Yankees Notes: Ryan, Nunez, Soriano, Sabathia

Mariano Rivera is deserving of our respect and adoration, but he is also one of the most overrated players in recent memory, opines Jim Caple of ESPN.com.  Caple argues that because his role was limited to closing out games, he did not contribute to the Yankees' success on the same plane as someone like Derek Jeter, who has seen about 22,000 innings more of action for the Bombers.  More out of the Bronx..

• We all know that the Yankees are trying to get under the $189MM luxury tax threshold this winter, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post crunched the numbers to show that it could be even more challenging than previously thought.  The Yankees, for once, are going to have to count pennies, which puts five players in varying levels of flux this offseason.  Sherman sees Brendan Ryan, Eduardo Nunez, Mark Reynolds, Austin Romine, and Michael Pineda as guys that the Yankees will have to make decisions on.
• Jon Heyman of CBS Sports ran down the best in-season pickups of the year, starting with Alfonso Soriano.  "This is the top summer acquisition and I don't think anything's close," one GM said of the 37-year-old, who owns a .261/.325/.541 slash line in 54 games for the Yankees. 
• C.C. Sabathia has the paycheck of an ace, but he sure hasn't looked like one.  The hurler says that he's going to get back on track in 2014, but Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com isn't sure whether he can believe him.  The 33-year-old is guaranteed $23MM per year through 2015 and $25MM in 2016.  In 2013, Sabathia has a 4.78 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9.