The Yankees made the claim that they will spend excessively when it comes to international amateur talent this season. Most of that talent will be eligible to sign over the summer, but in the meantime there are several Cuban defectors that could strengthen the Yankees at both the minor league and major league levels. Erisbel Arruebarruena has signed with the Dodgers, but both Aledmys Diaz and Odrisamer Despaigne are still free agents.

The Yankees held private workouts for the shortstop and right-hander just a few days ago. Around that time it was rumored that the Yankees were the favorites to sign Diaz. A decision is coming soon, but it doesn't sound like they are very interested anymore. According to George King of the New York Post, "after watching Cuban defectors Aledmys Diaz and Odrisamer Despaigne work out, the Yankees aren't going to offer the shortstop or right-handed pitcher contracts."

Maybe they were wholly unimpressed by what they showed during their workouts, but then how did the Yankees not already determine that from all the scouting they have done on them? There were some rumblings that, despite no apparent injury, they didn't like his physical abilities.

It doesn't make sense why they wouldn't just offer what they felt was fair. The players they have now aren't overly impressive, but Diaz would likely have to spend some time in the minors before he became a major league option anyway, so it's not like he'd be stuffed into a crowded situation. With a 40-year-old Derek Jeter and injury prone Brian Roberts, the more options they have, the better. It's the same reason they should go for Stephen Drew, who Diaz could have been a cheaper alternative to.

Aledmys Diaz might not amount to much, but it would have been nice for the Yankees to take a chance and try to find value somewhere. Whether he's a shortstop, second baseman or third baseman, he would still represent an upgrade in the organizational depth chart at any of those positions.

Last July, the Cubs sent Alfonso Soriano to the Yankees. What if they hadn't?

When making a barter-style trade, regardless of the terms, the goal is always the same: Over-represent something you have, while under-representing something your trade partner has. If you pull it off correctly, you surrender something that isn't that important to you, while adding something to improve your future plight. In the Alfonso Soriano trade, Cubs executives managed to pull this off in a ridiculously good trade, that can only be argued from a Yankees perspective as a non-unanimous hail-mary. This examines at least four ways the Cubs exacted the maximum from this trade's timing.

Before I go any farther, I'm not going to rip on Soriano. He signed a controversial deal, a rather long time ago, under circumstances that still aren't entirely agreed upon. Without Soriano, the Cubs probably don't win their division in 2007, and had his health been better managed by the team (which isn't really his fault) he might have had a better run of success with the club. This isn't to slight what he did as a Cubs player. Most of his teammates seem to have gotten along with him rather well, and it seems like the major criticism for him seems to stem from him trying to play through pain, which sure beats sitting out for no apparent reason.

What I plan to show here is that the Cubs selected a good time to send a slugger to a team that had a need for his services, received an until-then improperly-used player in return, taking advantage of a wrinkle-in-time benefit, trading a player at a relative peak in his trade value.

A few facts first. And, yes, there will be some conjecture a bit later. In 2013, Soriano split his season between the Cubs (93 games/ 0.8 WAR) and Yankees (58 games/1.6 WAR). Early in the season, as late as May 25, his OPS was under .700. It had been .601 on April 28. On July 5, it was .705 after a game against the Pirates. Over the next two-and-change weeks, Soriano started one of his legendary hot-streaks, clubbing seven homers. His season OPS peaked in mid-August, inching a bit over .800 for a few days during a series against Boston.

The Yankees have not tended to be a particularly patient team when behind in the standings. When the trade was consummated July 26, the Yankees were in fourth place, seven games out of first. They needed help to get into the playoffs by any means, and Soriano made sense, especially on a bit of a surge. With the aid of Soriano's offense, the Yankees manage to regain and (largely) hold third place. However, expecting Soriano to get them into the post-season was a bit of a failed longshot. The Yankees were better with Soriano, but not good enough to pass the better teams in the league.

The Cubs had found a team that wanted Soriano's services enough to make a trade for him, when few others would have.

***

A fourth-round selection from Faulkner University (Alabama) in 2012, Corey Black was eased into pro ball that year, peaking at Charleston in the Low-A South Atlantic League. He sported a WHIP under one over five starts for the RiverDogs. His 2013 campaign started in Tampa with the High-A Florida State League Yankees. His results were, shall I say... mixed. He had an ERA of 4.25 in 19 starts. In a pitcher's league. While he struck out over a batter an inning, he walked 45 in 82⅔ innings. While he obviously had talent, he didn't look like anything all that special, just looking at his statistics.

Upon getting to Daytona (in the same league), his ERA dropped to 2.88 over the five starts he made for the D-Cubs. His first wasn't even all that good. He dropped his WHIP from 1.5 to under 1.3, and seemed to find a pitching coach he could perform well for in Storm Davis. As I remember, in a post-game interview he noted that Davis preferred to limit the mental functions of pitching on game day, doing most of the mental improvements during side sessions. The oddest things work for some players, but it didn't seem the tutelage in the Yankees system was benefiting Black.

In Black, the Cubs had acquired a commodity who was easily upgraded with a slight tweak. Black, after the season, had much more value to the 30 teams in the league than he had had in mid-July, apparently. There are whispers that one or more of the Yankee execs did not want to make the trade if it included Black. The Cubs had dealt a player on a streak for a player that, with a rather easily applied upgrade, could be made a much more valued option.

***

Remember when the Yankees were threatening austerity? Around the time of the Soriano trade, the Yankees thought they might be able to get out from underneath the luxury tax penalty in 2014. All they would have to do is (insert a string of unlikelihoods) and they would be able to reduce the amount of surcharges they would have to pay for their next over-spending binge. Which, of course they would do. They would have to. They had ignored developing for too long that they were reliant on free agents in far too many positions. But, if they could hit the sweet spot, they could be over that.

Part of their magic formula involved having the Cubs pay for all of Soriano's cost in 2014.

Eighteen million for one season on a left fielder wasn't Theo Epstein's main concern. Adding talent, especially pitching talent, to the pipeline, was. If Epstein could add Black by paying the freight on all of Soriano's 2014 salary (which he was going to have to do anyway if no trade was made), then so be it.

For the one time in recorded history, the Yankees wanted to save some money. Epstein's Cubs were more than willing to accept the spoils. The trade had sent a veteran player to a rather desperate team (in a once-in-a-lifetime salary-scrimping fest) who was giving up a misused talent in the process.

If only any more things could go right on the trade for the Cubs.

***

Had the Cubs not dealt Soriano for Black then and there, it's likely Soriano would still be with the Cubs. He had a no-trade clause, liked Chicago, and it pretty much required a trip back to the Bronx for him to be willing to leave. Soriano had a solid campaign in 2013, and the Cubs might well have been a better team in 2013 had the trade not happened.

Had it not happened, Junior Lake would have probably had fewer at-bats after his July call-up (which pre-dated the Soriano trade, but likely not the serious discussions). Lake getting an honest trial was one of the better things about the 2013 season. Having Soriano and Lake in the lineup might well have made September less miserable. For people who are all about approaching every game with the sanctity of a religious rite, then trading Soriano, Garza, and others was wrong.

That view is becoming less prevalent in major-league ball now, for better and worse. The Commissioner's office seems to care far less about that than the ticket-avoiding public does.

