Girardi reportedly calls A-Rod, talk went 'great'

By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 10/29/12 6:31 PM ET

Yankees manager Joe Girardi admitted right after the Yankees' season ended that he might have to think more than usual about how he deals with Alex Rodriguez this offseason. He said as much during New York's postmortem news conference, discussing how he would keep track of his relationship with Rodriguez as the fall gave way to winter.

Girardi has already taken the first step toward doing that, according to an ESPN New York report, speaking with Rodriguez by phone for more than an hour Friday. Citing an anonymous source who said their talk went "great," the report said that Girardi did not apologize for benching the scuffling third baseman during the postseason. Instead, Girardi once again emphasized how important A-Rod is to the Yankees and discussed expectations for the third baseman's training program this winter.

Rodriguez was constantly the center of attention as the Yankees were eliminated by the Tigers in a four-game sweep in the American League Championship Series. Girardi essentially reduced Rodriguez, who is set to make at least $114 million over the next five years, to a platoon third baseman, sitting him in three games and pinch-hitting for him on three other occasions.

"I made decisions based on the season, a month, what I'd seen," Girardi said last week at Yankee Stadium. "For me to go back and say I would have changed anything, these weren't just, 'Let me go off the top of my head and make a decision.' These were things we evaluated a lot before we made our decisions."

Rodriguez batted a combined 3-for-25 with 12 strikeouts and no extra-base hits in the Yankees' two postseason series. After getting benched, the matter of his future in New York became a primary topic of conversation, as many wondered if Girardi and Rodriguez could maintain a healthy working relationship going forward.

For his part, Rodriguez has said he won't waive the no-trade clause in his contract and expects to be with the Yankees when they convene in Tampa, Fla., for Spring Training.

Adam Berry is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adamdberry. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Teixeira, Cano honored with Gold Glove Awards

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 10/31/12 12:10 AM ET

NEW YORK -- The right side of the Yankees' infield is officially golden again this year, as Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano have been named as recipients of Rawlings Gold Glove Awards at their respective positions.

It is the fifth Gold Glove Award for Teixeira at first base, and Cano's second at second base.

POS	AL winner	NL winner
C	Matt Wieters, BAL	Yadier Molina, STL
1B	Mark Teixeira, NYY	Adam LaRoche, WAS
2B	Robinson Cano, NYY	Darwin Barney, CHC
SS	J.J. Hardy, BAL	Jimmy Rollins, PHI
3B	Adrian Beltre, TEX	Chase Headley, SD
LF	Alex Gordon, KC	Carlos Gonzalez, COL
CF	Adam Jones, BAL	Andrew McCutchen, PIT
RF	Josh Reddick, OAK	Jason Heyward, ATL
P	Jeremy Hellickson, TB Jake Peavy, CWS	Mark Buehrle, MIA

This marks the third time in the last four seasons that the Yankees have had at least two Gold Glove winners in the same year. Derek Jeter and Teixeira also won in 2009, while Cano, Jeter and Teixeira all won in 2010.


In 2012, Teixeira led qualifying Major League first basemen with a career-best .999 fielding percentage, committing just one error in 1,055 total chances during the regular season.

It marked the best single season fielding percentage by any Major League first baseman over the last three seasons (2010-12) and the 11th best single-season mark at first base in the modern era (since 1900).

Teixeira's .999 fielding percentage also established the Yankees franchise record at his position, surpassing Don Mattingly's .998 in 1994 (two errors in 989 total chances).

"I am honored to accept the Gold Glove Award and appreciate the recognition for my defense," Teixeira said. "There are a lot of great first basemen in the American League and I will continue to work hard to stay on top of my game defensively."

Other Yankees first basemen to win the award are Joe Pepitone (1965-66, '69), Chris Chambliss (1978) and Mattingly (1985-89, '91-94).

Cano, who led all American League second basemen with 726 chances in 2012, finished second in the AL with a .992 fielding percentage while making just six errors.

He is just one of two Yankees second basemen to win a Gold Glove, along with Bobby Richardson, who won the honor in five straight seasons from 1961-65.

