The Yankees have signed 29-year old righty reliever Manny Delcarmen to a minor league deal. Delcarmen pitched in 26 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers & Mariners last year and he was 3-2 with a 5.59 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2010 for the Rockies & Red Sox. Delcarmen has pitched in 298 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 11-8 with 3 saves, a 3.97 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Delcarmen is a big time longshot to make the Yankees’ bullpen this spring.

The Yankees have designated 28-year old righty reliever Kevin Whelan for assignment. Whelan pitched in 2 games (0 starts) in his first taste of the majors last year for the Yankees and he was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. He also pitched in 45 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 2-3 with 23 saves, a 2.75 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. The Yankees needed Whelan’s roster spot for Hiroki Kuroda.

UPDATE: (2/1/2012) - Kevin Whelan has cleared waivers and he has accepted an outright minor league assignment from the Yankees. He will try to win a job in the pen this spring.

41-year old switch-hitting C/DH Jorge Posada decided to call it a career yesterday. He played in 115 games last year for the Yankees and he was 81 for 344 (.235 avg, .714 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 14 homers and 44 RBIs. Posada played in 1,829 games in his 17 years with the Yankees and he was 1,664 of 6,092 (.273 avg, .848 OPS) with 900 runs scored, 275 homers, 1,065 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Posada finishes his career #9 in games played in Yankees’ history as he played in 1,829 games. He also finished #8 in homers (275), #7 in doubles (379) and #7 in walks (936) in Yankees’ history. Posada went to 5 All-Star Games and he also won 5 Silver Slugger Awards in his career. Posada played in 125 games in 15 post-seasons for the Yankees and he was 103 of 416 (.248 avg, .745 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Posada was starting to slow down and I think he picked the perfect time to hang up the cleats. It will be interesting to see if he gets into Baseball’s Hall of Fame down the road. Even if he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame, he was one of the best catchers in Yankees’ history.

The Yankees knew they need help in the starting rotation for 2012. So they were laying in the weeds waiting for the right time to pounce and that they did last week when they traded for Michael Pineda and signed Hiroki Kuroda to a 1-year deal. Here is a look at the new players for 2012 so far:

In the field: The Yankees have not signed a free agent to a major league deal that plays in the field. Outfielders DeWayne Wise (an excellent defensive player) and Cole Garner will battle for the #5 outfielder on the Yankees this spring. The Yankees also signed 2B/3B Jayson Nix to a minor league deal.

On the mound: Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda will probably be the Yankees’ #3 and #4 starters when the 2012 season begins, behind C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova. The Yankees did a great job of waiting out the pitching market until the price came down….just like a very smart poker player….waiting for the right hand to play. The Yankees also signed lefty reliever Hideki Okajima to a minor league deal and he will have a good shot of making the Yankees’ bullpen this spring.

Overall: The Yankees have patched up their biggest weakness of last year (the starting rotation)….so it’s all systems go for 2012.

The New York Yankees have acquired 22-year old righty starting pitcher Michael Pineda and 19-year old righty starting pitcher Jose Campos from the Mariners for 22-year old righty swinging C/DH Jesus Montero and 24-year old righty reliever/starter Hector Noesi. The Yankees were getting a little antsy as far as starting pitching went with a little more than a month before spring training opened, which led to this trade. Michael Pineda made the All-Star team as a rookie last year and he was also #5 in the voting for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award. He pitched in 28 games (all starts) for the Mariners last year and he was 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He whiffed 173 batters in 171 innings while only giving up 133 hits as he was dominating last year. Pineda will have the best arm of ANY pitcher on the Yankees’ staff in 2012 as he brings no-hitter stuff to the mound quite a bit. Fellow righty starter Jose Campos won’t be ready for prime time for a while. He pitched in 14 games (all starts) in A-ball last year and he was 5-5 with a 2.32 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Campos has now pitched in 40 games (30 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 14-10 with 1 save, a 3.26 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.

The Yankees didn’t want to trade Jesus Montero, but they have depth at catcher in the organization and they can just go throw some cash to hire a new DH. Montero came into last season as the Yankees’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. He played in 18 games for the Yankees in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 20 for 61 (.328 avg, .996 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers and 12 RBIs. He also played in 109 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 121 of 420 (.288 avg, .814 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 18 homers and 67 RBIs. Hector Noesi was another pitcher that the Yankees’ really liked. He pitched in 30 games (2 starts) for the Yankees last year and he was 2-2 with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.

In the end, the Yankees made a pure baseball trade here as it had absolutely nothing to do with money, which is kind of refreshing. I think this deal will help both teams as the Yankees needed help in the starting rotation while the Mariners are desperate for hitting.