Joba Chamberlain

The Yankees' pitchers and catchers officially reported to Tampa, Florida today to begin spring training. The Mets will begin camp tomorrow when pitchers and catchers report in Port St. Lucie.

The Yankees come in to spring training as the defending World Series champions. As they look to repeat, some changes have been made this offseason. Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Melky Cabrera are out. Curtis Granderson Nick Johnson are in. And Javier Vasquez is back.

Washington DC

By Patrick Read

Young arms are becoming a more and more precious commodity in baseball, and the Yankees, with Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, have two of the better ones in baseball.

Protecting those arms has become paramount. That’s why the Yankees enacted the “Joba Rules” last year, and in 2010 we may even see the Phil-osophy. It’s about keeping Joba and Hughes healthy and out on the mound.

With the New York Yankees making the move to (re)acquire Javier Vasquez they now have a solid four-man rotation in C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and Vasquez.  Wang won't be returning—which is a shame because he did have a budding career, but the injury-bug plagued and staked its claim in his system. 

The Yankees were able to make their way through the playoffs with the three-man weave, but if another series were to come up, they may have been toast.

What the New York Yankees have done with the recent Javier Vazquez signing is strengthen their bullpen to the point that it resembles the one they had during their run in the late 1990’s.

Effectively the Yankees have five front line starters that can hang with any in the American League East.

From CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, the newly acquired Javier Vazquez, and Phil Hughes, a weak link is seemingly missing.

Missing from the rotation is reliever, turned starter, Joba Chamberlain.

Today's trade of Melky Cabrera for Javier Vazquez solidifies the rotation but opens the door for more moves in the Yankee outfield. Most predict that the Yankees will now be in play for a marquee left fielder.  

Make no mistake. The Yankees will keep tabs on the contract discussions for both Jason Bay and Matt Holliday if for no reason but to ensure that whoever signs these players have paid a high price. The Yankees can overcome mistakes at high dollar points. Few teams can cope with high priced mistakes. 

Hello once again!

Well, the hot stove fire really sparked and crackled for the Yanks during the General Managers' Winter Meetings this past week, so let's do a quick recap of the biggest deal made, so far, in this offseason.

Three Team Trade between the Yanks, D'Backs, and Tigers

Here is how it broke down for the Yanks: New York received OF Curtis Granderson from the Tigers, while shipping out Ian Kennedy to the D'Backs, and trading prospect Austin Jackson, and LHP Phil Coke, to the Tigers.

Major League Baseball's offseason is famous for its high-priced free agent signings and blockbuster trades.

General managers are on the phone 24/7 trying to put together the perfect roster for the upcoming season.

However, the New York Yankees have one glaring issue that needs a solution.

Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain both burst onto the scene in 2007.

In a game where image is heavily compared to the past, the minute intricacies, and similarities are visible throughout all parts of the game.

The history of Word Series winning-shares is limited with the amount of information out there, but courtesy of the Baseball Digest archives, we can get a better understanding;

Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez provided the heroics for the Yankees in their 8-5 win Sunday night in Game Four of the 2009 World Series, but when there are heroes in the game of baseball, there also must be goats.

Unlike other sports, baseball is mostly a zero sum game.