Yankees officially announced Carlos Beltran signing

It's official, Carlos Beltran is a New York Yankee. It's been a couple of weeks since the initial news broke that the Yankees had reached an agreement on a three-year, $45 million deal with Beltran.

The Yanks will hold a press conference to introduce Beltran Friday morning at 11am EST at Yankee Stadium.

Beltran will be the sixth outfielder on the Yankees' roster, joining Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Alfonso Soriano, Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells. Most likely, one -- maybe two -- of those six outfielders will not be on the Opening Day roster. Wells and Ichiro seem to be the two odd men out.

Beltran, a lifetime .283 hitter with 358 home runs in 16 big-league seasons, the past two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, figures to spend most of his time in right field and as the DH.

To make room on the 40-roster, the Yankees had to designate Brett Marshall for assignment. Marshall spent most of his year in Triple-A Scranton Triple-A where he posted a 5.13 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 25 starts.

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Yankees have decisions to make ahead of Monday's non-tender deadline

The Yankees will have until Monday's deadline to decide whether or not they want to tender a contract to a select few of players in order to make some room on the 40-man roster that currently stands at 39.

Brendan Ryan and Brian McCann still have to be added, meaning that moves are going to be happening within the next couple of days.

They may not all by via a non-tender, as some could be designated for assignment and pass through waivers completely to remain with the organization, but the Yankees will need to make decisions on several players when clearing room on the roster.

Here are a few players that the Yanks could clear of the roster tomorrow:

Chris Stewart -- After signing Brian McCann, the Yankees are now supplied with a handful of catchers that would seem to be more useful options than Stewart. With McCann being the starter, Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine are expected with battle it out in Spring Training for the backup job, with JR Murphy also sitting down in Triple-A.

We've heard some recent rumors that the Yankees could be trying to work out a new contract with Stewart in order to avoid arbitration. Stewart is also said to be drawing some trade interest, so the Yanks could decide to tender him a contract and trade him away for what ever they can get. However, I expect the Yanks to non-tender Stewart.

Jayson Nix -- He worked out well as a utility defender for the Yankees, but with Ryan now signed for the next couple of years, I don't see there be any fit for Nix on the roster. If they really wanted to, the Yanks could find another player like Nix on a minor league deal, but they also signed Yamaico Navarro not long ago, so there might not be any need for another infielder. Nix is also eligible for arbitration this year, and is expected to earn a raise, which also makes him worth letting go.

Others -- If the Yankees feel it to be necessary, they could non-tender a contract to Eduardo Nunez. To me, re-signing Ryan on a two-year deal means that Nunez isn't involved in the Yankees' future plans to replace Derek Jeter when he retires. They don't actually have to non-tender him, but I'm sure there would be some trade interest in a relatively young infielder with some potential. Could possibly trade him, maybe a non-tender, but unlikely.

David Huff and Brett Marshall are another pair players that could see themselves being axed off the roster. Marshall is expected to be one of the pitchers battling for the fifth spot in the rotation in the spring, but for the moment, he's already behind David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno in the competition. Could make a case to non-tender, but it wouldn't be very strong.

Huff would add a decent left-handed arm out of the bullpen next season. I could see him making the Opening Day roster as long as he can put together a decent Spring Training. The crowed 40-man roster might mean he has to be moved off, though, and it would be more likely to see him DFA'd, rather than non-tendered.

Likely tenders: Brett Gardner, Ivan Nova, David Robertson, Shawn Kelly and Cervelli are all up for arbitration this winter, and the Yankees are likely to tender them contracts in hopes to avoid going to arbitration.

Matt Swartz for MLB Trade Rumors predicts that all will earn raises after their 2013 performances. After a solid offensive and defensive year, Gardner is predicted to about $4 million next season; Robertson should get around $5.5 million; Nova should be a $2.8 million; Kelly could make $1.5 million after a good season as a late-inning pitcher for the Yankees; and Cervelli figures to be at $1 million.

