Braves interested in Nady and Swisher

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Braves are interested in two Yankees.

The team's next step will be to add a bat, and the club has spoken with the Yankees about their available hitters, Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher, sources said.

There is no word on what the Yankees are seeking in return or what the Braves are willing to offer. My hope is that the Yankees don't trade one or both just for the sake of making a trade. The team is fine if they keep both of them.

Mr. Levine goes to Albany

Team President Randy Levine was issued a subpoena today by a New York State Assembly committee investigating the use of millions of dollars of public money to build the new stadium, an anonymous official told the AP today. An official with the city economic development office was also issued a subpoena.

The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, but Levine's spokeswoman said while he was told he would be subpoenaed, he hasn't received it yet.

Henderson, Rice elected to Hall of Fame

Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were both elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today. Henderson received 94.8 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility, and Rice was on 76.4 percent of the ballots in his final year of eligibility.

Congratulations to both.

Don Mattingly received 64 votes (11.9 percent) and will be on next year's ballot.

Yankees will wear Stadium patch this season

The Yankees wore two patches on their uniforms last year - one for the final season of Yankee Stadium and the other for the All-Star Game.

Peter Abraham posted the new Yankee Stadium patch image today. The Yankees will wear it on their home and away uniforms. My guess is it will be on the left sleeve like the final season patch was. The Yankees' reasoning back then was so Yankee Stadium would be closest to the players' heart.

Meanwhile, the Citi Field patch (see Abraham's link) is God-awful. Seriously. Could it be any more generic?

Giant disappointment

Wow. I don't even know what to say about today's Giants game. This had to remind you of Yankees performances in the playoffs lately. What a disgrace.

Oh well.

33 days until pitchers and catchers.

Red Sox sign Saito

The Boston Red Sox signed yet another player to an incentive-laden contract. Takashi Saito will join ex-teammate Brad Penny, along with Rocco Baldelli and John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal reports.

The contract will guarantee at least $1.5 million and could reach $7 million if he reaches his incentives.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little worried about all of these moves. There is no guarantee any of them will stay healthy, but if they can be scary if they do indeed produce.

Pavano sounds off

I'll let this Carl Pavano quote speak for itself.

"When you're down, you expect your organization to pick you up, not kick you when you're down," Pavano said. "I've had to pick myself up quite a few times the last four years."

Have at it.

Newsday photo

All Nady and Swisher, all the time

Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher have become the new Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia around Yankees Universe lately. Will the Yankees trade one of them? Will they stand pat? Time will tell.

Jon Heyman believes one is easier to deal than they other.

The Yankees are looking to trade either Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher. But from here, Swisher would be difficult to deal, with $20 million left and coming off a .219 season. The Braves and Pirates showed some interest before the Yankees took him as logical first-base insurance. While Nady is a year from free agency, his market should be much stronger.

I know some people disagree with me (Jane), but I wouldn't mind keeping both and having Johnny Damon patrol center for the year.

I don't see the need to trade Swisher or Nady. Depending on the players the Yankees get back, I don't think the Yankees traded for these two players to trade them away. The Yankees gave up some nice pieces for Nady and Damaso Marte, and while Swisher struggled last season, he draws walks and has put up better numbers in the past.

It's a tough call, and I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make the ultimate decision.

Pettitte to Houston unlikely

Alyson Footer brings us the good word, saying Andy Pettitte likely won't bolt to Houston.

Have the Astros reached out to Pettitte? Has Pettitte contacted the Astros?

According to general manager Ed Wade, no and no.

"We haven't had any discussion with Andy or his representatives and we don't see a scenario where he would fit into our payroll scenario at this time," Wade said.

And an e-mail inquiry sent to Pettitte's agent, Randy Hendricks, was not returned.

Nice try by Pettitte's people planting this story.

Sony makes sure it's all over Yankee Stadium

Our long national nightmare is over, Yankees fans! The Yankees have found their "Official LCD Television," "Official HD Television" and "Official Consumer Electronics Manufacturer."

It was announced today that Sony will hold all three of those titles in the new Yankee Stadium. In addition, there will be an "HDNA" sign on the right-field wall, 550 LCD HD television sets will be all over the building and PlayStation3 systems and VAIO notebooks will be available for fans in designated locations.

The control room where the production switches are will be named the "Sony Control Room," there will be a 30-second promo before each game and game highlights will be presented by Sony.

Yikes. That's a lot of Sony.

Pettitte unhappy, possibly open to joining Astros

Ken Davidoff is reporting Andy Pettitte has grown unhappy with the Yankees during this free agent process and could be open to rejoining the Houston Astros.

