The New York Yankees drop game to the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.  This was the first game of the grapefruit league season for both teams.  The final score was 6-4 Toronto.  Michael King started for the Yankees and he didn’t pitch very well, the bullpen was pretty good and the hitting was a mixed bag.  They did hit two homeruns but early on weren’t even able to produce a hit. 

King started and he ended up pitching two innings giving up three hits and three runs with two walks and a strikeout.  He took the loss, Asher Wojciechowski pitched an inning giving up three hits and a run with two strikeouts, Kyle Barraclough pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and two strikeouts and Adam Warren pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out two.  Lucas Luetge pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out two and Nick Goody pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run. 

Anthony Kay started for the Blue Jays and he pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts.  T.J. Zeuch pitched two innings giving up two hits and a run and he picked up the win, Jacob Waguespack pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up three hits and three runs and Anthony Castro pitched 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout.  Joey Murray pitched an inning with a strikeout and Bryan Baker pitched an inning with two strikeouts. 

DJ LeMahieu had a hit, Gleyber Torres had a hit and Luke Voit had an RBI.  Miguel Andujar had a hit, Rob Brantly had a hit and two RBI and Mike Tauchman had a hit and an RBI.  Torres hit a double, Brantly and Tauchman each hit a homerun and the Yankees were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base. 

Cavan Biggio had a hit and an RBI, Marcus Semien had a hit and drew a walk and Bo Bichette drew two walks.  Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a hit and an RBI, Forrest Wall had a hit and Vlad Guerrero Jr. had a hit.  Rowdy Tellez had two hits and two RBI, Logan Warmoth had two hits and an RBI and Jonathan Davis had a hit and an RBI.  Tellez, Biggio and Warmoth each hit a double, Warmoth hit a homerun and the Blue Jays were 4-15 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.  Davis Lopez and Wall each had a stolen base.  Lopez committed an error. 

In the first Tellez hit a two-run double to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.  In the second Biggio hit an RBI double making it 3-0.  In the third Davis hit an RBI single to extend the Blue Jay lead to 4-0 and Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI single pushing the lead to 5-0.  In the bottom of the fourth Voit reached on a fielding error and a run scored cutting the lead to 5-1.  In the bottom of the fifth Brantly hit a two-run homerun followed by a Tauchman solo homerun cutting the lead to 5-4.  In the seventh Warmoth hit a solo homerun making it 6-4 and that was the final in seven innings.  Yes in spring training this year and right now they are able to play 5 or 7 inning games if they don’t want to play nine then in a couple weeks they will all be eighter seven or nine innings. 

The Yankees will remain at home and take on the Detroit Tigers tomorrow.  Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon will get their first action of the spring in the game. 

Yankees gearing up for first exhibition on Friday

The New York Yankees were going about their business without much distraction.  Then Saturday

came with full squads reporting but it was all about Dellin Betances.  What happened you might ask,

well the Yankees and Betances had an arbitration hearing on Friday and the Yankees won.  There

were some hard feelings from that as would be expected because it is an unpleasant situation. 

Betances was willing to move on though and forget about but then Randy Levine the Yankees

president opened his mouth on Saturday and a storm ensued.  Betances spoke out about it and

wasn’t very happy.  I thought he handled it well but you could tell he was hurt and this may hurt the

Yankees going forward.  Right now I think it isn’t a big deal but when Betances becomes a free agent

it could become one. 


Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez are with the Yankees as guest instructors.  Arod is still being paid 21 million

this year by the Yankees and has a larger role with the organization with Hal Steinbrenner willing to expand it

even more.  Swisher got there over the weekend and Rodriguez this morning.  Arod will be there this week

and then back again in a couple of weeks for a second tour of duty.  During the year the role is still yet to be

determined but I am sure we will be hearing more about it as we go along in spring training. 

So far everything is going pretty smooth down in Tampa.  Greg Bird has been looking good as he looks to knock off the rust and prove that he can play every day.  Aaron Judge is a work in progress but the Yankees still have high hopes for him.  Gary Sanchez continues to look like he did last year in the majors.  The shortstop talent is overwhelming with Didi the current SS, Gleybor Torres the new stud prospect and Jorge Mateo still a top prospect right now.  It looks like the Yankees are going to try and turn Mateo into a CF, Torres probably second or maybe third and keep Didi where he is.  Can you imagine next ear or the year after.  The Yankees could have Sanchez behind the plate, Bird at first, Torres at second, Didi at short, Castro at third.  Frazier, Mateo and Judge in the OF.  They will be a really good young team with a lot of pitching coming as well. 

It will be interesting this spring to see how the competition for the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation play out.  The Yankees did sign lefty veteran Jon Niese to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.  They are saying he is competing for a bullpen spot.  The interesting thing is the two or three guys who don’t get into the rotation could be in the bullpen and could be used as longer inning reliever out of the pen.  It will be fascinating to see that unfold. 

The first base competition was going to be interesting but it should be Bird seeing the majority of the time and Chris Carter starting against lefties.  Judge appears to be the favorite in right field but Aaron Hicks is still there as well competing.  Another story line to watch is will the Yankees break up Gardner and Ellsbury in the lineup.  It sounds like they will as the Yankees keep talking about it but when the games start on Friday let’s see what he does with the lineups.  In the beginning it will be harder to tell as not all the starters will be playing but usually in the home games most of them will at least start.  Also Ellsbury is the only player not to report as his wife is due to have a baby any day and maybe even any minute now.  He may be delayed at least at the start of exhibition games but he should be ready for the start of the season. 

