STATE OF THE YANKEES

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UPDATE 12/20/09 - 8:42 AM PST
The team agreed to terms on Thursday with 1B Nick Johnson, who will replace the departed Hideki Matsui at DH after he signed a free agent deal with the Angels. The 31 year-old Johnson returns to the Yankees nearly six years to the day after being traded to the Montreal Expos in a deal that brought back Javier Vazquez. In 248 games with the Yankees from 2001-03, Johnson hit .256 with 31 HR's and 113 RBI's. The left-handed batter has a career OBP of .402 and had his best season in 2006, when he hit .290 with 23 HR's, 77 RBI, 110 BB, and 10 SB's for the Nationals.

UPDATE 12/10/09 - 10:11 PM PST
The addition of Curtis Granderson gives the Yankees a potential 30-30 man at the top the lineup although the 28 year-old has actually seen his OPS dip in consecutive seasons (.913 OPS in '07, .859 OPS in '08, .780 OPS in '09). In 2007, Granderson had a career year with 84 extra base hits (23 HR, 38 2B, 23 3B) but he's had 61 in each of the past two seasons. Moving from pitcher-friendly Comerica Park to Yankee stadium should help his numbers greatly but the left-handed batter could be a liability against left-handed pitchers (.484 OPS in '09 vs LHP's).

UPDATE 12/09/09 - 11:01 AM PST
Andy Pettitte is returning for his 16th big league season after re-signing with the team for 2010. The 37 year-old has a career 192-109 record in 12 season with the Yankees and was 14-8 with a 4.16 ERA in 194.2 IP last season before going 4-0 in the postseason. The top three spots in the rotation are now set with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Pettitte. Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are the favorites for the last two spots.

UPDATE 12/01/09 - 7:21 PM PST
LINEUP - Often referred to as 'Mr. May' for his lack of post-season heroics, Alex Rodriguez finally came up big (.365 BA, 6 HR, 18 RBI) for the World Series Champs in October and November. New 1B Mark Texeira gets a pass for his playoff struggles (.180 BA, 2 HR, 17 K) due to a strong regular season (.292 BA, 39 HR 122 RBI) and the fact that his team actually won the World Series. 2B Robinson Cano (.320 BA, 25 HR, 48 2B, 85 RBI) had a terrific season after a mediocre season in 2008 and 35 year-old Derek Jeter produced at least 200 hits for the fourth time in five years. Catcher Jorge Posada came back strong from an injury-riddled 2008 with 22 HR's and 81 RBI in 111 games. Nick Swisher (.249 BA, 29 HR, 82 RBI), Melky Cabrera (.274 BA, 13 HR, 68 RBI) and Brett Gardner (.270 BA, 26 SB in 108 games) are currently penciled into the three outfield spots but with plenty of options on the free-agent market, the Yankees can go in many different directions. They have yet to be linked with the top free agent hitters on the market, Jason Bay and Matt Holliday, but it wouldn't be surprised if they got involved. They also have two very important free agents of their own in Johnny Damon (.282 BA, 24 HR, 82 RBI) and World Series MVP Hideki Matsui (.274 BA, 28 HR, 90 RBI).

ROTATION - CC Sabathia came up big in his debut season with the Yanks, winning 19 regular season games before going 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA in five playoff starts. That's not a surprise. It was the other big free agent addition to the rotation, A.J. Burnett, that came with question marks. While he didn't exactly put up big numbers (13-9, 4.04 ERA in 33 starts; 1-1, 5.27 ERA in five post-season starts) worthy of his $16.5M salary, he gave the team 21 quality starts (same as Sabathia) and was able to stay healthy, throwing 234.1 IP after tossing 221.1 innings for Toronto in '08. It will be interesting to see what happens with the last three spots of the rotation. Youngsters Joba Chamberlain (9-6, 4.78 ERA in 31 starts) and Phillip Hughes (5-1, 1.40 ERA, 18 holds in 44 relief appearances), who have both proven to be dominant setup men, will report to spring training as starters. At least that's the current plan. The Yankees can stick with that plan and focus on solidifying their bullpen this offseason or they could add another big name starter to the rotation and Chamberlain or Hughes would likely end up back in the 'pen. There are plenty of other candidates for rotation spots, including Chad Gaudin, Ian Kennedy, and Sergio Mitre, just in case the Yankees have a spot up for grabs when spring training finally starts.

BULLPEN - Mariano Rivera continues to be one of the greatest relief pitchers in the history of the game, posting a sub-2.00 ERA for the 9th time in his career and lowering his career post-season ERA to 0.74 after another outstanding playoff performance. Hughes, who was the primary setup man for Rivera, could move to the rotation which opens up an important spot in the 'pen. Dave Robertson (3.30 ERA, 63 K in 43.2 IP) went unscored upon in the playoffs and could get a shot to take on a bigger role in 2010. Lefty Phil Coke (4.50 ERA, .209 BAA, 21 holds in 72 relief appearances) and right-hander Alfredo Aceves (10-1, 3.35 ERA in 42 relief appearances) both pitched well in '09 and will continue to be an important part of the 'pen. Damaso Marte, despite missing most of the regular season with tendinitis and weakness in his pitching arm, allowed just two hits in four scoreless innings in the playoffs.