Sunday Links

Here’s some Yankee Baseball reading material to warm you up on a sleepy, rainy and cold winter morning:

-Dan Novick of THT looks at Yankee 1st pick of the Rule 5 draft Jaime Hoffman. As it turns out, acquiring another outfielder who can hit Lefties and field his position (aka Mike Cameron) may be superfluous, because that may very well be what Jaime brings. He took huge strides against Lefties last year and it appears to be legit. Great job by Cash if he’s right, he just saved the Yanks 7-10 mil by dumping Bruney and not needing Cammy.

-The always thoughtful and entertaining Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated looks at the Curtis Granderson trade and concludes the Yanks walked away the winner. Good read, although I’ve never heard Brian Cashman referred to as a “Buzzard” before. But it works, so I’m stealing it immediately.

-Mike Axisa of RAB looks at an interesting non tendered Reliever in Matt Capps. I’d be interested in checking into that elbow situation, especially a pitcher who features a slider which puts loads of strain on the elbow. MRI’s can come up clean and there still be damage, as we saw with Bruney last year. Spikes in HR/BABIP can be anomalies, or can be a result of the fact that you have absolutely nothing. But as Mike details, his upside makes him worth a shot, assuming there isn’t a market for his services. Another factor in picking up Capps is that unlike many other Relievers, as a non tender he won’t cost the team that signs him a draft pick.

-Tuesday will be a pivotal day for Aroldis Chapman, who will work out for a number of potential suitors, including the Yanks. I’m agnostic on Aroldis, I think he’s a project who’s many years away and his comments about not wanting to be a reliever are troubling, since many scouts think that’s where he’ll wind up if he ever makes the bigs.

-As we bid farewell to Chien Ming Wang, RAB commenter Alex K. walks away the winner.