New York Yankees Training Camp News and Notes

Jacob Lindgren is healthy and ready to show the Yankees what he can really do.  He is amongst many competing for the last few spots in the Yankees bullpen.  We know the back end three and then maybe Chasen Shreve but other than that the other three spots are open.  I would expect one of Ivan Nova or Bryan Mitchell most likely to be the long man but you never know with that either. 

Rob Refsnyder had been working at third base over the weekend and he was feeling pretty encouraged by the early results.  The throw is of course longer and he said that he is working on having a strong base set when he makes the throw.  It is still very very early in the process but Refsnyder said he feels more comfortable at third than he did after his first two sessions learning second base. 

The Yankees announced their first three grapefruit league game starters which begin on Wednesday.  They will be Luis Severino, Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell.  Girardi said those three are the guys that are ready to pitch.  Brett Gardner had a good day on Sunday as he did tee-and-toss for the second day in a row.  He also did some throwing and went through some outfield drills.  He is scheduled to not swing on Monday and then to take full indoor batting practice on Wednesday.  It was supposed to be on Tuesday but the Yankees will have a team bonding at Steinbrenner Field.  They won't be doing any practice at all tomorrow and no one is sure what kind of team bonding they will be doing but we will all find out on Tuesday. 

Ivan Nova took a line drive off his leg on Sunday.  The liner came off of the bat of Aaron Judge, he is fine though.  As Refsnyder has been working at third at least somewhat, Starlin Castro has only worked at second.  Joe Girardi said he still wants to get him some work at third but it is more important for him and Didi Gregorius to get comfortable with each other as they will mostly be the double play combo this year.

The Yankees will open up the grapefruit league schedule on Wednesday at home in Tampa.  There are years where they go with a bunch of big league regulars but Girardi said he is not planning to play all of his regulars on Wednesday.  There is another home game on Thursday and Girardi said he will probably split the everyday guys between the two days.  Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran aren't likely to play in the early games.  Girardi said he isn't exactly sure when they will get into games but he wants to give them a couple of extra days. 

Chasen Shreve was hit by a comebacker on Monday but he seems to be ok.  Michael Pineda appears to be the early standout at camp and that continued on Monday.  Nathan Eovaldi has a sore groin but Eovaldi doesn't seem too concerned.  Girardi said it is more of just give it some extra time since it is spring training and he hasn't missed any of his sides or anything like that.  Aroldis Chapman was impressive in live BP as everyone still awaits a decision on any suspension that could happen with him.  CC Sabathia, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller also threw live BP early on Monday.  Girardi said that they all threw well but Chapman threw really well.  Eovaldi and Masashiro Tanaka are the only starters who haven't faced hitters yet.  Tanaka got up to 61 pitches in the bullpen on Sunday but the Yankees haven't announced when he may throw live BP yet.  He is getting closer to that though. 

New York Yankees weekend spring training notes

Camp is pretty quiet right now as it is just pitchers and catchers.  This is how it is every year until the position players show up and then it gets more lively.  They will start to show up on Wednesday and then the first full squad workout will happen on Thursday of this week.  The late inning trio though definitely created a lot of buzz on Saturday.  Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances all threw a bullpen session together on Saturday along with CC Sabathia.  Sabathia though wasn't even looked at as all eyes were locked on the three headed bullpen monsters. 

Vinnie Pestano said he signed with the Yankees because they have some open spots in their bullpen but also because he really wanted to pitch for the Yankees.  He said it is an oppurtunity that doesn't come around often and he wanted to take advantage.  He said his worst stretches as a pitcher have come when he has tried to tinker.  He said pitching coach Larry Rothschild has told him not to tinker and just be himself this spring.  He finished last season with 28 straight scoreless outings in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast league in the minors.  Luis Cessa acquired in the Justin Wilson trade is in big league camp for the first time and expects to be in the AAA rotation.  His AAA numbers were pretty bad last year and he said that was a wake-up call and a learning experience. 

Didi Gregorius has arrived in camp, CC Sabathia didn't get much attention in his first bullpen because of the late inning relievers who were beside him.  He was encouraged about his new knee brace that he began wearing at the end of last season.  He said you always know you are wearing it but it doesn't bother him that way that it used to and that is good.  Girardi said he was landing and not having any problems.  He said his ball had sink to it, the changeup was doing what it was supposed to do , the front knee wasn't collapsing and he wasn't spinning off which was a good sign. 

McCann caught Chapman for the first time on Saturday.  He said he wasn't at full effort but the ball was still coming out hard.  He said he is rare, that there aren't many people who can do what he can.  Girardi said he is concerned about the workload of the bullpen but thinks that Betances could handle 80 games.  He said it is more about the rest in between outings and not necessarily the amount of games they pitch.  He said he still isn't sure how he is going to use Miller and Betances but would be more likely to use Betances for multiple innings. 

Carlos Corporan has an opt out in late March and even though he was signed to a minor league contract may never play in the minor with the Yankees.  He is 32 with a resume and said there really isn't anything for him to prove, if they want him on the team as the backup great and if they decide to go in another direction then he will most likely opt out and go somewhere else.  Anthony Swarzak the pitcher from Minnesota doesn't have an opt out and said he didn't push for it because he feels committed to the Yankees no matter what happens.  He said he is in camp hoping to earn a spot in the bullpen but will go to AAA if that is what the Yankees decide.  Lane Adams was a position player who showed up on Sunday . 

