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Here’s an interesting piece of info - the Yankees are currently thinking over a clause that they would put in all future player/manager contracts, stating that anything discussed in the clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse (like Vegas). It would ensure that any books written remain “positive,” and do not “breach the sanctity of the clubhouse,” stated by an unnamed Yankee official. This stuff shouldn’t have to be said out loud, or put into any contractual agreement - it’s a sad day when you have to start questioning a team’s trust and/or ethics.

Today has a place in Yankee history - on January 29th, 1982,  the team officially named Graig Nettles captain. He became the first captain in pinstripes since the late Thurman Munson, who left us way too early in 1979.  Nettles was hands down one of the best gloves at the hot-corner to ever put on the uniform, and also to ever play baseball. He was nicknamed “Puff,” due to his tendency of starting trouble and then vanishing from the scene (that’s pretty comical). His best season was in 1977, when he won a gold glove, and posted career-highs in homers (37) and RBI (107). Many say that his most clutch performance occurred in game 3 of the 1978 World Series, where he made multiple plays to avoid potential run-scoring hits against the Dodgers (who happened to be up 2-0 in the series).

Nettles had a career .248 average, with 390 home runs, 1,314 RBI, and most impressively a .964 fielding percentage. The best Yankee moment might’ve been when they got into a brawl with Boston in 1976 - he was on 2nd base and tackled Bill Lee (pitcher) from behind, and then took a swing at Lee after the brawl settled down and was confronted about it. Nettles ended up breaking Lee’s collarbone when they went down in a pile.

After rounding out the rotation with the signing of Pettitte, you could make a case that if healthy, this is the strongest rotation in the league (at least A.L.). I read somewhere that the top-listed rotations could currently be the Yanks, Rays, D-Backs, and Cubs - the fact that we’re even being talked about in these discussions is nice for a change. But of course, you don’t win championships on paper, and a lot of things have to go right in order to bring home a 27th title.

One of the last questions to be answered this off-season is centerfield - do they go with Gardner if he impresses everyone in spring-training, or do they look elsewhere? Here’s a cheap option that has been thrown around before - Juan Pierre. He’s still 31, and he could be attained for very little. Pierre is a career .300 hitter, steals 54 bases a year on average, and has a .990 fielding percentage in CF. Doesn’t have much of an arm, but neither did Bernie (not comparing the 2, just saying).

The guy has played in big games before (.312 in 5 post-season series), not to mention the fact that he won a ring against us. His OBP could be better (.346), but he doesn’t strike out much and can lay down a bunt like the best of them. Stick him right in at the 9-hole, and you got a little pest that could give pitchers fits; maybe even lead him off some games.

If this isn’t appealing enough, maybe check back in with L.A. about Matt Kemp during the season - perhaps by that time we’ll have some pitching depth in the minors to entice them into making a deal. 

So I waited longer than usual to post today’s blog folks, but I wanted to make sure that I got the latest info to you….it has been reported that Andy is coming back to play in the new stadium, as he’s agreed to a 1-year deal for $6 million. There’s also another $6 million that he has a chance to earn in incentives (innings pitched), so he made out nicely. At least they didn’t go much above the $10 million they had originally proposed, so I can live with that - besides, Andy will be better than most back-end starters in baseball.

This begs to ask the question now - can they afford to stick Joba back in the bullpen? It’s a debate that could go on for months, and one that is generally split down the middle. You’re now looking at Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Chamberlain, Pettitte, and Hughes would be the 6th man (or spot starter). Depending on the health of the rotation and such, you could make a case that Hughes emerges as a major league talent (which I believe will happen), and then slots right in as the 5th starter. THEN you could afford to put Joba back in as a dominant 8th inning guy, and this team would truly be hard to deal with. I mean it already will be tough to beat, but many believe that Joba is too big a guy to withstand the hardship of being a starter - only time will tell. There have however been plenty of “big” starting pitchers in baseball, and he did start all the way through the minors up until being called up.

