The LoHud Yankees Blog

The Yankees newest outfielder, Justin Maxwell, had Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing elbow this fall but says he feels ready for spring training.

“We’re a little over three months out and I feel pretty much 100 percent,” Maxwell told Bryan Hoch at MLB.com. “I’ve already been hitting and throwing, doing everything. I feel good.”

At this time last year, Maxwell was considered the Nationals’ eighth-best prospect according to Baseball America. The magazine noted his “above-average power potential” and said he was a “plus runner” and an “above-average defender.” I saw him a little bit during my last year in Scranton. I just remember him as a toolsy guy, a player who had the attention of the league.

At the end of last season, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said he was looking forward to giving Maxwell another shot in 2011.

“Hopefully, it all comes together and he has a good spring for us and he’s part of the ballclub next year,” Riggleman said. “There’s no reason to give up on him. I think it’s all going to click. There’s no last-chance situation. I wouldn’t put that on him. I’m just hoping he does use the opportunities on the field, as sparing as they’ve been, to show us that he’s the real deal.”

Some other notes and links on this icy Wednesday:

• Terrific piece from my friend Donnie Collins, who wrote that Russ Springer’s retirement sparked memories of watching the Yankees with his grandmother. Be sure to give that a read.

• The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Lou Piniella has accepted a job in the Giants front office. The paper notes that, “GM Brian Sabean goes back with Piniella to their Yankee years in the ’80s, and they’ve remained tight.”

• Josh Norris posted a Q&A with vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman. I didn’t realize the Yankees had moved Vic Valencia to Charleston to work with Gary Sanchez this season.”  He’s done a nice job with the catchers he’s worked with so far,” Newman said. “We move staff around to try and match them up with players so we get the biggest bang for our buck from our staff.”

• Heres’s a video of Nick Swisher addressing the media before last night’s Munson dinner. Swisher started to give his acceptance speech in the press room, but ultimately cut it short and saved it for the ballroom.

• Looks like the Rays minor league deal with Felipe Lopez is all but official.

• Here on the blog, I haven’t really mentioned the Mets situation. If you’re curious but haven’t been following the whole mess, here’s a good Times story on the situation. It still seems unclear how this will affect the Mets moving forward.

• I was never a huge White Stripes fan — always thought they were interesting but only bought a couple of their albums — but today the band announced that it’s splitting up, with no plans to ever record or tour again. That’s a shame. At the very least they were always making music that stood out as something different.

Associated Press photo of Maxwell

Joel Sherman made two good Yankees observations on his Hardball blog this morning.

1. “(W)hatever the rules are in the chill of February, remember that they are always subject to re-write.”

Sherman pointed out that 10 years ago, Alfonso Soriano hit his way into a big league role sooner than expected, and four years ago, injuries forced Phil Hughes into a big league role sooner than the Yankees would have liked. Who’s to say something similar couldn’t happen this season with the Yankees talented young pitchers?

It’s a good point, especially considering Hughes was rushed to the big leagues precisely because the Yankees rotation became very thin, very quickly. That’s a scenario that could easily play out with a rotation that’s pretty thin to begin with. The Yankees would prefer to move slowly with Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos, but if one of those three once again cruises through minor league hitters — especially Brackman, who’s more advanced — the Yankees could combine need with performance and make those moves sooner than expected.

Right now, Hector Noesi, David Phelps and D.J. Mitchell might be closer to a big league role than any of the Killer Bs — Noesi, Phelps and Mitchell have already pitched in Triple-A — but it’s worth remembering that back in 2007 the Yankees went through Darrell Rasner, Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright before calling on their top pitching prospect. Even so, they still had Hughes in the big leagues before the end of April.

2. “I think it remains a pretty good likelihood that Andy Pettitte will return and the Yanks will make a trade in spring for a starter…”

It’s not clear whether this is based on conversations within the Yankees front office or simply a guess on Sherman’s part. The Pettitte part isn’t what interests me — at this point I think everyone has an opinion, but no one has a strong sense of what he’s going to do — but I wonder if Sherman’s onto something about a spring trade.

Obviously the starting pitcher trade market didn’t offer much of interest this winter. I’m sure there were names tossed back and forth, but ultimately Brian Cashman decided nothing made sense for the Yankees. The market, though, might change once spring training gets started and teams get a better sense of exactly what they have.

