Kuzul

The Yankees bullpen is not looking too good right now.

First, Joba Chamberlain with the dislocated ankle. Then, Mariano Rivera with the torn ACL,

Now, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, David Robertson will be put on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain.

Cody Eppley will be recalled from Class AAA-Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in place of Robertson.

Robertson was having a great start to the 2012 season with an 0-1 record and a 2.51 ERA in 14.1 innings with 24 strikeouts.

After Rivera was shelved for the entire season, Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to go with both Robertson and Rafael Soriano as temporary closers without giving either one the official role.

But with Robertson now on the shelf for the next couple of weeks, that leaves Soriano as the closer by default. Now, the Yankees will need to find a temporary solution for the setup role.

The Yankees can go with guys like Cory Wade or David Phelps to see if they can excel as the setup man, for now.

Or, if Brian Cashman really feels the need, he could look into a trade for a reliever.

Last year, the Yankees went through the same situation with the bullpen, with Damaso Marte, Pedro Feliciano, Soriano and Chamberlain all suffering injuries, which got Robertson the opportunity to be the setup man for Rivera.

The Yankees can only hope that Robertson’s injury isn’t that serious and he’ll be back at full strength once he’s eligible to come off the DL.

If the Yankees want any hope of making the postseason and winning another championship, they will need Robertson healthy.

It’s a rough injury for the Yankees to have. Hopefully, it’s only temporary and nothing serious,

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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When the season started, things weren’t looking good for Phil Hughes.

He had a 1-4 record with a 7.48 ERA,  and he was pitching himself out of the rotation with poor performance after poor performance.

David Phelps was attempting to pitch himself into the rotation and Andy Pettitte is returning to the Yankees on Sunday, so it seemed like only a matter of time before Hughes got demoted.

A little over a week ago, I wrote a story stating that Hughes was on the verge of losing his spot when Pettitte came back to the team.

Lately, it seems like Hughes may finally be turning everything around.

In his last two starts, Hughes not only has given the Yankees back-to-back wins, he’s given them back-to-back quality starts.

On May 6, Hughes overpowered the Kansas City Royals for 6.2 innings, six hits and seven strikeouts, which was his second win of the season.

And then on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners, Hughes went 7.2 innings, allowed one run on six hits, walked one and struck out four in a 6-2 Yankees win.

Hughes was able to drop his ERA again from 6.67 down to 5.50, dropping almost two full runs since the month of May started.

What’s good to see from Hughes is that not only is his velocity consistent, but his control has been a lot better.

When Hughes leaves his pitches over the plate with little-to-no movement, hitters can tee off on Hughes, which is why the 1-4 record started.

But if Hughes changes speeds, moves his location of his pitches and still uses power to get hitters out, Hughes will have success, which is why he’s won two starts in a row.

Hughes has always been a big part of the Yankees’ current and future plans of the rotation, and having him pitch well is something they need to have if they want to compete for a championship in October.

If Hughes struggles, it causes the Yankees to try and find alternate solutions, which isn’t something Yankees GM Brian Cashman wants to do, given the investment they have put into Hughes since they drafted him back in the 2004 MLB draft.

But when he does well, the Yankees tend to do well—like when Hughes became a temporary but dominant set-up man for Mariano Rivera in 2009, when the Yankees won the World Series or, in 2010, when Hughes won 18 games and was an American League All-Star.

The Yankees have gotten quality starts from CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda has pitched much better as of late, Ivan Nova is winning despite having a higher ERA and David Phelps is doing everything he can to keep a spot on the team—plus Pettitte’s returning from his extended spring training on Sunday.

If they can get Hughes pitching like this for the rest of 2012, that only increases the Yankees’ chances of having success in 2012.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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After weeks of speculation, the wait is over and Andy Pettitte will be back.

Aaron Gleeman of NBC’s HardBallTalk reported that Pettitte will make his 2012 debut for the Yankees pitching at home against the Seattle Mariners.

Pettitte has been pitching in extended spring training ever since he announced back in March that he was coming out of retirement for the Yankees.

Pettitte accepted a one-year, $2.5 million minor-league deal after he was invited to the Yankees’ spring training as a special instructor.

