He had the privilege and fortune of playing with fellow Yankees great Thurmond Munson before his tragic death.

Source: Utah Daily Herald

Now that they have Andy Pettitte, the New York Yankees want Roger Clemens, too.

"He's kind of like your perfect employee," general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday after welcoming Pettitte back to Yankee Stadium.

Clemens pitched for the Yankees alongside Pettitte from 1999-2003, helping them win two World Series titles and four AL pennants. The pair spent the last three seasons with their hometown Houston Astros.

"If Roger is interested in coming to New York, I'd love to talk to him," Cashman said. "He came in here and not only delivered a huge performance on the field but had a major impact within the clubhouse."

New York hasn't reached the World Series since Clemens left. The Yankees traded Randy Johnson back to the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, and Cashman admitted the move put the rotation at risk.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, is choosing among returning to the Astros, retiring or rejoining the Yankees or Boston Red Sox, his first major league team.

Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, says that if the Rocket pitches, he probably wouldn't start his season until May or June.

Source: NY Post

By DAN MARTIN

January 12, 2007 -- Mariano Rivera won four World Series titles closing for Andy Pettitte and saw little but disappointment with Randy Johnson as a teammate, and he still can't figure out exactly why.

"I don't know what happened," Rivera said of the Big Unit, who was dealt back to Arizona. "From what I saw, Randy gave his best all the time. Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way we wanted it to. But I can't say he didn't do all he could."

Indeed, Johnson's two years in Pinstripes featured first-round playoff exits and the tall lefty failing to contribute in the postseason. He was a far less effective pitcher than the one who repeatedly shut the Yankees down when he was with the Diamondbacks and, before that, the Mariners.

Rivera didn't see the same stuff with Johnson as a teammate, which is likely the reason the aging Johnson didn't succeed with the Bombers.

"When Randy came here, he didn't have the same stuff he used to have," Rivera said.

The Yankees hope that is not the case with Pettitte as he returns to The Bronx.

"Andy should have never left," Rivera said of the southpaw who was re-introduced as a Yankee yesterday. "He should have always been a Yankee. But [Pettitte's leaving] is in the past. I'm happy to have him back."

Rivera was honored for his work with the FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority PD at a ceremony for the World Police and Fire Games, which will be held in New York in 2011 to coincide with the remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001.

With pitchers and catchers due to report in little more than a month, the closer said his arm felt good. It will need to if the Yankees are going to contend for their first World Series victory since 2000.

Rivera thinks Pettitte will play a key role in getting the Yankees back to dominance.

"Everyone knows what Andy Pettitte can do," Rivera said.

And while Johnson never fit in with the Yankees, Pettitte always did. Rivera doesn't expect that to change, even though Pettitte is older now, having spent the past three years in Houston. And as the Yankees found out, those seasons can add up.

"They are two different pitchers," Rivera said. "Andy grew up here, so he was used to it. Randy only pitched here as a visitor and maybe he wasn't comfortable. He's the only one who really knows. But he worked, worked hard. We didn't win as much as we wanted to, but I know every time out there, he pitched as hard as he could."

Source: The Princeton Packet

by Justin Feil

Travel plans certainly got a lot easier for the Ohlendorf family.


Traveling from their Austin, Texas home to see both Chad, who will be a freshman with the Princeton University baseball team, and Ross, who was in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization play, wouldn't have easily happened on the same weekend. Now, the brothers could end up within an hour, or even a few minutes of each other after Ross was traded to the New York Yankees in a five-player deal that was finalized Tuesday.

"I'm excited to come back to the Princeton area," said Ross Ohlendorf, an Academic All-District selection while playing at Princeton University in 2004. "The Yankees are obviously a great, great organization. I'm excited about the opportunity. I had a great experience with the Diamondbacks. I had great coaches and great friends there. Going to the Yankees, this is, if not the best, one of the best organizations in the history of baseball. I'm excited about the opportunity."

Ohlendorf was dealt along with fellow minor league pitcher Steven Jackson and infielder Alberto Gonzalez and Diamondbacks reliever Luis Vizcaino for Yankee pitcher Randy Johnson. Ohlendorf will report to pitchers and catchers Feb. 13 in Florida.

"I don't think they really know for sure where I'll be," Ohlendorf said. "I know with the Diamondbacks, I was expecting to most likely start in Triple A. I don't know the Yankees organization well in terms of what pitchers they have. I'm hoping to move up from Double A. If not, I'll have opportunity to pitch and move up."

Either way, the power-pitching right-hander figures to be in close proximity with his younger brother, who will likely pitch for the Tigers this spring, according to PU head coach Scott Bradley. The Trenton Thunder remain the Yankees' Double A club, while Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is their Triple-A affiliate.

Ohlendorf was 10-8 with a 3.29 earned run average for the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League last summer. In 177 innings, he struck out 125 and walked just 29. He had four complete games. He made one appearance with the Tucson Sidewinders, the Diamondbacks' Triple-A team. The year before, in Single-A South Bend of the Midwest League, he was 11-10 with a 4.53 ERA. In 157 innings, he had 144 strikeouts and 44 walks.

"I felt like I learned a lot," said Ohlendorf, who was a fourth-round selection by the Diamondbacks in 2004. "At the end of my first season, things started to click. I was able to carry it in through the spring season and able to get better and better. That's all I can hope to do, continue to improve. I have things to keep working on. Some things to improve.

"My control is much better. That's the thing that's improved every season. My fastball, understanding the importance of throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count, was something I never understood in college. I understood to some extent, but a lot of times I tried to just throw it by everybody. It made a big jump. My control is better. My change-up has gotten much better. I'm throwing inside more. My offspeed, I can continue to improve. My consistency with my offspeed can continue to improve."

The Yankees see potential in Ohlendorf, and the Diamondbacks thought enough of him to send him to the Major League Rookie Career Development Camp, which was held right outside of Washington, D.C. last weekend. There, players learn about talking to the media, handling their finances, drug policies and the dangers of gambling.

"Each organization gets to invite three players to it who are expected to make their major league debut," Ohlendorf said. "It was Micah Owings, Doug Slaten and me. I went as a Diamondback."

It was while there that the wheels started to spin on the trade that brought Ohlendorf back east.

"One of college roommates called me," Ohlendorf said. "I knew there was a possibility. One of college roommates said there was a report I was in the tentative deal.

"I talked to the Yankees for the first time (Tuesday) and the Diamondbacks (Monday). When I talked to the Diamondbacks, it wasn't official. There was some speculation the last two weeks that I was one of the players that might be involved. I was going to be involved, they said, on Thursday."

Worth Lumry, a former pitcher for the Tigers who played in the Seattle Mariners farm system before suffering a shoulder injury, called Ohlendorf when the first news of the trade broke. Johnson had to pass a physical before the deal was finalized to send Ohlendorf to the Yankees.

"Actually they've been my mom's favorite team since she was growing up," Ohlendorf said. "So I've always liked them. I never had a strong favorite on teams. In baseball growing up, I liked the Astros and Rangers because they were close, and whichever team I was on in Little League."

Now, Ohlendorf hopes to stay on path to the majors. He has been interning in the office of finance for the University of Texas system in the morning hours, then working out in the afternoons to prepare for spring training. He is looking to build on his latest successful summer.

"I was very happy with this year," said the 24-year-old. "My first season was OK. I was happy how it ended. Struggling that first season, having the struggles, really taught me some things. I think that was good to not do quite as well. I was happy I had the jump I had. I'm happy with where I am now. I think I'm a much better pitcher."

