Yankees sign David Aardsma
The Yankees have signed reliever David Aardsma to a Major League contract.
Aardsma is coming back from Tommy John surgery performed last July 22. Aardsma is making approximately $500,000 this year with a club option for 2013.
“The move could help us in 2012, but it has a lot more eyes toward 2013,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said.
Cashman said that Aardsma is believed to be about a month behind Joba Chamberlain. The Yankees have been talking to Aardsma all winter, Cashman added.
Pedro Feliciano will be transferred to the 60-day disabled list in a corresponding move.
Pineda excited to be with Yankees
Michael Pineda was at his house in the Dominican Republic when his phone rang. It was Brian Cashman on the other end of the line, telling the right-hander that he was now a member of the New York Yankees.
Pineda grinned as he recalled the moment, saying how excited his mother and father were. Not to take anything away from his time with the Mariners, but Pineda was thrilled too. The Yankees name carries weight, and Pineda said he couldn’t wait to report for Spring Training in Tampa. He hasn’t been disappointed.
“Right now, I like everything,” Pineda said. “I’m excited to be here with this team. It’s pretty good here, so I like it.”
Pineda throws a bullpen this morning, working with Francisco Cervelli. Here is the full list of pitchers-catchers workouts on tap:
Early BP: Manny Banuelos (Jose Gil), Cesar Cabral (Gary Sanchez), D.J. Mitchell (Kyle Higashioka), Dellin Betances (J.R. Murphy).
Group 1: Phil Hughes (Gustavo Molina), Ivan Nova (Gil), Pineda (Cervelli), CC Sabathia (Russell Martin), Rafael Soriano (Austin Romine).
Group 2: Freddy Garcia (Sanchez), Hiroki Kuroda (Martin), Boone Logan (Romine), David Robertson (Murphy), Cory Wade (Kyle Higashioka).
Chavez re-signs with Yankees
Eric Chavez has reached agreement on a one-year big league contract with the Yankees, MLB.com has confirmed. The signing has not been officially announced because Chavez must first pass a physical.
Chavez’s signing was first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Chavez, 34, batted .263 with two homers and 26 RBIs in 58 games for the Yankees last season. He figures to see action mostly as a backup for Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira at third and first bases, respectively.
With this signing, the Yankees are likely done adding players before position players report to camp on Friday. New York’s 40-man roster is full, so there will be another paperwork move in the works to clear a spot. Since they could just put Joba Chamberlain or Pedro Feliciano on the 60-day disabled list, it’s not really anything to worry about.
Now playing center field, No. 42… ?
One of the treats of getting to Yankee Stadium early in the afternoon on a game day is to watch Mariano Rivera patrol center field during batting practice, gracefully making sure everything hit in his general direction doesn’t hit the turf.
Had things gone differently in his life, there’s really no reason to doubt that Rivera could have played a different position instead of becoming the game’s all-time saves leader. The Yankees wouldn’t change a thing, but Rivera still dreams of playing center field in a Major League game.
“You know what, I want to. I want to talk to that man over there,” Rivera said, nodding toward Joe Girardi’s office at Steinbrenner Field. “I want to. I’d love to. But, again, you know, it’s not something I look at as a joke. I want to do it right.”
This isn’t the first time that Girardi has been reminded of Rivera’s desire, and he did accommodate Jorge Posada’s wishes to play second base last August. But granting Rivera’s wish creates a great risk for Girardi, who’d be holding his breath every second his closer spends out there.
There’s no perfect time to do it, unless it’s clear the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs (think 2008) and Rivera has already announced his retirement. Even if they’ve already clinched a playoff spot in September, they’d still need Rivera for the World Series run, and losing him would be catastrophic to their postseason chances.
Still, Girardi hinted that if 2012 is going to be Rivera’s final season, he might be inclined to roll the dice.
“He’d have to share his plans with me to be in that mix,” Girardi said. “I wonder if he’s going to come stand next to me for two innings like Jorgie did, in my ear. That bullpen phone will be ringing a lot in the bullpen: ‘It’s Mo again.’”
