The LoHud Yankees Blog

First off, a salute to Ricardo Montalbán. Here’s hoping suave actor heaven is full of fine corinthian leather.

Meanwhile, here is the general tone of the e-mails the last two days:

Dear Pete:

Signed, Insane Reader.

The populace has turned on Pettitte like a pack of angry badgers. They seem to think he should take whatever he can get from the Yankees just for the honor of putting on the pinstripes. Most think his second-half performance last season indicates he is finished.

Yes, Pettitte was 4-7, 5.35 in his last 13 starts. But Pettitte had a sore shoulder and he kept pitching because the alternative was Kei Igawa. He took the ball every five days until the Yankees were eliminated.

Pettitte also was pitching without the benefit of having had a full offseason of conditioning. He admitted that the Congressional investigation interrupted his usual routine. Sure, it was his fault for taking PEDs in the first place and working out with Roger Clemens and policeman of the year Brian McNamee. But the fact remains, he didn’t get his work in.

Beyond that, consider the stats beyond wins and loses. Pettitte was one of 33 pitchers to throw at least 200 innings last season. Pettitte is one of 21 pitchers to have thrown 400 innings in the last two seasons. That means he has stayed healthy enough to pitch, he has merited being sent back to the mound, he has saved the bullpen. Oh, and this was while pitching in the AL East.

Pettitte got more groundballs in 2008 than he did in 2007. But outs weren’t as easy to come by thanks to the defense behind him. Pettitte also struck out more batters per nine innings.

One particularly angry fellow told me there is no evidence that Pettitte is better than Alfredo Aceves. Take it easy.

To me, the issue is not so much Pettitte as it is that the Yankees still have innings to account for. If it’s not Pettitte, then who will it be?

Maybe they did find somebody after all.

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Good photos of the new Stadium on this forum. We had a friendly meeting with the PR staff yesterday to talk about some issues. After being at so many new stadiums around the league, it’s hard to believe there will be two in New York.

Just a warning, based on the construction around the Stadium area I saw yesterday, you might want to leave for Opening Day pretty soon. It’s a mess.

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Finally saw Frost/Nixon. If you’re not politically inclined, it’s not going to do much for you. But if you appreciate postwar history, it’s interesting.

Next up on the movie list: Defiance.

January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.

Next up are the guys from It Is High, It Is Far, It Is … Caught. Their humor blog is perpetrated by a loose collective of authors, journalists, a lawyer, a banker, a sportswriter-turned-bartender, an unemployed copywriter and several phantom lurkers.

Here is how they describe their blog: “The only thing we have in common is the Yankiverse. We do not take ourselves seriously, but we do take the Yankees very seriously. More than anyone else, we condemn Yankee failures. And more than anyone else, we celebrate great Yankee victories… keeping in mind that every Yankee victory is a great Yankee victory. Please visit us often.”

And now to their post …

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The Current Cinema: Yankees Edition

Don Zimmer is an aging pretty boy seeking redemption through violence in THE WRESTLER.

Ian P. Kennedy raises more questions than answers in DOUBT.

Poor boy Joba Chamberlain makes the journey from squalor to success in SLUMDOG MILLIONNAIRE.

Robby Cano plays an immovable object in THE DAY THE SECOND BASEMAN STOOD STILL.

Mark Teixiera is a man who will not say “no“ in THE YES MAN.

Mariano Rivera is THE COOLER.

Brett Favre faces a threatening presence from the past in THE GREAT MANGINI.

Eric Duncan travels through a mysterious wormhole in STARGATE SCRANTON.

A free-swinger seeks exotic new positions in SEXSON IN THE CITY.

Two brothers take the world by storm in HANK & HAL’S INFINITE PLAYLIST.

An ancient curse comes to life in INDIANA YOUKILIS & THE CRYSTAL SKULL,

A strange monster destroys NYC’s greatest landmark in OVERFIELD.

A rollicking tribute to pole dancers and conviviality in JOBA MIA.

Gerrit Cole takes the lead in HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3.

An aging right-wing blogger in a desperate effort to inspire his team: Curt Schilling stars in THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

Shelley Duncan as a man who turns into a powerful monster in THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

Hank Steinbrenner as the tragic victim of rectal-cranial inversion in GET SMART.

Carl Pavano and A.J. Burnett star in the medical drama, E.R..

