The LoHud Yankees Blog

Kerry Wood came up through the Cubs minor league system, and he had his best playing days in a Cubs uniform. After two years away, he wanted to be back in that organization. Apparently he wanted to be there very badly.

Today, Wood agreed to a one year deal to rejoin the Cubs bullpen. The cost: One year, $1.5 million.

Mark Feinsand confirmed what was already obvious: The asking price to pitch for the Yankees was much higher. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Wood could have played in Chicago on a one-year, $3.5-million offer from the White Sox.

Apparently more than one pitcher has chosen a team ahead of a contract this winter.

A few more links from today…

• Feinsand reports that the Yankees have had “very, very preliminary” conversations about pursuing Rafael Soriano, but Joel Sherman says those conversations won’t go anywhere. The price is far too high for a setup man.

• Bob Klapisch reported today that the Yankees were working toward a deal with lefty Pedro Feliciano. There has been rumored interest in Feliciano since early in the offseason. The Yankees might also be looking into Brian Fuentes.

• The Yankees have reportedly asked for Freddy Garcia’s medical records.

• Chien-Ming Wang is on his way back to the Nationals. As you might expect, it’s a small guarantee with heavy incentives.

• The Red Sox are still making moves, including a reported deal with reliever Bobby Jenks. They also sent Eric Patterson to San Diego as the PTBNL in the Adrian Gonzalez deal.

• Magglio Ordonez is going back to Detroit.

• Sad story about Steven Smith, a 24-year-old Yankees fan who died Monday in a three-car accident. If you didn’t know him personally, you might very well have known him as an active member of the Yankees Twitter community.

Associated Press photo

Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain and Mark Prior are all right-handed pitchers, but more specifically, they’re all relievers. We’ll get into a little later, but let’s start at the end, with the Yankees closer.

After helping haul in some donations at today’s Holiday Food Drive, Rivera spoke briefly about his offseason discussions with the Red Sox.

“It was real,” he said. “Nothing that we sat and talked (face-to-face), but it was real. I also made sure that I thanked them because they took me into consideration. But again, this is business and the Yankees did the right thing, and I’m here.”

Of course, Rivera said he never actually planned to pitch for anyone but the Yankees. “I just had to make sure I had a job,” he said, which is either a sign of extreme paranoia, or a polite way of saying a negotiation goes both ways and leverage is a good thing.

Could this be his final contract?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I (have) always been saying that for, what, last eight, 10 years? But I’m still here.”

• Even with the Yankees looking for a starter, Brian Cashman said he does not consider Chamberlain an option in the rotation. “No,” Cashman said. “Joba’s in the pen.” So there’s that. Again.

• Prior will also go to camp as a reliever. Cashman said Prior is a “bullpen situation.” The Yankees tried to sign him the past two years, but Prior always landed elsewhere. He’s a longtime friend of assistant GM Billy Eppler.

• Rivera said none of the nagging injuries from last season are still bothering him. “Everything’s good,” he said. “It’s rested. Time heals everything. I’m fine, working out. The rest will have to wait until spring training, to throw and do everything else with the team.”

• Rivera said he might call Andy Pettitte soon, just to check on his plans for next season. If Pettitte says he’s retiring, might Rivera try to change his mind? “Yeah, I might,” Rivera said. “He will have the last word, but I might. Yes. Andy to me is one of the best lefties there is out there, so I would take him any time.”

• Of the Yankees who spoke today, Joe Girardi seems to have spoken to Pettitte most recently. “He’s still weighing his options,” Girardi said. “Obviously, we’re not going to pressure him one way or the other because whatever decision he makes, it has to be inside his heart what he wants to do. But I have talked to him, talked to him probably three or four days ago.”

• Girardi was pretty to-the-point about losing Cliff Lee: “We have to add another guy to our rotation, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

• Cashman reiterated that he’s glad the summer’s trade for Lee fell through. He’s not sure playing in New York would have convinced him to sign away from Philadelphia. “I think it would have been a rental,” he said. “We didn’t swing the bats in the ALCS whatsoever. We wouldn’t have won whether we had Cliff Lee or not. We didn’t hit a lick.”

• Cashman said he was not surprised or upset to hear Lee say he always wanted to go back to Philadelphia. Cashman does not feel “used” by the free agent process. “The job for him is to pursue every opportunity, try to evaluate it and make the best decision possible,” Cashman said. “He chose a place where he was comfortable. He’s been there before and he had a huge offer. It’s all good. It’s not a big deal. I’m very comfortable with the effort we put forth.”

