.

2009 was one of Vazquez’s best seasons in the majors. In 32 games he pitched 219.1 innings while giving up only 181 hits and more importantly only 70 earned runs which gave him an astounding 2.87 ERA. While he only finished with a 15-10 record, the Braves’ lack of offensive power is probably ..read more

2009: The 2009 season was Derek Jeter’s 14th full season in the big leagues and many analysts, “professionals”, and fans were wondering if Jeter would finally start to show his age. In Jeter’s previous 13 seasons he consistently put up star numbers, never having an avg under .290, and always came up in the big moments for the Yankees. After losing the World Series in 2001 and 2003 he went into 2009 hoping he could lead his team to their first title since 2000, and his fifth overall.

For the team as a whole April was a very average month as they finished with a 12-10 record, and Jeter was no exception hitting a ..read more

So today’s the big game: Super Bowl XLIV, Colts versus Saints.  There is no New York team involved, nor is there a rival of New York involved.

So who’s a Yankee-fan to root for?

The Case for the Indianapolis Colts

- The Colts have become the Patriots primary rival, much like the Yankees are to the Red Sox and Lakers are to the Celtics.  If the Lakers, Yankees, and Colts all win consecutive titles, this will certainly cause a lot of depression and angst in Beantown, and that’s a good thing for any Yankees fan.  Not to mention, Boston’s three most hated athletes are quite possibly Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez, and Kobe Bryant.  All three ..read more

According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, despite the fact that the Yankees believed their former prospect Jose Tabata was 19-year-old when they traded him the Pirates are starting to think that it might have been closer to 25.

“All of the documentation he has used to obtain his visa from the U.S. government and his passport from the Venezuelan government indicates his reported age is accurate,” Huntington said in an e-mail to the Tribune-Review. “Apart from unfounded speculation, there is nothing to indicate his age any different than reported. My point is that while we have reason to doubt his reported age, it is a non-issue to us.”

Tabata was once ..read more

Rumors circulated on Tuesday that Joe Mauer had signed a 10 year, $200 million extension with the Twins.

My two reactions were: 1 – Wow, I can’t believe the Twins spent that much money and 2 – Good for them.

Those rumors later turns out to be false, so Mauer isn’t locked up yet and could still potentially become a free agent.  Most people feel that Mauer would cause a massive bidding war, as the Red Sox, Mets, and Yankees would all likely get involved.

So what is Joe Mauer actually worth?  Is 10 years and $200 million appropriate?  That’s approaching Alex Rodriguez money, which makes some sense: Mauer is younger than A-Rod, better defensively, and plays a more ..read more

After the Yankees signed outfielder Randy Winn, effectively cutting ties with Johnny Damon for good, I put a poll up on the site asking our readers if they thought the Yankees would live to regret that decision.

With 287 entries it was our most successful poll to date and it was a very interesting one at that. The first 100 or so votes were nearly split down the middle, in fact it was exactly 51-49 at one point.

After the dust began to settle though and fans got some time to think about it the group thinking that the Yankees wouldn’t regret the move started pulling away. The final tally was 151, 52.6 ..read more