The Yankees have signed 32-year old righty swinging outfielder Marcus Thames to a minor league deal worth $900,000 bucks if he makes the team. Thames played in 87 games for the Tigers last season and he was 65 for 258 (.252 avg, .777 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 13 homers and 36 RBIs. Thames has now played in 522 games in his major league career and he is 376 for 1,549 (.243 avg, .797 OPS) with 230 runs scored, 101 homers and 261 RBIs. This was a outstanding signing for the Yankees this late in the off-season as Thames should give them a big bat off the bench in 2010.

27-year old lefty swinging 2B Robinson Cano is one of the best hitters at his position in all of baseball and that won’t change anytime soon. Cano played in 161 games for the Yankees last season and he was 204 for 637 (.320 avg, .872 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 25 homers, 85 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Ex-Yankees’ hitting coach Don Mattingly once predicted that Cano would win at least one batting title in his major league career and I believe him as Cano has a very nice hitting stroke. Plus, he’s in such a loaded lineup that teams can’t afford to pitch around anyone in their batting order giving Cano a lot of good pitches to hit. He does need to improve his defense some as he made 12 errors in 161 games at 2B last season while showing slightly below average range. Still, that is nitpicking as Cano is one of the best 2B in all of baseball.

24-year old switch-hitting Ramiro Pena will be Cano’s primary back-up at 2B in 2010. He played in 8 error-free games at 2B for the Yankees last season while showing slightly below average range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: A

The Yankees have signed 35-year old switch-hitting outfielder Randy Winn to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal. He played in 149 games for the Giants last season and he was 141 for 538 (.262 avg, .671 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 2 homers, 51 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Winn has now played in 1,601 games in his major league career and he is 1,710 of 5,981 (.286 avg, .762 OPS) with 840 runs scored, 106 homers, 637 RBIs and 209 stolen bases. The thing the Yankees really like about Winn is that he is a good enough defensive player to handle any spot in the outfield.

The Yankees have acquired 24-year old righty swinging outfielder Greg Golson from the Rangers for 24-year old righty swinging infielder Mitch Hilligoss and cash considerations. Golson played in 123 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 118 for 457 (.258 avg, .642 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 2 homers, 40 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He also played in 1 game for the Rangers last season and he was 0 for 1 with a whiff. Golson has now played in 7 games in his major league career and he is 0 for 7 (.000 avg) with 2 runs scored and 1 stolen base. Golson will provide depth in AAA for the Yankees and get a call if the need arises. Hilligoss played in 51 games in A-ball last season and he was 38 for 163 (.233 avg, .582 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. I like this move for the Yankees as they didn’t give up much for Golson.

Lefty starting pitcher Ron “Louisiana Lightning” Guidry was one of the best left-handed pitchers in Yankees’ history. He pitched in 368 games (323 starts) in his career with the Yankees and he was 170-91 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. But, it was 1978 when he won his only Cy Young Award that he was devastating. He pitched in 35 games (all starts) in 1978 for the Yanks and he was 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. He threw 273 2/3 innings that year allowing only 187 hits while whiffing 248 batters showing how nasty he was. He also threw 16 complete games that year in which he shut out the opposition 9 times! You’ll never see numbers like that again. So Guidry is #10 all-time in games pitched (368) in Yankees’ history. He also is #5 in starts (323), #5 in wins (170), #2 in strikeouts (1,778) and he is tied for sixth in shut outs with Spud Chandler with 26.