Joe Girardi recites injury reports to a tough gang of beat writers in LIAR LIAR.

Johnny Damon leads off a great ensemble in FORGETTING BERNIE WILLIAMS,

Brash young military man Joe Girardi heads a ragged team of rebels and millionaires in JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EAST.

Boston fans say farewell to their peripatetic leftfielder in BURN AFTER TRADING.

Paul O’Neill is the man behind the mystery digits in THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST.

Mark Teixeira seeks toe-curling, mind-bending shopping for his wife in TEX IN THE CITY.

Buzz Bissinger is the final holdout for the 19th Century in THE LAST ANGRY MAN.

Roger Clemens shows his best side in BE KIND, BEHIND.

Sinister force Scott Boras threatens society, in THE DARK KNIGHT.

David Wells is an ageless creature seeking new victims in TWILIGHT.

Kyle Farnsworth hatches a doomed plan to change history in VALKYRIE.

Manny Ramirez shakes and bakes LA in PINEAPPLE EXPRESS.

Three grizzled vets in their quest for the top: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera in SURVIVOR: THE BRONX.

Madonna and A-Rod in the comedy romp FORGETTING CYNTHIA RODRIGUEZ.

Chien-Ming Wang tries a few new steps in SHANGHAI SURPRISE.

The mysterious disappearance of batting power is explored in MELK.

Cal Ripken Jr. heroically beats a record set by a guy with a fatal disease in the 90s period drama IRON MAN.

And you’ll be glad they’re on radio and not TV in JOHN & SUZYN MAKE A PORNO.

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OK then. Next up in the rotation will be Travis from Pinstripe Alley.

This release from the Yankees:

YANKEES INVITE 20 PLAYERS TO 2009 SPRING TRAINING

The New York Yankees announced today that they have invited 20 non-roster players to 2009 Spring Training in Tampa, Fla. The list includes four pitchers, five catchers, seven infielders and four outfielders. The total number of players now scheduled to report is 60.

C Kyle Anson, 25, batted .241 (54-for-224) with 11 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBI in 68 games with Single-A Tampa in 2008, catching 36.0 percent of potential base stealers (27-of-75). He was originally selected by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft as a third baseman and converted to catcher prior to the 2007 season.

INF Doug Bernier, 28, made his Major League debut in 2008, appearing in two games with Colorado and going 0-for-4 in his lone start at second base on June 19 vs. Cleveland. In 110 games with Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2008, Bernier hit .255 (86-for-337) with 10 doubles, four triples, nine home runs and 42 RBI. He set career highs in triples, homers and RBI and appeared at all four infield positions as well as one game at right field. Originally signed by Colorado as a non-drafted free agent in 2002, he owns a .244 (487-for-1993) career minor league batting average in 661 games with 78 doubles, 10 triples, 19 home runs and 204 RBI.

INF Angel Berroa, 31, split the 2008 season between the Kansas City and Los Angeles-NL organizations after being acquired by the Dodgers on June 6 in exchange for minor league infielder Juan Rivera. He started at shortstop in 64 of the Dodgers’ final 101 games, batting .230 (52-for-226) with 13 doubles, one home run and 16 RBI in 84 overall games with Los Angeles. The 2003 American League “Rookie of the Year” has appeared in 711 combined Major League games with the Royals and Dodgers and owns a .260 career average (658-for-2526) with 116 doubles, 21 triples, 46 home runs and 251 RBI. He played the second-most games at shortstop (449) in the American League from 2003-05, trailing only Miguel Tejada (484).

C Kevin Cash, 31, played in a career-high 61 games in 2008 with the Boston Red Sox, batting .225 (32-for-142) with seven doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI. He made 42 starts behind the plate, including all 30 of Tim Wakefield’s outings. A native a Tampa, Fla., Cash was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as a non-drafted free agent in 1999 and has appeared in 187 Major League games over parts of six seasons with Toronto (2002-04), Tampa Bay (2005) and Boston (2007-08).

OF Colin Curtis, 23, appeared in 132 games with the Double-A Trenton Thunder in 2008, batting .255 (126-for-495) with 20 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 71 RBI for the Eastern League champions. He set career highs in games, runs (68), doubles, home runs and RBI. Curtis was originally selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona State University.

