Anybody Want This Beat Up Matt Kemp?

The Yankees might.  They've been connected to virtually every other big name available on the free agent market or potentially available via trade this offseason, so it comes as no surprise that they were among the list of teams to reach out to the Dodgers to ask about Matt Kemp's availability, this according to Nick Cafardo.

Kemp, 29, is only 2 seasons removed from being one of, if not the best all-around player in baseball.  He's spent the better part of the last 2 years under the knife and on the disabled list thanks to injuries to his hamstring, ankle, and shoulder.  When healthy, he's a legit 5-tool guy, evidenced by his 8.4 fWAR season in 2011.  The problem is that he hasn't been able to stay healthy and the racking up of injuries and surgeries while he's in what is supposed to be his physical prime doesn't spell good things for the future.

There's also the matter of his contract.  Kemp is owed $128 million over the next 6 seasons, which is a lot of money to take on for a guy who's missed 145 games over the last 2 years, luxury tax avoidance goals or no luxury tax avoidance goals.  He'd be an easy on-field upgrade over Ichiro if he can stay healthy, but that unsteady ship, the dollars, and the Yankees' lack of Major League-ready trade chips makes it a very steep uphill battle.  I'd really only be interested if the Dodgers were willing to eat a lot of the money and I have to imagine that's a thought that Cash and the rest of the front office share.

Report: Yanks Not Waiting Around For Cano

The Yankees have offers out on other free agents. This offseason is way too important for them to sit and wait. No traction w/ Cano.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 24, 2013

We've heard once or twice already this week that the Yankees weren't letting the lack of activity on the Robinson Cano contract front slow them up on the rest of their offseason plans.  We saw that play out in textbook form yesterday with the signing of Brian McCann and now with this latest report from Buster Olney we're seeing that they're sticking to their guns.  While the Cano talks continue to go nowhere, the Yanks are staying active on other fronts and that's exactly what they should be doing.

No word on what other players have received offers from the Yankees.  Jhonny Peralta signed with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier today so I assume he wasn't a part of that group, but I'd bet Carlos Beltran, Shin-Soo Choo, and maybe Stephen Drew all got offers.  The message seems to be pretty clear to Cano and his team; "we're moving forward with or without you."  Let's see how all this other activity and next week's reported sitdown between Cano and the Yankees serves to speed things up.

Brian McCann Signing Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Courtesy of Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

I was about to sit down to dinner with my family last night when I went to the computer for one last news refresh.  Needless to say, I wasn't expecting to see a barrage of updates on negotiations with Brian McCann, those negotiations being "close", and then the first few tweets reporting that he and the Yankees had agreed to a 5-year deal.  There had been no indication that anything was imminent earlier in the week.  McCann's meeting with the team hardly made the news, as it was among the first team meetings he had and most expectations were that he'd have more visits and work towards building his contract value up leading into the Winter Meetings.

Yet there it was, confirmed by one of the most reliable sources in baseball.  McCann is going to be a Yankee, the first big move of the offseason has been made, and the stage could be set for a big offseason in New York.  A lot more thoughts on the signing and what it means after the jump.

BREAKING: Yankees Sign Brian McCann (UPDATED)

Well I can't say I this coming so early.  Via Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees and free agent catcher Brian McCann have agreed to a 5-year/$85 million deal.  The deal also has a vesting option that could bring the total to 6 years and $100 million.

The report has been confirmed by Mark Feinsand, so it sounds like this is a done deal pending a physical.  McCann was one of the Yankees' major offseason targets from the beginning and he's an obvious great fit for the stadium, the team, and the pitching staff.  My FA profile on him can be found here.  Cash recently said the team was "absolutely" going to tender a contract offer to Cervelli this year, so now there's an overabundance of catching depth.  Expect Stewart to be non-tendered and maybe one of the Romine/Murphy tandem to be traded.

More details to come on this as they become available.  The first big offseason stone has been cast.  Let's see what chips fall as a result.

