American League East is back to American League Beast.

  The American league east is going to be the hardest division. All of the teams had a strong off-season.

Boston-got huge deals with Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. If they stay away from the injury bug they will be the team to beat.

Tampa-lost everybody, needs to play well and have good pitching if they want to win.

New York-got young pitchers and got the big deal getting Rafael Soriano.

Baltimore-got some big names and got a new manager who finished the year over 500. witch brings hope back to Baltimore.

Toranto- the young guys are stepping up so far,their new manager is happy with the way the team is looking so far.

Yankees First Ppring Training Game

Today the Yankees played the Phillies at Legends Field, now Stienbrenner Field in Tampa, FL. The Yankees lost 5-4 but it was a good first game. There are a few notes on the players.

Alex Rodriguez is looking great. His hip is no longer bothering him, he lined a sharp double that looked like the old him.

Joba Chamberlin got a new delivery. He is okay not having a definite job in the bullpen. He has worked out in the off-season to build up his upper body.

Francisco Cevelli is looking great. He is the favored to win the catching job. He said he got tired last year and that is why he did not play as well towards the end of the season.

Joe Girardi is pleased with the pitching, and his happy because the minor leagues are filled with good catchers that could do well in the pros.

Tampa,FL

February 22, 2011-The Yankee camp is in full swing. The Yankees are looking good so far but we will see how good they are in their first game this Saturday against the Phillies. The game is at Stienbrenner Field in Tampa. The first pitch is at 1:30.

Positive News:

Robinson Cano worked out 6 days a week during the off-season. Even with the fact that he showed up late to camp, Cano looks ready to have a repeat season.

Alex Rodrigues lost 7 lbs in the off-season and hopes to put up better numbers

Derek Jeter hopes to have a better year after last season. Last year he had all career lows. he has met with the hitting coach, Kevin Long, about three weeks earlier than the first day of spring training to work on his swing.

Francisco Cervelli met with team mate Robinson Cano, Cano helped Cervelli with off-season training. Cano pushed Cevelli to win the competition as back up catcher,(Cervelli probably will do most of the catching)

The Yankees Universe called last season a complete fail, The Yankees seem hungry to to better. My opinion and I am a member of the Yankees Universe, I would not call last year a fail, there were some highs and lows. The pitching rotation last year was not good.....at all. The bats went quiet as the season wore on and that effected them in the playoffs.

Cliff Lee.......all I can say is its his decision the Yankees GM (Brian Cashman) should have gone after the other free agents after Lee said he would not announce his decision till December.

Bad Notes

Yankees prized left pitcher Manny Banuelos and right hander Dellin Betances will be headed for Double-A Trenton at the end of Spring Training.

Bartolo Colon, showed up to camp 25lbs overweight, his dreams to pitch in the major league will not come true this year unless he losses the weight.

To close some good news. C.C Sabathia has a third year opt-out of his contract. He said he was not going to opt-out and he was going to stay were he is in New York.

C.C Sabathia pitching in 2009

A-rod jokes pulls a joke on himself

Alex Rodriguez sits down with reporters Monday at his annual spring training press conference. Alex Rodriguez hopes to have a better year numbers wise as he finished 2010 batting .270-30 hr-125 rbi's-.341 obs-.506 slg. he took the same place were he was questioned about steroids and his hip surgery. Alex opened his press conference he says, "did anyone watch the Superbowl."
During the Superbowl there was a shot of him being fed popcorn by his girlfriend: Cameron Diaz,(below)

In Other news he has trimmed down over the offseason and has found a new sense of ease. Rodiguez has gotten a clean bill of health from Dr. Marc, the guy who preformed his hip surgery. Rodgiguez issued this statement, "This is as healthy as I've felt," "I have a good winter behind me of real work, probably my first since '07, '08 season.

Other Camp News

 Mariano Rivera is expected to throw his first bullpen Wednesday or Thursday.

 Left-handed reliever Boone Logan signed autographs as a kind of apology after one of this throws sailed into the crowd and hit a little girl during morning long toss with the other pitchers.

