New York Yankees

In case you missed it, the biggest news of the morning is the Yankees decision to waive Chad Gaudin, thus eliminating him from the fifth starter competition and probably from the team altogether.

Here are some other news items of note:

According to Ed Price of Fan House, the Yankees have placed right handed pitcher Chad Gaudin on waivers. There are four scenarios that can happen now and only one involves him pitching with the Yankees in 2010.

The regular season is just a few weeks away and the Yankees roster is beginning to take shape. A few of the position battles are starting to clear up as players are released and sent to the minors.

The Yankees lost to the Phillies today as Phil Hughes gave up a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth. The home run was one of three given up by Hughes today. Despite the long balls, Hughes pitched very well, as he made batters swing and miss using his changeup.

Thought to be the possible fourth outfielder on the Yankee bench to start the season, Rule 5 draft pick Jamie Hoffmann struggled in Spring Training, to say the least.

Hoffmann was returned to the Dodgers today, after being taken as the first overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft in December. Hoffmann hit just .130 (3-22) as a Yankee this spring. The Yankees traded RP Brian Bruney and $25,000 to the Nationals for the first pick in the draft.

Entering Monday, many pundits believed Phil Hughes had all but locked up the fifth starter's role in the Yankees rotation, but by 4 p.m., everything grew a bit hazy again.

Coming off a solid three inning, three strikeout, one run performance against the Phillies on Wednesday, Joba Chamberlain, Hughes' main competitor, again pitched well in an intrasquad game. He allowed two runs on six hits and struck out one over five innings, reportedly displaying a good changeup and improved velocity.

Here's a quick 3:15 video of Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes discussing the grips he uses on his pitches and some of the different change-up techniques he’s using.

The video was shot by Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger .

The Yankees might not have had a game today, but there was some activity in the lockerroom.

The Yankees made some of their Spring Training cuts today and sent some players packing. Highly awaited Yankees prospect, Jesus Montero, was one of the several players sent to the minor league camp. Austin Romine, Colin Curtis, and Reid Gorecki were some of the notable other players sent along with Montero. 

When it comes to spring training and statistics I am a non-believer. I am obsessed with watching the games, but it is more to get a feel for the players involved and it hardly ever matters to me who won, who lost, or if the players do really well or really poorly. Sure, part of me cringes a little bit if someone has a horrible day, but in the end I realize it is spring and this doesn’t really count (this lead was stolen from example A ).

The Yankees have sent two more players, right handed pitchers Romulo Sanchez and Ryan Pope, to the minor league camp cutting the total number left in camp down to 50, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com .

Kanekoa Texeira is a hard-throwing right handed pitcher who the Yankees got as part of the trade with the White Sox for Nick Swisher.

Pitching in double-A Trenton last season, he went 9-6 with a 2.84 ERA in 41 games and 101.1 innings. Good, but not great, numbers.

Unfortunately for Texeira and the Yankees, he didn’t have the outstanding talent to warrant protection on the 40-man roster, and he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the Rule 5 draft.