The Yankees have re-signed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Freddy Garcia to a 1-year, $4 million dollar deal plus incentives. Garcia pitched in 26 games (25 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has now pitched in 329 games (327 starts) in his first 13 years in the majors and he is 145-95 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. This was a smart move for the Yankees as Garcia pitched really well for them last year. Even the Yankees are balking at the prices for the top starters on the free agent market.

The Yankees have signed 29-year old righty swinging 2B/3B Jayson Nix to a minor league deal. Nix played in 46 games for the Blue Jays last year and he was 23 for 136 (.169 avg, .554 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers, 16 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 264 games in his first 4 years in the majors and he is 161 of 778 (.207 avg, .648 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 30 homers, 84 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Nix has also whiffed 210 times already in his major league career as he goes up to the plate hacking. This was a good signing for the Yankees as insurance for A-Rod’s hip.

30-year old lefty swinging CF Curtis Granderson finished 4th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award today. Granderson played in 156 games for the Yankees last year and he was 153 of 583 (.262 avg, .916 OPS) with 136 runs scored, 41 homers, 119 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Granderson has now played in 966 games in his first 8 years in the majors and he is 970 of 3,628 (.267 avg, .837 OPS) with 647 runs scored, 167 homers, 485 RBIs and 104 stolen bases. Granderson showed this year what kind of potential damage he can do with the Yankees. He could win an MVP Award in the near future as long as he keeps hitting lefties.

29-year old lefty swinging 2B Robinson Cano finished 6th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award today. Cano played in 159 games for the Yankees last year and he was 188 of 623 (.302 avg, .882 OPS) with 104 runs scored, 28 homers, 118 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,053 games in his first 7 years with the Yankees and he is 1,263 of 4,104 (.308 avg, .843 OPS) with 613 runs scored, 144 homers, 621 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. Robinson Cano has such a sweet swing that I wouldn’t be surprised to see him eventually win a MVP Award.

31-year old switch-hitting 1B Mark Teixeira finished 19th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. He played in 156 games for the Yankees last year and he was 146 of 589 (.248 avg, .835 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 39 homers, 111 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Teixeira has now played in 1,374 games in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 1,467 of 5,213 (.281 avg, .904 OPS) with 872 runs scored, 314 homers, 1,017 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. I look for Teixeira to rebound batting average wise in 2012, and he will have his usual power numbers as he is very consistent.