Baseball has a wacky transaction system. Yesterday the Yankees offered Bernie Williams arbitration, but only because they knew he would decline it. Why the apparent waste of time? Because without the offer, the Yankees would have lost negotiating rights to Bernie and if Bernie had accepted he would have been in line for a salary near ten million dollars for 2006. So, the Yankees and Bernie have until January 8th to make a deal. Even if they do, Bernie won’t be back as a starter and a certain, hairy, centerfielder may take his place. more ›

Back in March, Gothamist wrote that, “(this edition) of the Yankees should be an improvement over last year’s, especially when you consider the starting pitching.” Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. High-priced imports, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright have combined for a 15-14 record with an ERA well over 4.50. Wright has not pitched since April and will probably not do so again until August. If you want to find a reason the Yankees are only 46-40, look no further. more ›

The Yankees got younger on Thursday, but did they get any better? After organizational meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Yankees made their first changes, cutting ties with relievers, Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton. Both were designated for assignment meaning the Yankees have ten days to trade or release them. Jason Anderson, a former Yankee prospect who was traded to the Mets for Armando Benitez and Wayne Franklin, a 31-year-old lefty specialist, will take their place on the roster for now. more ›

Both teams had shoddy defense, but the Yankees', which has been dreadful all year, imploded again. Robinson Cano booted what should have been an inning-ending ground out, and Jason Giambi couldn't flip the ball to Tom Gordon on another routine play. Both happened after Tony Womack's poorly-traveled field trip in center field on a Chris Woodward double. By the time the inning ended, the Yankees had handed the Mets three runs. more ›

Gothamist has been enjoying this series against Pittsburgh. For one, YES broadcaster Michael Kay has taken three games off, leaving the booth open to the more charming Bobby Murcer. Anytime we can watch baseball games without Kay's pseudo-insight, we're better off. more ›

Excuse the exclamation point, but the way things were going Gothamist wasn’t sure if the Yankees would ever win again. Win they did, shutting out the Pirates 9-0 in their first meeting since the 1960 World Series. Mike Mussina gave the Yankees the dominant start they needed. Moose was perfect until Daryl Ward singled with two outs in the fifth inning. Mussina pitched a complete game giving up five hits and having the shutout preserved by a nice relay from Bernie Williams to Robinson Cano to Jorge Posada to nail Matt Lawton at home. more ›

The Yankees' dismal road trip had only its second highlight Wednesday, a 12-3 win at Milwaukee. Alex Rodriguez hit two home runs, including the 400th of his careeer, and his team's sputtering offense finally woke up. For all their troubles, the Yankees were only behind Boston by three games heading into Wednesday's games, and that was after losing nine of ten. Gothamist has been impressed by the Orioles, but it'll be tougher for them to be in first place in August than in early June. In other words, the Yankees could be a lot worse off in the AL East. more ›

The Yankees finally ended their six-game losing streak with a 4-3 win in Minnesota on Saturday. Ruben Sierra's sacrifice fly in the 10th put the Yankees ahead, and they improved their record to 28-27. The win was a much-needed one for a team that has played so poorly of late. more ›

For those of you who thought the low-point of the 2005 Yankee season was losing three out of four games to the Devil Rays, guess again. The Kansas City Royals, winners of only 26 percent of their games before this series, completed a three game sweep of the Yankees Thursday night with a 5-2 victory. For the series, the Yankees managed to score a total of six runs against a pitching staff with an ERA of 5.44. more ›

Most fans believed that the best remedy for the Yankee losing streak was a series with the Royals. After all, Kansas City was twenty-four games under .500 and possessed the worst record in baseball. Things were so bad that their manager had quit one month into the season. Unfortunately for the Yankees, the Royals got a new manager on Tuesday and he skippered his team to a 5-3 victory. more ›

The Mariners went ahead in the eighth inning, again with the help of the Yankee defense. Rookie, Jeremy Reed, hit a hard smash down the line that former infielder, Tony Womack, misplayed, allowing Reed to get all the way to third. Two batters later, the Mariners got the winning run on a single to centerfield. more ›

Everyone who follows the Yankees could see that a shakeup was coming. The team looked lifeless for most of the season and Bernie Williams could simply not throw the baseball anymore, but this is a bigger shakeup than anyone foresaw. Moving Womack to left is a huge gamble, as he has never played there. Matsui in center should be an improvement, but his arm is nothing to write home about. Getting rid of Karsay is a case of addition by subtraction, but the Yankees still have too many relievers. One can only assume that General Manager, Brian Cashman, surveyed the trade market and didn’t find anything to his liking, so he employed the Yankees’ greatest weapon, money. more ›

Jaret Wright rebounded from his awful start last Friday to hold the Red Sox to two runs over five innings. Wright was far from dominant and was helped by a fine defensive play by Derek Jeter, but considering this was his Yankee debut at Fenway he passed his first big test. The Yankee bullpen also starred as they shut the Red Sox down for four innings with Mariano Rivera getting his first save against Boston in his last five chances. Rivera was actually cheered as he entered the game in the ninth, a rare occurrence on the road and a sign that the Fenway faithful no longer fear “the Sandman”. more ›