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With seven starters fighting for five rotation spots it looks like the Yankees really are going to trade A.J. Burnett this offseason. Here is the latest: The Yankees and Pirates have the “framework” for a deal in place with the Pirates, Buster Olney of ESPN reports. The two sides have not agreed on a dollar amount of which players will come back to the Bronx, but they are working on that within the established “framework,” Olney said . The Pirates are more likely to compromise on the... Read Full Story

After repeated attempts to try to trade troubled starter A.J. Burnett this offseason the Yankees may have finally found a trade partner in the Pittsburgh Pirates. Here are the latest rumors: The Pirates are willing to pay $10 million of the $33 million Burnett is owed, but the Yankees want them to pay more, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports . The Yankees also want an “ok prospect” back which the Pirates haven’t yet agreed to, says Heyman . Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports said the two... Read Full Story

The Yankees signed Russell Branyan to a minor league contract as a possible DH option yesterday, but they are still in the market for another option. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweeted that they are still considering Raul Ibanez and Johnny Damon for the position and supposedly are leaning toward Ibanez because of his glove. The Yankees have supposedly already had negotiations with Ibanez, who has been seen as the favorite for them to sign for a little while now. Damon has always seemed less... Read Full Story

Yesterday we found out that ESPN’s prospect guru Keith Law ranked the Yankees farm system as the 10th best in the majors. Today he released his Top 100 Prospects of 2012 list and there were four current Yankee farm hands included. Lefty Manny Banuelos was the only one in the top 25, coming in at No. 23, a full 11 spots behind where he was last year. Law said that Banuelos’ velocity was down last season and his command and control were off as well. He said that as long as his command returns... Read Full Story

Not a good news day for the Yankees today as YES Network host Bob Lorenz was charged with a DUI yesterday. Here is more from an AP report : The 48-year-old Lorenz was arrested early Wednesday morning. Police say they found him slumped over the wheel of his car and when they woke him up he drove away slowly and nearly hit a utility pole. Officers say his speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol. Of course, MLB doesn’t take this type of thing seriously. They’d rather bust Alex... Read Full Story

So here is where this takes a turn toward being more baseball related. The woman accused of stalking and extorting Brian Cashman , Louise Meanwell , has come forward and claimed that Cashman lied to federal investigators about knowledge of the players’ use of steroids when he spoke to them this past June and July, acording to Rocco Parascandola of the NY Daily News . Meanwell even claims to have specific knowledge of dates and times when Cashman found out about steroid use first hand. If... Read Full Story

They Yankees announced their list of non-roster 27 players who are on minor league contracts and will be invited to spring training, via Mike Ashmore . Those 27 players plus everyone on the 40-man roster means that there will be 67 players in spring training. The most notable among these are Bill Hall and Russell Branyan because both have a chance to make the opening day roster. Hideki Okajima is another big name because he is fighting for a shot to be the second lefty out of the bullpen... Read Full Story

The Yankees may have lost their top prospect in Jesus Montero earlier this offseason, but that hasn’t knocked them out of the top 10 best farm systems in the game, according to Keith Law of ESPN who ranked the Yankees at No. 10. Law didn’t seem totally convinced that they should be ranked so high though, but he did say that he sees “star potential” in the lower levels and likes Jose Campos specifically. His problem with the system seems to be the lack of Major League ready position players... Read Full Story

The Yankees have signed Russell Branyan to a minor league deal, according to Dan Martin of the NY Post . The deal is worth $750K plus incentives if he makes the major league roster, reports Joel Sherman . Branyan, 36, has experience at first and third base and has played in the corner outfield spots in the past, but he is brought in as a left hand hitting DH-type. He won’t, however, keep the Yankees from going after the bigger fish of Raul Ibanez , Johnny Damon , or Hideki Matsui , Buster... Read Full Story

The Yankees just signed Bill Hall and supposedly only have $2 million to spend, but that they don’t still have big plans for the rest of this offseason. Joel Sherman of the NY Post has reported that the Yankees are “quietly, but diligently” trying to trade A.J. Burnett with the idea that they could use the money they save on him to add both Eric Chavez and another DH. Last night’s signing of Hall appeared to end their quest to sign Chavez, but Hall only signed a minor league contract so... Read Full Story