The Yankees have signed 29-year old righty reliever Manny Delcarmen to a minor league deal. Delcarmen pitched in 26 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers & Mariners last year and he was 3-2 with a 5.59 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2010 for the Rockies & Red Sox. Delcarmen has pitched in 298 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 11-8 with 3 saves, a 3.97 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Delcarmen is a big time longshot to make the Yankees’ bullpen this spring.

The Yankees’ big weakness coming into last year’s post-season was the starting rotation. They have went out and fixed it for the 2012 season with a couple of huge moves recently. Here is a look at how the starting rotation looks for 2012:

#1: C.C. Sabathia: 31-year old lefty starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia is going to be the ace of the Yankees’ starting rotation in 2012. He started 33 games for the Yankees last year and he was 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Sabathia has been the Yankees’ ace since the first time he stepped on the mound for them. He has pitched in 101 games (all starts) in his first three years with the Yankees and he is 59-23 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Sabathia is a workhorse who seems to throw harder as the game goes on, but with the depth in the pen, they might try to start watching his innings a big starting this year. Sabathia has now pitched in 355 games (all starts) in his first 11 years in the majors and he is 176-96 with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He is a true ace.

#2: Ivan Nova: 25-year old righty Ivan Nova really stepped up in the second half of last year for the Yankees. He was sent to the minors for a little bit and he came back a totally different pitcher. He pitched in 28 games (27 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Yankees resisted dealing Nova last year as a lot of teams were calling about him, and it proved to be smart to keep him as he has a very bright future. Nova has pitched in 38 games (34 starts) in his first two years with the Yankees and he is 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.

#3: Hiroki Kuroda: 36-year old righty starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda was inked to a 1-year deal last week and he will likely be the #3 starter for the Yankees in 2012. He pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Dodgers last year and he was 13-16 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has now pitched in 115 games (114 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. It will be interesting to see how well Kuroda does in 2012. He pitched in a pitchers’ park his whole career and in the National League…where the lineups are weaker. That being said, I still think he will do fine due to the lineup and bullpen that will have his back.

#4: Michael Pineda: 23-year old righty flamethrower Michael Pineda will be the Yankees’ #4 starter in 2012. He pitched in 28 games (all starts) for the Mariners as a rookie last year and he was 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Pineda is one of the best power arms in the majors right now as he comes right after batters. That could get him into some trouble at Yankee Stadium as it’s nowhere near the pitchers’ park that Safeco Field is. That being said, Pineda has a huge upside.

#5: Freddy Garcia: 35-year old righty Freddy Garcia will have to compete with A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes for this job in spring training. He was by far the best pitcher of this bunch last year. Garcia pitched in 26 games (25 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has now pitched in 329 games (327 starts) in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 145-95 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Garcia would finish a distant third in this competition stuff wise, but he really knows how to pitch which gives him a slight edge heading into spring training.

A.J. Burnett: 35-year old righty A.J. Burnett is making the most money of this trio, but that usually doesn’t matter much to the Yankees. He pitched in 33 games (32 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Burnett has now pitched in 99 games (98 starts) in his first three years with the Yankees and he is 34-35 with a 4.79 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP as he has been a bust for them so far. Burnett has now pitched in 314 games (309 starts) in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 121-111 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Burnett will need to step up in spring training if he’s going to beat out Garcia and Hughes for the #5 spot in the Yankees’ starting rotation.

Phil Hughes: 25-year old righty Phil Hughes had an injury ravaged 2011 season for the Yankees. He pitched in 17 games (14 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 5-5 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He has now pitched in 120 games (71 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 36-23 with 3 saves, a 4.46 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. If Hughes loses out in this competition, the Yankees will move him to the bullpen.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE STARTING ROTATION IN 2012: B

The Yankees have designated 28-year old righty reliever Kevin Whelan for assignment. Whelan pitched in 2 games (0 starts) in his first taste of the majors last year for the Yankees and he was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. He also pitched in 45 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 2-3 with 23 saves, a 2.75 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. The Yankees needed Whelan’s roster spot for Hiroki Kuroda.

UPDATE: (2/1/2012) - Kevin Whelan has cleared waivers and he has accepted an outright minor league assignment from the Yankees. He will try to win a job in the pen this spring.

41-year old switch-hitting C/DH Jorge Posada decided to call it a career yesterday. He played in 115 games last year for the Yankees and he was 81 for 344 (.235 avg, .714 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 14 homers and 44 RBIs. Posada played in 1,829 games in his 17 years with the Yankees and he was 1,664 of 6,092 (.273 avg, .848 OPS) with 900 runs scored, 275 homers, 1,065 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Posada finishes his career #9 in games played in Yankees’ history as he played in 1,829 games. He also finished #8 in homers (275), #7 in doubles (379) and #7 in walks (936) in Yankees’ history. Posada went to 5 All-Star Games and he also won 5 Silver Slugger Awards in his career. Posada played in 125 games in 15 post-seasons for the Yankees and he was 103 of 416 (.248 avg, .745 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Posada was starting to slow down and I think he picked the perfect time to hang up the cleats. It will be interesting to see if he gets into Baseball’s Hall of Fame down the road. Even if he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame, he was one of the best catchers in Yankees’ history.