Having Soriano around in 2014 would make the team look far more like a high-70s victory club than the current roster does. Again, the "sanctity of winning" fans will probably never like this trade. Probably ever.

However.

Late in the week, Soriano noted that 2014 could be his last season. While I have no doubt that Soriano will give it his all this season, whether he returns in 2015, even floating the retirement idea entirely would have cratered his trade value. Imagine that Soriano was still a Cub in 2014, and was OPSing .850. Baltimore was in the race, and wanted Soriano. However, they knew it was a pure rental in all likelihood, what sort of value could be extracted for a guy the opponent already knows is contemplating retirement?

***

You might not be a fan of Corey Black, Black as a starter, or even the rebuild in general. Any of those positions is perfectly fine. To gamble on Black having even a 5 WAR career would bring you nice odds. However, the front office has decided that acquiring a solid pitching staff, whether by trade or the draft, is about numbers. Numbers on the radar gun, number of above-average offerings per arm, and about numbers of pitchers available with those above average arms.

Put in a different way, if you would decide to trade Black, Dan Vogelbach, and Arismendy Alcantara for a cost-controlled pitcher on this Tuesday, do you think you would get a better major league starting pitcher than you would get on the same day for Vogelbach, Alcantara and Soriano? Soriano has announced he might retire before Christmas.

In effect, it was keep Soriano until the end of 2014, and get nothing for him, or take Black, and hope a guy with a high-90s fastball that gets most of his strikeouts on his curve is a better option in 2015 and beyond than a guy who could well retire after 2014. I like our chances with Black, regardless if he starts a game in the majors, becomes a high leverage reliever, or not.

Black screams, in the day of cost-controlled talent, a talent most GMs would love to have total team control over for up to the next eight years. Soriano might not be an active player in eight months.

Now that the Yankees are throwing around contract extensions, extending David Robertson should be next on the agenda.

Now that the Yankees have shown that they are interested in locking up players before they hit free agency, the very next thing on the agenda should be extending David Robertson. As it currently stands, D-Rob is set to become a free agent in 2015, but why should the Yankees risk another team signing him, or the price being driven up, when they could extend him now?

Since being promoted to the major leagues in 2008, 28-year-old Robertson has put up the following career stats: 329 IP, 11.71 K/9, 3.91 BB/9, 0.63 HR/9, 1.25 WHIP, 2.76 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 7.6 fWAR. Players have hit just .218 off him. His most impressive season to date was in 2011 when he recorded 100 strikeouts through 66.2 innings, and allowed just 40 hits, and only one home run. Robertson has notably decreased the number of walks he's allowed since 2011, reducing his BB/9 from the 4.7 range down to 2.44. His 2013 stats are as follows: 66.1 IP, 10.45 K/9, 2.44 BB/9, 0.68 HR/9, 1.04 WHIP, 2.04 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 1.6 fWAR. Robertson has had some injuries over the past six years: experiencing elbow tightness in 2009, falling down the stairs and ending up in a walking boot in March 2012, hitting the DL with an oblique strain in 2012, and missing a couple games in 2013 due to a calf strain and then shoulder tendinitis.

In terms of how much money and how many years an extension for Robertson would look like, we can compare him to other closers who have inked deals over the past few years. Craig Kimbrel and the Braves recently made a deal for an extension worth four-years, $42 million. As free agents, Jonathan Papelbon ended up with a contract with the Phillies worth four-years, $50 million, and Rafael Soriano landed a deal with the Nationals for two-years, $28 million (!!). The main difference between Robertson and these players is that they all have been closers for several years. Kimbrel is arguably the best closer out there, and yet he still signed a deal for less than what Papelbon's making. Had Kimbrel hit free agency, he probably could have made a lot more money. Extending Robertson now would save the team money, because if Robertson has a good season as closer then the price is going to go up.

In anticipation of the argument that Robertson is not a "proven closer," go ahead and re-read what Andrew recently wrote about the matter. The cliff notes version is that any stats regarding the short time period that Robertson served as closer in 2012 involve a very small sample size. Arguing that Robertson proved that he can't fill the roll of closer based on two games is silly. Robertson has been incredibly consistent over the past six years, and if anything, has improved by reducing his walks per nine innings. It's very unlikely that Robertson will have a total collapse and pitch horrendously for the duration of the season. Even if he does struggle with the closing role and gets demoted back to being the 8th inning guy, he's been great in that role and it would be wise to extend one of the best relievers on the team over the past few seasons who isn't named Mariano Rivera. If Robertson would be willing to sign an extension, then it would almost certainly be cheaper than waiting to bid on him when he hits the free agency market.

Do you think the Yankees should try to work out an extension with Robertson? What kind of deal do you think it would take in terms of years/money?

One of the biggest names in the Nippon League is still under team control for four more years.

After Masahiro Tanaka left for the Yankees, Kenta Maeda might be the best pitcher remaining in Nippon Profession Baseball, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's certain to follow in Tanaka's footsteps next season.

Maeda, who turns 26 in April, is the ace right hander for the Hiroshima Carp. He's been one of the most productive players in Japan, and he could draw interest from several Major League teams if he ends up being posted after the season. However, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports, "the next Tanaka" isn't guaranteed to be available next year.

In six seasons with the Carp, Maeda has posted a 2.41 ERA in 1161⅓ innings with a 1.05 WHIP and less than two walks per nine innings.

Talent evaluators don't see him as being on the same level as Tanaka or Yu Davish, but like Tanaka, he has drawn comparisons to Red Sox' closer Koji Uehara. His fastball tops out at around 90 mph, but he uses a solid slider and a high-spin changeup to attack the strike zone, resulting in low walk totals and a decent strikeout rate of just over seven per nine innings. Experts are concerned with his heavy workload in Japan, though some still see him as a viable fourth starter in MLB.

" ... he has good stuff. It’s not overpowering stuff, but he’ll keep you in games."

Maeda has he'd like to pitch for an MLB team in the past, but if Hiroshima decides he's more valuable to them on the mound, he might have to wait until 2015 -- or longer -- to make his way to the majors. With the recent changes to the posting agreement between MLB and NPB, Hiroshima can only bring in a maximum of $20 million via the posting fee, but at this point, it's uncertain whether or not Maeda would command the full amount.

A strong finish and park factors show that Swisher wasn't that far from his peak seasons in 2013

Expectations were pretty high for Nick Swisher in Cleveland after the Indians signed him to a 4-year, $56-million deal last offseason (with a vesting option for 2017), so when his batting average dropped from .272 to .246 and his slugging percentage fell from .473 to .423, there were a lot of disappointed fans, leading to concerns that the contract had already turned into a disaster. Swisher is 33, so there's certainly a chance the contract doesn't turn out well over the long run, but he was worth the money in 2013, and was better than many fans seem to think.

For oen thing, Swisher was nursing a shoulder injury for much of last season, but I think he did pretty well, even if we ignore the injury.

Swisher was mildly unlucky last year. Swisher's walk rate in 2013 was basically identical to what it was in 2012, while his strikeout rate was slightly improved. His BABIP of .288 is only a little below his career number, but his batted ball profile makes me think his BABIP should have been a bit above his career level. His line-drive rate was 23.1%, the highest of his career (line drives fall in for hits far more than any other type of batted ball), while his fly ball (38/8%) and infield-fly ball (5.0%) rates were both the lowest of his career (those are the types of batted balls that most frequently turn into outs).