People familiar with Pettitte's thinking aired out grievances:

1. Pettitte believes that the Yankees should display more appreciation for all that he has done for them.

2. While the Yankees are asking that Pettitte take a pay cut, the team clearly is not hurting financially, given its large investments in Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

3. Pettitte thinks that his 2008 season wasn't as bad as the Yankees are making it out to be.

14-14, 4.54 ERA, 98 ERA+ (100 is league average), 1.412 WHIP. I'd say that's pretty damn bad.

Davidoff goes on to say that when the Yankees were discussing signing Mark Teixeira, they were figuring out the corresponding roster moves to make the 2009 payroll lower than where it was the year before. Their two conclusions were letting Pettitte walk and trading Xavier Nady. "Nady figures to be dealt now, although the Yankees have already received calls about newly acquired Nick Swisher," Davidoff said.

If the Yankees don't want Johnny Damon in center field (i.e. having Brett Gardner or Melky Cabrera start there), the Yankees would likely have to make a move. I'd like to keep Swisher and Nady and have Damon play center for a year, but it seems like the Yankees want to make a move.

Smoltz to sign with Red Sox; Baldelli too?

MLB.com's Mark Bowman is reporting John Smoltz will sign with the Boston Red Sox. According to a source, Smoltz will call the Braves tomorrow to tell them of his decision.

Smoltz is coming off of shoulder surgery and isn't expected to pitch until June 1, according to Bowman.

Meanwhile, Rocco Baldelli is close to signing with the Red Sox, according to the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo (via Sliding Into Home.)

Goodbye and good luck

Even though he played with the A's for seven years, it still is weird seeing him wear that jersey. Good luck in your new (old) home, Jason Giambi. You and your antics will be missed in New York.

AP Photo

Gammons trying to cause trouble

Peter Gammons appeared on WEEI today, and Boston.com's Chad Finn transcribed his comments, mainly about Mark Teixeira. Here is something that really sticks in my craw:

It's going to be interesting. As you probably remember, there was a lot of testiness between Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira when they played in Texas together . . . and I don't think Alex really cares about communicating with other players, we know [that] from Derek Jeter. Also, we haven't really seen Teixeira in a situation where the expectations are really that high, and he's going to have to deal with them in New York. It will be very interesting to see how it goes with the Yankees.

No, it's not going to be interesting because no one is going to care.

"As you probably remember..."

I don't remember this. Do you? Rodriguez and Teixeira were teammates for one season five years ago when Teixeira was a 23-year-old rookie.

I don't buy that this will be an issue, nor should you. The Red Sox correspondent for ESPN is trying to stir up the sediment.

Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for the above picture.

Some Teixeira 'clutch' stats

We all know how Alex Rodriguez has gotten burned for his struggles in "clutch" situations. In reality, his career OPS with runners in scoring position is a healthy .957. But I'm not interested with Rodriguez's numbers right now. I'm here to talk about our newest addition, one Mark Teixeira.

In 2008, Teixeira actually had a higher OPS with runners in scoring position and two outs (.956) than he did with RISP overall (.936). His career numbers with RISP and two outs are even better: 1.070 in 496 plate appearances.

Late and close - plate appearances in the seventh inning or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one or the tying run at least on deck - Teixeira batted .352/.458/.716 in 107 plate appearances last season. That is very, very, extremely good. Overall, he's batted .282/.379/.555 with 32 home runs and 101 RBI in these situations.

And we can't forget postseason number - Rodriguez's bugaboo since joining the Yankees. Teixeira has only played in one postseason series in his career, which was last year's ALDS against Boston. He went 7-for-15 with one RBI, four walks and four runs scored.

Teixeira played in 26 games at the old Yankee Stadium, amassing 113 plate appearances. He batted .305/.354/.524 with five home runs and 21 RBI. While this building won't be in play this year, the dimensions of the new place will be exactly the same.

I can't wait to have a hitter of this caliber in the lineup.

Thanks, once again, to the great Baseball-Reference for these stats.

Analysis of new Yankees' wives

Vazzano, writing about the Yankees for whatever reason, offers some hard-hitting analysis of the new Yankees' wives - Karen Burnett, Amber Sabathia and Leigh Teixeira.

Mrs. Burnett looks like she could still be attending school in search of her undergraduate degree, and I mean that in the best way possible. She’s smoking hot, but seems to come off with that air of “I’m better than you.” I bet she was a cheerleader at some point in her life.

Mrs. Sabathia reminds me of Jada Pinkett Smith. Very beautiful but kind of scary at the same time. Hey, you’ve got to have some ‘tude if you’re going to tango with 295 lbs. of man.

