The Daily Yankeeland - 12/18

Yankees Set up Initial Meeting

CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett got their official introduction to Yankeedom this afternoon in a rather brief, boring press conference. As Mike Francesa commented afterwards on the FAN, "this could have been done on a teleconference".

Yanks PR guy Jason Zillo did an intro, followed by another intro from VP/sleaze Randy Levine, Brian Cashman's usual boring words, and some short statements and Q/A with the two guests of honor. Joe Girardi's little girl Serena also presented the two new Yankees wives with a gift.

Both sounded confident and were happy to be part of the "Yankees family". Sabathia said the Yankees were always "part of the mix" and there was no bias against the east coast. He did acknowledge though that had a western team made the offer the Yankees did, he probably would have ended up out there.

For Burnett, being in Pinstripes is "a dream come true". As for his past health problems (even joking to Warner Wolf that he didn't need to recount how many times he was on the DL), Burnett feels like he has turned a corner, and takes much better care of his arm and body than he did when he was younger.

Sabathia will wear his customary number 52 while Burnett will don number 34. Hopefully they'll make a powerful 1-2 punch in the Yankees rotation in '09.


Posada Coming Along

Jorge Posada is now throwing from 60-ft as he continues his rehab from off-season shoulder surgery. Posada threw three sets of 25 throws and felt good afterwards.


Full Time Joba

It's been an odd off-season for Joba Chamberlain. He's stupidly decided to drink and drive which led to an arrest on suspicion of DUI. (His arraignment has been rescheduled to next month.) Tuesday he received an athlete of the year award in Manhattan from...the Police Athletic League ("Isn't it ironic?")


What'chu talking 'bout Willis?

CC Sabathia's first minor league pitching coach has nothing but great things to say about his former pupil. Carl Willis, who was a teammate of Paul O'Neill's in Cincinnati, coached Sabathia in the minors as well as the big league level with the Indians.

Willis’s phrases came quickly from his home in Durham, N.C., touching on the pitcher and the person. He called Sabathia a terrific pitcher,a better teammate, a loyal person, an underrated athlete and a diligent worker. After 10 minutes, Willis apologized for being so effusive. But then Willis kept chatting like a public relations man.

“He cares about the team,” Willis said. “Not just him winning, but the team winning. That smile you see when he’s in the dugout is genuine.”

Miscellaneous

Aaron Boone, the hero of game 7 of the 2003 ALCS (and one of the goats of that year's World Series) signed a one year deal with the Houston Astros.