The Yankees knew they need help in the starting rotation for 2012. So they were laying in the weeds waiting for the right time to pounce and that they did last week when they traded for Michael Pineda and signed Hiroki Kuroda to a 1-year deal. Here is a look at the new players for 2012 so far:

In the field: The Yankees have not signed a free agent to a major league deal that plays in the field. Outfielders DeWayne Wise (an excellent defensive player) and Cole Garner will battle for the #5 outfielder on the Yankees this spring. The Yankees also signed 2B/3B Jayson Nix to a minor league deal.

On the mound: Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda will probably be the Yankees’ #3 and #4 starters when the 2012 season begins, behind C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova. The Yankees did a great job of waiting out the pitching market until the price came down….just like a very smart poker player….waiting for the right hand to play. The Yankees also signed lefty reliever Hideki Okajima to a minor league deal and he will have a good shot of making the Yankees’ bullpen this spring.

Overall: The Yankees have patched up their biggest weakness of last year (the starting rotation)….so it’s all systems go for 2012.

The New York Yankees have acquired 22-year old righty starting pitcher Michael Pineda and 19-year old righty starting pitcher Jose Campos from the Mariners for 22-year old righty swinging C/DH Jesus Montero and 24-year old righty reliever/starter Hector Noesi. The Yankees were getting a little antsy as far as starting pitching went with a little more than a month before spring training opened, which led to this trade. Michael Pineda made the All-Star team as a rookie last year and he was also #5 in the voting for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award. He pitched in 28 games (all starts) for the Mariners last year and he was 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He whiffed 173 batters in 171 innings while only giving up 133 hits as he was dominating last year. Pineda will have the best arm of ANY pitcher on the Yankees’ staff in 2012 as he brings no-hitter stuff to the mound quite a bit. Fellow righty starter Jose Campos won’t be ready for prime time for a while. He pitched in 14 games (all starts) in A-ball last year and he was 5-5 with a 2.32 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Campos has now pitched in 40 games (30 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 14-10 with 1 save, a 3.26 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.

The Yankees didn’t want to trade Jesus Montero, but they have depth at catcher in the organization and they can just go throw some cash to hire a new DH. Montero came into last season as the Yankees’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. He played in 18 games for the Yankees in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 20 for 61 (.328 avg, .996 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers and 12 RBIs. He also played in 109 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 121 of 420 (.288 avg, .814 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 18 homers and 67 RBIs. Hector Noesi was another pitcher that the Yankees’ really liked. He pitched in 30 games (2 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 2-2 with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.

In the end, the Yankees made a pure baseball trade here as it had absolutely nothing to do with money, which is kind of refreshing. I think this deal will help both teams as the Yankees needed help in the starting rotation while the Mariners are desperate for hitting.

The New York Yankees have signed 36-year old righty starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a 1-year, $10 million dollar deal. Kuroda pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year and he was 13-16 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has now pitched in 115 games (114 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. This was a good move for the Yankees as Kuroda has been a solid pitcher in the majors so far in his career. He will be facing tougher lineups in the A.L. and in a hitter’s park for half of his games….in Yankee Stadium. But, I think he is going to win a lot of games with the Yankees’ offense and bullpen backing him up in 2012. I love this move for the Yankees.

The New York Yankees have signed 24-year old righty swinging outfielder Preston Mattingly to a minor league deal. Mattingly played in 53 games in A-ball last year and he was 38 of 164 (.232 avg, .635 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 5 homers, 19 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 463 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 396 of 1,708 (.232 avg, .611 OPS) with 207 runs scored, 25 homers, 165 RBIs and 75 stolen bases. Mattingly is a “legacy” as they would say in the movie Animal House. That is because Mattingly’s daddy (Donny Baseball) was a really good player for the Yankees from 1982-1995. He won an American League MVP Award for the Yankees back in 1985. Don Mattingly played in 1,785 games in his 14 years with the Yankees and he was 2,153 of 7,003 (.307 avg, .830 OPS) with 1,007 runs scored, 222 homers, 1,099 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Don’t expect miracles out of Preston Mattingly as he certainly in no chip off the old block.

UPDATE: (3/27/2012) - The Yankees have released Preston Mattingly.

The Yankees have signed 27-year old righty swinging outfielder Cole Garner to a minor league deal. Garner played in 4 games for the Rockies in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 2 for 9 (.222 avg, .522 OPS) with 1 run scored and 3 RBIs. He also played in 46 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 61 for 185 (.330 avg, .923 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 8 homers, 35 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Garner has had some solid seasons in the minors, and that’s where he’ll likely start in 2012 for the Yankees.

The Yankees have signed 27-year old righty reliever/starter Adam Miller. Miller pitched in 31 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball last year for the Indians and he was 1-5 with 2 saves, a 5.93 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He has now pitched in 135 games (94 starts) in his first seven years in the minors and he is 33-30 with 2 saves, a 3.71 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Miller has had a lot of issues with his middle finger on his throwing hand. But, he was once one of the brightest prospects in all of baseball, so this is a worthwhile gamble for the Yankees.