If Swisher has the same walk and strikeouts rates as he had in 2013, along with the same sort of batted-ball profile, I'd expect his 2014 batting average to go up 10-12 points, and his slugging percentage to go up 15-20 points, and changes like that would have given him an OPS+ of ~125, instead of the 117 he actually posted.

Let's talk about that 117 OPS+: Even with his 2013 stats being what they were, Swisher was a well-above-average hitter in 2013.

It's easy too look at the 26-point drop in batting average and the 50-point drop in slugging percentage, and get the impression that Swisher suffered a huge decline at the plate between 2012 and 2013. Park factors explain much of that difference though, as Yankee Stadium is a great park for hitters (due in large part to Little League distances down the lines), while Progressive Field favors pitchers.

Swisher's OPS+ in four years with the Yankees was 124. His 2013 is a step below that, but in the same vicinity (especially considering that his BABIP in New York was 20 points higher).

If you split the difference between Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs' valuation of Swisher's defense, he was a 3 WAR player in 2013. That doesn't make him a star, but it makes him a good player, one worth the $14M a year he's making in Cleveland. Age may be a legitimate concern, but Swisher's 2013 production shouldn't be.

Tanaka looked good in his first session of live BP

Masahiro Tanaka threw his first live session of batting practice this past Friday, facing five hitters and throwing twenty-five pitches. According to those who were there, Tanaka's doing nothing but showing the electric stuff that helped him go 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA in Japan last year.

"He is as good as advertised," Brian McCann, who caught Tanaka for the first time during the session, told the New York Post. "You can tell he has the stuff." Especially impressive was apparently Tanaka's split-finger, which has already earned rave reviews from scouts and players in the Japanese league, and it looks like it will be Tanaka's most devastating pitch. "It falls off the table," McCann said. "The motion is the same as the fastball and that's the key to getting swings and misses. You look for motion as a hitter and it's the same release point. It looks like a fastball all the way in and it drops pretty good."

Austin Romine, who was one of the batters Tanaka faced, was also blown away by how good it looked. "I think he threw a split and I had to turn around and ask what the pitch was," he told MLB.com. "I've never seen a ball move like that before. It's special."

Romine predicts a lot of other hitters will have trouble with the splitter as well. "You're going to see a lot of guys swinging and looking like fools on that pitch. I can already tell that." He also added, "I'm glad he's on our team."

The fact that Tanaka wasn't even pitching at full strength yet is especially promising, McCann said Tanaka looked like he was throwing at about eighty percent, while Tanaka himself said he was only giving seventy percent. If this is seventy percent, I cannot wait to see what Tanaka giving it his all looks like. While it's just batting practice in spring training, it's nice to hear really positive things about Tanaka. After the Yankees spent $155 million locking him up for seven years, it'd be great if he ends up being as good as advertised.

Today, four-time Blue Jays outfielder DeWayne Wise turns 36. Wise's career has been both quite unremarkable and quite remarkable.

He has been a career backup outfielder, ever getting above 239 major league plate appearances in any season, and has logged significant time in triple-A in almost every year of his career. At the plate, he is the owner of a .228/.265/.381 slash line and a whopping 65 wRC+ and a WAR of 0.5 or 0.8 depending which website you look at. According to Baseball-Reference's similarity scores, the three most similar players to Wise are Ivan Murrell, Ryan Langerhans, and Billy Cowan. Basically, you shouldn't be surprised if you see DeWayne Wise's picture next to the dictionary entry for "replacement-level player" or "quad-A player."

But despite all his shortcomings, Wise has managed a long career, playing in the majors for parts of eleven seasons and accruing over seven years of major league service time. He has played for six major league clubs: the Blue Jays, the Braves, the Reds, the White Sox, the Marlins, and the Yankees. He must be a very likeable character as several teams have re-acquired him through the years despite the existence of many other quad-A outfielders with defence and no bat. The Reds, who drafted him in 1997, got him back in 2005, he spent two separate stints with both the White Sox and the Marlins, and four separate stints with the Blue Jays. The other four-time Blue Jay was Tony Fernandez.

Three of the four stints came in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. In 2011, when Mike McCoywas shuttling between Toronto and Las Vegas, DeWayne Wise was on the Toronto-Miami shuttle, shifting between the two teams four times. Take a look at his transactions list in that period (from Baseball-Reference):

June 2, 2010: Granted Free Agency.
June 5, 2010: Signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.
November 12, 2010: Granted Free Agency.
January 10, 2011: Signed as a Free Agent with the Florida Marlins.
March 30, 2011: Released by the Florida Marlins.
April 6, 2011: Signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.
June 9, 2011: Released by the Toronto Blue Jays.
June 15, 2011: Signed as a Free Agent with the Florida Marlins.
August 26, 2011: Selected off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Florida Marlins.
October 4, 2011: Granted Free Agency.

I'm not sure if any other player has ever shuttled between two teams that many times in consecutive transactions without involving a third team.

But of course, when Wise retires (he is still listed as an active free agent at the time of writing) he will be remembered for a single play he made on July 23, 2009 while playing for the White Sox. Coming into the game in the ninth inning of Mark Buehrle's eventual perfect game as a defensive replacement for Carlos Quentin, Wise was immediately greeted by a deep fly ball from the bat of Gabe Kapler. Wise made a spectacular over-the-wall catch to rob Kapler of a sure-home run to preserve Buehrle's perfection.

Happy birthday, DeWayne.

Wise Facts

• In New York and Cleveland, Wise will probably be remembered for a catch that was too good to be true--replays showed that he had clearly dropped the ball in the stands, but he pretended he caught it by pumping his (empty) glove, and the third-base umpire never bothered asking to see the ball. In fact, the actual fan who caught the ball was showing it off. Also: note guy in Blue Jays cap helping Wise up.
• Playing 70 games for the Blue Jays in his initial stint after being picked up as a Rule 5 draftee from the Reds puts Wise second on the list of longest tenured Rule 5 picks in the organization since 1990. Reliever Aquilino Lopez pitched 90 games over two seasons in Toronto.
• Wise holds the Blue Jays franchise record for wearing the most number of different numbers: #55, #16, #1, and #3.
• DeWayne is Wise's middle name. His first name is Garry Jerry Larry. (Side note: wouldn't it be great if the folks at Parks & Recreation renamed Jim O'Heir's character "DeWayne" next season?)

Back in January, I examined some of the reasons why the Yankees might not be interested in Stephen Drew. Circumstances have changed in the past month with the addition of Masahiro Tanaka and retirement plans of Derek Jeter. What does this mean now for Drew's drawbacks?

Slightly more than a month ago, I examined why the Yankees had exhibited little interest in pursuingStephen Drew. Circumstances have changed since then, but the need to bolster the infield hasn't varied. Masahiro Tanaka has joined the Yankees, blowing the Yankees past the luxury tax threshold. Derek Jeter has announced 2014 to be his final season, meaing the Yankees will require a new shortstop next season. Unchanged, however, is the composition of the infield for 2014, which will feature some combination of Kelly Johnson, Brian Roberts, Brendan Ryan, Eduardo Nunez, Dean Anna, et. al. at second and third base. Looking at ability alone, Drew is an obvious upgrade. Let's take a look back at my previous explanation for the Yankees balking at Drew, and see how their stance may or may not have changed.

