Yanks make changes at the top; wait and see on rest

The Yanks may have officially replaced George Steinbrenner with Hal Steinbrenner (wonder what Thanksgiving dinner is going to be like – do you think big brother Hank is all peeved? I do!) But there’s not all that much else happening – yet – on the Yankee front.

CC Sabathia appears to be about as excited about the Yanks’ phenomenal contract offer as my cat C.C. is when I present her with some kitty treats. Which is to say – neither is making a big effort to nibble right away. Both seem to want to take their time.

As for the other possible Yankee pitchers this year, I hope the Bombers forget about A.J. Burnett – the last thing they need is another injury-prone pitcher. But what about Derek Lowe? I’m not as against it as I was just last month (he can actually pitch well in the post-season, for one thing, even if the Derek Lowe Face is always a potential downfall.)

But what if the Yanks don’t sign any of these pitchers? The Red Sox fans at Surviving Grady, who ask about the Bombers, “Remember when they mattered?” (ouch!) ponder the notion by linking to a Chicago Tribune column about the possibility of the Yanks whiffing on signing this Big 3 of starting pitchers.

And while I was at the Tribune site, I saw that their most-read sports story is this one – “Sox Manager Sheds No Tears for Swisher”. Check out these Ozzie Guillen quotes about Nick Swisher sulking when he was benched late last year:

What about the disappointment of Swisher, who hit .191 after the All-Star Game?

It was hard because when we brought him here, a lot of people were excited [that] he would have a great career with the White Sox, but we got to the point that we went through the roster … and we had a right fielder, left fielder, first baseman and DH. It was hard for us to find a place for him.

Was Swisher a bad influence in the clubhouse late in the year?

You’ve got to ask the players about that. To be honest with you, I was not happy with the way he was reacting at the end of the season. He wasn’t helping me either.

Not exactly music to my ears. Let’s hope that there are no issues with Swisher as a Yankee!

But what do you think? Leave us a comment!

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