The Yankees have a new training hill this season and Michael Pineda stood out running on it.  The reason this is news is because of how big he is.  He really didn't look to have any trouble and was one of the better guys doing it.  He looks to be in much better shape this spring and already has stated that he wants to pitch 200 innings.  Who knows if this will carry over but it can't hurt.  Luis Severino was only throwing on flat ground but impressed manager Joe Girardi who said he looked great. 

James Kaprielian was the Yankees top pick in the draft last year and is already in big league camp.  Could he make the big leagues this season.  It won't happen right away obviously but the Yankees are saying don't rule it out although I wouldn't bet on it.  He obviously is impressing people though and it is easy to envision him being in the rotation one day in the near future. 

The Yankees starters aren't going to pitch in the first few spring training games.  That will be an oppurtunity for guys like Kaprielian and Bryan Mitchell, Luis Cess and Chad Green.  It will be important for them and for the Yankees coaches to store for later on during the season if they need anyone.   

New York Yankees Pitchers and Catchers

The New York Yankees Pitchers and Catchers reported to Tampa, Florida on Thursday.  There really

wasn't much doing on Thursday.  It was a few pitchers playing catch, physicals and Joe Girardi doing

his annual start of spring training press conference.  Friday was a different story as the first official

workout did take place and there were a total of 16 pitchers who threw bullpens.  Masahiro Tanaka,

Luis Severino and Nathan Eovaldi all threw today.  There were no injury concerns today, all were

coming off of injuries last season.  Ivan Nova also threw a pen, he said it was his second or third of

the month though as he was working out early, he stated his arm felt lighter in his second year back

from Tommy John.  He said last year it never hurt or affected him but it definitely felt heavy.  He

said getting a break this offseason helped him recover and he feels better on the mound. 

Mark Montgomery and Kyle Haynes were officially added to the spring training roster this morning.  The Yankees now have 33 pitchers in camp.  Last year they used 31 in New York so anyone of these guys could have a role at some point this season. 

CC Sabathia had a press conference today and openly discussed his alcohol addiction.  He stated he is in a good place now and feels great, better then he has in years.  He said he was always fine when he was out with people, the problem was when he was alone in his hotel room and he would just drink and not have to worry about anyone being around telling him what to do or looking out for him.  He said that he is looking forward to being back out with teammates on the road and not being alone like he used to be.  He said this will be the last time he addresses it because everything is out there now and he is happy with that because it will help him, he said that if the team notices something off about him they will bring it up and that will only help in the long run. 

James Kaprielian threw today, he was the Yankees top pick from last year.  Girardi said "Thought he had good command today, you know, the focus early on in spring is the command of that fastball, and I thought he had good command.  I thought he was not overwhelmed by his surroundings.  He was comfortable.  That's always a concern of mine for kids their first year in camp.  He was talkative, and it was good to see."

CC to get back to him continued to work with his knee brace through the offseason and he said it was great and he will continue to use it.  It really helped him at the end of last year when he was really good.  This could be the answer and if it is then he can really help the Yankees.  The Yankees are really focused on the pitchers bunting early in camp.  They have minor league instructor Reggie Willits with them now until minor league camp starts and Girardi said he is a great teacher of bunting.  There was perfect attendance today, no delays or problems with anyone reporting to camp.  There are always some position players around early and today Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo and Tyler Wade were spotted. 

Tommorrow will be a big day as both Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances will throw bullpens, I am assuming that Andrew Miller will as well and if those three are lined up together it will be fun to watch.  I hope someone takes good video of that.  Thanks to Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Blog for the information. 

Michael Pineda makes an impressive spring debut in New York Yankees win

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 4-3 on Monday afternoon.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida.  Michael Pineda made his spring debut for the Yankees and breezed through two innings.  Nathan Eovaldi was also impressive in three strong innings following Pineda.  Alex Rodriguez had a couple of hits and an RBI. 

Pineda picked up the win pitching two innings and giving up a hit with two strikeouts.  Eovaldi pitched three innings giving up three hits and he struck out five, David Carpenter pitched an inning with a walk and he struck out one and Justin Wilson pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.  Diego Moreno pitched an inning giving up two hits and three runs with a walk and a strikeout.  Chris Martin picked up the save pitching an inning and giving up a hit and he struck out two batters. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, Slade Heathcott had a hit and an RBI and Carlos Beltran drew a walk.  Tyler Austin drew a walk, Greg Bird had a hit and an RBI and Brian McCann had a hit.  Austin Romine had a hit and drew a walk, Rodriguez had two hits and an RBI and Stephen Drew had a walk.  Rob Refsnyder had a hit, Didi Gregorius had an RBI and McCann and Bird each hit a double.  The Yankees were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Refsnyder had a stolen base and committed an error.  In the second inning Rodriguez hit an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the second inning Gregorius hit an RBI groundout to increase the Yankees lead to 2-0.  The Yankees extended their lead to 3-0 in the seventh on a Heathcott RBI single and then 4-0 on a Bird RBI double.  In the eighth Taylor Motter grounded out to get the Rays on the board at 4-1.  Eugenio Velez hit an RBI single to make it 4-2 and Jake Elmore hit an RBI single to make it a 4-3 game but that was the final score.  The Yankees will head to Sarasota on Tuesday to take on the Baltimore Orioles. 

