The LoHud Yankees Blog

Looking for a unique baseball experience during this cold and — until recently — quiet winter?

The New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America will hold its 88th annual awards dinner on Saturday, January 22 at the Hilton New York, located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas between West 53rd and 54 Streets. Cocktails start at 6 p.m., dinner starts at 7, and some of the biggest names in baseball will be in attendance.

Nearly all of our chapter award winners are expected to be there, and every national award winner is scheduled to attend. Bernie Williams and will perform with members of his band.

Tickets are $225 each and can be purchased through Phil Pepe (philpepman@cs.com or 201-871-5924).

Here is the complete list of the awards that will be presented at the dinner:

Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award: Joe Torre, Lou Piniella, Bobby Cox
Joan Payson Award for community service: George Steinbrenner
William J. Slocum-Jack Lang Award for Long and Meritorious Service: Bill Shannon
Joe DiMaggio Toast of the Town Award: Robinson Cano
Ben Epstein-Dan Castellano Good Guy Award: Phil Hughes
Sid Mercer-Dick Young Player of the Year Award: Josh Hamilton
Babe Ruth Award (Postseason MVP): Tim Lincecum
Casey Stengel You Could Look It Up Award: Harmon Killebrew
Arthur and Milton Richman You Gotta Have Heart Award: R.A. Dickey

American League MVP: Josh Hamilton
National League MVP: Joey Votto
American League Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
National League Cy Young: Roy Halladay
American League Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz
National League Rookie of the Year: Buster Posey
American League Manager of the Year: Ron Gardenhire
National League Manager of the Year: Bud Black

I went to this dinner for the first time last year. It’s a great time, highly recommended.

Jack Curry went down to the Dominican Republic last month to spend time with Robinson Cano, bringing the YES Network into Cano’s world of offseason training. There’s a preview clip on the network’s website, and it’s well worth watching. Eduardo Nunez and Francisco Cervelli have been working with Cano, who basically serves as their hitting coach. It’s a great glimpse into the winter work of one of the Yankees top hitters.

• MLBTradeRumors has an long list of reactions to the Rafael Soriano signing. You’ll find a mix of pros and cons in there. I guess I’d label myself as being somewhere in the middle.

• Doesn’t necessarily mean Andy Pettitte is thinking about coming back, but Jon Heyman has heard that Pettitte has been working out. Heyman has also heard that the Yankees would be willing to trade Joba Chamberlain, but only for a “viable starter.”

• The Padres are reportedly close to a deal with Chad Qualls. That signing could impact George Kontos, the Padres Rule 5 pick out of the Yankees organization.

• Former Yankees reliever Jose Veras is reportedly choosing between minor league offers from the Giants, Rockies, Twins, Marlins, Rays and Pirates.

• CC Sabathia’s cousin, infielder Joe Thurston, has signed with the Marlins. He would have made no sense for the Yankees, but I’ve seen quite a bit of Thurston and always thought he was a nice player. Sabathia and Thurston are still doing considerable charity work where they grew up.

• Jordan Bastian predicts that newly married former Yankees fan favorite Shelley Duncan will make the Indians roster out of spring training.

• River Ave. Blues looked at the impact of third-base coach Rob Thomson, ultimately coming to the conclusion that, “the Yankees are doing just fine here.”

• The Yankeeist has posted an interview with former Yankees catcher and first baseman John Ellis, who played in New York in the early 70s and went on to play for Cleveland and Texas.

Associated Press photo of Cano

For this sort of exercise, it’s much easier to lump left field and right field into one category. They aren’t exactly the same position — teams prefer a better glove in left, a better arm in right — but in terms of organizational depth, the two positions are pretty interchangeable. In New York, though, they’re occupied by two very different players.

In the big leagues
Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher are different hitters who share a similar approach at the plate. They are two of the most selective hitters in baseball, but that’s where the common ground ends. Gardner’s game is built on speed, Swisher’s is built on power, and each had his own sort of breakout season in 2010. Gardner is 27 years old and established himself as a legitimate everyday outfielder. With over-the-top patience, he led the Yankees in on-base percentage and stolen bases. He’s arguably the best defensive left fielder in baseball with exceptional range and a better-than-expected arm. Swisher just turned 30 and made his first all-star team. He’s in the final year of his contract, but there is a club option for 2012. With no obvious replacement in the upper levels of the minor league system, the Yankees could exercise that option if Swisher has another productive year.