Who might the Yankees target? I have no idea, and that’s kind of the point. If there were an obvious trade partner right now the Yankees would have pulled the trigger already. As it stands, though, it seems that nothing worthwhile is out there, so the Yankees need something to shake up the market. Spring training might be just the thing to do that.

Associated Press photo of Hughes

This is from The Associated Press.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Boss’ old office at Steinbrenner Field is being used, again.

The Steinbrenner family, as part of a renovation project at the Yankees’ spring training stadium, decided that team co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner will use the office of his late father, George Steinbrenner.

Hank Steinbrenner said on Tuesday that “It’s a great honor” to move into the office his father had worked out of since the mid-1990′s.

This is Hank Steinbrenner’s first full week in his new office on the first-base side of the ballpark. George Steinbrenner’s oldest son previously had an office along the third-base line.

George Steinbrenner died at age 80 in July.

Here’s the announcement from the Yankees.

The New York Yankees today acquired outfielder Justin Maxwell from the Washington Nationals in exchange for right-handed minor league pitcher Adam Olbrychowski.

Maxwell, 27, has appeared in 122 career Major League games over three seasons with Washington (2007, ’09-10), compiling a .201 (44-for-219) batting average with nine home runs and 26 RBI. He entered the 2010 season ranked by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect in the Nationals organization, hitting .144 (15-for-104) with three home runs and 12 RBI in 67 games at the Major League level in 2010. He also appeared in 66 games with Triple-A Syracuse, batting .287 (66-for-230) with 17 doubles, six home runs and 21 RBI. The Maryland native was selected by Washington in the fourth round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

Olbrychowski, 25, combined to go 3-2 with a 3.90 ERA (67.0IP, 29ER) in 32 games (one start) with Double-A Trenton and Single-A Tampa in 2010. He spent the majority of the season with Tampa, where he went 3-2 with a 4.02 ERA (62.2IP, 28ER), before being promoted to Trenton on September 1.

To make room on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, outfielder Jordan Parraz was designated for assignment.

UPDATE, 2:55 p.m.: When Maxwell was designated for assignment, I wrote that he might be an interesting addition for the Yankees, but I wasn’t sure he’d fit because Parraz was already on the roster.

His big league numbers aren’t much, but Maxwell can play all three outfield positions, and he has a little bit of speed and power. Three years ago, when Baseball America ranked him as a Top 10 prospect in the Nationals system, they noted that Maxwell, “garners comparisons to Mike Cameron for his speed/power mix and inability to hit for average.”

That might be what he is: A young, poor man’s version of Cameron. He’s probably not an everyday guy on a team like the Yankees, but he has enough going for him to be a complimentary piece off the bench. Nothing against Parraz — who I’ve never met and have never seen — I’d rather have a guy who hit .287/.390/.439 last year in the pitcher-friendly International League (Maxwell) than a guy who hit .266/.350/.410 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League (Parraz).

It’s basically an upgrade of fifth outfielder options, and it came at the cost of a guy who’s buried in this system. Olbrychowski might develop into a solid reliever, but he was pretty low on the depth chart for the Yankees.

By the way, I was just told that Maxwell has a fourth option year, so he can be sent to the minor leagues this season if he doesn’t make the big league roster.

Associated Press photo of Maxwell

One of the benefits of the Yankees financial muscle is that they can afford to be aggressive while they’re staying patient.

They can watch Phil Hughes stumble as a big league starter in 2008, sign CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett the following winter, move Hughes temporarily to the bullpen in 2009, and see Hughes finally thrive as an all-star starter in 2010.

They can watch Brett Gardner go through an uneven debut in ’09, respond by trading for Curtis Granderson — a trade that moved Gardner to the infinitely easier to replace left-field position — then give Gardner another chance to prove himself in 2010, this time with veterans Marcus Thames and Randy Winn sitting on the bench as insurance.

They can watch Jorge Posada battle injuries in 2010, recognize the need for a transition at the catcher position, and respond by going after Russell Martin on the free agent market, a move that bought Jesus Montero and Austin Romine a little extra time to develop, just in case they need it. No need to put all of the New York pressure on kids without a single Major League at-bat.

Patience, it seems, comes in all forms.