• Obligatory Cashman quote about his offseason plans: “I’m pursuing any aspect to improve our club, whether it’s upon what we already have or to fix what we don’t have. How long that takes and how successful we’ll be at it remains to be seen.”

Associated Press photos

Near the end of a 22-minute conference call, new Yankees catcher Russell Martin used four words to sum up everything about his signing.

“Talent doesn’t go away,” he said. “I know that I can hit. I just want to get back to that consistency.”

The Yankees are counting on the talent, and truth be told, so is Martin.

Two seasons of disappointment, Martin said, were the result of trying to move beyond the things made him so good in the first place. He changed his offseason workouts, focusing on speed, agility and flexibility in an effort to become more athletic. It cost him some of his strength, and when Martin tried to make up for it with a bigger swing, he got completely out of whack.

“I think I got almost in my own way,” he said. “This year I’ve made sure to just come back to the roots and what got me to where I wanted to be those two all-star seasons.”

The injured hip is fine. Martin said he hasn’t felt any discomfort in “at least a month. He has full range of motion, and he was pushing it “pretty hard” in offseason workouts before the Yankees physical found the torn meniscus in his right knee. Now he’ll shut it down again to have the minor surgery. If nothing else, Martin said, the knee injury has forced him to give the hip a little extra rest.

“Now it’s going to be ready for sure,” he said. “There’s absolutely no problem with it.”

Martin signed with the understanding that he’ll be taking over as the everyday starter, and Brian Cashman said as much this morning. That said, Martin is not oblivious to his less-than-inspiring numbers the past two years.

“I feel like I have to earn that (starting job),” he said. “I don’t feel like there’s anything that’s owed to me, especially the way the past two years have gone for me.”

• This is the first time Martin has experienced any sort of problem with his knee. “I’m not too concerned with it,” he said.

• During his time in Los Angeles, Martin started at least 133 games at catcher three straight seasons. For comparison, Jorge Posada started that many games behind the plate once in his career. Martin said he has no number in mind of how many games he wants to catch next season. “Right now I feel fine,” he said. “But I don’t know if catching 10 or 12 games in a row, if I’m going to feel anything. I don’t feel anything right now, so I can’t tell you. I think I’ll have a better idea when I start catching and squatting in spring training.”

• As recently as 2008, Martin played 71 innings at third base. It was his primary position his first pro season. “I feel like I can play anywhere on the field,” he said. “I love catching. I love it, but if the team needs me to help out or do some other things, I’m willing to do it.”

• The past two years, Martin said, were not a complete waste: “Defensively I feel like I’ve been getting better every year. I’m learning (with) more and more experience, understanding pitchers better, understanding hitters better. In that regard I feel like I’ve advanced. Not that it gets overlooked, but to me that’s the most important job that I have is to get everything out of my pitchers.”

• Thoughts on replacing an iconic player like Jorge Posada? “The first thing I thought of was, I’m glad Posada’s there because he’s caught those guys for a while now. He’s obviously going to have a big hand in helping me learn the pitchers and what they’re all about. Their pitches. Their makeup. Things of that nature.”

• Martin said about 20 times that he just wants to be with a team that wins. He also said the Yankees went after him pretty hard, which was part of the reason he chose New York over Boston and Toronto. “All of those places are close to home, but I think the Yanks are the ones that pushed the hardest and that’s what made my decision a little easier,” he said.

• Joe Girardi on who will backup Martin: “There’s no lock on who our second catcher’s going to be. Obviously, Cervi’s got a leg up on that because he’s played at a high level for us. But these kids (Jesus Montero and Austin Romine) are going to have a chance to see what they can do.”

• Would Girardi consider playing Martin at third? “He’s a guy that, occasionally when we needed to spell Alex, he’s a guy we could possibly put there. That’s what he came up as… He has that kind of athleticism.”

• Martin on Joe Torre: “He always had good things to say about the Yankees. I haven’t talked to him (since signing), but every time he talked about the Yankees, you could feel that in his heart that he meant what he was saying, and he just said good things.”

Associated Press photos. The second photo is from the play that injured Martin’s hip.

Russell Martin is officially the Yankees everyday catcher. It’s a one-year deal, but Martin is still arbitration eligible next season, so he’s under team control for two years. The Yankees can bring him back in 2012, or they can let him go. The choice is theirs.

