Profiles on the New Yankees

If there is one thing that has defined this team, it is the infusion of youth that has revitalized a slow, aging team from last year with a stuffy clubhouse to a younger team full of new faces and much looser atmosphere. With that as the theme, here are a few good stories for a Sunday morning:

-MLB.com profile on Alfredo Aceves.

Fast becoming one of my favorite young pitchers. Love his fearlessness and savvy. Not the most talented pitcher on the staff, but one of the fiercest competitors who also understands the craftmanship of pitching. Nice to see that Posada agrees with me, he’s very reminiscient of El Duque, another of my all time faves.

-Pete Abe has another piece up on the new Yankee clubhouse and the characters that occupy it. If this team wins a championship, they will write books about this group for years.

-If you were watching Phil Hughes’ last start, we have an answer to the ‘cap mystery’ courtesy of Tyler Kepner. You might have noticed that Phil had “Jr” written on the side of his cap during his last start on Memorial Day in Texas. That was a tribute to his Dad, Phil Hughes Sr, who spent 16 years in the Navy and served on a Destroyer in Vietnam. Nice find by Tyler.

-Tim Bontemps from the NY Post has a story on two bright young stars of the Yankee farm system,  Yankee Catcher prospects Austin Romine and Jesus Montero. Most organizations would boast to have one good catcher in their system, we have three when you factor in Cervelli. One (or more) of these guys will eventually be Posada’s replacement. There is sentiment in the Yankee organization to make Cervelli the backup Catcher right now, but don’t count on Girardi going that route when Molina comes back.