Continued improvement will be his ticket to the majors. He would have the chance to make the jump with a storied team, one that his Princeton coach played for. It was one of the reasons that Bradley called to congratulate Ohlendorf.

"He was very excited for me," Ohlendorf said. "He came up in the Yankee system and made his major league debut with Yankees. He told me to play with the Yankees is an incredible experience and in Yankee Stadium. He was excited I have a chance to be a Yankee."

Ohlendorf hopes to follow in the footsteps of another former Tiger, Chris Young, who has been traded twice and burned both teams that dealt him away with solid seasons to follow.

"He's had a great couple seasons," Ohlendorf said. "He's had a great career so far. He's going to continue to do well. Hopefully, now I'll be with the Yankees for a little while."

Ohlendorf's arm strength and ability to eat up innings were two attractive qualities for the Yankees. Those strengths give him the potential to help as a starter, or possibly as a reliever. Proving he can help in either role will help speed him to the majors. He's looking forward to spring training and his debut within a new organization after two solid summers with the Diamondbacks.

"I'm hoping to move up a level," Ohlendorf said. "If not, if I'm in Double-A, I'd be right down the street from my brother."

Source: RealGM Baseball

The Yankees have traded Randy Johnson back to Arizona ending the future Hall of Famer's very disappointing career in pinstripes. The Yankees sent The Big Unit and $2 million to Arizona for reliever Luis Vizcaino and three minor leaguers.

Vizcaino is a 32-year old right hander who went 4-6 last season with an ERA of 3.58 in 70 appearances. He has a career record of 25-23 and a 4.24 ERA in eight seasons. The three minor leaguers included in the deal were right handed pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, and Steven Jackson, and shortstop Alberto Gonzalez, all of whom are 24 years old. Ohlendorf, went 10-8 with a 3.29 ERA at double A Tennessee, and Jackson went 8-11 with a 2.64 ERA also at Tennessee. Gonzalez, a right-handed hitter, batted .290 with six homers and 50 RBIs.

Johnson pitched for the Yankees for two years and was a disappointment to say the least. In his first season in pinstripes, Johnson was 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA, and last season he went 17-11 with an ERA of 5.00. He was a disaster in the playoffs, going 0-1 with a 6.92 ERA in three starts. After dominating in Arizona, both in the regular season and playoffs, New York had high expectations for Johnson coming to the Yankees and he did nothing but disappoint.

The Yankees were able to pull off a great trade by unloading Johnson, getting prospects in return, and having to pay only $2 million. The Yankees would have had to pay $16 million for a pitcher who was no longer producing.

Bringing Johnson back to the National League may help him, but don't expect the Johnson of old especially after the decrease in velocity as his fastball now only hits the low 90s.

The Diamondbacks will pay Johnson $14 million for the upcoming season, and I believe even with his decreased performance he will probably prove to be worth that amount because of the increase in attendance that he will bring. I do not however think he will be worth the $14 million plus the prospects that Arizona gave up, as well as the extension they signed him to.

Arizona: C

The D-Backs gave up too much for an aging pitcher who does too little.

Yankees: A+

They unloaded a huge disappointment, received prospects in return, and have to pay only $2 million of Johnson‚s salary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with their side of the deal, and this is coming from a die-hard Mets fan.

Source: Sports Illustrated

by Jon Heyman

Yankees become clear front-runners to land Clemens

By unloading Randy Johnson, the New York Yankees didn't merely clear $14 million of his $16 million salary off their books, move a pitcher who didn't comfortably fit in New York back home to Arizona (not to mention one who just had back surgery -- though word is he's fine and will be ready for spring training). Or add four younger, less expensive players to the Yankees' organization. They also greatly enhanced their chances of signing the star pitcher they really want: Roger Clemens.

Some baseball officials say they believe Clemens is much more likely to go to the Yankees now that Johnson is out. And that's true not only because the Yankees have more money to spend with Johnson gone. Word is, Clemens doesn't particularly care for Johnson and wouldn't have considered coming to the Yankees had the Big Unit still been in pinstripes.

While it isn't known whether Clemens' negative feelings toward Johnson helped spur the Yankees to trade Johnson trade, Clemens' feelings didn't surprise one Yankees person. Told Clemens doesn't much like the moody, the person responded, "Who does?''

In any case, baseball people now view the Yankees as the strong favorite to sign Clemens over the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox. Things can change, however. Clemens isn't expected to pitch until late May at the earliest despite the Yankees' preference that he start earlier. But Clemens is thought to be excited about returning to a place where there's urgency and drama surrounding every outing and a World Series-like atmosphere (though to be fair, the Astros have been in more World Series than the Yankees since The Rocket left New York).

Clemens' camp is officially saying that The Rocket hasn't even decided whether he will pitch in 2007, although his agent Randy Hendricks recently conceded to the Houston Chronicle that it's "better than 50-50'' that Clemens plays somewhere. As we all know by now, Clemens isn't much for math. He returned the first time after being 99 percent retired.

Here are my own estimates. It's 99 percent certain he plays somewhere, 75 percent likely he'll play for the Yankees. The best guess has the Yankees signing him to a $23 million contract prorated over the final four months to pay him close to $15 million.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has tried to emphasize starting pitching since taking over as in 1998, and it's hard to believe he would have left himself with a rotation that depends on both Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano, two question marks, without believing he at least had a decent chance at landing Clemens. "If he's interested in playing for us, we'd be interested in having him back,'' Cashman said.

Andy Pettitte's re-introductory press conference was Thursday in the Bronx, and it's easy to imagine Clemens will be joining his friend eventually. The Yankees were aware that Pettitte's people were out house hunting (he must be figuring on two years, not just the one), and it isn't a stretch to think that since Pettitte's people are also Clemens' people, and they will report their findings back to The Rocket. Even if Pettitte isn't a pull for Clemens, his buddy provides a ready-made excuse in case Clemens bolts from his hometown of Houston.

It is also believed that the Yankees now may even be willing to soften their historical stance not to permit relaxed schedules for stars. While the Yankees won't allow it to be as relaxed as it's been in Houston, Clemens has gotten used to being able to attend a lot of family functions through the Astros' come-as-he-pleases rule and might find the usual rules confining.

"I'm not going to speculate about that,'' Cashman said. "It's not something on the table, it's not a frontburner issue.''

Perhaps not yet.

New start for Unit

If the Big Unit seemed unusually warm and fuzzy in his Diamondbacks press conference, it might have something to do with the unique welcome club employees gave him. He was led through the offices before a door opened to the cafeteria where all the Diamondbacks workers were waiting for him. One team higher-up told Johnson, "Our family would like to welcome you back." Then they cheered.

In turn, Johnson told the workers he felt bad that he didn't visit them more often when he was a Diamondback the first time and promised real interaction. Then Johnson reportedly grew misty-eyed.

Of comings, goings and Owings

The Yankees offered to pay Arizona more money -- as much as $4 million -- had they been willing to include one of two other highly-regarded pitching prospects, either Micah Owings or Dana Eveland in the package (they got Ross Ohlendorf, Alberto Gonzalez, Steven Jackson and Luis Vizcaino). But Arizona, which covets prospects and has done a nice job to keep its best ones, decided they'd rather retain both those pitchers and take only $2 million from the Yankees despite its longstanding money difficulties.

Taking a look back, while Arizona only received young catcher Dioner Navarro, light-tossing left-hander Brad Halsey and overrated right-hander Javier Vazquez for Johnson, the D'backs greatly enhanced that haul by sending Vazquez to the White Sox for Vizcaino (who can't know whether he's coming or going), Orlando Hernandez and center fielder Chris Young, who's currently viewed as rising star, untouchable and who's in their immediate plans.

