Shane Spencer slugs: Remember him in 1998? (AP) I was out to dinner last night with two old pals who used to be in the baseball business and Shane Spencer came up. I hadn’t thought about Spencer in any great detail since 2004 or so, so it was pleasant to recall 1998, a year in which just about everything ...

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 pleased to welcome the latest contributor to the Pinstriped Bible, Rebecca Glass. Rebecca has written about baseball for ESPN and You Can’t Predict Baseball and will soon be joining me at Baseball Prospectus as well. In the short time I have known Rebecca, she has not only become a good ...

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 ...

With the Red Sox trading Josh Reddick and two other prospects to Oakland for closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney, the reassembly of AL East 2011 is almost complete. Jon Papelbon fled to the Phillies, so the Red Sox needed another strong arm for their late-game activities, particularly with ...

Deck us all with Boston Charlie, especially Brian Cashman, who has thus far this winter resisted the call of anxious fans to see him improve the team by means of the importation of questionable and expensive pitchers. The Yankees have many questionable and inexpensive pitchers, and that should be good ...

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 ...

The Yankees delegation arrived here not terribly long ago, following a brief surge in lobby rumors regarding their interest in certain players that had to be concurrent with their time in the air–if anyone involved with the organization was leaking stories, they weren’t important enough to ...

It was Mariano Rivera’s birthday yesterday. He’s 42 years old, same age as his number, and can do more in his fifth decade than most of us could do in our second or third. Some people are just gifted; others eat. In all of the years I’ve been writing the Pinstriped Bible, this offseason has been ...

The first winter trade in the history of the New York Yankees came back in December, 1903 when they were still called the Highlanders. Its parameters should be familiar, as they stink vaguely of Ed Whitson/Kenny Rogers/Carl Pavano and other mistakenly acquired hurlers. The Highlanders—I’m going to ...

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 ...