1. Tax implications: The Yankees pay a fifty percent tariff on every dollar above the competitive balance tax threshold, and bringing in Drew would easily push the Yankees over the limit even if Masahiro Tanaka isn’t signed. If the Yankees pay $11M annually to Drew, which is what the Fangraphs crowd forecasts, the Yankees will take a $5.5M tax hit. Drew’s real cost for 2014 would be $16.5M, and that simply may be too much.

This still may be the top reason the Yankees are disinterested in signing Drew. We must remember that what the Yankees wind up sacrificing financially will be 1.5 times the face value of his contract, at least for 2014. Yet, perhaps it's worth the expense. Given where the Yankees project to be on the win curve, the Yankees should be willing to spend more for each incremental win than most teams.

2. He’s not as good as his 2013 says: Drew was worth 3.4 fWAR last season, thanks to stellar defense and his strength against right-hand pitching (.378 wOBA). However, ZiPS is pretty down on Drew for 2014, foreseeing a .309 wOBA, slightly below average defense, and 1.6 WAR. Part of the pessimism stems from his poor 2011 and 2012, but it’s likely safe to assume that he won’t approach his 2013 performance. For an after-tax cost of $16.5M, that projected output would be an overpay.

Again, this is probably a legitimate concern for the front office.

3. Won’t commit long-term: Scott Boras won’t easily settle for one year with his client, which is probably what the Yankees would seek. He’s been trying to create a market for Drew with the Mets, but to no avail. It appears the Red Sox would prefer to retain Drew only on a one-year pact. Perhaps the Yankees are simply waiting to see if Boras will back down on multi-year demands.

This no longer is a defensible reason. Speculation is that Drew's camp desires an opt-out after the first season, and could settle for a two year or three year deal with that option. If the Yankees don't want to commit to him past 2014, fine. Unless something goes terribly wrong, Drew should want another chance at the open market, especially considering Jeter's retirement plans. Moreover, maybe the Yankees would be willing to sign him past 2014 knowing Jeter's plans.

4. Negotiating tactic: Building off the previous point, perhaps Cashman disclosing his lack of interest is a strategy to bring Drew’s price down.

Still plausible, I guess.

5. Loss of draft pick: The Yankees are already out of the first and compensation rounds for the signings of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran, and would have to forfeit a second-round pick if Drew is added.

Although the Yankees may not want to forfeit a pick in this draft, there's a chance Drew nets them a first-rounder in 2015. Assuming he joins the Yankees and hits the market after the season, the Yankees could stick him with a qualifying offer. Should that occur, the Yankees would either have Jeter's replacement or an additional draft pick in 2015.

--

Normally, there wouldn't be much clamoring for a player expected to add roughly two wins to a roster. But, considering the Yankees glaring weakness in the infield, those two wins constitute a substantial upgrade. Plus, Drew could be a solution to the Yankees shortstop opening after this season. Is he pricey? Absolutely. That shouldn't be an issue for the Yankees, but it's evident that ownership has decreed an end to spending this winter. With that in mind, don't expect the Yankees to change their tune on Drew, despite him being a more sensible target considering the events of the past month. Unfortunately, this seems like something that makes too much sense to happen.

All of a sudden, this front office seems to be learning from its mistakes.

If I could sum up the Yankees front office over the last few years in one word, terms like "thickheaded" or "stubborn" would arise more often than any of us should feel comfortable with. It’s certainly the case that Brian Cashman has been no slouch as a General Manager, making a number of legitimately good moves recently, but for most of the time he has had to heel to the whims of Hal Steinbrenner and Randy Levine. Thankfully—mercifully—it seems in 2014 the Yankees have learned their lesson.

It started last season when, in an effort to supermount the $189 million tax bracket, Steinbrenner and company assembled the 2013 squad—a flimsy roster stocked with part-timers and has-beens. The disaster was accentuated after injuries crippled the team. By the end of the season, the Yankees had missed the playoffs for just the second time in nearly twenty years. They supposedly entered this offseason with Plan $189 still intact, but as we’ve seen, they’ve since shed the shackles of their ‘fiscal responsibilities.’ It’s apparent that the team values winning over saving a few million dollars—just as it should be. Of course, we might never know the real reason—it might be to save face, garner better attendance, or simply, as aforementioned, to create a winning team. But as crazy as it may sound to some, spending nearly $500 million on the team was the right decision to make.

Plan $189’s biggest flaw was that it was reactionary. The new rule change swept in threatening to punish the team for its free-spending ways, and the Yankees did not have the infrastructure in place to replace high-dollar free agents with less expensive internal alternatives. The decision to not spend this time last year left the Yankees with sub-par replacements and scrapheap pickups. Now, the Yankees are a much better team with Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Masahiro Tanaka, and Carlos Beltran. It has certainly loaded their wagon with more long-term contracts, but such is the free agent game. The Steinbrenners may very well want to slice the payroll, but it cannot happen in one fell swoop. A structure must first be in place before changes are made.

That's where the farm system comes in. The Yankees succeeded in the 2013 draft and now they are looking to make a splash in the international amateur market. These players won’t help the team right this moment, but this new direction will certainly help them in the future. This is the new infrastructure the Yankees need to continue to bolster if they ultimately want a smaller payroll. Smart baseball decisions will get them there.

A few months ago the Yankees were faced with an unenviable decision: to either sign one of their star players (and "potential face of the franchise" following Derek Jeter’s departure) Robinson Cano to an expensive and long contract, or to let him move on to another team willing to dish out the cash required. The Yankees couldn't take the chance of signing another player over the age of 30 to a ten-year deal. The last thing this team needs is another Alex Rodriguez. While I wish they had kept Cano, I can't say that a ten-year, $240 million contract would have impressed me. The Yankees' long policy of not offering extensions to players has cost them the likes of Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson. Now it cost them Cano. They seem doomed to repeat the same mistake over and over. As more and more teams have dished out the money to lock up their young players, the Yankees' constant flow of free agent talent will certainly dry up.

Looking ahead to the 2015 free agent market, Brett Gardner might have been the best outfielder available. Not anymore—as impossible as it might sound, the Yankees just signed Gardner to an extension. Have they learned their lesson from losing Cano? There are other players that deserve extensions too—David Robertson, for instance—so we’ll have to wait and see if this is a behaivor they repeat again. It was certainly a smart move to lock up Gardner. Cashman has long liked Gardner's defense and speed and so he offered a friendly deal—perhaps better than he would have gotten on the open market (potentially $15 MM AAV and up to six years). Now the team has their starting outfield taken care of for the next few years and they'll be able to focus their efforts elsewhere. This extension was a smart baseball decision.

