New York Yankees

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe who writes, "The Red Sox are looking into Aceves, who was shut down by the Yankees May 8 after hurting his back. Aceves is 14-1 in his career, including 10-1 in 2009 with the Yankees. He was 3-0 last season until his back injury flared up. He would be an injury rehab project, but is working out and could provide protection in the bullpen or as a starter."

He wasn't the next Mickey Mantle. He wasn't as talented as Bobby Bonds, the man he was once traded for. And he'd be surpassed as a ballplayer by a young kid named Mattingly, whom he once made room for on the Yankees roster by graciously retiring from the game of baseball.

When Andy Pettitte's name hits the ballot for the Hall of Fame in five years, the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) will have a very difficult decision on their hands.  His candidacy touches on so much of what has happened in the last 20 years in baseball. 

Andy Pettitte announced his retirement this past week. Is he done for good?

I believe that his announcement to retire came about for several reasons…Only Andy knows but something tells me the answer is no. Pettitte is competitive and the draw of the game will pull at him during the course of the season.  I suspect in large part his decision to retire came about due to...

It is often forgotten that the 1998 New York Yankees, the team that won more regular season games (114) than the 1927 Yankees (110), were in a dire situation during the playoffs.

After winning the first game of the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees lost Game 2 in 12 innings, 4-1.

Jim Thome led off the Indians' 12th with an opposite field single to left field. Enrique Wilson ran for him.

Call it a patchwork rotation, a makeshift rotation or even a hit-or-miss rotation, but I think we all can believe one thing: Now that Pettitte has officially retired, the Yankees rotation is in shambles.

There are essentially three locks in the Yankees rotation at this point. CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett will occupy the first three slots in the Yankees rotation in 2011. 

Earlier in the week, the Yankees acquired outfielder Justin Maxwell from the Washington Nationals in exchange for minor league righty Adam Olbrychowski.  Just yesterday, the team signed veterans Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez to minor league deals with invitations to spring training. 

Now that GM Brian Cashman is likely done bringing in possible bench options, I'll predict how helpful each of the aforementioned players can be to the Yankees in 2011.

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has replaced his agent, Bobby Barad, with high-powered sports agent Scott Boras.

Cano finished third in AL MVP voting in 2010 and was awarded the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

When talking about Andy Pettitte, it’s only fitting to thank God. And thank God that baseball's version of “Favregate” came to a quick conclusion.

by Charlie Peters