Yankees keeping an eye on Johan Sanatana

All while the Yankees have been getting ready for talks with the prized 25-year-old Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka and his agent, Casey Close, they have also been keeping eyes on a couple of backup plans just in case their attempt to sign Tanaka falls through.

One of those pitchers if former Cy Young award winner Johan Santana, sources with knowledge of the situation told Andy McCullough of the NJ Star-Ledger.

Santana missed all of the 2013 season after undergoing shoulder surgery in Spring Training. He's been rehabbing to rebuilt strength in his shoulder, but hasn't thrown off a mound yet. He's expected to throw for teams at some point in Spring Training, and would likely sign a minor league deal to compete for a roster spot.

Santana might not be the top backup plan for Tanaka, but he could be a useful one if he proves to teams that he is healthy, and can perform at least half of the level he was once able to pitch at.

He's missed two for the passes three seasons because of having to undergo the same shoulder surgery twice. He threw the first no-hitter in New York Mets history in 2012, but his body basically broke down after that. During his final 10 starts, his ERA skyrocketed to 8.27, and the organization decided to shut him down that August.

If the Yankees don't get Tanaka, they'll need to find a starting pitcher one way or another, and they have not been showing much interest in the free-agent starting pitching market so far. We might see them go after someone like Ubaldo Jimenez, but only because they would need a starter and would have no other options.

If the Yankees like what they see out of Santana when he throws for teams, they could sign him to a minor league deal and let him compete for one of the final rotation spots in Spring Training. If he can't handle that, then they cut him without anymore problems.

Right now, Michael Pineda, David Phelps, Adam Warren, Vidal Nuno and David Huff would be competing for the final two spots. The Yankees would love to land Tanaka, meaning they would only have to fill the fifth spot internally.

Santana has been drawing interest from a handful of teams, including a pair of his former teams, the Minnesota Twins and Mets.

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Hughes likely to get two-year deal, Mets no longer interested

After showing some interest earlier this offseason, the New York Mets are no longer in on signing free-agent pitcher Phil Hughes, reports George King of the NY Post.

King notes that Hughes is most likely get land a two-year deal this winter, and that extra year isn't something the Mets are looking for.

Hughes became a free-agent after another disappointing season with the Yankees in 2013, going 4-14 with a 5.19 ERA. But even with his struggles that past couple of seasons in the Bronx, many still see there being some potential in Hughes, and that's why he figures to get a multiyear deal.

"Look where the market is for starting pitchers," a talent evaluator told King. "He is 27 and has never had shoulder or elbow surgery. If I was him, I wouldn't want a one-year deal. Two years ago, he won 16 games."

Hughes would benefit nicely from pitching in a ballpark bigger than Yankee Stadium, where he gave up way too many homeruns.

Hughes has been drawing interest from a handful of teams including the Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals.

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Jay Z Meets With The Mets To Talk About Cano

The market for Robinson Cano seems to be very thin at the moment, but another team may have joined the race for the top free-agent on the market.

According to reports by the NY Post, Jay Z met with members of the New York Mets front office staff, including COO Jeff Wilpon, general manager Sandy Alderson and assistant general manager John Ricco for dinner at a Manhattan hotel to discuss Cano’s free agency.

Photo from the NY Post

The meeting was apparently called on by Cano's agents, and it was described to Andy Martino of the NY Daily News as a "Boras-like" presentation, referring to the way that Scott Boras, Cano's agent before he was fired earlier this year, uses printed materials, visual elements and other tools when speaking to teams.


This meeting with the Mets by Cano's agents, that also featured agents Brodie Van Wagenen and Juan Perez, comes as a surprise to just about every one around baseball.

Alderson said last week that the Mets were not interested in signing a player that would cost upwards of $100 million, and it was reported yesterday by Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York that Cano is sticking to the 10-year, $310 million price he reportedly asked the Yankees for back in July.

Alderson was asked during the GM meetings last week about signing players to big deals, and he referred back to the 8-year, $138 million extension that David Wright signed last winter.

"We’ve been in that stratosphere once recently with David Wright,” Alderson said. “Those were special circumstances. I think it would be difficult to duplicate that again — not from a financial standpoint, just in terms of team-building. I think it’s difficult to concentrate those kinds of resources into very few players. It’s not really the way you build a quality, sustainable, winning team, I don’t think."

The Mets already have a sure thing of David Murphy at second base, but he wouldn't be hard to move if the Mets were able to lock up Cano.

Cano and the Yankees haven't had an extensive contract talks since free-agency began, but the Yankees have offered Cano an contract somewhere around 7-years for between $161 and $168 million. If Cano is actually sticking to $310 million, he and the Yanks are about $150 million apart.

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Subway Series shifts back to the Bronx.

Tonight's lineup:

Gardner CF
Cano 2B
Hafner DH
Overbay 1B
Boesch RF
Ichiro LF
Nix 3B
Brignac SS
Stewart C

The Yankees are in the midst of a three-game losing streak which is their longest of the season, and they'll try to break out against the Mets, Jermey Hefner (0-5, 4.76 ERA). David Phelps (3-2, 3.96 ERA) will be the man given the ball in hopes to break the losing skid.

Youk and Tex play in a rehab game:

Injured Yankees, Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira, began their rehab assignments in Double-A Trenton on Wednesday and both went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Youkilis was robbed of a base hit in his 1st at-bat when he popped a ball into right field that was ran down by a diving Tyler Collins. Teixeira popped out on a pitch high in the zone.

In their 2nd at-bats of the day, Youkilis popped out of the 1st pitch he saw, followed by a 5-pitch walk to Teixeira.