** UPDATE 6:34 PM- David Waldstein reporting that the deal is actually worth $82.5 million and still has not been finalized.  Stay tuned... **

** UPDATE 7:28 PM- Via Joel Sherman, the Yankees offered the $82.5 mil figure and McCann's side countered with 85 to make it a deal. **

** UPDATE 9:34 PM- Missed this earlier but via Jon Heyman, the contract comes with a full no-trade clause.  That and the vesting option make the deal a little more of a risk for the Yankees, but it's still a very good one for the best player available at the position. **

Here's An Idea, Trade Corban Joseph

Since the acquisition of Dean Anna a few days ago, there's been a lot of talk about what other roster moves might be coming.  I've seen more than a few people suggest trading Eduardo Nunez, but let's be realistic here.  Teams aren't lining up to trade for a utility infielder who can't field or hit, no matter what his age and upside may be.  Nunez's trade value has all but expired and if they aren't going to DFA him, the best thing the Yankees can do is hold onto him and hope he can provide some value in limited work.

A better idea if they're looking to move an infielder for something might be to trade Corban Joseph.  He was excommunicated from the 40-man roster to open up a spot for Anna, a pretty damning statement about where he stands in the organizational pecking order these days, but in terms of trade value he still has to have more than Nunez.

Saturday Morning Food For Thought

(Courtesy of the AP)

Alfonso Soriano Career BB Rate: 6.0%

Alfonso Soriano 2013 NYY BB Rate: 8.6%

Soriano Career K Rate: 21.2%

Soriano 2013 NYY K Rate: 27.6%

Soriano Career HR/FB Rate: 15.4%

Soriano 2013 NYY HR/FB Rate: 27.6%

The focus this offseason has been addressing the offensive weaknesses at catcher and in right field, and justifiably so.  There hasn't been a lot of talk about Alfonso Soriano and what he'll do as an encore to his dynamite 58 games in 2013.  While it's safe to assume he'll be an upgrade over Vernon Wells, let this serve as a reminder to not go overboard with expectations.  Soriano's BB rate in pinstripes last year was abnormally high, he struck out more often than he did when he was with the Cubs, and his frequency of home runs to fly balls hit was almost double his career average and unsustainably high.

Don't lose sight of the fact that Soriano is 36, turning 37 before the start of the 2014 season, and has numbers indicative of a player who outperformed his true skill level in his 58-game Yankee sample size and could be losing bat speed.  He'll contribute next year, but that contribution won't be close to the near 50-HR pace he was on after the trade.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 11/22/13

It's my birthday on Monday.  For the first time in my life I don't really give a shit about it.  There's nothing fun, exciting, or special about turning 28.  It's just clicking another year off.  But I am flying back to CT to spend the Thanksgiving week at home and that's always a good time.  I get all the east coast beer that I can't get out in Wisconsin back, I get Francesa on the YES Network back, I'm going to the Rangers-Canucks game next Saturday, and I get the luxury of having the entire week off from work to sit around and do nothing.  Hopefully a noteworthy thing or 2 happens while I'm home so I have something good to blog about.  Now onto the links!

-  On Monday, Michael Eder of IIATMS/TYA profiled free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.  He hasn't been talked about a lot, but he could be a better fit for the Yankees than people realize.

- On Tuesday, Brandon Mauk of The Greedy Pinstripes identified the cheaper free agent options that would make a lot of sense for the Yankees this offseason if they can't afford to shop hard for all their top targets.

- Craig Edwards of Pinstripe Alley discussed the idea of Brendan Ryan getting the bulk of the shortstop playing time over Jeter next year.

- On Wednesday, Vizzini of NoMaas went way off the free agent radar to find some starting pitching options that could work for the Yankees.

- El duque of It Is High... lamented the Randy Levine-heavy week we had to endure this week.  I hear that, Duke.  I hear that.

- SG of RLYW released the first round of MLB standing CAIRO projections for 2014.  Not a lot to be taken from it this early in the offseason, but another way to show how much work the Yankees have to do.

