>Yanks Sign Kevin Millwood to Provisional Contract – If Only He Could Throw Faster…

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Yanks sign right-hander Kevin Millwood

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By Andrew Marchand
ESPNNewYork.com
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Yankees Rotation

With the signing of Kevin Millwood, Buster Olney and predicts the starting rotation for 2011.

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The New York Yankees signed right-hander Kevin Millwood to a minor league deal on Friday.

The Yankees expected to announce soon if Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon will be the team’s fifth starter, with the other likely headed to long relief. Millwood, who will go to extended spring training, adds depth behind those veteran right-handers.

The Yankees gave Millwood no guaranteed money. He was signed to a pro-rated $1.5 million deal with incentives, but he has to be on the Yankees’ 25-man big league roster by May 1 or the deal is void.

Millwood has the chance to earn $3.5 million more in performance bonuses: $500,000 each for five, 10, 15, 20 and 25 starts. He would get an additional $1 million for 30 starts.

Garcia gets $1.5 million if he is on the Yankees’ opening day roster. His deal could be worth as much as $3.6 million if he makes 30 or more starts.

Colon, who is slated to make $900,000 if he is on the team, has no added incentives in his contract.

Yankees: Spring Training 2011

As all eyes turn to Tampa to watch the Yankees prepare for the 2011 season, ESPNNewYork.com has you covered!Spring Training Center | Yanks blog

The Yankees have been talking with Millwood’s agent, Scott Boras, since the offseason, but had been unable to come to an agreement until now. General manager Brian Cashman has been steadfast in saying he would pay only a certain amount for Millwood’s services.

A major league contract was always out of the question. Garcia’s and Colon’s deals were also minor league deals.

At this point, it is unknown how soon the 36-year-old Millwood could pitch in a major league game. Though he has been working out, he has missed almost all of spring training. He likely will have to start the season in extended spring training or in the minor leagues.

Last season, Millwood pitched with the Orioles and went 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA. In 2009, he was 13-10 with a 3.67 ERA with the Texas Rangers.

Garcia, 1-1 with a 5.93 ERA in spring training, entered the competition for the fifth spot as the favorite because he won 12 games last season. Colon did not appear at all in the majors in 2010.

But Colon has outpitched Garcia this spring, going 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA. However, it is unclear if he has done enough to win the job.

Ivan Nova is expected to be the Yankees’ No. 4 starter.

Sergio Mitre had an outside shot at a rotation spot as well, but he struggled, and on Friday was traded to the Brewers for outfielder Chris Dickerson.

SI.com first reported that Millwood and the Yankees had reached agreement.

Andrew Marchand covers the Yankees for ESPNNewYorkcom. ESPNNewYork.com’s Wallace Mathews contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Follow Andrew Marchand on Twitter: @AndrewMarchand

>Wizard Votes For Garcia Over A.J. Burnett

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Listen up, Yankee fans. I have a pipeline into the Yankees dugout 
and the word is all positive about Freddie Garcia. He’s fine, and will 
become a settling factor to help NY surge into the playoffs for 2011. 
Don’t misunderstand. We want the world to know that for a couple 
of years this man Garcia, the most experienced pitcher on the 
temporary Yankee roster, is capable of winning fifteen games a 
year, something the parting lefty Andy Petitte would have done for
the Yankees. I hope to heck Cashman will see the light and that
Manager Joe Giardi, who is an excellent judge of pitching talent, 
will have the courage to stand up to Cashman and the Steinbrenners
on this choice. No, I don’t think Colon can do it. No, I don’t think 
even that fastballer Hughes has enough command to be part of the
five-man starting pitching rotation. But even if the Yankees chose to
use Garcia out of the pen, it would be a huge boost for the team
Don White
By Wallace Matthews ESPNNewYork.com
Archive

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The New York Yankees may not quite be ready for Freddy. ButFreddy Garcia thinks he is ready for them.

“I said it the first day in camp, if I lose the spot, it’s my fault,” Garcia said after making his first start of the spring, two scoreless innings against the Rays in a game that was mercifully waved off after 10 innings with the two teams mired in a 1-1 tie.

Garcia is one of four pitchers in Yankee camp competing for two starting spots. As far as he’s concerned, one of them was his to lose from the moment he arrived, and with some justification: Of the four — Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon, Sergio Mitre and himself — he is the only one who was a full-time major league starter in 2010, and he posted a better than respectable 12-6 record (4.64 ERA) for the Chicago White Sox.

But at 34 years old and with a history of arm problems, he could do no better than come to camp as a non-roster invitee on a minor league contract that will pay him $1.5 million if he makes the team, and could go as high as $3.6 million if he makes 30 starts, a number he hasn’t reached since 2006.

Still, he comes in with a chip on his shoulder, a belief tha

>A.J. Burnett Proves Just One Thing: He’s Still Wild As….

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A.J. Burnett Beans Yankee’s Golson In Spring Practice

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Fright invaded Yankees camp yesterday when A.J. Burnett hit Greg Golson in the head during a morning batting-practice session on a back field at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

Golson went down and stayed on the ground. Eventually he was taken off the field on a cart. The outfielder was taken for tests, which were negative.

Because Burnett led the majors with 19 hit-by-pitches last year, it was easy to blame the beaning on erratic control. However, the angle of the intense morning sun in a cloudless sky made picking up the ball difficult for the batter.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/right_from_start_nova_in_control_RqvIocXE43rt3wNEDoYBLO#ixzz1FHXTqfl1