New York Yankees

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman were refreshingly candid when commenting on Alex Rodriguez's tenure with the team (via Wallace Matthews, ESPNNewYork.com).

It looks like CC Sabathia is back.

And this time, it might actually be for real. No funny stuff.

Heading into Friday night's game with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia hadn't logged a victory in the entire month of May.

In fact, after he gave up seven runs in seven innings to the Tampa Bay Rays on May 26, Sabathia talked about the need to pick his game up.

Back in 1996, the New York Yankees were on the verge of something big.

The club, of course, would go on to win the World Series that year and then three of the next four. At the heart of those title-winning teams? Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera.

The New York Yankees' patchwork roster has somehow managed to stay at, or near, the top of the AL East despite continued injury setbacks. 

Now, as some of the bigger name stars get close to their returns to the Bronx, it is time for the team to use its newfound abundance of talent as leverage in deals in an attempt to get younger and lower its payroll.

Here's a look at a few possible trades the Bombers could make that would offer win-win results.

The New York Yankees continue to shock the baseball world with a great start to the 2013 campaign, and in that start, the Bombers are proving to themselves that it doesn't take a team loaded with $100 million players to win.

The sports memorabilia world is still buzzing over an auction result that can rightly be considered an upset.  For the first time ever, a 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card sold for more money than the famed T206 Honus Wagner. 

The New York Yankees had just welcomed outfielder Curtis Granderson back into the lineup after an injury forced him out of action for the early part of the 2013 season, but on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, the 32-year-old had another medical scare. 

Mariano Rivera has many awards in his collection, but he doesn't have an American League Cy Young Award yet.

Maybe you missed it tacked onto the end there, but the key word in that lead-in would be "yet." He still has this year to win one, and his chances are looking pretty good.

The announcement in the New York Times of a Major League Soccer team owned by Manchester City of the English Premier League and the New York Yankees made headlines on Tuesday afternoon, raising the stakes for soccer and sports in an already crowded New York sports business landscape.