River Avenue Blues

Fan Confidence Poll: January 7th, 2012

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2012 Record: 95-67 (804 RS, 668 RA, 96-66 pythag. record), won AL East, swept in ALCS

Top stories from last week:

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the interactive Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
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Sunday Night Open Thread

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Forgive me for having a hockey moment, but I’m pretty psyched the NHL and NHLPA were able to reach a tentative agreement to end the lockout last night/this morning. Hockey is my go-to baseball offseason sport, so getting even a partial season (48 games, apparently) this winter is much appreciated. Plus the Rangers are actually good these days, which makes it that much more fun.

Anyway, here is your open thread for the night. The Seahawks and Redskins are still playing (on FOX), but talk about whatever you like here. Have at it.

Mustelier finishes strong as winter leagues begin to wrapup

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It’s been a few weeks, so I have plenty of notes to pass along…

  • The Yankees have released seven players according to Matt Eddy: RHP Reinier Casanova, RHP Ryan Flannery, RHP Jhorge Liccien, IF Yadil Mujica, OF Kelvin Duran, OF Justin James, and UTIL Damon Sublett. James, the club’s 13th rounder in 2011, is the notable prospect of the seven. He was a tooled-up kid without little baseball experience because he was a basketball player in high school.
  • Some injury updates courtesy of JoshNorris: RHP Diego Moreno (Tommy John surgery) should return in June. He was part of the A.J. Burnett trade. RHP Jairo Heredia and SwP Pat Venditte (shoulder) do not have a timetable and will be reassessed in camp. OF Neil Medchill is healthy and ready to go.
  • The Yankees have hired Al Pedrique as manager for Low-A Charleston. He was most recently the bench coach under Brad Mills with the Astros and will be the team’s fifth manager in five years. Carlos Mendoza, last year’s manager, is now roving defensive coach. Former organizational catcher P.J. Pilittere will replace Greg Colbrunn as the club’s hitting coach. He was always considered a strong coaching prospect.
  • Dave Miley and Tony Franklin will return for their seventh seasons as manager for Triple-A Scranton and Double-A Trenton, respectively. Miley’s entire coaching staff remains the same while Franklin will be joined by hitting coach Justin Turner, who spent the last two seasons in the same role with High-A Tampa.

The Arizona Fall League season ended more than a month ago, so check out this post for the final stats. The only Caribbean winter league still in the regular season in the Puerto Rican League, which was recently renamed the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League. Here’s an updateon the guys playing winter ball around the globe.

Australian Baseball League (season ends at the end of the month)
RHP Zach Arneson: 14 G, 16 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 19 K, 1 HB, 1 WP (0.56 ERA, 0.63 WHIP)

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Hale: Yankees have not called about Chipper Jones

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Via Mark Hale: The Yankees have not contacted Chipper Jones about possibly playing next season. Chipper’s agent says a number of teams have called this offseason, but New York was not one of them and his client is staying retired anyway.

Jones, 40, went out like a boss this past season, hitting .287/.377/.455 (126 wRC+) with 14 homers and more walks (56) than strikeouts (51). The future Hall of Famer has had a ton of injury problems in recent years and wouldn’t have been a great fit at third base (pre-Kevin Youkilis), but man oh man would he have looked marvelous at DH.

Rivera about 95%, will begin throwing in a week

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Via Bryan Hoch: Mariano Rivera is about 95% following surgery to repair a torn right ACL this summer. He’ll begin throwing in about a week. “It’s not 100%. It would be, I would say, 95%,” said Rivera yesterday. “By the time Spring Training starts, it’ll feel 100% … It needs more strengthening. The 5% will come quick.”

Rivera, 43, said he expects a normal routine in camp following the surgery. Of course, normal for Mo means reporting about a week later than the other pitchers and throwing about eight innings before the start of the season. He fully expects to be ready for Opening Day. Spring Training starts a little earlier than usual this year due to the World Baseball Classic, but that’s probably a good thing for Rivera. He’ll have plenty of time to ease back into things and prepare himself for what most assume will be the final season of his Hall of Fame career.

Update: Rangers sign Lance Berkman

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9:00pm: Berkman has agreed to a one-year contract with the Rangers according to multiple reports. He received $11M guaranteed with a vesting option based on plate appearances. It was going to be tough for the Yankees to pry Puma away from his home state at any price, especially that one. I was thinking like, half that amount.

10:00am: Via Ken Davidoff: The Yankees have interest in, and have been in contact with Lance Berkman, presumably to fill their DH position. The Astros, Rangers, and Orioles also have interest in Fat Elvis, who is a free agent for the second time in his borderline Hall of Fame career.

Berkman, 36, missed most of last season with continued knee problems (including two surgeries), but he is just one year removed from a .301/.412/.547 (163 wRC+) showing with the Cardinals. Puma needs a right-handed platoon partner these days despite being a switch-hitter, and after seven total knee surgeries, I can’t imagine he could be counted on to play the field. Berkman spent time in New York in 2010 and is reportedly good friends with Andy Pettitte, but it would be tough to lure him away from his home state with both the Astros and Rangers involved.

Given the way they Yankees have prioritized one-year contracts and, ahem, veteran players this offseason, Berkman is a perfect fit for that DH spot. He’ll bring some much-needed on-base skills to the lineup and might even hit some homers too. The questions are his knees and willingness to play far away from home more than anything.

Saturday Night Open Thread

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Here’s your open thread for the evening. The Bengals and Texans are playing right now, then a little later tonight you have the Vikings at the Packers (both games on NBC). The Knicks and Nets are both playing as well. Talk about any or all of those games here. Enjoy.