On the verge
Unless one of them finds a spot on the big league roster, a Triple-A outfield of Colin Curtis, Greg Golson and Jordan Parraz will give the Yankees plenty of reserves: All three on the 40-man, all three able to play each outfield spot, and all three ready to play a role in New York as needed. Third baseman Brandon Laird will also get some time in the outfield, and his power bat fits the profile of a corner outfielder. The Double-A outfield is more of a hit-or-miss group. Center fielder Melky Mesa has more than enough arm for right field and is perhaps the biggest wild card in the system’s upper levels. Cody Johnson, acquired from the Braves this winter, is a former first-round pick who’s shown significant power but a complete inability to hit for average. Dan Brewer — who could jump to Triple-A if there’s an opening — hit 10 homers and 34 doubles in Trenton last season, but he’s never been considered a prominent prospect.

Deep in the system
Long-term, the Yankees depth in the outfield corners will probably be built on their current depth at other positions. For now, Slade Heathcott, Eduardo Sosa, Mason Williams and Abe Almonte are best suited for center field, but they could move to the corners as necessary. Catcher J.R. Murphy will see some time in right field this season, as will third baseman Rob Segedin. For now, the lower levels should have guys like Zoilo Almonte, Taylor Grote and Kelvin De Leon getting considerable time in the outfield corners (all three have generated some prospect buzz but haven’t done much either because of injury or lack of production). The name to remember seems to be Ramon Flores. One talent evaluator was raving about him during the Winter Meetings, comparing him favorably to former Yankees prospect Jose Tabata. Flores hit .303/.390/.419 last year and should be ready for a full season in Charleston.

Organizational depth chart
My own rough guess. It’s far too early for the Yankees to settle on who will be where next season.
New York: Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher
Scranton/WB: Colin Curtis and Jordan Parraz
Trenton: Cody Johnson and Dan Brewer
Tampa: Taylor Grote and Zoilo Almonte
Charleston: Eduardo Sosa and Ramon Flores

The big league depth chart is incomplete until the Yankees sign a fourth outfielder. The Yankees have been strongly linked to Andruw Jones, and if he’s signed, Jones will become the primary backup in both left and right field. The Yankees have no shortage of additional players ready to step into a corner outfield role as necessary: Curtis, Golson, Parraz, Laird and Kevin Russo are all in the mix.

Lower in the minor league system, I based my projections on Heathcott opening in Charleston, forcing Sosa to open in left field instead of center. As is always the case, the Yankees have plenty of additional outfielders who could see time in the corners. In rough top-to-bottom order: Austin Krum, Damon Sublett, Jack Rye, Raymond Kruml and Deangelo Mack are among the guys who will get corner outfield time for the full-season teams. The impact of multi-position guys like Segedin and Murphy, though, will probably be more significant.

Associated Press photo of Swisher, headshots of Gardner, Curtis and Zoilo Almonte

Just a few random Rafael Soriano thoughts bouncing through my head while I listen to this four-song Black Dub performance for roughly the 20th time in the past four days.

• While I’m not sure an eighth-inning reliever is worth this much money, I’ll agree that the money is a non-issue for 2011. The Yankees had plenty of room in the budget, and even with Soriano, they still seem to have plenty of payroll space to sign Andy Pettitte, improve the bench and land a back-of-the-rotation starter. The financial concerns come in years two and three. If Soriano pitches up to his contract, he’ll have the ability to opt out. If he doesn’t live up to expectation, the Yankees are still on the hook. Soriano has all the leverage, and that’s the financial danger of this deal. The Yankees are taking on all of the risk. Soriano’s only risk is that he won’t be pitching the ninth inning (though he’ll still be paid like a closer).

• In the great Joba Chamberlain debate, I’ve generally been on the side of developing him as a starter rather than reaping the immediate benefit of using him in the bullpen. That said, at this point, I think the Yankees have seen enough to make an informed decision about his ultimate upside and where he fits best. It’s hard to know a lot about a young pitcher after one season — which is when all of the Joba hype reached its peak — but after four seasons, the Yankees probably have a good idea what they’re dealing with. He might still be wasting his talent as a reliever, but I can’t say that for certain, and neither can anyone else. It’s all about projection, and that’s tricky. What I’ve found interesting is that for several weeks there has been a general sentiment that the Yankees needed to upgrade their eighth-inning situation because Chamberlain couldn’t be trusted in that role, but now that Soriano is in the mix, there’s an overwhelming belief that Chamberlain can be an elite starter again. Why would anyone who didn’t want him in the eighth inning suddenly want him in the rotation?

