Keep Your Enemies Closer: Catching Up With the AL East
By Editorial Staff
If you don’t already make a habit of checking in with the other AL East FanSided sites on a regular basis, I highly recommend it. In addition to the great writing talent, it is a simple way to stay up-to-date on what the Yankees’ division rivals are up to. So without further ado, here are some of the latest highlights from the AL East affiliates:
- The whole “Bobby Jenks as a closer” thing isn’t working out so well for the Red Sox as Jenks is once again hurt and will likely miss the start of Spring Training. Derek at BoSox Injection has the whole story here, along with the details of Jenks’ injury which involves spinal decompression and bone chips rubbing against nerves and sounds just awful.
- Want yet another reminder of how messed up financial systems can be in MLB? Check out Domenic Vadala’s examination of how the money MASN (owned by Peter Angelos) will pay the Nationals for TV rights could help pay Prince Fielder‘s salary if the Nats land him. As Domenic points out, the Orioles (owned by Peter Angelos) may then indirectly be paying Fielder as well. Of course this is all theoretical, but given the mess the Frank McCourt managed to make of the Dodgers and MLB’s general policy of being tight-lipped about its clubs’ finances, it’s always interesting to discuss where the money is actually coming from and going to.
- We’ve recently done some work profiling the current Yankees top prospects, but Mat at Jays Journal is already looking ahead and has a great breakdown of the strength of each AL East farm system and when each team will pick in the 2012 Amateur Draft. Per usual, the Yankees won’t have a lot of picks, and none incredibly high (30th, 85th, 89th, 116th). The Red Sox are set up pretty nicely for picks (thanks to the loss of Jonathan Papelbon) and the Blue Jays strong farm system is set to get even stronger with a heap of picks this year.
- I know I probably don’t have to remind you, but just because the Yankees are being very quiet this offseason doesn’t mean the rest of the league isn’t acquiring new talent. For instance, the Rays just signed Fernando Rodney to add some depth to their bullpen and Robbie at Rays Colored Glasses has a profile of what we can expect Rodney’s contribution to be.
You can follow Robbie (@clarkbar213) and Yanks Go Yard (@YanksGoYardFS) on Twitter and “like” YGY on Facebook.