INF/OF Shelley Duncan, 29, batted .175 (10-for-57) with 3 doubles, one home run and six RBI in 23 games over two stints with the Yankees in 2008, starting at first base (12 games) and right field (three games). He won the 2008 James P. Dawson Award, given to the most outstanding Yankees rookie in spring training as voted on by the New York Yankees beat writers, after batting .354 (17-for-48) with 5 doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI in 20 spring training games. The Yankees’ second-round selection in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Duncan made his first career Opening Day roster in 2008.

LHP Kei Igawa, 29, earned Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s “Pitcher of the Year” Award in 2008, appearing in 26 games (24 starts) and going 14-6 with a 3.45 ERA. The lefthander led the International League champions in wins, starts, innings pitched (156.1IP) and strikeouts (117), while ranking second in the league in wins and fourth in ERA. Originally acquired by the Yankees through the Japanese posting process in November 2007, Igawa owns a 2-4 record with a 6.66 ERA in 16 Major League games (13 starts).

OF Austin Jackson, 21, hit .285 (148-for-520) with 33 doubles, five triples, nine home runs, 69 RBI and 19 stolen bases in 131 games with Double-A Trenton in 2008, leading the team in hits and doubles while ranking second in stolen bases and RBI. He enters the 2009 season as the Yankees’ top prospect, according to Baseball America. The publication also tabbed him as the organization’s “Best Athlete” and “Best Defensive Outfielder” for the second straight season. Following the season, Jackson was named a Top Prospect in the Arizona Fall League. He was originally selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

RHP Jason Johnson, 35, has a 56-100 career Major League record with a 4.99 ERA in 255 appearances (221 starts) with Pittsburgh (1997), Tampa Bay (1998), Baltimore (1999-2003), Detroit (2004-05), Cleveland (2006), Boston (2006), Cincinnati (2006) and Los Angeles-NL (2008). He appeared in 16 games (two starts) with the Dodgers in 2008, going 1-2 with a 5.22 ERA. Originally signed by Pittsburgh as a non-drafted free agent on July 21, 1992, Johnson tied John Lackey and Jamie Moyer for the fifth-most starts (98) in the American League from 2003-05.

INF Justin Leone, 31, batted .251 (90-for-358) with 22 doubles, 17 home runs, 64 RBI and 16 stolen bases with Triple-A Fresno in 2008, appearing in games at second base, third base, shortstop and all three outfield positions. Originally selected by Seattle in the 13th round of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, he saw his most extensive Major League action in 2004 with the Mariners, appearing in 31 games and batting .216 (22-for-102) with five doubles, six home runs and 13 RBI. He also played in one game with San Diego in 2006.

OF Todd Linden, 28, has appeared in 270 Major League games over parts of five seasons with San Francisco (2003-07) and Florida (2007), batting .231 (116-for-502) with 22 doubles, eight home runs and 36 RBI. He split the 2008 campaign between Triple-A Sacramento (Oakland) and Triple-A Buffalo (Cleveland), combining to hit .289 with 27 doubles, 17 homers and 62 RBI in 113 games. Linden, originally selected by San Francisco as a sandwich pick (41st overall) of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, last appeared in the Majors in 2007, posting a .245 (45-for-184) average with eight doubles, one home run and 11 RBI in 115 combined games with San Francisco and Florida, establishing career highs in games, at-bats, runs (21), hits and walks (19).

RHP Mark Melancon, 23, combined at three stops (Single-A Tampa, Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) in 2008 to go 8-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 44 relief appearances, holding opponents to a .202 batting average (69-for-341, 6HR). Following the season, he was selected as the organization’s sixth-best prospect by Baseball America. Melancon (pronounced “Muh-LAN-son”) was originally selected by the Yankees in the ninth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

RHP Sergio Mitre, 27, did not pitch in 2008 after opening the season on the disabled list with a right elbow strain and undergoing “Tommy John” surgery on July 15. He owns a career record of 10-23 with a 5.36 ERA in 78 games (52 starts) with the Cubs (2003-05) and Marlins (2006-07). Originally selected by the Chicago Cubs in the seventh round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Mitre was acquired by Florida on December 7, 2005 in a trade for OF Juan Pierre and played the 2006 season under current Yankees Manager Joe Girardi.