New York Yankees news and notes

The New York Yankees were essentially rained out on Saturday in Tampa.  They did some indoor work but it was a light day.  There were pitchers scheduled for batting practice who will now do that on Sunday and the ones regularly scheduled for Sunday will still throw as well.  It will be a busy Sunday in camp.  The Yankees were going to have an intrasquad game on Sunday but that may happen on Monday now and then the exhibition games begin on Tuesday. 

There are 13 pitchers throwing live BP on Sunday morning.  Luis Severino is throwing a bullpen with Brian McCann catching him which is interesting because McCann usually only catches guys that will be on the team or have a good chance of making it.  Andrew Miller will be throwing live BP and Esmil Rogers is scheduled for a two inning simulated game.  He is being stretched out to be a starter just in case. 

It took a while but Didi Gregorius the new shortstop finally got some attention on Saturday.  He is the replacement for Jeter but the Yankees have focused on telling him he can't replace him, he is just the guy that comes after.  Gregorius seems to be taking it in stride, he is a happy guy, always smiling and says he knows he can't avoid being compared to him but he also knows that no one is Jeter.  He said he isn't worried about the attention, that doesn't bother him at all.  He said he came a little early to camp to start to get to know everyone.  The Yankees were going to have their regular infield on the field on Saturday but that didn't happen.  It was going to be Stephen Drew at second and Gregorius at short with Rob Refsnyder going with the minor league guys and Jose Pirela being with the major league guys.  I am not sure if it really means anything but they are clearly looking at Drew and Gregorius as the starters with Pirela being a likely bench/utility guy and Refsnyder being in AAA.  Things can change with injuries or complete ineffectiveness. 

If that is the case and it looks like Drew will be spending most of his time at second and very little at short then Brendan Ryan seems to be secure on the roster as the backup SS.  He was feeling a little better on Saturday.  Joe Girardi left no doubt on Saturday that Garrett Jones will play both 1B and the OF this season.  Girardi said he will play both in spring training as well, he is not focused on one or the other.  The Yankees have eased Carlos Beltran into defensive drills.  He is on track to play in the early exhibition games but the Yankees don't want him to overdo it. 

Joe Girardi is expected to announce his starters for the first few exhibition games on Sunday.  He was going to do it on Saturday but with the rain that changed.  Alex Rodriguez should be making his spring debut Tuesday or Wednesday.  We should find that out either today or tomorrow most likely.   

New York Mets notes before full squad workouts begin

Lucas Duda has been dealing with a left oblique issue and will swing a bat in two or three days.  Curtis Granderson is not concerned about where he will hit in the lineup.  Terry Collins is unsure if Rafael Montero can crack the 25 man roster. 

There was already a bunch of praise for new hitting coach Kevin Long especially from Granderson who worked with him when they were both with the New York Yankees.  There was some talk with a couple of people who are close to manager Terry Collins that he will retire at the end of the year.  Collins denies it though.  He did say he doesn't want to manage to 75 and he turns 66 in May.  He did also say if he has a good season he would want to come back.  I think they will bring him back if they have a good season but if they get off to a slow start he will be in trouble. 

Dillon Gee will be the sixth starter, not prospect Noah Syndergaard.  Collins wants to see similar determination out of Syndergaard as he has seen out of Matt Harvey.  John Mayberry Jr. provides the Mets with a lot of options.  He can play the outfield, back up first base and a righty off of the bench.  Rule five pick LHP Sean Gilmartin will get a lot of work this spring and will get the chance to face lefty batters to see if he can get them out.  Rafael Montero will be looked at as both a starter and reliever this spring. 

Here are some things Syndergaard spoke to the media about on Wednesday.  He said he learned how to become a pitcher more than a thrower last season.  He said especially learned that he can't rely on his fastball all the time.  He put a lot of pressure on himself last season , paying special attention to the Super 2 cutoff date.  He said he eventually deleted twitter from his phone to avoid the news reports and fan comments. 

Syndergaard said he wasn't ready for the major leagues last season and didn't deserve the call up.  He was still disappointed not to get called up in September and will use that as motivation going forward.  He really loved working with AAA pitching coach Frank Viola last season.  Viola helped him with his changeup among other things. 

New York Mets camp was pretty quiet on Monday

Here are some notes about the Mets on a Monday a couple of days before the full squad reports and it gets louder and more active with games beginning next week.  These notes are courtesy of Matthew Cerrone and Metsblog.com. 

Terry Collins the manager met with the media and here is some of what he had to say.  Matt Reynolds will get a lot of playing time at short this spring as will Ruben Tejada and Wilmer Flores. 

Juan Lagares will most likely bat leadoff. 

Lucas Duda will play first base against lefties, but there will be days where Michael Cuddyer or John Mayberry Jr. play first base. 

Collins will use rule five pick LHP Sean Gilmartin early and often to get a good look at what they have with him. 

LHP Scott Rice, LHP Jack Leathersich,  and RHP Erik Goeddel also have a shot at the last bullpen spot. 

Eric Campbell the utility infielder is working hard to also be a catcher.  He is taking some ribbing from his teammates but he is serious about it.  It isn't just fooling around during spring training. 

Cuddyer met with the media also on Monday and here is some of what he had to say. 

The biggest thing was him talking about Troy Tulowitzki and how he would be a great fit on the Mets.  I understand the risk with him, he has to be healthy and his splits are pretty start home and away but he is a talent that a team like the Mets should go for.  He could put them over the top, of course he has to be healthy and stay healthy which is an issue with him. 

Cuddyer said he liked what he saw from the Mets last season and said he liked the potential that he saw in them. 

