River Avenue Blues

Cafardo: Yankees monitoring Javy Vazquez in winter ball

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Via Nick Cafardo: The Yankees are one of several teams who have been watching Javy Vazquez’s recent winter ball outings in Puerto Rico. Bob Nightengale says he’s throwing 92-95 mph and scouts are raving.

Vazquez, 36, has pitched to a 3.52 ERA with 30 strikeouts and six walks in 23 innings across six winter ball starts. He sat out the 2012 season after pitching to a 3.69 ERA (3.57 FIP) with the Marlins in 2011, a season that included an utterly dominant second half and a mid-summer velocity spike. I guess he either got healthy or fixed his mechanics. A few clubs have been all over Javy recently and although the Yankees are expected to bottom-feed for rotation depth this month, I would be floored if they brought Vazquez back for a third tour of duty, even on a minor league contract. Doesn’t hurt to watch his starts though.

Saturday Night Open Thread

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In exactly one month, pitchers and catchers will report for duty down in Tampa. It’s so close, yet so far. The Yankees still have quite a bit of work to do this offseason, so they’re going to need these next four weeks to iron things out before camp begins.

Here is your open thread for the evening. The Ravens and Broncos are still playing (on CBS), and later tonight you’ve got the Packers and 49ers (on FOX). Neither of the basketball locals are in action. Talk about the football games or anything else, you folks know how these work by now.

Cashman: Nunez could be a utility player in 2013

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Via Andrew Marchand: Brian Cashman said Eduardo Nunez would have to be a utility player if he broke camp with the Yankees in a few weeks. The GM reiterated that he sees Nunez as being most valuable at shortstop, but also acknowledged the roster situation may force their hand.

“We have everyday guys at other positions. If he makes our club, it will be at a utility role … It remains to be seen how our team shakes out and how he looks in the spring. At an everyday basis, he is a shortstop,” said Cashman. Nunez, 25, has struggled defensively (to put it lightly) his entire career and the problem seemed to be exacerbated when the Yankees started moving him around as a utility man. He can run and hit a little though, enough to keep getting shots. At this point though, after all these years of working on his defense, it’s tough to see him improving in a meaningful way going forward.

Update: Yankees release Chris Dickerson

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January 12th: The Yankees have released Dickerson according to the official site. What a waste, they couldn’t even get a fringe prospect out of him in a trade. I wouldn’t count on the team re-signing Dickerson to a minor league deal, though I suppose it’s possible.

January 4th: Via Chad Jennings: The Yankees have designated Chris Dickerson for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for the recently-claimed Russ Canzler. They have ten days to trade, release, or waive him.

Dickerson, 30, never got much of an opportunity during his two years with the organization. He’s a .266/.352/.407 (103 wRC+) career hitter in 599 big league plate appearances with a big walk rate (11.6%), a big stolen base success rate (81.8%), strong defense (+13 DRS and +14.2 UZR), and good numbers against right-handers (107 wRC+). His only crime was being a left-handed hitter on a team full of left-handed hitting outfielders.

Dickerson cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A last spring, but he’ll be able to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed again. I’m sure he would do that in hopes of finding more opportunity elsewhere. I’ve always been a fan, so hopefully someone gives Dickerson a couple hundred at-bats as a platoon bat in 2013 so we can see what he can do.

Hale: Yankees have no interest in Jim Thome

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Via Mark Hale: The Yankees have no interest in free agent DH Jim Thome. The 42-year-old slugger still offers power (.209 ISO last two years) and patience (13.3 BB%) from the left side in addition to reportedly elite character and clubhouse skills, but that’s pretty much it. He can’t play defense and needs a platoon partner. Thome is super easy to root for and appears to fit the team’s needs at DH, so it’s disappointing to hear they don’t have interest. Maybe he’ll fall into their laps on the cheap next month a la Raul Ibanez last year.

Sabathia has begun throwing program, lost more weight

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Via Dan Martin: CC Sabathia started his offseason throwing program earlier this week after having surgery in October to clear a bone spur out of his left elbow. “My elbow is feeling good,” said the left-hander. “I just started throwing on Monday. That’s the time I would normally start my throwing program, and I’ll be ready to lengthen it out and be ready to go for Spring Training.”

Sabathia, 32, has also lost some more weight this winter — “I lost a little bit of weight … Twenty pounds. Coming off the elbow surgery, I just wanted to be able to be healthy and stay healthy all year.” — in what has become an offseason tradition. It was 30 lbs. in each of the last two offseasons, but he did a much better job of keeping the weight off in 2012 than he did in 2011. The most important thing is the health of that elbow after surgery though, and it’s good to hear his rehab is progressing well.