C Jesus Montero, 19, batted .326 (171-for-525) with 86 runs, 34 doubles, 17 home runs and 87 RBI in 132 games with Single-A Charleston, recording the most hits among any minor league catcher in 2008. He also led the Yankees organization in batting average, runs, hits and RBI last season, while leading all South Atlantic League catchers with a .993 fielding percentage (4E, 588 TC). Originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in October 2006, the Venezuelan native played for the World Team for the 2008 All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He enters the 2009 season ranked by Baseball America as the Yankees’ second-best prospect and will be the youngest player in the team’s spring training camp for the second consecutive year.

INF Eduardo Nunez, 21, will be making his second straight trip to spring training camp with the Yankees after attending as a non-roster invitee in 2008. He played in 94 games with Single-A Tampa in 2008, hitting .271 (101-for-373) with six home runs, 42 RBI and a career-high 18 doubles. A native of the Dominican Republic, Nunez was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in February 2004.

INF Ramiro Pena, 23, batted .266 (118-for-443) in 111 games with Double-A Trenton in 2008, collecting 20 doubles, seven triples, two home runs and 45 RBI to set career highs in nearly every offensive category. Following the season, he was tabbed by Baseball America as the “Best Defensive Infielder” in the Yankees organization and in the Eastern League. A native of Mexico, Pena played for the World Team for the 2008 All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. He was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in February 2005.

C P.J. Pilittere, 27, hit .277 (101-for-364) with 15 doubles, three home runs and 48 RBI in 97 games with Double-A Trenton in 2008, ranking fifth among qualifying Eastern League catchers with a 21.3 percent caught stealing rate (17-of-80). Originally selected by the Yankees in the 13th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, Pilittere will be making his third straight appearance in spring camp after receiving non-roster invitations in 2007 and ’08.

OF John Rodriguez, 30, split the 2008 season between the Tampa Bay (Triple-A Durham) and New York Mets (Triple-A New Orleans) organizations, combining to bat .276 (58-for-210) with nine doubles, 10 home runs and 32 RBI in 69 games. He saw his most extensive Major League action in 2006 with the St. Louis Cardinals, batting .301 (55-for-183) with 12 doubles, three triples, two home runs and 19 RBI in 102 games for the National League champions. He also led the club that season with 47 pinch at-bats and 11 pinch-hits. The New York native was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 1996 after attending a tryout at Yankee Stadium.

C Austin Romine, 20, was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of El Toro High School in California and will be making his second consecutive appearance as a spring training non-roster invitee. He batted .300 (122-for-407) with 66 runs, 24 doubles, 10 home runs and 49 RBI in 104 games with Single-A Charleston in 2008, ranking second on the team and third among Yankees minor leaguers in batting average. Following the season, Romine was tabbed by Baseball America as the fourth-best prospect in the Yankees organization.

INF Kevin Russo, 24, batted .307 (82-for-267) with 17 doubles, two home runs and 33 RBI in 71 games with Double-A Trenton in 2008, despite missing nearly two months after fracturing his left cheekbone when he was hit by a batting practice grounder in early June. Following the season, he played for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League, where he led all Yankees winter leaguers with 34 hits. Drafted by the Yankees in the 20th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, Russo will be making his first trip to Major League spring training camp with the Yankees in 2009.

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Keep in mind that most of these players will be in the minors come Opening Day. It speaks well to their bullpen depth that none of these guys are relievers outside of Mitre and Melancon. As a beat writer, it’ll be good to get a look at Montero again as well as Romine. With Posada sure to be brought along slowly, hopefully those guys will get to catch in some exhibition games.

This also would seem to indicate that Shelley Duncan cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA.

At the moment, here are the starting pitchers with more than a game or two of major-league experience the Yankees have available to them:

CC Sabathia, A.J.Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Alfredo Aceves, Jason Johnson, Dan Giese, Kei Igawa.

Here is who the Red Sox have:

Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson.

Unless you’re named Sully and say “wicked” a lot, you probably like Sabathia, Burnett, Wang and Chamberlain better than Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka and Wakefield. It’s close, but the Yankees have an edge.

But Penny, Smoltz, Masterson and Buchholz are much, much better options than Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves and the assorted dreck the Yankees have lined up.

The LoHud Yankees Blog charter states “We believe Phil Hughes will stay healthy and realize his vast potential as a starting pitcher.” But facts are facts. He has a 5.15 ERA and a 1.416 WHIP in 21 starts.