• Buster Olney has confirmed what was already suspected: That Soriano was an “ownership-driven” signing. That makes sense. Obviously Brian Cashman isn’t always going to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth when he speaks to the media, but it’s unusual for him to so be adamant about one thing — in this case, not losing a draft pick — only to turn around a week later and do the exact opposite. This kind of deal also goes against Cashman’s tactics of the past few seasons. For the most part, Yankees fans seem to love the signing — and I doubt they care who exactly made it happen — but it’s an interesting situation.

• Speaking of which, great job this week by Jon Heyman. Even though Cashman had publicly shot down any chance of the Yankees signing Soriano, Heyman stuck to his story, constantly reporting that sources were telling him the Yankees were very much in pursuit. Heyman took a lot of heat — on Twitter and in the comments of this blog — but he had the story right, and he’s the one who broke it last night. That’s good stuff.

• Daniel Turpen, Robert Fish and Romulo Sanchez — the two Rule 5 picks and an out-of-options reliever — should probably start working on their long-relief skills. All of the one-inning jobs seem to be taken at this point.

Derek Jeter will get to work early this spring. According to the New York Post, Jeter will begin working with hitting coach Kevin Long later this month. Jeter made positive strides late last season, and Long said he’s hoping to keep that progress going.

“I think we found something with his stride and the direction of his stride and going up and down with his stride instead of gaining distance and going in,” Long said. “We’re going to try to keep it as simple as we can, try to control his movement and try to get him to be more consistent through the contact point.”

According to The Post, Long spent last week working with Nick Swisher and Colin Curtis in Los Angeles. Next week he’ll work with Mark Teixeira in New York, and he plans an offseason trip to Miami to do some early work with Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez. Long has spoken to Russell Martin, but the two haven’t worked together just yet.

New pitching coach Larry Rothschild is also busy. According to Newsday, Rothschild has been working with A.J. Burnett, getting familiar with the Yankees No. 2 or 3 starter and working out some early details before pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

“It was just things he’s been through career-wise, what he’s done delivery-wise, what he’s comfortable with, what he’s uncomfortable with,” Rothschild said. “Just really talking about baseball more than anything else and going through some stuff, trying to make it real simple and get him throwing the ball the way he can and being able to repeat it. I think he’s very much looking forward to the start of the season.”

Associated Press photo

Two more pieces of the free agent pitching market have come off the board.

• Left-hander Jeff Francis, one of several free agent starters working his way back from injury, has agreed to a one-year deal with the Royals. The deal is reportedly worth $2 million with another $2 million in incentives. The Yankees have been connected to Francis this winter as one of the risk-reward type pitchers who could add bulk to their thin rotation.

• Also, setup man Grant Balfour is reportedly on the verge of a two-year deal with the Athletics. Buster Olney says the deal would be worth $8.1 million, which further suggests the Yankees went well beyond market value to convince Rafael Soriano to pitch the eighth inning. The A’s first-round pick is protected, so the Rays will receive a supplemental pick and a second-round pick as compensation.

For the Yankees, it’s the Francis signing that carries the most weight. After landing Soriano, the Yankees were clearly no longer in the market for a late-inning reliever like Balfour. They do, however, have room — and need — for a starting pitcher.

Justin Duchscherer and Freddy Garcia are probably the remaining free agent starters who have been linked to the Yankees most often this winter, but as Brian Cashman has said time and again, he’s checked on the viability of just about everyone on the market.

UPDATE, 12:15 p.m.: The free agent market is moving today! Add Jim Thome to the list of players who have signed in the past few hours. Thome signed a one-year deal to rejoin the Twins.

The Yankees finally made a splash this offseason. They couldn’t land this winter’s top free agent starter, so they got the top free agent reliever.

Short-term, there is no downside to Rafael Soriano in pinstripes. The Yankees had plenty of room in their budget, and aside from Andy Pettitte, Soriano was the impact free agent that fit them best. He makes the bullpen incredibly deep, and he provides considerable insurance for a 41-year-old closer whose workload has diminished in recent years.

Soriano makes the Yankees better. I’m not sure he makes them a lot better, but he makes them better, and surely that’s the point of any offseason move.

That said, it’s hard for me to be completely sold on the deal. Soriano is a great pitcher with a proven track record, but in the big picture, it’s hard for me to see this as a total win for the Yankees.

