Yankees Ink Bleich

According to Baseball America, the Yankees have agreed to terms with their first round pick Jeremy Bleich. The Yankees top pick, Gerrit Cole, opted to attend UCLA and re-enter the draft next season.

Bleich reportedly did not exceed MLB’s bonus recommendation for his No. 44 slot, believed to be $863,000.

Update 8/16 12:42 PM EDT

Second round pick Scott Bittle, as expected, returned to the University of Mississippi.

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Breaking News: Schilling Season in Jeopardy

If you read this blog you know how much we detest Curt Schilling or "Schitbag" as we call him. We don't like to see anyone get hurt, especially if it means said person could end up a commentator.

Word out of Boston is that Curt Schilling's shoulder is much worse than originally thought, maybe even of the season-ending variety. The Red Sox have reportedly even looked into voiding Schilling's contract.

Schilling recently went to see the surgeon who performed his shoulder surgery back in 1995. Dr. Craig Morgan of course could not comment on the injury, and Schilling and Sox GM Theo Epstein both offered up a no comment of one sort or another.

Schilling contemplated retiring after the 2007 season, but signed a 1-yr deal that guaranteed him $8 million with another 3 mill attainable through incentives.

The only thing known for sure now is that Schilling won't be ready for the start of the season, which means Clay Bucholz will probably be in the starting rotation.

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Pick a Number, any Number

We're heading towards the end of January, which means its time for those little nasty meetings called arbitration hearings. Agents usually advise their clients not to attend so they don't hear the bad things that management says about them.

Wilson Betemit avoided arbitration by agreeing last week to a 1-year, $1.165 million deal. That's a bump of three-quarters of a million dollars. In the meantime, representatives for Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, and Brian Bruney have submitted their arbitration figures and the Yankees have countered with their offers. Here's how it shakes out.

Chieng-Ming Wang Wants: $4.6 million
Yankees: $4 million
2007 Salary: $489,500

Our Take: Considering Wang has won 19 games in back-to-back seasons, we don't see his playoff meltdown impacting his salary. We think he should be awarded the higher figure. Obviously we'd like to see the two sides compromise at $4.3 and avoid the hearing.

Robinson Cano Wants: $4.55 million
Yankees: $3.2 million
2007 Salary: $490,800

Our Take: This is a tough one. Cano started the season horribly, but then had a huge 2nd half. Because of that split, we think the Yankees will win the arbitration hearing, so again we'd like to see a compromise and a pre-arbitration contract.




Brian Bruney Wants: $845,000
Yankees: $640,000
2007 Salary: $395,545

Our Take: Dude, seriously. You stunk last year. And ERA of 4.68 and 37 walks in 50 innings pitched. The Yankees will win this one in a cake walk.

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Breaking News: Posada Re-signs

The Yankees avoided a bidding war with one of their prime free agents, when Jorge Posada agreed to a 4-year, $52.4 million deal. Posada took advantage, as Johnny Damon had in the signing period prior to the '06 season, of a market that was soft for his specific position.

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On another note, Mariano Rivera told an AP reporter in the Dominican Republic that he would consider Joe Torre and the Dodgers if he is unable to come to terms with the Yankees.

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Cy Santana

Jon Heyman is reporting that the Twins have made Johann Santana a multi-year offer, but initial follow ups have said Santana said, "no thanks". Most MLB GMs feel that Santana will remain a Twin, at least until the trade deadline, in '08.

Considering the deals that Barry Zito (7-yr, $126 mill) and Carlos Zambrano (5-yr, $91.5 mill) have received, Santana should make $20 mill per season.

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7.5

That's the number of millions Joe Girardi will be getting over the next 3 years.

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SI Report: Yankees Willing to Talk Extension w/ A-Rod

SAN FRANCISCO -- George Steinbrenner and other top Yankee decision makers are in agreement: They like Alex Rodriguez very much and now plan to try to do what they can to keep him in pinstripes. And if that has to mean an extension for A-Rod, so be it.

It has been suggested in many circles that Rodriguez is very likely to opt out of the remaining three years and $81 million on his record $252-million contract, and he may still do so. However, the Yankees will still have first crack at keeping A-Rod, and despite a previously stated intention not to extend him, word now is that they will be willing to negotiate if that's what it takes to keep him -- which shouldn't be such a surprise, considering his monstrous first half.

Click here to read more from Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.

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One Mo Contract

Mariano Rivera reported to Yankee's camp a day earlier than necessary yesterday and it was quite clear from his comments that the Bernie Williams situation was weighing on his mind. Mo is in the final year of a 3 year deal and thus far there has been no contact from the Yankees regarding the future. More precisely, Mo realizes that a similar situation could happen to him. He would like to avoid that and hopes the Yankees show him the respect he's earned.

"If they want to talk, we're willing to listen," Rivera said Monday following a pre-spring training workout. "But I'm going to bring nothing to the table. I'm just going to focus on what I have to do and see what happens. I have a contract for this year. That's what matters. All I have to do is focus on this season. I just have to worry about being able to help the team as much as I can."





A healthy and "ready to go" Mariano Rivera works out in Tampa




"I know that I have one more year, that is this year," Rivera said. "After that year, I don't know what's going to happen. Definitely I want to finish my career here, but if they don't give the respect that I deserve, I have to move on.





Gotta go to Mo!






"The Yankees always give me the respect," Rivera added. "When the time comes, if they want me back, they want me back. Otherwise, I'm not going to sit in my house crying. I have to move on."

Here's to hoping the Yankees do the right thing before this season is over.

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