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Boston's Offense Once Again Blasts Them Past The Yanks

If there's anything that we've learned from the first two games of this series, it's that no lead is safe. The New York Yankees came back from six-runs down on Thursday, and the Boston Red Sox came back from a five-run hole on Friday.

Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, the Red Sox jumped out to a commanding 12-9 lead after David Huff and the bullpen endured one of it's roughest days, but trying to overcome the seven-run deficit, the Yankees put together a rally in the late innings that made the game interesting once again, but it wouldn't be enough as the Yanks fell to Boston, 13-9.

"No lead seems to be big enough," Boston manager John Farrell said. "It's a testament to the offensive capability of both clubs and the relentlessness at the plate."

Entering the 6th inning down 12-3, the Yankees put a rally together to put them back into the game for the most part, scoring two runs on a double by Brett Gardner, then coming around to score on a single by Derek Jeter. Alfonso Soriano added a fourth run a few batters later on a single to left field, making it a 12-5.

Then things got even more interesting the in the 8th when they Bombers tacked on two more runs to pull them within three. Mark Reynolds, who entered the game in the 6th as a pinch-runner for Jeter, doubled into the left field corner, plating a pair of runs.

Yet, no matter what the Yankees did on offense, the Red Sox out-hit the them. Boston's bats where explosive once again, scoring run after run off Huff, Jim Miller and Brett Marshall.

Huff's day was over before you knew it. He was nothing like he was on the bullpen for the Yanks this season, giving up up nine runs on eight hits in 3.1 inning. He struck out the first two batters of the game, then it all went downhill from there.

"I started out aggressive in the first inning," Huff said. "As soon as the [Napoli] home run happened, I started getting too fine with my pitches and started nibbling a little bit."

"You can't afford to not be firing on all cylinders or they'll take advantage," Said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. "And they've been taking advantage on every extra inch you give. Despite that, our guys keep fighting."

Miller, who was called up by the Yankees this morning, entered in the 4th, but he, too, proved ineffective against the Red Sox, giving up three runs on three hits in 1.1 innings. Marshall was easily to better of the three Yankee pitchers, permitting just one-run in 4.1 innings.

"Right now, they're not missing pitches," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We talked about when they came in that they're swinging the bats extremely well, and they're continuing to do that."

For Boston, a lot of the damage came from Mike Napoli, who went deep twice, driving in three runs on the day. Johnny Gomes also came up big for the Sox, also going yard, driving in four runs. Xander Bogaerts smashed his first career homerun in the 4th, and he helped factor in the final score, driving in three runs, too.

"We have to turn it around," Girardi said. "The bottom line is we have to pitch better, because we are scoring some runs. We have to figure out how to get them out."

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Yankees Make September Call-Ups

For starters, Happy September! Second, as many of you already know, September 1st mean that all Major League roster can expand from the normal 25-man, to fully equiped 40-man rosters.

As the final month of the season, the expanded rosters can really come in handy to teams wanting to add depth as the playoff run winds down. And for teams not in playoff contention, it's a great opportunity to teams to get a look at some of their young prospects.

With the countless amount of injuries that the New York Yankees have suffered this season, some of their possible call-ups are already here, but the chance to add more depth on the bench and in the bullpen is something that Yankees manager Joe Girardi can't afford to pass up.

Here is the current list of people with the Yankees to begin the day (Note: This will be updated as more call-ups are made):

* IF David Adams

* RHP Brett Marshall

* RHP Dellin Betances

* LHP Cesar Cabral

* C JR Murphy

For now, these are the only five Yankees that have gotten the call into action for the Bombers. But it's still likely we'll see quite a few more faces as the weeks go by. Remember, David Phelps and Michael Pineda are currently dealing with injuries, and if they manage to get healthy soon, we'll certainly see them back in pinstripes.

Other Call-Up Notes:

* Preston Claiborne will also be rejoining the Yankees, but he can't do so until after the Single-A Tampa Yankees finish up their Florida State League season today, so he'll likely be with the Yankees tomorrow.

* Melky Mesa is another player that was expected to be called up by the Yankees, but he's currently dealing with hamstring issues, thus the Yanks were forced to designate him for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster.

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