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2012 Rule 5 Draft Liveblog

December 6, 2012 by Mike Leave a Comment

10:45am: The Yankees did not take or lose any players in the Rule 5 Draft, in either the Major League or Minor League phase.

9:50am: The Rule 5 Draft marks the unofficial end of the Winter Meetings as executives will leave the meetings in droves in about an hour or two. Clubs will spend some time (and cash) this morning hoping to grab the next Johan Santana or Dan Uggla, or even just the next Joe Paterson or Lucas Luetge. Digging up a useful left-handed matchup reliever is a pretty great return on a Rule 5 pick.

Only three of last year’s Rule 5 picks managed to stick with their new team, highlighted by Luetge. The Mariners kept him, the Orioles kept infielder Ryan Flaherty, and the Astros kept right-hander Rhiner Cruz. The Yankees selected two players last year but neither made it out of Spring Training healthy. Right-hander Brad Meyers hurt his shoulder in an offseason workout, spent the entire season on the DL, then was returned to the Nationals after the season. Lefty Cesar Cabral nearly made the team out of camp before breaking his elbow. He’s still with the Yankees and will get another look in Spring Training.

The Yankees have a full 40-man roster and are unable to make a selection today, but they do have a handful of players who could be picked. Left-hander Vidal Nuno and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte were mentioned as possible selection candidates by Baseball America (subs. req’d), though Venditte has gone undrafted in each of the last two years and he’s now coming off right shoulder surgery as well. Marc Hulet at FanGraphs tabbed right-hander Graham Stoneburner as one of the draft’s best available players. I honestly can’t remember the last time the Yankees lost a player in the Rule 5 Draft and regretted it.

The Rule 5 Draft rules are pretty simple and if you’ve been reading RAB long enough, surely you know them by now. If not, I recommend taking a quick glance at the Wikipedia page. The draft is scheduled to begin at 10am ET and usually lasts a half-hour or so. I’ll liveblog the whole thing here because hey, someone’s gotta do it. All you hot stove talk should go here.

Filed Under: Hot Stove League Tagged With: 2012 Winter Meetings, Rule 5 Draft

Hoch: Yankees make offer to Kevin Youkilis

December 6, 2012 by Mike 144 Comments

10:14am: Ken Rosenthal says Youkilis has two-year offers in the $16-18M range. Guessing the Indians are in on that.

9:05am: Via Bryan Hoch: The Yankees have offered Kevin Youkilis a one-year deal worth $12M. He earned $12.25M last season. Pricey, but that is where the market’s at.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: 2012 Winter Meetings, Kevin Youkilis

Winter Meetings Day Four Open Thread

December 6, 2012 by Mike 73 Comments

(Scott Cunningham/Getty)

The Winter Meetings officially come to a close today, and the rumor mill should start to dry up around noon (probably sooner) after the clubs flee the Gaylord Opryland. The two biggest free agents (Zack Greinke & Josh Hamilton) are still on the board and the Yankees haven’t done a thing other than announce Alex Rodriguez’s new hip injury. Somehow they’re actually going to leave this week with more questions than when it started.

The Rule 5 Draft starts at 10am ET and I’ll have a liveblog up for that, but otherwise this is your thread for various Yankees-related rumblings throughout the day. Here are Monday’s, Tuesday’s, and Wednesday’s rumors. All times are ET.

