The LoHud Yankees Blog

More notes a little bit later, but for now, here are some of the immediately noteworthy items from the Yankees clubhouse. First and foremost, it’s beginning to look like Gustavo Molina is going to make the team.

Today, a reporter told Joe Girardi that Molina’s chances — at the very least — seem to have improved in the past few days.

“Very good observation,” he said.

You’ll remember that earlier this spring Girardi was talking about the value of a young catcher learning at the big league level. Today, his answer about the backup catching situation was much, much different.

“(Molina)’s a guy we’re looking at,” he said. “With Cervi going down, and you have young kids that you really consider as everyday players, prospects. You want them to play everyday. If you feel there’s a need that you have to take one of them, you will. Molina does have big league experience. We’ve given the young kids a lot of looks, and we’re giving Molina some looks now too so that we feel that we’re making the right decision, what’s right for everyone, the team (and) these young guys careers.

“These are kids that have only caught every day one year. The determination is, do you want to take them out of that for a month (or) a month and a half and retard their development a little bit? That’s a decision we have to make. Or do you want to go with a veteran guy who has caught in the major leagues and knows how to do it?”

—

• Cervelli will go to the doctor this week and said he expects to have the protective boot taken off on Tuesday.

• Curtis Granderson will do some light running and agility today. Girardi said it’s still uncertain whether Granderson will be able to open on the big league roster, but new addition Chris Dickerson is someone the Yankees would look at to take his place if necessary.

• Nick Swisher probably could have played right field, Girardi said, but they decided to give him a DH day instead. Swisher fouled a ball of his foot yesterday.

• Manny Banuelos will start tomorrow’s big league game. CC Sabathia will pitch at the minor league complex.

• Girardi wouldn’t fully commit to Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova and Bartolo Colon making the roster, but he made it clear that all three are almost certainly going to break camp with the team in one role or another. “You don’t want to say everything is etched in stone,” Girardi said. “But it’s a little clearer.”

Brian Cashman just made it clear that Kevin Millwood has “no chance” to break camp on the major league roster.

Here’s the lineup for tonight.

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Andruw Jones RF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez LF

RHP Ivan Nova

The Yankees just made their Kevin Millwood signing official. ESPNNewYork reports that Millwood can opt out if he’s not on the big league roster by May 1. My guess is that this is nothing but Colon/Garcia insurance, just in case one of those two falls apart in the first month of the season. Here’s the Yankees announcement.

The New York Yankees today signed right-handed pitcher Kevin Millwood to a minor league contract. The contract is contingent upon Millwood passing a physical.

Millwood, 36, owns a 159-137 career record with a 4.11 ERA in 414 combined games (406 starts) over 14 Major League seasons with Atlanta (1997-2002), Philadelphia (2003-04), Cleveland (2005), Texas (2006-09) and Baltimore (2010).

Among active pitchers currently signed with a Major League organization, Millwood ranks third in strikeouts (1,940) and fifth in wins, starts and innings pitched (2505.0). He has made at least 30 starts in five of the last six seasons and has surpassed 190.0 IP eight times in his career, including each of the last two seasons (198.2 IP w/ Texas in 2009 and 190.2 IP w/ Baltimore in 2010).

He made 31 starts with the Orioles in 2010, going 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA (190.2 IP, 108 ER) and 132 strikeouts. The Orioles’ Opening Day starter, Millwood finished with the second-worst run support in the American League in 2010 (3.26 runs/game), trailing only Seattle’s Cy Young Award winner Felix Hernandez (3.10).

Millwood limited opponents to three runs or less in nearly half of his outings in 2010 (14 of 31) and tossed at least 6.0 innings 19 times. Over his final 10 starts of the season, he went 2-5 with a 3.29 ERA (65.2IP, 24ER).

The Yankees pitching situation just got a lot clearer. Here’s the Associated Press story.

PHOENIX (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers have traded outfielder Chris Dickerson to the New York Yankees for right-hander Sergio Mitre in an effort to bolster their banged-up pitching staff.