Cashman was talking to four teams about Johnson (though two weren't on the West Coast, so Johnson probably wouldn't have OK'ed those deals). The Padres offer of Linebrink and Headley wasn't awful, but beyond the fact that Arizona was easier (that's where Johnson lives), the Yankees liked the Diamondbacks' package better, anyway.

For my penance, I'll watch the entire 1990 Yankees season.

Was that the year Andy Hawkins (I think he was the guy) pitched a no-hitter and lost the game?

By the way, I always found that the most misspelled Yankee name of that generation belongs to Graig Nettles, who was commonly and erroneously called "Craig" during his career.

I agree DJ that the Yanks should go after Santana hard but again, ultimately it's up to Minnesota. They could put together a winning team this year and be playoff contenders, especially if Francisco Liriano comes back healthy.

In the meantime, I wouldn't wait around on hearing from Minnesota. I'd go after Clemens because again, trading Johnson left a BIG hole in the rotation (and as I've said numberous times before, I don't feel confident in Igawa or Pavano filling the spot).

The Yankees have too many good, young arms in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to leave the cap on any longer, and I expect either Sanchez, Rasner, and Hughes to make a contribution somewhere down the stretch.

I hope you're right. I'm dying to see this new "Roger Clemens" type Ace Philip Hughes in the big league already. At this rate, he won't come up until he's 30

Source: Rotoworld.com

Yankees invited C Todd Pratt, INF Andy Cannizaro, INF Angel Chavez, C Raul Chavez, RHP Tyler Clippard, C Ben Davis, INF Eric Duncan, OF Brett Gardner, RHP Phil Hughes, RHP Steven Jackson, LHP Ben Kozlowski, INF Ramiro Pena, RHP Ross Ohlendorf, C Peter Pilittere, C Omir Santos, OF Jose Tabata, INF Marcos Vechionacci, RHP Kevin Whelan, and RHP Steven White to spring training.

It appeared that Pratt might have a chance to join the Yankees last year, but he went to the Braves and the Bombers opened the season with Kelly Stinnett as Jorge Posada's backup. Now he'll get a chance to battle Wil Nieves and Chavez for backup duties. Although he's well past his prime -- he turns 40 next month -- he's the best choice of the group.

Source: MLB.com

by Brian Hoch

NEW YORK -- The Yankees invited 21 non-roster players to Major League camp Friday, including right-hander Jeff Nelson, who announced his retirement shortly thereafter.

Heading the list of players planning on arriving in Tampa is top pitching prospect Philip Hughes, who will make his presence known as the 2004 first-round selection continues to work toward his eventual Major League debut.

Hughes, 20, made 21 starts at Double-A Trenton last season, going 10-3 with an Eastern League-leading 2.25 ERA and 138 strikeouts in 116 innings of work. Hughes won his last eight decisions at Trenton after beginning his season at Class A Tampa of the Florida State League, posting a cumulative 2.16 ERA for the year.

Hughes, who could appear in New York as soon as this season, is one of eight pitchers invited to Spring Training by the Yankees.



Also on the list are three right-handers acquired in offseason trades: 24-year-old starters Steven Jackson and Ross Ohlendorf -- both acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks this week -- and Kevin Whelan, a 23-year-old reliever who came from the Detroit Tigers in November.

The other pitchers invited to camp are right-handers Tyler Clippard, who led all Yankees Minor Leaguers with 175 strikeouts in 2006, and Steven White, plus left-hander Ben Kozlowski.

The Yankees invited six catchers to camp, set to vie with 40-man roster backstop Wil Nieves to be named Jorge Posada's backup. The list includes several catchers with Major League experience in Raul Chavez, Ben Davis and Todd Pratt, along with Minor Leaguers Francisco Cervelli, P.J. Pilittere and Omir Santos.

Andy Cannizaro, who hit his first Major League home run last Sept. 26 at Tampa Bay, is one of five infielders on the invite list. Others include Angel Chavez, Eric Duncan, Ramiro Pena and Marcos Vechionacci.

Two promising outfield prospects round out the list in speedy leadoff hitter Brett Gardner and 18-year-old Jose Tabata, who was named the second-best prospect in the Yankees' system by Baseball America after batting .298 in 86 games with Class A Charleston last season, earning selection as a South Atlantic League All-Star.

Source: FoxSports.com

The Yankees can spend whatever it takes for free-agent right-hander Roger Clemens; their payroll is down to $157 million, according to a major-league source, $167 million including benefits.

With a relatively trim payroll by their standards, might the Yankees make a run at the Rocket? (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

Yet, for all their streamlining, the Yankees still don't have room for free-agent center fielder Bernie Williams. The problem is not money, but roster space — the Yankees don't have a spot for Williams, and they want to keep the bottom of their roster flexible.

Williams, 38, played far more often and was far more productive than the Yankees expected last season, but he no longer offers assets that most teams want from their bench players — stolen-base ability, above-average defense, pinch-hitting prowess.

If injuries strike, the Yankees might need to promote an outfielder such as Kevin Thompson or infielder such as Alberto Gonzalez to occupy their 25th spot. They would be locked in with Williams, and the last thing they would want would be to release him in the middle of the season.

Gonzalez, acquired in the Randy Johnson trade, is considered one of the top defensive shortstops in minor-league baseball; two teams contacted the Yankees to express interest in acquiring him before the Johnson trade was even official.

A final note on the Yankees: The team sees little need to re-sign free-agent left-hander Ron Villone, in part because their right-handed relievers are proficient at retiring lefties and in part because they believe that lefty Sean Henn might enjoy the same type of breakout that Matt Thornton did with the White Sox last season.

Give me Ron Villone as a long-reliever and left-handed middle relief any day over Sean Henn. What crap. Henn has had numerous chances at the major league level, and plays like crap. Period.

Source: New York Sun

By TIM MARCHMAN
January 15, 2007


With the off-season effectively over, it looks like the biggest Yankees story is the one about what didn't happen: The Yankees didn't sign anyone to a long-term deal.

Everyone appreciates that this is important; I'm not sure people realize, though, just how important it is. As much as it seems otherwise, the Yankees haven't been wildly outspending the rest of the American League for that long. As recently as 2002, their payroll was about $125 million, substantially higher than Boston's $108 million payroll, but not wildly so. It was in 2003 when the Yankees began to lose all restraint, as they spent $152 million compared to Texas's $103 million, the second-most in the AL. Last year, the Yankees spent around $195 million, $75 million more than Boston.

A great deal of this money, of course, may as well have been used as kindling. Players like Carl Pavano, Bernie Williams, Kevin Brown, Jeff Weaver, and so on have made sums out of all proportion to their contributions. The Yanks may have been spending $200 million a year, but a great deal of that has been used to cover up earlier mistakes, replacing players to whom expensive commitments have been made with equally expensive but only marginally better players. In a word, the payroll has been inefficient. The Bombers outspent the Red Sox by more than $200 million from 2004 through 2006, and for the money got 14 more wins and one fewer world championship.

This makes the team's refusal to add more long-term commitments very good news, a much bigger deal than the moves to get rid of Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, and Jaret Wright, to whom the team only had short-term commitments. This is largely just a function of necessity — this wasn't a strong free agent market — but the Yankees are suddenly, on paper, in frighteningly good shape for the future.

As of right now, the Yankees have $66 million committed for the 2009 payroll, all of it earmarked for five players — Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Kei Igawa. Robinson Cano, Chien-Ming Wang, and Melky Cabrera will all be eligible for arbitration, and the three of them will collectively make about half what they'd be worth on the open market, probably something like $20 million all told.

