Baseball News

I am back, i took the day off yesterday due to me and my family having some kind of stomach virus. I didn't get to talk about the Yankees inviting 20 non roster players to spring training. I am not going to go through the whole list but basically you know most of them. The Yankees have announced some of the signings in the past few weeks. Reid Gorecki, Royce Ring, Marcus Thames etc got the invites and minor league deals with incentives if they make the roster. The 2 top catchers Austin Romine and Jesus Montero got invites along with Kei Igawa. If you forget who Igawa is he is the Japanese pitcher the signed a fews yrs ago that has become a bust. I am thinking the Yankees will give him the chance to be the 2nd lefty out of the pen but I doubt that will happen. The Yankees currently have Damaso Marte but they have other guys who will try and win that job. Wilkens Arias and Jeremy Bleich are 2 left handers to keep an eye on. Arias is 29 so not much of a prospect but held lefties to a sub 200 batting avg last year in the minors. Bleich spent his first year in pro ball last season and is a starting pitcher that could move quickly. It is always good to see some of the prospects and guys fighting for jobs in spring training. It appears that Chien-Ming Wang will be heading to Washington. He is expected to sign a minor league deal for 2 million with the chance to make the team when healthy. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported this morning that he already chose the Nationals. The Atlanta Braves offered Johnny Damon a one year deal today for 4 million with deferred money that could double it. He apparently turned it down still seeking a 2 yr deal. The Tigers and Rays are still said to have interest but may also want to keep it at a one year deal.

Yankees Recap

The New York Yankees defeated the Cincinatti Reds 7-1 tonight in Tampa. Joba Chamberlain got the start and was much better giving up 3 hits and 1 run in 3 innings. He did top out at 96 on the gun and his control was much better. This was definitely a good sign and a step in the right direction. The run was given up when Brett Gardner had trouble with a fly ball that he should of caught. Brett did have 2 hits though, Shelly Duncan hit a 3 run homerun showing he can have power at anytime and making the Yankees think about putting him back on the 40 man or at least pay attention to him. Hideki Matsui had a double and a walk and looked pretty good scoring from second. Cody Ransom is trying to make us forget about Arod with 2 more hits. When the starters came out Austin Jackson had a rbi hit and ended the game with a beautiful running catch in the gap. The Yankees other top prospect Jesus Montero looked good behind the plate and had a nice opposite field hit. The pitchers behind Joba were also solid, even Kei Igawa throwing 2 more scoreless innings looking real good not that it matters. Christian Garcia looked impressive with 2 strikeouts, this kid has a ton of potential and Anthony Claggett who the Yankees love looked good in his one inning. CC makes his second start of the spring tomorrow against Detroit in Lakeland. Just a quick side not, how in the world did the Netherlands advance and knockout the Dominicans, this may be the greatest upset in the history of sports.