The other question of course is who will take over the closer role after Mo has called it quits? I know that it seems like he will pitch effectively forever, but that isn’t reality, so this needs to be taken into account with this whole Joba situation. Joba clearly has the stuff, mentality, and attitude to be a top-notch closer in this league, but there could be another option on the rise….Mark Melancon. If this kid can come up and perform the way some people think, then the closer question may be answered without having to move Joba anywhere. Either way, it makes for good sports-talk and I’m glad we have some more depth to work with in the rotation.

The next piece of news that is now all over the place is that Joe Torre has a book coming out about his years in the Bronx, but the uproar has been due to the fact that he took some “shots” at certain people. This of course is normally not the way Torre operates, but maybe he just wanted to set the record straight and make some money on the side while doing it. I think some things should probably be kept inside the locker room, but this kind of stuff happens all the time in sports. Yogi stayed away from the organization for years, but then came back and now can be found at every Yankee gathering. One day Torre will be back, and his #6 will most likely be retired out there in Monument Park. I just hope that this doesn’t disrupt the team or makes them lose focus (specifically A.R.), but by the time the season comes along everything should be OK.

Today our beloved New York Yankees have officially said goodbye to the old stadium, which has been such a historical landmark, and moved into the new building - let’s get ready for some new memories. With big players added such as Teixeira and Sabathia, you can bet that this will be a new era in Yankee baseball, especially since these guys are young and stickin’ around for a while. As a tribute to the former cathedral, I thought I’d list and discuss some of the greatest memories ever to take place between the lines. They are in no particular order:

* Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Speech - This was not only one of the most memorable speeches in sports, but in the history of America. It was so heart-felt, that it still gives me chills everytime I hear or see it replayed. Gehrig came down with an unknown fatal illness, sadly ending his career. The “Iron Horse” was no doubt one of the greats, as he played a big part on the 1927 team, later named, “Murderers’ Row.”

* Jeter’s Toss to Home - Who could ever forget the classic play the captain made to prevent Jeremy Giambi from scoring in the 2001 ALDS against Oakland. A lot of people forget that the Yanks were down 2-0 in the series, so that play was monumental in them coming back and eventually making another World Series trip. Man, this was close….I’m still not sure if he was even out at the plate.

* Don Larsen’s Perfect Game - Can you imagine if this happened in the game today? The stadium would literally explode. Of course I wasn’t around to see this, but on October 8, 1956, the Yankee-hurler did the unthinkable and pitched a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers (only 97 pitches thrown). Remember, this was the mighty Jackie Robinson Dodgers - no easy task.

* Aaron Boone’s Walk-Off Homer - Still to this day, this was the best baseball game I’ve ever watched. I reeeeeally get chills from this one, and everytime I see it, I feel like I’m back in my living room on that October night. This of course was the walk-off homerun hit by Aaron “did he really just do that” Boone in the 2003 ALCS against our forever-hated Bo-Sox. It was one of those when you knew the second that the bat made contact, it was already in the seats. Thanks Timmy Wakefield (even though we didn’t win the big one that year). 

* The Babe’s First - On April 18, 1923 (first game at the stadium), Babe Ruth hit the very first long-ball against Boston (naturally) and led the Bombers to victory, 4-1. Not only did Babe cement himself in Yankee history, but he also was forever known as the player that jump-started Yankee Stadium (The House that Ruth Built). Let’s face it, there was no moment more important than this.

* Reggie’s Big Game - Reggie Jackson was not welcomed very kindly by the Yanks when he first arrived, but this one game in the 1977 World Series gave him a spot in Monument Park. Three big homers in game 6 of the series took the city by shock, and the chants of “Reg-gie” began.

I would love to go on all day, but there’s just too many to list (96′ championship, Maris hitting #61, Cone’s perfect game on Don Larsen Day, the 01′ WS after 911, etc.) It’s a sad day, but at the same time, it’s very exciting to have a fresh stadium to look forward to. Keep your eyes on that first game this April, because there’s gonna be plenty of trivia to go around years from now.