This morning, Brian Cashman called the signing a low-risk, high-reward move. It gives the Yankees flexibility with their young players, and Martin’s best-case scenario is pretty good. The Yankees are also confident that he’ll be healthy, despite past problems and a new injury that showed up during his physical.

Martin’s role
“As long as he’s healthy, Russell Martin is going to be our everyday catcher,” Cashman said. “… He’s still one of the better catchers in the game. He hasn’t been, the last year and a half, at the premier level that he was prior, but despite the slippage in performance and the injury and stuff, he still has been at least above average. I think it gives us great depth. We did a lot of research on this guy. He plays hard. He’s tenacious. He’s a gamer. He’s got a terrific personality. I think the fans are going to appreciate the fact that, as long as he’s healthy, when they see this guy out there, they’re going to see a guy who’s really getting after it.”

Organizational impact
Cashman did not rule out the idea of Jesus Montero making the big league roster as a backup, but he stressed that having Martin lets the Yankees take a little extra time with both Montero and Austin Romine. In their organizational meetings about Martin, the Yankees looked back at the benefit of easing Jorge Posada into the job while Joe Girardi was still the regular catcher.

“(Posada’s transition) took a number of years and some growing pains,” Cashman said. “Now we’re in a situation where, we have Russell Martin. He can take the reins as these kids take this next step at the Major League level, they can develop on their timeframe and now the timeframe is not forced on them because we need them at all costs.”

Increased potential for a Montero trade?
“Our assets this organization currently possesses is high-end pitching depth as well as high-end catching depth,” Cashman said. “If we ever choose to shoot those bullets, we’re in a better position to do so. There’s a lot of levels to this. I’m not saying I want to shoot any of these assets for trade purposes, but sometimes you have to.”

Martin’s hip injury
Before the signing became official, Martin when through what Cashman called an “extremely long physical,” a precautionary measure to ease the Yankees concerns about his injured right hip. Cashman described the injury as common in the NFL, but unusual in baseball. Because of that, the Yankees might take a little extra time.

“Doctors assessment is that he’ll be a full player in spring training,” Cashman said. “Whether we treat him that way might be a different story.”

Knee surgery
One unexpected development from the “extremely long physical” was the discovery of a slightly torn meniscus in Martin’s right knee. It’s similar to the problem CC Sabathia and Jorge Posada played through last season, and on Monday Martin will have a similar surgery to repair it. That’s a three-week recovery. A lot of players don’t start offseason hitting until around New Years anyway. Cashman said it might have become an issue, might not.

“We just don’t want it to become a problem,” Cashman said. “If he was our player a few weeks ago, a few months ago, we would have gotten it taken care of. Just get this out of the way so it’s not a problem. Not a serious surgery at all.”

Brian Cashman just said he has not spoken to Andy Pettitte since the Winter Meetings when Pettitte called the Yankees GM to make sure his indecision about retirement wasn’t affecting the team.

Joe Girardi said he’s spoken to Pettitte in the past few days, but he’s still not sure what Pettitte will ultimately decide about next season.

Cashman once again said he feels no need to rush Pettitte.

I’m heading out the door and making my way to Yankee Stadium to talk to Mariano Rivera, but the Yankees this morning have also officially announced the signing of Russell Martin to a one-year deal. Here’s that press release.

The New York Yankees today announced they have signed free agent catcher Russell Martin to a one-year contract.

Martin, 27, is a two-time National League All-Star, having been elected as the league’s starting catcher in 2007 and being voted in by players and coaches in 2008. In 2007, he also received the Louisville Silver Slugger Award and the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, joining Dusty Baker in 1981 as the only Dodgers players ever to win both honors in the same season.

The Ontario, Canada, native has caught 119-of-459 (25.9 percent) of potential base stealers since making his Major League debut in 2006, totaling the second-most runners caught stealing in the Majors over the stretch behind only Gerald Laird (142). Over the same span, he leads all Major League catchers with a 3.76 catchers ERA (minimum 240 games).

Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 17th round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Martin owns a career .272 (638-for-2,344) batting average with 347 runs, 115 doubles, 54 home runs and 300 RBI in 667 games, all with the Dodgers. He has appeared in the postseason three times, serving as the starting catcher in each of the Dodgers’ 19 playoff games since 2006.