It was there that Pettitte got the urge to pitch again after retiring before the 2011 season.

While in the minors, Pettitte made four starts ranging from Class A, AA and AAA, threw 17 innings with a 13-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio and had a 3.71 ERA, which isn’t too bad considering he hasn’t thrown a live pitch since Game 3 of the 2010 American League Championship Series.

Pettitte’s return comes at the right time with the rotation having several question marks after CC Sabathia.

Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova have been up and down, Phil Hughes has been inconsistent, Freddy Garcia was so terrible that he got demoted to the bullpen and Michael Pineda is out for the season with a shoulder tear.

The crowd that will be in attendance at Yankee Stadium will certainly be pumped up and ready for one of their long-time favorites to return for one last hurrah.

As of right now, Pettitte is scheduled to square off against Mariners right-hander Blake Beaven. Seattle ranks near the bottom of the American League in multiple categories, so it’s a nice game to ease Pettitte back into the major league swing of things.

I’m sure a lot of Yankee fans all over share my excitement to see Pettitte return. For me personally, my favorite player since I was 11 is coming back, and I could not be more thrilled.

Mother’s Day in the Bronx just became more interesting and something not to miss.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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It’s time for the Yankees to make a change on the team.

I know it’s only April, but Freddy Garcia needs to go, and needs to go now.

His last outing on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers is just another example of why he can’t cut it for the Yankees in 2012.

On Saturday, 1.2 innings pitched, five hits, six runs, two walks and three strikeouts. Garcia’s 2012 record goes to 0-2 and his ERA all the way up to 12.51

That just won’t cut it. Not in New York. Not on any major league team, and really, not in the minor leagues either.

Garcia has yet to have one start where he lasted six innings and lately, every time he has pitched, he’s getting chased out of the game so early, he’s taxing the bullpen.

The American League has figured out Garcia in 2012. Garcia was able to fool hitters in 2011 with his deceptive breaking stuff, but not now.

When all of his pitches have little to no movement on them and are in hitters’ happy zones, starts like the one against Detroit and Boston are bound to happen.

And enough is enough. It’s time for the Yankees and Brian Cashman to designate Garcia for assignment and get him off the roster.

Garcia shouldn’t go to the bullpen and be the long-reliever; that would basically be a waste of a roster spot for a young arm like Adam Warren, who could do that.

I know the Yankees are waiting until Andy Pettitte is at 100 percent strength to get called up, but for the mean time, Garcia’s starts could just be given to David Phelps.

At this point in the season, Phelps has been a better overall pitcher than Garcia, and every time Garcia is on the mound, he’s putting the Yankees in an early hole.

The Yankees cannot afford to have another repeat performance from Garcia like what they saw on Saturday afternoon.

Garcia’s time in New York has come and it’s time to send him packing as soon as possible.

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It was 9-0 in the fifth inning.

Everything was looking in favor of the Red Sox on Saturday after they had chased Freddy Garcia in the second inning and forced Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen.

The “it was” phrase is a common phrase uttered a lot in Boston.

Like, it was 3-2 in the 1986 World Series. And it was 5-2 in the eighth inning of the 2003 ALCS.

On Saturday, it was 9-0 Red Sox heading into the sixth inning.

Mark Teixeira homers off of Boston starter Felix Doubront to make it 9-1.

It’s still a steep hill to climb, but in Fenway, you can never count out a loaded offense, especially the Yankees.

In the seventh inning, the momentum changed in the entire game.

Off Vicente Padilla, Nick Swisher smashes a grand slam over the Green Monster, which cut it from 9-1 to 9-5.

With that one swing, the Yankees had a pulse, and Boston knew they were in deep trouble.

Three batters later, Teixiera cranks out his second home run of the game, a three-run shot off Matt Albers over the Green Monster, and it was 9-8.

From 9-0 to 9-8 in a matter of two innings. The Red Sox couldn’t stop the bleeding, because the Yankees were far from done.

In the top of the eighth, Swisher cranks a double over the head of Cody Ross, which scored two and gave the Yankees the lead at 10-9.