There are no obvious albatross contracts here. For the past few years, looking at future Yankees ledgers has shown preposterous sums owed to players unlikely to be worth their salaries. Those types of commitments, to players like Jason Giambi, will all be done with in the next two years. Matsui and Damon aren't likely to be star players in 2009, but they are likely to be perfectly solid players for their positions. Every other player to whom the Yankees have a commitment is likely to still be a star or making a relatively paltry sum in 2009.

So, this is all to the good, right? The Yankees will have a bunch of good and great players under contract and a sum equivalent to Boston's payroll left over to spend on the rest of the team, and will thus be a monster. This is the hope, but there are some reasons for concern.

The first is that the young players who are suddenly part of the Yankees' core pose an odd dilemma. Wang finished second in the Cy Young balloting, Cano third in the batting race, and Cabrera put up a .360 on-base average as a 21-year-old. With performances like that, you have to look at these players as very important parts of the team's future, but it's hard to tell how important they'll be, as there are reasons to think they're all illusions. Wang doesn't strike anyone out, Cano's value is extraordinarily dependent on hitting for a high average, and Cabrera hasn't hit for power yet, and may never do so. This makes it hard to plan around them. You can't just pencil in Wang for star performance, because if his one trick stops working, he won't be a star. Not having a firm idea of how good your players will be makes it hard to tell how good you need to rest of your players to be, and thus what sort of players you need to acquire. The Yankees, being so rich, are better situated than any other team to tolerate this sort of uncertainty, but it will still be something a problem over the next few years.

The second is that the Yankees have some players who are going to be very hard to replace. Giambi is a star player, but similar players are relatively easy to find. Closers capable of posting a sub-2.00 ERA for four years at a time, or catchers who hit like Jorge Posada, generally aren't available at any price.

The importance of these problems shouldn't be overstated — there are worse crises to deal with than the possibility that your second baseman may not actually be as good as Rod Carew. Also, the Yanks have some things going for them that haven't been mentioned here, like Phillip Hughes, who may be the best pitching prospect in baseball. Still, the mere fact that the Yankees are trimming the fat doesn't mean their problems are going to solve themselves. It just means it will be easier to deal with the remaining ones. Efficiency isn't good in its own right, any more than a balanced budget is good in its own right. In both cases, it's what you do with the money you're not wasting that counts. There are good reasons to be more optimistic about the Yankees' future now than at any time in the recent past, but optimism does not win championships.

Source: Yankees.com

Mailbag with Brian Hoch


Last week, the Yankees showed off Andy Pettitte in the Bronx, putting the lanky lefty through the dog-and-pony show of an introduction.

It was a nice gesture and a pleasant ceremony, but New York knows Pettitte and vice versa. That cut the introductions short and created a perfect opportunity to find out more about Pettitte's friend, Roger Clemens.

At one point during an informal press conference, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had to pause and say: "This is Andy Pettitte we're talking about here. We're not talking about Roger Clemens."

But Yankees fans are ready to discuss The Rocket, judging by the amount of questions sent in this week. Some of you are extremely pro-Clemens; others, not so much.

We'll get to that and much more in the second Yankees mailbag of 2007:

With Clemens' recent announcement that his return may be even later than last year, have the Yankees changed anything in their approach toward him?
-- Jeremy P., Oakhurst, N.J.

Clemens hasn't yet said where, when or if he will pitch in 2007, and this drama is going to stretch out long past the date when pitchers and catchers report to Tampa (Feb. 13). One thing appears certain: If Clemens decides to be on a mound in 2007, the Yankees want it to be theirs.

Cashman had been rather coy in public discussions regarding Clemens, but at the Pettitte press conference, he pulled no punches, calling the Rocket a "perfect employee" during his time in the Bronx and glowing about Clemens' work ethic and clubhouse presence with teammates and staff.

It not only appears that Clemens will pitch a partial season, but he may join any potential club -- the Yankees, Red Sox or Astros -- even later than he made his first start for Houston last year, which was June 22 vs. Minnesota.

That means that the Yankees will still need to plan for at least 12 weeks of having a pitcher not named Clemens in their rotation. That's plenty of time to see if the rotation can remain intact, if Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano are contributors, if Philip Hughes and his Minor League compatriots are ready or any other number of questions that could be surrounding the Yankees near the All-Star break.

Who knows? If all breaks right, it's possible that the Yankees might not even need Clemens by that point. That's a long shot. What team could say, "Not interested" to Clemens? The safe bet is that they'll push for Clemens no matter what the situation.

Are the Yankees giving Humberto Sanchez a Spring Training invitation? According to reports, he is ready for the big leagues and is very impressive. He is not listed as an invitee.
-- Tom D., New York

There was some confusion on this. Sanchez will be in Spring Training as a member of the Yankees' 40-man roster. He was on the Detroit Tigers' 40-man at the time of the trade that brought him to the Bronx in November.

Based on reports I've seen, I'm not sure if Sanchez is ready for the big leagues just yet -- he made just nine Triple-A starts in 2006 and didn't finish great -- but he's close and will get a good look in camp. No matter what, the rotation at Triple-A Scranton should be stacked to begin the year.

Is it possible to get Bobby Murcer's address? Bobby has always been one of my favorite players. He is truly a class individual. I believe in the power of prayer and will ask my entire church to remember him in their prayers. He truly is not in this battle alone!
-- Leroy W., Nakina, N.C.

Many, many fans wrote in with touching stories of their appreciation for Murcer, who recently learned that the brain tumor he had removed on Dec. 28 was malignant. Murcer has asked for your prayers as he fights this development.

Murcer's e-mail address -- along with that of the rest of the Yankees' broadcast team -- is listed here on MLB.com as media@yankees.com. You can also send postal mail to Murcer through the YES Network:

Yankees Entertainment and Sports
405 Lexington Avenue, 36th Floor
New York, NY 10174-3699

Do you think Don Mattingly will have a good shot for the Hall of Fame in '08, since there is not a strong class coming up?
-- Tom M., Las Vegas

It doesn't appear likely. The problem that Hall of Fame voters have with Mattingly is that, though he was one of the game's premier players from 1984-89, injuries robbed him of that elite status in his latter years.

Mattingly was a terrific Yankee, and I understand why fans want to see him in Cooperstown, but voters must consider the entire picture when evaluating a player's career. Mattingly received just 54 of a possible 545 votes this year (9.9 percent). It would be an astronomical jump to get to 75 percent and Induction Day.

Based upon comments Mattingly has made, it seems that even he has accepted that for the foreseeable future, his retired No. 23 in Monument Park will have to do. There's no shame in that.

Goose Gossage, however, is knocking on the door pretty loudly, falling just 21 votes shy this time. The next Hall of Fame vote could be it -- a long overdue honor, in my humble opinion.

Should the Yankees try to trade Pavano for a pizza pie, and get rid of his salary at the same time? Pavano has never proven himself to be a consistent winning pitcher.
-- Jay J., Brooklyn, N.Y.

At $10 million for 2007 and $11 million for 2008, plus a $1.95 million buyout for Pavano's 2009 club option, you're talking about some ridiculously expensive slices of pepperoni and cheese.

Seriously, though, it's been no secret that the Yankees have been underwhelmed with what Pavano has given them (17 starts, 4-6, 4.45 ERA in 2005). He not only hasn't been the pitcher that the Yankees expected, for all of last season, he wasn't a Major League pitcher, period.

But Pavano is on the payroll for now, and the Yankees owe it to themselves to see if he can ever come close to replicating the performances in Florida that originally wooed them. Surely, Pavano hasn't enjoyed his turn of events much, either.