In 2010, Martin made his fourth consecutive Opening Day start at catcher for the Dodgers and hit .248 (82-for-331) with 45 runs, 13 doubles, five home runs and 26 RBI in 97 games before suffering a season-ending right hip fracture and torn labrum on August 3 vs. San Diego.

The Yankees are hosting their annual Holiday Food Drive this morning at the Stadium. Mariano Rivera will be there to collect donations for an hour, then he’s going to speak to the media about his new contract. It’s a two year deal that once again puts the ninth inning in safe hands for the Yankees.

The eighth inning is, as usual, up in the air.

Joba Chamberlain and Dave Robertson give the Yankees two young internal options, but the bullpen didn’t come together last year until the Yankees added Kerry Wood at the trade deadline, and bringing in a similar veteran this winter could solidify the late innings.

But the options are dwindling by the day.

Chicago took a chunk out of the market yesterday, with the White Sox agreeing to a deal with Jesse Crain, and the Cubs nearing an agreement with Wood. The Yankees are also known to be looking for a lefty, and another of those also came off the board yesterday with Randy Choate’s deal in Florida.

There are still plenty of names out there, including the top reliever on the market, Rafael Soriano. If Soriano gets a ninth-inning job, the market also offers guys like Bobby Jenks, Jon Rauch, Grant Balfour, Octavio Dotel and Chad Qualls, guys who have late-inning experience and — like so many relievers — have seen various degrees of dominance and unreliability in their careers.

Brian Fuentes, Pedro Feliciano and J.C. Romero are still available from the left side.

As the Yankees shift their offseason focus, the free agent market is no longer able to remake their rotation, and most of the top available hitters are primarily designated hitters who don’t fit the Yankees plans. But free agency could still have a significant impact on the bullpen. The ninth inning is in good hands. Might be time to solidify the seventh and eighth.

Associated Press photo of Wood

Major League Baseball has released a statement from commissioner Bud Selig about the passing of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller.

“I am saddened by the loss of Hall of Famer Bob Feller, truly one of the game’s all-time great pitchers. He made his first big league start with the Cleveland Indians as a 17-year-old in 1936 and struck out 15 batters. That marked the beginning of 18 remarkable seasons during which he became baseball’s undisputed strikeout king, leading the American League seven times, and a model of durability. Known as ‘Rapid Robert,’ he posted six 20-win seasons, threw three no-hitters, and led the Indians to the World Series crown in 1948.

“More impressive than his vast accomplishments on the field was being part of ‘The Greatest Generation.’ Bob was one of the first Major Leaguers to enlist following Pearl Harbor and served our country for nearly four years during the prime of his career. Bob Feller was a great pitcher, but he was first and foremost a great American. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to Bob’s family, friends, the Cleveland Indians’ franchise, and all of his fans.”

Associated Press photo

A few notable Cliff lee comments from today’s press conference in Philadelphia, all according to The Associated Press.

On the factors that helped him make the decision: “There were a lot of variables. I enjoyed my time in Texas. We had a good team and made the World Series. Sometimes making these decisions is tough. When you get your family involved and weigh all your options, it became an easy decision with this team and this pitching staff and what they’ve accomplished over the years. I like the National League. I like hitting and I like facing the pitcher instead of the designated hitter. This is a special group of guys.”

On the money and the chance to win: “It’s plenty of money. When you hit a certain point, enough’s enough. It’s just a matter of where you’re comfortable, where you’re happy, where your family’s the most comfortable, what team gives you the best chance to win. At this point, it’s about trying to win championships. That’s really the No. 1 thing for me. I think this team gives me the best chance to do that. That’s really it.”

On the factors that kept him out of New York: “No one came up to my wife and spit on her. Nobody poured anything on her. You go to any stadium, the opposing team stands and starts cheering, especially in the postseason, fans are going to say things to them, they’re going to do things, that’s part of it. That story was way overblown and was false and had zero to do with the whole thing. Hopefully we can put that behind us because it was a non-issue. There wasn’t anything that scared me away from New York. I wasn’t scared to play there. It was just I wanted to have all my options in front of me. Once the Phillies were there, it was relatively close to everything, it was a no-brainer for me.”

• Jon Heyman reports that the Yankees expect to hear a final decision from Andy Pettitte within a few days. He also reports that Pettitte is expected to return “because family supports it,” but Pettitte doesn’t want to be lowballed.

• Also from Heyman, the Mariners have “no interest” in trading Felix Hernandez. Sorry to shoot down those Felix-for-Melky Mesa rumors.

