The LoHud Yankees Blog

This is the Yankees last day of exclusive rights to their own free agents. The negotiating window closes at midnight. At 12:01 Sunday morning, the frenzy begins. Already the Yankees have bumped Chad Guadin off the roster, and Royce Ring has declared free agency.

Much bigger decisions are looming.

In his radio interviews on Tuesday, Hal Steinbrenner was already preparing the fan base for the possibility of a lengthy negotiating process with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. No one seems to expect Andy Pettitte to make a decision any time soon.

Assuming those three aren’t going to sign in the next few hours, the Yankees immediate decisions are limited to two players who had as many as 70 at-bats this season.

Austin Kearns
In some ways, he makes sense: Right-handed hitter in a left-leaning outfield; can play both corners plus center field in a pinch; probably won’t cost a lot. That said, he was bad enough in 2008 and 2009 that he accepted a minor league deal this offseason, and although he hit a little bit for Cleveland, he did next to nothing for the Yankees.

Marcus Thames
If the Yankees could get him on the same deal as this season — minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp — he would be a no-brainer, but Thames had a good enough year that he should certainly test the market for a Major League contract. He was terrific this season, but given the Yankees need to keep the designated hitter spot open, he might not make much sense this time around. Probably best for both sides to explore their options before entering into a quick agreement.

Associated Press photo of Thames

Goose Gossage and Mickey Rivers are going to be in New Rochelle tomorrow afternoon. If you’re interested in meeting them, here’s the announcement from Steiner Sports.

Gossage, Rivers To Meet Fans At Steiner Sports Saturday

Hall of Famer Goose Gossage and his former Yankees teammate and two-time World Series champion Mickey Rivers will meet fans at the Steiner Sports offices (145 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, N.Y.) on Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. as part of a special promotion.

Fans who purchase a two-ball set with double glass display case (priced at $154.54) will have the opportunity to meet the legends. For more information, fans can visit www.steinersports.com.

Let’s go heavy on prospects today, shall we? This is Baseball America’s Top 30 Yankees prospects heading into this season, listed with each player’s rank at the beginning of the season and the level where he finished the season.

No. 1 Jesus Montero
Triple-A catcher
After a rocky start to the season, Montero turned things around in the second half and could fight for a big league job in spring training. He remains one of the elite prospects in baseball, with the only significant questions being where he’ll play in the field.

No. 2 Austin Romine
Double-A catcher
Romine dropped to sixth in this year’s rankings, but I’m not sure his ceiling or expectations have fallen. He had a kind of Derek Jeter-type season, starting strong and finishing strong, with three rough months in the middle. He’s in the Arizona Fall League now, and it’s easy to forget that he hasn’t turned 22 yet. Still very highly regarded, but he was passed on Baseball America’s list by young players and injured players whose stock soared after strong seasons.

No. 3 Arodys Vizcaino
Traded to the Braves
The big prospect in The Boone Logan Trade had a 2.74 ERA between two Class-A levels this season, but he was shutdown with an elbow injury.

No. 4 Slade Heathcott
Low-A center fielder
Got to Charleston at the start of June, and he might have lost a little ground in the prospect standings — he hit .258 with 101 strikeouts — but it’s hard to read too much into a 19-year-old’s first season of pro ball. He still in Baseball America’s Top 10 for the orgnization.

No. 5  Zach McAllister
Traded to Cleveland
This was the cost for two months of Austin Kearns. Had he stuck around, McAllister probably would have fallen out of the Top 10 after a 5.09 ERA in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was certainly overshadowed by several other upper-level pitchers.

No. 6 Manny Banuelos
Double-A left-handed starter
After a healthy second half that took him from High-A to Double-A, Banuelos is living up to expectations. Building up his workload seems to be the next step in his development. He’s in the Arizona Fall League right now and could pitch himself to the cusp of the big leagues next season. At 19 years old, he’s the youngest of the Yankees Killer B pitching prospects.

No. 7 Gary Sanchez
Short-season catcher
He’s been compared to Montero, except with more defensive tools. That’s why he moved all the way to No. 2 on this year’s Baseball America list. There is a ton of talent, but also a long way to go.