It’s not acceptable for a contending team to go into the season with four good starters and hold a contest for the fifth spot. You need to have an adequate No. 5 and decent options beyond that. Or do you believe that Sabathia, Burnett, Wang and Chamberlain will all stay healthy for six months?

Sign Andy Pettitte and the problem is solved. We wrote last week that one side had to blink. But so far nobody has. If not Pettitte, then somebody else.

There are answers out there. Brian Cashman has trade chips. There are free agents who are becoming more desperate as every day passes. When you look at those two lists of starters, it’s fairly evident that the Yankees could still use a little help.

January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.

Next up is Scott from this The Bronx View (www.thebronxview.com). Scott started writing online about baseball in the pre-blog era for sites like esportsmediagroup.com and the now-defunct hardrocksports.com. He used to run The Fair Pole baseball blog before launching The Bronx View in November. The blog focuses on Yankee news as well as MLB news and features a weekly podcast available through the blog and on iTunes.

Here’s his post:

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A 36 year-old shortstop in decline. A first ballot Hall of Famer. The face of a franchise.

In 1996, the Baltimore Orioles had a dilemma: what to do with Cal Ripken? Ripken was almost bigger than the game. The consecutive games record, which he set in 1995, was credited with reviving a sport tarnished by the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.

The problem: Cal couldn’t handle shortstop anymore. His “ambassador of the game” status sold tickets but weakened the Orioles ballclub. Ripken tried third base briefly in 1996, then took the full time job in 1997. Defensively, it was the right move, but offensively he was a below average third baseman.

In 2010, Derek Jeter’s 10-year, $189 million contract will end. Jeter will be 37 years old and, health permitting, within a season of reaching 3,000 hits. The Yankees will have to negotiate a new contract for the face of their franchise, one of the most recognizable names in the game, despite significant performance decline. It’s a situation similar to Ripken, only in 2010 Jeter will make $16 million more than Cal did in 1997.

Jeter’s reputation is inarguable. From his Rookie of the Year award to his four World Series rings and .309 postseason average, Jeter has been the anchor of the Yankees. He also has been well paid. In 2010, Jeter will receive $22.1 million, raising his career total to over $204 million in compensation.

There’s a problem. By today’s standards, Derek Jeter is not a $22 million player and, given his age, never will be again. He has also never been a very good defensive shortstop and, by age 37 in 2011, will be even worse. Jeter needs a new position, but where can he go?

The easiest shift would be to third base, but that should have happened when Alex Rodriguez arrived. First base was just given to Mark Teixeira for eight years. Second base is a lateral shift with no benefit while Jeter’s offensive output doesn’t justify an outfield position. The best place for Jeter to play from an offensive standpoint is shortstop, but his poor defense would create quite a hole on the left side for opposing hitters. A corner outfield spot could be bearable in the right lineup.

From a money standpoint, Jeter should take a paycut. His last three years have seen a steady decline in both OBP and SLG and while that could fluctuate, it wouldn’t be enough to justify $22 million. The Yankees would be smart to work out a contract that rewards career totals. If Jeter plays another five seasons, he could be the Yankees career leader in games, at-bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, doubles, and stolen bases, to go along with the singles record he already owns. Jeter would justify his salary with the media hoopla that will surround his achievements.

The Yankees and Jeter need each other at this point. Jeter’s career totals have more meaning in pinstripes and the Yankees don’t want the media backlash of losing him. It may mean overpaying a shortstop, but the Yankees are the one team that can afford it.

Supporting facts and other notes relevant to this article can be found at www.thebronxview.com.

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Thanks, Scott. Coming tomorrow: The wacky crew from It Is High, It is Far, It is … Caught.

Chien-Ming Wang and his wife Chia-Ling are expecting a baby in June according to multiple media reports out of Taiwan.

This will be the first child for the couple. Congrats and good luck to Chien-Ming and his wife.

Via MTV,here’s a look at the new Stadium via Sony’s MLB 09: The Show.

Sony seems to think that Mark Teixeira will bat third and A-Rod fourth.

For the second straight year, it’s my pleasure to present a guest post from Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus.

Will has done groundbreaking work for BP reporting on injuries. His Under The Knife column is must-reading for executives, the media and fans who want the latest information. Will also writes about injuries and medical issues for Sports Illustrated and Football Outsiders.

Will has been a friend of this blog for a long time and it’s a great privilege to have him as a contributor. Here is his post:

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“Past performance does not indicate future results.”