Cashman noted earlier this winter that to trade Pavano, he'd have to pick up a significant portion of his salary and wouldn't get much in return as far as players or prospects -- a classic case of buying high and selling low.

I'm no stock-market wizard, but that's a no-no on Wall Street. It applies here, too.

Interestingly, Humberto Sanchez' name is conspicuously missing from these invite lists...if nothing else, this certainly lends credence to the possibility that a.) The Yankees think Sanchez is ready to play in the major leagues and will make the 25-man opening day roster b.) They will be moving Pavano during Spring Training and bringing in Sanchez as a 5th starter.

Source: USA Today

by Bob Nightengale

The winter has been long, strange and curious.

The Royals and Yankees have switched identities, with Kansas City spending wildly and New York clutching its wallet.

The pitching-hungry Yankees have traded away five-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson.

The Cubs have bought players as if they were using Monopoly money.

The White Sox, who have believed their rotation is among the best in baseball for the last two years, have dumped two of their starters for young, mostly unproven pitchers.

And the Padres watched their successful, longtime manager, Bruce Bochy, wander to the enemy.

We talked to the decision-makers behind the offseason moves that caused some baseball folks to ask, "What were you thinking?"

1. Cubs commit nearly $300M to players this offseason and are still shopping

The Cubs felt that after going 66-96 last year they had to do something drastic to make them relevant in the National League Central again.

So what did they do? They committed close to $300 million on players and brought in a new manager (Lou Piniella).

Chicago signed slugger Alfonso Soriano to an eight-year, $136 million deal. (But general manager Jim Hendry said he doesn't know for sure what outfield position Soriano will play.)

The Cubs re-signed third baseman Aramis Ramirez to a five-year, $75 million deal.

They brought in second baseman Mark DeRosa at $13 million over three years.

And they re-signed pitchers Kerry Wood and Wade Miller and catcher Henry Blanco to smaller deals.

Yet their only expenditures on outside pitching help were the signings of Ted Lilly (four years, $40 million) and Jason Marquis (three years, $21 million) and a trade for reliever Neal Cotts.

Lilly has won 59 games in his career. He has won more than 12 games in a season once and never pitched in more than 197⅓ innings. Marquis has won 42 games and pitched 602⅔ innings over the last three seasons, but he also has surrendered 642 hits. He had a 6.02 ERA last season.

Cotts joins a bullpen that had a 4.04 ERA, which was sixth best in the NL last season.

But Lilly and Marquis join a rotation that had a 5.19 ERA, the second-worst mark in the NL.

"We needed help in all areas, not just pitching," Hendry says.

"What we set out to do was get the best player available, and we did that with Soriano. We were thrilled to keep Ramirez. And we think Marquis will come back strong. And Ted Lilly is a 15-game winner (in 2006).

"But by no means are we finished. There are a lot more things we want to do in January and February. We're still interested in adding somebody; maybe tinker in the outfield and get help against left-handed pitching."

Hendry realizes the baseball world will be watching. You don't throw $300 million at players and hope to be merely competitive.

"We had to do this to get back," Hendry says. "We've had some bad luck with injuries, and I could have done a better job the last couple of years spending money in the offseason. But obviously the bosses down at the Tribune tower (the Cubs are owned by the Tribune Co.) were committed to fixing a lot of the problems.

"We drew 3 million people last year with a bad ballclub, but we wanted to show everyone that we're committed to becoming a winner. This is the first time, I think, we've ever gotten the best free agent available. Soriano was the marquee free agent, and we got him."

Why not spend that kind of money for the offseason's marquee pitching free agent, Barry Zito? "We didn't want to go seven or eight years for Barry," Hendry said. "It was that simple. That's why it was imperative we got Ted."

Can the Cubs win with what they have?

Hendry likes his team's chances, not just because of his offseason acquisitions but because of two returning players: first baseman Derrek Lee and shortstop Cesar Izturis. Lee, who hit .335 with 46 home runs and 107 RBI in 2005, missed most of last season tending to a wrist injury and his daughter's illness. The Cubs acquired slick-fielding Izturis from the Dodgers last July 31 in the Greg Maddux deal, but he only played 22 games the rest of the season because of a hamstring injury.

"I feel good about our team, I really do," Hendry says. "We have depth in the rotation now. We're very pleased with our bullpen. We get Derrek Lee back healthy. With Izturis at shortstop all year and throw in Soriano in the middle of the lineup, we can do some things."

2. Royals sign free agent pitcher Gil Meche to five year, $55 million deal

The Royals made their most expensive free agent signing since the 1985 World Series this offseason … on Gil Meche.

Meche, 28, has a great arm, but he has won 55 games in six major league seasons and he has never pitched more than 186⅔ innings in a season.

"We're all second-guessed in this game. It's part of the arena we're in," Royals general manager Dayton Moore says. "You just have to do what you think is best for your organization. People can say what they want, but the one thing that was always consistent is what a good competitor and class guy he is.

"Look, we could have continued to do what we've always done. We could have gone after a fourth or fifth starter and continued to be where we are. But we've got to be aggressive. We're going to do everything we can to be aggressive. We want our players to have a certain style. This was good for us."

If the Royals were a big-market club, they say, nobody would have said a word about their Meche signing. They were actually pleased they could add a fifth year to the deal. This is a team that has lost 100 or more games for three consecutive seasons, as well as four of the last five.

"What's important to us is accountability," says Moore, once the Braves' highly regarded player-development and scouting director whom the Royals hired last spring to replace Allard Baird. "We have 25 guys in that clubhouse, and all we heard was, 'Go get Gil Meche.' We have our players excited. Our fans are excited. And that's who you're accountable for.

"To me, this is the perfect signing for Kansas City."

The Royals aren't saying that Meche will be a 20-game winner this year, but they do believe he had the finest pure arm on the open market. Just give him time, and the right environment, the Royals say, and folks will see why he could become a legitimate No. 1 starter.

"Everybody in baseball realizes that Gil Meche has an outstanding quality to his pitches," Moore says. "You can talk to people and they'll tell that this guy should win 15-plus games a year. I see this guys entering the prime years of his career. Guys just don't break into the major leagues as a No. 1 or No. 2 starter. Look at Johan Santana, Chris Carpenter, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz. It takes time.

"And to get pitchers like that, we'd have to give up (top prospects) Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. We can't afford to give them up. We looked at the free agent market in '07 and '08. We realized that if we're going to do something, we've got to do it now."

Meche should provide a lift to a rotation that yielded a major league-worst 5.65 ERA last season. And he joins a core of players Moore loves. They include designated hitter Mike Sweeney, starting pitcher Zack Greinke and shortstop Angel Berroa.

Sweeney, a .302 hitter with 799 RBI in 1,208 career games, was limited to 60 games by injuries and hasn't played as many as 147 in a season since 2001. Greinke, a 23-year-old starting pitcher with another live arm, missed much of last season dealing with personal issues. Berroa has been steady offensively but struggled defensively over his four full seasons in the major leagues.

"If Mike Sweeney is healthy, Zach Greinke comes back and makes 30 starts and Angel Berroa comes back strong defensively and hits .260 or so," Moore says, "we're going to play for something. I don't know what we'll play for, but I do know we won't be out of this thing in May like the past. We're going to have some fun."

3. Padres let longtime manager Bruce Bochy leave for division rival Giants

For the last 12 seasons, Bruce Bochy and Kevin Towers have been synonymous with Padres baseball.

They were the second-longest active manager-general manager tandem in baseball, behind John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox of the Braves.

