The LoHud Yankees Blog

Last week started with the Yankees taking care of their greatest offseason need. CC Sabathia did not opt out, he agreed to a contract extension, and the Yankees have their irreplaceable ace at the top of their rotation.

A day later, Brian Cashman’s new contract became official, and the Yankees offseason was off and running. Cashman has started making his winter phone calls, checking in with agents and gauging the market.

When the Yankees open spring training in a few months, we’ll look back at the beginning of last week as the moment their offseason really got started.

The rest of this week in review.

• Curtis Granderson was named the American League’s Player of the Year in this year’s Players Choice Awards.

• The Elias rankings became public, including Freddy Garcia as a Type B free agent. If the Yankees offer him arbitration and he signs elsewhere, they’ll get a draft pick.

• None of the Yankees won a Gold Glove, but Granderson and Robinson Cano took home Silver Slugger Awards.

• Speaking of Granderson and Cano, they’ve been in Taiwan helping a group of Major Leaguers play a five-game exhibition series. The last game is today. The MLB team won the first four games, with Granderson hitting a grand slam and Cano having a strong — and wildly popular — series.

• The Yankees declined their option on disappointing former first-round pick Andrew Brackman, adding him to the list of free agents who became free to sign with new teams on Thursday.

• Cashman said that, despite getting Sabathia, pitching remains his offseason priority. He doesn’t foresee needing a bat, and he expects to move conservatively through the winter.

• Ohio State’s baseball field was named after Nick Swisher. I bet he wasn’t excited about it at all.

• A whole bunch of minor leaguers officially became free agents, including Kei Igawa, whose contract finally came off the books.

• Former Yankees Allie Reynolds, Jim Kaat and Luis Tiant are on the Golden Era Hall of Fame ballot.

Associated Press photo

Robinson Cano doubled in today’s fourth game of the MLB exhibition tour in Taiwan.

“They’re getting better and better with each game,” Cano said. “They’re very emotional the way they play the game. They pitched very well today and they play the game the right way. That’s what I really like. They don’t take anything for granted and they do everything the right way.”

The MLB team has won every game so far, with the fifth and final game being played tomorrow. That’s the most anticipated matchup of the series, with Chien-Ming Wang getting the start for Taiwan.

Here’s the brief Associated Press account of today’s game. Click the link above for the MLB.com story.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Washington Nationals first baseman Michael Morse hit a two-run single in the sixth inning to lead the MLB All-Star team to a 3-2 win over the Taiwan national team Saturday.

Ryan Roberts of the Arizona Diamondbacks led off the inning with a walk and went to third on a double to the right-center field by Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees.

Starting pitcher Dillon Gee of the New York Mets allowed one run and five hits in five innings.

Saturday’s game in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung was the fourth of the five-game series. The MLB squad has won all four games.

Associated Press photo

Putting too much stock into the Gulf Coast League is even more dangerous than putting too much stock into the New York-Penn League. That said, for the Yankees, the GCL is all about early player development. For the rest of us, it’s all about first impressions, and quite a few young Yankees made impressive first impressions this year.

The Yankees rookie league team hit .298/.378/.466 as a group. They were tops in the GCL in all three slash categories — by at least 20 points in each category — and no other team slugged higher than .397. To go with all that offense, the GCL Yankees pitching staff tied for the team lead in strikeouts but also finished second in walks and landed in the bottom half in team ERA. On the whole, there was more good than bad coming out of the Yankees lowest American affiliate.

Hitter of the Year: 3B Dante Bichette Jr. 
An easy call. The Yankees top pick in this year’s draft led the Gulf Coast League with 67 hits, 47 RBI and 17 doubles. Putting to rest some question about whether he deserved to be taken so high, Bichette actually got off to a slow start before becoming the best player in the GCL and earning a late promotion to Staten Island. Bichette earned plenty of praise and established himself as a legitimate hitter. The Yankees have moved slowly with most of their top high school picks recently, so Bichette could open next season in extended spring before going back to short-season Staten Island.

