With the Yankees Offices Reopening, There Are Tons of Updates

Kevin RozellJan 6, 2009

(Zell's Pinstripe Blog)

Today was a busy day for the Yankees. This should wrap it all up:

Former Yankee, Carl Pavano has been signed by the Cleveland Indians. He was signed to a one-year, $1.5M contract. The deal also includes $5.3M in incentives. The American Idle is finally gone. Thank God…
John Rodriguez , Jason Johnson , & Angel Berroa were all signed by the Yankees to minor-league contracts today. I like Rodriguez and Berroa a lot. Cashman just continues to work his magic this offseason.
Sergio Mitre was given a 50-game suspension from the league for testing positive for a performance enhancing drugs. That’s a shame.
The Giambino is going to Oakland. He will be making $4.5M in 2009, with either a $5 million or a $1 million buyout in 2010. The deal will be complete once he passes his physical tomorrow. Wishing the best of luck to Jason in the future.
Phil Coke has been asked to come to Spring Training as a starter. This is interesting. I really liked him in the bullpen. Now Hughes and the other candidates will have more competition come this Spring. It will be a very interesting to see how some of these roster competitions work out. (Melky/Gardy-Hughes, Aceves, Coke..etc.)
Teixeira has already stated that he won’t be playing in the ‘09 World Baseball Classic. Jeter and A-Rod are the only locks for the WBC so far. I’m sure other names will come up as well, but it all depends on their current status and whether or not the Yankees will let them play.
The Yanks are planning on lowering their contract offer to Andy Pettitte. This is a rumor as of now, and nothing has happened as of yet. It will be really sad to see Pettitte go out this way.
According to Ken Rosenthal, Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady are drawing “significant interest in trade talks.” Both of them have a possibility of being traded, as the Yankees outfield is very cluttered. I wouldn’t just give them away though. Nady was terrific for the Yanks in the time he spent with them last season. I wouldn’t mind them keeping him myself. I would definitely trade Swisher if they could get a solid deal done.
Yanks designate Shelley Duncan for assignment today. This was done to make room for Tex. Shelley sparked the team when he first got the call, but he just couldn’t do it this past season. He struggled at the major league level and landed on the DL when he was sent to the minors. He really fell off the charts. It was fun while it lasted.