Maybe using a financial phrase isn’t the best idea in this economy, but it’s one that many hold true in baseball. With free agency, teams turn over their roster so quickly that the common players over any period are small enough that it’s tough to suss out any sort of knowledge based on consistency. Worse, there’s a mental perception of players that takes hold, making it easier to see their future or past than their present. Mariano Rivera is still Mariano Rivera – the metaphor isn’t that existential – but Rivera ’09 isn’t Rivera ’99 or even ’08. Projection systems around the game are all using past performance and maths to figure out what comes next. It works, sometimes with deadly accuracy, because when it comes to judging a player, I’d point to that phrase up there and say to throw it out.

Jay-Z is the more accurate in this case – “You was what you was before you got here.” The Yankees in ’09 are going to be a great test case for whether a hip-hop truism applies to baseball. The 2009 Yankees will be relying on two pitchers – Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes – to fill slots in their rotation. Yeah, yeah … I’ve heard the talk of moving Chamberlain back to the pen and I’m sure he’d be good, even great, as a setup guy, but you don’t hear the Rays talking about keeping David Price in the pen, do you? Both young Yanks have had some health problems, but their past results tell you a lot about what you can expect from them in ’09.

Chamberlain was in much this same position in 2008, with an ongoing debate about whether to move him out of the pen and how to do it, if the team so chose. The method, starting him in the pen and then shifting him to the rotation, seemed the tougher road to me. I didn’t think the Yankees would have the institutional will to send him down in order to “stretch out” his arm nor the creativity to use him in ever longer stints to do it at the major league level. I was wrong. There’s still some question about whether it was the best way, but let’s give credit where due. That Chamberlain ended up the season with a sore shoulder – and please note it was sore, not torn, sprained, frayed, or any other nasty words you hear Jim Andrews say – at just about the point we’d expect.

There’s not enough evidence to come up with a real conversion factor for pitchers that are relievers one year and starters the next, but if you take innings as innings (a simplistic way to do it) and look at where he got sore, you’ll see shades of the Verducci Effect.

Chamberlain’s ’09 then would seem equally limited, but here’s where I think a change in his preparation is going to factor in. He threw about 60 innings as a starter and 40 more as a reliever. Some work on “leverage” in relief innings has indicated that it may have significantly more stress on the arm, allowing us to make a simple doubling conversion factor for those taking a year to year role change. (If you don’t think it works, take a look at Adam Wainwright’s stat line and where he came up lame after crossing the converted Verducci line.) Giving Chamberlain this credit gives us an equivalence of 140 innings and lets him go up to around 170 “safely.” Using smart pitch counts, skipping his turn now and again, and perhaps returning him to the pen as he nears the limit makes it very easy for the Yankees to maximize their young ace. There’s also a strong argument that allowing him to prep for the season as a starter will allow him to build up even more stamina in his shoulder. I’ll still say that I’d err on the side of caution with him.

On the other hand, we have Phil Hughes, the can’t-miss kid who thus far has due to injuries. Hamstring and rib injuries have cost him nearly two seasons, leaving many to wonder if he can stay healthy. There’s some who say “it wasn’t his arm” and maybe missing out on big workloads as a 21 and 22-year-old might end up helping in the long run a la Nolan Ryan and Josh Beckett. But the issue is that he’s never stayed healthy at the major league level. Freak injuries? Sure, but so far, all the evidence points to the fact that Hughes might not be able to stay healthy at this level. Someday, doctors will be able to wave a wand and tell you the genetic tags that make or break a pitcher, from flexibility, tensile strength of ligaments, and humeral retroversion, but we don’t have those quite yet. What we have is more a Missouri approach; Hughes has to show me he can stay healthy before I believe he can. He’s never gone 150 innings in any season at any level. If you say he can, you have faith, not facts.

The Yankees have some things on their side, including depth, a big checkbook, and new facilities. They’ve shown themselves to be able to develop solid pitchers in both the rotation and the pen, to rehab players effectively, and to at least be average in the number of injuries suffered by pitchers. They’ve been both cutting-edge and creative in the way they’ve dealt with a number of players. Of course, they may need all that since every one of their pitchers in slots one through five have injury concerns. You might not need to look at the standings next season to figure out how well the Yankees are playing. You might just need to check the disabled list.

January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.