- On Thursday, Jonathan Aron of Yanks Go Yard kicked the tires on Scott Kazmir, one of the top low risk/high reward starters on the market.

- Mike Axisa of RAB looked back at the 2013 draft and declared it one of the strong points of the 2013 Yankee season.  That should spell good things for the farm system next year, right?

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily ranked his top 5 Yankee catching prospects now that Austin Romine is no longer considered one.

- Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits examined the possibility of David Phelps becoming a reliable part of the rotation next season.

- On Friday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog broke down the arguments against re-signing Robinson Cano to point out how flawed they are and make the point that the Yankees can and should re-sign him.

This week's jam is "Do I Wanna Know?" by Arctic Monkeys.  Was going to go see them next month in Milwaukee but found out the show is already sold out.  Balls.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

40-Man Moves Could Signal The End Of Nix, And Maybe Nunez

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

If you didn't get all jazzed up at the announcement of the 40-man roster moves on Wednesday, don't worry.  I didn't either.  It went almost exactly as expected, with the Yankees protecting Gary Sanchez, Slade Heathcott, Shane Greene, Bryan Mitchell, and Jose Campos from next month's Rule 5 Draft by adding them to the roster and leaving their Rule 5 eligible relievers unprotected.

The one unforeseen move was made via trade, a small trade between the Yankees and the Padres for MiL utility infielder Dean Anna.  Anna is a 26-year-old lefty hitter who can play all over the infield and some of the outfield, with his primary positions being second base and shortstop.  He was hardly a prospect in the San Diego system, but the guy does appear to have some tools.  He hit .331/.410/.482 (.400 wOBA) in 582 Triple-A plate appearances last year, he's always had strong K and BB rates, and he's got enough gap power in his bat to conceivably be a useful bench player.  He came at the expense of High-A pitcher Ben Paullus, which is to say the Yanks basically got him for free, and his immediate addition to the 40-man is another harrowing sign for some of the Yankees' incumbent infielders.

Yanks Interested In Joe Nathan

(Courtesy of the AP)

We knew the Yankees were going to be in the market for bullpen help this offseason, and according to multiple reports they're starting their search at the top with Joe Nathan.  It was reported last Sunday that the team had been in contact with Nathan about replacing Mariano Rivera, and Mark Feinsand confirmed that yesterday with a report of his own.

Nathan, who I talked about earlier in the week, is the premiere free agent closer on the market this offseason.  He turns 39 today and is coming off an excellent season closing in Texas (2.26 FIP, 43-46 saves in 64.2 IP), so he should be looking for a multi-year, big money deal and he'll probably get it.  Feinsand's report mentioned that the Yankees were going to focus on other areas of need before looking for bullpen help and that's the right strategy to take, particularly with Nathan.  The money he's going to command could be the difference between signing someone like Brian McCann and not, and bullpen help can be found for much cheaper.

He's an ideal late-game arm to add to next year's 'pen, but I wouldn't expect Nathan to end up in pinstripes when all is said and done.

A-Rod Appeal Hearing Ends Quietly

While it looked like the stage was set for more shenanigans after Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez stayed true to his word and did not appear at yesterday's hearing session for his suspension appeal.  With him no longer participating and Bud Selig staying away, the hearing concluded yesterday and now everything is in Fredric Horowitz's hands to make his ruling.

Initially it was reported that Horowitz would have 25 days to render his decision, putting him on a December 16th deadline.  T.J. Quinn of ESPN had differing information yesterday, however, reporting that both sides have to put together summary briefs and submit them to Horowitz before his 25-day countdown can begin.  The deadlines for the brief submittals and responses are December 11th and 21st, and only when those requirement have been met will Horowitz start working on his decision.

This pushes the schedule way past the Winter Meetings and possibly out into January, which is not good news for the Yankees.  Given how aggressive they've been on the free agent front since start of the offseason, I have to think they're anticipating the suspension being upheld, or at least reduced to a number that still keeps A-Rod's money off the books next year.  Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Project 189: Spreading The Wealth

(Originally posted at IIATMS/TYA.  And "Project 189" is going to be an ongoing series for the next week and change, so make sure you keep following each day to see every writer's version.  Fair warning, this post is long as shit)

The latest chapter in the A-Rod/MLB saga stole the show yesterday and with good reason.  When something this big reaches the level of absurdity that it did and when Mike Francesa gets added to the mix, that's a situation that deserves everyone's full attention.