Teixeira, already having a monster game, hits a two-run ground run double that made it 12-9.

Two batters later, Russell Martin hits a two-run double over Ross’ head to make it 14-9.

Derek Jeter’s infield single made it 15-9, and that’s where it held for the rest of the game.

The Yankees looked like they would get smoked out of the ballpark on Saturday, and then all it took was two huge innings.

A seven-run seventh inning and a seven-run eighth inning and Red Sox Nation went from having a great time to watching a live nightmare before their eyes.

The Boston bullpen is the major culprit of this one, as they wasted a solid performance by their starter Doubront.

The Red Sox bullpen allowed 12 hits, 14 runs, walked four and allowed two home runs.

Former Yankee and current Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves took the loss and had his ERA soar all the way up to 24.00

The Boston bullpen has been downright dreadful in 2012 and in Saturday’s game, it really got exposed on national TV.

For both Swisher and Teixeira, what a breakout game to have.

Swisher goes 3-for-6 with six RBI and the grand slam. Texieira also goes 3-for-6 with six RBI and the  two huge home runs.

Jeter continues his hot April by going 3-for-4 and bumped his average up to .382.

Garcia, as expected, pitched a lousy game and got bailed out by his offense.

As soon as Andy Pettitte is ready to get called up to the majors, Garcia will not have a spot in the Yankees rotation anymore.

Nobody was expecting this type of comeback by the Yankees after falling behind 9-0, but this is one of the most historic comeback victories that only adds to the rivalry.

The Yankees have done this so many times to the Red Sox.

The one-game playoff in 1978 that saw Bucky Dent hit the homer over the monster.

The three-run eighth inning rally off Pedro Martinez in the 2003 ALCS, followed by Aaron Boone’s home run in the 11th off Tim Wakefield.

Starting 0-9 head-to-head in 2009 and winning 10-of-11 against Boston to win the A.L. East.

The Boston Massacre of 1978 and again in 2006.

You can now add April 21, 2012, into the history books as another chapter of the Yankees-Red Sox feud and rivalry with this historic comeback victory.

The Yankees have already won the series by taking the first two games. On ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, led by C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees will attempt the sweep.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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Today was a monumental day for the New York Yankees.

Fans all over were in shock, but for good reason, as they found out one of their long-time fan favorites was coming back to the Bronx in 2012.

Jack Curry of the YES Network broke the news first on his Twitter account, announcing that Andy Pettitte had signed a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.

The Yankees have signed Andy Pettitte to a 1-year minor league deal worth $2.5 million. The team is thrilled to have 240-game winner back.

— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) March 16, 2012

The deal for Pettitte is a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, but because Pettitte has now decided to put off retirement, he’ll be on the Major League roster when the 2012 season kicks off.

In his last active season, Pettitte went 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA in 21 starts for the Yankees in 2010.

After the season, Pettitte contemplated playing in 2011 and retirement, which didn’t get decided until Feb. 3, 2011, where Pettitte announced he was retiring from the Yankees.

The Yankees invited Pettitte to spring training to be a special instructor, and it was there that he got the itch to play again and Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman worked out the deal, which apparently was a very secretive and ongoing process that was going on back in December.

Bringing back Pettitte was a great move for the Yankees, and it further enhances the team’s chances of winning the World Series this season.

The rotation now consists of CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes and now Pettitte.

There may be a good chance Michael Pineda could be starting out the 2012 season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after questions of his velocity have come up.

I also would not be surprised now if the Yankees start shopping around Freddy Garcia, who was going to battle Hughes for the fifth and final spot in the rotation, but now with Pettitte in the mix, the Yankees have a surplus of pitching and can afford to shop Garcia, who pitched very well in 2011.

Pettitte was always a gamer for the Yankees. He’s a career 19-10 in the playoffs, with his 19 wins the most ever for a pitcher.

Money can’t buy that type of experience and that type of leadership that Pettitte brings to the Yankees.

Sabathia is a playoff-proven pitcher (when healthy), and Nova got to cut his teeth last year by pitching in Games 1 and 5 of the ALDS against the Tigers.