The structure of the deal
First, the obvious: A $35-million deal for a setup man is massive. It was pretty stunning when the Tigers gave Joaquin Benoit $16.5 million earlier this offseason. The Soriano deal blows that one out of the water. But, it’s obviously money the Yankees could afford to spend, so it’s hard to be too stunned at the amount of dollars involved.

Beyond the money, giving Soriano an opt-out clause after each season is bizarre. Just two years ago he was limited to 14 innings because of an elbow injury. He was similarly limited in 2004 and 2005. If he gets hurt again, Soriano can cash in for three years of Yankees paychecks. If he stays healthy and dominates, he can jump ship. I suppose the Yankees had to give him some sort of perks for agreeing to be a setup man, but right now that looks like a no-win contract for the Yankees.

One of the biggest perks to this deal is having Soriano as a replacement should Mariano Rivera get hurt. It’s a nice luxury, but obviously it’s not a best-case scenario. In fact, what is the best-case scenario with this sort of contract? That Soriano pitches well, but not so well that he leaves after one year? Do they want him to opt out so they don’t have to keep paying him this sort of money?

The impact of a setup man
With Soriano, the Yankees have a remarkably deep bullpen. As long as Soriano pitches like he did last year — and the other pieces do their part — it will be a bullpen much like the Yankees had in the final two months of last season, when Kerry Wood came over from Cleveland and became a dominant eighth-inning man.

There can be no doubt Wood made the Yankees better last year. The other relievers seemed to fall into line behind him, and the bullpen was terrific down the stretch. That said, without Wood, the Yankees were 66-37 last year. With Wood, they were 29-30. In other words, there are things much more important than the eighth inning. As Joe Pawlikowski pointed out, the Yankees were 80-7 when they carried a lead into the eighth inning last year. How many of those seven loses would Soriano have turned into wins?

As for the possibility of Soriano becoming the heir to Rivera’s ninth inning: If Soriano does takeover when Rivera’s two-year deal expires, it will happen when Soriano is already 33 years old and in the final year of his own contract. That’s a placeholder, not a replacement.

The need for a reliever right now
The last time the Yankees won the World Series, they won it in a season that opened with Brian Bruney as their primary setup man. By the end of the summer, Phil Hughes had stepped into the role. Two years before that, Joba Chamberlain stepped into the eighth inning. Last year, it was Wood, a cheap addition at the trade deadline.

A bullpen can be a work in progress. Relievers have a tendency to be erratic year-to-year, and a bullpen will need to be reevaluated at some point during a season. Right now the minor league system is overflowing with quality, upper-level arms. Relievers are always attainable at the deadline. I agree that Soriano makes the Yankees bullpen better — let there be no doubt, that’s true — I’m just not it’s a worthwhile addition right now.

With two young relievers already in the mix, the Yankees could have done what they’ve done the past three years and let the bullpen evolve, then reassess. It might be an occasionally frustrating method, but it’s been pretty effective. It’s certainly been more effective than throwing offseason money into the bullpen.

The lost draft pick
This is a fairly minor issue because draft picks — even the first rounders — come with absolutely no guarantee. The 2005 first-round class is considered one of the best we’ve seen, and there are maybe a dozen of those guys who look like true impact big leaguers. The 31st pick in that draft — the spot the Yankees gave up to sign Soriano — was a kid named Matt Torra who’s become a borderline prospect in the Diamondbacks system and has yet to reach the big leagues. Chances are, the Yankees gave up the rights to a player you’ll never hear about.

That said, relief pitchers are also risky, and the impact of a setup reliever is limited. Certainly, a first-round pick is going to have the potential to be more than an eighth-inning guy, which is what Soriano will be as long as everything goes to plan. Giving up a first-rounder might not be a huge issue, but it’s part of the equation. Two other notes about the draft pick:

1. It’s not just a lost first rounder, it’s a lost first rounder going to the Rays, who have done a great job restocking their system for another run at the AL East in the not-so-distant future.
2. Last week, Brian Cashman didn’t only tell me he wouldn’t surrender a pick this winter, he also told the Daily News and the Post. Pure speculation on my part, but I can’t help wondering if this move was pushed by someone else in the organization. Ben Shpigel writes that Cashman simply expected a higher financial cost when he vowed not to lose a draft pick.

Associated Press photo

So much for not losing a draft pick.

According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees have agreed to terms with Rafael Soriano on a three year deal.

