The LoHud Yankees Blog

Around this time of year, teams typically non-tender a handful of players because pending arbitration cases will make them mare expensive than necessary. This year, the Yankees have six arbitration-eligible players, but all six play key roles moving forward. Hard to imagine the Yankees not offering a contract to any of these guys this winter.

Joba Chamberlain
Setup reliever
After Tommy John surgery, Chamberlain could be back by early summer (though he’s surely going to try to be back even sooner). The hard-throwing right-hander is part of the three-headed setup crew, building that deep bridge to closer Mariano Rivera. Even after the injury, it’s hard to imagine the Yankees simply cutting bait. Chamberlain could be back on the mound by early spring training.

Brett Gardner
Left fielder
The Yankees speedy, homegrown outfielder might have been snubbed for the Gold Glove, but he’s proven to be a valuable player in the field and on the bases. He’s doesn’t bring much pop, but he does a good job getting on base, runs better than anyone on the team and covers plenty of ground in the outfield. Could be a leadoff option again if the Yankees drop Derek Jeter in the lineup.

Phil Hughes
Starting pitcher
After a disappointing, injury-shortened season, Hughes will return as a strong favorite for a spot in the rotation. He’s seen as something of a wild card, a guy who could be as good as a No. 2 starter or as unreliable as a No. 5. But there’s no question he’ll be back, with high hopes for a significant impact.

Boone Logan
Lefty specialist
The Yankees haven’t had much luck with left-handed relievers, but Logan has stayed healthy and become the team’s go-to specialist out of the bullpen. Right now, the only alternative is a Rule 5 pick. Ultimately, the left side of the bullpen hinges on Logan, unless the Yankees find a suitable replacement (and manage to keep him healthy enough to actually pitch).

Russell Martin
Catcher
Martin could be in line for a significant raise, but the Yankees have left no doubt that they plan to bring him back and put him back behind the plate. Even with Jesus Montero ready to play a role, and Austin Romine nearly there, Martin made a strong first impression and the starting job is his.

Dave Robertson
Setup reliever
Another homegrown talent, Robertson just keeps getting better for the Yankees. Last season was a breakout experience, with Robertson emerging as not only the Yankees best setup man, but as one of the best in all of baseball. He’s heading for arbitration for the first time, but the Yankees will gladly pay a little extra to keep Robertson in those tight, late-inning situations.

Associated Press photo

Today is one of those quiet offseason days that actually means something, even without a major award announcement or any sort of league-wide meeting.

Midnight is the deadline to tender contracts for the 2012 season. For guys like Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson, it doesn’t matter — and it probably passes without notice — but for guys with a borderline spot on the roster, there’s a chance of being dismissed.

Last year, the Yankees non-tendered Dustin Moseley and Alfredo Aceves. Moseley was due for a raise in arbitration, Aceves had health concerns, and the Yankees had enough long-relief/spot-starter depth that they could afford to move on. You could very easily make the case that each decision was a mistake by the Yankees. You could also argue that long relief and back-of-the-rotation depth was a non-issue.

Moseley wound up injured, but still pitched to a 3.30 ERA in 20 starts with the Padres. Aceves stayed healthy and finished with 10 wins and a 2.61 with the Red Sox. The fact Aceves’ success came with Boston obviously added some salt to the wound. Even though not having Aceves allowed Hector Noesi to emerge last season, my guess is the Yankees wish they had Aceves back.

Right now, the Yankees 40-man roster includes some borderline players without obvious spots for next season, but those players are cheap. The arbitration-eligible players who are due for a raise have significant roles to play.

It’s a slow, cold Sunday in early December. Seems like a good day to pass along a random story Brian Cashman told last week in Dallas.

I believe it was after Mark Buehrle signed with the Marlins that Cashman was asked whether he can tell — when a free agent approaches the Yankees — whether that player is sincerely interested in playing in the Bronx or simply trying to drive up his own value.