No. 8 J.R. Murphy
Low-A catcher
In so many ways, Murphy is “the other” catching prospect in the Yankees system. He’s only 19 years old — one year older than Sanchez — and he already held his own in Charleston. The power started to show in the second half.

No. 9 Jeremy Bleich
Injured Double-A left-handed starter
Stock took a hit because of shoulder surgery. He made only eight starts for Trenton. Hard to learn much about him from this season.

No. 10 Andrew Brackman
Double-A right-handed starter
This season might have been the best-case scenario for Brackman, the towering right-hander who had Tommy John surgery before throwing a single professional pitch. Brackman has always been a high-end talent, but he lived up to those expectations with a healthy and much-improved second season.

No. 11 Bryan Mitchell
Short-season right-handed starter
Opened in extended spring training, then pitched in the Gulf Coast League and got up to Staten Island in September.  Still young, and Rookie Ball opponents hit .190 against him. Obvious potential. Obviously young.

No. 12 Mike Dunn
Traded to Atlanta
Another part of The Boone Logan Trade, he pitched his way to Atlanta but the Yankees might have gotten the better of the two young lefties in that trade.

No. 13 Corban Joseph
Double-A second baseman
Terrific numbers in Tampa sparked a second-half call-up to Trenton, where Joseph struggled with his first taste of upper-level pitching. Could play second or third base. Nothing especially flashy, but he lived up to expectation and might have exceeded it with his promotion.

No. 14 Eduardo Nunez
Major League shortstop
Nunez had to prove that 2009 was not a fluke, and he did just that with a terrific Triple-A season that ended with a call-up to New York and a late spot on the postseason roster.  He hit .289 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but also showed an improved glove. That combination pushed him into the Yankees Top 10.

No. 15 Mark Melancon
Traded to Houston
Sent to the Astros in the Lance Berkman deal, Melancon simply never made that final step with the Yankees. He pitched pretty well in 20 appearances for the Astros.

No. 16 Ivan Nova
Major League right-handed starter
The Yankees always liked Nova’s potential, but he developed slowly until a strong 2009 season that landed him a spot on the 40-man. Now he’s a candidate for a spot in the back of the big league rotation. He’s the most advanced of the Yankees many upper-level pitching prospects.

No. 17 D.J. Mitchell
Triple-A right-handed starter
Moved into the Yankees Top 20 prospects, then got an invitation to big league camp, then pitched his way from Double-A to Triple-A. He generated better than a 2-to-1 ground out to fly out ratio in Double-A, then had a 3.57 ERA in three Triple-A starts. Overshadowed by some teammates, but he had a very nice season.

No. 18 Melky Mesa
High-A center fielder
He obviously did something right because now he’s on the 40-man roster. The MVP of the Florida State League has legitimate power and speed, but he also strikes out a ton and this year’s .260 average was actually his career-high. A complete wild card in this system.

No. 19 Kelvin DeLeon
Short-season right fielder
Stock might have slipped through a .236 average with six home runs and 80 strikeouts. Just turned 20, so there’s plenty of room to grow, but also a long way to go.

No. 20 Jose Ramirez
Low-A right-handed starter
A good arm lurking in the lower-levels of the Yankees minor league system, he had a  3.60 ERA with 105 strikeouts in Charleston this season. For now, he exists in the shadows of the pitchers ahead of him, but he’s certainly not an unknown. He’s a legitimate prospect in his own right.

No. 21 Graham Stoneburner
High-A right-handed starter
Leading into this season, Stoneburner was a favorite among writers and bloggers who closely follow the Yankees minor league system. He proved those believers right with a 2.41 ERA between Charleston and Tampa. He could be one of the fastest-rising stars in the organization, and there is considerable speculation that he could eventually end up in the bullpen, making ascent even faster.