It could mean patience within an ugly free agent market, waiting for a deal that makes sense, not making a deal that quiets a fan base and creates the illusion of improvement.

It could be patience with a veteran pitcher, one who’s making the biggest decision of his career, an intensely personal decision that won’t be helped by desperate pleas from a desperate team.

It could mean patience with one of the top prospects in baseball, a kid who might very well be ready to hit at the Major League level, but also a kid who just turned 21 years old and still has some development left in him.

Of course, it could also mean patience with that same 21-year-old if he gets to New York and hits .205 in his first two months on the job.

David was exactly right in his morning post. When it comes time to hand over the keys, the organization has to be prepared for an occasionally bumpy ride. Minor leagues coaches and executives often talk about young players learning to struggle. Players develop when they’re pushed, forced to improve by players who are better than them. Part of player development is witnessing those struggles and accepting them as part of the process.

Check out Felix Hernandez’s year-by-year ERA in the big leagues: 4.52 in his first full season, then 3.92, 3.45, 2.49, and finally 2.27 last year. That’s what development looks like at the Major League level, and it looks the same in Seattle or Kansas City or New York.

But the Yankees have the benefit of financial strength to go with their prospect patience. They can let Gardner take his lumps, because the rest of the rest of the lineup can easily pick up the slack. They can let Hughes find himself in the bullpen, because there are starters ready to fill the innings in the rotation. They can let Montero ease into a big league job, because a veteran is ready to take temporary ownership of the catcher position.

David’s right: If the Yankees want to develop their own, they have to accept the cost of young players finding themselves at the big league level. With very few exceptions, that learning curve is inevitable.

But the Yankees don’t have to go through every bump at once. They don’t have to turn the entire roster over to the farm system, and they don’t have to throw all the kids immediately into the deep end.

The Yankees can build a team from both ends, aggressively signing free agents who fill immediate needs, while patiently adding a few young kids at a time, letting each one slowly test the water before diving in too deep.

Associated Press photo of Hughes

Next up in our Pinch Hitters series is David Brandwein, a college professor in the Department of Doctoral Studies at Kean University. He is a lifelong Yankees fan who said his fondest Yankees memory came during Picture Day at Yankee Stadium during the 1980’s where he saw Dave Winfield catch a batting practice fly by jumping at the right-field wall, all while “singing ‘Jump’ while Van Halen’s Jump was playing over the Stadium PA,” David wrote.

For his guest post, David made the case that it’s time for a Yankees youth movement… no matter the cost.

—

“Let Them Play, Let Them Play, Let Them Play”

OK, take your mind to October 2011. You wake up on the final day of the baseball season and see the following:

**Red Sox 100-62  –
*Rays 87-75 13
Yankees 86-76 14
Blue Jays 83-79  17
Orioles 76-86 24

** Division Winner
* Wild Card Winner

OK, I know this is enough to make some of you say, “I’m not reading this anymore”, but please… give me a minute or two of your valuable internet time.

Some you might have read the title to this blog entry and immediately went to the scene in The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training — my favorite baseball movie — where thousands of fans in the Houston Astrodome wanted to see two Little League teams more than the Astros (hey, in the 1970’s, would you have wanted to see the Astros play?)

But, that is not what I am talking about.

The “Let Them Play” refers to the kids, the prospects, our future… Montero, Romine, Brackman, Nova, Betances. Now, if Seattle calls up and offers Felix Hernandez for any combination of these guys, I will pack their bags, book their flights, and drive them to the airport. Outside of that remote possibility, though, I would be willing to give these guys a chance — now.

Put Montero behind the plate, make Nova the fourth starter, and let Brackman and Betances fight it out for fifth starter and/or long reliever. It might mean missing the playoffs in 2011, and it might be painful to watch at times, but I think the team needs to know if these kids can get the job done. I, for one, think they should get the shot.

If last season was any indication of what baseball is becoming, youth (especially young pitching) and speed will reign. Right now, the Yankees are behind the curve. We saw that, painfully, in the ALCS last year. Without the kids, will it be any different this year?

