Yankees baseball blog

Halladay willing to play for Yanks

Three days after the Daily News wrote that the  Red Sox were "putting on a full-court press" to trade for Roy Halladay, a report out of Canada says the Toronto ace has told the Blue Jays he would waive his no-trade clause for a deal - to the Yankees.

A story on Canada's Slam Sports Web site Friday quoted an unnamed major league executive as saying, "I don't know when he is going and I don't know where he's going. But I do know that Halladay has told the Jays he'll approve a trade to the Yankees." The story was written by Bob Elliot of the Toronto Sun, a nominee this year for election to the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A baseball source said all was quiet when asked Friday if a Halladay-to-the Yankees trade was imminent. Continue

Shelley Duncan released by Yanks

Fan favorite and workaholic Shelley Duncan is looking for a fresh start.

Duncan, 30, was dropped from the Yankees' 40-man roster yesterday, refused an outright assignment to the minors, and became a free agent.

A productive minor-league power hitter who was taken in the second round of the 2001 draft, Duncan's right-handed muscle turned on Yankees fans when he arrived in July 2007. Six of the seven homers he hit that year were at Yankee Stadium, and 15 of the 17 RBIs were delivered in The Bronx.

Since right-handed power is hard to find, the Yankees found a spot on the Opening Day roster for Duncan in 2008, but he was sent to Triple-A Scranton in June. Continue

Cuban pitcher on Yanks radar

The last time the two baseball superpowers tangled over a talented Cuban defector, the Yankees signed Jose Contreras and the Red Sox were left steaming, so angry that GM Theo Epstein supposedly kicked chairs at the Nicaragua hotel where both teams negotiated with the pitcher. A furious Sox chief executive Larry Lucchino later dubbed the Yanks. "The Evil Empire," enraging the Steinbrenner clan and adding flames to an already-intense rivalry.

Get ready for another international incident. Many in baseball believe either the Yanks or Sox will sign Aroldis Chapman a 21-year-old left handed pitcher who has hit 102 miles per hour on the radar gun. Chapman, who defected from Cuba last July and is a free agent, might be the best pitching prospect not already in a major league organization. Continue

Matsui would like to stay

Hideki Matsui says his "feelings are still with the Yankees" but he doesn't know whether the Bombers will re-sign him.

And, Matsui acknowledged, it would be disappointing if he did not play an eighth season in pinstripes. "If that happens, yeah, I think it would be," Matsui said Friday night through his interpreter before attending the dinner that benefits Joe Torre's Safe at Home Foundation. "But on the other hand, it's something to look forward to, a new change, a new challenge for me. So in that sense, I'll definitely take it in a positive way. The Yankees have their own plans, too, and you have to respect that." Continue

Granderson would be an interesting addition

In a cost-cutting frame of mind, the Tigers have let teams know Curtis Granderson could be had for the right package, an NL executive told The Post.

The Yankees will almost certainly push to the front of the line when it comes to Granderson. He obviously would be an upgrade on the Melky Cabrera/Brett Gardner duo. In addition, the Yankees could quickly face a need to restore lefty power if Johnny Damon and/or Hideki Matsui leave to free agency. Granderson hit a career-high 30 homers last season, the fourth most by an AL lefty.

Brian Cashman met with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski at the GM Meetings, which concluded yesterday, but it is not believed the two did any more than discuss needs and available players. However, they have a good relationship and have made significant trades before. Continue

Yanks still interested in Doc Halladay

The Blue Jays haven't decided whether or not to trade Roy Halladay this winter, but if they choose to move the former Cy Young winner, a bidding war could break out between the Yankees and Red Sox.

According to a source, Blue Jays president Paul Beeston has not resigned himself to the seemingly inevitable move to trade Halladay, believing his team can still compete for a playoff spot in 2010. The circus that surrounded the Halladay situation last summer was one of the primary factors in the firing of former general manager J.P. Ricciardi, who made it clear he did not want to deal the ace within the division. Continue

Jeter and Teixeira are golden

Defense wins championships -- even in baseball.

Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira won't argue that point. Less than a week after helping the Yankees win the World Series, they were named yesterday as AL Gold Glove winners at shortstop and first base, respectively.

"I've said it time and time again: Playing championship-caliber baseball starts with pitching and defense," said Jeter, who won his fourth Gold Glove.

"Those two components were certainly the foundation of our success in 2009."

Teixeira, who won his third Gold Glove, became the first Yankees first baseman to win the award since Don Mattingly took four straight from 1991-94. Continue

Who will return for 2010?

- The Yankees are strategizing ways to retain all three of their major free agents -- Johnny Damon, Andy Pettitte and Hideki Matsui -- sources told The Post.

Damon and Pettitte are the priorities. But when asked if that meant Matsui had played his last game in pinstripes, one team executive said, "No, I hope we can figure out a way to have them all back."

Right now, the Yankees are much more focused on their own trio than they are on the three big outside free agents: Jason Bay, Matt Holliday and John Lackey.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has yet to meet with his whole staff to formalize a concrete plan, and that won't come until next week. Continue

Yankees focusing on no. 28

The Yankees regained what matters most to their organization when they won their 27th title.

And just to show their single-mindedness to that cause, manager Joe Girardi already had decided to switch from No. 27 to 28 for 2010, symbolically revealing the next quest before a single flatbed had navigated up the Canyon of Heroes.

But the Yankees got something else vital back this year that is harder to explain. It can be called mystique and aura, or mojo, or chemistry. Difficult to define, it was easy to see this year, especially because of its absence in recent years. Continue

Everybody loves a parade

The site of their home field may have changed this season, but the Yankees will return to a familiar place Friday to celebrate their 27th world championship.

After dispatching the defending champion Phillies in six games, the Yankees will parade up the Canyon of Heroes for the first time since 2000.

"This is what you play for," said Derek Jeter, one of four Yankees who will take part in a fifth ticker-tape parade. "It's very, very difficult to do. We played outstanding this year. This team deserves to be standing here."

Veterans Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada will revisit the parade route they navigated in 1996, '98, '99 and 2000, though the nine-year stretch between championships has heightened the anticipation to return to lower Manhattan. Continue