Quite a few teams expressed interest in him, and he was close to accepting the qualifying offer from Colorado until the Mets sent a deal to him. 

He's not worried about moving away from Coors Field, as long as he keeps the same approach that works for him.  "I don't see it being a problem at all," he said. 

New York Yankees release their non roster spring training invite list

The New York Yankees announced on Thursday afternoon their non roster spring training invite list.  It is headlined by top prospects Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, Jacob Lindgren and Rob Refsnyder.  The Yankees also announced six minor league signings and then the 20 other players that were the invites to go with everyone on the 40 man roster. 

The six minor league contract guys with invites to spring training are Scott Baker a right handed pitcher, infielder Cole Figueroa, infielder Jonathan Galvez, catcher Juan Graterol, infielder Nick Noonan and catcher Eddy Rodriguez.  Baker is a guy who has had a decent career as a starting pitcher mainly with the Minnesota Twins.  He will be insurance in case someone gets hurt in spring training and he has an out clause but we don't know when that is.  I am sure if he doesn't make the team he won't want to go to AAA.  The infielders are guys who could also potentially make the team but I would list that as very unlikely unless major injuries happen.  The Yankees are probably going to have Stephen Drew at second and Didi Gregorius at short with Rob Refsnyder in AAA ready to take over at second sometime this year or next year.  The utility guy is probably going to be Jose Pirela. 

The bright up and comers that headline the prospects that will be in camp are Severino and Judge.  Severino is a dynamite starter who led all Yankees farmhands last season with 127 strikeouts.  He should start the year in AA Trenton and is rated as baseballs 23rd best prospect.  He will have a chance to make a good first impression and could even reach AAA at some point this year and be knocking on the door to the big leagues.  Judge is a power hitting right fielder who should also start out at AA Trenton.  He led the prospects in RBI last year with 78 and was rated as 68 prospect in baseball.  The Yankees have 14 guys in camp who were originally drafted by the Yankees.  Lindgren is included in this list as he was the second round pick in last year draft.  He is a left handed reliever and considered the Yankees ninth best prospect.  He could appear in the majors this season after advancing to AA last year and posting a 2.16 ERA.  Right handed reliever Nick Rumbelow, left handed reliever Tyler Webb and catcher Trent Garrison are also products of the 2014 draft.  Infielder Rob Refsnyder who is the Yankees number 6 prospect, right hander Nick Goody, left hander James Pazos were drafted in 2012 and infielder Greg Bird who is the Yankees number 11 prospect and Jack Cave the number 8 prospect were drafted in 2011.  The Yankees draft selections are rounded out by Cito Culver and Slade Heathcott who were first round selections.  Kyle Roller who is a 1B and catcher Kyle Higashioka.  In addition catcher Francisco Arcia, right hander Vincente Campos, right hander Diego Moreno and right hander Wilking Rodriguez have been invited to camp.  Andrew Bailey was also included in the list, he is a former big league closer who had been rehabbing with the Yankees last year.  He is 30 years old and owns 89 saves over 206 career appearances with the Athletics and Red Sox. 

The total number of players expected to report to camp is 66 with pitchers and catchers reporting on Friday February 20, 2015 and position players reporting a few days later with the first full squad workout scheduled for February 26, 2015. 

The Hall Of Fame has four new members

The 2015 Hall Of Fame Class is one of the best as they elected four new members, three of them were first ballot.  John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Craig Biggio are the newest members of the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York.  Last year Smoltz saw his teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux go in on their first ballot and his manager Bobby Cox and now he joins them.  There really wasn't much issue with these guys.  The only controversy is why is Mike Piazza still not in.  He got a little bit closer getting close to 70 percent and he should be elected in next year but for now he waits. 

Randy Johnson is arguably  the best left handed pitcher to ever play the game.  He was big and intimidating and once he got under control he was just dominant.  He had two seasons with the Yankees which are here in my backyard and he won 17 games in both seasons but was never exactly what they thought.  If you can win 17 games two years in a row though and still be called a disappointment it pretty much shows just how good he really was.  He started with the Montreal Expos and then went to the Seattle Mariners and was very wild but once he harnassed that he was just lights out.  He had a career record of 303-166 with a 3.29 ERA and 4,875 strikeouts.  He was with the Expos his first two season in 1988 and 1989 and then with the Mariners for 9 full years and then in his 10th season with the Mariners was traded to the Houston Astros.  He spent six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and helped them to one world series championship.  He spent two seasons with the New  York Yankees and then back to the Diamondbacks for a couple of seasons before finishing his career with the San Francisco Giants in 2009.  He was a 10X all star and five time Cy Young award winner.  He pitched a no-hitter and a perfect game. 

John Smoltz spend played for 21 seasons and spent all but one of them with the Atlanta Braves.  He spent his final season with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.  He had a career record of 213-155 with a 3.33 ERA.  He struck out 3,084 and also had 154 career saves.  He was an 8X all star and won a world series in 1995.  He won one cy young award. 

Pedro Martinez played 18 seasons for five different teams.  He was an eight time all star, three time cy young award winner  and won a world series in 2004.  He has the lowest WHIP of any live ball era starting pitcher and his adjusted ERA+ is the best of any starting pitcher in MLB history.  He has the second highest winning percentage in modern baseball history.  He had a career record of 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA.  He had 3,154 career strikeouts and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. 

