This isn’t very surprising, but David Waldstein confirmed the Yankees did not make any kind of offer to Pedro Feliciano before he signed a minor league contract with the Mets yesterday. The Bombers already have enough left-handed relief options at both the big league (Boone Logan & Clay Rapada) and Triple-A (Josh Spence & Juan Cedeno) levels, plus they already wasted enough time and effort on Feliciano these last two years. I’m guessing they won’t make an offer to Damaso Marte either.
Twelve Yankees hit free agency
A total of 137 players around the league officially hit free agency today, including a dozen Yankees: Eric Chavez, Pedro Feliciano, Freddy Garcia, Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones, Hiroki Kuroda, Derek Lowe, Russell Martin, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Ichiro Suzuki, and Nick Swisher. Rafael Soriano can join them if he opts out of his contract by Wednesday’s deadline, which seems likely. Feliciano’s inclusion in the list of free agents is an indication that the Yankees have already declined his $4.5M club option. That is not surprising at all after the left-hander threw zero meaningful pitches during his time in pinstripes.
Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, players don’t even have to file for free agency anymore. They just hit the open market. I never understood the point of that anyway. Players are free to sign with new teams starting Saturday. Click here for the full offseason schedule.
Aardsma, not Feliciano, could still join Yankees this year
Via Joel Sherman, there is still a chance that David Aardsma could join the Yankees before the end of the regular season. He had been pitching in minor league rehab games until the season ended last week, even pitching in a set of back-to-back days. That’s usually one of the final steps before being activated. Aardsma wasn’t pitching all that well following his late-June setback, but his 30-day rehab window expires next weekend. The decision is coming one way or another.
In other news, left-hander Pedro Feliciano is unlikely to join the bullpen before the end of the season. He had been pitching in minor league rehab games as well, including doing the whole back-to-back thing, but he sprained his ankle covering first base in his last outing a little more than two weeks ago. The Yankees used that to reset his rehab clock and we’re unlikely to see him throw a single pitch in pinstripes after signing a two-year, $8M deal last winter.
Feliciano throws scoreless inning, may have gotten hurt in rehab outing
In his latest minor league rehab appearance, left-hander Pedro Feliciano threw a perfect inning with a ground out and two fly outs. Anthony Ruggiero says the veteran reliever left the game after apparently jamming his foot covering first base for the final out of the inning. He stayed down a bit and walked off the field gingerly. For what it’s worth, he did remain in the dugout after the play.
Feliciano’s 30-day rehab window expires this weekend, and Ruggiero reports that he was still sitting around 84 mph with the fastball. If the Yankees want him to get back up to the 87 mph he averaged during his final season with the Mets before activating, they might end up waiting forever. Perhaps this latest foot problem will give them a chance to reset his rehab clock and allow the club to give him more minor league reps.
Feliciano throws scoreless inning in latest minor league rehab outing
In his latest minor league rehab outing with Short Season Staten Island, left-hander Pedro Feliciano allowed two singles in an otherwise perfect inning. He struck out one, got a fly ball to center, and a ground out to third. The singles were hit by right-handed batters. The 36-year-old Feliciano has now made nine minor league rehab appearances and could theoretically join the Yankees any day now. His 30-day rehab window expires one week from today, so we’ll know the deal soon enough.
Rehab Updates: A-Rod, Aardsma, Feliciano
Got some updates to pass along on a trio of rehabbing big leaguers…
- Alex Rodriguez (hand) went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk with High-A Tampa, his first minor league rehab game. He batted leadoff and served as the DH, grounding out to short the only time he put the ball in play. Depending on how his hand feels after this, A-Rod could play the field in tomorrow’s game.
- David Aardsma (elbow, hip) threw a scoreless inning in the same game. He walked one batter, uncorked a wild pitch, and got three fly ball outs. No word on his pitch count or anything. This was his first game action since suffering a setback in late-June. Based on his previous rehab attempt, he’ll take two or three days off before doing it again. The minor league regular season ends early next week, however.
- Pedro Feliciano (shoulder) allowed one run in an inning of work for Short Season Staten Island. He allowed a solo homer to a right-handed batter and otherwise recorded three outs in three different ways — strikeout, fly out, ground out. Feliciano threw just 13 pitches. No word on when he’ll be activated, but I have to think it’ll be sooner rather than later.
Feliciano will make next rehab appearance with SI Yanks tomorrow
Left-hander Pedro Feliciano will make his next minor league rehab appearance with the Short Season Staten Island Yankees tomorrow rather than with Double-A Trenton tonight. It had been rumored that the 36-year-old would wrap up his rehab with the Thunder today before joining the Yankees when the rosters expand on Saturday, but I guess there will be a slight delay before he’s activated.
Feliciano pitched in back-to-back games and entered a game in the middle of an inning earlier this week, both firsts as part of his rehab. It seems like they wanted to give him an extra day of rest before his next outing, and Trenton heads out on the road following tonight’s game while Staten Island will be playing in Brooklyn tomorrow. If they give him a day of rest following Friday’s appearance, Feliciano would join the big league bullpen on Sunday rather than Saturday. Not a huge deal.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 8
- Next Page »