But if in the wave of A-Rod reports you happened to miss the start of the IIATMS/TYA "Project 189" series yesterday, please stop reading this immediately, scroll down the page a bit, and catch up on that because you're missing out if you don't.  The series is the brainchild of Michael Eder, who wanted to know what kind of team that Yankees could go out and build while still trying to stay under the luxury tax threshold if they didn't have A-Rod's salary on the books next year.  That looks like an even greater possibility than it already did after yesterday's events, and Mike kicked off Project 189 yesterday by setting the bar pretty high.

MIke's version of the 2014 roster had power, lineup balance, and probably the best team defense that the Yankees have had in a long, long time.  Today it's my turn to follow that up and offer my version of Project 189.  Remember, the point of these posts is not to make predictions on what we at IIATMS/TYA think the Yankees will do but rather to examine all the possibilities and stimulate some thought and discussion about what they could do.  And another reminder that the salary and arbitration numbers being used in these posts are from MLBTR's free agent profiles.  We're aware that the actual numbers might come out differently, but for the purposes of standardization in the series it's what we chose to work with.

Without further ado, my Project 189 roster.

Yankees Acquire Dean Anna From San Diego

(Courtesy of Val Valdez Photography)

It's not in the same universe as trading for Chase Headley, but the Yankees and Padres hooked up for a small trade yesterday that does bring a little more infield depth to the Yankee roster.  The Yanks acquired MiL infielder Dean Anna from San Diego in exchange for High-A pitcher Ben Paullus.

Anna is a 26-year-old, lefty-swinging utility infielder who has most of his experience at second base and shortstop.  He had been in the SD system since 2008 and worked a slow and methodical climb up the ladder until he reached Triple-A last season.  In 582 PA there, Anna hit .331/.410/.482 (.400 wOBA) with 9 HR, 38 2B, 90 R scored, and solid BB and K rates (10.5% and 11.2% respectively).

He's never been much of a power guy and will likely be even less of one at the Major League level, but Anna does appear to be a step up from Corban Joseph, the player whose spot he essentially took on the 40-man roster.  He can play more positions defensively, and the fact that shortstop is one of them suggests he's got a better arm than CoJo.  While I wouldn't anticipate Anna seriously factoring into any 25-man roster competitions, he's a nice utility piece to have on hand in case of injuries.

Yanks Make 40-Man Roster Moves

Yesterday was the deadline for teams to reset their 40-man rosters before next month's Rule 5 Draft and as expected, the Yankees were very active in protecting some of their top eligible guys.  They added 6 players to the 40-man: Gary Sanchez, Slade Heathcott, Bryan Mitchell, Shane Greene, Jose Campos, and newly acquired Triple-A infielder Dean Anna (more on him later).

The players left unprotected were relievers Tommy Kahnle, Dan Burawa, and Chase Whitley.  None of those decisions come as a surprise, although it is a bit of a bummer to not protect a strong Triple-A arm like Whitley.  There's a good chance at least 1 or all 3 of those guys get picked next month.  Luckily, hard-throwing bullpen arms are a source of major depth in the Yankee system.

There was one roster casualty yesterday, Tsecond baseman Corban Joseph.  He was outrighted off the roster and back to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  He struggled with a shoulder injury this past season and with Anna now on the 40-man his dwindling prospect status takes another hit.

BREAKING: A-Rod Walks Out Of Appeal Hearing

This story is still developing and details are coming in at a rapid pace, but all you need to know is that the A-Rod/MLB circus continues to become more comically insane and The Horse himself is at the center of today's controversy.  After arbitrator Fredric Horowitz ruled that MLB commissioner Bud Selig did not have to testify today, A-Rod reportedly slammed his hand down on a table, told Rob Manfred he was "full of shit", and then stormed out of the meeting room.

