New York Yankees pitchers and catchers report

New York Yankees pitchers and catchers report


The New York Yankees pitchers and catchers reported to camp on Friday. They held their first official workout on Saturday. Masahiro Tanaka of course had a huge following. CC Sabathia checked in lighter and of course there is a lot of intrigue surrounding him. Here are some of the news and notes from the start of spring training.

Hiroki Kuroda and Masahiro Tanaka basically stuck together all day on Saturday. It is an obvious bond between starting pitchers and countrymen. Joe Girardi said that he didn’t make any direct suggestion about it. He was happy to see the relationship develop though especially this early on. Tanaka stated he was happy to have him around and would like to spend as much time as possible with Kuroda.

Ivan Nova is one of the top four starting pitchers but he isn’t acting like one. He seems to have a better attitude now. He was sent back to the minors last year and I think taught a hard lesson. He came back and was great in the second half of last year. He stated he is treating this camp like any other, which he needs to go out there and win a job.

There were no injuries to report on the first day of camp so that makes it a success. The Yankees last year had lots of injuries right from spring training so you have to think of this. Joe Girardi said he feared that with open competition some guys might push too hard. He said he didn’t see that at all today and he was happy. Francisco Cervelli caught Tanakas first bullpen the other day and he caught him today. He said that they will start to rotate but he would like to catch him as much as he can. He stated this “the fastball command was really good.” Tanaka spoke and said as a player he is honored to have so much attention on him but he has to go out and do well on the field. He said he was a little surprised with how much attention he is getting.

Tanaka said that his first workout was shorter then expected. He said he is going to remember the running the most. The pitchers ran four laps around the field before finishing for the day. He said he is slow to begin with but it was tough. It sounded like he was most likely joking around. Manny Banuelos is coming back from Tommy John surgery. He was 21 and on the verge of the big leagues before being hurt. He is now 23 and could be on the verge. He said he sees this as another opportunity and he will make the most of it. He wants to be a starter but would be happy breaking camp with the big team as a reliever. If he goes to AAA he will be fine and just work hard on getting called up soon. He needs to take a big step forward and I think the Yankees have him in their plans moving forward. He is one of their top prospects and a lot has been expected of him.

J.R. Murphy is now going by John Ryan. That is how they have it listed above his locker and what he is telling everyone. There are a few position players that have a jersey hanging in it. Nunez, Ellsbury, Ryan, Johnson, Tex, Beltran, Jeter, Gardner, Ichiro and Soriano. These guys all figure to break camp with the club. This is a good sign for Nunez, I still think he should be the third baseman to start with Kelly Johnson being a super utility guy. We will see how this plays out though; both guys will have chances to play.

The big thing from Friday besides Tanaka of course was Michael Pineda. He seemed to be a big topic. Cervelli said he has looked good, much better then last year. The Yankees have said it is a competition for the fifth spot in the rotation but I think they want him to win that job. They didn’t trade him for nothing and he could be a fifth starter who could be a number two type starter. If he gets it back and contributes that will be a huge boost to the Yankees and could be a wild card for this season.

New York Yankees news and notes as we head to spring training

New York Yankees news and notes as we head to spring training


The New York Yankees will open up their spring training camp on Friday. Pitchers and catchers report with position players reporting about a week later. Masahiro Tanaka will be the most talked about pitcher and have the most focus on him. CC Sabathia apparently has lost a lot of weight and that will be a big topic as well. I assume David Robertson will also get a lot of attention, as right now he is the closer replacing the legend Mariano Rivera.

Tanaka will have a 1:00PM press conference tomorrow before heading down to Japan. He already made a grand entrance by renting a huge 847 plane to get to New York from Japan. It is a 200-passenger plane that carried him and his entourage. He has already made a grand entrance and he seems like a good fit for the big stage of New York. The first chance to see him will be tomorrow on the YES network.

Derek Jeter continues to participate in pre camp workouts at the minor league camp in Tampa. The reports are encouraging and he appears to be healthy. We won’t really know until he starts getting in games but next week he will report to camp and get it going.

The Yankees do seem like they are done with their winter makeover. They could use another bullpen arm but for now will go with what they have. Robertson as the closer, Thornton as the lefty, Kelley and Claiborne as setup men. Betances is in the mix as well with Phelps or Warren as the long man. I don’t think it is as bad as some others think and bullpens kind of develop as you go along. They just signed a former prospect from the Nationals Cole Kimball to a minor league deal. Manny Banuelos may also be in the mix as a second lefty out of the pen.

Alex Rodriguez dropped all of his lawsuits on Friday and will not be anywhere near spring training camp. He is suspended for all of the 2014 season and the postseason. The Yankees finally have a resolution on this and can move forward. He won’t be a distraction to them this season and they don’t have to worry about anything with him for another year. The question is who plays third base and I think the answer is Kelly Johnson and Eduardo Nunez in a platoon. I think Brian Roberts is the guy for second base and that is more of the question. I think the platoon at third will be a pretty good solution for this season. I am not sure about second base especially with the injury concerns. It will have to play out and the Yankees hope that Roberts is healthy and can at least play a sold defensive second and provide some offense. There really isn’t much going on now until Friday when it all begins and then we will have pretty much daily coverage. It is an exciting time as baseball is almost back.

Michael Strahan is a hall of famer

Michael Strahan is a Hall Of Famer


Michael Strahan is a former New York Giant football player. He is also currently a daytime talk show host along with Kelly Ripa. He replaced Regis Philbin on the Live with Regis and Kelly show and now it is the Live with Kelly and Michael show. He also is on the set of the fox pre game show on Sunday for the NFL. He was a great football player and is now being recognized for it. Michael Strahan got elected to the pro football hall of fame on Saturday night.