And finally to Mrs. Teixeira, where I see a hint of Anne Hathaway in her. I guess that fits right in with New York City, being as Ms. Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, NY. (Destiny?) She’s very pretty, but in that “girl next door” kind of way that almost any guy will pant like a dog for.

Click the above link to read the entire thing, including what he had to say about how A.J., CC and Mark look.

AP Photo

Yankees begin clinic in Taiwan with special visitor

It was announced earlier this year the Yankees would conduct a clinic with high school baseball players in Taiwan from Jan. 7-11. Here is what President Randy Levine had to say then:

"This clinic serves as another step in the outreach and integration of baseball throughout the international community," Yankees president Randy Levine said in a statement. "The Yankees organization is recognized around the world, and we are confident this important event will leave a positive imprint on our countless fans in Taiwan."

Today, national hero Chien-Ming Wang showed up (via Peter Abraham.)

But the Yankees are bad for baseball.

AP Photo

Did Giambi live up to expectations?

Benjamin Hoffman wrote a piece on the Times' Bats blog saying Jason Giambi lived up to expectations.

Hoffman writes:

What that is failing to account for is that Giambi actually did exactly what the Yankees signed him to do. As the face of the Oakland Athletics, Giambi embodied the spirit of patience and power that was lionized in Michael Lewis’s book “Moneyball.” Relying on his ability to draw walks and hit balls over the fence, Giambi won the 2000 American League M.V.P. and was the runner-up in 2001. At that point, no one was complaining about his defense, which was already sub-par.

Over the course of his seven years in New York, Giambi continued to do exactly the same thing. He compiled a .404 on-base percentage (fifth in Yankees history), .521 slugging percentage (seventh in Yankees history) and 209 homers (10th in Yankees history).

Making his home run total more impressive is the fact that he accomplished it in just seven seasons. Of all the storied sluggers in Yankee history, the only players who had that many over a seven-year span were Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth.

In the end, his various controversies and his poor fielding may outweigh his power and patience, but Giambi did what he was asked to do. Likely headed back to Oakland, he should go back to being celebrated for his strengths rather than blamed for his weaknesses.

I loved Giambi during his time here. He's a very likable figure and he seems to have a lot of fun playing the game. However, I don't think he lived up to expectations just because he's in the all-time top 10 of many Yankees offensive categories.

Giambi signed a seven-year, $120 million contract with the Yankees to win World Series championships (plural). During his time with the team, he only reached the World Series once. The only other year during his contract the Yankees advanced past the ALDS - 2004 - Giambi didn't play. Is this all his fault? Probably not. But like Alex Rodriguez's failures in the postseason, Giambi's lack of team postseason success will be how he's judged, fairly or unfairly.

He was productive when he was healthy, and helped the Yankees immensely in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. He was known as a high batting average, high on-base hitter with Oakland. Steroids or not, he only had one season with a batting average above .300 - his first - with the Yankees. His OPS+ was over 108 in six of his seven seasons, so that should account for something.

However, it all goes back to winning for me, and Giambi's teams only won three playoff series in seven years. He was a good player for the Yankees, and at times was great. If Aaron Boone hits a fly ball in Game 4 of the 2003 World Series, Giambi could very well have a World Series ring. You have to remember, though, that when the Yankees signed Giambi, they reached the World Series five of the previous six years and won four of them.

He came in with high expectations, and now leaves not having reached them. I'm sure if you asked Giambi about his time in New York, he'd be disappointed too.

Now the circle of first baseman life starts all over again. Mark Teixeira will take Giambi's old position and old number. Hopefully these eight years will be different from Giambi's seven.

All of this being said, do you think Giambi lived up to expectations? Let me hear it in the comments.

Yankees sign Angel Berroa

Wow, the Yankees really are buying championships. First Jason Johnson, then John Rodriguez. Now they have signed Angel Berroa, according to Ken Rosenthal.

Remember the uproar when he won the Rookie of the Year award over Hideki Matsui in 2003? Boy, has his career really fallen off.

Rosenthal said Berroa is expected to compete with Cody Ranson for the utility infielder job.

Yankees sign John Rodriguez

According to Joel Sherman, the Yankees have signed outfielder John Rodriguez to a minor-league contract. If he makes the major league roster, he will earn $450,000 plus plate appearance-based incentives.

Rodriguez, who will turn 31 on Inauguration Day, last played in 2006 for the Cardinals. In 332 career at-bats, Rodriguez has seven home runs and 32 RBI, while hitting .298/.378/.434. The Yankees actually signed him as an amateur free agent back in 1996.

Sherman suggests that he'll add outfield depth especially if the Yankees trade Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher.