AL East

According to George King of the NY Post , the Yankees have set their sights on a Cuban defector, Adeinis Hechavarria , once he becomes eligible to be signed possibly as soon as next week.

As the 2010 postseason comes to an end we here at Bronx Baseball Daily have been running through the Yankees roster and previewing each player. We take a look at their 2009 season and what their 2010 expectations will be.

This is a very strong team that compares favorably to the 2009 World Champions so let’s take a look a bit closer. They certainly should be able to defend their title as long as they stay healthy.

We’ve covered 15 players so far:

Nick Johnson is the presumptive replacement for Johnny Damon in the two hole for the New York Yankees as Spring Training is about to open.

Johnson was signed as a free agent after Hideki Matsui was let go as the Yankees DH. So some will speak of Johnson replacing Godzilla.

But Johnson is not the kind of hitter that Matsui was and will not hit in the five or six spot in the order.

Johnny Damon has also departed. Damon hit in the two hole last season and Johnson will take that spot.

A little more than a year ago, I interviewed Josh Reddick for more than an hour out in Arizona. We talked about a lot of things, but mostly we talked about hitting. He spoke at length about how the ballclub was working with him to modify his approach at the plate.

Philosophically, the organization preaches plate discipline, but Reddick was (is) a self-described free swinger.

Is this really for real?

It's been a bitter of a Debbie Downer week as far as Blue Jays news, so I figured it was time take a break from all the doom and gloom with a new feature called "Acid Flashback Friday."

There is nothing quite so gratifying as a great big dump. Salary dump, that is. Just ask the Toronto Blue Jays GM, Alex Anthopoulos.

Over the past six or seven months, the Toronto Blue Jays have parted company with Roy Haladay, Scott Rolan, Alex Rios, Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas. These moves represent a salary dump for the 2010 season of a little over $47 million.

The five players who will replace Halladay et al—John Buck, Alex Gonzalez, Travis Snider, Edwin Encarnacion, and one entry-level starting pitcher—will earn slightly more than $10 million for the coming season. 

Today, Red Sox traded first baseman Casey Kotchman to the Seattle Mariners for veteran utilityman Bill Hall and a prospect.

Last season, in limited playing time, Hall hit just .218 with a homer and seven RBI.

So, why is this deal so great from a Sox perspective?

Hall will earn $8.4 million in the final year of a four-year deal he signed with the
Milwaukee Brewers. But as part of the deal, the Mariners will pay approximately $7.65
million of remaining salary, meaning  Hall will cost the Sox about $750,000.