No. 22 David Adams
Injured Double-A second baseman
Off to a .309 start in Trenton, Adams’ season was cut short by an ankle injury that cost him the bulk of the year and might have cost the Yankees a shot at Cliff Lee. I tend to lump Adams and Joseph together as Double-A guys able to play second or third. He seemed to be showing a lot this season, but it’s hard to make much of 39 games.

No. 23 Caleb Cotham
Injured
Cotham should have been in Charleston, but a pair of surgeries left him unable to pitch in an actual game this season. He has only eight professional innings to his name.

No. 24. Hector Noesi
Triple-A right-handed starter
Noesi had pitched only nine games above Low A when the Yankees put him on the 40-man roster this season. That said a lot about their expectations, and Noesi lived up them with a season that catapulted him into Baseball America’s Top 10. From High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, he could be next year’s Ivan Nova.

No. 25 David Phelps
Triple-A right-handed starter
There’s a common theme among most of these back-end starting pitchers: Except the injured Cotham, they were all outstanding. This was Phelps’ second full season, and he finished it with a 3.07 ERA in 12 Triple-A outings.

No. 26 Adam Warren
Double-A right-handed starter
Kind of like a one-year-younger version of Phelps, Warren had a 3.15 ERA in 10 Double-A starts after opening the year with a 2.22 in Tampa. The upper-level pitching depth in this system is incredible, as evidenced by the fact neither Phelps nor Warren deserved a spot among the Yankees Top 10 prospects.

No. 27 Kevin Russo
Major League utility
Russo’s value is in his ability to do a lot of things well. He served that role perfectly  as a call-up who shifted to left-field when the Yankees were searching for outfield help. Nothing flashy, but when he was getting regular at-bats, he was contributing. He could easily play that same role next season.

No. 28 Dellin Betances
Double-A right-handed starter
This is the biggest leap of the bunch, and his jump into the Top 10 had as much to do with his health as his performance. Betances has always been a premier talent, but this year he got healthy and stayed healthy through a dominant second half. Expectations are sky
high again. He just has to stay off the disabled list this time.

No. 29 Jairo Heredia
High-A right-handed starter
Kind of like Nova in 2008 and Noesi in 2009, the Yankees have to decide whether to protect Heredia from the Rule 5 or take their chances that an unproven but talented young pitcher will sneak through. Heredia just turned 21, but he pitched just six times above Low A this season. Opponents there hit .359 against him.

No. 30 Jamie Hoffmann
Rule 5 pick sent back to Dodgers
The Yankees were clearly never planning to bring back Brian Bruney this offseason, so they traded him away for the right to draft Hoffmann. He hung around spring training for a while, but was ultimately sent back to the Dodgers. He hit .310 with eight home runs, 17 steals and 36 doubles in Triple-A.

Baseball America was scheduled to release its Yankees Top 10 prospects today, but the schedule changed and the list will now hit the website next week. Given the Daily News report about Jesus Montero, though, today actually seems to be the perfect day for the Yankees Top 10.

The good news is, the list is already out in print editions and it’s hitting the web. I first saw it on the Trenton blog run by Josh Norris. I’ll be sure to link to Baseball America when their scouting reports go live. For now, here are the names that make up the Yankees Top 10, beginning with the guy who might be starting at catcher next season.

1. Jesus Montero
2. Gary Sanchez
3. Dellin Betances
4. Manny Banuelos
5. Andrew Brackman
6. Austin Romine
7. Hector Noesi
8. Eduardo Nunez
9. Slade Heathcott
10. Brandon Laird

Montero is the clear No. 1. His bat is one of the best in minor league baseball, and it should play at the Major League level regardless of his glove.

Nos. 2 through 6 are probably easy choices, though the order might change depending on the person doing the ranking. I probably would have ranked Banuelos second, but that’s extreme nitpicking.

In an organization so rich in upper-level pitching, I agree with Donnie Collins that it’s interesting — though not right or wrong — that Noesi got a Top 10 spot ahead of guys like David Phelps or Adam Warren or even Graham Stoneburner. Again, not saying I disagree, I just find it interesting that Baseball America values him at the top of that second tier of organizational pitching prospects.