Craig Biggio was the only position player to join these three pitchers in the Hall Of Fame class of 2015.  He played 20 seasons all of them for the Houston Astros.  Biggio finished with a career batting average of 281 and he had 3,060 career hits.  He had 291 career homeruns with 1,175 career RBI, he also had 414 career stolen bases.  He was a seven time all star and four time gold glove award winner.  He won five silver slugger awards. 

A wild day for the Hot Stove league

A wild day for the Hot Stove league


The baseball off-season is never really boring. It does have its ups and downs. There are times that are much more exciting then others. The time is usually coming as the MLB winter meetings begin on Monday. This year though something crazy happened, we had a winter meetings like day a week early. I have never seen anything like it, it was a wild day for the hot stove as there were signings, trades etc. This all happened on a Tuesday, the week before the winter meetings. To be honest I don’t even think a single day during the winter meetings could top this.

I will try to keep up with it all but I am sure I may be missing something. It was so crazy I don’t even know if I could keep up with it. I am a HUGE baseball fan and it was still hard for me to comprehend all that went on. The New York Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year 153 million contract. The Oakland Athletics were wheeling and dealing as they traded for Jim Johnson technically the night before. They also traded Seth Smith to the San Diego Padres for Luke Gregorson. The Robinson Cano saga took an interesting turn as it looks like the Seattle Mariners are appearing as major players for him.

The Boston Red Sox signed A.J. Piersynski for one year. The Florida Marlins signed their catcher from last season Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a three year 21 million dollar deal. The Detroit Tigers finally got their closer in Joe Nathan for a two-year deal. The Tampa Bay Rays took part in a three-way deal. They traded for Ryan Hanigan who is a catcher from the Cincinnati Reds and Heath Bell from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Reds received David Holmberg from the D-backs and Arizona received right handed pitcher Justin Choate and a player to be named later or cash considerations from Tampa. The Diamondbacks also sent around 500,000 to the Rays.

The Kansas City Royals were moving closer to signing Carlos Beltran who started his career with them. The Oakland Athletics also completed a rare in the division trade. They got Craig Gentry from the Texas Rangers and right-hander Josh Lindblom and they are exploring trading their pitcher Brett Anderson. The Rangers got from Oakland Michael Choice. The Houston Astros, yeah the Astros got involved. They traded for Colorado centerfielder Dexter Fowler. Colorado reportedly agreed to terms with Justin Morneau. Do you have that all and I hope I didn’t miss anything.

It was the wildest day I can remember without there even being a game. I don’t even remember a day during the winter meetings being like this. The winter meetings won’t be as interesting this year but there are still some things that could happen.

Shin Soo Choo is still out there as well as Robinson Cano. The starting pitching market hasn’t really taken shape and a trade for the Rays David Price could happen during the meetings. If nothing else I am sure you will hear plenty of rumors about it. The intrigue for Tanaka will go up with a new posting system about to be put in place. It looks like it will be a max bid and then basically an all out free for all like free agency for him. There will be plenty to talk about and then it will be holiday time which will lead you into the new year and about a month away from spring training.

The Yankees are about to begin their exhibition season

The New York Yankees will begin their exhibition season on Saturday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves. They will be playing at the Braves. Arod made a statement on Thursday through his PR people. It basically said he is focused solely on his recovery and that he will play again. He can’t wait to play with his teammates again as he feels they have a great team and looks forward to rejoining them at some point. I am not so sure I believe though that he will every rejoin the Yankees. Can they get rid of him? Will they get rid of him or will they even try?? I think if MLB finds him guilty they may try, it won’t be an easy fight though. 
The Yankees did announce on Thursday that they will be moving Brett Gardner to center and Curtis Granderson to left field to begin the exhibition games. The move will hinge on Granderson being able to play left field. They have no doubt that Gardner can handle center but Granderson hasn’t played left field too much. Phil Hughes and Mark Montgomery are feeling better. It doesn’t look like anything too long lasting or that will affect them again.

Jorge Posada reported to camp on Friday as a special instructor. The questions came of course about him unretiring like Andy Pettitte did last season. He said he is happy where he is at and he doesn’t think he could play right now. He said he doesn’t want to even try, he will be in camp a few days and then back home to be with his family. He said he will then come back later in camp also and wouldn’t mind being a roving catching instructor for the Yankees. He wouldn’t commit to full time coaching at this point either but said he want’s to be involved and is happy with his life right now.

Joe Girardi announced that Francisco Cervelli will get the start behind the plate for Saturday’s exhibition opener. David Phelps is starting on Saturday and is scheduled for two innings or 35 pitches, which ever comes first. The other pitchers being listed for Saturday are: Brett Marshall, Nik Turley, Mike O’Brien, Kelvin Perez, Branden Pinder and Chase Whitley. Girardi said he isn’t sure exactly which pitchers will get into the game after Phelps. Adam Warren will start on Sunday, Vidal Nuno on Monday and Jose Ramirez on Tuesday. The regular pitchers probably won’t get started until March and then they will be on regular rotation. Mariano Rivera threw his first live batting practice and everyone including himself seemed pleased with it. The most important thing is that he came out of it healthy.

Michael Pineda threw another 25 pitches in the morning. He came out of it feeling good, he is progressing at a good pace and should be ready to help the team by June at this point. Mark Montgomery also threw a 25 pitch bullpen and came out of it good.

Austin Romine, Robinson Cano, Dan Johnson, Eduardo Nunez, Mark Teixeira, Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott, Melky Mesa and Juan Rivera are the notables on the travel squad for tomorrows game.

