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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Yankees declined Andrew Brackman’s option today, making him a free agent. While I hate to see any aspiring big-leaguer fail, the decision makes me perversely happy in that it validates what I was saying about the decision to sign the tall pitcher all along. When he was first drafted, I wrote: I ...

Just click the picture already. The past weekend found the Yankees involved in a few big stories. Their four-game losing streak was their second-longest of the season. Their lineup and bullpen looked particularly threadbare due to minor injuries and fatigue, and Joe Girardi’s managing around that ...

Scott Proctor is back with the Yankees, but why? (AP) Jesus Montero’s the one getting all the ink, and rightly so, but with big league rosters expanding as of today, the Yankees have also recalled five other players. All of them are familiar in some way, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t ...

I’m still absorbing the idea of having CC Sabathia cram 128 pitches into six innings in a game that was in no way a must win as an acceptable strategy—it’s one thing to throw 128 pitches in nine innings, another to squeeze them into two-thirds the space, and I would hate to see the myth of Sabathia’s ...

I'm just going to keep using this image of A.J. Burnett. (AP) Not sure what caused more shaking around here, this afternoon’s earthquake tremor or Brian Cashman saying that there are “no guarantees” that A.J. Burnett remains in the rotation after his next start. That’s quite the turnaround ...

He's almost ready for his close-up. (AP) Sunday’s trade deadline came and went without the Yankees making a move. No Hiroki Kuroda, Erik Bedard or Wandy Rodriguez. No lefty reliever. No bench bat. A whole lot of nothing, not that there’s anything wrong with that when you’ve got ...

Manny Banuelos' impending promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre better positions him for a late-season appearance in the Bronx. (AP) With the rest of the baseball world attuned to whether the Yankees will make a deal to beat the trade deadline, the organization does appear poised for a noteworthy ...

As inconsistent as Ubaldo Jimenez was last year (incredible 0.78 ERA in April/May last year; 5.16 in June/July; 3.25 in August/September) and has continued to be this year (5.86 ERA in April/May; 2.56  in June/July), acquiring a 27-year-old pitcher of his stuff who is under contract (through 2012) in ...