All Things Bubba

The Yankees are back from the holidays and trading up a storm. They've signed Doug Mientkiewicz to play first base. He's a lefty, which they really didn't need. But he's supposedly got a good glove (or once did, anyway). This might be bad news for Andy Phillips.

It's probably good news for A-Rod (assuming he's not traded). Doug and Alex were childhood chums, so A-Rod will have at least one friend in the clubhouse now.

Many Yankee fans are disappointed; they wanted a better hitter. I'd have preferred to give Craig Wilson another shot, but I can live with Mientkiewicz. I'm not sure I can live with spelling his name, though. If the Yankees end up signing Scott Schoeneweis, too, I may just give up writing about the Yankees.

The long-rumored Randy Johnson trade has been finalized as well, and the Yankees did better than I expected, getting four players: Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Stephen Jackson and Alberto Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a shortstop; the others are all right-handed pitchers.

Which leads one to believe that Cashman may be stocking up on some trade chips, since the Yanks now have a ton of pitching talent at all levels, particularly right-handed pitchers. Perhaps he's planning to make a run for Santana or Willis? And the Melky-for-Gonzo deal may be back on. If Ian Kennedy is involved, as was rumored before Christmas, they couldn't finalize it until the end of January anyway. Now they have Vizcaino to offer as well - either as a trade chip, or a replacement for Proctor, should they trade him.

Yankees spring training tickets go on sale tomorrow. They host the Reds twice.

Not much going on on the Reds front. USA Today posted a Reds organizational report today. No mention of Bubba, but it's interesting anyway. They faded down the stretch last season; Narron thinks they wore down mentally. Just not used to still being in it at that point in the year.

They also have a new batting coach, who they are hoping will help them reduce strikouts.

The new batting coach, Brook Jacoby, who had a career .270 average over 11 major league seasons, replaces Chris Chambliss and will try to shift the offense from relying on power to one that's more versatile and can generate runs in various ways.