Yankees Saturday notes as they get ready for position players to report on Sunday

CC Sabathia threw his first bullpen of the spring along with Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. Sabathia said he did feel a little nervous because it was the first time doing it since his offseason elbow surgery. He said after the first couple of pitches though he felt good. He threw 29 pitches which were all fastballs and changeups. He said he will start throwing breaking balls in the next couple of days off of flat ground and then carry that into the next bullpens. Joe Girardi said today that he will probably miss the first turn through the rotation with games beginning a week from today. Mariano Rivera will probably also miss the first few games and not pitch until March. That is fine though with the extra time in camp. 
The Yankees have no idea who will start the game a week from today but it could be David Phelps or Adam Warren. Joe Girardi said he expects everyone to be in camp tomorrow and he also said so far no one has gotten injured.

Derek Jeter will address the media tomorrow in his annual start of spring training press conference. Rivera said he felt good again today and he has no doubt he will be able to pitch. He said he put a lot of work in during the year and he trusts god first and then himself. He is on a normal spring routine, he may actually be getting work in earlier then usual and he is wearing a brace but he is fine.

Francisco Cervelli said the Yankees told him he could play in the WBC if he wanted. He said he has a job that he can win and that has been his dream and he wants to make sure he is in camp and gives it his all. He said he talked to the manager of Italy back in December and told them he wasn’t going to play.

Spring training will get more lively tomorrow and there will be much more going on. The full squad reports and then in a week the games will begin. It has been pretty quiet the last couple of days but that is all about to change.

Mets Friday spring training notes

Marlon Byrd can win an outfield job outright according to manager Terry Collins. I would probably say he is the best outfielder they have so not too surprising here. He said it wouldn’t be a platoon that he could win it outright. He was a very good player that was an All Star only a couple of years ago, he could be their right fielder. Lucas Duda will be the left fielder. 
It has rained in Port St. Lucie the last two days so any work had to be done inside. Terry Collins told reporters yesterday that it is possible the Mets put a C on David Wrights jersey. However in either case, this is his team and he is the face of it. He is the captain Collins said. Does he have to have a C on his jersey Collins was asking rhetorically well number two doesn’t referring to Derek Jeter. I don’t think it matters as he is the leader, the best player on the team and the captain if it is official or not.

The Mets really seem to have a great find in Travis D’arnaud, there are a couple of articles about him today. MLB.com had one and the New York Times also. Wally Backman wants to be a manger still but said he will stay cool as Terry Collins is in the last year of his deal. Backman will be in Las Vegas managing the AAA team.

Zach Wheeler is entering camp with the same determined attitude that Matt Harvey had last year and he is supposed to be better. I would expect to see him by June or July at the latest. Colin Cowgill has a chance to win a job and he is being compared to Lenny Dykstra. The Mets can only hope he comes anywhere near that, if he does he will probably be their center fielder and they would love that excitement that is brought to the ballpark.

Yankees first official workout notes

The Yankees started their quest for championship #28 this morning as they held their first workout of the season. There are no players that reported late so all the pitchers and catchers are in camp, position players will report Sunday and then the ballpark will really come alive. Francisco Cervelli met the media today, Mariano Rivera did the same and Andy Pettitte was a big topic about not playing in the World Baseball Classic and possibly playing past this season. 
Cervelli denied the allegations against him. He said that he was recommended to go to the Biogenesis clinic by someone but wouldn’t say who. He said it wasn’t a teammate or his agents. He did say he went there and just listened and didn’t leave with anything. Cervelli also said look at him and his numbers, does it look like he is taking steroids. I guess you have to believe him, there is no reason not too and honestly I don’t think people care that much about him. He isn’t really a story, Cervelli has a chance to be the starting catcher this year and he is a Yankee but he really isn’t a big deal.

Mariano Rivera reported on time this year, he said he feels like a 9 out of 10 but will be a 10 when the season starts. He said he has made a decision on his future but isn’t going to announce it just yet. He did say he will let everyone know in the near future though. It sure sounds like he is going to retire and we should find out soon enough. He said he expects to be how he always is and that he is feeling great and excited to be back.

Andy Pettitte wanted to play in the World Baseball Classic especially with his old manager Joe Torre managing team USA. He said that Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman had concerns though and basically talked him out of it. He said they said we will support you if you do it but we would prefer if you didn’t. He said ultimately it was his final decision but he felt although he would of loved to pitch for his country he had to be loyal to the Yankees. Pettitte also said he isn’t sure if he will continue past this season but won’t make any decisions until the season is completed. He sounded the opposite of Rivera, that he may play again next season.

Phil Hughes threw 40 pitches today in his bullpen and Clay Rapada threw 35. A lot of the pitchers seem ahead of the normal schedule. Hughes said it was his sixth bullpen already. The first workout was smooth, no problems reported.

David Adams who missed most of the last two seasons with an ankle injury will be sidelined now with a back injury. He will be in camp but won’t be cleared for full activity when the first full squad workouts begin.

The Yankees made a trade tonight. They have acquired reliever Shawn Kelley from the Seattle Mariners for Abe Almonte. Almonte was a minor league outfielder who really had no where to go with the Yankees. Kelley is 28 and went 2-4 last season with a 3.25 ERA. He made 47 appearances with the Mariners last season during three different stints with the big club. He averaged more then a strikeout per inning and he also made 14 appearances in AAA where he was 2-0 with six saves and a 0.90 ERA. Alex Rodriguez was placed on the 60 day disabled list to clear room on the 40 man roster and the Yankees 40 man roster now stands at 40.

