The Yankees have selected 26-year old righty starter Brad Meyers from the Washington Nationals in the Rule 5 Draft. Meyers pitched in 25 games (24 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball for the Nationals last year and he was 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has now pitched in 87 games (84 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 31-18 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Meyers came into last year as the Nationals’ #27 prospect according to Baseball America, so he has a nice upside. The Yankees will have to keep him on the pitching staff all season long or they will have to offer him back to the Nationals.

The Yankees have acquired 22-year old lefty reliever/starter Cesar Cabral from the Kansas City Royals for cash. The Royals took Cabral off the Red Sox’ roster in the Rule 5 Draft, so the Yankees will have to keep him on the active roster all year or they will have to offer him back to the Red Sox. Cabral pitched in 36 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball last year for the Red Sox and he was 3-4 with 9 saves, a 2.95 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He has now pitched in 132 games (42 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 16-23 with 22 saves, a 3.61 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Cabral is a pretty polished pitcher as he has only walked 107 batters while whiffing 333 in his first 347 minor league innings. He will get a shot to win a job in the Yankees’ bullpen next spring as the second lefty to Boone Logan. The Yankees have to love snapping up Cabral away from the Red Sox for essentially nothing.

UPDATE: (3/31/2012) - Cesar Cabral is likely to start the 2012 season on the 60-day disabled list due to a stress fracture in his left elbow. Cabral’s injury will allow the Yankees to get a longer look at him when he’s healthy enough to return to action.

The Yankees have released 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Greg Golson. Golson played in 9 games for the Yankees last year and he was 2 for 11 (.182 avg, .432 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 stolen base. He has played in 40 games now in his first four years in the majors and he is 8 for 41 (.195 avg, .458 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Yankees won’t miss Golson at all moving forward.

The Yankees have won the bidding process on 29-year old righty swinging shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima. They spent $2 million bucks on the bid for Nakajima, and they now have 30 days to sign him. It might be hard to convince Nakajima to become a backup infielder for the Yankees, which is what he would be. Nakajima was 168 of 566 (.297 avg) in Japan last year with 16 homers, 100 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He has played five years in the Japanese League and he is 820 for 2,648 (.310 avg) with 91 homers, 440 RBIs and 90 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if the Yankees can convince Nakajima to come to the majors.

UPDATE: (1/5/2011) - The Yankees and Nakajima couldn’t agree to a contract, so he will return to Japan in 2012.