The Yankees have inked 29-year old righty reliever/starter John Van Benschoten to a minor league deal. He pitched in 22 games (13 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 2-8 with a 6.35 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. Van Benschoten last pitched in the majors in 2008 with the Pirates. He has pitched in 26 games (19 starts) in his major league career and he is 2-13 with a 9.20 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP. Van Benschoten is one of the only pitchers on the planet who would have a terrible record with the Yankees as he is one of the worst pitchers I have ever seen. They better hope they don’t need him in 2010.

The Yankees have designated 28-year old righty reliever Edwar Ramirez for assignment to make room on the roster for recently signed reliever Chan Ho Park. Ramirez pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Yanks last season and he was 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA and a 1.96 WHIP. In three years with the Yankees, Ramirez has pitched in 96 games (0 starts) in which he is 6-2 with 2 saves, a 5.22 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The Yankees won’t miss Ramirez even if another team claims him on waivers as they have a lot of relievers who are better than he is.

UPDATE: The Yankees have traded Edwar Ramirez to the Rangers for cash considerations.

31-year old lefty swinging Nick Johnson has returned to where his major league career started for the 2010 season. Johnson will be replacing Hideki Matsui at DH. Johnson played in 133 games last season for the Nationals & Marlins in which he was 133 for 457 (.291 avg, .831 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 8 homers and 62 RBIs. Johnson will be replacing Johnny Damon in the #2 slot in the Yankees batting order because of his ability to get on base. But, look for his power numbers to improve this season for the Yankees as he will be aiming for the jet stream a lot in RF. With that in mind he could top his career high of 23 homers in a season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DH IN 2010: B-

The Yankees have signed 36-year old righty reliever Chan Ho Park to a 1-year, $1.2 million dollar deal. Park pitched in 45 games (7 starts) for the Phillies last season and he was 3-3 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He has now pitched in 423 games (287 starts) in his major league career and he is 120-95 with 2 saves, a 4.35 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Yankees as Park can work a lot of innings for them in 2010.

The Yankees have signed 28-year old righty reliever/starter Dustin Moseley to a minor league deal. He pitched in 3 games (all starts) for the Angels last season and he was 1-0 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. Moseley has now pitched in 64 games (23 starts) in his major league career and he is 8-7 with a 5.41 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He will likely compete for a long relief role this spring with the Yankees.