• Earlier today there was a radio report that A.J. Burnett was going through a messy divorce that might have affected his season. The report was quickly shot down in no uncertain terms.

• Scratch Randy Choate off the list of possible left-handed relievers. He’s reportedly going to the Marlins on a two-year deal.

• Dave Miley, Butch Wynegar and Scott Aldred will be back in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre next season. That’s a big league staff in Triple-A, no doubt. Frank Menechino will come up from Trenton to join them as infield coach. The training staff of Darren London and Lee Tressell is also coming back.

• Down in Trenton, manager Tony Franklin is back for a fifth season. He’ll be joined by pitching coach Tommy Phelps, hitting coach Julius Matos (who held the position before Menechino), and coach Justin Pope. I assume that’s the same Justin Pope who was a first-round pick and pitched for a while in the Yankees system.

• Don Zimmer is back home after having a pacemaker installed.

Associated Press photo from Lee’s press conference

Just wanted to give a heads up about two things, one happening tonight and one happening tomorrow morning.

• First, MLB Network is showing the Game 7 of the 1960 World Series tonight at 8 p.m. ET. Obviously the Yankees lost the game — if you don’t know, that’s the Mazeroski walk-off — but it’s a great chance to see one of the most famous games of all time. And the heart of the Yankees order is worth seeing as well: Three guys named Maris, Mantle and Berra.

• Second, tomorrow the Yankees are holding their annual Holiday Food Drive at Yankee Stadium. Mariano Rivera is going to be there for a while, then Bernie Williams. For Rivera, the day is also serving as a press conference of sorts, letting him talk about his new two-year deal.

Here’s the press release from the Yankees, full of all the details about tomorrow’s food drive:

The New York Yankees will continue another great tradition this holiday season with their 17th annual Yankees Holiday Food Drive, presented by White Rose Foods. On Thursday, December 16, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. at Gate 2 at Yankee Stadium (corner of 164th Street and Jerome Ave.), any fan bringing at least 30 pounds of non-perishable food will receive a voucher good for two (2) complimentary Grandstand or Bleachers tickets or two (2) half-price tickets in select general seating areas* to one of 22 designated games during the 2011 regular season.**

Fans donating the required food amount will also receive a voucher valid for discounted ticket pricing for the 2010 New Era Pinstripe Bowl – to be played on Thursday, December 30 at Yankee Stadium – compliments of New Era. Vouchers can be redeemed online at www.ticketmaster.com or at the Yankee Stadium Ticket Office.

Mariano Rivera (10:30-11:30 a.m.) and Yankees alum Bernie Williams (11:00 a.m.-noon) will be on hand to assist in collecting food items. The Yankees, in conjunction with Bronx clergy, will distribute the food throughout the Bronx to those in need. To help kick off the Yankees Food Drive, White Rose Foods – along with their Good Neighbor Brands Kraft, Unilever, Snapple, Masterfoods, Domino, Conagra, New World Pasta, Carolina Rice, Clorox, Campbell’s, Nestle, Smuckers and General Mills – will donate over 40 pallets of food (approximately 60,000 lbs).

Fans driving to the Stadium may pull up to Gate 2 to drop off their donation. Rice and bottled water will not be accepted.

*Excludes Audi Yankees Club, Legends Suite, Delta SKY360° Suite, Champions Suite, Jim Beam Suite, Luxury Suites and Party City Party Suites.

**Designated Games: 4/4/11 vs. Minnesota; 4/5/11 vs. Minnesota; 4/6/11 vs. Minnesota; 4/7/11 vs. Minnesota; 4/12/11 vs. Baltimore; 4/13/11 vs. Baltimore; 4/14/11 vs. Baltimore; 4/25/11 vs. Chicago-AL; 4/26/11 vs. Chicago-AL; 4/27/11 vs. Chicago-AL; 4/28/11 vs. Chicago-AL; 5/10/11 vs. Kansas City; 5/11/11 vs. Kansas City; 5/12/11 vs. Kansas City; 5/23/11 vs. Toronto; 5/24/11 vs. Toronto; 5/25/11 vs. Toronto; 9/5/11 vs. Baltimore; 9/6/11 vs. Baltimore; 9/7/11 vs. Baltimore; 9/20/11 vs. Tampa Bay and 9/21/11 vs. Tampa Bay.

Associated Press photo from USA Today