Yankees Rumors

Yankees DFA Eric Hacker

By | May 9, 2009 at 6:46pm CDT

Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Yankees have designated right-hander Eric Hacker for assignment. The 25-year-old was 1-1 with a 4.11 ERA this season in three starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees needed his 40-man roster spot for Brett Tomko, who was added to the bullpen mix this afternoon.

Hacker posted a 2.43 ERA and a 115/37 K/BB ratio in 144 1/3 innings last season between Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton. He’s likely to latch on with another organization.

The Yankees’ Catching Predicament

By | May 9, 2009 at 4:19pm CDT

MLBTR hosted a discussion on the Yankees' catching situation yesterday that drew a nice response. With Jorge Posada and Jose Molina sidelined, the Bronx Bombers are stuck with a real lack of depth behind the plate. As Ben Nicholson-Smith explained, the club could either decide to let Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash man the position until Posada returns, sign a veteran free agent, or make a trade.

Peter Abraham of The Journal News asked Yankees GM Brian Cashman which course of action he'll take on Friday night, and it appears the Yanks have decided to wait out the storm. "A trade would be difficult at this point," admitted the general manager.

Cervelli, a 23-year-old from Venezuela, went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored to help in a 4-0 victory over the Orioles on Friday. He also did a fine job flashing signals for CC Sabathia, and should get the majority of starts behind the plate. "This is a talented young man," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "I know how difficult it is to catch the ace when you're a rookie. He did a great job."

Cash, 31, has more experience than Cervelli, but boasts a .184 carrer batting average in the big leagues and has virtually no upside. He was signed to a minor league contract this winter.

Yankees Scouting Yu Darvish

By | May 9, 2009 at 2:31pm CDT

According to Japan's Sports Hochi, via Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, the Yankees had three scouts on hand to watch Yu Darvish pitch Friday night. Darvish didn't dominate, but he held the opposition to one earned run on four hits and fanned four batters.

We've covered Darvish at length here at MLBTR. He won't be a free agent until 2014, but he's only 22 and already has multiple major league teams tracking his progress.

Yankees DFA Steven Jackson

By | May 8, 2009 at 7:05pm CDT

According to Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger, the Yankees have designated reliever Steven Jackson for assignment. The club needed roster space in order to make a flurry of moves on Friday, including the activation of slugger Alex Rodriguez.

Jackson, a 27-year-old right-hander, was recalled by the Yankees on April 19 of this year, but didn't make an appearance. He's 27-29 with a 4.28 ERA in six minor league seasons.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bay, Holliday, Hudson, Cameron, Mets, Yankees, Rays

By Cork Gaines | May 8, 2009 at 2:55pm CDT

On this date 27 years ago, Adrian Gonzalez was born. The former first overall pick by the Marlins has been traded twice. He was originally dealt to the Rangers in a deal that sent Ugueth Urbina to the Marlins. Later he was dealt to the Padres along with Chris Young for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka. As we enter the second month of the season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

Around the Majors looks at Jason Bay and Matt Holliday in an effort to find the best value in the free agents-to-be.
Feeling Dodger Blue declares Orlando Hudson the best free agent signing of 2009…so far.
The Eddie Kranepool Society thinks it might be time to break up the core of the Mets by shopping Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.
The Fowl Balls makes a case for the Yankees signing Paul LoDuca.
River Ave. Blues argues that the Yankees have gotten lazy with the roster and have missed opportunities to improve the bench.
Brew Crew Ball writes that Mike Cameron has been a great signing for the Brewers and wonders what the team should do with him as he nears free agency.
Over at my home base, Rays Index, we are playing a game with other Rays bloggers (and Tim Dierkes) called "The Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool," based loosely on "The Dead Pool."

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Discussion: The Yankees’ Catcher

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 8, 2009 at 11:27am CDT

3:11pm: It's official now; as MLB.com's B.J. Rains reports, Molina's headed to the DL.