The 30-year-old Mitre is 13-29 with a 5.27 ERA in seven seasons with the Cubs, Marlins and the Yankees. Mitre is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in 11 innings this spring training. Milwaukee will have to cover several starts while 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke recovers from a broken rib.

The 28-year-old Dickerson was acquired by the Brewers in August last season for Jim Edmonds and had limited action in 25 games last year. He’s hitting .278 with five RBIs in 17 games in spring training, but was expected to lose out for one of the last bench spots to Brandon Boggs and Jeremy Reed.

The greatest downside to keeping Ivan Nova on the big league roster seemed to be the loss of immediate pitching depth.

Optioning Nova to Triple-A would mean keeping all four candidates, and having Nova to replace an injured to ineffective starter. Keeping Nova in New York would mean losing one of the other candidates, leaving no experienced replacement waiting in Scranton.

That depth issue might have subsided this morning with Jon Heyman’s report that Kevin Millwood has agreed to a minor league deal.

With Millwood, the Yankees will have another Freddy Garcia-type waiting in Triple-A. He’s not flashy, and he’s no longer a front of the rotation type, but the Yankees can count on him for innings and they know the bright lights won’t faze him. If the young starters in Triple-A get off to slow starts, Millwood would be a reasonable alternative.

For those of us who enjoy minor league speculation, though, this does nothing to clear up an already cloudy Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching staff. By my count, the Yankees have 97 pitchers for 13 spots in Triple-A. Maybe it’s not quite that many, but it’s a lot.

Freddy Garcia was long gone by the time Kei Igawa pitched his one inning at the Yankees minor league complex on Thursday. After five days in Japan, Igawa returned this week to get back to baseball.

I“It was pretty disastrous,” he said. “The roads were a mess and when I was home, the water wasn’t running. It was pretty hard for me… I feel relieved that my parents and family were okay. The town is a mess, though, and right now the radiation is a big problem. That worries me a lot.”

Igawa’s hometown of Oarai is on the coast and was hit hard. Not as hard as some of the more northern cities and towns, but hard enough that he has several friends with flooded homes, and the drive from the airport to his home took twice as long as usual.

When the earthquake hit, Igawa got a frantic call from his wife, who is living in Japan.

“She was in a panic,” Igawa said. “That worried me the most.”

When the tsunami hit, Igawa suddenly couldn’t reach anyone. He finally got in touch via email, but he didn’t speak to his wife or parents again until he actually got to Japan.

“To see my wife was a huge relief,” he said. “The house was okay, but the inside was a little shaken and things were broken… I wanted to stay home a little longer, because my family and friends are going through a hard time. But I also had to resume baseball, because that’s my job.”

The Yankees sent this press release earlier today. I have no idea how many people are a member of the official Yankees fan club, but my guess it at least one or blog readers are involved.

The New York Yankees today announced the restructuring of Yankees Universe, the official fan club of the New York Yankees. Membership privileges extend to all aspects of the fan experience, including exclusive website advantages, discounts on official Yankees Clubhouse Shops merchandise and Fast Track entrance at select game days.

All members of Yankees Universe will have access to special content on the members-only website, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Yankee Stadium, player interviews, chats, photos and articles. Members will also receive a complimentary subscription to 2011 MLB.comâ Gameday Audio for your PC, providing the ability to listen to all Major League Baseball games live online, as well as the archives of those games.

Yankees Universe members will also receive a 10 percent discount on merchandise at Yankees Clubhouse Shops throughout Manhattan, and can take advantage of special offers routinely delivered via email and online at the Yankees Universe website.

For regular season home games, all Yankees Universe Members (with membership card and valid ticket) can enter Yankee Stadium’s Gate 2 without delay. In addition, during Wednesday and Thursday day games and Sunday regular season home games, members can enter the New York Yankees Museum presented by Bank of America through a Fast Track entrance.

The restructured Yankees Universe Fan Club offers four tiers – the Universe Explorer, the Universe Rookie, the Universe Champion and the Universe MVP – each offering a variety of benefits to its members. Upon registering, new members will be issued a personal membership card and a welcome letter from Derek Jeter.