"It's another dream come true for me," Cano said. "The Gold Glove is a special award because my defense is something I take a lot of pride in. There are a lot of ways you can contribute to a team win. It's not always about offense. Sometimes saving runs is as important as scoring runs."

Each Major League manager and up to six coaches on each staff voted from a pool of qualified players in their respective league. Voters were not permitted to select players from their own team.

Yankees catcher Russell Martin was also nominated for a Gold Glove, but the award went to the Orioles' Matt Wieters. As a team in 2012, the Yankees' .987 fielding percentage ranked third in the Majors and their 74 errors were the third-fewest.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Soriano reportedly will opt out of deal Wednesday

By Joey Nowak / MLB.com | 10/31/12 12:23 AM ET

Rafael Soriano, who stepped in as the Yankees' closer this year after Mariano Rivera suffered a season-ending knee injury, is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract Wednesday, CBSSports.com reported.

CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman reported Tuesday night that Soriano, who is currently under a three-year $35 million contract, will opt out on Wednesday but could still pursue negotiations with the Yankees.

Soriano saved 42 games in 46 chances this year, going 2-1 with a 2.26 ERA after Rivera's injury. Rivera's uncertain future could also factor into the decision on the part of both parties.

Soriano's current contract would entitle him to $14 million in 2013, but he would receive $1.5 million if he opts out. According to the CBS report, the Yankees would counter with a $13.3 million qualifying offer by Friday's deadline to guarantee Soriano at least $14.8 million -- an overall increase of $800,000.

Heyman reports that the likelihood of Soriano accepting such a qualifying offer is slim after the season he had in 2012, and the reliever may be seeking a four-year contract.

Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak.‬ This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Yanks pick up options on Cano, Granderson

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 10/29/12 1:23 PM ET

NEW YORK -- The Yankees announced on Monday that they have chosen to exercise 2013 contract options for second baseman Robinson Cano, outfielder Curtis Granderson and right-handed reliever David Aardsma.

The options on Cano and Granderson are worth $15 million each, while Aardsma's option is worth $500,000. None of the three choices were considered to be especially surprising decisions for the Yankees.

Cano batted .313 with a career-high 33 home runs and 94 RBIs in 161 regular-season games before fading in the postseason as the Yankees were swept in four games by the Tigers in the American League Championship Series.

The 30-year-old Cano has compiled eight straight seasons of at least 150 hits to begin his career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marks the longest streak for a second baseman since the Cubs' Ryne Sandberg did so in 10 straight seasons beginning in 1983.

Granderson led the Yankees with his career-high 43 home runs during the regular season, batting .232 with 102 runs scored and 106 RBIs in 160 games. He also set a new Yankees franchise record with 195 strikeouts, surpassing his own club record of 169 set in 2011.

The 31-year-old Granderson leads the Major Leagues with 84 home runs since the start of the 2011 season and is just the third Yankees player to record consecutive seasons (2011-12) with at least 100 runs, 40 homers and 100 RBIs, joining Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Aardsma, 30, appeared in one September game for the Yankees after spending most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. The former big league closer could figure prominently in the Yankees' bullpen plans next season.

The Yankees are expected to consider contract extensions for Cano and Granderson at some point in the future.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Martin, Teixeira, Cano are Gold Glove finalists

By Zack Meisel / MLB.com | 10/29/12 1:06 PM ET

Among the finalists vying for a 2012 Rawlings Gold Glove Award are 21 past recipients and 11 reigning winners.

The Reds lead all clubs, with six finalists, including second baseman Brandon Phillips and first baseman Joey Votto, who both garnered hardware last season. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is seeking his fifth consecutive Gold Glove Award.

Each Major League manager and up to six coaches on each staff vote from a pool of qualified players in their respective league. Voters cannot select players from their own team.

Winners will be revealed during the 2012 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Announcement Show, airing on ESPN2 on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Here are the finalists at each position.

