Coming into this off season, I was pretty content with most of the team. There were two core needs. Center field and the bullpen. Obviously my crazy dream was to be in a world where B.J. Ryan and Flash both wanted to setup for the Magnificent Mo together. And on top of that, for us to get lefty killer Scott Sauerbeck. Well, even though we were in the running for Flash and Sauerbeck, none of that happened. So, what did happen?

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With Bernie back under contract and Johnny Damon in the pinstriped fold, here's where the Yankees' 25 man roster stands as of today. I haven't placed Dotel in as a reliever simply because he will probably start out the year on the DL and I haven't accounted for Mendoza because he will begin the year in the minors. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing a Sturtze and Proctor trade for a good backup OFer who could also possibly back up first base. That way, you can play Andy Phillips as the backup second and third baseman (he's played both positions in the past) and Cairo would slot right in as a backup shortstop and second baseman. As an aside, Miguel Olivo (entering his age 28 season) was recently non-tendered by San Diego. It might make some sense to see if he would sign a minor-league deal of some sort because he strikes me as an appealing option should something happen to Kelly Stinnett (entering his age 36 season). Update: Olivo signed with the Marlins.

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I was just watching ESPN and it was reported that Bernie has signed a 1 year/$1.5 million dollar deal. Good to hear.

Update: Larry over at RLYW has added his thoughts and so has Cliff over at Bronx Banter. Both guys make some excellent points and overall, are positive on the deal. However, the best reading comes in the comments (especially at RLYW) where the collective Yankee conscious seems to be debating on how to view this signing.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, while I was not enamored with the Damon signing, I felt that it was one that I could learn to live with (at least for the first 2-3 years of the deal). I had just started writing a full length piece on the positive and negative aspects of this signing but SG beat me to the punch and has written a piece over at RLYW that does a great job in providing a concise and objective looking at the signing. It's a very good read. If you're really down because of the signing, he might be able to talk to you down and if you've been jumping for joy, he might be able to temper your enthusiasm a little bit. Head over and check it out.

Though I can learn to live with it, I am not enthused with this signing...but here are various articles regarding the signing:
-ESPN.
-FoxSports.
-The Times.
-The Post.
-The Daily News.
-Newsday.

Here is the blogosphere's take on the signing:
-Bronx Banter.
-RLYW.
-Was Watching.
-NoMaas.
-Baseball Musings.
-Off the Facade.

Update: Dotel has signed. From what the article states, there doesn't seem to be an option for the next season which strikes me as odd. A team who takes a chance on an injured player theoretically should get a slight reward if that risk pays off. still, I guess you can command that when there are 11 teams interested in signing you.

Octavio Dotel, someone who I have been pushing hard for the Yankees to get, will apparently make his decision regarding who he will sign with known today. Dotel, who came up in the Mets farm system and was traded in the Mike Hampton deal, is a hard-throwing righty who just turned 32 and is coming off Tommy John surgery. He doesn't have a very good history as a closer but when he has been a set-up guy, he has been a dominant one (especially from 2001-2003 for the Astros). When the A's acquired him in 2004 as part of a three way deal with the Astros for Carlos Beltran, they tried to use him as the closer with marginal success (take a look at who sponsors Dotel's Baseball-Reference page). He was injured early last year, which allowed Huston Street to come in and lay claim to the closer job, making Dotel expendable.

According to Dotel's agent, he received 11 offers this winter (including from both the Yankees and the Mets). We'll have to see how much of this is just talk from the agent as every free agent says that the Yankees are interested if only to drive the bidding that much higher. Still, according to writer's sources, the Yankees showed more substantial interest than the Mets. An incentive-laden deal for the 2006 season with an option for the next (something like the Yankees did with Jon Leiber) would be ideal. I guess we will find out today how it plays out.

Yankees Appear Unlikely to Make a Major Move:


Glad to see it. Can't hurt anything to sign him to a minor league deal.

Via Brian.

MLB.com has an article that explains the non-tender deadline and outlines a few of the players that could be made available on Tuesday. Of course, this isn't a full list nor is it certain that any or all of these players will actually be non-tendered. Nevertheless, I thought we'd take a look at the relievers and position players that the article mentioned by name.

Relievers:
• RHP Joe Borowski. 35 year old who actually pitched 2 innings for the Yankees way back in 1997. Since then, he was effective for two seasons for the Cubs before getting hurt. Last year, he pitched well in the second half for the Devil Rays but remains an older pitcher who can't seem to strike anyone out anymore - Pass.

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Well, it looks like that dream is over. Nomar has apparently signed with the 2003 Boston Red Sox, I mean the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sorry, it is a little easy to get confused there with the Grady Little as the manager, the third baseman is Bill Mueller, one of the starting pitchers is Derek Lowe and now starting at first base will be Nomar Garciaparra. Terms of the contract haven't been released, but the New York Post has reported a base salary of $6 million and after incentives, the deal could be worth as much as $8 million. I was hoping the Yankees could have signed him to a contract near the $5 million dollar range but c'est la vie.

Update: Apparently Steve Lombardi and I think along the same lines and he had the following idea first.

However, there is a sliver of a silver lining here because if this is played right, I believe that the Dodger's plan can benefit the Yankees. LA just signed Rafael Furcal to play short and Jeff Kent is currently playing second. When Cesar Izturis comes back from rehab, they can slot him in at second base, move Kent to first and play Nomar in right. All of these moves leave one large (6-5, 240 lbs.) left-handed 26-year old South Korean without a job. I know people haven't been too high on him the last couple of year but he has played in two of the worst parks for hitters over the last two years. he's still young, he get's on-base at a good clip (.349 for his career), is decent in the field and might be non-tendered by the Dodgers. One can only hope.

noMaas.org is the satirical Yankees analysis site. We sat down with the leader of the group, Sensei John Kreese, and asked him some questions. The name "Sensei John Kreese" is fictional as, I would guess, a few of his answers to our questions are, as well.

When you're not blogging/writing/creating images about the Yankees, thinking about the Yankees, talking about the Yankees, reading about the Yankees or watching the Yankees, what are you doing?

I own a Cobra-Kai dojo where I train kids to fight in the Under 18 All-Valley Karate Tournament.

I'm a fan of noMaas.org. I think the Cashman in the convenience store image is my favorite. So, why don't you tell us a bit about it? How many people you have on staff, who does what, any details about the operation that you'd like to let us in on, etc.?

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