I cant believe that it has been so long since it has been held at the Stadium. 30 years in between asg's for New York is insane. Quick, does anyone here remember the 77 ASG?? No Googling. Who led off the game with a HR?
Robinson Cano is going to switch numbers from #22 to #24. This could mean that the Yankees are close to signing Clemens, or at least agreeing on something for the second half of the season. Cano switching opens up Roger's number on the Yankees. http://www.nypost.com/seven/0123200...to_rog___if_____yankees_michael_morrissey.htm
http://yankees.lohudblogs.com/ Yankees have scheduled a news conference tomorrow "to announce an international venture". With all the big names that are going to be there (including Big Stein), it must be pretty big.
Found an update on it, Yankees are going to announce plans to begin extensive scouting in China. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/sports/baseball/25chass.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin Great to see. Cashman continues to focus on expanding the Yankees' international market, re-inforcing the fact that he's the best GM in baseball when it comes to international scouting.
According to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Rockies would likely get Craig Hansen, Jacoby Ellsbury and another prospect from the Red Sox for Todd Helton if negotations are completed. Rosenthal says nothing about it, but ESPN's Buster Olney believes Matt Clement would also be involved, helping to even up the salaries for this year. Rosenthal said it's conceivable that Mike Lowell would be included, putting Garrett Atkins at first for the Rockies. However, the Red Sox would more likely have to spin him off separately. No variation of the deal sounds very good for the Red Sox. While the Denver Post and Rosenthal are both saying Helton is owed $90.1 million for six years, it's actually five years. The last $4.3 million is a buyout of his $23 million option for the sixth year. Even if the Rockies ate half of what he was owed, the Red Sox would be paying $45 million for five years to a 33-year-old first baseman whose OPS has dropped 100 points each of the last two years. We don't see why anyone would want to take that on. Jan. 27 - 1:18 pm et http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6414656
Yankees sign veteran IF Cairo to one-year contract January 26, 2007 BRONX, NEW YORK (TICKER) -- The New York Yankees stabilized their bench Friday, signing infielder Miguel Cairo to a one-year contract worth $750,000. A versatile utilityman, Cairo batted .239 with 30 RBI in 81 games with the Yankees last season. He played all four infield positions, including 45 appearances at second base. Cairo figures to serve as New York's primary backup behind shortstop Derek Jeter, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and second baseman Robinson Cano. Cairo, 32, is a career .268 hitter with 27 home runs and 280 RBI in parts of 11 seasons with the Yankees, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Toronto, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets. To make room for Cano on the active roster, the Yankees designated minor-league righthander Matt DeSalvo for assignment.
If he could actually function offensively, then I'd be fine with it. They should've just called up Gonzalez instead. He is much better defensively than Cairo, and he's young enough that he hasn't hit his offensive ceiling (although no matter how bad he is with the bat right now, he can't be as bad as Cairo and his 59 OPS+).
I'm not sure if this has been posted but individual game tickets go on sale this wednesday at 10 am online.
I agree with 10P. Cairo is just sad at the plate. His glove is nice, but there is such a disparity between his offensive and defensive skills that I don't think he's worth it.
But he has gotten some clutch hits for us as well... I agree is overall BA is low he always seems to get a hit when it counted... (Boston) at least to me
A little news on the new Triple A club: Lackawanna County Stadium's playing field may still be waiting for a delivery of natural grass, but it did receive a light coating of snow on Saturday. The home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees also had a few select visitors over the weekend, with prospects Tyler Clippard and Eric Duncan joining manager Dave Miley and pitching coach Dave Eiland to greet fans. As they learned, Northeastern Pennsylvania is quickly becoming Yankees country. "There's definitely a sense of excitement," Duncan said. "It's crazy. It was freezing cold, and they were waiting outside from something like 9:30 in the morning, with thousands of fans being here. It's pretty special right now." More than 3,000 fans visited the new Yankees Triple-A affiliate on Saturday as the club conducted a Winter Carnival, media relations director Mike Cummings said. With season-ticket sales and the merchandise both moving briskly, Cummings said that the reception was "nothing like we've ever seen." Players and coaches signed free autographs for more than 3 1/2 hours in chilling temperatures, quite the reversal from what they'll be feeling at Spring Training Major League camp, to which both Clippard and Duncan have been invited. In fact, Duncan lamented that he'd forgotten to pack a coat for his flight from Tampa. "The excitement level is through the roof for these people," Clippard said. "From what I hear and from what I've witnessed, there's extreme excitement that the Yankees organization is coming here. It's just a big outpouring, and it's good to see. It's going to be fun to play in front of that atmosphere." Since 1979, the Yankees' Triple-A affiliation had been with the Columbus Clippers of the International League. That changed last September, when the Yankees signed a two-year player development contract with the Lackawanna County Stadium Authority. The Yankees have not been shy about investing in the new venue, moving swiftly to remove the artificial turf playing field -- its previous tenants, the Philadelphia Phillies, had designed the stadium in the fashion of old Veterans Stadium. The home clubhouse will attempt to replicate the experience that players can expect once they are promoted to New York, with leather couches, carpeting and a white façade set for the season opener on April 5. "The clubhouse is better than anything I've ever been in," Clippard said. "That's where you spend most of your time. To be able to not dread coming to the ballpark with all these nice things, we can get here early and stay a little later." The Yankees' top farm club is likely to host attention-grabbing talent in 2007, particularly after the organization added multiple prospects in trades this offseason. Clippard, 21, led all Yankees Minor Leaguers with 175 strikeouts in 2006 while going 12-10 with a 3.35 ERA in 28 starts -- including a no-hitter -- for Double-A Trenton. He is poised to join a promising Scranton/Wilkes-Barre staff that could include top pitching prospect Philip Hughes, plus right-handers Humberto Sanchez (acquired from Detroit in a trade for Gary Sheffield) and Ross Ohlendorf (acquired from Arizona in a trade for Randy Johnson), among others. "I feel pretty confident that everybody who's coming in here can make a contribution to the big-league team," Clippard said. "I think the Yankees are going to like that." Duncan will be looking to use Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a vault to the big leagues. Once widely considered the Yankees' top position-player prospect, Duncan struggled in an injury-marred 2006 season, batting just .209 in a 31-game stint at Triple-A Columbus before being sent down to Double-A. With Trenton, Duncan batted .248 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs before a strained back sent him to the disabled list. Duncan said that the back has held up through rehab and he is "feeling great" as he eyes Spring Training. "Obviously, last year didn't go as well as I would have liked," Duncan said. "It was definitely a trying year, but I learned a lot. I'm looking forward to taking what I've learned. I don't feel like I need to prove myself. If I go out there and work hard and give it my best shot, everything will take care of itself." Duncan believes that his age gives him an advantage in fulfilling expectations and reaching the Major Leagues sometime in the near future. "At 22 years old and in Triple-A, I think most guys would take that," Duncan said. "I've been pretty fortunate in my years so far, playing in the Minor League system. I don't want to put a timetable anywhere, because this game is hard enough, but I'm feeling pretty good right now."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/492452p-414823c.html Rowland is one of the best in the business, like Cashman, a disciple of Gene Michael. Helped build the Yankees system, and then went on to the Angels where he built one of the best systems in all of a baseball. He's been a major part of the Royals recent trend of great drafting. Great to have him back. I don't know much about Carter, but he's been a part of the team with the best system in recent years, so I'm glad to have him on our side. Cashman continues to improve the Yankees system. Btw, in only two years, Cashman has brought the Yankees system from the bottom 5 to number 7 overall (ranked by Baseball America; and this was before the Randy Johnson trade, that could push us into the top 5 overall).
