Showing posts with label yankees third basemen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yankees third basemen. Show all posts

Friday, April 6, 2012

Jeter tops in Jersey Sales

SS Derek Jeter, the newest member of the 3,000-hit-club, led all Major League players in jersey sales last year.  Amongst the top-20 players in jersey sales last year, 12 were All-Stars, 14 played on a postseason team, and players from 11 different teams were represented, though the Yankees and Phillies had four players each on the list (including Jeter at number one).

The list:

1.  Jeter
2.  LHP Cliff Lee, Philadelphia
3.  1B Albert Pujols, St. Louis/Angels (signed in 2011 calendar year)
4.  LF Josh Hamilton, Texas
5.  RHP Roy Halladay, Philadelphia
6.  RHP Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
7.  2B Dustin Pedroia, Boston
8.  LF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee
9.  RF Hunter Pence, Philadelphia
10.  C Buster Posey, San Francisco
11.  2B Chase Utley, Philadelphia
12.  C Joe Mauer, Minnesota
13.  RHP Justin Verlander, Detroit
14.  1B Adrian Gonzalez, Boston
15.  3B Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
16.  2B Ian Kinsler, Texas
17.  2B Robinson Cano, Yankees
18.  RHP Mariano Rivera, Yankees
19.  LF Carl Crawford, Boston
20.  3B David Freese, St. Louis

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Spring Training Cuts

The New York Yankees have made another wave of Spring Training cuts in an effort to trim their active roster down to 25 by Opening Day in early April.

Late Tuesday, the Yankees optioned RHP George Kontos, RHP D. J. Mitchell, RHP David Phelps, and 3B Brandon Laird to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Yankees Invite 27 to Spring Training

The Yankees agreed to terms with 13 players on Minor League contracts with invitations to Spring Training yesterday.  The signings of 1B Russell Branyan, 2B Bill Hall, and RHP Manny Delcarmen were made official.  In addition, the signing of LHP Hidkei Okajima was confirmed.  Also, OF DeWayne Wise was signed, probably headlining the nine other players who were signed.  The Yankees also invited 14 prospects to Spring Training.

Branyan and Hall were both signed in the 48 hours prior to the official announcement while Delcarmen was signed quite some time ago.  Delcarmen and Okajima will compete for bullpen spots while Wise will battle for a role as a fourth outfielder.  Other players the Yankees have invited to Spring Training include LHP Manny Banuelos, LHP Juan Cedeno, LHP Mike O'Connor, RHP Daniel Burawa, RHP Matt Daley, RHP Adam Miller, RHP Ryan Pope, RHP Graham Stoneburner, RHP Adam Warner, RHP Kevin Whelan, RHP Chase Whitley, C Jose Gil, C Kyle Higashioka, C Gustavo Molina, C J. R. Murphy, C Gary Sanchez, SS Doug Bernier3B Jayson Nix, 1B Jorge Vazquez, RF Colin Curtis, LF Cole Garner, and RHP Brett Marshall.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Yankees Third Basemen

The Yankees are attempting to repeat as AL East Champions in 2012.  As such, they have retained many of their players from last season.  One such area of retention is third base.

1.  Alex Rodriguez:  Last year was a lost season for A-Rod, as he only got 373 at-bats due to injury.  He still figures to get most of the playing time at third base, but he's also penciled in for major time at DH at present, with pundits saying possibly as many 50 starts at DH in order.  A-Rod is somewhat resistant to the move, but realizes it would allow him more at-bats and hopefully would give him a cleaner bill of health.  The Yankees are hoping that A-Rod can stay healthy next season and give them 30-plus homers and - gasp - as many as 160 runs batted in.

2.  Eduardo NunezNunez was all set to be the everyday DH until DH Andruw Jones was re-signed.  Now Nunez will slip back into his more familiar utility player role.  And that role worked well for him last season, as he got 309 at-bats and batted .265 with 22 stolen bases.  He should see considerable time at third this season, with A-Rod slated to get as many as 50 starts at DH.

3.  Brandon LairdLaird is a top prospect with a ton of power who is ready to take the next step to the Majors.  Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any place for him to play.  With that being said, Laird could be traded in Spring Training for a left-handed bat or packaged in a deal with disgruntled RHP A. J. Burnett.  If he isn't traded by Opening Day, Laird would be an interesting player to have on the block at the deadline.  And that might happen because a straight-up trade for Laird might not yield much in return right now.  He batted .190 in 21 at-bats in September for the Yankees last season.

4.  Ramiro PenaPena is a former utility player with the Yankees who is trying to get back into the Majors.  The problem with that is that he's currently behind Nunez and on par with several other players.  Pena probably doesn't stand much of a chance of making the Yankees team this year, as he only batted .100 in 40 at-bats in September last season, although he's a good insurance policy to have at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Yankees don't look particularly good at third base.  A-Rod's health is a question mark, and as always so is his potential use of performance-enhancing drugs and his off-field behavior and distractions.  Nunez looks like he's going to be a star and he's one of the best utility players in the Majors at present.  Laird is a big prospect but he has no place on the Major League roster right now.  Pena is a good insurance policy behind Nunez and could serve as a utility player on many Major League teams, but that's about it.