UPDATE, 9:40 p.m.: Tyler Kepner has the contract breakdown: Soriano can opt out after the first or second year. If he opts out after 2011, he gets $11.5 million. If he opts out after 2012, he gets $21.5 million total. If he sticks around for all three years of the contract, Soriano gets the full $35 million.

As for the impact on the rest of the roster, I just talked to a Yankees source who said there has been no internal discussion about signing a reliever so that Joba Chamberlain is free to move back to the rotation. Unless something changes, the plan is still to keep Chamberlain in the bullpen.

ESPN has announced its Sunday Night Baseball schedule for the first two months of the season — plus a few mid-summer games — and the schedule is predictably heavy on Yankees games. The Yankees will be the Sunday night game three times in the first seven weeks.

Sorry for posting this a day late. I had it ready to go last night, but then the Andy Pettitte stuff started happening and I decided to put this on hold.

A little more than a year ago, the Yankees sacrificed their perceived center fielder of the future to obtain a proven center fielder of the future (and the present). Within months of the trade, the Yankees watched Austin Jackson get off to a terrific start in Detroit while Curtis Granderson struggled in New York. By the end of the season, the tide had shifted, and now the Yankees are left hoping Granderson’s second-half momentum carries into 2011.

In the big leagues
The Yankees gave up a lot to land Granderson. He was seen as a plus defensive player with unusual power for a center fielder, and he was also significantly more proven than Jackson, whose lack of power and strikeout totals were obvious concerns. Granderson finished last season by hitting .261/.356/.564 in his final 48 games, and he carried that into a terrific postseason. The Yankees are one of the few teams with two legitimate big league center fielders — Brett Gardner is also more than capable in center — but there’s no question Granderson will be the everyday man at the position. The only question is whether he’ll continue to improve as he steps further into what should be the prime of his career.

On the verge
Greg Golson and Colin Curtis are able to play a role in the big leagues right now. They proved that last season, and although neither got much time in center field at Yankee Stadium, both are able to play the position. Curtis and Golson seem likely to go into spring training competing with Jordan Parraz to be the Yankees fifth outfielder (if the Yankees carry five outfielders). Coming up behind them is one of the great wild cards of the Yankees system. Melky Mesa has tools to spare — arm, speed, power — but he also struck out 297 times the past two seasons, and his .260 average and .338 on-base percentage last season were both career highs, by a lot. If he makes progress, Mesa could be a legitimate everyday player in the big leagues. If not, he could top out at Double-A.

Deep in the system
Abraham Almonte is still on the prospect radar after a injury shortened season in Tampa — my friend Patrick Teale has always been very high on Almonte — but most of the Yankees young center field talent is coming up from the very lowest levels. Slade Heathcott, the Yankees first-round pick in ’09, didn’t put up big numbers in Charleston last year, but he’s still very young with considerable tools and talent. If Heathcott returns to Charleston this season, he could be joined in the outfield by Eduardo Sosa, a natural center fielder who’s bat has yet to match his glove. A half step behind them is last year’s fourth-round pick Mason Williams, another super-athletic kid taken out of high school. There is a lot of raw talent and athleticism here, but that talent has a long way to go. It’s just as you’d expect from this position in the lower levels.

Organizational depth chart
My own rough guess. It’s far too early for the Yankees to settle on who will be where next season.
New York: Curtis Granderson
Scranton/WB: Greg Golson
Trenton: Melky Mesa
Tampa: Abe Almonte
Charleston: Slade Heathcott

The true center field depth chart in New York is two names deep: Granderson and Gardner. Both are plus defenders, and the Yankees showed last season that if Granderson gets hurt, Gardner will immediately slide over from left field. Golson and Curtis can certainly handle the position, but as long as at least one of Granderson and Gardner is healthy, there will be no reason for anyone else to see significant time in center field.

As for the minor leagues, the system is full of outfielders who are able to handle center field, it’s a matter of prioritizing that playing time. Curtis will get some center field time in Triple-A, and Damon Sublett could get some time in Double-A. It gets a little more tricky in the lower levels depending on assignments. Whether he’s in Tampa or Charleston, Heathcott will almost certainly be the priority in center field, but Sosa, Williams and Gumbs are coming up behind him and also need time at the position. If the Yankees decide Heathcott needs a little more Low A time — that’s how I have it predicted, at least to start the season — Sosa could see significant time in the outfield corners for the first time. If Heathcott does open in Charleston, the best-case scenario would be for him to finish in Tampa.

Associated Press photo of Granderson and Gardner, headshots of Granderson, Mesa and Almonte