Red Sox Lose Ross, Close to Gaining Hanrahan

The Yankees aren't the only AL East team who will enter 2013 with a different right fielder. Free agent Cody Ross, who signed a one year deal with Boston prior to last season, has agreed to a three-year, $26MM deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ross will join his 7th organization in 10 seasons and will nearly triple the annual salary he earned ($3MM) last season. The Red Sox were expected to lose Ross and had signed Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes in the meantime to add depth to their outfield.

It appears the Red Sox will also be shaking up their bullpen, which struggled last year. ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes reported earlier that the Sox were close to acquire closer Joel Hanrahan from the Pittsburgh Pirates. No word on who the Pirates would get back.

The 31-year old went from making the league minimum to $4.1MM last season and has averaged 38 saves the last two years. He enters his third year of arbitration eligibility and should get a substantial increase from 2012.

The Red Sox acquired Andrew Bailey from the Oakland A's prior to last season for outfielder Josh Reddick and two minor leaguers. The move backfired when Bailey injured his thumb in spring training and pitched in just 19 games. Meanwhile, Reddick hit 32 home runs, drove in 85 runs, and won his first Gold Glove. The Sox could move Bailey to a set up role or use him in deal to land another part. The former AL Rookie of the Year is in his first year of arbitration eligibility after he earned $3.9MM last season.

Either move for Bailey stinks for me since I have him as a cheap closer in my keeper league. :/

Earlier this week the Red Sox also brought in free agent shortstop Stephen Drew, younger brother of former Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew. The younger Drew was on the verge of stardom with the Diamondbacks when he suffered a severely broken ankle in 2011. He's struggled to regain his health and offensive form since then, but the Red Sox reportedly agreed to a one year, $9.5MM deal pending a physical.

A physical is apparently what has kept the Red Sox from officially signing Mike Napoli. The two sides had originally agreed to a three-year, $39MM deal, but the Sox are reportedly concerned about a hip issue and are back to negotiating with Napoli on a possible shorter, less expensive deal.

Swisher, Soriano Among the Bigger Names Left in FA Market

When Nick Swisher and Rafael Soriano turned down one year, $13.3MM qualifying offers from the Yankees, it was obvious there time in New York was officially over. The two are among the handful of valuable players that are still available via the free agent market.

It's no surprise that Swisher had not signed up until now given the market had to be set first by Josh Hamilton, the biggest prize among every day players. In the case of Soriano, I suspect  agent Scott Boras have overvalued the market. (Boras blames players of a lesser value - he specifically mentioned Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino - for getting too much money and throwing things off. Wait, what? Boras said someone is overpaid?!)

It came as no surprise when Soriano opted out of the three year, $35MM deal he had with the Yankees with one year remaining. Soriano took advantage of closer Mariano Rivera's misfortune in 2012 to save 42 games in 46 attempts. With Jose Valverde being the only other closer on the market who has had recent success (2011, he stunk this past season), one would think there would be plenty of teams willing to sign Soriano to a three or four year big money deal. Boras pushed the Tigers hard to replace Valverde with Soriano but has been rebuffed in his attempts thus far.

Swisher put together a steady regular season resume with the Yankees from 2009 - 2012.  Swisher's .850 OPS was accompanied by an average of 26 HR and 83 RBI. He also walked more than 90 times in a season in half of his career in the Bronx.

As steady as he was during the regular season, Swisher was just as unreliable during the post-season. His 5-30 (.167) showing in two playoff series this past Fall left him with a career split of .169/.283/.305 in 181 post-season plate appearances.

The Cleveland Indians have been the team most mentioned when Swisher's names comes up. The switch-hitting outfielder is said to be looking for a four year deal in his first entree into the free agent extravaganza. He earned $10.25MM last season and recently turned 32-years old.

Other outfielders still available include Michael Bourn, Scott Hairston, and Cody Ross. The Yankees have reportedly shown some interest in the soon-to-be 30-year old Bourn. The Yankees are hopeful they'll get a new two-year deal done soon with Ichiro Suzuki, who with Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner, would split outfield time with a right-handed bat.

The left-handed hitting Bourn would not fit that bill and is a similar type of player to Gardner, who made about a third of Bourn's salary last year. If the Yankees were to deal Curtis Granderson, it would relieve them of $15MM in salary, but leave a substantial power hole in the lineup. Considering he becomes a free agent after the 2013 season, it makes no sense to deal Granderson, especially if he can recapture his 2011 swing.

