Yankees GM Brian Cashman spoke bluntly about prospective transactions yesterday, as reported by Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. Cashman noted that he is often approached about young starter David Phelps, but continued: "I'm not looking to move him. I'm only looking to move the bad stuff."
- Cashman also addressed the question whether the club's 25-man roster was all in camp, Feinsand reports. The GM indicated that the Yankees are still shopping: "The stuff that's possibly out there that we could add, those decisions aren't in our control. If there are castoffs from other camps that we'll look at and evaluate."
- In searching for "castoffs," one area that New York is likely to target first is the corner infield, as the club is currently "actively seeking" help at first and third according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports echoed that possibility, writing that the Yankees figure to add another corner infielder before Opening Day. Rosenthal reported earlier in the week on Twitter that the Yankees were "asking around about everybody."
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post wonders if the Yankees and Pirates might have the pieces to make a deal. The Bucs could have interest in someone like David Aardsma to support closer Jason Grilli and they have an abundance of corner players. Garrett Jones or Gaby Sanchez could be a fit for the Yanks as they look to weather the storm during Mark Teixeira's stint on the disabled list.
- Unlike his counterpart in New York, Red Sox GM Ben Cherington indicated that "in all likelihood our Opening Day roster is going to be made up of guys who are here now," reported Alex Speier of WEEI.com. Cherington also appeared to downplay any suggestion from manager John Farrell that Boston is actively looking to add rotation depth, saying that, while "it can never be deep enough," he "feel[s] a little better than I did this time last year, in terms of our options, at least early in the season."
- Jackie Bradley Jr.’s defense and the importance of starting the season strong are among the reasons the Red Sox should start the season with Bradley on their roster, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes.
Zach Links and Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post.