But this offseason, Towers let Bochy, who managed the Padres from 1995-2006 and led them to back-to-back National League West titles the last two seasons, leave to manage the NL West-rival Giants.

Towers and the Padres informed Bochy, who was in the final year of a three-year contract that paid him $1.9 million last season, he wouldn't be given a contract extension. He asked for permission to talk to other clubs. Permission was granted.

"I think the misnomer was that everybody kept thinking he got fired," Towers says. "He didn't. We would have brought him back. It's just that we weren't going to extend him right away. But certainly he would have been welcomed back.

"We just gave him the opportunity to get more security for him and his family."

Bochy got a three-year deal for about $6.3 million from the Giants.

"I think it's hard to tell a guy he can talk to the Cubs or you can talk to the Nationals but not to the Giants," Towers says. "It's been my philosophy and (team President Sandy Alderson's) philosophy that we're not opposed to trading within the division. I think it would have been wrong to say, 'You can talk to these clubs and not them.'"

Besides, Towers says, the team permitted him to interview with the Diamondbacks, another division rival, after the 2005 season for Arizona's general manager vacancy. Josh Byrnes got that job.

"We treated Bruce the same way I was treated when they were going to allow me to go to Arizona," Towers says. "Look, what I'm happy about is that he's happy. Of all places, San Francisco was most desirable to him. It worked well for him. He has the opportunity to stay close to home and is going to an organization with a great tradition."

But couldn't this be a competitive disadvantage?

"You can look at it two ways," Towers says. "Yes, he's familiar with us. But we're familiar with him, too. He knows our ballclub fairly well, obviously, but we know his tendencies, too. I don't think it's a great advantage just because he's managing them and knows our ballclub."

The Padres hired local resident Bud Black, formerly the Angels pitching coach, to replace Bochy. Black, who pitched for 14 years in the big leagues and also has worked in the Indians front office, has no managerial experience.

"I think this will work out well for everybody," Towers says. "Boch will be a difficult guy to replace, but now we've got a guy who went to San Diego State, lives here and is in a similar situation when Boch first got his opportunity."

The Padres and Giants are scheduled to meet in the season opener for both teams. That will be the first time Towers and Bochy have competed against each other. In 1988 they were teammates at Triple-A Las Vegas, where Towers pitched and Bochy was his catcher. A year later Towers was Bochy's pitching coach at Spokane in the short-season Northwest League.

"Even in fantasy football, we were teammates," Towers says. "The competitive juices will be flowing, and we'll always have mutual respect for one another and be great friends, but when we go out together this spring, the information flow will be a whole lot different."

4. White Sox trade two-fifths of their rotation for prospects

Everyone is looking for pitching, right? Pitching wins games. Pitching wins divisions. Pitching wins World Series championships.

So what are the White Sox doing trading not only Freddy Garcia, their best starting pitcher down the stretch last season and a key member of their 2005 World Series championship team, but pitching prodigy Brandon McCarthy, 23, who was scheduled to be in the starting rotation this year? They received nothing more than prospects in return from the Phillies (for Garcia) and Rangers (for McCarthy and minor league outfielder David Paisano).

Listen to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti, who wrote this reaction: "Somebody will have to explain why (general manager Ken) Williams is butchering his pitching rotation and his team's 2007 World Series hopes. … Your general manager is so busy outthinking himself, his logic is twisted like a bow atop a package. He is running this team with a crystal ball instead of common sense, all the more reason to think '05 was a one-and-done proposition."

Now listen to Williams' reaction: "I'm getting ripped to shreds in Chicago, which is not unfamiliar territory. We will continue to do what we think is best and using the philosophies we believe in. We are still a bit old-fashioned in terms of scouting the player first and the numbers second. So some things we do don't add up in what now is considered the conventional sense.

"But I can't explain what we're doing without giving away trade secrets. I can very well go out and articulate to our fans and to our media how we make our decisions, but if I do that, we're losing our competitive edge."

Williams thinks the two players the White Sox received from Philadelphia (fifth starter Gavin Floyd and top pitching prospect Gio Gonzalez) and the three from Texas (John Danks, Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner, all of whom have the potential to be effective major league pitchers) make them a strong team in the future while sustaining success today.

"It's tough in baseball when you're making a deal, sending a known commodity away and replacing it with people the fan base and the media have never heard of," Williams says. "I understand that. But if we're going to have a chance to have a successful organization and sustain success, these moves were necessary.

"Every move we made we wanted to better ourselves or at least give ourselves an equal chance in '07. People in Chicago think we have taken a step backwards from the '06 season. This wasn't about money or penny-pinching. The fact of the matter is we think we're better. We have a young, lights-out bullpen. What gets lost is that without Mr. Masset, the deal never gets done without his inclusion."

Masset, a hard-throwing right-hander, had a 4.15 ERA in eight games for the Rangers last year, and the White Sox are counting on him as part of their bullpen.

"Sorry if people don't like what we've done," Williams says. "But I'll be damned if I'm staying pat and in another year or two I have to go out on the market and sign overinflated free agents and reward mediocrity. I don't ever want to be in that position.

"You do that and let these free agents walk out the door and have nothing to show for them and you lose 90-100 games, that criticism is going to last four or five years. This criticism will last one month, right up to the time spring training starts, when people see how good these kids are.

"I can live with that."

5. Pitching-hungry Yankees trade Randy Johnson back to the Diamondbacks

You can point to a lack of enough quality pitching as the primary reason why the Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2000.

So what did they do during this offseason?

They traded Randy Johnson, who won 34 games and pitched more than 430 innings the last two seasons, for one reliever and three prospects.

OK, so they saved $14 million in the deal (dumping Johnson's 2007 salary of nearly $16 million while still paying $2 million of the 2007 salary for the Diamondbacks). Still, they traded a five-time Cy Young Award winner for reliever Luis Vizcaino, minor league pitchers Ross Ohlendorf and Steven Jackson and minor league shortstop Alberto Gonzalez.

The reason? General manager Brian Cashman has told owner George Steinbrenner the Yankees' days of checkbook-dictated baseball are over. If they want to keep winning and sustain their reputation for winning World Series championships, Cashman says the Yankees need to develop a bountiful farm system to maintain their talent and, in turn, reduce their payroll.

Remember, the Yankees' farm system produced Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. The system also has brought along second baseman Robinson Cano, outfielder Melky Cabrera and starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang.

It's time for the Yankees get back to their roots, Cashman says.

"I've been very vocal and stated our goals," he says. "We want to reduce payroll, improve our farm system, get younger and have more flexibility."

Johnson, in the final year of a three-year contract with the Yankees, had a 5.00 ERA last year (his career high for a full season), but he still won 17 games for the second consecutive season.

Yet Johnson was miserable in New York and didn't hide that fact when he spoke with Cashman in December. Cashman telephoned Johnson to offer his condolences when he learned Johnson's older brother had died. During the conversation, Johnson conveyed his unhappiness in New York.

He didn't formally request a trade but told Cashman he would be happier playing in Arizona (where his family lives) or on the West Coast.

"It was a very personal discussion," Cashman says. "Randy opened up and expressed his desire and preference to be closer to home and family.

"I wasn't going to do something that didn't make sense, but I knew that as long as it got him closer to home, I wouldn't have to worry about the no-trade clause."

Cashman moved when Arizona offered Ohlendorf. The right-hander went 10-8 with a 3.29 ERA last season in 28 starts for Double-A Tennessee.

"Arizona separated itself from the pack, and I was very satisfied with what we got," Cashman says. "We reduced our payroll, got younger and built up our farm system.