R.I.P. “Original” Yankee Stadium

According to Fox Sports, Freddy Garcia is on the prowl, and he wants to pitch in New York. The question is, will he shake hands with Omar Minaya or Brian Cashman? The Yanks would seem to be more attractive to him with the team that they’ve put together this off-season, not to mention that he’s had all of his success in the American League. He’s actually 118-77 over his career, which is 41 games over .500 - not too shabby. I realize that he’s not in his prime anymore, but he’d be a nice guy to stick into the back of the rotation, as well as an insurance policy in case anyone goes down (Burnett, etc.). He’ll at the very least keep you in games, which is really all you’re looking for from a back-end guy.

We’ll have to wait to see where these talks go, but either way, the Yankee brass is clearly not done with their remodeling of the upcoming 2009 squad. If they can’t get Garcia or Pettitte signed, there’s a real possibility that they could take a shot at Sheets for 1 year (it would just be such a bargain for this type of pitcher). There’s also Oliver Perez still hanging around, and I’ve made my endorsement for him numerous times (as long as it’s not a ridiculous asking price).

Juan Cruz is another name that keeps getting thrown around, since he is coming off a couple of solid seasons with Arizona and he could add even more of a punch to the hard-throwing bullpen. My theory is that you could NEVER EVER have too much pitching, whether it’s starting or relieving - we all know that over 162 games, there’s going to be injuries. There’s another guy out there that’s a very interesting case, and his name is Jon Garland - I’m kind of surprised that no one’s touched him yet, being that he’s averaged over 200 innings a year (work-horse). He gives up runs, but he’s almost 20 games over .500 in his career, and has pitched in the American League the entire time. With the run-support that he’d be getting here, I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t win 15 games (just a suggestion).

And boys, lay off Swish and the X-man, they’re beautiful pieces to the puzzle. 21 days until pitchers & catchers….

Welcome back folks, and happy late MLK day - also congrats to newly appointed president, Barack Obama. So the latest is that Xavier Nady and Melky Cabrera have avoided arbitration, signing 1-year deals. Hopefully now Nady sticks around, and these trade rumors die quickly, because we need players like him to balance out the team. I could also see Melky as a nice fourth outfielder, who could be quite productive when not playing everyday.

Brian Bruney is the only arbitration-eligible player left on the Bombers, but that should be settled shortly (no worries). Now the next interesting story is about the one, the only…Bernie “Burn, Baby Burn” Williams. As we know, he will be competing in the World Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico, but he also hinted in a recent interview that he’s not ready to call it quits…in the majors. Could this mean a possible return to the Bronx? Imagine Bernie getting announced in the new stadium, running on to the field in semi-solid shape? If nothing else, he could be an extra outfielder or DH that could switch-hit (pending they can deal Matsui). I know it’s crazy-talk, but he really claims he can still hit, and it would be a heck of a story.

Quick update on Freddy Garcia: it appears that he’s going to sign with one of the New York teams very soon, but newsday.com wrote that he’d be a better fit in pinstripes. He could slide into the #5 slot in the rotation still at 33-years-old, and he’s won in the American League while racking up innings. Good insurance guy to have. By the way, this is a pretty cool site to check out:

http://www.historyoftheyankees.com

A little piece of news that I came across today was that the Cubbies intend on getting rid of Felix Pie, who was at one time their up and coming star centerfielder. The kid is still 23-years-old, and had the makings of a 5-tool player in this league. Pie (throws and hits left-handed) has not developed like they had thought he would, causing the team to recently throw in the towel and give up hope. Now his #’s ain’t pretty for his career up to this point (.223 BA, 3 HR, 30 RBI, 58 H, 35 R, 21 BB, 11 SB, 260 AB, 72 SO, .284 OBP, .331 SLG), but for God’s sake, he’s only played in the majors for 2 seasons.

