Kuzul

The New York Yankees have had their share of outstanding catchers over the past century, so where does Jorge Posada rank on that list?With the 40-year-old veteran reportedly set to announce his retirement in the next few weeks, let's count down the top 10 backstops in the storied history of this franchise...Begin Slideshow

The Yankees' rotation has been on fire of late, turning in seven straight quality starts and allowing just eight earned runs over the past 50 innings for a 1.44 ERA.That streak should be tested this weekend as the first-place Bombers battle the Blue Jays, one of the better offensive teams in baseball.Let's take a look at the pitching matchups for this three-game series. Friday, April 29: Freddy Garcia (1-0, 0.69) vs. Ricky Romero (1-3, 3.00)Garcia became the first pitcher to begin his Yankee career with consecutive starts of at least six scoreless innings in 64 years when he silenced the Orioles over six frames on Sunday. The right-hander struck out seven and walked only two in that outing, but manager Joe Girardi pulled him way too early, costing Garcia the win.Garcia may have some trouble keeping the hot streak going when he battles the Blue Jays, a team that has given ...

Through 14 games, the Yankees have already pounded out a franchise-record 27 home runs, the most in the Majors by a wide margin. The Reds are five behind despite playing one more game, and the Indians and Rangers are tied for  second in the American League, all the way back at 19. New York leads the AL East with a record of 9-5, but will the Bombers be able to keep winning when the long balls decrease? And that's definitely going to happen unless they plan on hitting 312 homers this year, which would break the current record by 48. A drop off should also be expected because after playing 11 of their first 14 games at the homer-happy stadium in the Bronx, the Yanks will be hitting the road. However, the decline may not be felt until New York travels to Comerica Park in Detroit in the first week of May because the Yankees ...

There's no shame in losing two out of three at Fenway Park, but with the rubber game pitting CC Sabathia against Josh Beckett, the Yankees should've come away with the series win in Boston over the weekend. After an off-day, New York (5-4) returns home to host the first-place Baltimore Orioles (6-3), who have continued to flourish under manager Buck Showalter. Baltimore is 40-26 since he took over last year, so this is a team that needs to be taken seriously. The O's offense is still struggling, but the pitching staff has been among the best in baseball, ranking ninth in ERA (3.33) and second in batting average against (.216). However, their two best starters so far, Jeremy Guthrie and Zach Britton, will miss this series. Let's take a look at the pitching matchups for this three-game set in the Bronx.   Tuesday, April 12 - A.J. Burnett (2-0, 4.09) vs. Chris Tillman (0-0, 3.38) Burnett ...

Twins catcher Joe Mauer became a full-fledged hero in Minnesota, and across baseball for that matter, when he signed an eight-year, $184 million contract extension with his hometown club before the 2010 season. "It was where I was happy," said Mauer, who was recently in New York City to promote MLB 11 The Show, a video game on which he graces the cover for the second straight year. "Another big thing was the chance of winning. I feel like we have a great chance of winning in Minnesota. I'm definitely comfortable there. I have my family and my friends' support there, and I really couldn't see myself in another uniform." Mauer is a Minnesotan through and through. He was born in St. Paul and became a three-sport star at the city's Cretin-Derham Hall High School. Twins fans were ecstatic when the club drafted the local boy first overall in 2001 and even ...

The New York Yankees agreed to a one-year, $2 million deal with Andruw Jones on Thursday to replace Marcus Thames as a right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder. While Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, is not the same outfielder he was 13 years ago when he was still breaking into the Majors, he's still a far better defensive option than Thames. But at what cost? Jones hit just .230 last year with the Chicago White Sox, and what's scarier is that was his highest average since 2006. Thames, who put up a .288/.350/.491 line last season, was better in all three categories, and he hit .300 against lefties, while Jones hit just .256. In fact, over the past four years, Thames has a higher overall batting average (.253 vs. .212) and slugging percentage (.491 vs. .412) than Jones. Starters Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson are both fine defensive outfielders, so shouldn't the main purpose of a backup be ...

With Andy Pettitte continuing to lean toward retirement and the Yankees' stubborn refusal to give Joba Chamberlain a true shot at a rotation spot—despite his career 12-7 record and 4.18 ERA as a starter—New York must consider adding a free agent to replace Sergio Mitre as the No. 5 starter this season.Mitre was 0-2 with a 5.93 ERA in three starts last season and holds a career 13-25 record and 5.48 mark in 64 career starts, so keeping him in the rotation for any extended period of time would be disastrous.With New York missing out on Cliff Lee, there aren't a lot of great options remaining on the free-agent market, but let's take a look at five that would be better than Mitre.Begin Slideshow

The Boston Red Sox have reportedly signed free agent outfielder Carl Crawford to a seven-year, $142 million contract, which not only drastically improves their lineup and defense, but also puts an immense amount of pressure on the New York Yankees to lock up Cliff Lee. Two days after trading for Padres slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Theo Epstein has nabbed the No. 2 player on the open market, meaning Brian Cashman must come away with the crown jewel in order to keep pace. The Bombers have reportedly offered Lee a six-year, $140 million contract, but must now wait as the pitcher mulls over other offers from the Rangers, the Nationals and maybe other clubs. The Yankees had been eyeing Crawford for some time now, but the need for another outfielder decreased slightly with Brett Gardner's impressive 2010 campaign and Curtis Granderson's strong finish to the season. Still, Crawford, who has ...

Derek Jeter will be a New York Yankee next season. Let's just get that out of the way. Both sides have been a little wrong and a little right in the ongoing negotiations for the free agent and future first-ballot Hall of Famer. With the Yankees reportedly offering the captain a three-year, $45 million contract, they are clearly willing to pay far more than market value for a 36-year-old shortstop who set career lows with a .270 average, .340 on-base percentage and .370 slugging percentage in 2010. But I can also understand Jeter's rejection of the offer after the Steinbrenners and general manager Brian Cashman went public with the negotiations. The five-time World Series champion is the face of the franchise. He's bigger than Don Mattingly and Bernie Williams, and is on par in the Yankee Universe with legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford ...

When it comes to pitching statistics, wins are nearly as insignificant as saves. That’s why it’s ridiculous to exclude Felix Hernandez from the American League Cy Young Award race simply because the terrible team he plays for allowed him to win only 13 games. King Felix’s 2.27 ERA led baseball and his 249 2/3 innings were tops in the AL. His 232 strikeouts and 1.06 WHIP were second best in the league and he finished third with six complete games. When you consider that no team in the designated hitter era scored fewer than the Mariners’ 3.17 runs per game this season, it’s pretty easy to throw wins and losses out the window. Taking that one step further, Hernandez led the Majors in ERA and he didn’t even get to pad his statistics by facing one of the worst offenses of all time. Clay Buchholz (17-7, 2.33) went 1-0 ...