American League

Pitcher: Jeremy Hellickson, Jake Peavy, C.J. Wilson

Catcher: Alex Avila, Russell Martin, A.J. Pierzynski, Matt Wieters

First base: Adrian Gonzalez, Eric Hosmer, Mark Teixeira

Second base: Dustin Ackley, Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia

Shortstop: Elvis Andrus, J.J. Hardy, Brendan Ryan

Third base: Adrian Beltre, Brandon Inge, Mike Moustakas

Left field: Alex Gordon, Desmond Jennings, David Murphy

Center field: Austin Jackson, Adam Jones, Mike Trout

Right field: Shin-Soo Choo, Jeff Francoeur, Josh Reddick

National League

Pitcher: Bronson Arroyo, Mark Buehrle, Clayton Kershaw

Catcher: Molina, Miguel Montero, Carlos Ruiz

First base: Freddie Freeman, Adam LaRoche, Votto

Second base: Darwin Barney, Aaron Hill, Phillips

Shortstop: Zack Cozart, Ian Desmond, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins

Third base: Chase Headley, Aramis Ramirez, David Wright

Left field: Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, Martin Prado

Center field: Michael Bourn, Andrew McCutchen, Drew Stubbs

Right field: Jay Bruce, Andre Ethier, Jason Heyward

Zack Meisel is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @zackmeisel. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Girardi reportedly calls A-Rod, talk went 'great'

By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 10/29/12 6:31 PM ET

Yankees manager Joe Girardi admitted right after the Yankees' season ended that he might have to think more than usual about how he deals with Alex Rodriguez this offseason. He said as much during New York's postmortem news conference, discussing how he would keep track of his relationship with Rodriguez as the fall gave way to winter.

Girardi has already taken the first step toward doing that, according to an ESPN New York report, speaking with Rodriguez by phone for more than an hour Friday. Citing an anonymous source who said their talk went "great," the report said that Girardi did not apologize for benching the scuffling third baseman during the postseason. Instead, Girardi once again emphasized how important A-Rod is to the Yankees and discussed expectations for the third baseman's training program this winter.

Rodriguez was constantly the center of attention as the Yankees were eliminated by the Tigers in a four-game sweep in the American League Championship Series. Girardi essentially reduced Rodriguez, who is set to make at least $114 million over the next five years, to a platoon third baseman, sitting him in three games and pinch-hitting for him on three other occasions.

"I made decisions based on the season, a month, what I'd seen," Girardi said last week at Yankee Stadium. "For me to go back and say I would have changed anything, these weren't just, 'Let me go off the top of my head and make a decision.' These were things we evaluated a lot before we made our decisions."

Rodriguez batted a combined 3-for-25 with 12 strikeouts and no extra-base hits in the Yankees' two postseason series. After getting benched, the matter of his future in New York became a primary topic of conversation, as many wondered if Girardi and Rodriguez could maintain a healthy working relationship going forward.

For his part, Rodriguez has said he won't waive the no-trade clause in his contract and expects to be with the Yankees when they convene in Tampa, Fla., for Spring Training.

Adam Berry is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adamdberry. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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RiverDogs' Aircraft carrier derby voted top promo

Most creative Minor League Baseball promotions inspire employees of other teams to react with sentiments along the lines of "Why didn't I think of that?"

And then there was the event that the Charleston RiverDogs staged on June 18, at which the sentiments were more likely to be along the lines of "I never would of thought of that!"

The event in question, the 2012 MiLBY award winner for Promotion of the Year, was truly unprecedented: the RiverDogs held the first round of the South Atlantic League Home Run Derby on the deck of the USS Yorktown, a decommissioned World War II-era aircraft carrier turned living history museum stationed on the Charleston Harbor. Derby participants, standing within a makeshift inflatable batting cage, blasted baseballs into the water (where they were summarily retrieved by volunteers on jet skis).

The RiverDogs' aquatic revitalization of a moribund All-Star festivities staple beat out 11 other contenders en route to being voted 2012's best promotion by MiLB.com readers. And for good reason, as this was an event that truly had it all: stunning visuals along with copious local and national media attention. It also had both a national sponsorship and philanthropic tie-in via MillerCoors' "Welcome Back to the High Life" initiative for returning American veterans. Oh, and that there was a cameo from RiverDogs co-owner Bill Murray (the team's "director of fun") sure didn't hurt.