(source: app.com/news)

A.L East predictions for 2011

Last year the Tampa Bay Rays won the AL east over the Yankees by 1 game. This is how the season played out in 2010.

Rays      96-66    .593   -

Yankees 95-67   .586   1

Red Sox 86-73   .549   7

Blue Jays 85-77 .525   11

 Orioles    66-96 .407   30

With the Rays losing Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and others, I see the Rays struggleing this year. The Red Sox are the favored team to win the division with Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and their new sluggers, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. If the Red Sox are not plagued with injury again as they were last year they will be hard to beat. I see the Yankees finishing in 2nd. if they have a good rotation and their bats come alive again they could posibly beat the Red Sox and win the division. Here is my pre-season prediction.

Boston    98-64
New York 95-67
Tampa       87-72
Baltimore   85-77
Toranto     84-78

The Yankees Rotation

Last year the Yankees starting rotation was no at the level people thought it should be at. With the loss of Andy Pettitte in the regular season left the rotation crippled and now with his retirement the Yankees need a bounce back year from A.J. Burnett (below) who struggled last season. With C.C. Sabathia leading the starters with 21 wins, then Phil Hughes with 18 wins. Last year A.J. Burnett was 10-15 with a 5.26 era. The Yankees signed him to a $16,500,000 contract, so they expect him to produce. A.J. Burnett only had this to say, "I worked out my issues over the summer and hope to have a better year."

A.J. Burnett during pitching session in Tampa,FL

DH/C and now FB?

Jorge Posada (right), the long time catcher for the Yankees and this year mostly a DH and part time catcher and according to sources now a First baseman. Manager Joe Girardi (left) had Posada working at first base durring infield. Jorge had this only to say, "I'm not comfortable, but I'll do it."

Source: ESPNNewYork.com - Andrew Marchand

Spring Training News for the Yankees

The Yankees hold first day of practice and the lone infielder, Robinson Cano (left) is unable to be found. He mixed up the dates. Cano reported to camp a day late and had this to say "I don't like to be late" "You guys (referring to the team) know I'm always on time. I messed up."

Last year the 28-year old hit .319 with 29 home runs in he "breakout year." He capped it off by winning his first ever gold glove.He arrives in spring training hopeing to have the same kind of year.

In Other News

 C.C. Sabathia (captain crunch) showed up for spring training after losing 25 lbs. he stopped eating a box of captain crunch cereal every day. He said this to reporters, "I still have them in my house, I just stopped eating them."

According to Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger, Derek Jeter spoke with reporters for about 20 min, touching a range of topics, like the teams status. He said "We have not changed dispite the Red Sox being favored to win the pennant."

Yankees pre-season

In 2010 the Yankees finished 2nd in the AL East and lost to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS. The Yankees did not have the best off season, spending all their time on Cliff Lee that in December decided to sign back with Phillies and join there monster rotation. Another one of their main prospects was the Rays Carl Crawford signed with the Boston Red Sox which are expected to win the division. The biggest deal that has happened,(in my mind) was getting Rafael Soriano from the Rays. He finished last season with 45 saves and is probably going to take Mariano's place as the closer in a year or so. The Yankees moved Jorge Posada to the DH role but he is still listed as a catcher.

Here is the roster and schedule for the Yankees in 2011
                            Pitchers                                                                        
No.                                                 B/T                                                          
            Dellin Betances                   R-R
66        Andrew Brackman             R-R
34        A.J. Burnett                       R-R
62        Joba Chamberlin               R-R
            Pedro Felicino                   L-L
            Robert Fish                       L-L
            Steve Garrison                  S-L
65        Phil Hughes                       R-R
48        Boone Logan                    R-L
43        Damaso Marte                  L-L 
45        Sergio Mitre                      R-R 
74        Hector Noesi                    R-R
47        Ivan Nova                        R-R
            Ryan Pope                       R-R
42        Mariano Rivera                R-R
30        David Robertson             R-R
52        C.C. Sabathia                 L-L
64        Romulo Sanchez             R-R
            Brian Schlitter                R-R
            Rafael Soriano               R-R
           Daniel Turpen                 R-R
           