“I guess it depends,” Cashman said. “Sometimes that answer is yes. Sometimes that answer is no, and you have to go through the process.

“I do think that we have a pretty strong pro scouting department. Our scouts know a lot of these players individually, live near them or around them or played with them or what have you. We get pretty good information. There are certain guys currently in this free agent market who I know have no interest in playing in New York because they flat out told our personnel sometime in the summer. Now they probably wish they didn’t, but that’s good information to know.

“When we start going through our pro scouting meetings, we’ll start going through the player and (a scout will say) ‘This guy does not want to play here. He told me this in this city and he says he’d never play there, doesn’t want to play there.’ Ok, let’s move on. We don’t even cover him any further than that.”

As an example, here’s the story Cashman told:

“I won’t tell you the name, but there was a guy that was on vacation, and there happened to be a Yankee fan that we knew that was on vacation with him in Mexico,” he said. “All he did was badmouth this place, but I can’t tell you how many times he called trying to get a job here when things didn’t go well in free agency for him, and he was desperate to come here, (saying) ‘Oh, I want to be a Yankee.’

“And I wouldn’t even take the call. I was like, you’re so full of it. I even told his agent, ‘Look, tell your client, our people were right there with him drinking those pina coladas when he was badmouthing us. He doesn’t want to play here. He just wants our money.”

Associated Press photo

The Winter Meetings are always full of possibility, and for some teams, that possibility becomes tangible trades and free agent signings. For the Yankees, this year’s Winter Meetings began quietly with Brian Cashman arriving later than most every other executive. By the time Cashman left, the Yankees had won the negotiating rights to a Japanese shortstop and picked two pitchers in the Rule 5 draft.

Cashman told everyone to expect a quiet week, and he delivered exactly that.

“For me to be able to push through something, I’m probably going to have to overpay to do that, and that’s a tough thing to do, especially when you’re sitting with a lot of talent, a lot of people you could slot in and (have them) do this job,” Cashman said. “It’s just, do you want to bet on somebody doing it significantly better at the expense of payroll flexibility going forward or (the loss of a prospect in a trade)? I’m OK with the balancing act. I’m OK with the decision making. I didn’t expect much, and it’s hard to improve on what we already have.”

Here’s a quick look at the past week in review.

• A one-year deal with Freddy Garcia was finalized immediately after the Winter Meetings, giving the Yankees a fifth returning starter and further minimizing the need to make a significant move for the rotation.

• With the highest posting bid, the Yankees won the right to negotiate with Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima. The Yankees have a month to secure a deal for a player they view as a utility infielder ready to step in at the big league level.

• The Yankees traded up and took two players in the Rule 5 draft. Lefty Cesar Cabral comes out of the Red Sox organization to compete for a left-handed spot in the bullpen. Right-hander Brad Meyers comes from the Nationals and will try to be the long man.

• The Yankees released outfielder Greg Golson and designated outfielder Colin Curtis for assignment.

• Hector Noesi continued to get himself stretched out in winter ball, making his longest start of the offseason. Cashman said last week that the Yankees have no intention of using Noesi as a reliever next season.

• Yu Darvish was posted, though it’s unclear whether the Yankees plan to make a bid.

• Some of the winter’s top free agents, including Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle came off the board as the Marlins and Angels were the most aggressive teams of the Winter Meetings.

• It was announced that Rutgers and Iowa State will play in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

Associated Press photo

Just a few notes and links on this fairly quiet Saturday…

Or it was fairly quiet until news broke that Ryan Braun tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Braun has denied any wrongdoing in statement.

• Good job by the guys over at River Ave. Blues, who actually got Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker to translate the Hiroyuki Nakajima article I linked to earlier today. “I thought ‘Whoa!’ I got a bid from a great team,’” Nakajima said. The article went on to say it’s likely he’ll sign because he badly wants to play in the states.

• The Yankees have re-signed minor league right-hander Kelvin Perez. 

