All Things Bubba

Baseball Prospectus has posted their projected standings. They are predicting the Yankees will finish first in the AL East, the Red Sox second. Not surprisingly, they expect the Orioles to finish in last place, below even the Rays.

I dunno. The Sox were the champs last year. They aren't notably worse this year, and I'm not sure the Yanks have improved all that much. Call me a pessimist, but I'm not expecting the Yankees to win the division this season.

Chad Jennings' excellent SWB Yankees Blog has a good overview of where last year's Scranton players will be this year. He hasn't heard anything about Kevin Reese, but he's sure Reese will sign somewhere eventually. And he's not sure about Colter Bean. He heard that Bean had signed with the Braves, but hasn't seen any confirmation, so that might not be accurate.

Here's what he has to say about Andy:

1B Andy Phillips
Cincinnati Reds

Last year: Late cut from big league camp, Phillips came to Triple-A, hit well and wound up getting regular playing time in New York.

This year: Of all the places for Phillips, I can't figure out why he chose a place with two first basemen, two utility players and an outfielder who can play second and third.

Up or down: Down. I know the Yankees seemed reluctant to give him much of a look, but Cinci has a load of similar options, including a big time first base prospect in Joey Votto.

Yankee replacement: Juan Miranda

And while I was typing this post, someone posted a hot tip about Bubba in yesterday's comments. The tipster says Bubba has received a minor league offer from the Mariners, and that the Mets and Rangers have also expressed interest. More on this later.