Hairston would be a decent fit for the Yankees if he can approach the .803 OPS he compiled with the Mets last season. Hairston has battled injuries often in his career, but played in 134 games last season and hit 20 home runs for the first time.

This is the second consecutive season as a free agent for Ross, who signed a one year deal with Boston for just $3MM prior to the 2012 season. It was less than half the amount he had earned with the San Francisco Giants the year before. The righty hitting outfielder hit 22 HR and drove in 81 runs for the Red Sox and added an .807 OPS. But there was a wide chasm between his Fenway Park numbers and those he put together on the road. (.921 OPS at home; .684 on the road) The Phillies are said to be interested in bringing Ross back to the National League, where he had played the previous seven years.

First baseman Adam LaRoche appears set to cash in on his 2012 season in which he hit a career high 33 home runs for the Washington Nationals and matched his career high of 100 RBI. The Nats would like to retain LaRoche's services, but so far the two sides have not been able to agree on the length and amount of a contract.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski will be 36-years old before the calendar changes to 2013, but one of the game's lightning rods is still in demand. It's largely due Pierzynski's 27 HR, 77 RBI campaign last season and his ability to handle a pitching staff. Yankees fans would love to see Pierzysnki brought in with a two-year deal to bolster the current group of catchers as well as to mentor guys like Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez.

Phelps Gets His Irish Up and Yankees Win

David Phelps didn't get too much notice when he attended the University of Notre Dame. After all, baseball took a backseat to football and both men and women's basketball. But since the start of the 2012 baseball season, plenty of people are paying attention to the former Fighting Irishmen.

Phelps bounced back from a pair of poor starts to limit the Boston Red Sox to one run in 5.2 innings pitched and the Yankees hung on for a 5-4 win at Fenway Park. The win kept the Yankees tied for first place in the AL East with Baltimore, which beat Tampa Bay for the second straight night.

The win didn't come without some rough moments, the most worrisome of which was when Derek Jeter had to leave the game after he lunged in attempt to beat out a play at first base and came up hobbled. After  the game, Jeter repeated that he "was fine" an

d "it's no big deal", and that he would not talk about the injury. The captain also insisted he'll be in the lineup for the series finale on Thursday.

The Yankees went back to their home run ways to take the lead in the 4th. With the game scoreless, Curtis Granderson parked his 36th home run over the wall in right for a 1-0 lead  against Aaron Cook and later in the inning Robinson Cano hit a two-run into the seats atop the Green Monster. The home run was the 30th of the year, a career high for the Yankees second basemen.

Granderson hit a second home run, this time with a man aboard, in the 7th inning to provide the margin of victory.  While Granderson's home run totals measure up to his terrific 2011, the center fielder is well below last year's RBI totals and his two strikeouts last night gave him a career high of 170 (one more than last season). The Yankees will put up with the K's if Granderson can continue to drive in runs as he did last night and on this past Sunday when he had five RBI in a victory against the O's.

Phelps held the Red Sox scoreless until the 4th inning when James Loney singled in Dustin Pedroia, but Phelps avoided further trouble by getting Cody Ross to bounce into an inning ending DP.

Another double play in the 6th proved to be crucial after Phelps allowed a two-out single to Pedroia. It ended the night for the 25-year old, who won his first game since August 13 and evened his record up at 4-4. The Red Sox didn't make it easy for the Yankees pen; they scored a pair of runs off Cody Eppley, Boone Logan, and Joba Chamberlain in the 7th, and Rafael Soriano gave up a solo home run to Jarrod Saltalmacchia in the 9th. Sotiano was nearly in more trouble when Daniel Nava's fly ball to left came within inches of scraping the Green Monster before it landed in Chris Dickerson's glove for the first out of the inning and Soriano went on to record his 37th save.

Notes

In a wild sequence in the 8th inning, home plate umpire  Alfonso Marquez tossed Cody Ross, Bobby Valentine and third base coach Jerry Royster from the ball game.  Ross struck out looking and argued the call, which led to the triple ejection sequence. Valentine got his money's worth in the argument that ensued and anyone who can read lips got an eyeful.