"At the same time, Randy was happy. I didn't see him smile the whole time here. But he looked like a whole different person in that (Diamondbacks) press conference."

A Yankees rotation of Wang, Mike Mussina, Pettitte, Japanese signee Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano probably wouldn't draw fear from adversaries in the powerful American League East. But there is about a month before spring training, about 2½ months before Opening Day and about seven months until playoff rosters must be submitted.

"I know there are going to be questions in our rotation," Cashman said at the Yankees news conference that introduced Igawa. "What's Carl Pavano going to do for us? How's Andy Pettitte going to transition back to the AL? Mike Mussina is a year older. How is Kei Igawa going to handle his transition to a new league and a new country? They're fair questions, and there's an unknown.

"And that's why we're trying to cultivate as much as we can on the farm."

But it's hardly as if the Yankees are broke. They have reduced their payroll from $208 million two years ago but still have a $167 million payroll. They spent $46 million on Igawa and brought back Pettitte for a one-year, $16 million deal.

They could make a strong play, too, for free agent Roger Clemens, though Clemens says he's undecided about pitching in 2007 and that he's behind last season's preparation schedule. He returned to the Astros last June 22.

Whether or not New York gets Clemens, who would sign with a team for a prorated salary, the Yankees think their days of feeling they have to sign marquee free agents every year are over, according to Cashman.

"The Yankees aren't afraid to write a check," Cashman says, "but we're going to be more care-ful allocating our resources. This free agent market was very expensive. All we're trying to do is a simple format: Give us as many internal choices as possible. We will never not be free agent players, but it'd be nice to have internal choices, too.

"What we won't want is to be desperate in the free agent market. You do that, you get slaughtered.

"To have a short-term and long-term strategy at the same time is a balancing act with a lot of risk involved. We were recognized as the best position team in baseball, but we came out short on the pitching side. Hopefully now in the long term we can have a lot of choices going forward.

"We're very proud of the depth we have from the lowest level to the top and excited about the potential."

But Cashman says his new philosophy is awfully risky, too.

"I recognize that prospects are suspects that have to earn their keep," he says, "but I believe in what I'm doing."

Source: MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Yankee Stadium will be sent off in style with the 2008 All-Star Game, ESPN.com reported on Tuesday, citing baseball sources.

No official announcement has been made, but a Yankees representative said that there were no developments to discuss as of yet, and a spokesperson for Major League Baseball said there would be no comment at this time.

According to the report, an announcement is expected shortly -- perhaps as soon as next week -- as Major League Baseball coordinates with the office of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Construction on the new 51,800-seat Yankee Stadium facility is underway, just north of the existing ballpark and is expected to be completed in time for Opening Day 2009. That would mean that next year is the last season to be played at the current site.

Yankee Stadium has held three previous All-Star Games, the last of which was in 1977, when the extensively remodeled building was showcased in its second year of existence.

The National League defeated the American League, 7-5, in that contest, with the Yankees' Reggie Jackson and Willie Randolph in the AL's starting lineup. The All-Star Game was also played in the Bronx in 1939 and 1960.

The 2007 All-Star Game is scheduled to be played in San Francisco's AT&T Park on July 10. On Monday, Commissioner Bud Selig revealed that St. Louis' Busch Stadium would host the 2009 Midsummer Classic.

Source: Sports Illustrated.com

Having wrested full control of the New York Yankees' baseball operations over the past 18 months, GM Brian Cashman is running a leaner, less reactionary organization. His stockpiling of young pitchers this winter is bad news for the rest of baseball. The Yankees are difficult enough to contend with because of advantages in resources. Give them homegrown young pitching and patience and they become even more of a threat.

But Cashman's intentions will be severely tested in the next four months. Starting out the season, he plans to devote two-fifths of his team's starts to Kei Igawa, who some teams wrote off as "an NL West pitcher" (i.e., suited to bigger ballparks and weaker lineups), and Carl Pavano, who has made 17 starts and no friends in his own clubhouse over two seasons with the Yankees. And if either of those choices don't work, Cashman has Darrell Rasner (four career starts) and Jeff Karstens (six career starts) standing by.

Here is Cashman's problem: his two best options for those rotation spots should be off limits until June: 20-year-old phenom Philip Hughes (he'll be 21 in June) and 44-year-old legend Roger Clemens. Can Cashman continue to remain patient through the first third of the season while Hughes tears up Triple-A and Clemens waits until he's ready to pitch? While Cashman might have no control over when Clemens pitches -- it won't be in April -- he does have the power to bring Hughes up to the big leagues prematurely, which would be a huge mistake and a departure from the plan of calculated patience that Cashman has developed.

"I wouldn't mind if Philip Hughes spent the full season in Triple-A," Cashman said before leaving on a vacation this week -- yet another sign of his acquisition of power. A Yankees GM leaving on a vacation four weeks before spring training used to be unheard of. "We're going to sit down soon with [pitching coordinator] Nardi Contreras and map out some plans that will be in place when we get to spring training Feb. 13. If Philip Hughes spends a full season in Triple-A, that's not a bad thing."

Hughes, of course, is too good and New York's rotation too fragile for the Yankees not to touch him all season. But Cashman must know he is risking Hughes' development and health if he brings him to New York when the season starts. This is the same pitcher on which the Yankees put a short leash in the second half of last season to keep him under 150 innings. Hughes generally was pulled after five innings or about 80 pitches, whichever came first. And now he's going to make the Opening Day rotation? Cashman may be too smart for that, but don't think he won't get pressure to carry Hughes once the media and coaching staff see him in big league camp. Actually, Cashman revealed, it happened last year already.

"Joe Torre called up after the Anaheim series [in late August] when we were stretched for pitchers and said, "What about bringing up Hughes?''' Cashman said. "On the next homestand, Gator [pitching coach Ron Guidry] asked me about bringing up Hughes to help out the staff. I joked with him and said, 'Nope. I'm saving him for the next pitching coach."'

The plan that Cashman and Contreras map out for Hughes in the coming weeks should look something like this: Tell Hughes and the major league staff he has no chance of making the big league club coming out of spring training, no matter how well he pitches -- this reduces the chances of Hughes overthrowing to try to make the club -- and send him to Triple-A with the same pitch limits he had in place last season. The Red Sox used a similar plan with Jon Lester last season.

Hughes can help the Yankees in the second half, but only if he doesn't load up on innings in the minor leagues. The Yankees should budget Hughes for about 180 innings this year, postseason included. Better to cut back on those innings early in the cold of Scranton rather than late in New York.

Here's a good office pool to start among Yankees fans: Who makes a start for the Yankees this season first, Hughes or Clemens? The Rocket is not likely to be seen in any big league ballpark until June, the schedule that worked so well for him last season when he posted a 2.30 ERA in 19 starts.

"I would think spring training would definitely be out," said Andy Pettitte, the Yankees left-hander and friend of Clemens, about the Rocket's plans. "I don't think he's thinking he's heading to camp in the next three weeks."

Clemens does intend to pitch again. He is "working out like a maniac" with his son Koby, an infielder in the Houston system, according to a source close to Clemens, and is throwing batting practice regularly. Clemens plans to attend an Astros' mini-camp for pitchers, most of whom are minor leaguers, at the end of this month at Minute Maid Park. He is likely to keep his arm in shape throwing to hitters and working with young pitchers at the Astros' minor league facility this spring.

It is unlikely that Clemens will decide where to play until after the season begins, and then he will require a three-week program, including minor league starts, to be major-league ready. He will choose among the Astros, Yankees and Red Sox. Boston, according to one source familiar with talks, have "not been as aggressive as last year." The Red Sox were so eager to sign Clemens last year that they essentially gave him freedom to write his own job description. In one scenario, for example, Clemens would have been paid $1 million per start to pitch only on Sundays, with permission to leave the team in between starts.