Fans that join as a Universe Rookie (created when the team’s fan club was merged with Yankees Universe) will receive a Yankees Universe T-shirt along with a limited edition Derek Jeter bobble-head, available only to those fans enrolling in this package.

Fans that sign up for the MVP package will receive two Field Level tickets to a select 2011 New York Yankees regular season home game as well as a copy of Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective hardcover book – a combined value of $700. Only a limited quantity of these packages will be made available.

“A membership in the Yankees Universe offers our fans the opportunity to become part of the team,” said Deborah A. Tymon, Yankees Senior Vice President of Marketing. “By joining Yankees Universe, fans will be able to connect with other fans and the Yankees on a unique level.”

In continuance with the Yankees’ long-standing commitment to the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Yankees Universe will donate a portion of its proceeds to support the hospital’s research and treatment initiatives for children with cancer.

To become a member of Yankees Universe or for more information, visit www.yankees.com/universe or call 800-GO-YANKS.

In the end, the Yankees rotation decision has come down to taking a chance or playing it safe. There are four candidates for three jobs, and none has pitched so poorly that he clearly doesn’t belong. The ones who have pitched the most are the ones who have the most to prove. The ones who have pitched the worst are the ones with the most reliable track records.

Unless Brian Cashman finds something better on the trade market — which seems unlikely — the Yankees will break camp with three of these four options. They’ll plug one into the long relief role, and use the other two to fill the rotation.

“I think they’re all risk/reward,” Cashman said. “Low-risk/reward candidates as we entered camp, and I think they’ve all done well. Well enough.”

Highest risk
Bartolo Colon
Let there be no doubt, Colon has been one of the Yankees five best starters this spring, but he’s 37 years old, overweight and he hasn’t pitched 100 innings in a season since 2005.

“You’re looking at stuff, and the question is, does he maintain his stuff?” pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “Right now, it can’t be answered, but from what I’ve seen, he can help a major league team, without a doubt… If he can stay healthy and maintain his stamina, he’s going to help us. We just have to see how it all fits together.”

High risk
Ivan Nova
Nova has been the best of the four starters this spring. He came into camp as a favorite because of last year’s numbers, and he’s been outstanding with a big fastball that he locates down in the zone.

The risk with Nova has less to do with his age — at 24 he’s easily the youngest of the bunch — and more to do with what he would cost in terms of depth. Nova is the only candidate with options. The Yankees could send him to Triple-A, keep all four candidates in the system, and if/whem someone gets hurt or struggles, Nova would provide an instant replacement. By carrying Nova on the big league roster, the Yankees have to give up someone else.

Low risk
Freddy Garcia
With the highest ERA of the four candidates, Garcia hasn’t  been especially good this spring. But he was even worse last spring, and he wound up winning 12 games, making 28 starts and generally pitching pretty well for the White Sox. There’s still some risk because Garcia had some shoulder problems the three years leading into 2010, but last year was a pretty good indication that he’s healthy and fairly reliable.

“He’s going to battle his way through starts,” Rothschild said. “He’s going to give you innings.”

Lowest risk
Sergio Mitre
It goes a bit overlooked, but Mitre was actually pretty good last year. He had a 3.33 ERA through 27 appearances, three of them spot starts. Opponents hit .223 against him, and when his sinker is working, he generates plenty of ground balls. His sloppy 2009 came the year after Tommy John surgery.

Mitre is a low risk option, largely because he seems destined for the bullpen. He probably won’t be picked for the rotation, but he’s the only one of the candidates who has considerable experience out of the pen. He’s done that job in the past, and last year he did it pretty well.

Associated Press photo of Colon

No decisions were made today. Freddy Garcia pitched pretty well, but the Yankees made it clear that he didn’t need to show them anything today. They know what he has, and six solid innings against upper level minor leaguers wasn’t going to sway their decisions.