Here’s where the Bombers come into the equation - this kid doesn’t have much value right now, clearly. So we offer the Cubs a cheap but fair deal to bring him to the Bronx, and just hope that he becomes the player that he was supposed to be. What do the Yankees have to lose? The current centerfield situation is still very much up in the air, and the fact that Cano is not going to be traded means that we aren’t getting any top-notch player to fill this void. I think it’s totally worth it, and if nothing else, it will provide depth (I’m not going to get into how important depth is again).

In other news, the Yanks are potentially interested in signing Freddy Garcia to a short-term deal. There’s been some concern over his shoulder, but a test revealed that there’s no structural damage, so why not take a shot at the 33-year-old veteran? If not, Ben Sheets is still being thrown around as a possibility (very high risk/high reward). The rumor-mill continues…

So I’m not a guy that likes to get deep into the issue of politics, but I’ll mention a couple of things about this so-called subpoena that’s being issued to the Yanks by Assemblyman, Richard Brodsky. His issue is that the team already put a lot of money into getting this new stadium built, and came back to ask for an additional $259 million in tax-exempt bonds and $111 million in taxable bonds. He claims that this will ultimately be paid for by the tax-payers of the city, but Yankees’ president Randy Levine says that it’s simply not true. Here’s the bottom line - big businesses and sports franchises get “sweet-heart” deals all the time, and that’s the reality of the world we live in. I understand that we’re in the middle of an economic crisis in this country, but the fact of the matter is that the Yankees have money coming out of their ears, and they’re committed to constructing the best and most high-tech facility around. The stadium will provide jobs for people, and will also be a great thing for the city of New York - whether these politicians like it or not, sports are not only a form of entertainment for people, but they’re also a get-a-way from their hectic lives. Something that gives us enjoyment and happiness, when everything else goes arye. So Mr. Brodsky, I know that you’re trying to look out for the everyday tax-payer, but realize that this is more than just a sports stadium. It’s a big part of our lives.

Now that I got that out of the way, let’s get back to real baseball. There is a growing concern about the back-end of the Bombers’ rotation, being that Andy has played hard-ball, refusing to accept the more than generous $10 million offer. Now I believe that another move needs to be made as well, to simply fill out the rotation, and of course in case Burnett goes down or someone doesn’t work out. My first vote is to go after Oliver Perez, for a few very good reasons. The guy is still 27 (will turn 28 in August), left-handed, and what really attracts me is that he raises his peformance level when facing good teams. I realize that he can be up and down all year, and his control is still very much a concern, all valid. However, he’s pitched in New York, and if you could sign him for $11-12 mil/year on a 3-year deal, get it done immediately. That would give us 2 lefties in the rotation, with a lot of youth and possibly 3 different pitchers with ace-potential.

As far as the guys on the rotation fence: before season’s end, Phil Hughes will establish himself as a major-league pitcher (truly believe that); Joba will be back in the bullpen blowing guys away 1-2-3; Aceves and newly-signed Jason Johnson will be emergency starters, and Ian Kennedy will be back in the minors or get packaged in a trade. Also, keep an eye on Alan Horne and Andrew Brackman down on the farm…

Good morning fans - today I wanted to take some time to talk about a couple of intriguing prospects on the farm. These guys could factor into the mix as early as this season depending on the level of their progress, but either way, it’s exciting to talk about. One may may an impact on the rotation, and the other could add some juice to the already young-ridden bullpen which began to establish itself last year.

Andrew Brackman, drafted in the first round in 07′, is built like a power-forward and listed at 6′10″/240 lbs - that’s a big boy. The right-hander just turned 23-years-old, overcoming a devastating Tommy John surgery, which delayed his debut in the Bronx. He worked hard to rehab the arm, and after getting some work in at winter-ball, he reminded the organization of his dominant stuff. Supposedly he was lighting up the radar-gun at 94-97 mph, with a knuckle-curve and a “work-in-progress” changeup. It sounds like he needs to harnace his control a bit before he gets a real shot, which is never easy with a guy this tall. Remember, Randy Johnson took a while before he started dominating in the majors, I mean you have to learn how to consistently control your mechanics on the mound. There also has to be a certain patience exhibited with minor-league players (which there hardly ever is here in New York), because it’s quite rare that a prospect emerges in an instant like Joba Chamberlain.