Plus, Kuroda has playoff experience pitching with the Dodgers and is 2-1 in three starts.

Now, throw in Pettitte’s experienced and that can be a solid rotation built for October.

Plus, if the Yankees want to continue to develop Pineda without a lot of pressure, they can now. There’s no pressure on the 23-year-old to quickly become the No. 2 or 3 pitcher and dominate behind Sabathia.

In his response today to coming back, Pettitte gave his usual humble and honest answer, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Pettitte: “I am embarrassed to be coming back, but what can I do? My desire has changed.”

— Mark Feinsand (@BloggingBombers) March 16, 2012

Pettitte plays for the love of the game, and he wants to win another championship, and you can’t fault the guy for it.

He was around the Yankees for the last couple of weeks and the passion and desire came back, something that will work to the Yankees advantage.

OK, yes, he’s 39 going on 40 years old this year. However, he also had a full year of rest and will now use the rest of spring training to get ready and could be ready by Opening Day, but the team isn’t sure, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

He will use rest of spring to get in shape. #Yankees will get read when he will be ready, Opening Day is in play, but hardly sure

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) March 16, 2012

Adding Pettitte changes everything for the Yankees. Their rotation is deeper, stronger and more fierce. And adding Pettitte takes a team that won 97 games a year ago and only makes them better.

April 6 can’t get here quick enough, but the addition of Pettitte sure makes the Yankees spring training a hell of a lot more interesting now.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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Yankee fans were holding their breath when they heard the news on setup man David Robertson.

Robertson hurt his foot while unloading boxes at his spring training home in Florida and the New York Yankees were awaiting the news of his MRI.

On Friday, the organization could breathe a major sigh of relief, as David Waldstein of The New York Times reported through his Twitter account that Robertson’s injury was not a serious one, being a bone bruise.

Girardi says David Robertson has a bone bruise on top of his foot. In boot until Sunday and then comes back as he can tolerate pain

— David Waldstein (@DavidWaldstein) March 9, 2012

Waldstein talked to Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who said Robertson will be in a walking boot through the weekend, and then will begin throwing again soon, a long as he can tolerate some discomfort.

Losing Robertson for any significant period of time would have been a bad way to start the 2012 season, as Robertson is a key member to the Yankees bullpen.

With the 2012 season potentially being the last one of Mariano Rivera’s career, the Yankees may start to groom Robertson to be the team’s next closer.

But since the injury is just a mild one and nothing serious, the Yankees can breathe a little easier, and not have to make any drastic moves during spring training.

They will be without Joba Chamberlain, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and likely won’t be back until June. Likewise for new Yankee reliever David Aardsma, who is also recovering from the same surgery and should be back in the summer.

The Yankees are also without Pedro Feliciano, who has been shut down for most of his tenure as a Yankee with shoulder problems. The team is hopeful Feliciano can make a September appearance, if everything goes to plan.

The Yankees got bit by the bullpen bug last year, which propelled Robertson into the setup role, which turned out to be a blessing for the team.

Losing him early on would have been a disaster. But now, it’s a disaster the Yankees can avoid.

Yankee fans all over can breathe a little easier, as their All-Star reliever should be just fine for the start of the 2012 season.

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The New York Yankees have been actively searching for a way to rid themselves of AJ Burnett in the last week.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman may have found a taker in the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The other day, the Yankees were asking for right-fielder Garrett Jones in return, but according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and WFAN, Pirates GM Neal Huntington rejected that offer, causing the two sides to go back to the drawing board on negotiations.

Right now, it’s looking like the Yankees aren’t looking for any players in return from the Pirates so much as cash and salary relief.

The Yankees want to add a left-handed bat as DH and may try to bring back Eric Chavez for bench help, but the Yankees can’t do that if they can’t dump salary.

On Friday, the Pirates looked like they would take on about $10 million of the remaining two years and $33 million, but according to Heyman, the Yankees want Pittsburgh to take on more.

The Yankees want Pittsburgh to take on at least half, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, which is where the talks stalled going into Saturday night.

