The Yankees have re-signed 34-year old righty swinging outfielder Andruw Jones to a 1-year, $2 million dollar deal plus incentives. Jones played in 77 games for the Yankees last year and he was 47 for 190 (.247 avg, .851 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 13 homers and 33 RBIs. He has now played in 2,102 games in his first 16 years in the majors and he is 1,887 of 7,366 (.256 avg, .827 OPS) with 1,177 runs scored, 420 homers, 1,255 RBIs and 152 stolen bases. He will be the first outfielder off the bench and he will also likely share time with Jesus Montero at DH. This was a smart move to bring Jones back for the 2012 season.

The Yankees have signed 36-year old lefty reliever Hideki Okajima to a minor league deal. Okajima pitched in only 7 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He also pitched in 34 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Red Sox last year and he was 8-1 with a 2.29 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Okajima has now pitched in 261 games (0 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 17-8 with 6 saves, a 3.11 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. This was a low risk/high reward signing for the Yankees as Okajima could combine with Boone Logan in 2012 to give them a solid pair of lefties in the pen.

UPDATE: (2/17/2012) - Hideki Okajima has been released due to a failed physical.

The Yankees are acting like a team short on money over the winter so far. In their defense, they have a ton of money committed to the current roster. They still have some work to do though. I thought watching GM Brian Cashman on MLB T.V. was kind of funny when he stated that it’s hard to improve a team that won 97 games last year. Oh really, didn’t he watch the starting pitchers of the Yankees last year? C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova are the only locks for the rotation in 2012 to me. A.J. Burnett was awful last year, Phil Hughes was terrible due to injuries last year and Freddy Garcia might not have a lot left in the gas tank despite pitching well last year. The Yankees really need another solid starting pitcher whether they trade for one or sign a free agent.

The Yankees have signed 29-year old righty reliever Matt Daley to a minor league deal. Daley pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Rockies last year and he was 0-0 with a 10.50 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He has now pitched in 92 games (0 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 1-2 with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Daley has whiffed 80 batters in his first 80 1/3 innings in the majors, so he has pretty good stuff. Daley will be a longshot to win a job in the Yankees’ bullpen next spring.

The Yankees have designated 26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Colin Curtis. Curtis did not play at all last season due to shoulder surgery. He played in 31 games for the Yankees in 2010 and he was 11 of 59 (.186 avg, .538 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. The Yankees would probably like to keep Curtis if he can clear waivers.

UPDATE: (12/12/2011) - Colin Curtis has cleared waivers and he has accepted an outright assignment to AAA to stay with the Yankees.