YankeeFanBlogs.com

Yankees game is on YES tonight. It will be nice to kick back and watch some Yankees baseball. CC is going for the Yankees. First time I will see him in a Yankees uniform.

Anyone get Yankee tickets yet? I am hoping to be able to make some games this year in the new stadium. I have been following the construction photos on yankees.com since ground was broken.

I am also looking forward to some Mets games at Citi Field. Both stadiums look great. Of course the new Yankee stadium will be much better.

20 days until opening day.

Any picks for March madness? I always root for Arizona.

3 weeks till opening day for the Yankees. The cuts are coming at feverish pace these days. Melancon, Miranda, Kennedy, Montero, ANson and others. Once the WBC finished up it will be full steam ahead the last 2 weeks of camp.

Igawa has 12 scoreless innings this spring but do not be fooled by the numbers. It is usually late in the game and he is not pitching much to real major league hitters. I still hope they can trade him for a young guy that may do something someday. I do like Igawa’s motion and a part of me wants to see him win 15 games for the Yankees one day. Probably not going to happen anytime soon.

A rule 5 draftee, Kroenke was returned to the Yanks by the Marlins. He is a 25 y/o lefty who will probably pitch in AA. Not a good sign when the desperate for talent team, the Marlins returns a guy. I am hoping Corona and Nova get returned. Nova really has some potenial and was the toughest loss in the rule 5 massacre.

Igawa has looked OK this year. I really like his motion as a lefty. He has no room on the Yankees and is off the 40 man roster. There were rumors last year that the Padres were interested in him. I think that would be a really good fit form him because he needs to pitch in a big ballpark where he can make mistakes. His stuff is not great. Maybe the Yankees can get a decent prospect from the Dodgers for him.

Ramirez looked good today. He needs to be an important part of the bullpen. The Yankees have the chance to have a very good pitching staff this year. Pitching wins championships.

No Yankees baseball today. Less than 48 hours till the next spring training game is on Yes. Saturday at 1:15 p.m.

You cannot always judge performance on numbers but it looks like the Yanks have a pretty deep bullpen this year. Coke, Bruney, Mo, Veras, Robertson, Melancon, Marte all seem to be healthy and effective. Plus Ramirez is getting healthy. Pitching wins championships and this is the first year in a while that the team really has some depth with arms. Hughes is looking good as the first guy to be called in case of an injury.

Opening day is right around the corner.

Got to watch some spring training ball tonight. Nothing like baseball to make someones day. I may have to take tomorrow off from work so I can watch the replay on YES tomorrow morning.

Joba had a good start. He is a big ? this year. He needs to step up and be a solid #5 starter. He is young and was hurt a little last year. He needs to be healthy and effective in 2009.

I feel old, they just showed Eric Davis on YES. I remember when he was an all-star for the Reds. It seems like 1988 and Ken Phelps was the big bat in the lineup.

A-Snob had surgery today and everything looked ok. 6-9 weeks to heal which means he will be back sometime around May 1st. Peter Abraham on his blog said he will be on a stationary bike tonight. Wow, modern medicine.

It looks like Ransom will be the third basemen for the first few weeks of the season. I will be rooting for him.

Gardner is having a great spring. I hope he wins rookie of the year this year. Melky can be a very good 4th outfielder/pinch runner/defensive replacement. He does not have any options left so if he doesn;t make the team out of spring training, he most likely will be gone.

The team is starting to send pitchers to the minor league camps today. Soon, there will not be enough innings to go around as the starters build up pitch counts. The minor league camp opened today.

It looks like A-Snob cannot stay out of the news this year. Looks like her has a torn labrum in his hip and had a cyst removed. The Yankees are saying he will play through it but the real word is he will have surgery on Monday. Better to have him healthy in July than do what the Yanks did last year and lose Posada in July for the rest of the year. Lowell on the Sawx had a similar injury, tried to play through it and was in too much pain to play by September. It will be interesting to see who plays third for 3 months. Ransom, a trade, Cano????

Edwar Ramirez threw off a mound recently which is good news. He is still far behind the competition but may make the team in April. Gotta love a very long spring training.

The World Baseball Classic kicks off tomorrow. I am not really much into it but I understand why baseball does it, to attract an international audience. Growing up with baseball my whole life, I am used to MLB so the WBC does not really do much for me.

Manny signed a 2 year/45 million deal today. It is pending a physical. I wonder if we can remember what knee hurts??

Edwar Ramirez is still on the shelf. Everyday that passes I get a little more worried. I think he can be a big part of the bullpen if healthy.

Guys will start be obtained to the minor league camp starting soon although with the WBC, some guys may stick around longer. The Yankees do not have a lot of guys away, unlike the Mets that I believe have 14 guys playing in the WBC.

OK, maybe in spring training there is. The Yankees played to a 5-5 tie today against the Astros.

Can anyone answer me why A-rod is on the Dominican WBC roster? Remember last time he was on one team, then another, then back onto the US team. They need to sure up the roster requirements for the WBC rosters. If you were not born in that country or have one parent who was born in that country, you cannot be on the roster. Just because your last name sounds Canadian, does not mean you can play for the Canadian team.

Wang looked good in 2 innings today. Along with Posada, he was a huge loss last year. The Yankees need him to win his usual 19 games this year.

Time flies when your having fun.

So far the Yankees are 2-3 in the grapefruit league. Today was the last day before some of the Yankees depart for the WBC.

Ramirez still has not thrown which is a little concerning. I was hoping he would have a big year as a setup guy in the bullpen. Hopefully Veras, Robertson, Melancon and others can step up.

Montero pulled a muscle today going to a past ball. Word is nothing serious but they will be cautious with him because he is so young.

Posada was shut down a little for a tired shoulder. This is expected coming back from major shoulder surgery and throwing a lot this spring. Lots of guys probably have tired arms right now but Posada is extra special because he is a key to 2009.

So far so good for the team. No major injuries and guys are getting their work in.