New York Yankees News & Notes: 1/28/13

Jeterian Trends: The Yankee Analyst looks at why Jeter was successful last year and what he has to do this year to continue his success. Some of the reasons for Jeter's successful 2012 were his improved rates against fastballs, his numbers against righties and his ability to get the ball up to the opposite way.

Almonte in the Outfield: Trenton beat writer Josh Norris postulates that, despite Zoilo Almonte's impressive season, he'll probably be back with the Thunder because of his impatience at the plate. He rarely walks and strikes out a ton. The same thing happened to Melky Mesa, so the organization might know what its doing. The additions of Matt Diaz, Russ Canzler, Thomas Neal and Dan Johnson to Triple A will make Almonte's promotion impossible. Norris also guesses about the final roster.

Joe Girardi and the IBB: NoMaas has graphs to talk about Joe Girardi and Intentional Base on Balls. For whatever reason Girardi has ordered CC to walk the most batters out of several Yankee starters. By a lot. Does he ask Sabathia to walk more batters because he just happens to pitch more innings? Probably not. I have to believe it's because he's a lefty and we all know lefty/righty matchups are more important than trusting your ace. Part I of the article shows that the Yankees are in the middle of the pack with IBBs, but it also reminded me of that one time Girardi had CC walk Sean Rodriguez to get to Carlos Pena in the first inning of 2012. Remember what happened next? Yeah.

More PED Investigations: Some guy named Anthony Bosch is being investigated by the DEA and MLB for something involving Performance Enhancing Drugs. Why is this important? Alex Rodriguez knew him, or something. Apparently he is a very well connected training and nutritional advisor among Latin American players. He allegedly helped A-Rod get PEDs from his father, who is another shady doctor. Bosch is also connected to Manny Ramirez, so you know this guy is a jerk. MLB appears to think he has some kind of connection to a possible phantom performance enhancing drug ring that surrounds the sport. Rodriguez is not under any suspicion, but if he does get investigated he could be suspended! Or not!

Interview With Dante Bichette Jr: Want to read a completely vanilla interview with a Yankee prospect? At least he's more interesting than Colin Curtis. It turns out he's a Yankee fan and his favorite players are Manny Ramirez and Derek Jeter. He also talks about his relationship with his dad and what it's like being a Yankee prospect.

Phil Hughes is not a fan of Phil Hughes