Warming up: Yankees trying to beat the Red Sox, by being the Red Sox?

The Red Sox finished in last place in the AL East in 2012. So that offseason, they set out to built a team much different than the expensive all-star players that they had brought in before; guys like Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.

Instead, the signed guys like Johnny Gomes, Shane Victorino, Ryan Dempster and Mike Napoli -- clubhouse guys that play for the team, and not the player.

Well, that team turned right around to win the division, and eventually the World Series.

And now here are the Yankees. They missed the playoffs last season, and needed to rebuild their team, having to replace the likes of Robinson Cano, Mariano Rivera, the disappointments of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, Curtis Granderson and Boone Logan.

Even though they said that they wouldn't, the Yankees spent a lot of money -- about $500 million -- on free-agents in an effort to set themselves up for a playoff run.

Interestingly enough, three of the players that the Yankees have signed all just happened to have played for the Red Sox in 2013 -- Matt Thornton, Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Bailey. I suppose that if you can't beat your opponents, you might as well become them.

Obviously I'm just kidding with this. I highly doubt that the Yankees set off into the offseason with the goal of signing as many Red Sox players as they can. It just so happened to be that they had needs, and those players filled the holes that needed to be filled.

Unless they go out and sign Stephen Drew, only then will I start to become very suspicious.

Yankees links worth sharing:

* After watching Aledmys Diaz workout the other day, the Yankees have decided that they won't make the Cuban shortstop an offer, reports the NY Post.

* Vidal Nuno will start the Yankees' spring training opener on Tuesday.

* A spring training notebook from Day 9 of workouts; featuring stuff on Michael Pineda, and who will start the other games this week.

* Gardner's extension makes a lot of sense for the Yankees, who almost never extend players.

* The Yankees are playing it smart by locking up Gardner for the next four, possibly five, years.

Today's warm-up song: "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake. He was on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night, and was pretty good on that. So today's song is because of that.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @GavinEwbank.

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Spring Training notebook, Day 9: Pineda feels good, looks 'jumpy'

TAMPA, Fla. -- Michael Pineda threw his first live batting practice session Sunday morning, throwing to live hitters for the first time this year. And though it wasn't great, it also wasn't terrible.

“The ball was coming out really good,” catcher John Ryan Murphy said. “Sometimes he tends to cut them a little bit, but that’s usually his first few warm-ups. After he starts getting through a little better, the fastball comes out really good.

"His command was really good today. I don't think he’s where he thinks he should be yet, but overall he was pretty good. … (His command) was better in the bullpen. He was just a little jumpy out there on the mound I think because he was excited and anxious about his first day out there.”

Murphy said that Pineda was throwing much better in the bullpen during warmups, but I can tell you from experience that throwing to just your catcher in the bullpen is much different than having an actual hitter in the box.

"Today was just my first time," Pineda said. "I need to be ready for the games, not batting practice."

** Yankees manager Joe Girardi announce the starting rotation for the first four spring training games: Vidal Nuno will take the mound against FSU on Tuesday; Ivan Nova gets the ball against the Pirates on Wednesday; David Phelps will take the mound Thursday, also against the Pirates; and Adam Warren will start against the Tigers on Friday.

Nuno said that he expects to throw two innings, and I would bet that you can expect the same from the other four starters.

** After coming to terms with right-hander Andrew Bailey Saturday night, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that he doesn't expect Bailey to be in the big leagues until late in the season, possibly August or September.

Before he said that, the hope was that he would be ready to pitch by the middle of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery late last season, but considering that he hasn't even began throwing yet, there is still a long way to go in his rehab process.

** While everyone was focusing on Brett Gardner and the four-year contract extension that he signed with the Yankees, it was revealed that Derek Jeter will make his spring debut on Thursday against the Pirates. That game can be seen on YES.

** Speaking of Gardner's extension, Cashman said that he hasn't had any talks with David Robertson's agent about an extension. Robertson is eligible to become a free-agent after the season.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @GavinEwbank.

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Warming up: What can Andrew Bailey bring to the Yanks' bullpen?

When he's healthy, he can bring a lot, actually. You may have saw what was reported Saturday night, that the Yankees are signing reliever Andrew Bailey to a minor-league deal.

Bailey, when healthy, is one of the more underrated relievers in the league. He was great a couple of years ago with the Oakland Athletics before being traded to Boston.

Bailey saw limited time with the Red Sox in his two years on the team because of injuries. The labrum tear knocked him out in 2013 after just 28.2 innings. In two totals years in Boston, his ERA is 4.91 in just over 45 innings.

The first three years of his major league career, all with the Athletics, were much better. His ERA was 2.07 in the three years combined, and he struck out 174 batters in 174 innings, while walking 69. His strikeouts per nine was 9.4 and his walks per nine was 2.8. He was even named AL Rookie of the Year in 2009 after posting a 1.84 ERA in 68 appearances.

David Robertson is expected to be the closer this season, and Shawn Kelley is the early favorite heading ins spring training to be the 8th inning guy in front of Robertson. If Bailey is able to come back healthy mid-season, he could slide into the 8th inning role, and also serve as insurance for Robertson.

I really like this signing. It has a chance to be a very low-risk, high-reward signing for the Yankees if he comes back to be as good as he can be. This is not a guy that was good for a season or two, he has been good throughout his entire career.

I also think that this deal could mean a lot more in 2015 than it does in this season. Because he is going to be missing quite some time with the injury, he could use this year to build his case to be here next year, and make a real run at becoming the closer -- he has 89 career saves -- if Robertson candle handle the 9th inning this season.

Yankees links worth sharing:

* Francisco Cervelli says everything that happened between him, Biogenesis and Major League Baseball was a mistake.

* The Yankees and Red Sox have been getting into a little war of words in the past couple of days, but former Red Sox Jacoby Ellsbury is just ignoring everything.

* David Phelps could begin the season in one of several roles for the Yankees, and he'll be ready for whatever that role is.

* There are still five big issues that are confronting the Yankees has they head into the second week of spring training.

* The Yankees are currently the favorites to sign Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz, who could announce his signing Monday.

Today's warm-up song: "Empire State of Mind" by Jay Z and Alicia Keys. This song goes along with the news that I will announce on Twitter this morning.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog, and you can follow him on Twitter @GavinEwbank.

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