Yankees News: Big international signing, former top prospect injured, Max Scherzer

How about some real news, Yankees fans? We'd rather report on that instead of some weak sauce insults from the Mets' Amazin' Day, which otherwise never would've been on our minds had AJ Minter not bizarrely called out Bronx Bombers supporters.

In a more important development, the Yankees added another promising prospect to their international signing class after missing out on Roki Sasaki. That was indeed a bummer, but at least they were ruled out a bit earlier in the process and able to focus their efforts on the other talents they prioritized.

Over the weekend, New York signed Mani Cedeno, the No. 11 prospect in the 2025 international class, according to MLB Pipeline. The Dominican shortstop, who is only 16 years old, received a $2.5 million contract.

Cedeno is the fifth major prospect the Yankees have signed out of the DR this offseason, joining outfielder Ruben Castillo ($875K), outfielder Isaias Castillo ($750K), shortstop Carlos Bello ($400K) and outfielder Edison Charles ($300K).

Yankees News: Former top prospect Drew Thorpe injured again

That's a lot of position players for an organization that needs some pitching, though. Last offseason, the Yankees traded away four arms in the Juan Soto deal with the Padres, one of whom was former top prospect Drew Thorpe.

Thorpe was immediately traded again to the Chicago White Sox for Dylan Cease, and unfortunately suffered an elbow injury that required surgery in September. Thorpe made 11 starts at Double-A and then nine starts at the big league level before he needed to get a bone spur removed.

This weekend, he sadly suffered a setback in his recovery and received a cortisone shot to address the issue. Though the White Sox sounded positive about his readiness for spring training, this hardly bodes well with pitchers and catchers reporting in a couple of weeks.

The Yankees have similar problems of their own with Chase Hampton — one of the other rumored trade candidates from last offseason — who missed most of last year with shoulder issues and could face more delays in 2025.

Yankees Rumors: New York attends Max Scherzer workout

Still on the pitching front ... is the Cressey connection about to come through for the Yankees again?! According to reports, the Yankees were in attendance for Max Scherzer's workout at Cressey Sports Performance in Florida.

In case you weren't aware, Eric Cressey, who owns Cressey Sports Performance, is the Yankees' Director of Player Health and Performance. Some players who work out at his facility have joined with New York in recent years, such as Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon.

Scherzer is looking to sign with a contender and had a number of other teams at his workout, including the Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Braves, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Cubs, so there will be plenty of competition (assuming he looked good in the throwing session).

We're not sure how Yankees fans feel about this, but we're leaning "hard pass." Scherzer is so far over the hill and wouldn't provide much of anything the Yankees need at this juncture. They're better off spending money on an impact player instead of a redudant, aging veteran whose best days are far in the rearview.