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“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”…

There is a reason that Mariano Rivera has been my favorite Yankee for a very long time.  I know that Derek Jeter is a quality guy and a favorite of many, but for me, Mariano Rivera has always been the premier player in my opinion.  It doesn’t mean that I feel Jeter’s not a great player…he is.  He is most likely a first ballot Hall of Famer and will go down as the greatest shortstop in Yankees history (with no disrespect to Phil Rizzuto).  But Rivera has always handled himself with dignity and class, and he’s always been accountable when things have gone wrong.  He has never disrespected another player or team, nor has he placed blame anywhere but with himself.  He

Locked and not loaded?...

Worst case scenario seems to be playing out with news that Michael Pineda’s shoulder is cause for concern.  Everybody has wondered who would be the odd man out of the rotation, given the strong spring performances by Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes. There’s been talk of moving either of those two or Ivan Nova to the bullpen, but all things considered, that’s not an ideal spot for any of the three.  I was hopeful that Yankees could find some trade value in Garcia to move him and make room for the others, given that Andy Pettitte looms on the not-so-distant future.  Yesterday, there were indications that Michael Pineda needed to have a strong performance to nail down his much anticipated spot in the rotation.  I didn’t watch

We took a mulligan on the first 21 rounds…

It amazes me when I look down this list of names…

Carl Everett, OF

Robert Eenhoorn, SS

Tate Seefried, 1B

Kirt Ojala, LHP

Richard Lantrip, INF

Sam Militello, RHP

Jalal Leach, OF

Tim Rumer, LHP

Matthew Terrell, OF

Darren Hodges, RHP

Richard Hines, RHP

Ron Frazier, RHP

Jeff Motuzas, C

Bo Siberz, RHP

Michael Smith, RHP

Ricky Ledee, OF

Bryan Faw, RHP

Bob Deller, OF

Brent Gilbert, RHP

Kevin Jordan, 2B

Keith Seiler, LHP

These are the players that the Yankees selected prior to Andy Pettitte in the 1990 MLB June Amateur Draft.  Of course, Carl Everett’s name stands out but he achieved major league success elsewhere.  I always had high hopes for Ricky Ledee, but he didn’t live up to the hype. 

The biggest news out of Yankees camp on Friday is the injury suffered by reliever Joba Chamberlain, who will be out indefinitely after suffering an open dislocation of his right ankle on Thursday.

However, the team did get some good news regarding some other players on the injury report over the last few days.

Freddy Garcia, who has been out since suffering a bruised right hand on March 14 against the Blue Jays, threw a bullpen session on Thursday and should be able to start against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., on Saturday afternoon.

Nick Swisher, who has sat out the last few days after feeling a tug in his groin on Tuesday against the Pirates, is improving, and manager Joe Girardi said Thursday that Swisher could also return to action this weekend against the Tigers.

"He said he feels

A foot apart…

Yes, I admit it.  I was genuinely concerned.  Yesterday, news broke that David Robertson had hurt his foot in a mishap at his home.  The Yankees sounded very concerned and of course they ordered a MRI and were making comments about the severity of the injury.  The immediate thought was the Lisfranc injury suffered by former Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang.  While Wang is pitching again, it took years and he is still not the same guy who won 19 games in successive seasons a few years back. 

Today, it was announced that Robertson had a deep bone bruise after missing a step on the stairs at his home.  The foot is a boot and he’s on crutches until Sunday, but it now sounds as though Robertson will be back sooner than initially

His accounting degree was the first tip-off…

So, it’s true that the fiscal conservative in Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner is coming to the forefront.  It’s clear that the Yankees have shown considerable restraint in their financial decisions in recent years and none more evident than this off-season when the Yankees watched and let others pay exorbitant dollars for free agent talent.  It was widely rumored that the Yankees have their eye on 2014 and the desire to get their payroll under the $189 million threshold for luxury tax purposes.  But now that Hal Steinbrenner is on record for the stated goal, it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few years.

While there are other guaranteed contracts, the most notable in 2014

Joba Chamberlain made 16 throws off a full mound Tuesday morning, the first time he's done so since Tommy John surgery last June.

"Everything went great," he said. "It's a new arm for me, that's how I feel. It''s a new year, and it''s a whole new chapter of what I would like to accomplish here and help this team.''

Chamberlain started working off a half mound February 3. It is expected he will be ready to rejoin the Yankees this summer, possibly before the All-Star break. The right-hander 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 27 relief appearances last season before his June 16 surgery. Following a rough April (4.50 ERA), Chamberlain pitched to a 2.08 ERA in May and was unscored upon in two June games before getting hurt.

A successful return will make for a formidible bullpen down the stretch with Chamberlain,

Five years ago this August, Jobamania took over New York.

Tuesday night in Toronto, Linsanity did it again. Jeremy Lin’s magic carpet ride continued when he scored 12 fourth-quarter points to rally the Knicks past the Raptors for their sixth straight victory – all with Lin as starting point guard. His final points were a cold-blooded three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left to break an 87-87 tie, and send the Air Canada Centre – on Asian Heritage night – and sports bars around the Big Apple into a frenzy.

The next morning, 1,906 miles south of Toronto, Ontario, Joba Chamberlain was working out at the Yankees’ Minor League complex in Tampa, Fla., four days before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report for the start of Spring Training. The day before, Chamberlain

Okay, the title is a bit of a stretch. Unlike Jeremy Lin, Joba Chamberlain didn’t exactly come out of obscurity. While Lin, a star at Harvard, was passed over in the NBA draft, cut by two teams in the same preseason and sent to the D-League by the Knicks before the diamond in the rough was unveiled, Chamberlain was the Yankees’ 41^st pick in the 2006 MLB Draft. Before the start of the 2007 season, the right-hander was ranked the Yankees’ fourth-best prospect by Baseball America.

Here’s what’s rich about Lin: After scoring 25.3 points with 8.3 assists over his past three games -- all Knicks wins – he’s become the newest sensation in New York City, the NBA and over social media. Lin earned more than 60,000 Twitter followers in just five days and has