Pitcher of the Year: RHP Taylor Morton
Sixteen different pitchers started games for the Gulf Coast League Yankees this season, and only one of them started more than six times. Things are different at this level, and in a lot of cases it’s easier to think of this as a single pitching staff rather than a rotation and a bullpen. Morton is clearly being groomed as a starter, and he had the strongest season of the bunch. Through 12 appearances — half starts, half lengthy relief outings — Morton had a 1.98 ERA to go with 35 strikeouts and eight walks. Half of his outings were scoreless and he had a 1.14 WHIP. A high school kid drafted in the ninth round last year, Morton was making his professional debut.

Breakout performance: CF Ravel Santana
The Yankees young center field depth extends beyond Slade Heathcott and Mason Williams. After two years in the Dominican Summer League, Santana’s first season in the States was a massive success, leading Baseball America to name him the second-best prospect in the Gulf Coast League (behind Bichette Jr.). Santana hit .296/.361/.568 with 10 stolen bases and a team-high nine home runs. Santana put up similar numbers last year in the Domincan, so this doesn’t look like a fluke season. The guy can play.

Disappointing numbers: 2B David Adams
Truth be told, the Yankees didn’t have any big names who had especially disappointing seasons in the Gulf Coast League this season. Instead, the bigger disappointment was the fact that Adams played more games at this level than at any other (and he played only 17 games here). A promising infield prospect, Adams was in Double-A last year and had the year cut short by injury. He was expected back this season, but he played in only 29 total games. He hit well in those games — .370/.421/.509 between the GCL and Florida State League — but obviously the Yankees wanted to see him on the field more than that.

Top prospect watch: SS Claudio Custodio
Bichette and Santana were the top prospects on this roster, but Custodio is another guy who could easily have been the Breakout Performer of the year. He landed on Baseball America’s list of top GCL prospects after hitting .325/.433/.414 with a team-high 26 stolen bases (he was caught stealing only twice). Originally signed by the Royals, Custadio wound up with the Yankees after it was discovered he had signed with Kansas City under a fake name. He led the Gulf Coast League in runs and put himself on the prospect map in his first season in the States.

Notable: Catching prospect just keep showing up in this organization. Find room on the list for C Isaias Tejada who hit .331/.404/.568 in his first action outside of the Dominican Republic. The bad news is that he threw out a league-worst 13.7 percent of base stealers… In addition to Custodio, the Yankees had INF Jose Rosario getting time at second, third and short, and he hit .331/.372/.529… 1B/3B Tyler Austin was a 13th-round pick last year and he raked in the GCL, hitting .390/.438/.622 to earn a promotion after just 20 games. He kept hitting in Staten Island, going .323/.402/.542 after the promotion… Another 1B/3B, Matt Duran, hit .301/.365/.506 in 23 games after being taken in the fourth round this year. He’s from New Rochelle… Two RHP who worked strictly in relief, Edwin Rodriguez and Mariel Checo, had 41 strikeouts apiece. Rodriguez reached that number in 39.1 innings. Checo did it in just 27 innings. Rodriguez had a 1.12 WHIP, Checo allowed a .184 opponents batting average.

To be honest, I wrote this a few weeks ago while trying to work ahead a little bit, and I nearly forgot it had it. There’s obviously not much going on today. Might as well look back at the lowest level in the Yankees system (technically not the lowest level, but I don’t know nearly enough about the teenage prospects in the Dominican to write a post about them). 

In their search for an new general manager, the Orioles are reportedly leaning heavily toward former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette. He’s going for a second interview, and Ken Rosenthal reports that second interview will happen before the Orioles so much as finalize a meeting with Yankees amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer.

Would Darren Oliver fit as a second lefty in the Yankees bullpen?

Jerry Crasnick reports that the 41-year-old is considering pitching again, and his wife wants him to, “go wherever he thinks he has the best opportunity to win a ring.” The Yankees would surely offer that sort of opportunity, and they’re in the market for a lefty on a one-year deal (those multi-year LOOGY contracts haven’t worked out so well).