• Found this old post from a Nationals blog about Yankees Rule 5 pick Brad Meyers. The guy walks almost no one, and injuries slowed his progress in the upper levels of the minors.

• New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine says setup man Daniel Bard will be prepped as a starter – not as the team’s next closer — when Boston reports to spring training.

• Smart move by the Rays to lock up young starter Matt Moore to a reasonable deal. Obviously there’s risk involved, but Moore’s awfully good, and this is the kind of move that lets a smaller market team like the Rays stay competitive.

• Aggressive move by the Diamondbacks, who traded their top pitching prospect in a package to acquire Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow. Arizona clearly sees an opportunity to win now in that weak National League West.

• Manny Ramirez is officially back on the market. Major League Baseball approved his reinstatement.

• Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson were introduced during a fairly wild press conference in Anaheim. “It took me a couple of days to think about it,” Pujols said. “I felt it was time to make a decision, and at the end, I know it was a tough one.”

• Jimmy Rollins is still out there, but the Cardinals went ahead and signed Rafael Furcal to a two-year deal.

Assocaited Press photo

On the weekend leading into the Winter Meetings, it was easy to miss any mention of the Latin American Baseball Festival taking place in Panama City. Several Major League stars made the trip south for an exhibition game, and some of the Yankees biggest names — Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia and Jorge Posada — were among them. The Associated Press has pictures to prove there really are places where it’s warm this time of year.

Associated Press photos

After he picked a long man in the Rule 5 draft, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made it clear that he does not want to use Hector Noesi as a reliever next season.

“I have no intention of Noesi doing that again,” Cashman said. “I just think Noesi is a starter, so one way or another, that’s where he needs to be. I don’t want to waste his time as a long man if we can avoid it.”

Right now, Noesi is down in the Dominican Republic, being stretched out as a starter. His most recent outing came on Thursday, and at 6.2 innings, it was his longest of the winter. He took the loss that day — five hits, three runs, five strikeouts, no walks — but his numbers are still encouraging with a 2.66 ERA, 24 strikeouts and seven walks.

Noesi is sixth in the league in ERA, fifth in innings pitched and second in games started. He’s getting his work in, and that’s the point of him being down there. Between New York and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Noesi had 81 innings during the regular season. He’s now up to 40.2 innings in the Dominican, pushing him above 120 for the year. He’s thrown that many innings in a year only once before, and that was 2010 when he reached 160.

A few other notes from winter ball:

• Guess who leads the Mexican Winter League in home runs… Of course it’s Jorge Vazquez, who has 17 homers in 46 games. He’s also fourth in the league with a .354 batting average, third with a .417 on-base percentage and first with a .680 slugging percentage. Of course, his 53 strikeouts are the second-most in the league behind Victor Diaz who has a whopping 70.

• Designated for assignment earlier this week, Colin Curtis has eight hits in his past four games down in Venezuela. His slash line is up to .301/.396/.446 with two stolen bases and two home runs. He’s playing well in his first action since injuring his shoulder in spring training. Curtis has options remaining, so a team might claim him to add some left-handed outfield depth.

• Ramiro Pena went deep yesterday! The usually light-hitting shortstop is batting .270 and has three home runs in 20 games down in Mexico. He’s hitting especially well against lefties (.321/.387/.571).

• On Thursday, Pat Venditte went untaken in the Rule 5 draft. He also pitched two hitless innings that day. The switch-pitcher has 32 strikeouts and only two walks in 31 innings in Mexico this winter. He’s pitched at least two innings in seven of his past nine appearances.

• Playing in Puerto Rico, Double-A outfielder Ray Kruml has three hits in his past two games but is still batting just .220/.242/.305 through 20 games. He has four extra-base hits, two of them coming on Wednesday.

• You know who’s playing pretty well this winter? Organizational catcher Jose Gil. Finally invited to big league camp last year, Gil has turned in a .282/.338/.465 slash line down in Venezuela. It’s not enough to put him on the map, especially not in this catching-rich organization, but there’s no doubt he’s producing.

