Rumors are being nosed about that the Yankees are looking hard at Bill Hall and have thought about old man Raul Ibanez for their open designated hitter position. Raul Ibanez is likely past his sell-by date. (AP) Let’s start with the former. It’s good that the Yankees are looking for a utility player ...

I’m not, generally speaking, a superstitious person, unless there is a no-hitter or perfect game in progress. I don’t worry about breaking mirrors or black cats crossing my path, because, well, superstition is superstition, and in most other cases a Friday the 13th would pass me by without ...

In the last 72 hours we’ve seen the Red Sox deaccession Marco Scutaro for little return and, imminently (or so the great oracle Twitter tells us) signing Cody Ross. The Sox will apparently go with a mélange of Mike Aviles, Nick Punto, and Jose Iglesias at shortstop. That assumes there is not a shoe ...

Last season, the average designated hitter batted .266/.341/.430 with 20 home runs. That figure is dragged down by absurdly low production at the position from three-fourths of the AL West. A more appropriate reflection of what the Yankees might want to look for from the position can be found in what ...

This trade came down while I was co-hosting BP’s Friday night radio show on SiriusXM, and as we chatted about the deal, I could only look on helplessly as Twitter filled up with invective directed against the trade by Yankees fans. I understand the disappointment at losing Jesus Montero, but if you ...

Bernie Williams: Not as good as Kirby Puckett? (AP) I was watching the Hall of Fame announcement show on the MLB Network on Monday–congratulations to a very deserving Barry Larkin–and something Peter Gammons said as an aside in a discussion of Bernie Williams’ suitability for the Hall ...

Hiroki Kuroda has been excellent in his four seasons pitching on these shores. While he has posted only one winning record, his 3.45 ERA and excellent control speak for his abilities. He is also two months from turning 37 and made about $12 million last year, a figure likely to rise through free agency. Pretend ...

The Red Sox and Astros made an interesting little trade today. Our friends to the north acquired 26-year-old ex-Yankees right-hander Mark Melancon from the Astros in exchange for infielder Jed Lowrie and righty pitching prospect Kyle Weiland. You will recall Melancon as a 2006 9th-round draftee who put ...

Yesterday’s list of non-tendered players contains the usual mix of non-entities, injury cases, and some players of possible interest to a contender. I’m not going to review the left-handers like Hong-Chih Kuo, Jose Mijares, and Doug Slaten, because my evolving religion denies the existence of left-handed ...

I regret to say that nothing of note came out of Joe Girardi’s media availability this afternoon. The entire coaching staff will be back. Montero questions. More Montero questions. Also, Montero questions. The media tried to find places for Montero to play other than designated hitter. Girardi ...

Not much activity in the Hot Stove League today. I suspect if we just started referring to it as the Hot Tub League, we’d get more news. Kirk Gibson As was expected by almost everyone, Arizona’s Kirk Gibson walked away with the National League Manager of the Year Kirk Gibson trots past Steve Garvey ...

Over the last couple of days, there has been some chatter about the Yankees’ interest, or lack thereof, in Chicago White Sox southpaw Mark Buehrle. The 32-year-old ranks sixth on Chicago’s all-time wins list and has made more starts in a White Sox uniform than all but Red Faber, Ted Lyons, and Billy ...