A-Rod has since issued a statement.  Props to the Daily News I-Team for getting this:

“I am disgusted with this abusive process designed to ensure that the player fails. I have sat through 10 days of testimony by felons and liars, sitting quietly through every minute, trying to respect the league and the process. This morning, after Bud Selig refused to come in and testify about his rationale for the unprecedented and totally baseless punishment he hit me with, the arbitrator selected by MLB and the Players Association refused to order Selig to come in and face me. The absurdity and injustice just became too much. I walked out and will not participate any further in this farce.”

Wow.  Just wow.  Getcha popcorn ready because this is going to get REALLY good now.  Your move, MLB.

Musing On The Playing Time Breakdown At Shortstop

(Courtesy of Ron Antonelli/NY Daily News)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

It's way too early to call anything for sure, but it sure looks like the Yankees are done addressing the shortstop position for 2014.  They gave Derek Jeter a new contract, in all likelihood his final one, so he can try to go out on his terms as the starter and they hedged their bets by re-signing Brendan Ryan to a reported 1-year/$2 million deal as the backup.  With as many other roster holes as they have to fill and the front office sticking to its "we're planning to have A-Rod around next year" story, it seems highly unlikely that they will go out and drop another $10-15 million on a Stephen Drew or a Jhonny Peralta as a third option.  Realistically we can assume the Yankees will roll with The Captain and B-Ry (still working on Ryan's nickname) at short and will split the bulk, if not all, of the playing time there between the 2.

The Quotable Randy Levine

(Courtesy of Andrea Mohin/NY Times)

Big day for everybody's favorite front office stooge yesterday.  Randy Levine was large and in charge with the media, spouting off about the Robinson Cano negotiations:

”We want Robbie back.  We think Robbie is terrific.  But we have no interest in doing any 10-year deals and no interest in paying $300 million to any player. Until he gets a little more realistic, we have nothing to talk about."

... And the latest in the A-Rod saga on the day he was called to testify in the suspension appeal hearing:

"This is a decision that was made by Major League Baseball. We've [the Yankees] had no involvement in it. No participation in it. Alex is our player until we hear anything else. As I've said and Hal has said, as Cashman has said, the way we budget and everything for this year is he's on our team."

I actually don't have anything to add to either of those statements.  I just hate when Randy Levine opens his mouth to speak.

Free Agent Target: Jhonny Peralta

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Shortstop has undoubtedly been the position of most activity so far this offseason for the Yankees.  They re-signed captain Derek Jeter to a new 1-year contract, they've reportedly agreed to terms on a new 1-year deal to bring back Brendan Ryan as his defensive caddy and injury insurance policy, and they've been heavily connected to leading free agent shortstop Stephen Drew.  So it comes as no surprise that the Yanks are also showing interest in Jhonny Peralta, the next best free agent shortstop on the market after Drew.  Both Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of Fox Sports have tweeted the report, which is enough for me to add Peralta to the ever-expanding pile of free agent targets.

In keeping with the "no stone unturned" approach to the most important infield position, it's only right to profile Peralta and see how he might fit as a part of next year's team.

Yanks Considering A Raul Reunion?

Raul Ibanez was one of the players deemed too rich for the Yankees' blood last offseason.  They dragged their feet making him an offer and he opted to take one that Seattle made him instead.  According to a new report from The Post, the Yanks might be looking to right that previous wrong this offseason:

"The Post has also learned the Yankees have an interest in bringing back the popular and productive Raul Ibanez to be the DH against right-handed pitching."

The Yankees love having that lefty DH role filled and on paper Ibanez would be an ideal candidate for the job.  He hit .242/.306/.487 (.344 wOBA) with 29 HR in 496 PA for the Mariners last year, an across-the-board improvement from the .325 wOBA/19 HR season he had for the Bombers in 2012.  He can also still fake it in the outfield if needed and his splits against R/L pitchers in 2013 were almost identical.

