New York Yankee News: a Win, the Pen, a Pitch, and Being #1

The Yankees won their first game of the season yesterday afternoon on a frigid day in the Bronx. Curtis Granderson, my pick for surprise (in a good way) player of the year, was the star.

The 3 great catches he made a clear sign he's feeling ok, but it's the homer off lefty Phil Coke that excites me.  Last year, Granderson hit 10 homers, all but one off righties, in April, May, June, July and the first week of August, before retooling his swing.  For the next eight weeks, he hit 14 homers, and he hit everybody. The Yankees need Granderson to be more than a platoon player.

After clearing the air, Rafael Soriano came ready to play:

Soriano said afterward that he sought out a meeting with Brian Cashman this spring. Friends back home had told Soriano that Cashman didn’t want him on the team, obviously reacting to Cashman’s comments that he wanted the Yankees to focus their spending elsewhere. They met in Cashman’s office, and Soriano said he left that meeting with a better understanding of the situation, confident that the general manager believed in him.

One of the great Yankees of my lifetime was back in the Bronx for the first pitch.

This is what Mussina worries about now: coaching his two boys, 12-year-old Brycen and 8-year-old Peyton, in baseball, basketball and football, back home in Montoursville, Pa. He said he barely follows baseball anymore, maybe an inning or two here or there on television, because he doesn’t have time.

In the past, the Yankees often held players 'days' and dedicated plaques without retiring the player's number.  That's the case for Red Ruffing (though his number, 15, is retired for Munson) and 'Superchief' Al Reynolds. There are a number of Yankees from the '90s and '00s whom I feel deserve this honor: Mussina, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte. I would retire 2, 6, and 42. I haven't decided what to do with 13.

Finally, Fangraphs has the Yankees as the #1 organization in baseball based on current talent, future talent, and financial clout. Yes, the Yankees could miss the playoffs, but if they get there, however they do, they will become one of the most frightening teams in the dance. The offense is relentless, and as CC, AJ and Andy showed us in 2009, a weak backend of the rotation is not a handicap in the postseason.  Add to that the crop of youngsters down on the farm- not just place holders or rough gems, but legit major league talent pushing its way into the upper levels of the system: Montero, Banuelos, Betances, Brackman. The Yankees can plug a gap or make a trade any time they want.