Next up is Dan from River & Sunset.

Dan is a 28-year-old former sports reporter who has also spent time with Major League Baseball publishing and MLB.com. A Rockland County, N.Y., native who currently works as a writer and producer in Los Angeles, Dan started his River & Sunset blog last May. He doesn’t like when Michael Kay says “geeked” and still tears up when watching his VHS copy of Don Mattingly’s homer in Game 2 of the 1995 ALDS.

Here’s his post:

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Derek Jeter is not like you.

He’s a multi-millionaire with a sprawling Manhattan penthouse and his own brand of cologne. You duck the landlord and wear Old Spice. He’s a four-time World Series champion who plays shortstop for the New York Yankees. You play short-center field in your Sunday morning beer league like a dazed buffoon. He examines his genetically-gifted face in the mirror each morning as a Maxim Hot 100 girl sleeps peacefully behind him. You stare at your double chin in the reflection while your gaseous dog devastates the bedroom. Life isn’t fair sometimes, I know. Don’t shoot the messenger.

But there’s one thing you and Derek Jeter certainly have in common … you’re both getting older.

Jeter is entering his 14th (14th!) full season with the Yankees in 2009 and he’ll reach the 35th year of his insanely awesome life on June 26. In any sport outside miniature golf and Madden football, 35 is generally the time when a career begins its downswing. When you play Major League shortstop — a position that requires speed, quickness and agility — time can be especially cruel. And if you use 2008 as an indicator, Jeter may have already reached the tipping point in his brilliant career.

Throwing out his injury-stunted 2003 season (where have you gone, Ken Huckaby?), Jeter posted decade-worst numbers in hits, doubles, runs, steals, RBIs, slugging and OPS+ in 2008. And while his defense remains far better than the Jeter Haters insist, his range — particularly to his left — is fast becoming a liability that cannot be ignored.

That’s not to say we’ll have a corpse in a No. 2 uniform this season. With an improved offense around him, a healthy Jeter can deliver numbers close to or better than ’08. But the golden days of 2006 are likely a thing of the past. And with the A-Rod Goofball Variety Hour slated to run through 2017 and Mark Teixeira suddenly anchored at first, Jeter’s future is anything but clear.

The Yankees will never let Jeter retire in anything but pinstripes, so any speculation that the makeup of the roster or financial considerations could lead to his exit is silly. Like Ruth and DiMaggio and Mantle and Mattingly before him, Jeter is the Yankees. His goosebump-worthy Stadium farewell speech in September cemented his iconography. He is on Bomber Mount Rushmore.

But change it is a comin’, and it may be sooner than we think. Is it totally unreasonable to project Jeter sharing DH/left field duties by 2011? If you want to get really gutsy, you can predict that Jeter is tracking down balls in Death Valley next year, though it would take a whole lot of 20-hoppers up the middle to bring on that reality.

But Derek Jeter playing left field? Bob Sheppard hasn’t lived to 200 to see that. For now we can enjoy another season of No. 2 raising his glove to the bleacher creatures from the infield dirt. I think it’s time begin savoring that experience, because time promises us it won’t last forever.

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Thanks, Dan. That’s a few good guest spots in a row. Coming tomorrow: Scott from Bronx View with more on Jeter.

These quotes courtesy of the Yankees:

George Steinbrenner: “There was only one Rickey Henderson in baseball. He was the greatest leadoff hitter of all time. I consider him a great friend with tremendous spirit and a true Yankee.”

Willie Randolph: “Rickey and I have been friends for a long time, and I am ecstatic for him. I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have played with a great number of phenomenal baseball players but pound-for-pound, Rickey Henderson is the best player I’ve ever played beside. No one was able to impact the course of a game in as many ways as Rickey. This is a great day for him, and I can’t wait to hear his acceptance speech.”

Dave Winfield: “His election is well-deserved. He was one of the best players I that ever played with and obviously the best leadoff hitter in baseball. We had a lot of fun pushing each other to play at higher levels. I’m very glad to see he got in.”

Ken Griffey Sr.: “Rickey was one of the most competitive players I’ve ever seen. He was relentless. He could beat you with his legs and his bat, and he could beat you from the leadoff position, which was something people hadn’t seen before. As a person, Rickey was very funny and generous. I hung out and talked with him a lot, and we used to go to dinner. I enjoyed every minute of those years.”