The Red Sox may not be so aggressive this time around because of the addition of Daisuke Matsuzaka, but they still offer Clemens a unique storybook-style end to his career: to finish it where it began, to pass Cy Young as the franchise leader in wins, to have his No. 21 retired and to go into the Hall of Fame representing the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, Clemens will keep the Astros under surveillance during the first two months of the season to see if they are a strong contender and if their popgun offense that wasted many of his strong starts last season has improved. Houston was the worst-hitting team in the NL in 2006 while scoring fewer runs than every team except Milwaukee and San Diego.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are quietly monitoring Clemens and his progress. Clemens does maintain contact with a few Yankees, especially Pettitte and Derek Jeter.

As the Yankees wait on Clemens and Hughes, their spring training camp and the 24 starts in April and May that go to anybody not named Chien Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte make for a new kind of drama around New York. Make no mistake, this is Cashman's team through and through these days. How he navigates the uncertainties in his rotation while resisting the promotion of Hughes and the waiting game on Clemens will be the toughest test yet of his patient approach.

Source: NY Times

Sheffield book details split with Bonds, Yankees

By BEN SHPIGEL

In an autobiography to be published this spring, Gary Sheffield, a former Braves player known for voicing his displeasure, describes his relationship with Barry Bonds, his link to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid distribution case and his three turbulent seasons with the Yankees, culminating in his trade to Detroit last November.

A bound proof of the autobiography, "Inside Power," was mailed to The New York Times by Crown Publishing. It does not appear to contain any bombshells, but its candor and insight into baseball's steroids controversy and its most recognizable franchise have again catapulted Sheffield into the headlines.

During his three seasons with the Yankees, Sheffield was regarded as combative and outspoken, known as much for his chronic complaining about contracts as his bat waggle. He developed a reputation as a superb clutch hitter and as someone who would play hurt.

But Sheffield repeatedly found himself linked to the steroids scandal that engulfed the sport. He has said he unknowingly used a testosterone-laced cream.

"I've never touched a strength-building steroid in my life — and never will," Sheffield said in the book. "The proof is in pictures and stats."

According to the book, after agreeing to train with Bonds in Northern California after the 2001 season, Sheffield grew tired of Bonds' uncompromising control over their workout routine. He nevertheless agreed when Bonds said he would give him "vitamins" from the BALCO founder Victor Conte Jr. Sheffield said that Conte gave the vitamins to Greg Anderson, Bonds' trainer, who gave them to him.

As he acknowledged during testimony before the BALCO grand jury, Sheffield said that he rubbed cream on his knee after surgical stitches popped out while working out. Sheffield said that Anderson gave him "some cream that'll heal you up in a hurry," but he went to a doctor anyway.

"My understanding was that the cream was no different from the Neosporin you buy at Rite Aid," Sheffield said. "Only it worked quicker. It did work fast. It healed me in about a week."

His relationship with Bonds deteriorated soon after. He said Bonds told reporters in San Francisco that Sheffield could not handle the training regimen. They have not spoken since, although Sheffield said Bonds told BALCO to send him an invoice for about $400 for thecream.

Sheffield said that he started plotting his signing with the Yankees after the 2003 season with Atlanta. He planned a lunch meeting with Braves officials at a restaurant in Tampa, Fla., where the Yankees' principal owner, George Steinbrenner, often ate with the hopes that Steinbrenner would intensify his interest in signing him.

The negotiations that followed provided a backdrop for his history of moping about contracts. Sheffield said that Steinbrenner altered their initial three-year, $39 million agreement with a team option to include deferred payments.

Sheffield called manager Joe Torre "an enigma" and recalled how, in 2004, his first season with the Yankees, he grew infuriated that Torre had said he wished the team had signed the slugger Vladimir Guerrero.

During a meeting in Torre's office before a May game in Baltimore, Sheffield told him: "I'm tired of hearing you talk about how much you love Guerrero. That disrespects me."

The next season, Sheffield recounted, he and Torre had an argument in St. Louis the day after Torre called him out during a team meeting for his uneven defensive play. Sheffield said they quickly patched things up once Torre explained how he viewed him as a team leader and as someone who could handle the pressure.

After the Yankees crumbled to a first-round playoff defeat against Detroit, Sheffield said he knew his days with the team had ended.

"Up in New York, it became clear that the Yankees had no more use for me, other than as a pawn in a trade," he said. "But after a lifetime in professional ball, I wasn't about to be a pawn. That's not my style."

Breaking News: Yankee Stadium to Host 2008 All-Star Game

Source: Yankees.com

NEW YORK -- Jorge Posada will be among the constants returning for another season in pinstripes, fresh off a campaign regarded as a bounceback year for the veteran Yankees backstop.

The 35-year-old switch-hitter put aside the usual nicks and bruises of life behind the plate to post another solid campaign in 2006, batting .277 with 23 home runs and 93 RBIs in 143 games.

Posada's RBI total tied Cleveland's Victor Martinez and Atlanta's Brian McCann for the league lead among Major League catchers, while his .492 slugging percentage was second in the American League to Minnesota's promising young Joe Mauer. Posada's .374 on-base percentage ranked third in the circuit.

But the numbers are of little surprise, considering Posada long has been known as one of the top offensive catchers in the game. Enjoying the dimensions of Yankee Stadium, Posada has strongly stated that case by collecting 163 home runs and 626 RBIs over the last seven seasons.

Those numbers have not only made Posada an invaluable and familiar piece of the Yankees attack, but they have earned him select company among the top backstops in baseball.

Entering a stage when such power statistics normally tend to decline, Posada seems to be bucking the trend.

Still, the fan favorite continues to find new ways to reinvent and improve his game, and Posada's biggest strides in 2006 seemed to come with each throw to a base.

Working closely with first-base coach and catching instructor Tony Pena, Posada's throwing improved markedly last season.

A solid defender who has made great strides in his handling of the pitching staff and blocking balls during his career, Posada added another weapon to the equation by gunning down 38 would-be basestealers in 102 attempts.

That performance tied Pittsburgh's Ronnie Paulino for the second-most caught stealings in the Major Leagues and produced a 37.3 percent mark, well surpassing Posada's previous career average.

Posada -- who shook off knee, elbow and finger injuries during 2006, not to mention illness and a broken nose in Spring Training -- figures to have little trouble adjusting to most of the pitching staff as the 2007 season draws closer.

That should include left-handed newcomer Kei Igawa, considering Posada has been through the situation of working with Japanese hurler Hideki Irabu during his Bronx tenure.

Above Igawa, Posada is obviously familiar with the repertoire of Andy Pettitte, as well as returning Yankees Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano and Chien-Ming Wang. Should Randy Johnson remain with the club in April, that also doesn't figure to be an issue, as Posada and Johnson appeared to put aside any differences to forge a working relationship.

While there remains time for the Yankees to pursue another option, Wil Nieves appears a strong candidate to serve as Posada's 2007 backup.

Nieves, 29, has gone hitless in 10 at-bats with the Yankees over the last two seasons after being acquired from the Angels for reliever Bret Prinz during the last days of Spring Training 2005, though he has proved a capable performer in Triple-A.

Nieves batted .259 with five home runs and 34 RBIs while seeing regular duty for the Columbus Clippers in 2006, playing in 88 games and logging 321 at-bats. Behind Nieves, Omir Santos, a 25-year-old who played at Double-A Trenton in 2006, has shown promise as one of the system's top defensive catchers.