• Another small name from the organization who’s playing well this winter: Double-A shortstop Jose Pirela — coming off a fairly disappointing regular season — is hitting .308/.354/.424 while getting most of his time at second base down in Venezuela. He’s been hitting third for his team and he’s tied or second in the league with four triples.

Associated Press photo of Noesi

Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima spoken about the possibility of signing with the Yankees, though to be perfectly honest, it’s hard for me tell what exactly he said. Nakajima spoke to Nikkan Sports, which means the link is in Japanese.

An online translation of the text, though, includes this line: “the possibility of the entry refusal is extremely low…”

Maybe the translation is wrong, and maybe I’m reading it in the wrong context, but it seems to indicate that Nakajima wants to play next season and is downplaying the chances of refusing to sign a deal with the Yankees. There has been significant speculation that the Yankees might not offer a big enough contract — or a big enough role — to entice Nakajima to leave Japan. He’s surely looking for a chance to get significant playing time, and with the Yankees, he’d be little more than a second utility infielder.

Despite industry-wide expectation that the Yankees will be in full pursuit of Yu Darvish, the Yankees themselves are speaking as if the Japanese starter is out of their price range. Brian Cashman has said all winter that he didn’t expect to spend big on a free agent, and signing Darvish will certainly count as spending big.

The free agent market’s top two starters are already off the board. If the Yankees aren’t willing to pay for Darvish — and if trade market asking prices don’t come down — there’s a good chance the Yankees rotation will remain unchanged with CC Sabathia, Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes.

If that’s the case, Hughes might just be the key to the rotation’s success or failure.

“How does he bounce back?” Joe Girardi said. “Is he able to be the guy that we had in 2010, and if he is, that’s almost like going out and making a move because now you’re acquiring a guy, in a sense. We didn’t really have the Phil Hughes from 2010 and 2011.”

A return to form for Hughes — a season without injuries and without prolonged hiccups — would be a massive upgrade for the Yankees rotation.

“I think it was a learning situation,” Girardi said. “I think players go through different learning curves during the big leagues. Just the look he had in his eyes when he left last year and came out of the bullpen for us, I just felt that Phil was poised to have a good year for us, and he’s determined to get back to where he was. He’s working hard I know in California, and I’m looking forward to getting Phil back.”

If the Yankees can’t make a move for another starter, they’ll have little choice but to count on Hughes to be back at his best, healthy and effective.

“I’ve got to keep taking a step back and recognizing that we’ve got guys in our system that are producing,” Cashman said. “… We’ve got a lot of depth. Can we add to it? We’d like to. But is it realistic? It’s not necessarily that realistic because for me to be able to push through something, I’m probably going to have to overpay to do that, and that’s a tough thing to do, especially when you’re sitting with a lot of talent, a lot of people you could slot in and (have them) do this job.”

Associated Press photo

During a week when all eyes were focused on which pitchers the Yankees might acquire, the guys already under contract were largely ignored. Mariano Rivera was said to be just fine after surgery on his vocal cords, Freddy Garcia finalized his new deal, and Joba Chamberlain continued his steady progress from this summer’s Tommy John surgery.

Using his Twitter feed, Chamberlain has been giving occasional updates, and earlier this week, his most recent update was as upbeat as ever.

Elbow is doing great. Playing long toss, flat ground and it feels awesome. Can’t thank my guys enough at ANDREWS for getting me back!!

Both the free agent and trade markets have been heavy on late-inning relievers, but the Yankees haven’t jumped into that fray. They’ve had little reason to. Very real talent has been on the move — and guys like Ryan Madson and Francisco Cordero are still out there — but the Yankees have plenty of late-inning depth with Rivera, Dave Robertson, Rafael Soriano and (eventually) Chamberlain. Late-inning relief was a strength this year even without Chamberlain. It could be even better if he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Associated Press photo