Rivera would never take matters into his own hands, but Girardi admitted that if Rivera raced to center field and told Curtis Granderson to hit the showers, there wouldn’t be a whole lot the Yankees could do about it.
“What if he was to run out there and say, ‘You’re out?’” Girardi said. “What are you going to say to him?”
Rivera said he would be fine with playing as little as one pitch in center field; really, he just wants to check that box on a list that has seen him accomplish almost everything else he dreamed of in the game.
“Hopefully. Hopefully,” Rivera said. “If not, I’m OK.”
“Like” Bombers Beat on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bombersbeat
Cap’n Crunch-free CC rolls the clock back
CC Sabathia is back in his Spring Training 2011 shape, reporting at a more svelte 290 lbs. or so, a very similar look to where he was when he came in 12 months ago. Now, the key for Sabathia is staying there, something the Yankees have talked to him about.
“It’s just making sure I stay healthy and be able to keep it off,” said Sabathia, who lost about 10 to 15 pounds this winter. “It’s important to me to make sure I get in a good routine and keep it. I’ve got a lot of help here, so it shouldn’t be hard.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that he called Sabathia to Yankee Stadium over the winter to relay the importance of keeping his physique in check, a meeting attended by manager Joe Girardi and head athletic trainer Steve Donohue.
“CC is one of our hardest workers, he really is,” Cashman said. “He’s obviously a big man and he’s pitched with weight his whole career. Some people do that. But obviously over time you have to be careful and watch your diet. That was the focal point of our conversation.”
Sabathia also said that watching A.J. Burnett head off to the Pirates is a difficult situation for him personally. Their families grew close as they were linked coming to New York at the same time; even having their Yankee Stadium press conference on the same day.
“We came into this thing together, and it’s just tough to see him go,” Sabathia said. “But I think it’s the best for him, and we just move on. It’s part of the game, he’s been around a long time, and I think he understands. … A change of scenery, sometimes that does well for guys, and hopefully that can do well for him.”
Okajima fails physical; won’t be with Yankees
Hideki Okajima failed his physical and will not report to Spring Training with the Yankees.
Okajima, 36, had signed a Minor League contract with a spring invitation in late December, hoping to bounce back to the effective form he showed in his first few seasons with the Red Sox.
WFAN 660 AM’s Sweeny Murti first reported that Okajima would not be in camp.
The Yankees had interest in Okajima as a left-handed specialist to help out behind Boone Logan in their bullpen, casting a wide net of low-risk players to evaluate in the spring. New York also traded up to acquire another Red Sox left-hander in the Rule 5 Draft in December, acquiring 22-year-old Cesar Cabral from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations.
Cabral, who was a standout in the Dominican Winter League with Aguilas, could now see improvement in his chances of sticking on the roster. The Yankees have also invited lefty relievers Juan Cedeno and Mike O’Connor to camp.
Hughes: I’ve added muscle
Phil Hughes popped up at the Yankees’ Minor League complex on Monday, telling reporters that he has added muscle to his frame in hopes of rebounding from a disappointing 2011 season. Hughes said that he weighs about 240 pounds, but it’s a firmer 240.
“It’s body composition more than anything — I replaced some weight with muscle,” Hughes said, according to the New York Daily News. “I didn’t lose like 40 pounds, but I feel a lot better and hopefully it’ll pay off.”
Other early-arriving pitchers tossing on Monday included Joba Chamberlain, Ivan Nova, David Robertson and Cory Wade, according to reports.
The A.J. trade watch continues
Valentine’s Day is upon us, and A.J. Burnett is still slated to report to camp in Tampa, Fla. by Sunday with the rest of the Yankees’ pitchers and catchers.
It also remains very possible – and, some feel, likely – that Burnett could be changing his travel plans and heading to Bradenton, Fla. to see what life would be like as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A source told MLB.com over the weekend that the Pirates are “optimistic” that the Burnett trade will eventually go through, and it would seem to be in the Yankees’ best interest to do it before Burnett gets to camp. With four teams said to be interested in Burnett to some level, there is a level of confidence that the Yankees can unload him and save some of the $33 million that he is owed, even if it winds up not being to Pittsburgh.
