27-year old Russell Martin will be the starting catcher for the Yankees in 2011. He played in 97 games for the Dodgers last season and he was 82 of 331 (.248 avg, .679 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 5 homers, 26 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Martin’s body seemed to break down a bit last season as the Dodgers rode him hard in his first four years in the majors. He has a career average of .272 with a .761 OPS, so the Yankees expect him to bounce back. He has played in 2 All-Star Games, has 1 Gold Glove Award and 1 Silver Slugger Award in his first five years in the majors. I look for the Yankees to watch his workload in an effort to keep him healthy and productive all season long. Martin made 10 erros and he had 5 passed balls in only 93 games last season and his bad hip likely had something to do with that. He threw out 19 of 70 (27.1%) baserunners trying to steal against him and pitchers had a 4.03 ERA with him behind the plate. Martin’s throwing arm will give the Yankees’ improved defense last season as they couldn’t throw anyone out last year.

24-year old righty swinging Francisco Cervelli will be Martin’s backup in 2011. He played in 93 games for the Yankees last season and he was 72 of 266 (.271 avg, .694 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 0 homers, 38 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Cervelli plays hard all of the time but he has some weaknesses on defense. Cervelli made 13 errors in 90 games behind the plate last season, and that is pathetic. He only had 2 passed balls so he does move around pretty well behind the plate. He only threw out 8 of 64 (12.5%) baserunners trying to steal on him last season but Yankees’ pitchers had a 4.04 ERA with him behind the plate. Cervelli is a solid backup catcher but his weaknesses are exposed as his playing time increases.

39-year old switch hitting Jorge Posada will be the #3 catcher for the Yankees in 2011. He has a new (and better) job for 2011 as he will be the starting DH. That’s a good thing for the Yankees, because his defense is shot behind the plate. Posada made 8 errors and he had 8 passed balls in only 83 games behind the plate for the Yankees last season and that’s pretty bad. Posada only threw out 10 of 85 (11.8%) baserunners trying to steal on him last season and Yankees’ pitchers had a 4.13 ERA with him behind the plate. Posada will likely only be used in case of an emergency behind the plate in 2011.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE YANKEES CATCHERS IN 2011: C

The Yankees have signed 37-year old righty starting pitcher Bartolo Colon to a minor league deal. Colon last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the White Sox. Colon has pitched in 328 games (325 starts) in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 153-103 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has made the All-Star team twice so far in his major league career. Colon also won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 2005 with the Angels when he started 33 games in which he was 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Colon hasn’t been the same since he injured his shoulder a few years ago. He will compete with Ivan Nova & Sergio Mitre for a job at the back end of the Yankees’ rotation in 2011 this spring.

The Yankees have inked 26-year old righty reliever Warner Madrigal to a minor league deal. Madrigal pitched in 35 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 5-2 with 3 saves, a 3.73 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2009 with the Rangers. He has pitched in 44 games (1 start) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 0-2 with 1 save, a 6.10 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Madrigal will be a long shot to win a job in the Yankees’ pen this spring.

The New York Yankees have signed 33-year old outfielder Andruw Jones to a 1-year deal worth $2 million bucks with an extra $1.2 millions bucks that he could make in incentives. Jones played in 107 games for the White Sox last season and he was 64 of 278 (.230 avg, .827 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 19 homers, 68 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. He has now played in 2,025 games in his first 15 years in the majors and he is 1,840 of 7,176 (.256 avg, .827 OPS) with 1,150 runs scored, 407 homers, 1,222 RBIs and 152 stolen bases. Jones will be the Yankees’ #4 outfielder and he will likely get some at bats at DH. He still has a lot of power but he just isn’t going to hit over .250 in 2011, as he has not done that in each of his last four years.

The Yankees have signed 31-year old righty reliever Rafael Soriano to a 3-year, $35 million dollar deal. Soriano pitched in 64 games (0 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 3-2 with 45 saves, a 1.73 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He only walked 14 batters while whiffing 57 in only 62 1/3 innings showing that he’s usually in total control when on the pitcher’s mound. Soriano also missed a lot of bats last season as he only gave up 36 hits. Soriano has now pitched in 342 games (8 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 11-20 with 88 saves, a 2.73 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. If you’re going to beat the Yankees now, you have to do it in the first seven innings. Soriano will likely eventually replace Mariano Rivera as the Yankees’ closer at some point of his new three year deal. I love this signing for the Yankees.

The New York Yankees have claimed 25-year old righty reliever Brian Schlitter off waivers from the Cubs. Schlitter pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 0-1 with a 12.38 ERA and a 2.88 WHIP. He also pitched in 37 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 2-1 with 13 saves, a 3.15 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Schlitter will get a chance to win a job in the Yankees’ bullpen this spring but he’s a longshot.

UPDATE: (2/14/2011) - The Yankees have designated Brian Schlitter for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Andruw Jones.

UPDATE II: (2/15/2011) - The Yankees have lost Brian Schlitter on waivers to the Philadelphia Phillies.