In fact, Brian Cashman said he spent most of his time at the complex watching the Yankees minor leaguers. He wasn’t there strictly to see Garcia.

“I don’t have a scheduled meeting,” Cashman said. “But clearly we’re going to have to make decisions on this sooner than later. We have to set the roles so we can properly prepare these guys come Thursday of next week.”

A few other minor notes from the general manager.

• One week before Opening Day, Cashman said teams have begun actively checking with one another to find out what spare parts might fit other situations. Specifically, Cashman said he’s gotten some calls about his extra pitchers.

“It’s been very quiet for the most part,” Cashman said. “But now obviously, tis the season where teams are trying to fill out their rosters, make their decisions, make sure that whatever they have, that there aren’t any better opportunities available outside their camps. There are conversations now. Everybody’s just picking the phone up and checking in with each other, myself included.”

• There might be something to read into the fact that Gustavo Molina caught today instead of Jesus Montero. Cashman said it was Joe Girardi’s decision to send Molina, and he indicated that the veteran is still very much in contention for the backup catcher role. “He was brought in not to be an organizational catcher,” Cashman said. “He was brought in to be an insurance policy, much like a (Ronnie) Belliard, much like some of those other guys. He’s also competing for the spot too.”

• Cashman wouldn’t say what exactly he’s looking for in the rotation competition. “I think it depends on who you ask,” he said. “It’s not beneficial for me to answer what’s important to me. I’m the general manager, and I don’t necessarily want to participate in staking out my preferences publicly.”

• Cashman said he had not spoken to the Yankees training staff today, but as far as he knew, there was no drastic change with Curtis Granderson.

• Similar story for Nick Swisher. The fact Cashman had not heard anything about Swisher today made him believe Swisher’s foot is fine. “No one has told me otherwise,” Cashman said.

• Alan Horne was one of the first players I saw at the complex today. I get asked about him a lot, so here’s the latest: He’s throwing off a full mound and hopes to be ready to pitch early this season (though he probably won’t break camp). Turns out, during his most recent shoulder surgery, doctors finally found a large hook-shaped bone spur that had been literally ripping through parts of his shoulder. It was kind of buried, so no one found it until now, but it might have been the cause of many of his problems. He said he feels great. I haven’t heard him this optimistic in at least two years.

• Probably doesn’t mean much, but the Yankees new Cuban shortstop, Yadil Mujica, crushed a late-inning home run to right. It’s one swing on a fairly windy day, but it did standout a little bit.

• I don’t have a pitching line or anything, but Hector Noesi started the Double-A game so that Garcia could start today’s Triple-A game.

Things are about to get underway here at the minor league complex. Freddy Garcia is making his start, with Gustavo Molina — not Jesus Montero — behind the plate.

Here’s the lineup that will be playing behind him. These are mostly Double-A and Single-A guys. The players sent down yesterday won’t report until tomorrow.

Justin Snyder RF
Dan Brewer LF
Austin Krum CF
Yadil Mujica SS
Damon Sublett DH
Kevin Mahoney 1B
Deangelo Mack DH
Luis Nunez 3B
Emerson Landoni 2B
Gustavo Molina C

It’s pretty standard to have two DHs in a minor league spring game.

UPDATE, 1:18 p.m.: Garcia allowed a leadoff single in the first. A stolen base, advancing fly out and sac fly turned that single into a run.

We’re in the bottom half now, and already Justin Snyder has a solo home run and Austin Krum has a three-run home run.

UPDATE, 1:33 p.m.: Couple of singles off Garcia in the second, but one might have been caught in a big league game. He got out of the inning with a routine double play to short.

UPDATE, 2:18 p.m.: Garcia faced one over the minimum through the third, fourth and fifth.

UPDATE, 2:53 p.m.: Garcia’s final line: 6 ip, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 earned, 0 bb, 3 k. He threw 67 pitches, 47 for strikes.

I’ll have more when I get in front of a computer, but Brain Cashman said he’s gotten some phone calls from GMs about his excess pitching. He did not indicate anything is close, just said he’s been getting some calls.