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Since six-time Gold Glover Eric Chavez seems to be AWOL, at least on the New York Yankees radar, GM Brian Cashman is up to his old tricks and I don’t mean off the field.

Once again Cashman is handing out minor league deals and 2012 Spring Training invites, and the latest recipient, according to the New York Post, is 37-year old Russell Branyan.

The left-handed batting Branyan can play in the outfield, and at first and third base if he makes the team this spring. The latest team Branyan got released from was the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the rest of his 14 MLB seasons reads like a bad wrap sheet.

Branyan started his career as a Cleveland Indian and from there has played for the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Let me just say that this signing makes me think that Cashman is really pushing his luck, or is not thinking clearly.

Last season, Branyan split time between playing first and third base for the D-backs and the Angles. Combined, Branyan had 127 at-bats and posted a .197 batting average, five home-runs, 14 RBIs, 18 walks and struck out 41 times. His OBP was a mere .295, while slugging .370 in the 68 games he played in.

In 2010, Branyan did hit 25 homers, with 57 RBIs and 46 walks over 109 at-bats but he also struck out 131 times. This was again while playing for two teams, as the Indians traded Branyan to the Mariners.

This is almost making me sick knowing Chavez is sitting somewhere as a free agent.

The Yankees should not even waste five cents on Branyan, and here are three reasons why:

1) Throughout his career, Branyan has been prone to injuries but not just on the baseball field. One example dating back to late September 2010, while playing for the Mariners, Branyan reportedly injured himself while out a pizza parlor according to NBC Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra. Calcaterra also broke the news when Branyan had injured himself back in July, this time a hotel table hit his foot at 5am.(...)
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Post tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Branyan, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Post, New York Yankees, Run batted in, Russell Branyan, Yankees

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So, if you need to catch up on what the heck the Yankees have done you came to the right place.

Here are 3 news stories that you might have missed:

1) ESPN New York’s Wallace Matthews reported that the Bronx Bombers will be launching “New York Yankees” and “New York Yankees for Her,” the franchise’s own male and female fragrance line. The official release will be on Tuesday, February 21 at a cocktail get-together in Manhattan.

So, for male fans who want to smell like Driven by Derek Jeter after playing four hours of baseball in mid-July, than your prayers have been answered? Alas, the scents will probably fly off the shelves.

Once again this proves my point that the Yankees seem too focused on extorting the pride, power and pinstripes brand, instead of actually living it. Athletes are supposed to stink like the sweat of competition in their uniforms, not be forced to advertise some cologne that smells like yesterday’s Dakar Noir.(...)
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Post tags: Bill Hall, Brian Cashman, Eric Chavez, Jerry Sandusky, New York Yankee, Rikers Island, Yankee, Yankee Universe

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from this past Sunday, about the Yankees signing reliever Manny Delcarmen to a minor league deal.

Truthfully, I didn’t realize Delcarmen still pitched because I hadn’t heard his name since he was a Boston Red Sox years ago.

Delcarmen was a solid righty reliever for Red Sox in both the 2007 and 2008 regular seasons.

On Boston’s 2007 Championship run he made 44 appearances, pitched 44 innings; posted a 2.05 ERA, giving up just four homers, 10 earned runs, 17 walks and struck out 41 batters of the 176 he faced.

And in 2008 Delcarmen earned himself a heavier workload appearing in 73 games, and throwing a total of 74.1 innings. He gave up just five homers, and almost doubled his strikeouts with 72 but he also walked 28 batters too.

Delcarmen also pitched in both postseason’s for Boston, and other than the two decent innings he threw joined in the back-to-back ALCS’s, he stunk.

In 2007 and 2008, Delcarmen posted a 24.55 ERA, over 3.2 innings for the Red Sox in both ALCS series collectively; and went on to crap out in the one inning he threw in the 2007 World Series, where he gave up a homer, a walk, an earned run and only struck out one of the eight bats he faced.

The now 30-year-old Delcarmen didn’t make it out of the Mariners and Rangers Triple-A ball clubs in 2011 and was released immediately after the season.(...)
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Post tags: 2007 World Series, Boston Red Sox, Delcarmen, Joe Girardi, Joel Sherman, Manny Delcarmen, Mark Prior, Yankee

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This comes as no shock, because once Javier Vazquez got run out-of-town, Burnett has been deemed as the latest A-rod among pitchers in Yankee Universe; as God forbid Yankee fans don’t have someone to complain and heckle endlessly about.

Admittedly, I am still in the midst of being just as engrossed with this topic for already longer than I would have liked, but something’s you just can’t help.

What I can do is shut my mouth, and let other baseball bloggers do the talking.

So after countless hours of scouring the blogosphere, I have compiled a list of my 10 must-read posts about Burnett and the over-crowding of the Yankee rotation.

Click on article titles to be redirected to original author’s post website; and that this list is in random order.

Enjoy!

For Those Who Dissent, Our Fifth Starter Should Be AJ Burnett

Michael Eder, The Yankee Analysts

Dayton Moore, Get Brian Cashman on the Phone. Trade Soria for Burnett and Hughes.

Jeff Zimmerman, Royals Review(...)
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Post tags: A. J. Burnett, AJ Burnett, Brian Cashman, Burnett, New York Yankee, Phil Hughes, Yankee, Yankee Universe

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Guess another team, the Detroit Tigers, finally got the memo, since Prince Fielder will be waving goodbye to the Brew Crew as the slugger is heading to the Motor City.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported agent Scott Boras got the Tigers to agree to a nine-year, $214 million contract for Prince’s talents.

Once the news broke that catcher/DH Victor Martinez would be out for all of 2012 after tearing his ACL in a pre-season workout, the Tigers had to go big to stay relevant in the AL.

And answering with Prince Fielder certainly does just that.

Actually, I was a tad stunned that Detroit made such a Yankee-esque move to fix things. The Tigers now join a handful of teams that have started recklessly spending money and handing out monster contracts, just like the Yankees have done for years.

YOU’RE WELCOME TIGERS:

In my opinion, it is about darn time that MLB owners started spending some dough because win or lose, it sends a clear message that they are invested in winning.

New York fans understand this concept because the Yankees wrote this memo and it went out a long time ago.

This remains very much today, as clear from Hal Steinbrenner’s press release after the Yankees early 2011 ALDS exit:

“I personally share in our fans’ disappointment that this season has ended without a championship. That is, and always will be, our singular goal every season. I assure you that this disappointment will strengthen our resolve to field a team in 2012 that can bring a 28th championship to the Bronx. That work starts now.”

This offseason, the Yankees were slow out of the gate but in the end the Boss’s son remained true to what his father always promised.

As what could comfort a fan-base more than to know the owners will go above and beyond to put the best possible team on the field everyday with only one goal, to win.

TIGERS IN 2012:(...)
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