Lefties hit .227/.269/.318 off Oliver this season. They hit .200/.234/.295 off him last year.

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Another free agent pitcher that will surely be debated this winter: Mark Buerhle is reportedly willing to look into signing with any team — not only those in familiar midwest cities — but he might actually lean toward the National League this winter.

The Yankees have announced that they will partner with New York Cares for a winter coat drive on Wednesday, November 9 from 8:30 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

The first 1,250 people to donate gently-used coats will receive a pair of tickets to the Army-Rutgers football game at Yankee Stadium on November 12.

The 2011 New York Cares Coat Drive officially kicks off on November 15 and runs through December 31.

“We are very excited to be working with a wonderful organization like New York Cares to help collect coats for those in need this holiday season,” General Partner and Vice Chairperson Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal said in a released statement. “We hope our incredibly generous fans will join us in Times Square to share in the holiday spirit and help their fellow New Yorkers.”

Remember when the expectation was that a new collective bargaining agreement would in place before the end of the World Series? Well, the World Series ended a week ago, and there’s still no CBA.

It doesn’t seem as though anyone is worried about a work stoppage, but as free agency heats up, both the players and the teams will surely want to know which rules are in play. Jayson Stark pointed out today that there is, technically, no luxury tax at the moment. Stark says both sides expect one, but right now, it’s gone.

• The third game of the MLB exhibition tour of Taiwan is airing tonight on MLB Network. The game’s already been played. You can check out the results right here. 

• Sad news that former Cardinals starter Bob Forsch died last night. Just one week ago he threw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 7 of the World Series. He was one of my absolute favorites as a kid.

• Former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette was scheduled to interview for the Orioles opening today. Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer is among those reportedly interviewing tomorrow. 

• Apparently the A’s are willing to entertain trade offers for anyone but Jemile Weeks. I’m sure that opens the flood gates for Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez emails, but none of those Oakland starters will come cheap.

• Kind of an unexpected signing: The Phillies have agreed to bring Jim Thome back to Philadelphia. He could help fill the gap at first base while Ryan Howard recovers from his Achilles injury. Otherwise he’ll be limited to pinch hitting.

Associated Press photo

Today Baseball America released it’s annual list of minor league free agents. The Yankees list includes a healthy mix of familiar names, veteran players and borderline prospects.

RHP: Francisco Castillo (Hi A), Noel Castillo (Hi A), Grant Duff (AA), Logan Kensing (AAA), Jeff Marquez (AA), Kelvin Perez (Lo A), Mark Prior (AAA), Josh Schmidt (AA), Kanekoa Texeira (AA), Eric Wordekemper (AAA)
LHP: Wilkins Arias (AA), Steve Garrison (AA), Brad Halsey (AA), Kei Igawa (AA), Jose Quintana (Hi A), Josh Romanski (Hi A)
C: P.J. Pilittere (AAA)
1B: Mike Lamb (AAA)
SS: Doug Bernier (AAA), Luis Nunez (AAA)
OF: Jordan Parraz (AAA)

Obviously there are no huge names here. Guys like Nunez and Romanski might be interested in coming back, while guys like Wordekemper and Schmidt might feel like they’ll get a better look elsewhere.

Garrison and Marquez each spent a little bit of time in New York this season, but neither was viewed as an elite pitching prospect. Being a lefty certainly helps Garrison’s cause for a big league invite this winter.

The most interesting name here is Igawa, who’s contract has finally run its course, freeing the Yankees of a financial commitment that simply never worked out. There’s always seemed to be outside perception that Igawa would like to go back to Japan, but I’ve been around the guy a lot and fully believe that he wants to stay in the states. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him sign a minor league deal this offseason, though I’d be shocked if that minor league deal came with the Yankees.