                     Catchers
No.                                          B/T
29       Fransico Cervelli            R-R
           Russell Martin                R-R
20       Jorge Posada                 S-R

                Infeilders
No.                                          B/T
24         Robinson Cano           L-R
76         Reggie Corona            S-R
2           Derek Jeter                 R-R
             Brandon Laird             R-R
12         Eduardo Nunez           R-R
19         Ramiro Pena              S-R
13         Alex Rodriguez           R-R
25         Mark Texerira            S-R

                 Outfeilders
No.                                        B/T
22         Colin Curtis               L-L
11         Brett Gardner            L-L
27         Greg Golson             R-R
14         Curtis Granderson     L-R
18         Andruw Jones           R-R
             Melky Mesa             R-R
             Jordan Parraz           R-R
60         Kevin Russo             R-R
33         Nick Swisher            S-L

Coaches                                  No.
Manager- Joe Girardi               28
Batting-    Kevin Long              54
Pitching-   Larry Rothschild      58
First Base-Mick Kelleher        50
Third Base-Rob Thomson       59
Bench-       Tony Pena            56
Bullpen-     Mike Harkey        57

2010 leaders
Batting Avg.-Robinson Cano (.319)
HRs-Mark Texerira (33)
2B-Robinson Cano (41)
3B-Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson (7)
Hits-Robinson Cano (200)
RBI-Alex Rodriguez (125)
Runs-Mark Texerira (113)
Stolen Bases-Brett Gardner (47)
Wins-C.C. Sabathia (21)
ERA-C.C. Sabathia (3.18)
Strikeouts-C.C. Sabathia (197)
Innings Pitched-C.C. Sabathia (237.2)
Complete Games-C.C. Sabathia (2)
Saves-Mariano Rivera (33)


                                   Schedule
Month                                              Team                                                                                  
                                                                        
March-31                                            Det.
April
2,3                                                        Det.
4,5,6,7                                                  Min.
8,9,10                                                 @Bos.
12,13,14                                               Bal.
15,16,17                                               Tex.
19,20                                                   @Tor.
22,23,24                                              @Bal.
25,26,27,28                                            Chi.
29,30                                                      Tor.

May
1                                                            Tor.
2,3,4,5                                                @Det.
6,7,8                                                   @Tex.
10,11,12                                                 KC
13,14,15                                                 Bos.
16,17                                                  @TB
18,19                                                  @Bal.
20,21,22                                                 NY. (mets)
23,24,25                                                 Tor.
27,28,29                                             @Sea.
30,31                                                  @Oak.

June
1                                                         @Oak.
3,4,5                                                   @LA
7,8,9                                                      Bos
10,11,12,13                                           Cle.
17,18,19                                             @Chi. (cubs)
20,21,22                                             @Cin. (reds)
24,25,26                                             @Col. (rockies)
28,29,30                                                 Mil. (brewers)

July 
1,2,3                                                  @NY. (mets)
4,5,6                                                  @Cle.
7,8,9,10                                                 TB
14,15,16,17                                       @Tor.
18,19,20,21                                       @TB
22,23,24                                                Oak.
25,26,27                                                Sea.
29,30,31                                                Bal.

August
1,2,3                                                  @Chi.
5,6,7                                                  @Bos.
9,10,11                                                  LA
12,13,14                                                TB
15,16,17                                            @KC
18,19,20,21                                       @Min.
23,24,25                                               Oak.
26,27,28,29                                       @Bal.
30,31                                                 @Bos.

September  
1                                                        @Bos.
2,3,4                                                      Tor.
5,6,7                                                      Bal.
9,10,11                                               @LA
12,13,14                                             @Sea.
16,17,18                                             @Tor.
20,21                                                      TB
23,24,25                                                 Bos.
26,27,28                                             @TB

The All-Star game is July 12 at Chase Feild in Phoenix, Arizona