Now, take yourself to the last day of the baseball season in 2012. You wake up and see the following:

Montero .325 BA, 25 HR,  125 RBI
Nova 3.75 ERA, 17 wins, 8 losses
Brackman 3.90 ERA, 15 wins,  6 losses
Betances 4.10 ERA, 13 wins, 7 losses
Yankees 97 wins, 63 losses, 1st place

We could have the makings of a lasting, cheap dynasty, showing everyone that the Yankees can win without spending more than the gross national product of a third-world country. What would Red Sox fans say then?

Associated Press photo of Nova

Tonight’s Thurman Munson dinner honored six athletes: Nick Swisher, Angel Pagan, Mike Piazza, Julius Erving, Devin Harris and Evan Lysacek. If any of those names is unfamiliar it’s probably Lysacek, who’s an Olympic gold medalist in figure skating and showed up wearing a massive gold watch.

When it came time for Swisher to address the media, the MC introduced him as “the happiest athlete I have ever watched from afar.” Swisher went on to speak glowingly of his relationship with Munson’s widow, Diana, and said he was humbled to have his name mentioned with Munson. It was a universal theme for the night.

Piazza said Munson, “inspired his teammates to get the most of their abilities,” and joked that the award meant even more because he knew it took a lot for a former Mets catcher to be honored by a former Yankees catcher. “As an opponent,” Piazza said, “you can’t help but respect the record and the legacy of the (Yankees) organization.”

Harris said he was “humbled” to receive and honor named after “one of the great Yankees.” Turns out, Harris is a Yankees fan. He was in Yankee Stadium for some of the ’09 World Series game, and he said Derek Jeter is his favorite baseball player. “Has been for quite some time,” he said.

Dr. J called the Munson Award, “an institution in New York.” He called Munson, “a great athlete, great husband and father, (and) a great man.” For whatever it’s worth, Dr. J said he quit playing baseball as a freshman in high school. I think my highest batting average was .190-something.”

I was in the hall talking to Swisher when it came time for Pagan and Lysacek to address the media, but my guess is they had something similar to say. It was a nice event, and a brief Yankees beat reunion — part of it anyway — before we all settle into Tampa in less than two weeks.

Some other notes from today.

• For a while today there was a lingering don’t-know-what-to-make-of-it story about Andy Pettitte and a possible autograph session scheduled for February 15, suggesting he would be signing baseballs — not pitching them — when spring training opened. Steiner Sports momentarily listed the autograph session on its website but removed the listing when it got media attention. Steiner now says a date for the autograph session has never been set, and the group has “nothing planned” for Pettitte.

• Keith Law ranked Jesus Montero 20th on his list of prospects likely to have a big league impact this season. Law writes that he has “little doubt” Montero can hit at the Major League level, but he can’t rank him any higher because he’s not sure how much time he’ll actually spend in New York this season.

• Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez were introduced this afternoon in Tampa Bay. “This is home for me,” Damon said. “This is my dream team.”

• Speaking of the Rays, they’re reportedly on the verge of a minor league deal with utility infielder Felipe Lopez.

• The Red Sox aren’t taking much from Brian Cashman’s comments that right now Boston looks better than the Yankees on paper.

• Looks like Alfredo Simon won’t be in spring training with the Orioles. He’s been denied bail on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Associated Press photo of Pettitte

There aren’t a lot of hard-hitting questions to ask Nick Swisher these days. His everyday status is secure, he’s coming off his first all-star season, his personal life seems picture perfect and tonight he’s receiving a Thurman Munson Award for his off-the-field contributions.

It’s good to be Swish.

As for his team, Swisher – as you might expect – said he’s confident the Yankees will sort out their pitching concerns between now and Opening Day. Cliff Lee went elsewhere, Andy Pettitte might retire, and there’s not much the Yankees can or could do about either.

“It just didn’t work out for us. Let’s move on,” he said. “… We’ve got an amazing lineup, top to bottom. We just want to go out there and prove that we’re as good as we think we are.”

Of course, Swisher was asked to chime in on various topics.

On Pettitte’s future…
“This is my whole opinion on it. I love Andy Pettitte more than anything, man. Not only as a player but as a person as well. I think that he’s done so much for this game, so much for the New York Yankee organization. I don’t know what it’s like to have kids – I haven’t been fortunate enough yet – but I know that he misses his family. In my opinion, if he chooses to ride of into the sunset, he’s definitely earned that. We would love to have him back, but he’s going to go, he’s going with glory.”