The A-Rod Appeal Resumes

(Photo courtesy of Sweeny Murti)

The sides were back together yesterday for the continuation of Alex Rodriguez's suspension appeal against Major League Baseball.  After not being well enough to make it to New York for a scheduled interview with MLB last Friday, The Horse was in good enough shape to rejoin his legal team yesterday (yay!).

This is supposed to be the final session for this hearing and the early word is that it will go continuously through the next 10 days if needed.  No breaks, no taking weekends off, it sounds like the goal is to get the hearing wrapped up by Thanksgiving so the arbitrator can take his time needed to consider everything and hand down his ruling.  That could take another 3-4 weeks, which would push the decision into late December, after the Winter Meetings are over.  A-Rod, Bud Seling, and Randy Levine could all be called to testify during this session.

The Yankees have been saying all along that they're operating under the assumption that A-Rod and his salary will be around next season, but their aggressive actions on the free agent market speak otherwise.  If something unexpected happens and A-Rod's suspension is completely lifted, we'll see how true those "payroll goal" statements really are.

Don't Forget About Teix

(Thug life.  Courtesy of Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News)

While the bulk of the early offseason talk has been about the Yankees upgrading offensively in the outfield and behind the plate, it's worth revisiting the huge hit in production the team took at first base last year because of the wrist injury to Mark Teixeira.  Teix played in 15 games this year, 2 fewer than Derek Jeter, and with his .151/.270/.340 slash line and 3 HR/12 RBI included, the Yankees managed only a .229/.292/.397 tripleslash with 22 HR and 83 RBI from the first base position in 2013.  Their 58 total R scored from first were tied for last in MLB.

The bulk of that paltry production came from Lyle Overbay, Teix's temporary replacement who was in over his head once he became the full-time guy.  Overbay isn't expected back in 2014 with the return of Teix on the horizon, but somewhat surprisingly Cash shot down any rumors that the Yankees were looking for insurance at first for next season.  Via Dan Martin of The Post, Cash had this to say when asked about the current first base situation:

“I’m looking for a lot of things, but a first baseman isn't one of them.  I saw Mark recently and he said he was doing well and seems to be recovering nicely. So there’s no reason to think he can’t be a regular first baseman next season.”

Given the time he's spent resting and rehabbing after surgery, Cash is probably right when he says there's no reason to think Teix can't be the everyday first baseman next year.  What he can offer at the plate as the everyday first baseman, however, is up for debate and will go a long way in determining just how potent the Yankee lineup can be.

If Not D-Rob For Closer Next Year, Then Who?

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

With the GM meetings now in the rearview, there's an even busier Yankee offseason to-do list in place.  They need multiple starting pitchers, they still need to re-sign Robinson Cano, they're looking to upgrade at right field, catcher, shortstop, third base, and possibly DH, and they may be in the market for a new closer.  Despite being the apparent in-house favorite after Mo's retirement, Cash stated pretty definitively last week that the Yankees had not designated David Robertson as next year's closer and that they were looking for a more "proven" option on the free agent market.

Putting aside the comments questioning D-Rob's capability of closing and the motivation for making them, there is some sound logic to this plan.  The Yankees are missing 60+ elite-level relief innings from their bullpen with Mo out of the picture and those innings aren't easily absorbed by just signing a rehabbing David Aardsma-type off the FA scrap heap or calling up Mark Montgomery and calling it a day.  The Yankees do need another arm at the back end of their bullpen, and if nothing else, going after a proven closer covers them for the 8th and 9th innings again.  So if it's not going to be D-Rob trotting out to start the bottom of the 9th next season, who else could it be?

Report: Yanks Re-Sign Brendan Ryan (Updated)

Via Jon Heyman, the Yankees and Brendan Ryan have agreed to a new contract,  There are no details yet, but after reports came out last week that a new deal was close and the teams were just waiting on the results of a standard physical it appears as though the Yanks have their first (and maybe only) piece of Jeter insurance in place.

