Scott Proctor's back

I never thought I'd be writing that Scott Proctor was back in pinstripes after the Yankees traded him to the Dodgers at the 2007 deadline. But life is unpredictable, and here we are.

Obviously the biggest news here is that Jesus Montero will finally be joining the big club, but Proctor's return is more poignant for me. This blog served as an outlet for me to get my long-form baseball and Yankees opinions out there, to hone my writing skills, and to pretend to be a baseball reporter.

The jokes about his arm falling off are as tired as me complaining about Jorge Posada, but for a time way back in 2007, those jokes inspired me to name this blog. Thank you, Joe Torre, for riding Proctor's arm for a ridiculous 102.1 innings way back in 2006. Wow, 2006. The year I graduated high school; the year I began college. I can't believe that was five years ago.

Proctor has always seemed like a good dude and hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunities he gets to finish out this season. It'd be foolish to expect him to get high-leverage innings out of the bullpen in a race to win the division, but the fact he's back here at all is rather astonishing. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

My interests and goals have changed, but I'll always look back fondly on the time I had keeping up this blog and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Maybe Scott Proctor will get a ring after all.

Yankees sweep split squad Saturday

The Yankees, behind A.J. Burnett's four perfect innings, defeated the Astros 3-1 in one split squad game this afternoon in Tampa.

Burnett struck out three batters in his second start in Grapefruit League play. Dan Giese followed, giving up one run in two innings of play, striking out three. Edwar Ramirez, Brian Bruney and Jason Johnson then pitched one scoreless inning each.

Johnny Damon hit a solo home run in the first inning to give Burnett and the Yankees an early lead. Cody Ransom went 2-for-4 with his third double of the spring and a run scored.

In the other game, the Yankees defeated the Pirates 13-10. Austin Jackson went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored. Jesus Montero hit a grand slam in the seventh inning.

Phil Hughes started for the Yankees. In three innings, he gave up two earned runs, two hits and three walks while striking out two. Ian Kennedy pitched three innings of his own, striking out five and allowing one run. Mark Melancon disappointing, giving up five earned runs in only 2/3 of an inning. He gave up six hits and two home runs.

Andy Pettitte will start for the Yankees against Minnesota in Tampa at 1:15 tomorrow.

Keith Law's top 100 prospects

Keith Law posted his top 100 prospects on ESPN today. Although we can only see Nos. 1-25 for free (I know I'm not subscribing to Insider), River Ave. Blues posted the Yankees who made the list, so thanks to them.

Austin Jackson (No. 46), Jesus Montero (No. 83) and Andrew Brackman (No. 95) were the Yankees named. Dellin Betances was one of the 10 prospects who narrowly missed the top 100.

Orioles' catcher Matt Wieters came in at No. 1.

Yankees invite 20 to spring training

The Yankees announced 20 spring training invitees in a press release today. Some names we already knew from minor-league signing this offseason: Angel Berroa, Kevin Cash, Sergio Mitre and John Rodriguez. Other notables are Shelley Duncan, Kei Igawa, Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero.

In addition to the players on the 40-man roster, this brings the total number of players scheduled to report to 60. Chad Jennings notes that some names not included were J.B. Cox, Alan Horne and Eric Duncan.

Click the above link to read the entire release.

Yankees sign Moeller

Instead of recalling Austin Romine or Jesus Montero to replace Francisco Cervelli, the Yankees signed Chad Moeller to a minor-league contract, according to Peter Abraham. They have also invited him to spring training.

Moeller was released by Washington on Sunday. In 37 games between Cincinnati and Los Angeles last season, he hit .161 in 56 at-bats.

Update - 3:50 p.m.: According to Bryan Hoch, Moeller said that he's been told he'll be the starting catcher at AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre. He is also wearing No. 65 in camp.

Even more reassignments

According to Peter Abraham, Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez and Chase Wright were all assigned to the minor league camp after pitching in today's game.

They join:

Daniel McCutchen, Steven Jackson, Steven White, Scott Strickland, Mark Melancon, Eric Duncan, Jesus Montero, Marcos Vechionacchi and Austin Romine.

Due to the Francisco Cervelli injury, a catcher (either Montero or Romine) will be brought back from the minor league camp.

The first reassignments

According to Peter Abraham, Eric Duncan, Jesus Montero, Eduardo Nunez and Austin Romine has been reassigned to the minor-league camp.

Duncan has been a major disappointment since being drafted in the first round of the 2003 draft. He hit .241 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in 113 games with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season. He has a .250 career average in the minors.

Montero and Romine, both catchers, need to work with the pitchers they'll be catching this season.

Recap of today in Tampa

Bryan Hoch gives us a good recap of what happened during the first day of live batting practice today.

The Yankees got through their first day of live hitting and pitching drills without incident. Joba Chamberlain was the guy getting the loudest cheers from the fans and he looked OK, but it's so hard to tell since the hitters know what's coming and spit on most of the pitches.

Chamberlain actually said that his changeup was his best pitch today -- that's good news for people wanting to see him evolve a deeper repertoire for the third and fourth times around the order. Mike Mussina was able to locate his pitches down, and Joe Girardi complimented Sean Henn's session. He also called Steven Jackson's sinker "exciting."

Good to see that Chamberlain was happy with his new pitch. If it is anywhere near as good as his slider and fastball, that is good news for Yankee fans. It is also good to see that Mussina has been performing well so far. Reading his quotes, he seems upbeat and confident.

Hoch continues, saying that prospect Jesus Montero hit Chien-Ming Wang relatively hard, taking him to the opposite field warning track.

In other news, in a move that he will likely end up regretting, Phil Hughes posted his email address on his blog.

There was also a George Steinbrenner sighting.

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)