Mood Music - I Feel Free by Cream

According to our "Hey, man!" Jon Heyman, the Yankees and Pirates are still talking about A.J., and not just in that "He's so dreamy!" kind of way cause tomorrow is Valentine's Day. No, apparently Buctown would wind up paying $13-$15 million of A.J.'s $33 million dollar contract, and give up two non-roster guys and maybe the rapper who sang Buctown II. If the Pirates are indeed willing to pay $15 million of A.J.'s contract, I'd pull the trigger on this faster than Han Solo did on Vader!

Captain Derek Jeter of the USS Clutchterprize recently stated how he feels the AL has gotten stronger this offseason. He also mentions how he thinks Bobby V will add some excitement to the Red Sox as their new manager. He's still excited to be playing the game, and as a fan of excitement, it's hard not to agree with him. Jeter hitting well this year will definitely excite me, and yes I do mean in "that" way! Make it so, Jeter.

Phil Hughes has also been apparently working hard this offseason. He knows that he has to "proves he deserves a spot" this Spring Training. I can't speak for anyone else (well I could but that would be rude) but I'm rooting hard for Hughes to get the 5th spot in the Yankees rotation. I really feel he still has a lot he can offer.

Vladimir Guerrero apparently wants to be the Yankees DH, as per Buster Olney. Hey, we all want things. I want a working model of the Epyon Gundam.

Non Yankees stuff after the jump...

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Good morning Pinstripe Alley. There's not all that much going on in the world of baseball right now. Well, except of course for the whole AJ Burnett thing, but I'm sure no one here is interested about that, right?

The Pinstriped Press

As of right now, the Yankees and Pirates are supposedly trying to iron out a deal that would send AJ to Pittsburgh. The Yankees definitely want something back for AJ, even though they seem willing to pay for the majority of his contract. However, the Pirates seem reluctant to give the Yankees anything of real value to them. Honestly, it's hard to blame either team at this point. We'll keep you updated as soon as anything is tweeted, since tweets are fast and plentiful in the sports world.

Kevin Kernan wrote a decent post regarding AJ and why he thinks AJ has got to go. It deals a bit with the new found NYC love for Jeremy Lin of the Knicks, who has burst onto the basketball & pun scene. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do agree with the idea of giving younger arms a chance to shine. I will say though that even though I'm in no way a big fan of basketball, since I have sports on in the background at work all the time, Linsanity is exciting to watch as a New Yorker. /obligatory Lin pun

Over at ESPN, Andrew Marchand wrote a piece on Joba and what his future is for the Yankees. Personally I don't like to think about what they did to Joba that much. So I won't. Lalalala we didn't ruin him lalalala. Seriously though, here's hoping he recovers from his surgery.

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The proposed A.J. to the Pirates deal has been well-chronicled by Pinstripe Alley, and we will continue to bring you any breaking news we hear (and encourage you to Fanshot it if you see something first!). Four teams are supposedly interested in acquiring A.J. with the Yankees paying most of his salary, and Buster Olney has confirmed that Pittsburgh "is the clear frontrunner." As one person tweeted to him, Olney is "the first person to use Pittsburgh and front runner in the same sentence in over twenty years." Justin Bopp at MLB Daily Dish attempted to analyze how much A.J. Burnett is worth over the next two years. Also don't worry, amateur sports psychiatrists of the world, Burnett does not seem to be perturbed about the rumors.

There is a rumor going around that a player (not Garrett Jones) the Yankees could be getting back in return is RHP Nick Kingham, a 20-year old who was their 4th round pick in the 2010 draft and was ranked by MLB.com as Pittsburgh's #12 prospect. Kingham had an impressive 2.15 ERA, 3.51 FIP, and 1.9 BB/9 in 15 starts last year with the low-A State College Spikes. We'll see what happens as the day goes on, although it doesn't seem like a deal is getting done today. It certainly seems like something will happen in the next few days.

The New York Times published a good off-season summary for those of you who have avoided baseball since the Yankees lost to Detroit in the ALDS. Most people know about the Albert Pujols & Prince Fielder signings as well as the Montero/Pineda trade, but did you realize that seven teams have switched general managers? Changing GMs is a big organizational move, and it's remarkable that so many teams have done so.

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Apparently, the Yankees do have some leverage in the A.J. Burnett trade negotiations. According to Ken Rosenthal, four different teams have been vying for the right hander, but the Pirates remain the most logical fit, so much so that Mark Feinsand has reported there is now a "good chance" the deal gets done.

The Angels are another team looking to unload an overpriced veteran. However, with over $60 million still owed to Vernon Wells, new Angels GM Jerry DiPoto may find it harder to make a deal.

The Cubs have reportedly been looking to deal both Alfonso Soriano and Matt Garza, but in a recent interview, GM Jed Hoyer not only stated it was likely the outfielder would be with the team on Opening Day, he also expressed an interest in locking up the right hander with a long-term deal.

The World Series champion Cardinals have a lot of questions heading into Spring Training, but two of the most intriguing involve the possibility of highly regarded prospect Shelby Miller cracking the rotation and veteran catcher Yadier Molina signing a long-term extension. Regarding the latter, if the Cardinals do intend to re-sign their long-time catcher, they probably shouldn't expect a home team discount.

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The latest update in the Yankees' winter long attempt to trade A.J. Burnett has the Bronx Bombers balking at the Pirates offer to pick up $10 million of the remaining $33 million on his contract. It was also reported that Pittsburgh rebuffed the Yankees request to have lefty first baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones included in the deal, but despite the obstacles, the two sides are said to be maintaining an open dialogue. In the meantime, Burnett has reportedly made peace with the likelihood he will soon be traded.

If the Yankees are able to jettison Burnett, one corresponding move is expected to be the re-signing of Eric Chavez. However, Steven Goldman of the Pinstriped Bible asks why?

Keith Law released his annual organizational and top prospect rankings, which drew the typical chorus of cheers and dissents. Instead of critiquing his assessment, however, I broke down the composition of his selections and examined how the former Blue Jays executive and current ESPN analyst has ranked each organization in the past.

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Steve Slowinski at Fangraphs isn't convinced any team would be willing to trade for A.J. Burnett with Roy Oswalt still left unsigned.

The Yankees have reportedly been in talks with the Pittsburgh Pirates about a possible trade, but want OF/1B Garrett Jones in return. Jones hit .243/.321/.433 with 16 home runs for them last season. The Pirates don't seem willing to make that deal at this point, but Buster Olney thinks that if the Yankees are willing to pay all but around $8 million of the money owed to Burnett over the next 2 seasons, they could get a decent piece in return.

EJ Fagan at The Yankee Analysts takes a look at all the talent in the low levels of the Yankee farm system.

He writes that the 2012 Charleston RiverDogs team might be the best at that level for the Yankees this decade, and it's easy to see why. They will be absolutely stacked with exciting players to watch this season. Downside: all that talent is a few years away and the higher levels have no real exciting position players.

The woman accused of stalking Brian Cashman is now claiming that Cashman lied to federal investigators.

Ms. Meanwell (too easy...) says that Cashman told her he was questioned by authorities over the summer and misled them about the Yankees' knowledge of player steroid use.

William Tasker at It's About The Money, Stupid discusses the backup catcher situation.

Romine or Cervelli? Cervelli or Romine? Who do you pick?

Joe Pawlikowski at RAB examines the history of the Yankees trading away young pitchers.

George Steinbrenner was not kind to the farm system. Thankfully, things are run more intelligently now.

Good morning, Pinstripe Alley readers. Here's your regular morning news for Thursday, February 9th.

• According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees are willing to eat up to $25M in order to trade A.J. Burnett. Per Sherman: "They know no team will take all of Burnett’s remaining two years at $33 million. But if they could save, say, $4 million this year and next year, it would provide some wiggle room to finish off their roster heading into spring training." Have to say, I hope this is true, even though I recently reconsidered my stance on Burnett.
• Andrew Marchand asked if the Yankees should sign Johnny Damon to platoon with Andruw Jones. Damon and Ibanez are essentially washes. Damon will provide some defensive flexibility, but Ibanez is the better offensive option against right-handed pitching at this point.
• Over at the Wall Street Journal, Daniel Barbarisi takes a look at the Yankees and their recent signings of players off the scrap heap. The Yankees enjoyed success with this tactic in 2011, and seem to be hoping for more of the same out of their role players in 2012.
• According to Keith Law, the Yankees have the 10th best farm system in baseball. From Law: "I might be jumping the gun here, but I see a lot of star potential on their bottom few affiliates, including new acquisition Jose Campos from Seattle, to go with the two power arms from their Scranton club. The flaw in the system is the lack of near-in talent, especially position players, who could either help the big club soon or provide more fodder for trades." Hard to argue too much of that.

• Over at the Yankee Analysts, Michael Eder says the Yankees are the best organization at scouting and developing relief pitchers. Some of the names the Yankees have either drafted (does not mean signed) or developed have turned out to be very successful, including Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Tyler Clippard, John Axford, Alfredo Aceves, Drew Storen and Daniel Bard. That'd be one hell of a bullpen if they all signed or weren't traded.

Ah, the Non-Roster Invitee list to Yankees Spring Training. What is there to say about you? Occasionally you'll give us glimmers of the future like last year when Manny Banuelos put himself on the baseball map with some impressive outings. Other times you'll give us old players trying for one last shot at the team; some are successful (Bartolo Colon), but most are not (remember when Todd Pratt tried to make the team?). Be sure to keep an eye on some of these players as they try to win one of the last spots on the Yankees, or possibly fill a role should a starter go down. The best case scenario is that all of the Yankees top players stay healthy and we don't have to hear much from most of these players again, other than a few bench roles.

Pitchers

Manny Banuelos- The currently top-rated Yankees prospect is looking to impress the team in Spring Training for a second straight season, and he's only turning 21 on March 13th. He'll likely work on his control, as he will try to lower his 2011 4.9 BB/9 mark in the new year. ManBan should start the season at AAA Scranton. Anytime your favorite team has a heralded 21-year old lefthanded starter in AAA, it's a good sign of his quick development.

Dan Burawa- We move from a name most Yankees fans have heard of to one that probably only the Burawa family has heard of. Burawa, a 23-year old righty reliever, was a 12th round pick for the Yankees in 2010 out of St. John's in Queens, and a nice 7.1 K/9 to go with a 2.75 BB/K ratio in '11 between A-ball Charleston and high-A Tampa is promising. His main pitch is a 93-95 mph fastball, and he's working on adding some breaking pitches. He'll probably start off '12 in Tampa again, though a promotion to AA Trenton is not out of the question with a good performance.

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