In his 3rd and final at-bat, Youkilis drew a four pitch walk. And then Teixeira struck out swinging on a 2-2 pitch low and in on Tex.

Youkilis batted third and played 3rd base, while Teixeira hit clean up for the Trenton Thunder and played at 1st base. Both players left the game after 7 innings.

After the game GM Brain Cashman told reporters that the plan is to have both Teixeira and Youkilis back in the Bronx for Fridays opener against the Boston Red Sox.

Other injury notes:

* Curtis Granderson underwent surgery in his land hand Wednesday morning, according to Cashman. Grandy has a procedure similar to Cervelli's, having a pin placed into his knuckles. Cashman said that today's surgery has no effect on he given timetable.

* Cashman also said that Andy Pettitte is expected to rejoin the team next week sometime during the Yankees series against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium, assuming there are no setbacks.

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Subway Series, Game 2.

Yankees lineup:

Gardner 8
Cano 4
Wells 7
Overbay 3
Adams 5
Suzuki 9
Brignac 6
Stewart 2
Kuroda 1

The struggling Yankees lineup will be facing Mets young phenom, Matt Harvey (5-0, 1.93 ERA).

Other notes:

Francisco Cervelli will be reporting to Tampa this weekend to begin his rehabbing. He'll start throwing and hopes to return to the Yankees in about three weeks.

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Mets take late lead, beat Yanks in opener.

The Yankees may have the upper hand when it comes to the all-time Subway Series rivalry. But it was the Mets that were able to edge out the Yankees, 2-1, in the series opener from Citi Field.

Pitching and defense were the keys to winning this game. Scoreless through the first five innings, the Yankees were able to break the tie in the 6th inning when Brett Gardner hit a bloop triple past a diving Lucas Duda in left field. He then scored on another soft liner by Jason Nix.

In the bottom half of the 6th inning, Gardner made basically the Yankees play of the year when he robbed Daniel Murphy of what would have been a go-ahead two-run homerun. Instead it kept the Mets off the board.

But Gardner wasn't able to help Yankees start Phil Hughes in the 7th innings when Mets captain David Wright launched a solo homerun to left field. It put the Mets on the board and made Girardi rethink letting Hughes return to pitch the 7th inning.

Hughes was pulled after seven innings, and even though he faced the Mets he still had a good night allowing only one run on four hits, while striking out six and not issuing a single walk on 101 pitches.

David Robertson was brought in to pitch the 8th inning and didn't look his best. Robertson left the game with the bases loaded after only 2/3 of an inning. The Mets tallied up the go-ahead run on two hits, one walk, and a hit by pitch from Robertson.

Ichiro was able to draw a one-out walk off Mets closer Bobby Parnell, but Lyle Overbay struck out followed by a Travis Hafner infield fly out to end the game.

The Yankees have lost two in a row and will now have to attempt to rebound against the young Mets phenom, Matt Harvey. Hiroki Kuroda will take the hill for the Bombers. That game can be seen on ESPN at 7:10 ET.

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NYY vs NYM: Lineup and more.

Tonight's Yankee lineup:

Gardner CF
Nix SS
Cano 2B
Wells LF
Adams 3B
Ichiro RF
Overbay 1B
Stewart C
Hughes P

The Yankees will be opposed by the Mets, Jon Niese (3-5, 4.80 ERA).

Other notes:

*Joba Chamberlain says that he expects to be activated off the the DL tomorrow. He said that he threw two innings in a rehab appearance on Saturday and was hitting 95 to 96 mph.

*Vidal Nuno said that he expects to be starting on Thursday in the Mets finale against the Mets at Yankee Stadium.

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Yanks and Mets battle in the Subway Series.

The Yankees weren't able to capture a rare sweep of the Rays Sunday in Tampa, so now they'll pack their bags an head back to the Empire State for an inter-league battle with the New York Mets.

With the new scheduling format this season the Subway Series will endure a new twist. The first two games of the series will take place in the Queens at Citi Field on Monday and Tuesday. Then the two team will move on to the Bronx for the final two games on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Yankees will send out Phil Hughes in the series opener on Monday as he hopes to continue to build off his last outing in Baltimore when he allowed only two runs over six innings.

Jon Niese will take the hill for the Mets, coming off a start on Tuesday in which he took the loss even after not allowing an earned run in the game. But that's just the way things have been going for the Mets starters this year.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Vernon Wells, as he prepares for his first Subway series. "Obviously, being in New York now, you're either a Yankees fan, a Mets fan or you just hate the Yankees, period. It'll be a fun atmosphere."

Mariano Rivera will be making his final appearance to Citi Field during this trip. Against the Mets Mariano has encountered many memorable moments from recording the final out of the 2000 world series, to notching his 500th save on June 28th, 2009.

"It's more for the fans," Rivera said of the Subway Series. "They've become like another team in our division because we play them every year. It becomes another division game for us. It's good, no traveling. Twenty minutes travel, and we have an escort. Fans love it. I think they get good joy out of it."

Even if the Mets claim a sweep this week they'll still have quite a ways to go before catching up to the Yankees, who lead the all-time series, 54-36.

Probable starters:

Mon: Hughes (2-3, 5.51 ERA) vs Niese (3-5, 4.80 ERA)
Tues: Kuroda (6-3, 2.67 ERA) vs Harvey (5-0, 1.93 ERA)
Wed: Phelps (3-2, 3.96 ERA) vs Hefner (0-5, 4.76 ERA)
Thur: TBD vs Gee (2-6, 6.34 ERA)

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