Next up is Mark Melancon, a right-handed reliever who some say could be the next closer in pinstripes. He too dealt with the very well-known Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss the 07′ season. However, he came back with a vengeance in 08′, putting up enticing numbers at all three minor-league levels (combining for a 2.45 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 95 innings and only 22 walks). He’s got a fastball that could reach the mid-90’s with a power-curve, and many say that he could be the closest to making an impact on the major-league roster. If all goes well, this could make the decision easier to leave Joba in the rotation, providing depth and an overabundance of youth in the Yankee bullpen. This guy is pretty intimidating in the picture, I sure would not want to stare down at him in the box:

So whether these two are ready to be called up or not, it still makes for great discussion over the next few months leading up to the 09′ season. Maybe we end up having a nice combination of newly-signed veterans, role-players, and home-grown talent like the old days? A concept that I tend to dream about.

Happy Monday ladies and gents…or if you’re a Giants fan like me, it’s not so happy. But anyway, that’s a discussion for another time, so let’s talk Yankee baseball. The latest rumor flying around is that we’re looking to deal either Nady or Swisher, potentially for more pitching help. Let me just say that I do not think that is the direction the team needs to be going - both of these guys are 30 years-old or younger, and they were excellent moves to help balance our line-up. Swisher is versatile and he’s just the personality we need to get this team to play like they’re having fun again. Nady is a guy that is also never in trouble, and he goes out there and does his job like he’s supposed to. We’ve also seen him get a number of clutch hits since he’s been here, not to mention the fact that he’s a right-handed bat (there must be somewhat of an even distribution of righties and lefties).

Since we’re trying to unclog the overabundance of outfielders  currently on the roster, the more ideal player to move would be Hideki Matsui. He’s begun to show his age the past few years, and really has become a one-dimensional player. Matsui can still hit, but he would need to stick to the DH role - he’s also got the ability to hit left-handed pitching, so a team like Seattle or Los Angeles of Anaheim could throw him in there everyday with no problem. Seattle would be a perfect fit, I mean they love Japanese players over there (you’d have the trio of Ichiro-Johjima-Matsui), so they could market that and fill up those Safeco seats. Since Matsui’s coming off an injury, combined with the aging factor, he currently doesn’t have much value so teams are a bit hesitant of what they are willing to give up.

I think what will happen is that they’re going to try to deal either Nady or Swisher now (since they have decent value) to try to get more pitching help, and then hold on to Matsui. However, once the season gets crackin’ in gear, and Godzilla shows that he can stay healthy while producing at the plate, they will ship him out of here to a team that needs offense. I would think that the organization’s goal of trying to get younger and more athletic would remain a priority this season, that’s why I’m a little confused about shopping Swisher/Nady. I understand that Teixeira takes a lot of the pressure off of our lack of offense, but depth is something that should never be overlooked.

The latest rumor that I just heard today on the radio, is that the Yanks would consider swapping Swisher for Cameron - Cash, if you’re listening, please do not make a ridiculous move like that. You would be dealing away a younger, more versatile player that you just acquired for an aging centerfielder that strikes out on a consistent basis. I’d rather hold on to the guys we have and take a chance in centerfield with Gardner - again, Tex provides us with enough offense that we could sacrifice a bit in centerfield. Just gotta make sure that there’s someone out there who could play solid defense, because the fact of the matter is that Austin Jackson is waiting to emerge as the next big star in the system, and it appears that he will be the centerfielder of the future (starting early as 2010). Who knows, maybe he could explode in the minors this year and get called up, like a Joba-esque situation? The bottom line is that the Bombers are not finished with the team’s dramatic 09′ make-over, but I just hope that we’re smart about any additional adjustments and/or tweaks…