The Yankees have signed 31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jon Weber to a minor league deal. Weber played in 117 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 136 for 451 (.302 avg, .879 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 14 homers and 69 RBIs. Weber has yet to play in the major leagues but he’s a true professional ball player. He might get his chance with the Yankees next summer if they have a rash of injuries in the outfield.

30-year old righty swinging outfielder Shelley Duncan has refused a minor league assignment by the Yankees thus becoming a free agent. Duncan played in 11 games for the Yankees last season and he was 3 for 15 (.200 avg, .400 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. He also played in 123 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 125 for 452 (.277 avg, .916 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 30 homers and 99 RBIs. Duncan finished up his career in the Bronx playing in 68 games for the Yanks in which he was 32 for 146 (.219 avg, .701 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 8 homers and 24 RBIs. The Yankees won’t miss Duncan as they didn’t really have much room for him anyway.

27-year old lefty swinging 2B Robinson Cano finished in a tie with Zack Greinke of the Royals for 17th place in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Cano played in 161 games for the Yankees last season and he was 204 for 637 (.320 avg, .871 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 25 homers, 85 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Cano has now played in 5 years with the Yankees and he has played in 734 games in which he is 875 for 2,855 (.306 avg, .818 OPS) with 406 runs scored, 87 homers, 394 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Former Yankees’ Coach Don Mattingly predicted at one time that Cano will win a batting title. I agree with him about that but I don’t see him ever winning this award because he will likely always have someone on the Yanks that has a better year than him.

34-year old righty swinging 3B Alex Rodriguez finished in a tie with Chone Figgins of the Angels for 10th place in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. A-Rod missed the first month of the season but he still played in 124 games for the Yankees in which he was 127 for 444 (.286 avg, .933 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. A-Rod has now played in 2,166 games in his 16-year major league career and he is 2,531 for 8,304 (.305 avg, .965 OPS) with 1,683 runs scored, 583 homers, 1,706 RBIs and 297 stolen bases. Alex Rodriguez might have a hard time winning another MVP Award after admitting this season that he used performance enhancing drugs. The baseball writers don’t forget things like that.

35-year old righty swinging shortstop Derek Jeter finished 3rd in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. He played in 153 games for the Yankees last season and he was 212 for 634 (.334 avg, .871 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 18 homers, 66 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. Jeter has now played in 2,138 games in his 15 years in the Bronx and he is 2,747 for 8,659 (.317 avg, .847 OPS) with 1,574 runs scored, 224 homers, 1,068 RBIs and 305 stolen bases. The Captain has a few more good years in him so don’t be surprised if he can win one of these awards in the near future.