Rumblings in the Rotation of the New York Yankees

 Millwood throwing a pitch for the American League East Baltimore Orioles in 2010. He could make his way up to a more successful team in their division in 2011.

Courtesy of CBS Sports

Kevin Millwood, who tied for the American League lead in losses last season, signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees Friday pending a physical.

This may come as a shock to some, seeing as Millwood, a National League all-star in 1999, reportedly rejected a minor league offer from the Yankees in February.

Millwood joins a long list of candidates to fill out the rotation for the Yankees in 2011 behind C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes, and the often questionable A.J. Burnett. Amongst these candidates are Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, and Ivan Nova.

Unfortunately for the 36-year-old right-hander, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has stated that he will not start the season on the major league roster. However, with some seasoning in the minors that he missed during spring training, Millwood could definitely contribute to the team.

In another move related to the Yankees’ pitching, they traded possible rotation candidate Sergio Mitre to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Chris Dickerson Friday.

Mitre, who had a 5.73 earned run average for the Yankees this spring in 11 innings, may have needed a change in pace after struggling throughout the preseason and the 2010 postseason with an ERA over 10.

 Sergio Mitre will be trading in Bronx gear for a Brewers uniform this season .

Courtesy of Bronx Baseball Daily

Now with Mitre gone, the Yankees rotation picture seems to be clearer, with impressive springs by Bartolo Colon, who has a 2.40 ERA in four starts, and Ivan Nova, who has only given up two runs throughout all of spring training.

The Yankees must be aware of a possible downfall in their rotation, however. Good springs do not always equate to good seasons, and Colon has not started more than 30 games in a season since he won the America League Cy Young Award in 2005. Nova has potential, but is still young at age 24. Signing Millwood, if anything, gives the Yankees some much needed insurance for what is still a shaky rotation.  

The Future Job Hunting of a Second Base Millionaire

 Luis Castillo missing a popup for the New York Mets against the New York Yankees in 2009.

Courtesy of New York Daily News 

Earlier this week, the New York Mets released veteran infielder Luis Castillo, despite having to pay him the remaining $6 million on his four year, $25 million deal.

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110318&content_id=17005364&vkey=news_nym&c_id=nym

The aging all-star had dealt with constant injuries since signing with the Mets in 2007 after they acquired him from the Minnesota Twins. This spring, he was batting a respectable .286, but with no stolen bases and various gaffes in the field.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/castilu01.shtml

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?c_id=nym&baseballScope=NYN&subScope=pos&teamPosCode=all&statType=Overview&timeSubFrame=23&sitSplit=&venueID=&Submit=Submit&timeFrame=1

Despite having a relatively successful season for the Mets in 2009 with a .302 average and 20 stolen bases in 142 games, the fan base never seemed to forgive him for misjudging an infield popup in a game against the New York Yankees that season. His miscue in the field cost the Mets the game, and Castillo the respect of Mets fans.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-06-13/sports/17926229_1_luis-castillo-joba-chamberlain-drifting

Castillo said he hopes to catch on with another team before the season begins. Amongst his possible replacements as starting second baseman for the Mets are Brad Emaus, Daniel Murphy, Luis Hernandez and Justin Turner.

Emaus has no major league experience. However, he has found relative success in the minor leagues, hitting .290 with 15 home runs and 75 RBI’s between AA and AAA in 2010. He has primarily been a third baseman throughout his career. 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=emaus-001bra

Murphy played regularly for the Mets in 2009, hitting .266 with 12 homers in 155 games. He primarily played first base for the National League New York team, but also played a few games in the outfield. Constant injuries prevented Murphy from playing in the Majors in 2010.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murphda08.shtml

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=29200

Dan Murphy could be playing up the middle for the Mets in 2011.

Courtesy of NJ.com

Hernandez has some major league experience, playing in 120 games over four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and Mets. He had relative success in the Mets’ minor league system last season, hitting .290 while playing a respectable Shortstop.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernalu01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hernan003lui

Justin Turner has had a relatively successful minor league career with a .309 average over five seasons. In addition to playing almost 400 games at second base, he has also played the three other infield positions along with some outfield.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=turner001jus

It seems as though any of these four players have a good shot at claiming the job as starting second baseman of the New York Mets. Regardless, it is sad to see a once great all-star in Castillo to fall to the depths of being released by a team that once desired him.

Quade's Quarreling Cubs

Aramis Ramirez launching a pitch for the Chicago Cubs.. 

Courtesy of FantasyPhenoms

Earlier this week, Chicago Cubs Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Silva were involved in a dugout argument during a spring training game that following an opening inning that included three errors.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110302&content_id=16793978&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

Supposedly, Silva, who was making his first spring start, made a general comment that Ramirez may have taken offense to. Based on his poor performance (.247 average) last season, perhaps the once prominent third basemen should be focusing on his offense at the plate as opposed to in the dugout.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ramirar01.shtml

Needless to the say, the Cubs have had their fair share of clubhouse problems over the years. Just last year, former ace pitcher Carlos Zambrano threw a tantrum in the team dugout that resulted in a suspension for the team that allowed him to undergo anger management treatments. Surely, this suspension really seemed to have a negative impact on his performance, starting only 20 of his 36 games pitched.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zambrca01.shtml

Not too longer after the incident, manager Mike Quade, who is currently in the midst of his first spring training with the Cubs, called a team meeting in order to address the issues that occurred. Surely, these could very easily come back to haunt the Cubs later on in the season.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110303&content_id=16802916&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

If the Cubs hope to do anything remotely successful for the first time since their last World Series win in the 1908, they’ve got to do something about their team chemistry issues. No matter how much money they spend, the problems are not simply going to go away.

If the Cubs wise up, Carlos Silva could be walking batters elsewhere sometime soon. 
Courtesy of CubbiesCrib

The resolution to this problem could actually lie within getting rid of some money, or payroll to be more exact. Trading the overpaid Carlos Silva could not only get rid of some payroll ($11.5 Million in 2011), but also possibly get rid of a clubhouse cancer that might be bringing the team down.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/silvaca01.shtml

Thankfully for the Cubs, the massive contract of the Aramis Ramirez will be freed up at the end of this season after he exercised his player option for at least one more season with the club.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101104&content_id=15999450&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc

Year in and year out, the Cubs just seem to throw money out there, giving them a $123.3 Million payroll for 2011. Regardless, they failed to have a winning record last year, and have had nonstop clubhouse problems that they thought disappeared with the 2009 trade of Milton Bradley.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/2010-roster.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bradlmi01.shtml

The Cubs have been going about putting a baseball team together the wrong way; if they ever hope to start winning, they have to start investing money into good clubhouse players who actually play well enough for the money they deserve and act their age.