Yankees News and Notes: Are You Ready for Some Football?

Might Yankee Stadium be host to football in May? The big ballpark in the Bronx was mentioned as a potential site for a soccer friendly between Wales and Mexico that is tentatively scheduled for May 27. Although it seems hard to believe the team would host a soccer match in-season, the Yankees will be on the West Coast from May 24 until June 5, so there might be enough time to re-sod the field after hosting the game.

The Yankees won't have to worry about Roy Oswalt resurrecting his career in Boston. According to "sources", the right hander is close to reuniting with former teammate Lance Berkman by signing a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Usually a year with the Cardinals is just what the doctor ordered for a pitcher seeking to rebound, but unfortunately for Oswalt, pitching coach/guru Dave Duncan will not with the team for the 2012 season.

With the Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda trade finally made official this week, the principals involved were finally able to discuss the trade. One particular note of interest from the reaction was a comment by Montero about the positive influence Alex Rodriguez had on his young career. "Intangibles" are rarely mentioned when assessing Arod's value, but they may just be another reason why the slugging third baseman deserves his decade-long status as the highest paid player in baseball history (for a chronological listing of baseball's highest paid players since 1901, click here).

Speaking of young catchers in the Yankees’ farm system, John Sickels took a look back at the scouting report on Jorge Posada as he progressed through the Yankees’ system 20 years ago.

The ownership group that includes former Yankees manager Joe Torre survived the first round of bidding for the bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers franchise. Eight other groups also advanced to the second stage of the process, but some prominent names, like Mark Cuban, were eliminated. The Dodgers sale process should be of interest to the Yankees, not only because it involves Torre, but also the expected $1.5 billion price tag could imply an even greater valuation for the Bronx Bombers.

Raul Ibanez’ name has surfaced as a person of interest in the Yankees’ search for a new DH. Although Ibanez seems to be a better option than Hideki Matsui or Johnny Damon to platoon with righty Andruw Jones, if the Yankees decide to go that route, they probably would have been better off talking Jorge Posada out of retirement.

Joba Chamberlain recently tweeted a positive status report regarding his rehab from Tommy John surgery. If Chamberlain ends up being a meaningful contributor in 2012, the Yankees’ bullpen could feature a quintet of power arms from the right side.