The idea to stage the derby on the USS Yorktown came courtesy of Dan Migala, sports business expert and co-founder of the Chicago-based Property Consulting Group (PCG). Migala, a self-described "think-big kind of guy," was brought aboard (so to speak) by RiverDogs general manager Dave Echols and industry icon Mike Veeck of the Goldklang Group (which owns the RiverDogs in addition to several other Minor League teams).

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Migala has experience with military-themed promotions dating back to his time as vice president of creative partnerships for the San Diego Padres, where he worked extensively with team president Tom Garfinkel to engage with the region's military population. He was brainstorming ways to engage with Charleston baseball fans in a similar fashion when inspiration struck.

"If anything, this is a lesson in the process of thinking big and going beyond the ballpark," said Migala. "When I first saw [the USS Yorktown], it was like the scene in Field of Dreams. But instead of seeing a baseball field in the cornfield, in this case it was on an aircraft carrier. From there, it was a matter of working out the logistics and finding a [sponsorship] partner, because this wasn't the type of event where it was just 'insert sponsor here.'"

Enter Miller High Life, whose "Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life" promotional campaign seeks to provide veterans "with thousands of memorable 'High Life' experiences, such as tickets to professional sporting events and concerts." This iconic brand was eager to partner with the RiverDogs on this unique Home Run Derby, once Migala approached them with what he calls "seven innings worth of an idea."

"The goal is then for the sponsor to come in and be the closer, so to speak," continued Migala. "And [Miller High Life] did that. They customized it by partnering with local bars, producing online videos and having [commercial spokesperson] Wendell Middlebrooks attend. ... For Minor League Baseball marketers to unlock national sponsorship dollars, you need to create an idea that sponsors want to invest in at that level. [Miller High Life] was looking at this as a national promotion, using Minor League Baseball as the foundation to tell their story."

"We always strive to provide our loyal High Life drinkers with innovative and fun opportunities," wrote Miller High Life brand manager Brendan Noonan in an email. "We are proud that our involvement in the derby was tied to our 'Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life' initiative that helped veterans across the country enjoy some of life's little luxuries this past summer."

As Migala was working on the sponsorship parameters, Echols was engaged in the task of making sure that the derby would work on a logistical level. The USS Yorktown is now part of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, and Echols said that the museum was eager to participate as they are "trying to find revenue-generating events, and always looking for ways to highlight the uniqueness of the ship."

Securing permission to hit baseballs into the harbor was a bigger concern for Echols and his staff, and in this regard he likely became the first general manager to deal with Harbor Police and the Department of Homeland Security while coordinating a promotion.

"We had to work to assure them, and then the community, that we wouldn't be letting balls drop to the bottom, as this could endanger animals and the environment," he said.

The aforementioned "volunteers on jet skis" took care of this potential problem, and Echols soon secured the necessary approvals from the various governmental agencies and city governments (on both sides of the water) that were needed to make the derby a reality. And soon, that's just what it was -- a glorious reality.

Approximately 400 fans attended the free event, with their access to the USS Yorktown granted upon providing a not-so-secret password of "Home Run Derby." These fans lined the sides and upper-deck sections of the USS Yorktown as some of the SAL's top hitting prospects blasted baseballs beneath an inflatable batting cage provided by InMotionAir. ("They sent me a blast email out the blue, advertising inflatable batting cages," recalled Echols. "Once I saw that, I thought, 'My goodness, someone wants to make this work.' Everything just fell into place.")

American war veterans honored by Miller High Life also were taking swings beneath the inflatable cage along with Murray, a recent inductee into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame. Echols reports that the resulting local media coverage of the event "moved the needle" when it came to ticket sales for the following evening's All-Star Game at Joseph P. Riley Stadium, and though that was the main event, this is the rare instance in which a Home Run Derby ultimately overshadowed the game itself.

"It was a total team effort and a flawless promotion that was fun to be a part of from start to finish," said Echols. "The combination of an influential industry leader in Dan Migala, the Veeck flair and a national sponsor gave our fans and the All-Star players a lifetime memory, and that is something our entire staff is extremely proud of."

"In order to think outside of the box, we removed the batter's box," said Migala. "This could start a trend."