On Rafael Soriano…
“I think he just takes a whole inning off of a game. Him and Mo in the pen, it turns it into a seven-inning game. Not only that, on top of the great pitchers I think we have in the pen, we’re shortening the game to five, six innings. For us, we’ve got to feel good about that spot.”

On the Red Sox improvement…
“I think that’s great. I think it’s going to be that same rivalry again just like it is every (year). Everybody’s making changes. So are we. I think the changes we’ve made are for the better. I’m just excited to get it going… I kind of put that (analysis) in your guy’s hands. We just have to go out there and play every day.”

On his offseason…
“Exact same thing I did last year. I’m on a different eating regiment now, which I don’t like as much, but it’s fun. The offseason is a good time for me. I get to spend time with my wife. I get to relax, not think about the stuff you worry about during the season. You know that first time you step on the field in spring training, you know that it’s going to be a long season. We’re excited for that. Last year, obviously we didn’t get to where we wanted to, but that World Series was right there within our grasp. Hopefully we can get back to that same spot again.”

And, because Swisher’s a good sport about things like this, we couldn’t help but ask – after his one inning on the mound two years ago – whether he might be able to fill a spot in the Yankees patchwork rotation.

“I just don’t think the body is going to hold up, you know what I mean?” he said. “I’m more of an everyday guy.”

I know what you mean, Swish. I know what you mean.

* Before I left for the Munson dinner, I wrote a quick blog post about Swisher being honored tonight. Just realized that post never went live for some reason. Anyway, if that caused any confusion, I apologize. Initially I didn’t mention the Munson dinner in this post because I thought I’d already mentioned it. Anyway, sorry about that.

I’m hoping the AP eventually moves a picture a little better than the one from my cell phone

When Cliff Lee signed with Philadelphia, the Yankees were left with few reliable rotation options on the free agent market. The market was so thin, Brian Cashman reportedly considered bringing back Carl Pavano.

Instead, the Yankees had to sort through a series of risk-reward candidates — a mix of veterans looking for a comeback and proven talents trying to rebound from injuries. With no sure things on the market, the Yankees managed to sign two of the least risky contracts out there, avoiding the multi-million-dollar deals given to pitchers who might not produce at all this season.

There is uncertainty with all of these deals. Which would you prefer?

Major League contracts

Justin Duchscherer
Orioles, 33 years old
$700,000, $1.1 million if on the roster, total of $4.5 million with incentives
An all-star in 2008, Duchscherer made a total of eight starts the past two seasons, five in the big leagues and three in the minors. He did not pitch past April 29 last season, and in 2007 he was limited to 16.1 innings. He’s been good when he’s been healthy, and he seemed to win some believers with bullpen sessions this offseason.

Jeff Francis
Royals, 30 years old
$2 million, plus another $2 million in incentives
Missed all of 2009 and went on the disabled list twice in 2010. He showed good stuff in Colorado — and for a while looked like a young top-of-the-rotation starter — but he has a career 4.77 ERA, and a 5.01 ERA since 2007.

Brad Penny
Tigers, 32 years old
$3 million, plus another $3 million in incentives
Having struggled with Boston through most of 2009, Penny bounced back when he finished that season in San Francisco. Last year he was pitching well for the Cardinals — 3.23 ERA — before a strained lat sent him to the disabled list after nine starts. In the past three up-and-down years, Penny has a 5.01 ERA while missing significant chunks of two seasons.

Chien-Ming Wang
Nationals, 31 years old
$1 million, plus another $4 million in incentives
The Yankees watched Wang’s rise and fall. He hasn’t pitched since 2009, when injury limited him to 12 big league appearances, nine of them starts. The results were not pretty, with Wang finishing with a 9.64 ERA. The Nationals took a shot on him last season but he never got healthy enough to pitch.

Brandon Webb
Rangers, 31 years old
$3 million, total more than $8 million with incentives
The most accomplished pitcher on this list, Webb won a Cy Young award in 2006 and finished second in Cy voting in ’07 and ’08. He’s made one professional start since then. He was the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter in 2009 and he hasn’t pitched since. Initial reports of his instructional league work this offseason showed just how far he had to go.