The New York Post reports the key number appears to be $13 million; the Pirates haven’t yet agreed to pick up that much.
Is there a chance this all gets turned around before then? There sure is. It’s not impossible to picture Burnett standing at his George M. Steinbrenner Field locker, explaining how he handled all of the speculation. But I don’t know if the Yankees would enjoy enjoy a camp where all eyes are trained on the daily Grapefruit League progress reports of Burnett vs. Phil Hughes vs. Freddy Garcia.
- There’s also another interesting nugget in the Post today from Joel Sherman, who notes that there is some concern that free agent Johnny Damon has sacrificed some of his plate discipline to chase 3,000 hits — which might be part of why the Yankees don’t seem too hot on his trail for their DH opening. Damon has made it no secret that he wants to get there, in part to boost his Hall of Fame candidacy, and there are some numbers to back up the suggestion. Sherman points out that Damon’s on-base percentage fell 29 points last year, his walk ratio dipped to 7.9 per 100 plate appearances, and Fangraphs.com reports that Damon chased 31.3 percent of pitches outside of the strike zone.
Cashman: I’m comfortable with A.J.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman continues to stand behind A.J. Burnett, again defending the embattled right-hander as he answered fans’ questions at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. on Tuesday.
“I am comfortable with A.J.,” Cashman told a young fan, according to ESPNNewYork.com. “He’s extremely talented and has been inconsistent, but I can tell you I’m comfortable with the effort he’s giving; I’m comfortable with everything that he does, the accountability that comes with him.
“Obviously, we signed him to have more success than he’s having, but it’s a competitive industry and as long as he’s not going to give up on himself, then I’m going to have his back the entire way.”
Burnett figures to be in the mix of contenders for the No. 5 spot in the rotation. CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova will likely fill out the first four slots, in some order, leaving Burnett, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia to duke it out for the final opening.
“This year, we have a whole bunch of starting pitchers – knock on wood – and so we’ll see how it all shakes out, who plays in what role and where,” Cashman said, according to the website. “But if we have the ball in [Burnett's] hands, I believe that he’ll do well for us. He won one of our playoff games against Detroit and we only won two, we were trying to win three. He stepped up big in Game 4 and pushed us back to New York to give us Game 5. It’s in there and the ability is there, and he does care, so I’m going to stay with him.”
Munson as Yankees manager? Could’ve happened
Diana Munson talked about an interesting topic before last night’s Thurman Munson awards dinner in Manhattan: had the tragic 1979 plane accident never occurred, George M. Steinbrenner had been touting Munson as a future manager, and he almost certainly would have received a chance to run the Yankees at some point.
“George said positively, he was grooming him,” Diana Munson said. “And I always laugh. I’d say, ‘How many times do you think George would have fired him?’
“They had that relationship anyway. It was almost like a father-son kind of deal. Thurman trusted him, believed in his business mind, and he would go up and throw out ideas. He’d put his feet up on the desk and act like a big shot. George got a kick out of that, because people didn’t do that to George. That’s my not-politically correct husband.”
Would Munson’s name have been called instead of the choices to come in the 1980s like Dick Howser, Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Lou Piniella, Dallas Green and Bucky Dent? It’s likely. Munson was already experiencing significant injury problems by 1979, and though he could have played a few more seasons, his catching days were coming to a close.
In the 2009 biography, ‘Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankees Captain,’ author Marty Appel writes that as Steinbrenner was cycling through managers, Munson’s name would have come up unless he was already managing somewhere else – Munson did sometimes threaten that the Indians were more convenient to his Ohio home – or if he was making enough money outside baseball that he would not have wanted to deal with the travel of a season.
The book notes that Steinbrenner told Munson during Spring Training in 1979, “Learn everything you can, because you’re going to be my manager someday.”
Bryan Hoch
Recent Comments