  • 3:49pm: The Yankees have not contacted the Padres about Chase Headley, which is a little surprising. Even though San Diego says he’s off-limits, you’d think they’d at least ask to hear it from the horse’s mouth. [Chad Jennings]
  • 12:06pm: The Yankees spoke to the Mets about R.A. Dickey this week, but apparently they didn’t have the right pieces to swing a trade. I can’t imagine the PR hit the Mets would have taken had they dealt the reigning Cy Young Award winner to the Bronx. [Andy Martino]
  • 10:53am: The Yankees did not inquire on Michael Young because they don’t believe he can handle third base full-time. Can’t say I disagree. [Joel Sherman]
  • 10:49am: Cashman met with reporters during the Rule 5 Draft and said he’s been engaged in trades more than free agents so far. [Chad Jennings]
  • 8:40am: Curtis Granderson is one of five players the Phillies are targeting for their center field opening. It’s unclear if (or how much) the two sides have talked and what Philadelphia could give up in return. [Danny Knobler]
  • 8:00am: Agents who have spoken to the Yankees get the impression that a clamp has been placed on the team’s spending. Brian Cashman is supposedly frustrated by his inability to act and is working with ownership to see what he can spend. This is ridiculous. [Joel Sherman]
  • Veteran infielder Alex Gonzalez is in the team’s mix of third base candidates. The 35-year-old has some pop, but he’s a sub-.300 OBP candidate. Gonzalez is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL and was considered a strong defender at short, though he’s never played a big league game at another position (even DH). The Yankees need to see him work out following surgery before discussing a contract. [George King]
  • The Yankees are open to discussing Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova in trades. This isn’t that surprising, they’ve always been a team that will listen on pretty much every player. [Andrew Marchand]

Filed Under: Hot Stove League Tagged With: 2012 Winter Meetings, Alex Gonzalez, Chase Headley, Curtis Granderson, Ivan Nova, New York Mets, Phil Hughes, Philadelphia Phillies, R.A. Dickey, San Diego Padres

Update: Cubs agree to sign Nate Schierholtz

December 5, 2012 by Mike 244 Comments

9:30pm: Schierholtz has agreed to a one-year contract with the Cubs according to Jerry Crasnick. So much for that.

8:24pm: Via Joel Sherman: Free agent outfielder Nate Schierholtz has an offer in hand from the Yankees. He says it’s believed to be the first offer the team has made to a position player this offseason. Progress!

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: 2012 Winter Meetings, Nate Schierholtz

Boras confirms no extension talks for Robinson Cano

December 5, 2012 by Mike 28 Comments

Scott Boras took over the hotel lobby earlier this evening to discuss a number of topics with the media, and during the scrum he confirmed that he has not had any talks with the Yankees about a contract extension for Robinson Cano. That’s not terribly surprising, but it’s an update straight from the horse’s mouth. Given the market inflation we’ve seen so far this winter, it seems all but certain that Robbie will be able to fetch $200M+ on the open market next year.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: 2012 Winter Meetings, Robinson Cano

Open Thread: Day Three from Nashville

December 5, 2012 by Mike 170 Comments

Well, today was kind of an odd day. We woke up to the reports of the Yankees having interest, possibly substantial interest, in both Jeff Keppinger and Eric Chavez, but by the afternoon they had both signed with other teams. The Rule 5 Draft tomorrow morning is the unofficial end of the Winter Meetings as team executives tend to flee the scene before noon, so time is running out to get something done here. This stuff can obviously change in a heartbeat, but it’s looking more and more likely that the Yankees will depart Nashville having lost a player (Alex Rodriguez to injury) without any additions to compensate.

Anyway, here is your open thread for the evening. The Knicks are playing tonight and that’s pretty much it, so talk about whatever you like here. Go nuts.

Filed Under: Open Thread

Marchand: Yankees looking into hiring an assistant hitting coach

December 5, 2012 by Mike 26 Comments

Via Andrew Marchand: The Yankees and looking into hiring an assistant hitting coach to pair with the incumbent Kevin Long. Two hitting coaches is one of baseball’s newest trends, and a recent article by The Sporting News says eleven teams currently staff an assistant or are seeking one this winter. Obviously we don’t know when the team started talking about this, but it seems odd that this is coming out after Greg Colbrunn (Red Sox) and Tino Martinez (Marlins) left the organization for hitting coach gigs elsewhere.

Filed Under: Asides, Coaching Staff

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