Nunez proved 2009 wasn’t a fluke, and that moved him into the Top 10. Heathcott’s performance was shaky this season, but his talent kept him in the Top 10. Rounding out the list is Laird, who didn’t even crack Baseball America’s Top 30 last season. Says a lot about how far he’s climbed in the eyes of scouts and front-office types. When a player keeps hitting in the upper levels, the rest of baseball pays attention.

Those are headshots of Montero and Betances

In the days after the Yankees season ended, general manager Brian Cashman made it clear that top prospect Jesus Montero would get a look in spring training.

“I do have people who believe he’s Major League-ready at the catcher position with a tremendous offensive bat,” Cashman said. “But nothing gets handed to somebody. You take it and earn it. He’ll have a chance to come to Spring Training and fight for something and show that he’s ready for something more at a higher level or not.”

Today, The Daily News took that notion a step further, citing a Yankees source who says Montero is the early favorite to get the bulk of the starts at catcher next season. The “consensus among the Yankees’ high command” is that Montero’s ready.

The plan would be for Montero to catch roughly 100 games, said a source, with Posada and Francisco Cervelli sharing the rest of the duties. Austin Romine, the Yank’s other blue-chip catching prospect, would start at Triple-A, potentially taking over Cervelli’s spot by midseason if he shows he is ready.

Concerns about Montero’s defense might be a non-issue because the player he would be replacing has defensive difficulties of his own. In a partial season behind the plate, Posada finished second in the American League with eight passed balls. He caught 83 games and allowed 72 stolen bases, with a caught stealing percentage of just 15.3. Cervelli actually had a worse percentage.

In 105 games behind the plate in Triple-A, Montero was charged with 15 passed balls and threw out 23.3 percent of base stealers.

Given the upside of Montero’s bat, the concerns about Posada’s durability and defense, and the looming hole at designated hitter, it might be time to make the move and bring The Kid to the big leagues.

Read the news today, oh boy.

You know that moment in the Beatles song A Day in the Life, when the orchestra plays through complete chaos only to end on the same note? For that segment of the song, the beginning and the end were structured, but each individual player was free to find his way from Point A to Point B.

That’s what traveling on the Yankees beat is like. We all start in one city, and we end in a different city. How we get there is completely up to the individual.

On the off day between Games 4 and 5 of the American League Championship Series, Marc Carig decided to Tweet his entire day. He started with his 4:23 cab to the airport and let the rest of the day unfold: Checking the morning clips, getting a fast food lunch, making fun of my shoes, covering the afternoon workout, having a drink at the hotel bar. It’s all in there.

He posted the entire day on his personal blog.

Check it out. It’s quality morning reading, but fair warning: Marc grew up outside of Oakland so some of the lingo is a bit odd. Ya’ll gotta be ready for that.

Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head.
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late.

Given the way he finished the season, my guess is a lot of baseball teams will be interested in Kerry Wood this winter. One of them, might be the team is most associated with.

ESPNChicago has reported that the Cubs would be interested in bringing Wood back if they can fit him into their payroll (that does seem to be the trick, doesn’t it). Today, the Chicago Sun Times quoted Cubs general manager Jim Hendry saying he still has a strong relationship with the team’s former phenom.

“Everyone knows I have a wonderful relationship with Kerry, and that will be a life-lasting one,” Hendry said. “But to get into specifics now … would be foolish.”

One other name mentioned in that Sun Times article: None other than Nick Johnson, who could be a cheap option at first base if the Cubs medical team decides he’ll be healthy enough to play.

Sparky Anderson, one of the great managers of his generation, died today at his home in California. He was 76, and had been suffering through complications caused by dementia. He was, by most accounts, one of the genuinely good men in baseball. According to the obituary in the Detroit Free Press:

On trips to New York, he didn’t eat breakfast at the Tigers’ fancy hotel. He’d go across the street to Howard Johnson, where he would address his waiter by name as a friend. In countless such gestures, he succeeded in a mission he once imparted to his Hall of Fame catcher in Cincinnati, Johnny Bench: “As long as you remember where you are from, you will always know where you are going.”

Commissioner Bud Selig released this statement.

