The Yankees have signed 26-year old righty swinging 3B Josh Bell to a minor league deal.  Bell played in 15 games in AAA-ball earlier this year for the White Sox and he was 15 for 55 (.273 avg, .656 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 0 homers and 4 RBIs.  Bell has played in 100 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 53 of 272 (.195 avg, .488 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 4 homers and 22 RBIs.  Bell is a big time hacker as he has whiffed 92 times while only walking 10 times in his major league career so far.  He will start his time with the Yankees in AAA-ball.

The Yankees have acquired 27-year old lefty swinging SS/2B Reid Brignac from the Rockies for cash considerations.  Brignac played in 29 games for the Rockies earlier this year and he was 12 for 48 (.250 avg, .669 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs.  Brignac has now played in 285 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 164 of 719 (.228 avg, .591 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 11 homers, 73 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Brignac is a solid defensive infielder and he should give them a boost until some of the other guys on the team get healthy.

The New York Yankees have designated 30-year old righty swinging infielder Alberto Gonzalez for assignment.  Gonzalez played in 3 games for the Yankees and he was 3 for 9 (.333 avg, .667 OPS).  Gonzalez has now played in 14 games overall this year for the Cubs and Yankees and he is 8 for 32 (.250 avg, .661 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs.  Gonzalez was made expendable after the Yankees dealt for Reid Brignac.

The New York Yankees have placed 40-year old lefty starting pitcher Andy Pettitte on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained trapezius muscle.  He has pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 4-3 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.  The Yankees have called up 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Vidal Nuno to replace Pettitte in the rotation.  Nuno pitched in 2 games (1 start) earlier this year for the Yankees and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  Nuno also has pitched in 4 games (all starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP.  The Yankees hope that Pettitte will only have to miss a couple of weeks.

Righty swinging catcher Rick Cerone had one good year (1980) followed by six bad ones for the Yankees.  He played in 147 games in 1980 (his first year with the team) and he was 144 of 519 (.277 avg, .753 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 14 homers, 85 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Cerone finished in 7th place in the A.L. MVP vote in 1980.  Cerone played in 587 games in his seven years with the Yankees and he was 459 of 1,842 (.249 avg, .648 OPS) with 188 runs scored, 31 homers, 203 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  Cerone didn’t have a good career with the Yankees, but at least he had one good year (1980) for them.

The Yankees have designated 27-year old righty swinging infielder Chris Nelson for assignment.  Nelson played in 10 games for the Yankees this year and he was 8 for 36 (.222 avg, .521 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  He only walked 1 time while whiffing 11 times for the Yankees as he was swinging at everything.  Nelson has played in 31 games for the Rockies and Yankees so far this year and he is 24 of 102 (.235 avg, .572 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 0 homers and 6 RBIs.  The Yankees have called up 26-year old righty swinging 3B/2B David Adams to replace Nelson on the active roster.  Adams came into this season as the Yankees’ #23 prospect heading into this season.  Adams has played in 27 games in AAA-ball for the Yankees this year and he was 31 for 98 (.316 avg, .897 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 12 RBIs.  Adams has now played in 380 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 424 of 1,432 (.296 avg, .830 OPS) with 223 runs scored, 26 homers, 213 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.  This will be Adams first shot at the show.

32-year old lefty swinging outfielder Curtis Granderson is almost ready to return to the Bronx, so someone is going to get bumped out of the starting lineup.  Granderson has played in 4 games in AAA-ball on his rehab assignment so far and he is 7 for 17 (.412 avg, 1.000 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs.  I would have a hard time seeing righty swinging Vernon Wells getting bumped to the bench as he has been one of the Yankees’ most productive players so far this year.  He has played in 34 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 39 for 132 (.295 avg, .873 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 9 homers, 20 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Wells is likely to move to RF when Granderson returns to action.  Granderson will likely play either CF or LF when he returns to action.  Lefty swinging Brett Gardner or lefty swinging Ichiro Suzuki is likely going to find some bench in the near future.  Gardner has played in 36 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 36 for 139 (.259 avg, .732 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  Ichiro has played in 33 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 31 for 118 (.263 avg, .671 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers, 8 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  I don’t see lefty swinging DH Travis Hafner losing any ABs with the way he is hitting so far this year.  He has played in 31 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 25 of 93 (.269 avg, .914 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 6 homers, 18 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Despite being a certain Hall of Fame player, I see Ichiro losing P.T. when Granderson returns to action.  The Yankees could look into dealing Ichiro in the near future.

The Yankees have placed 25-year old righty swinging SS Eduardo Nunez on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 6th due to a rib cage injury.  Nunez has played in 27 games for the Yankees so far this year and he is 16 for 80 (.200 avg, .565 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  The Yankees have called up recently acquired 30-year old righty swinging infielder Alberto Gonzalez to replace Nunez on the active roster.  Gonzalez played in 11 games for the Cubs earlier this year and he was 5 for 23 (.217 avg, .661 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs.

20-year old righty swinging catcher Gary Sanchez came into this season as the Yankees’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America.  Sanchez has played in 33 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 34 of 127 (.268 avg, .820 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 6 homers, 27 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Sanchez has now played in 278 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 294 of 1,036 (.284 avg, .843 OPS) with 167 runs scored, 49 homers, 207 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.  The Yankees don’t have much in front of Sanchez in the system at catcher, so he will likely be their starter down the road as long as he keeps playing well in the minors.

The Yankees have acquired 30-year old righty swinging infielder Alberto Gonzalez from the Cubs for either a player to be named later or cash.  Gonzalez played in 11 games earlier this year for the Cubs and he was 5 for 23 (.217 avg, .661 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs.  Gonzalez has now played in 413 games in his first seven years in the majors and he is 221 of 916 (.241 avg, .597 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 4 homers, 87 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  Gonzalez could help the Yankees later on in the 2013 season if the need arises for an infielder.