And as of Saturday night, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, there’s a “good chance” that the deal between the Yankees and Pirates goes down for Burnett.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports said that the Pirates are one of four teams interested in acquiring Burnett’s services, but the Pirates make the most sense to land the 35-year-old starter.

Burnett was 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA and, at times, looked completely lost on the mound in 2011. He really helped his credibility with a Game 4 ALDS win against the Detroit Tigers.

I’m actually surprised the Yankees didn’t pull the trigger on the Pittsburgh deal after the Pirates’ original $10 million offer.

I didn’t think anyone would go for that much, so I think Cashman really wants to see how far Pittsburgh is willing to go.

Most Yankee fans are dying to see this deal get done as Burnett has unquestionably worn out his welcome in New York with his underwhelming tenure and consistency.

Getting Burnett off the roster will eventually help the Yankees acquire the bats they are targeting for 2012.

And by going to Pittsburgh, Burnett can help resurrect whatever is left of his career in pitching to weaker NL lineups.

Hopefully going into next week, Burnett will be heading to spring training for the Pirates and not the Yankees.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It’s been 24 hours since the Yankees made by far one of the biggest splashes of the winter.

From the moment the season ended until last night, they were extremely quiet and we all wondered if they would make a single move.

My gut was telling me that Yankees GM Brian Cashman was going “as is” for 2012.

And then, everything changed, and Cashman was just waiting for the right time.

First, he traded catcher Jesus Montero and pitcher Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for right-handed starter Michael Pineda.

Pineda is a 22-year-old strikeout pitcher with a bright future ahead of him.

Just after that trade shook the baseball world, the Yankees then turned around and brought in former Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year, $10 million deal.

Kuroda is an innings eater and very durable, plus he gives the Yankees a ton of depth in the rotation.

So both moves proved to be excellent ones for Cashman and the Yankees.

And apparently. they aren’t done now that the designated hitter spot is now open.

According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports and WFAN, the Yankees are now looking to pursue former Rays and Cubs first basemen Carlos Pena.

Pena only batted .225, but had 28 home runs and 80 RBI with the Cubs in 2011.

Pena was nearly a Yankee last year as he was claimed off waivers by the Yankees in late August, but the Cubs pulled Pena back off waivers.

With Pena now a free agent and the Cubs trading for Padres first basemen Anthony Rizzo, it looks like the Cubs are going in a different direction for their first-base spot and leaves Pena looking for work.

With Montero now in Seattle and Jorge Posada retiring, it gives the Yankees a spot to fill, which Pena could easily fit.

He can be the DH against right-handed batters, and they can put Alex Rodriguez there when the team plays left-handed pitching.

Or, they could put Pena at first when they want to give Mark Teixeira a day off or put him at the DH spot for a game or two.

This past summer, I was all for bringing Pena to the Bronx. Five months later, given Pena is a pull-hitter and his swing is made for the short porch of Yankee Stadium, I think he would be a great hitter for the Yankees to have.

Sure, he strikes out a lot. And yes, he does hit for a low average.

But he’s got a lot of power and has a great glove as a first baseman, so those qualities are hard to ignore in a lineup that can always use a little more pop in it.

If they do sign Pena, it’s probably going to be another one-year deal, just so they aren’t blocking the DH spot once A-Rod needs to go there full-time.

But bringing in Pena right now would be a good move for the Yankees, and if Pena is on Cashman’s radar, hopefully he’ll snag him up quickly.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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We’re getting closer and closer to the 2011 season ending and the free agency period for baseball to begin.

In my last article, I did a history of the top 10 worst free agency signings for the Yankees.

The ones I reviewed were of recent history.

This will be the complete opposite of that.

This one will be the top 10 best free agency signings in recent history for the Yankees.

Since 1995, the Yankees have missed the playoffs only one time, won the American League East division title 11 times, appeared in seven World Series and won five championships.

A lot of that has to do with the Yankees making the right moves to land free agents.

This list was a lot harder to put together because of who was an actual free agent and who got traded.

For example, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Paul O’Neill, David Cone, John Wetteland and Cecil Fielder were all results of the Yankees making trades and won’t be on this list.

Nope, this is strictly free agency moves.

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