If the 2013 season was an example of an organization not learning from their mistakes, 2014 would appear to be the opposite. There have been lessons learned in three ways: not handing out a monster contract to Cano (learned from the Rodriguez experience), handing out an extension to Gardner (learned from the Cano experience), and focusing more on the farm. So it is possible that the days of the team's no extensions policy are behind them, and that they are refocusing their efforts on the farm system, and are taking chances and trying new ways to find value. Sometimes they will fail, other times they will succeed, but if they continue their efforts, they'll get everything they want and more. They seem more than capable of finding the next Cano, and this time, hopefully, they'll do it right and never let him slip through their fingers.

Umpire's different judgments on the play might lead to some angry managers in the future.

One of baseball's big off-season stories was the plan to adapt some kind of rule against brutal home plate collisions that have caused major injuries over the past few decades to numerous catchers, from Ray Fosse to Buster Posey and the oft-concussed Mike Matheny and Jorge Posada. The rule was officially passed today, and here it is, courtesy of CBS Sports:

(1) A runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate). If, in the judgment of the Umpire, a runner attempting to score initiates contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate) in such a manner, the Umpire shall declare the runner out (even if the player covering home plate loses possession of the ball). In such circumstances, the Umpire shall call the ball dead, and all other base runners shall return to the last base touched at the time of the collision.

Rule 7.13 Comment: The failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runner's lowering of the shoulder, or the runner's pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation of Rule 7.13. If the runner slides into the plate in an appropriate manner, he shall not be adjudged to have violated Rule 7.13. A slide shall be deemed appropriate, in the case of a feet first slide, if the runner's buttocks and legs should hit the ground before contact with the catcher. In the case of a head first slide, a runner shall be deemed to have slid appropriately if his body should hit the ground before contact with the catcher.

(2) Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the Umpire, the catcher without possession of the ball blocks the pathway of the runner, the Umpire shall call or signal the runner safe. Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 7.13 if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the Umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable.

Interestingly, it is not a complete ban on home plate collisions of any kind.

The first rule appears to protect the catcher who chooses to stand off to the side of home plate to receive, much like Posada used to do. That prevents the runner from going out of his way to take the catcher out in order to ensure that he is safe; instead on close plays, he must slide into home plate naturally, much like Sid Bream did on the famous play to end the 1992 NLCS:

And hey! That was an unbelievable ending to a playoff game. No harm done and the catcher fine. If Bream had make an attempt to take catcher Mike LaValliere out, he would have been called out. That seems fair; with a play at the plate, there's little reason to destroy the catcher if a legitimate slide can be made without the catcher standing in the way.

The second part of the rule looks like it's designed to ensure that the runner is not tempted to take the catcher out. The catcher will not be allowed to stand in front of home plate without the ball coming his path. Here's where the situation could get dicey.

It is completely up to the umpire whether or not Brian McCann could have fielded the ball without getting into the runner's path. On throws from right field and most throws from center, there would thus be little reason for the catcher to be blocking home plate since the throw is received up the middle or on the first base side. On throws from left field though, as long as it is not off-line like Barry Bonds's was in the clip above, the catcher could move up the third base line a little bit to receive the throw and would seem to have a legitimate claim as to why he happens to be blocking home plate--he wants to receive the throw and apply the tag as soon as possible. Under these circumstances, how could an umpire call it a violation of the rule? A good example occurred in the end to another excellent playoff series in the 2003 NLDS:

Ivan Rodriguez had to move into J.T. Snow's path to try to tag him out as the tying run. Under the new rules, it would seem these collisions are allowed, a move that might help pacify those who do not see the home plate collisions as much of a problem. I can't quibble too much with that--it's unfortunate that the collision has to happen, but there is really no other way for Snow to try to score or for Pudge to cover the plate since he has to tag him.

Since it will probably be referred to as the "Buster Posey Rule," it should come as no surprise that a play like this will likely no longer be allowed by MLB:

Posey handled the throw from right field and once he went to receive it, he was not standing directly in Scott Cousins's line toward the plate, even at the last moment:

Posey (who incidentally did not have control of the ball) was not completely in front of home plate. The vast majority of the third base and foul territory sides of home plate are open, so Cousins could have gone for a hook slide or head-first diving toward foul territory with his hand aiming for home plate, but instead, he went to take the catcher out.

Needless to say, all collisions are different, and variance in catcher and runner positions are sure to stew some controversy by the time a close play comes around. For those sad about manager/umpire bickering departing the game with the advent of the new instant replay rules, do not worry. This rule contains enough umpire situation interpretation that it is all but certain to spark anger in the manager whose team does not benefit from the ruling.

"How was that not obstruction of home plate?! That catcher's ass was all over it, you blind sunuvabitch!"

or

"What do you mean, SAFE?!' My man had to handle the throw in that position to even try to tag that asshole out! Way to make the game all about YOU, ya asswipe!"

or

"I'm managing the Marlins. Kindly eject me."

Reactions like these and many more are sure to come during the 2014 season. Obviously it's a very tricky rule to write out, so I cannot blame MLB too much for not clearing up every possible scenario. That's damn near impossible considering how much randomness baseball offers on a nigh-everyday basis. It is an attempt at improving catcher safety that I support, but I would not be at all surprised if after the first full season of this rule and observing its various instances of enforcement, it is altered somewhat to clear up some of the grey areas. Overall, it's a good place to start.

What do you think of the new rule?

The Yankees and Tigers help us welcome baseball back with a pair of games on Tuesday afternoon.

After a long, cold winter, baseball is finally back, as major league teams open their spring training schedules beneath the sunshine in Florida and Arizona.

The Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees open Grapefruit League action Tuesday hosting a pair of games against local college squads. The Cactus League will open up in Arizona on Wednesday, and by the end of the week, all 30 MLB teams will be in action.

The Tigers begin their 2014 season with a game against Florida Southern College at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. After sending Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers this winter, the Tigers will have some new faces in their lineup and a brand new infield. Ian Kinsler will man second base, while two-time reigning AL MVP Miguel Cabrera moves across the diamond to first and rookie Nick Castellanos is expected to debut at third. Joe Nathan is primed to hold down the back of Detroit's bullpen, as new manager Brad Ausmus looks to keep the Tigers' postseason streak alive.

Just west of Lakeland, the Yankees will be hosting Florida State University at their spring training home in Tampa. The Bronx Bombers also have their fair share of new faces this season, with former nemesis Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran all donning pinstripes for the first time. In addition, the Yankees come into spring with a clean bill of health and a potential new ace in Japanese import Masahiro Tanaka. There is nothing quite so uplifting and revitalizing as spring.

Last Time on Pinstripe Alley

• MLB makes new home plate collision rule official, but vagueness could still lead to controversy
• Are the Yankees finally learning their lesson?
• Re-evaluating the Yankees lack of interest in Stephen Drew
• Tanaka living up to the hype early on at spring training
• Should the Yankees look into extending David Robertson?
• The Yankees have decided to pass on Cuban defectors Aledmys Diaz and Odrisamer Despaigne

Yankees News

NoMaas | SJK: The Brett Gardner extension is a great move for the Yankees.

YES Network | Jack Curry: The Brett Gardner deal offers the Yankees stability in the outfield going forward.

The Record | Bob Klapisch: Learning English will be difficult for Masahiro Tanaka, but Hiroki Kuroda believes he will do better than he has.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: The Brett Gardner contract reinforces his value with the Yankees.

