The Yankees have placed 23-year old righty starting pitcher Michael Pineda on the 15-day disabled list due to right shoulder tendinitis. Pineda 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. Pineda only gave up 133 hits in 171 innings for the Mariners last year, while whiffing an impressive 173 batters. Pineda also only walked 55 batters last year as he pounds the strike zone with his nasty stuff. Pineda’s injury means that both Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia have locked up spot in the Yankees’ starting rotation when the 2012 season begins. The Yankees need to handle Pineda with kid gloves as he is a big part of their future.

UPDATE: (4/26/2012) - The Yankees will be without Michael Pineda for the entire 2012 season as he will have surgery next Tuesday to repair a torn right labrum.

The Yankees have signed 28-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Steven Pearce to a minor league deal. Pearce played in 50 games for the Pirates last year and he was 19 of 94 (.202 avg, .515 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs. Pearce has now played in 185 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 108 of 465 (.232 avg, .668 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 9 homers, 52 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Pearce will start the 2012 season in AAA-ball.

The Yankees have claimed 29-year old righty swinging catcher Craig Tatum off waivers from the Diamondbacks. Tatum played in 31 games for the Orioles last year and he was 17 of 87 (.195 avg, .475 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 0 homers, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 100 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 60 for 269 (.223 avg, .554 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 1 homer, 22 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Tatum will likely start the 2012 season in AAA-ball for the Yankees.

The Yankees have signed 33-year old lefty swinging DH/OF Jack Cust to a minor league deal. Cust played in 67 games for the Mariners last year and he was 48 of 225 (.213 avg, .673 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers and 23 RBIs. He has now played in 670 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 510 of 2,107 (.242 avg, .813 OPS) with 311 runs scored, 105 homers, 323 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Cust has walked 444 times so far in his major league career, but he has also whiffed a stunning 819 times so far in his major league career. Cust works pitchers and he has a nice power stroke, but he’s going to start the 2012 season in AAA-ball for the Yankees unless they suffer some injuries in the next week or so.

The over/under for Yankees’ wins in 2012 is 93.5. The Yankees were 97-65 last year as they won the American League East and that was with a lot of question marks in the starting rotation. The Yankees fixed that problem by trading for Michael Pineda and signing Hiroki Kuroda. With that in mind, I would be placing a bet on the over when it comes to Yankees’ wins in 2012.

The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009 (it was under Joe Girardi), so the tension is rising in the Big Apple. Girardi led the Yankees to a 97-65 (59.9%) record and an American League East crown. They were then dumped by the Tigers in the first round of the playoffs. 47-year old manager Joe Girardi has a 384-264 (59.3%) record in his first four years as the Yankees’ boss during the regular season. He is also 18-11 (62.1%) in the post season for the Bronx Bombers. Girardi has a 462-348 (57%) overall in his first five years as a major league manager. I have never been that impressed by Girardi as a manager due to the fact that he always has an All-Star team in New York.

26-year old righty reliever Joba Chamberlain will miss the entire 2012 season after undergoing surgery to repair and open dislocation to his right ankle. Chamberlain was injured while playing with his son. He was expected to be out until the All-Star Break as he was recovering from Tommy John Surgery that he had last summer. Chamberlain pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has now pitched in 193 games (43 stars) in his first five years with the Yankees and he is 20-13 with 4 saves, a 3.70 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. This is a bad break for Chamberlain.

UPDATE: (4/4/2012) - The Yankees have placed Joba Chamberlain on the 15-day disabled list.

The Yankees have signed 39-year old lefty starting pitcher Andy Pettitte to a minor league deal worth $2.5 million bucks. Pettitte will likely start the season in the minors and return to the Yankees in mid to late April. Pettitte retired last year. He pitched in 21 games (all starts) for the Yankees in 2010 and he was 11-3 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He has pitched in 405 games (396 starts) in his first 13 years with the Yankees and he is 203-112 with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Pettitte has now pitched in 489 games (479 starts) in his first 16 years in the majors and he is 240-138 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Pettitte will bump either Freddy Garcia or Phil Hughes out of the rotation when he’s ready to join it. I really like this move for the Yankees as he missed Pettitte last year.

The Yankees have lost 23-year old righty reliever Daniel Burawa indefinitely due to a tear in his rib cage. Burawa pitched in 39 games (0 starts) in A-ball for the Yankees last year and he was 5-4 with 5 saves, a 3.64 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He has now pitched in 45 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the minors and he is 5-4 with 5 saves, a 3.96 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. The Yankees won’t rush Burawa back as he’s likely to start the 2012 season in AA-ball.

31-year old switch-hitting Nick Swisher is going to start in RF for the Yankees again in 2012. He played in 150 games for the Yankees last year and he was 137 of 526 (.260 avg, .822 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 23 homers, 85 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Swisher has now played in 450 games in his first three years with the Yankees and he is 424 of 1,590 (.267 avg, .854 OPS) with 256 runs scored, 81 homers, 256 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Swisher has now played in 1,061 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 939 of 3,704 (.254 avg, .826 OPS) with 609 runs scored, 185 homers, 580 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Swisher played in 141 games in RF for the Yankees last year and he had 9 assists and only 1 error. Swisher also showed off pretty good range in RF last year. Swisher is going to be a ssolid player for the Yankees again in 2012.

34-year old righty swinging Andruw Jones will be Swisher’s top backup in 2012. He played in 19 error-free games in RF for the Yankees last year and he had 1 assist while showing off excellent range.

29-year old lefty swinging Chris Dickerson will try to win a backup job this spring. He played in 60 games last year for the Yankees and he was 13 of 50 (.260 avg, .656 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Dickerson has now played in 233 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 134 of 504 (.266 avg, .750 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 9 homers, 42 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Dickerson played in 42 games in RF for the Yankees last year and he didn’t have any errors. He also had 2 assists in RF but he showed awful range.

28-year old righty swinging Justin Maxwell is also on the hunt for a backup job in the Yankees’ outfield. Maxwell played in 48 games in AAA-ball for the Yankees last year and he was 46 of 177 (.260 avg, .945 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 13 homers, 35 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Maxwell last played in the majors back in 2010 with the Nationals. He has played in 122 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 44 of 219 (.201 avg, .698 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 9 homers, 26 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2012: B