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The Yankees offered a minor league deal to Andruw Jones and he supposedly turned it down. Are players that dumb these days? Players should be taking any deal they can get with this economy.

The Yankees are still selling spring training tickets. In a good year they sell out in a day. I am hoping there are some good ticket promotions so I can attend a few games at the new cathedral. I am not going to pay $25-30 a pop for tier tickets to a midweek game against the Orioles.

My non-roster invite that will surprise is Igawa. I think the guy is ready for prime time. He is going to shock the world. Looking forward to seeing Action Jackson in spring training.

The tickets came today for the Braves/Yankees spring training game. Hopefully by then A-Rod will be a baseball player and not a pre-madonna.

The Yankees.com website says 7 days and 14 hours until spring training. It was very cold today, wind chills around zero so the thought of pitchers and catchers reporting in 7 days warmed my bones.

There are not really any huge position/pitching battles going into Spring Training. Centerfield is the only position battle between Melky and Gardner with Swisher as an emergency third option. The bench is also in flux but that is a flux area every year for every team.

The middle relief is the other place for some battles. Guys like Veras, Ramirez, Bruney, Robertson, Melancon will be looking for spots. Mo and Marte are about the only 2 solid spots in the bullpen. I think with this competition the bullpen could be a strength this year.

Of course with Wang coming back from injury, AJ one minor ache away from the DL and CC coming off 2 years of heavy workloads, a spot may open up in the rotation come opening day.

Just over a week until the real sport begins. I am really excited about this year with a couple new stadiums opening up in New York. I plan on going to a few games at each stadium this year. I will probably have to take out a small loan to go to the games. Both stadiums will sell out every game because of the new stadiums. The issue will be next year when the economy is still in rough shape.

The big controversy is the Joe Torre book. Did he sell out? Will his number still be retired? Has he lost his image in New York. I have not read the book so I reserve judgment.

With Manny rejecting a 1 year deal from the Dodgers I wonder if the Yankees will make one more big splash.