Brian Cashman's "personal problems" notwithstanding, this has to go down as, at least on paper, one of the finer off-seasons for the NY Yankees in a while. CC's "opt out' was dealt with quickly and without acrimony. They re-signed almost all the guys who were contributing parts of the 2011 team and they answered the pitching rotation questions loudly and forcefully with the acquisitions of Pineda (via trade) and Kuroda (free-agent signing).

But quite possibly an upcoming move -- and this one most definitely could be filed under "addition by subtractionm" -- would be if the Yanks can move the ever-disappointing, always-distracting AJ Burnett somewhere, anywhere. And while the Mets and the O's could "use" the righty, the Yanks almost never make trades with those squads.

Enter: The Pittsburgh Pirates (although @GeorgesGhost claims that he would even trade "aj to plattsburgh for some mudbugs") from whom the Bombers have requested Garrett Jones in trade (along with a bucket-load of cash to pay his burdensome contract). And while the Bucs have said "no" to Jones, that's just an opening salvo. I will do a jig of joy should we ship Burnett out ... anywhere.

Mariners, using the excuse of 2 games vs Oakland to be played in Japan to start the season at the end of March. are the first team to report for Spring Training. Another nine days for the Yanks...

Watched the most homorobotic movie of all time last night. "Real Steal" looked ridiculous in the trailers that I kept having to see so I am not what possessed me to watch it last night other than there was little else in the Redbox. Whoo boy! What a stinker. Downright silly and overly predictable, this Rocky-wanna be should set up human/robot relations back decades. Makes "I, Robot" seem like just a happy excuse to fall asleep. Poor Richard Matheson having his source material made into such dreck. Boo. Hiss.

B.