New York Yankees updates heading into the Winter Meetings

The baseball hot stove has heated up the past couple of days. The Yankees are in the news for signing a couple of their old players. The Yankees have resigned Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera to one year deals. They did the same for Hiroki Kuroda a couple of weeks ago, they seem pretty set in the pitching department. The Yankees head into the winter meetings looking for a catcher, right fielder and some bench help. 
Andy Pettitte was signed officially yesterday for one year and 12 million with performance based bonuses. Mariano Rivera officially signed tonight for one year and 10 million also with performance based bonuses. Kuroda had signed earlier in the off season for one year and 15 million. The Yankees did lose Russell Martin to the Pirates tonight though, he signed for two years and 17 million pending a physical. The Yankees apparently didn’t make him an offer as they said they weren’t going to match that offer. I want to make it clear that it wasn’t that they didn’t have the money, they just chose not to spend it on Martin. The Yankees I am sure have a plan for catcher. I would trust Cashman and company more then some of the fans do. I do think he was a very good catcher but he did hit 211 last year so let’s not act like it is the end of the world.

The Yankees right now though have Francisco Cervelli and Chris Stewart as their catchers with Austin Romine in the minors about to get a good luck. I don’t think the Yankees will sign any of the free agents such as Mike Napoli and A.J. Pierzynski. I think if anything the Yankees will make a trade for a catcher, maybe they will just go with what they have, say play good defense and don’t worry about the hitting. They may figure that these guys can’t really do worse then 211, they will lose a lot of power though.

The Yankees most likely will resign Ichiro Suzuki to a one year deal to be their right fielder and I am all for it. They are going to lose Nick Swisher along with Martin though and that is a lot of power gone from the team. The Yankees may have a whole new offensive strategy though which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I am all for Ichiro, Gardner, Nunez and one of those catchers playing. They can use speed, more bunts and hit and run and manufacture runs. When it comes to the playoffs that is how you score runs and the Yankees won’t have to wait for the homerun and more often then not fail because of that.

In other baseball news the Minnesota Twins traded Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for minor league right handed pitcher Alex Meyer. It was a good move for the Nationals as they have a legitimate leadoff hitter now and he will play good defense also. Bryce Harper can now shit to left field where he is better served.

There are some other rumors going around such as the Dodgers being the favorites to sign Zack Greinke. The winter meetings will begin next week and I am sure we will get a lot of action and really start to see how things are going to line up for next year. Will the Yankees have a new catcher and right fielder by the end of the meetings, will they sign some spare parts?? Will the Yankees make a big move such as signing Josh Hamilton?? I would doubt them making a big move but you never know.

Baseball Offseason notes

Here are some baseball notes on a fairly quiet offseason so far.  The New York Mets and New York Yankees haven't done anything although the Toronto Blue Jays have been busy the past few days.  In the next couple of weeks when the winter meetings begin I would expect things to pick up. 

The Blue Jays made a big trade with the Miami Marlins the other day to aquire Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, John Buck was also part of the trade.  The Blue Jays gave up some top prospects and they gave up Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria.  It was a big trade, I wonder why the Marlins are able to operate like this.  In the long run it may benefit them but how can they sign all these players and then break up their team within a year.  I think this is just embarrassing and shouldn't be allowed to happen.  The Marlins got a  new stadium which the tax payers mostly paid for and now they barely even have a team. 

The Blue Jays on Friday signed Melky Cabrera to a two year 16 million dollar deal. 

The Detroit Tigers signed Torii Hunter to a two year deal, they have some offense on paper.  The Padres and Oakland Athletics made a trade on Friday.  Oakland sent righty pitcher Tyson Ross to the Padres for infielder Andy Perrino and lefty Andrew Werner.  The A's also sent minor leaguer A.J. Kirby-Jones in the deal.  The Athletics found a player in Perrino who can play shortstop for them.  Ross had a very good season in AAA last year. 

The AL MVP was one of the most contested in recent years with Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout.  Cabrera won to complete a wonderful season winning the Triple Crown and the MVP.  It was and is still a war between the sabremetrics community and the old school baseball community.  The Old School won out for now but it really got heated and contentious between the two sides.  I personally would of voted for Cabrera myself if I had a vote because the Tigers did win the division and the Angels didn't even make the playoffs.  I know you don't have to do that but I give that more weight. 

I don't think there were really any suprises in the awards.  R.A. Dickey won the NL Cy Young which wasn't a shock although he was the first knuckle ball pitcher to ever win the award.  I guess for the AL manager of the year you could of picked Buck Showalter but Bob Melvin won it with the Oakland Athletics who also had a great and very suprising season. 

Justin Verlander lost out on his second straight Cy Young but David Price won it, he also had a great season and Verlander didn't have as great of a season as the year before. 

Yanks Game Rained Out

The New York Yankees game scheduled for this afternoon has been rained out. I will be back later with more information regarding the pitchers and what they will do with them. This is the 3rd game this spring rained out for the Yankees.

Yankees/Jays pitching matchups

Tonight- Chad Gaudin vs Ricky Romero Tomorrow- Joba Chamberlain vs Roy Halladay Saturday- Andy Pettitte vs Brett Cecil Sunday- Sergio Mitre vs Brian Tallett This series should be interesting with 3 questionable pitchers for the Yankees. I would take a split of this 4 game series and could see that happening. I think Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre are battling for a playoff spot.