Kuzul

The idea of Alex Rodriguez not being expected to have a big impact on a team for a season is hard to fathom. But after his performance in the 2012 postseason and necessary surgery on his left hip, the expectations for Rodriguez in the 2013 season were slim to none.Taking PED's out of the conversation, A-Rod has had one of the greatest careers in MLB history. But over the last few seasons, we have seen an aging player look like he is aging.With the success that guys like Chipper Jones, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter have had at an older age, when we see a superstar player get older and their play actually starts to diminish like it should, we seem unprepared and don't accept it.Injuries have plagued Rodriguez recently and after hitting 30 homers and driving in at least 100 RBI in 13 straight seasons, he has just 34 ...

On a day where doctors clearing Alex Rodriguez for baseball activities dominated the Yankee headlines, the revelation of Michael Pineda's throwing session (via Hardball Talk) could turn out to be the news item baseball fans in New York remember most moving forward.While A-Rod's bat can clearly still help the Yankees, Pineda's right arm remains a key to their future, as well as an X-factor for their potential success right now. The 24-year-old right-handed pitcher was acquired prior to the 2012 season to be a cost-controlled mainstay atop the Yankees starting rotation for years. In surrendering catching prospect Jesus Montero, New York cashed in the biggest chip in their farm system for a pitcher already established on the major league level.After coming into 2012 camp overweight and suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, plans were put on hold for Pineda.Now, as he rehabs and revs up for his return, his level of ...

The inevitable has finally happened.The New York Yankees have decided to place third baseman Kevin Youkilis on the disabled list with a stiff lower back that has been bothering him for over a week, reports Mike Axisa of CBSSports.com. In his place, Corban Joseph has been called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It will be his first stint with a major league team.Because Youkilis was able to play on Saturday (he missed seven games before that date and missed two more afterwards), the Yankees will only be able to set his disabled list retroactive to the last game he played. This makes him eligible to return on Saturday, May 11 when the Yankees play the second game of a three-game series in Kansas City against the Royals.Youkilis had been hitting well in his first season with the Yankees. Signed as a free agent during the offseason, he's compiled a line of .279/.353/.443 ...

Through the first month of the 2013 season, the New York Yankees have defined themselves as the team that overcomes setbacks.They knew coming into the regular season that the first month would be a challenge.  With Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira all expected to be out until May 1, the club's prognosis was grim. As the first few weeks passed, it became clearer that May 1 was not a realistic goal for the injured Yankees stars.  Another fracture was discovered in Jeter's ankle and Teixeira's wrist is not far enough along for him to rejoin the club.  Only Granderson has shown promise in being able to return to the lineup, and he hopes to be back in the Bronx in early May.In spite of the setbacks, manager Joe Girardi has the team sitting third in the AL East Division and in a wild-card spot as the first month comes ...

New York Yankees third baseman Kevin Youkilis has been out since last Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays (in Toronto) with a sore lower back. There were no initial plans to place him on the 15-day disabled list, though that could now become an option.Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports that manager Joe Girardi would consider placing Youkilis on the DL if he does not play by this Saturday's home game against the Blue Jays. Youkilis took swings in the batting cage Thursday, but the results did not warrant a comeback for that night's game.When asked about Youkilis' status, Girardi said: "He's not rotating the way he wants to rotate, which is kind of important for a hitter. He's just not ready to go."If Youkilis were to be placed on the disabled list this Saturday, then it would likely be retroactive to last Saturday's contest. This would already put him seven ...

Imagine a Major League Baseball trade deadline where the New York Yankees are in Miami Marlins mode: Everything must go.If there ever was a year for it to happen, it's this year....Not that I'm counting on it, mind you.Like, oh, pretty much everyone else, I had my doubts about the Bombers heading into the season. With guys like Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez out of commission, the Yanks went into Opening Day looking like a collection of pinstriped impostors.But it turns out that the 2013 Yankees are a pretty good team. Not great, but pretty good. They're 10-8 entering Tuesday's action and in third place in the AL East. They've won nine of their last 13.It helps that various stand-ins have been better than expected, most notably Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner, who have 10 of the club's 28 homers. They were supposed to be old and ...

As I suggested during the offseason, Brian Cashman's low-key moves are paying off.With the 2014 payroll target looming, the Yankees did not want to commit big money or multiple years to the free-agent crop of this past winter, so they made moves to fill their holes in less conventional ways. Granted, you can't predict the injuries to players like Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson or Derek Jeter's setback, but Cashman has done a pretty good job so far—good enough to see the Yankees at 4-4 with decent production.Hopefully, they can stay afloat until the cavalry comes home.So far, the Yankees have seen great production from the lines of Kevin Youkilis, Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells and Brennan Boesch. Youkilis is arguably having the best early season out of any Yankee and is even finding himself amongst the best in the majors.Wells has found a revival early on in the season, showing more ...

In the Yankees' world these days, good health is hardly anything to take for granted. But if we're willing to live in a fantasy world for a moment and employ ceteris paribus, or hold all things constant with good health, the Yankees have to be pleased with the performance of their top three starting pitchers so far.If CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda can avoid the injury bug, the Yankees will have a very formidable trio atop their rotation. It's those other pesky two slots in the starting rotation that are causing manager Joe Girardi and the Bombers' fans agita these days. Between homegrown products Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, the Yankees are in a constant state of wonder and analysis attempting to figure out why their performance varies so greatly from month-to-month and even game-to-game during the course of the season.In Hughes, the Yankees have a pitcher who seems to fit the description ...

If you think the New York Yankees look different this year, just wait a while. There's going to be a ton of turnover in The Bronx over the next couple years.We know that the 2013 season is going to Mariano Rivera's last in pinstripes, and he's likely to be followed out the door by Andy Pettitte. The list of Yankees players set to hit free agency after 2013 includes: Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.After 2014, Derek Jeter will be a free agent and so will Ichiro Suzuki, David Robertson and Brett Gardner.Thus, the future of the Yankees is wide-open. There are a million different directions it could go, and I assume that not even Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman have it all planned out down to the last detail. They don't have a crystal ball. Just ideas.I don't have a crystal ball either, but ...

The New York Yankees' payroll is also going to be a topic of conversation because of how much money is spent to put a product on the field. However, this season is different due to all the money being invested for what is clearly an inferior product. According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), the Yankees enter this season with the highest payroll in Major League Baseball history at $230.4 million.That news has to be shocking to a lot of fans and analysts, as all offseason we kept hearing about how the front office desperately wants to trim payroll to around $189 million before the 2014 season to avoid paying luxury tax fees to MLB. Hank Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman did not exactly cut off the spending, as the Bronx Bombers spent over $60 million to re-sign Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki and bring in Kevin Youkilis, Travis ...