Chris Young
Mets, 31 years old
$1.1 million, plus another $3.4 million in incentives
Through 2007, Young thrived in the Padres rotation, but he hasn’t pitched a full Major League season since then. He made 18 starts in ’08, 14 starts in ’09 and four starts last year. He did have a 0.90 ERA through those 2010 starts, and three of them came in September.

Major League, non-guaranteed

Erik Bedard
Mariners, 32 years old
$1 million, $6.35 million in incentives
Bedard made three minor league starts last season. He’s pitched 164 big league innings since 2007, a promising career thrown off track by injuries. When he’s pitched, though, he’s been terrific and the Mariners gave up a significant package of young players — including Adam Jones and Chris Tillman — to trade for him in 2008.

Minor league contracts

Bartolo Colon
Yankees, 37 years old
$900,000 if on the roster
The American League Cy Young winner in 2005, Colon has not started more than 18 big league games in any season since. He last pitched in the Majors in 2009 when he had a 4.19 ERA through 12 starts with the White Sox. The Yankees were impressed by Colon in winter ball, where he had a 1.93 ERA this offseason.

Freddy Garcia
Yankees, 35 years old
$1.5 million if on the roster, total of $5.1 million with incentives
Limited to a total of 12 Major League starts in 2008 and 2009, Garcia came back to make 28 starts for the White Sox in 2010. He went 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA. According to winter reports out of Venezuela, Garcia has not been experiencing any of the shoulder problems that previously hampered him, but from ’07 to ’09 he missed more time than he pitched.

Braden Looper
Cubs, 36 years old
$1 million if on the roster, total of $3 million with incentives
Sat out all of 2010. In 2009, the converted reliever managed 14 wins with the Brewers, despite a 5.22 ERA and a league-worst 113 earned runs allowed. Presumably the Cubs could look at him as a bullpen option — or Triple-A insurances — considering their rotation is full.

Rodrigo Lopez
Braves, 35 years old
——
I couldn’t find contract details for Lopez, and I honestly doubt anyone is especially interested in them. He spent most of 2009 in Triple-A, and had a 5.70 when he did get to the big leagues that year. Last season, he went 7-16 with a 5.00 ERA in Arizona. He has a career 4.85 ERA with a 1.45 WHIP, and he’s twice led the National League in both loses and earned runs.

I grew up with a different rivalry. As a kid in Southeast Missouri, I was raised on a rivalry that had me cheering for Tony Pena and against Joe Girardi (and yes, Joe knows). The Cardinals were my childhood team, and where I grew up, Cardinals-Cubs is still a huge deal. Out west, the Giants-Dodgers rivalry has traveled from one coast to the other and remains heated.

But Yankees-Red Sox is something different. Especially today.

Cliff Lee signing in Philadelphia would not have been nearly as big of a deal if not for the fact the Yankees were in pursuit. When Jayson Werth signed his megadeal with Washington, the market for free agent outfielders reached new heights, but the Red Sox still had Carl Crawford under contract within a week.

With the market offering no obvious rotation replacement for Lee, the Yankees shifted focus to sign the market’s best reliever, Rafael Soriano, to a $35-million deal. Knowing they’d have to make up for the loss of both Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre, the Red Sox opened the offseason with a blockbuster trade for Adrian Gonzalez.

These teams are built on those sort of moves, big names and big contracts. It’s what we’ve come to expect from a rivalry that’s almost it’s own global brand. Put a Yankees player next to a Red Sox player on a magazine cover, and it’s going to sell. Give ESPN its choice of Sunday night matchup, and it will choose Yankees-Red Sox every time. Just like Pete wrote this morning, the rivalry has built over time, and it’s huge right now.

Which makes the Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon signings unfamiliar, and based on some of the fan response, unsettling.

These teams are used to big-name players signing big-time contracts, but this winter, the market simply wasn’t there. It provided more of what the Red Sox needed (outfield and bullpen help) than what the Yankees needed (rotation, rotation, rotation). Instead of throwing silly money at a bad free agent market, Brian Cashman has taken on a couple of low-risk contracts with the hope that at least one of them pays some dividends.

It’s not what this rivalry and this fan base is used to, but it’s not uncommon. And bringing two veterans for a six-week tryout certainly isn’t going to hurt anything. Cliff Lee went somewhere else, and the rest of the market simply didn’t allow for the sort of blockbuster the Yankees are used to.