His career was 15 years long and he only played for one team. He holds the single season record for sacks and had over 140 in his career. He also won a super bowl in his final season of 2007. He was drafted in 1993 and played only nine games due to injuries. He had a breakout year in 1997 recording 14 sacks. He appeared in his first pro bowl that season. In 1998 he had 15 sacks and appeared in the pro bowl once again. The Giants appeared in the 2000 Super Bowl and lost and then won the Super Bowl in his last season of 2007.

Strahan retired with 141.5 sacks, 854 career tackles, 4 career interceptions, 24 forced fumbles and 3 career touchdowns. He was in the pro bowl seven times; in his first year of eligibility in 2013 he failed to make the hall of fame. He made it on his second try though. He set the record with 22.5 sacks in a season back in 2001.

Strahan has been on quite a run first getting to be the co-host on Live after Regis Philbin left and now a hall of famer. He is credited with taking the Live show to new heights. The ratings have been through the roof and now he will get to celebrate all in his life as a hall of famer.

The Giants put out a lot of congratulations on Saturday night to him. They can all be read on Giants.com.

New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium

New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium


This is basically like two worlds meeting for me. The title of this blog is Yanks and more, meaning the focus is on the New York Yankees but I also cover more. The New York Rangers are playing at Yankee Stadium tomorrow afternoon. This is such a cool thing to me. I really thought about attending the event but it is just too cold for that. I can’t wait to see it on television. I really think this is a cool thing and it will be interesting to see how the players and fans react.

I did find out today that Bald Vinny who is the leader of the Yankee stadium bleacher creatures will be doing a Rangers roll call tomorrow. I think that is pretty cool of the Rangers to have him there and attempt this. I hope they get it on television and the world can see it. The Rangers have been playing much better hockey lately although they lost their last couple of games. They need to get back on track and get a win at the Stadium tomorrow against their division rivals. The Devils have seemed to have their number lately although the Rangers are a better team. The Islanders who they will also play at the Stadium have also given them problems lately. Henrik Lundqvist will be in goal and he has been on a hot streak lately. He will be sporting his pinstriped pads and special stadium series mask.

I am expecting a really fun day for all and hopefully it will be a good game. The points in this game are very important especially considering it is a divisional game. The Rangers right now are in second place in their division. They are only one point ahead of two teams though and a couple of points ahead of two others. They changed the way the setup is this season. It used to be the top eight teams in the conference would make the playoffs and be seeded by their place in the standings. This year it is the top three in each division and then two wild card teams make it. The Rangers right now would make it but they have to keep winning because it is such a tight race.

Masahiro Tanaka signs with the New York Yankees

Masahiro Tanaka signs with the New York Yankees


I don’t know about you but I really am not surprised at all. I expected the New York Yankees to sign him all along because of their great interest in him and great need for him. I normally wouldn’t have been so confident with the Los Angeles Dodgers showing interest. They really didn’t have a great need for him though; they already have the highest payroll by a lot. They also just signed Clayton Kershaw to a huge extension and are working on one for Hanley Ramirez. There were sources saying it came down to the Yankees and Cubs. Is that really a choice, the Cubs??

The Yankees missed the postseason for just the second time in the last 18 years. They responded last time with a splurge on CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixiera. They ended up winning the World Series the very next season. The Yankees had been talking about a 189 million cap. Hal Steinbrenner though in the last year has been adamant in saying it is a goal and not a mandate. I don’t think many people believed him especially the Yankee fans. They kept dreaming of the days of the father George running the team. They kept saying how the sons would never be like the father and nothing is the same. I don’t hear much of that going on now. I think the combination of missing the postseason and the Red Sox winning the World Series pushed the Yankees. They chose the importance of winning over saving some money on the luxury tax. They understand that you have to spend money to make money. The Yankees have always been great at that and with the big market and the Yankees name that philosophy really can’t change. The owners did want to try and reduce payroll but when the farm system just wasn’t producing then last year is what happened. The Yankees couldn’t stand for missing the postseason and having their attendance and television ratings go down.

Tanaka signed for seven years and 155 million, which is a huge amount of money. He is also costing g175 million total due to the 20 million-release fee the Yankees have to pay Rakuten his old team. He has never thrown a pitch in the United States. There are a couple of things to consider though. There were at least four other teams seriously involved. Those teams all bid at least 20 million a year for him, the market dictated that he was worth that much. The Yankees also had scouted him extensively since 2007 and were at every single home game of this past season. They also watched him closely during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They sent a contingent of nine people to visit with him when he was in California last week. This is a player they feel very strongly about and he is also just 25 years old. He has pitched a lot of innings in Japan but I would argue they are getting his prime years 25-28. He can opt out after year four and try to seek a new contract.

The Yankees really had to take this risk for a couple of reasons. They need the pitching and they also need to show the rest of the baseball world that they are back to being the big bad Yankees. I think this is good for the team, ratings, and sponsorships. Tanaka also has Hiroki Kuroda and Ichiro Suzuki as teammates he can hang around with and learn from. He can also lean on Hideki Matsui if need be. Matsui was the star of stars in Japan and then with the Yankees.

The Yankees will pay him 22 million a year for the first six years and then 23 million for the final year of his contract. He is a guy that will be the number three of four starter to start out but eventually the Yankees feel will be their ace. He seems to have the stuff and the makeup to handle that. It will be interesting to see him in action come spring training and especially the regular season. The Yankees are banking on this being a worthy investment and I believe it will be. If it doesn’t work out exactly as they had hoped I still won’t blame the Yankees for making this move. I really think it is worth the risk for them and expect it to pay off big time.