Under new management: A note from the editor & staff introductions

When Justin Bopp, our League Manager, asked if I'd be interested in taking over as the lead blogger of this site, my first thought was "yes, of course." I've spent some part of almost every day here since the Yankees were in the process of winning their most recent World Series championship in 2009, and I've come to love the site, the community, and being a part of the writing staff. I owe a great deal of the knowledge I have about baseball to the writers (past and present) and community members here, and I've wanted to be able to give back to that somehow. My goal is to always make sure that we are improving as a site and providing the content that you guys want to read on a daily basis. If there is anything I can ever do to improve your experience here, please let me know. My email is listed in my profile on the masthead or by clicking my name on any post or comment, and I have an unhealthy obsession with Twitter that means I'm always on there to talk too. You can follow me @aynat211.

Considering the fact that I have been a fairly active member of the community since I joined in 2009, there is probably little that I could do to introduce myself that those of you who are here regularly wouldn't already know. I'm 24 years old, and have loved the Yankees since I could eat solid food, pretty much. I am a die-hard North Carolina Tar Heels fan and picked up a love for the New York Giants a few years ago when I actually started watching pro football for the first time in my life. I hate bunting and dig the long ball. I get too attached to prospects, think instant replay should have happened yesterday, and consider the DH to be one of the best inventions ever.

I decided that instead of some long, formal introduction of just myself, I'd take the time to mainly focus on making sure those who are here every day, and even those who only stop in occasionally, have a chance to get to know the entire staff of writers who are responsible for providing the content day in and day out. At times, it has seemed like there was a little bit of a separation between staff and community, and I'd really like to try and bridge that gap. Most of these faces you know, I'm sure. Some have been here quite a while, but we've also made some newer additions recently that haven't really had a chance to introduce themselves to everyone in the community. I couldn't do this without them.

Jason Cohen - Jason has been hanging around the blog since 2010 under the name jetanumba2 until I convinced him to write for us in January of this year. He graduated from University of Maryland in 2010 and has worked as an editor in Virginia and New York since then. Jason has been a writing machine since he joined the staff and we've come to depend on him a lot. You can follow him on Twitter @Jason00Cohen.

Andrew Mearns - Andrew has been writing for the site for nearly a year and a half, specializing in Yankees history and analysis. When he started on the site, he was a student at Gettysburg College, and since then has moved on to the real world through both work and grad school at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. His favorite stat is probably wRC+, his favorite candy is Reese's, and like Miguel Cabrera at third base, he aspires to startle people with his adequacy. You can follow him on Twitter @greatscott723 (his original username on this site).

Michael Brown - Who knew that Chuck Burly was not actually named Chuck Burly? Michael is a Jersey native and Ramapo College alumnus. His love of geeky pursuits is only trumped by his love of baseball. Michael has been a Yankee fan since the early nineties when Matt Nokes was his favorite player and you can follow him on Twitter @ChuckBurly.

Michael Cook - You may know him under his previous username, cookiedabookie. Michael brought us a lot of valuable information ahead of this year's amateur draft and agreed to keep it coming for us on a regular basis. He was born and raised in the North Country, near Plattsburgh, NY. Michael has always loved the Yankees, even through the dark times during his childhood. He lives in Cleveland with his wife and kids that are being raised to be good Yankee fans. CC and Jeter are their favorites. Michael's favorite Yankees memory was the 1996 World Series.

Joe Flynn - Joe has been a Yankees fan since 1988. He lived in China from 2007 until last month, and he also covers the Knicks for the SB Nation blog Posting and Toasting. You can follow him on Twitter @ChinaJoeFlynn.

Matt Ferenchick - Matt is from Dupont, Pennsylvania and was born into a family of Yankees fans. He recently graduated from Lock Haven University. He also writes at fellow SB Nation blog, 7500 to Holte, about English soccer team Aston Villa. He'll probably flag your bad comments. You can follow him on Twitter @MattF15.

Greg Kirkland - Greg's former I'mGivingYouARaise name has become as synonymous with the site as his love for nachos, hatred of thieving Mets fans, and rants with creative forms of swearing. In typical Greg fashion, he came up with his bio and another one for me in song form at the bottom of the page. Dude loves song parodies. Greg is also on Twitter @ImNotaHRHitter.

Chris Kirby - HighFlyers28 also ditched his username in favor of becoming a staff writer. Chris has been a Yankees fan since their '90s run. He attends college in Upstate New York with an interest in possibly majoring in journalism.

Brian Stramaglia - Brian and his wife live in northern NJ with their two girls and two dogs. His Yankee fandom came from his dad and grandfather, and he really got hooked in 1984. Brian is in the process of trying to hook his children now. His youngest child is already a fan of the Let's Go Yankees clap.

Chris Mitchell & Derek Albin - Chris and Derek are the co-founders of pinstripepundits.com, a sabermetric-heavy Yankees blog. For Chris' real job, he works for The Partnership for New York City, which is a non-profit economic development company. Derek is a recent graduate of Fordham University. Jason found Chris and Derek by linking to their articles often in his morning news, and they kindly agreed to lend us some of their analysis once per week. They are on Twitter @DerekAlbin and @_chris_mitchell.

Craig Edwards - Craig lives and works in Chicago. He loves baseball, but also watches football (college and pro), basketball (college more than pro), soccer and sometimes hockey and golf. Craig learned to read from baseball cards, and he enjoys the finer things in life like beer, live music, and t-shirts. You can follow Craig on Twitter @craigjedwards.

Mason Stark - Mason is a family man of three who has worked as an Audio Engineer in the past, and most recently on the Buy-Side as an Equity Financial Analyst and Portfolio Manager. After Baseball, he loves to watch Hockey, and his
personal favorite sport is Backcountry Skiing. Mason is @BassDefense on Twitter.

William Juliano - William is the longest tenured writer on our staff. He does regular writing on his personal blog, Captain's Blog. You can follow William on Twitter @williamnyy23.

Now on to the parodies.