Ryan hit .220/.258/.302 for the Yankees in just 17 games late this past season.  He was worth 0.1 fWAR, mainly on the strength of his defense, and assuming the Yanks don't sign a bigger name to also share the time at short he will most likely be handling the duties on days where Derek Jeter is the DH.  The new deal hasn't been confirmed by any of the Yankee beat guys yet, but I'll update the post as more information comes in.

** UPDATE 3:00 PM- Via Buster Olney, the value of the new deal is expected to be in the $2 million range.  Can't imagine there will be too many bonuses in there to drive that value up significantly. **

40-Man Roster Crunch Could Be Coming

The move hasn't been made yet, but according to a report by Joel Sherman the Yankees are planning to add Double-A right-handers Bryan Mitchell and Shane Greene to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft.  Both guys are part of that gaggle of MiL players who will become Rule 5 eligible this offseason and with Slade Heathcott and Gary Sanchez sure bets to get added as well, that's 4 spots that will be taken up.

Between this, the spots reserved for arbitration-eligible players, and the anticipation of more spots being taken up by free agent signings, the 40-man could be set to suffer a few casualties before next spring camp.  That's bad news for guys like Chris Stewart and Jayson Nix, Joe favorites who offer little on-field value when compared to others at their respective positions.  Don't be surprised to see either or both of these guys get non-tendered to make room for the new 40-man spots.

2013 AZFL Wrap-Up

The 2013 Arizona Fall League season has wrapped up and it wasn't a very exciting one for the corps of Yankee representatives.  Here's how they all ended up statistically:

- Tyler Austin: .333/.438/.500 in 12 AB
- Mason Williams: .267/.330/.337 in 86 AB
- Peter O'Brien: .190/.212/.413 in 63 AB
- Addison Maruszak: .281/.452/.344 in 32 AB

Rough go for O'Brien, who struck out 26 times in his 63 at-bats.  He did lead the team with 4 HR and 13 RBI though, so the power continues to show through.  Also a disappointing performance for Mason Williams, who continues to show little power and not really enough average or OBP to make up for it.

- Vidal Nuno: 5 G, 3.20 ERA, 18 K/3 BB in 19.2 IP
- Brett Gerritse: 9 G, 9.26 ERA, 12 K/11 BB in 11.2 IP
- Fred Lewis: 11 G, 0.00 ERA, 10 K/5 BB in 11.0 IP
- James Pazos: 10 G, 1.74 ERA, 9 K/7 BB in 10.1 IP

Real strong finish for Nuno after a poor first 2 starts.  His plus command continues to be noteworthy.  Not a bad showing for Lewis either.  He's still way down on the food chain when it comes to Major League lefty bullpen options, but working 11 scoreless innings in a hitters league is not too shabby.

Jeter Says He Expects To Play Shortstop Next Year

The Yankees have seemingly been doing everything in their power to prepare for Derek Jeter no longer being their everyday shortstop in 2014.  They met with Stephen Drew's agent at this week's GM meeting, they're reportedly close to a deal with Brendan Ryan, who took over the starting job in September when Jeter hit the DL again, and they paid him more money than they needed to in an apparent attempt to appease The Captain and keep him from causing problems in the media.

As expected, none of that has changed Jeter's mentality this offseason.  He's started his workout program already and speaking to reporters at a Joe Torre foundation fundraiser this week he had this to say about his expectations for next year:

"My job is to play short. It’s been my job since I came up, and it will continue to be my job. I understand the concerns because of everything that went down last year, so I understand that, but I’ll be ready to go."

I'm sure Jeter is going to do everything in his power to get his body ready to play shortstop next season.  What I'm not so sure of is how well it, particularly that ankle, is going to hold up to the rigors of playing everyday after basically taking a year off to heal.  The body doesn't just ramp back up to the everyday physical grind at age 40 like it did at 35, 30, or 25.  I think the fact that his ankle is good enough to do leg strengthening exercises regularly is a great sign, but the real test will come when the ST games start.  If Jeter can't play every day then, there's little reason to expect he'll be able to once the regular season starts.