Yankees Call Up Six

With the rosters expanding today, the Yankees have called up six minor leaguers. Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez, Chris Dickerson, Adam Warren, Cory Wade, and Justin Thomas are all with the team today. To make room for Dickerson on the 40-man, Ramiro Pena was designated for assignment.

I assume there will be more moves as the minor league season comes to a close.

Nunez Sent Down

From Marc Carig:

Eduardo Nunez's error-filled tenure in the Bronx is over -- for now.

After committing two critical errors last night, the Yankees optioned Nunez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to make room for backup third baseman Eric Chavez, who was activated from the seven-day disabled list for concussions.

"We've asked Nuney to do some things that you usually ask more of veteran player to do, to play third, short, second, left, right," manager Joe Girardi said. "And for the best interest of him and us moving forward, we thought it was probably more important that he goes down and play shortstop six days a week and maybe second a day a week. And getting back to playing every day."

Sucks for Nunez, but you can't say he didn't earn the demotion. Hopefully he does the necessary work to improve his glove and is back in the Bronx in the near future.

Jayson Nix will replace Nunez on the roster.

Gardner's Return Delayed

From Marc Carig:

Left fielder Brett Gardner is eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday, though Girardi called his activation on that day “a little doubtful.”

Gardner is ticketed to make at least one appearance in a minor-league game, which will likely push back his return from a strained left elbow.

If Gardner isn’t back on the roster by later this week, Eduardo Nunez may see more time in the outfield, with the Royals scheduled to start two left-handers.

Great, we get to see more of this:

Today's News: Pineda's Debut, Nunez Hurt

- Michael Pineda made his spring training debut today for the Yanks against the Phillies at Bright House Field and pitched well. Here's a breakdown from Pete Caldera:

Here’s how he did in the first inning…
Jimmy Rollins: Ground single up the middle (2-2 count)
Placido Polanco: Fielder’s choice groundout (3-2 count)
Shane Victorino: Strikes out (1-2 change-up)
Jim Thome: Strikes out (1-2 fastball)

Second inning:

Hunter Pence: Pops to first (1-1 pitch)
Ty Wigginton: Grounds out, catcher to first (1-1 pitch)
Domonic Brown: Lines out to third (1-1 pitch)

Pineda’s line: 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 BB, 2 K, 30 pitches, 19 strikes.

Afterward, Pineda was asked if he were nervous for his first time out as a Yankee: “Hell, no,” he said.

Pineda, 23, said he was “very confident now…very excited.”

According to Jack Curry, he also used that changeup everyone is banking on and said he was comfortable with the pitch. Nice outing, but there's a lot more to go.

The Yankees also don't seem too concerned that he came into camp 10 pounds overweight.

- As for Eduardo Nunez, he left today's game after being hit on the right hand by Austin Hyatt (who?) in the fifth. Nunez was got precautionary X-Rays and the Yanks are saying he has a contusion.

Braves Interested in Nunez

From John Harper:

Brian Cashman has always said he never regretted clinging tightly to Eduardo Nunez back in July of 2010 when the young infielder might have been the final necessary piece in the proposed trade for Cliff Lee. So would the Yankee GM give him up now if it meant a chance to acquire Braves pitcher Jair Jurrjens?

...

The Braves think highly enough of Nunez’s potential, according to a major league source, that they might consider trading Jurrjens, their 25-year-old All-Star righthander, to the Yankees in a deal built around the 23-year-old shortstop.

At the GM meetings last week the Braves reportedly were asking for a very high price in return for Jurrjens, but the source expects that price to come down.

“They’re willing to trade him,” the source said, “because they have plenty of young pitching without him, he’s starting to make big money — and he’s a (Scott) Boras guy who’ll be gone (as free agent) in two years.

“They need offense, they need a shortstop because they don’t want to bring (Alex) Gonzalez back, and they like Nunez a lot. They know the jury is out on him defensively, but they think his offense is strong enough that he could move to the outfield if he can’t be their long-term answer at short.”

A Yankee source, meanwhile, says that last week the Braves let the Bombers know they’d be interested in dealing for Nunez, but didn’t discuss Jurrjens or any specific players on their side.

Harper also mentions that Nick Swisher could also be part of a potential deal, since he could fill the Braves' void in the outfield.

I'm not sure how possible this actually is, but if the Yanks can actually make a deal like this I think they'd have to go for it, especially if things fall through on the FA pitching market. And if the Yankees do unload Swisher, I'd expect them to go after Cuban defector Yeonis Cespedes (which they'll probably do anyway).