11:27am: When the Yankees lost Jorge Posada to the DL for two to three weeks, Jose Molina became their starter. Now, Molina's quad is injured and, as Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News reports, Joe Girardi isn't optimistic about the injury. This leaves the Yankees with Francisco Cervelli behind the plate, a 23-year-old with a solid minor league resume, but only 41 games played above A ball and seven big league plate appearances. So what should the Yankees do if Molina has to spend time on the DL?

Let Cervelli play until Posada returns in a couple weeks.
Sign a free agent catcher like Johnny Estrada or Paul Lo Duca to fill in.
Trade for a catcher.

Odds And Ends: Hinch, Manny, Longoria

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 8, 2009 at 9:24am CDT

Links for Friday…

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes the D'Backs' new manager, A.J. Hinch, is a "strange choice" because he has no managerial or coaching experience.
Newsday's Ken Davidoff says signing Manny Ramirez was the best move the Mets never made.
MLB.com's Doug Miller and Ken Gurnick sift through a year's worth of Ramirez-related drama.
Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders if the Dodgers will have enough payroll flexibility to take on Jake Peavy's contract, now that Manny has been suspended without pay.
Kirk Kenney of the Union-Tribune asks where Stephen Strasburg belongs in college baseball history.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has a plan to fix the Astros. He'd like to see them trade veterans like Jose Valverde and Carlos Lee and try to win with youth, even if it means losing first.
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says the contrast between what the Yankees owe Alex Rodriguez and what the Rays owe Evan Longoria illustrates the difference between the AL East rivals.
Buster Olney profiled Longoria for ESPN the Magazine.
More sad news for baseball: Dom Dimaggio died this morning, as MLB.com's Bobbie Dittmeier reports.

Stark On Pitchers, Vlad, Sabathia, Crawford

By Tim Dierkes | May 7, 2009 at 4:47pm CDT

Stark rattles off a bunch of starting pitchers teams are "tracking" in advance of the trade deadline: Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Erik Bedard, Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, Doug Davis, Chris Young, Andy Pettitte, Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Sanchez, Andy Sonnanstine, Jeff Niemann, Jason Marquis, Vicente Padilla, Jeff Suppan, and Russ Ortiz. Not all of these guys are actually available, so check out the article for more analysis.
Teams are "backpedaling away" from Vladimir Guerrero as a free agent option after the season. One scout sees Vlad as a DH right now.
C.C. Sabathia downplayed the importance of the out clause in his contract, talking to Stark. Sabathia said it was "just something my agent came up with, and I just went with it." Stark is skeptical though; he thinks the clause was specific to New York.
Stark talked to a baseball man familiar with the Rays' thinking who sees "zero chance" they don't exercise Carl Crawford's $10.125MM option for 2010. The Rays have a three-year outlook on the budget.
With Jason Isringhausen ready within a few weeks, the Rays may have a surplus in the bullpen. Stark doesn't expect Dan Wheeler or J.P. Howell to be moved, but teams are tracking them.
Stark sees Jorge Cantu as a trade candidate after the season. He figures to make $5-6MM through arbitration.

A-Rod’s Milestone Bonuses

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 7, 2009 at 2:30pm CDT

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark hears from a variety of baseball officials who believe the Yankees should try to challenge and avoid the clauses in Alex Rodriguez's contract that reward him for hitting historic home runs. The contract calls for five $6MM bonuses to reward Rodriguez for "historic milestone accomplishments." A-Rod, who has 553 home runs, gets $6MM for matching Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) and another $6MM for passing Bonds.

Stark reports the Yankees haven't begun questioning the clauses yet, but many officials on other teams argue the Yankees shouldn't have to reward A-Rod because his legacy has been tainted. They say the home runs are no longer as historic. In the words of one official: "I'd be doing everything I could not to pay that money, and let him sue me for it."

Yankees Re-Sign Humberto Sanchez

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 6, 2009 at 8:27pm CDT

The Yankees re-signed right-handed pitcher Humberto Sanchez to a minor league deal, according to this press release on the site for the Scranton Times-Tribune. He was released by the Yankees on April 25th to make room for Mark Melancon. Sanchez, 25, was assigned to AA Trenton and placed on their disabled list.

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