The Times-Tribune | Donnie Collins: A look at where J.R. Murphy and Austin Romine fit into the Triple-A picture.

It's About the Money | Michael Eder: Projecting David Robertson's 2014 season as the new Yankees closer.

Fangraphs | Dave Cameron: While Brett Gardner has the reputation for a defense-first player, he's actually a better offensive player than many realize.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: Even after the lawsuit, Tony Clark says that Alex Rodriguez is back in the good graces of the MLBPA.

CBS Sports | Matt Snyder: MLB has officially approved a new rule about home plate collisions.

Spring training games are finally here! It's the perfect opportunity to join the community if you haven't already.

It's been a long offseason for Yankees fans after 2013 ended more prematurely than most of us are used to. Finally, the Yankees will be back on the field today for their first spring training game against Florida State University. One of the biggest selling points of Pinstripe Alley when I joined in 2009 was the fact that the comments section of game threads allowed me to interact with my fellow Yankees fans during the games. If you've been reading for a while or just joined today, I hope you'll take advantage of our spring training game threads to get involved in the community.

Since today's game won't be on TV and will be a little harder for the masses to access, feel free to introduce yourself in the comments of this thread before tomorrow's first televised game. Whether you've been here four years or signed up this morning, we'd love to hear from you.

• How and when did you become a Yankees fan?
• How did you stumble upon Pinstripe Alley and how long have you been reading?
• What are you most looking forward to about the Yankees this season?

The college football star is expected to take the field against his favorite baseball team on Tuesday

The Yankees will play the Florida State baseball team in an exhibition game on Tuesday and 2013 Heisman trophy winner, Jameis Winston, who is also the Seminoles closer and right fielder, could be on the field against them, according to ESPN and the associated press.

If Winston has any say in the matter, he will definitely be in the game. The star quarterback told ESPN, "If they'd ask me to catch..I'd catch, just so I can see those guys bat". The Yankees are Winston's "favorite team" and he anticipated being "a little starstruck" at the idea of playing against the historic franchise.

The Yankees coaching staff expressed some excitement about seeing the two-sport star as well. Manager Joe Girardi said, "It will be fun to watch. Obviously, he's extremely athletic when you watch him play the game of football. He's got a great arm. Pretty mature for his age." Special instructor and Hall-of-Fame closer Goose Gossage said he is "excited to see him."

Winston is obviously an extremely talented football player -- he did lead Florida State to a 14-0 record and a national title as a sophomore and picked up the Heisman for his efforts -- but his baseball skills are also strong enough to make him a potential first round draft pick. Thanks to that combination, he has begun drawing comparisons two-sport legend Bo Jackson.

Though the allure of the NFL might be too much for Winston to walk away from, there is a chance that Girardi and the Yankees could see plenty more of him if he sticks with baseball. The Alabama native was a 15th round pick for the Rangers in 2012, despite the knowledge that he was probably headed to FSU. If he enters the MLB amatuer draft again, he will come off the board far earlier. On the baseball field, Winston is an extremely intriguing player, even if his devotion to football has left his skills a little raw. J.J Copper of Baseball America recently broke down his profile and believed the Heisman Trophy winner could be a first-round prospect as a pitcher:

"If football weren't a factor, Winston would have a solid chance to be a 2015 first-round pick in baseball. On the mound, he showed a 92-94 mph fastball and a promising slider."

Cooper quotes a "a longtime National League amateur scout" who feels the same:

"For me, if he pitches enough, someone could say first round easily. Someone can dream and say that's a starting pitcher. Someone would dream on him as a starter. He'd go somewhere around 15 to 20 in the first round as a starting pitcher."

That is exciting, but Cooper doesn't just stop there, pointing out that:

"If Winston focused on baseball and got plenty of at-bats as an outfielder, he also has first-round potential there.

'If he had 100 ABs his senior year, 200 at-bats last summer, say 200 this next summer in the Cape Cod League, he would be a first-rounder as a hitter, too," the scout said. "He doesn't strike out all that much, he's not overmatched. You wonder if swing is a little long, but he's got a pretty good contact rate . . . He just hasn't had the at-bats'"

The caveat concerning Winston's focus is a real issue for his future in baseball. Cooper notes that not only is Winston splitting time between the two sports, he is also dividing his focus on the baseball field between pitching and hitting. If that isn't enough, he is also a switch hitter. That is a tremendous amount for a young player to focus on regardless of how talented he is. As a college athlete, Winston can still be a dominant player in both sports, but baseball scouts don't see the next Bo Jackson just yet.

Whether he goes to the NFL or he dedicates himself to baseball, Jameis Winston is a special talent and he has an excellent shot at being an impact player at the highest level. He will get a taste of what it might be like to travel down that second road on Tuesday, facing a baseball team that has more championships than any other professional franchise.

What kind of value might the Yankees reap from Gardner?

Brett Gardner signed a four-year contract extension on Sunday afternoon that will pay him $52 million from 2015-18. After the Yankees pay him the agreed-upon arbitration raise of $5.6 million for the 2014, the extension kicks in for his age-31 season in 2015. Joel Sherman reported that Gardner will receive $12.5 million every year of the contract, and there is a $12.5 million club option for his age-36 season in 2019. The Yankees could also choose to buy out that option for $2 million. If they trade him at some point, Gardner receives an extra $1 million.

Gardner's extension bumps the 2015 payroll to $161.2 million already (divided between just 10 players), so in case there were any worries about the Yankees going for Plan 189 again next year, this deal should eliminate them. Through ~$11 million in player benefits, arbitration raises for six players, and pre-arbitration deals, it will be damn near impossible for the AAV to come in under $189 million for 2015. For subsequent years, the 2016 payroll jumps to $157.7 million in commitments for eight players (might as well nix Plan 189 concerns for that season, too), the 2017 payroll goes to $98.6 million in commitments for six players, and the 2018 payroll sits at $72.6 million in commitments for four players (Gardner, Masahiro Tanaka, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brian McCann).

Four years and $52 million for Gardner is virtually identical to the contracts the Yankees gave out a few years ago to Gardner's 2009 championship teammates, Hideki Matsui (extension) and Johnny Damon (free agency). While that might seem a little shocking at first since at the plate, Matsui and Damon were both better hitters than Gardner, keep in mind that the market has only gone through more inflation since the 2005-06 off-season when those deals were signed, and that Gardner brings immensely higher value on defense than either of them. Each of them brought their own unique strengths to the Yankees' roster, and they were all rewarded with similar contracts.

A few outfielders in similar age and overall skillset to Gardner just signed free agent contracts or extensions of their own. Gardner's now-former teammate, Curtis Granderson, just signed a four-year, $60 million deal with the Mets during the 2013-14 off-season. Gardner has been worth 17.8 fWAR since his 2008 debut, and over that same amount of time, Granderson has been a little bit better with 20.5 fWAR. However, Granderson is two and a half years older than Gardner with declining defense and baserunning abilities. Granderson is the better hitter, but given that he will be 38 by the end of his deal, Gardner has more than a decent chance to be the more valuable player over the course of the contract.

Another former teammate, Nick Swisher, received four years and $56 million on the open market last year before his age-33 season. Like Granderson, Swisher offers more potential at the plate than Gardner, but he was priced at roughly the same amount since Gardner is a little younger and is a much more useful player on defense. The Indians are basically Swisher that money to be their first baseman instead of their rightfielder anyway, so Swisher's a bit of a wild card in comparisons anyway.