“I am truly saddened by the loss of Sparky Anderson. I have lost and all of Baseball has lost a dear friend. Sparky was a gentleman, a great baseball man and a superb ambassador for the game. Sparky won three World Series Championships with the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers, leading several of the best teams of the last 40 years and holding the most wins as manager for both tradition-rich franchises.

“I recall with great fondness the many hours we would spend together when his Tigers came to Milwaukee. Sparky was a loyal friend, and whenever I would be dealing with difficult situations as Commissioner, he would lift my spirits, telling me to keep my head up and that I was doing the right thing.

“On behalf of our game, I send my deepest condolences to Sparky’s wife, Carol, his three children, his nine grandchildren, and to all of his fans in Cincinnati, Detroit and throughout Baseball who were touched by this great man.”

Associated Press photo

Two reasons the Yankees seem unlikely to pursue Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth: Money and at-bats.

One reason the Yankees will still be connected to Crawford and Werth: They’re the Yankees.

It’s hard to blame anyone for making the connection. The Yankees have a more-than-capable outfield, and they don’t seem to have enough money to pursue a marquee free agent beyond Cliff Lee, but it’s easy to look back just two years and remember that the Yankees seemed out of the running for Mark Teixeira before he signed an eight-year deal.

In response to today’s Daily News story, the good people over at MLBTradeRumors made that exact connection, writing that the Yankees shouldn’t be ruled out on Crawford or Werth until both outfielders are off the market.  Fair enough. The Yankees could be waiting in the weeds with plans no one else is expecting.

But this isn’t 2008.

When the Yankees made their huge splash two years ago, they had Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano coming off the books. Not only that, they had Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady coming off the books in 2009, leaving them free to work CC Sabathia’s contract so that it jumped considerably from ’09 to ’10. Teixeira’s contract also got slightly more expensive from ’10 to ’11.

This year, the Yankees have only two $5-million plus contracts coming off the books — not counting the guys likely to re-sign — and next year they’re only losing Jorge Posada (plus there are club options on Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher).

They’re not in the same financial situation as two years ago. They also don’t have the same sort of lineup hole that made Teixeira such a nice fit.

Associated Press photo

Dan Giese very nearly gave up on baseball, but baseball never quite gave up on him.

Back in 2005, Giese was in his seventh year in the minor leagues when his pregnant wife was in a car accident on the other side of the country. Steady Triple-A production seemed to be getting him nowhere, and so in the middle of a road trip, Giese quit to be with his wife and growing family. He literally sold cars at a Honda dealership.

Two years later, Giese made his major league debut with the Giants. In 2008, he was a surprisingly effective member of a patchwork Yankees pitching staff that leaned on Giese for 17 relief appearances and three spot starts, including an absolute gem in Anaheim.

Out of the game, then back in it, Giese is now 33 years old and retiring for good. He came back from Tommy John surgery this season only to tear his labrum while pitching for Triple-A Sacramento. He was pitching well, but the pain was too much, and Giese didn’t want to undergo another surgery.

“All I wanted to do was face one guy in the big leagues,” he said. “And I was able to do a lot more than I ever thought.”

Giese finished with a 4.22 ERA in 35 major league games. He had his best season with the Yankees, pitching to a 3.53 ERA after a call-up from Triple-A, where he was pitching out of the rotation for the first time in his career. Giese made his Major League debut as a September call-up with San Francisco in 2007 — he got an out on his first big league pitch — and he made seven appearances for Oakland in 2009 before the elbow surgery. His career minor league ERA was 2.86.

Giese will be a footnote, if that, in Yankees history. He was in and out of pinstripes quickly and unexpectedly, but he gave that 2008 team a boost when it was searching high and low for pitching. He proved himself at the Major League level, and that’s all he ever wanted in the game.

Up next, Giese said, will be a life of teaching and coaching. Probably a lot of fishing, too. And time spent with his family in California.

The numbers suggest Giese deserved more Major League chances than he got, but he got more than he ever asked for. And he always appreciated that.

The game never gives up on a guy like that.