A few other familiar names on the list:

1B Juan Miranda was granted free agency from the Diamondbacks. He quickly lost his grip on Arizona’s everyday big league job this season and wound up back in the minors and off the 40-man… RHP Jhonny Nunez became a free agent from the White Sox. The Yankees sent him to Chicago in the Nick Swisher trade… OF Bronson Sardinha is a free agent after playing this season in Double-A with the Rockies. I’m honestly not sure that I knew he was still playing… LHP Chase Wright was given free agency from the Brewers… RHPs Anthony Claggett and Steven Jackson are no longer in the Pirates organization. They both got a little bit of big league time with the Ynakees in ’09, though Jackson never got in a game… 2B Eric Duncan is a free agent after a pretty good year with the Cardinals in Double-A. Since leaving the Yankees, Duncan has become a kind of utility man, playing a lot of second, which he never did with the Yankees… Always interesting to see names like Jeff Clement, Andy Marte and Josh Barfield on this list. Those used to be fairly significant prospects. Now they’re looking for minor league contracts.

Good stuff for Nick Swisher, who donated $500,000 to the Ohio State baseball program and had the baseball field named in his honor. The dedication was yesterday.

“The word honor comes to mind,” Swisher said. “I never would have thought I would have been at Ohio State. When I came here, I experienced that passion, pride and tradition that Ohio State has. I think everyone on the team experiences that every single day. It’s been an amazing thing.”

You’ve probably noticed that Swisher’s a pretty passionate guy. He talks up Ohio State quite a bit in the clubhouse, and one can only imagine how excited he was to see that Nick Swisher Field sign for the first time.

Photo from Swisher’s Twitter feed

Brian Cashman was just on the Dan Patrick Show, and he was asked whether C.J. Wilson is at the top of his offseason wish list.

“I’d say it’s fair to say C.J. Wilson is probably the best pitcher on the marketplace right now since Sabathia’s been taken out and retained here,” Cashman said. “I don’t think it’s a stretch to tell anybody that he’s the most attractive candidate.”

Obviously, in a public interview like this, it’s smart to take everything Cashman says with a grain of salt, but he’s also usually one to hedge on everything. He’s not necessarily a guy who makes declarative statements like that on a whim.

Cashman cautioned that putting Wilson at the top of the list is strictly because of performance and talent. It does not take into account the contract Wilson might be after.

“You have your priority list and how it looks,” Cashman said. “But then it gets rearranged by cost analysis.”

A few other highlights from Cashman’s 10 minutes or so on the show:

• Patrick asked twice about Albert Pujols. “I think he would be on anybody’s wish list,” Cashman said. “In our circumstances, our roster, he doesn’t fit… It’s not an efficient way to try to allocate your resources.”

• Cashman said he never heard from another team about becoming their general manager this offseason.

• Is is better to build a team specifically for the postseason? “I think the (regular season) long haul is a true reflection of what your team is,” Cashman said. “Our team, I don’t think, played up to its maximum potential in October, for that one week.”

• Despite the Phillies being knocked out this postseason, Cashman said his basic philosophy hasn’t changed. “I still think pitching is the key to the kingdom,” he said. “I think that’s the recipe you have to strive for. It doesn’t mean an automatic. Nothing does. But I think that’s the right way to go.”

• Cashman said bringing back CC Sabathia “was not a layup” and there were some nervous moments. “That’s never a fun process,” Cashman said. “But the resolution we’re really happy with, and we know he is.”

• Funny question from Patrick: Does Cashman believe his time with the Yankees will end when he retires or gets fired? “I would say that normally you get fired,” Cashman said, laughing. “I think it’s a healthy way to look at it. I think at some point, they usually tell you to go.”

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Random bit of information: Cashman said he could most easily impress Patrick by showing him the Yankees conference room. It was built for draft preparation, and the walls are magnetic so that the Yankees can easily make lists and move names around. Right now, those walls are used to rank free agents by position. During the season, it has every team’s roster.

Cashman said there are five TVs — including one massive big screen — so the executives can watch five games at once, or they can pull up computer information on any of the screens. Cashman said his son plays X-box in there.

“That’s the wow room,” Cashman said. “When people come here, they’re going to get blown away by that.”

Associated Press photo