The Royals made a good move to lock up outfielder Alex Gordon after his long-awaited breakout 2011 campaign, and they got him for four years and $37.5 million. Gordon's healthier and at his best, he's a better player than Gardner. However, Gordon's contract was signed with two years of arbitration left and only bought out two years of free agency. He has a player option of $12.5 million in 2016, but if he keeps up the pace, he could reasonably ask for another extension or decline the option and hit the free agent market as a 31-year-old. There was more incentive for Gordon to take the lower-value contract at that point in time.

The contracts that makes the Gardner deal look very good are the seven-year, $142 million deal the Red Sox gave to Carl Crawford in December 2010 and the seven-year, $153 million contract the Yankees just gave Jacoby Ellsbury. Both Crawford and Ellsbury were almost unquestionably better players at the time of their signing, especially at the plate. Gardner is not quite as good a hitter or baserunner as them, though he is certainly closer to them on defense. The Yankees are getting a somewhat-lesser version of Crawford and Ellsbury for roughly one third of the price.

Gardner wouldn't have received anywhere near that big of a contract in free agency, but SI.com's Jay Jaffe projected that if Gardner had another solid season like 2013 under his belt entering the 2014-15 off-season, he could very well have received $15 million per year on his next contract. The man would have gotten paid pretty well, and Jaffe, the same baseball mind who developed the acclaimed JAWS system, thinks the Yankees received a "bargain" for Gardner. It's a valid point--people in baseball front offices do value defense more than the common fan likely thinks.

The counter to Gardner possibly receiving $15 million per year comes in the form of arguably Gardner's most similar recent comparison on the free agent market, Indians center fielder Michael Bourn, who was a free agent l. Like Gardner, the 30-year-old Bourn wasn't as flashy a hitter as some of the other big outfielders to hit the free agent market lately, and like Gardner, a great deal of his value was tied into his speed and defense. Yet it took Bourn until the middle of February to find a good free agent contract, and that deal was four years and $48 million. Might Gardner have similarly struggled and ended up with a lower contract than this extension? It's certainly possible.

Some fans might complain that having both Ellsbury and Gardner is redundant. That argument just does not make much sense. There is certainly no mandate that a successful team needs two big power hitters in the outfield. Gardner and Ellsbury are both overall far more complete players than the vast majority of outfielders anyway. They have exceptional defense and baserunning that is more than makes up for any power deficiencies they might have at the plate, and that's assuming Ellsbury's power game does not receive a boost from Yankee Stadium (hint: it should get one).

As each player has come into his own as a MLB outfielder during the 2010s, they both rank among the top 20 outfielders in the game by fWAR since 2010. Despite missing nigh-full seasons due to injury, Ellsbury and Gardner rank 11th and 16th, respectively, right in the same vicinity or above more mainstream outfielders like Gordon, Shin-Soo Choo, Austin Jackson, Jay Bruce, Hunter Pence, and Justin Upton. Shouldn't the fact that they are both providing such high overall value thanks to their respective excellence in overlooked areas like defense and baserunning be a good thing? Sure, teams often get power from their left fielders and Gardner probably won't do that, but not many teams get power from behind the plate--that's a unique strength that Brian McCann offers. The duo of Ellsbury and Gardner should not be dismissed because their skill-sets come from less obvious sources. Just look at the last two teams to win the World Series.

In 2013, Ellsbury and regular left fielder Jonny Gomes combined for just 22 homers. In 2012, center fielder Angel Pagan and primary left fielders Melky Cabrera and Gregor Blanco all combined for 24 homers. The Yankees will get their power from the likes of McCann and Carlos Beltran. It does not necessarily need to come from more than one starting outfielder. Instead, the Yankees will receive considerably high value in other sources from their left and center fielders, and they both have a strong chance to be among the top 20 outfielders in the game in terms of fWAR by the end of 2014 anyway. Sure, they are similar players--they are similar in that they both provide respectable overall value. How is that a bad thing?

With all these factors taken into consideration, the four-year extension is quite fair from both sides. Gardner received job security and a better contract than what was ultimately offered to Bourn, a comparable player to him. The Yankees locked up a useful commodity through the 2018 season, an already-popular homegrown talent whose greatest skills are very well-catered to Yankee Stadium. The extension made too much sense for both sides for it to be considered much of an overpay at all.

It's a well-constructed marriage, and with the market only escalating in recent years due to inflation, estimates of the Yankees probably saving a good $10-20 million in total contract value given Gardner's talent seem accurate. Not many left fields are as vast as the one at Yankee Stadium, but Gardner has the necessary defensive expertise to cover the wide span of ground and maximize his potential. That kind of acumen is certainly worth $12.5 million per year price tag.

This is it people – the start of spring training games

In game one, the Yankees will send out Vidal Nuno to face right-hander Mike Compton and the Florida State Seminoles. Reigning Heisman Award winner Jameis Winston, who is likely to ultimately choose football over baseball, is said to be playing as well.

Nuno will be followed in the game by Brian Gordon, Shane Greene, Bryan Mitchell, Francisco Rondon.

Seeing as how this is simply the first game of the year and it's against a college baseball team, only a few of the team's regulars will be playing in the game. It looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for the spring debuts of Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, and Jacoby Ellsbury, among others.

Brett Gardner, fresh off signing his new extension, Kelly Johnson, Francisco Cervelli, and Brendan Ryan are the only Yankees in the lineup who are expected to be with the team on Opening Day. Adonis Garcia, Zoilo Almonte, and J.R. Murphy represent potential callups during the season. We'll also be getting our first look at potential Yankees Yangervis Solarte and Russ Canzler.

The Yankees' bench will consist of Gary Sanchez (C), Jose Gil (1B), Corban Joseph (2B), Dean Anna (SS), Jose Pirela(3B!), Antoan Richardson (LF), Mason Williams (CF), and Ramon Flores (RF) in the field. Peter O`Brien, Francisco Arcia, Austin Romine, and Zelous Wheeler should all get a turn as the designated hitter. The bullpen will include Gordon, Greene, Mitchell, Rondon, Chase Whitley, Fred Lewis, and Danny Burawa.

Unfortunately, today's game will not be televised, so you'll have to follow along with the box score or, dare I say, MLB Gameday. In play, run(s). Don't worry, you should be able to see everyone's faces soon enough.

We have no idea what timeline or alternate dimension Budweiser thinks MLB exists in.

Anheuser-Busch has teamed up with Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith in an attempt to make Opening Day a national holiday/generate buzz with their name attached to it as a spring training publicity stunt. You would think they would put a little more effort into the whole thing, though, since they're using a White House petition to get their message out there. You'd be wrong, though, says this map they tweeted out on the @Budweiser Twitter account on Tuesday:

Let's make @MLB#OpeningDay a national holiday. Join us & sign the @WhiteHouse petition now: http://t.co/6ELFL6yxErpic.twitter.com/uUGpCEFiyK

— Budweiser (@Budweiser) February 25, 2014

There are so many things wrong with this, and not all of them because of the design of the map. The geography is wonky, for one. We can maybe forgive them for Toronto being an American city, for the same reason those maps in your middle school textbook had Alaska as a floating island and Hawaii as just off the coast of California. Some of the other mistakes are far more egregious, though.

