Concern Over Tanaka's Workload?

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There's not much that can slow down the Masahiro Tanaka train now that the 30-day negotiation window has been opened.  He's young, he's strong, he's very good, and he's generally regarded as the hands down best starting pitcher available on the FA market this offseason.  If anything could, however, it could be a growing sense of concern over the workload already accumulated on Tanaka's arm.  Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports posted a story on this very topic yesterday, quoting multiple unnamed MLB front office personnel who expressed varying levels of concern about Tanaka's arm and the stress that's already been put on it.

Let's Talk About Mark Teixeira

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(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

There are headlines aplenty going around the Yankee infield right now.  When you've got $50-60 million worth of players whose statuses for next year are all in some sort of doubt, that'll happen.  The one name that is absent from the conversation is that of Mark Teixeira, and that's probably just fine with him.  Never one to draw a lot of media attention with what he does on or off the field, Teix has slid almost into Kevin Youkilis "don't even both talking about him" territory after having season-ending wrist surgery in early July.  Considering his importance to next year's team, it's probably time to dust him off and get him back in the offseason discussion.

I'm Still Not Sold On Logan's Elbow

While the AB4AR jinx worked to perfection on Tuesday and pretty much every guy I name dropped in my bullpen post pitched like crap, the one positive bullpen appearance was that of Boone Logan.  It was his first game action of the spring and he looked pretty damn good, pitching a scoreless frame and striking out two of the four lefties he faced.  On the field he looked money, but his response to questions about how his left elbow felt after the game didn't fill me with the same confidence:

“It feels good, period. It really does. I promise."

It's been a while since I've had to use the "I promise" line on people, probably because I'm still single and haven't had to lie to a girlfriend in years.  But I can tell you from experience that when you're throwing out "I promise" as support that what you're saying is true, that's usually not a good thing.  We've got no choice but to take Logan at his word right now, but he sounds like a guy that would cave under cross-examination to me.

CC Slimming Down Again

 (Gettin' into fighting shape... )

You know the offseason is getting close to turning from hot stove to looking ahead to Spring Training when CC Sabathia's weight and conditioning starts becoming a talking point.  It's an annual tradition in Yankeeland, like Old Timers' Day.  He dropped 25 pounds a few years back before the season and then ended up putting it all back on by season's end, but it didn't negatively affect his performance or trademark durability, so who cares, right?

Well after last season's injury problems, the first he's experienced since 2006, CC appears to be back on the health kick.  He showed up at ESPN's headquarters yesterday to make his media rounds for his campaign to be on the cover of the new "MLB The Show" video game looking trimmer than he did this past season and confirmed that he had lost weight.

"I've lost 20 pounds.  Coming off the elbow surgery, I just wanted to be healthy and stay healthy all year."

CC's ability to handle the workload he does at his size has always been one of, if not his greatest strengths as an ace starting pitcher.  But after last year's brush with mortality, and his transition from late 20s into early 30s, it might be time for CC to start taking a more proactive approach towards keeping his body in the best physical condition possible.  Cleaning the elbow out was a good start, and dropping some weight should help keep his legs fresh.  Of course there's no way to guarantee anything health-wise in baseball, but if CC is able to better maintain his weight in 2013 it should increase his chances of staying healthy through a full season's worth of starts and possibly lessen the need to limit his innings.