• The Yankees look like they are located in Buffalo, which is unarguably upstate New York, instead of "north of New York City" upstate New York.
• Kansas City is located in Kansas instead of Missouri, which is the kind of thing I thought was true when I was five years old and the idea of a city located in a place besides the state with the same name would have blown my mind.
• The Angels don't actually play in Los Angeles, but I'm also pretty positive they're not located in the Nevada desert.
• The Nationals might be straddling the Virginias and North Carolina, while the Orioles are all alone, regionally speaking. Just like Peter Angelos always wanted!

Granted, this is because of the design of the map more than anything: these little circle logos are too big for such a teeny map, and it leads to geography gone askew. You could forgive that and chalk it up to poor design, but don't worry, there's more to point out!

• The Astros have their old, pre-American League logo with the open star, rather than the giant "H" enclosed in a circle.
• Taking that same kind of mistake to the next level, the Marlins are the Florida Marlins here, not the Miami ones.
• Seriously, was this image given the go-ahead in 2012 and still came out this wrong after two years of work?

I guess we should just be happy Budweiser remembered what states those two play in.

The former Mets and Twins left-hander barely topped 81 mph in a workout on Tuesday that included a scout from the Yankees.

Johan Santana threw for scouts from seven MLB teams at a high school in Fort Myers on Tuesday, according to the New York Post's George A. King.

Santana reportedly topped out at 81 mph, but the left-hander's fastball was more often clocked between 77 and 78 mph, with the former Mets starter also mixing in a changeup. The Yankees were one of the teams to send a scout to the workout, although their interest isn't considered serious at this point despite a potential need for starting pitching depth.

The 34-year-old Santana is trying to come back from surgery last April to repair a torn capsule in his left shoulder. He underwent a similar surgery in 2010 and didn't return to the majors until the 2012 season.

The left-hander missed all of 2013 following the surgery, and the Mets, who signed Santana to a six-year, $137.5 million deal prior to the 2008 campaign, decided against picking up his $25 million option for this season. They chose instead to pay him a $5.5 million buyout, making him eligible for free agency.

Santana posted a 4.85 ERA back in 2012, striking out 144 batters in 199 innings pitched. He memorably threw the first and only no-hitter in Mets history that season in a June start against the Cardinals at Citi Field. Santana won two American League Cy Young awards as a member of the Twins in 2004 and 2006 and has made four All-Star teams throughout his career.

After experiencing shoulder discomfort back in January, Santana pushed back his original rehab timetable and is now targeting a return on May 1 or June 1. He still has time to add some velocity and strength to his shoulder before hoping to appear in the major leagues. Back in 2012, Santana averaged 88 mph on his fastball, according to BrooksBaseball.net, which uses data from Pitchf/x to track the speed of every big league pitch.

Santana finished his Mets career with a 3.18 ERA and missed two full seasons due to injury.

Go baseball, Go Yankees

In the Yankees' first spring trainings game, New York took on the Florida State University Seminoles. As you would expect, the professional baseball players trounced the college amateurs in an 8–3 game.

After an infield hit for Brett Gardner in the first, the Yankees scored their first run of the year in the second. Zoilo Almonte hit a one-out double down the left field line and Brendan Ryan drove him home with another double into left-center field to put New York up 1–0 over the Seminoles.

Their second run was rather LOL-worthy; in the third inning, J.R. Murphy doubled to right field, Mason Williams, batting for Gardner, grounded out and moved the runner to third. Gary Sanchez, now in for Cervelli, hit a foul ball toward the stands and both the FSU catcher and pitcher went for the ball. With no one covering home, Murphy was able to run in after the ball was caught. Thanks, guys.

In the fourth inning, Adonis Garcia walked, Dean Anna doubled off the right field wall and Yangervis Solarte drove in another run. J.R. Murphy hit his second double of the afternoon and Solarte scored on a wild pitch to make it a 5–0 game. In the sixth, the Yankees scored another two runs and Ramon Flores finished off the Yankee onslaught in the eighth with the first home run of the spring.

Tapped for the spring opener, Vidal Nuno had a promising debut. He struck out three FSU batters in two innings while allowing only one infield hit when Brendan Ryan was unable to pull off a jump throw to get the runner in the second. Brian Gordon replaced him in the third inning and surrendered four hits over the next two innings while collecting a strikeout. Yangervis Solarte saved him from giving up at least one run in the fourth when he made a leaping grab to end the inning.

Shane Greene was beat up a bit, pitching the fifth and sixth and surrendering three runs on three hits, a walk and a strikeout. Bryan Mitchell pitched the seventh and eighth, striking out three batters and Francisco Rondon finished out the game, striking out two and allowing one hit.

Check out the boxscore, here.

The college football star went 0-2 at the plate against the Yankees on Tuesday afternoon.

Jameis Winston, Florida State's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, played in left field for Florida State's exhibition against the Yankees on Tuesday afternoon. Winston entered the game in the fifth inning with the Yankees up 5-0 and went 0-2 in his only two plate appearances.

In his first at-bat, Winston grounded out to second base on four pitches against Yankee right-hander Shane Green. The outfielder struck out looking in his second plate appearance.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, Winston, who is also a reliever, wanted to pitch on Tuesday against the Yankees, but Florida State coach Mike Martin wouldn't let him, saying he had a "tender elbow" after his most recent appearance for the Seminoles.

After the game, Winston discussed his experience meeting the Yankees players, telling Nightengale, "It was probably better than winning the national championship." Winston idolized Derek Jeter as a child, wearing the No. 2 when he grew up, according to Newsday's David Lennon.

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Speaking on Monday, Winston told ESPN New York, "If they'd ask me to catch, I'd catch, just so I can see those guys bat." The Yankees are reportedly Winston's "favorite team," with the 20-year-old admitting he was "a little starstruck" at the thought of playing against the Bronx Bombers.

Winston is clearly a talented football player, but his athleticism and arm strength have also put him on the radar of numerous MLB teams. The Rangers selected the Alabama native in the 15th round back in 2012 despite knowing he was headed to FSU to play football.

If he enters the MLB draft again, Winston would likely be a far higher pick, as J.J. Cooper of Baseball America recently wrote:

If football weren't a factor, Winston would have a solid chance to be a 2015 first-round pick in baseball. On the mound, he showed a 92-94 mph fastball and a promising slider.

One NL amateur scout, whom Cooper quotes, stated:

For me, if he pitches enough, someone could say first round easily. Someone can dream and say that's a starting pitcher. Someone would dream on him as a starter. He'd go somewhere around 15 to 20 in the first round as a starting pitcher.

Despite his potential, Winston's football talents will always be a drawback for MLB teams that are interested in him. Not only is he dividing his time between baseball and football, he is also playing both left field and pitching, which is a lot for any amateur player to focus on regardless of how talented and athletic he is.

Winston's ultimate desire to play professional baseball won't be tested until 2015 anyhow. For now, he is playing both sports at FSU, and although he went 0-2 against the Yankees on Tuesday, his talent will continue to intrigue MLB teams.