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Boyer was happy ball wasn't hit his way to end Series

The Giants made their first World Series appearance as residents of San Francisco in 1962 when they played the Yankees. A 50th anniversary World Series confrontation between those teams was made impossible by the Tigers' sweep in the American League Championship Series. But the Giants are involved in the Fall Classic -- quite involved you may say. And part of the impetus for the following retrospective is Tigers president, CEO and general manager Dave Dombrowski, who a few years ago shared a terrific anecdote from 1962 with MLB.com writer Marty Noble.

That anecdote and other bits of history Noble has collected from former Yankes third baseman Clete Boyer and former Giants third-base coach Whitey Lockman make for an intriguing story that first appeared in the 2012 edition of SCOREBOOK, the journal published each year in conjunction with the winter dinner staged by the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The story follows.

We begin at the end. The Yankees lead the Giants, 1-0, in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. Many of us recall the final play: Willie McCovey swings, makes typical Willie McCovey contact, and Yankees fans throughout the land inhale hard through clenched teeth, as people do when one car is about to collide with another.

The baseball and the glove of second baseman Bobby Richardson collide, and Richardson makes the play as if he had anticipated every aspect of it. The Yankees put the World Series in their back pocket, winning for the third time in five years, the ninth time in 14. Ho hum! Or, "How about that?" And they don't win another for 15. But that's not the story.

These are the stories, the kinds of stories that seep out gradually over years, even decades, and colorize what most of us witnessed in black and white, the kinds that illustrate how human each of us is, even the seasoned professionals who can hit Marichal and strike out Mantle, Mays, Maris or McCovey, the kinds that make retrospectives compelling and so entertaining.

McCovey comes to bat with two out and runners on second and third, the result of a double to right by Willie Mays off Yankees starter Ralph Terry that advanced Matty Alou from first. The score might have been tied at 1 before McCovey's turn, but Roger Maris quickly retrieved Mays' hit and relayed the ball to the infield. Giants third-base coach Lockman held Alou.

Boyer, the Yankees' third baseman, surveys the circumstances and gulps quietly as his knees begin to shake. He talks to himself: "You know we're gonna walk McCovey --- it's the right thing to do, walk the lefty hitter. But then it's [Orlando] Cepeda, [he's] right-handed, and there's no chance he's not gonna pull something hard off my knees. We're gonna lose, 2-1, and I'm gonna be the goat.

"That cartoon guy in the paper [New York Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo] is going to draw the horns on me. I know it."

As Boyer trembles, Yankees manager Ralph Houk walks to the mound. "I start for the mound," Boyer said, "knowing Ralph is going to say 'Four balls.'

"But I get there, and I hear him say, 'What do you wanna do?' I can't believe it. The Major is giving Terry a choice. It's 'Pick your poison, kid.' But I'm still sure Terry's gonna say 'I'll walk McCovey and take my chances with the righty [Cepeda].'

"But he doesn't say that. He wants to go after McCovey, the lefty. I'm standing right next to them, and it's all I can do to keep myself from screaming 'All right, all right.' I'm safe. Terry can be the goat. I'm safe. Terry made the decision. I didn't. I still can't believe it."

Well, Gallo put the hero's crown on the head of Terry that night, and Boyer's image was nowhere to be seen the following day -- just as he preferred it.

"I don't know if I ever told Terry," Boyer said. "I know I never told Houk. They always used to say I wanted the ball hit to me, but not that day. I was the happiest man in the ballpark when the ball went in the other direction."

Epilogue

Weeks pass. Lockman still is in Northern California, and he is having trouble sleeping. He never has been any kind of insomniac, but his hours in bed are unsettled. It's mid-December, 1962, and late in the evening. He reaches for a phone book and a phone. He finds the number he wants -- needs -- and pays no mind to the time or geography. He must speak with Elston Howard, the Yankees' catcher in Game 7.

Howard lives in Teaneck, N. J. He's sound asleep when the phone rings.

"Ellie," the caller says. "It's Whitey Lockman, Ellie. Can't sleep. I gotta know. Tell me, if I send Alou, does he make it?"

Howard got right to the point. "Go back to bed. He's out by 15 feet."

Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Yanks have some big names hitting free agency

NEW YORK -- The Yankees finished the season eight victories shy of their ultimate goal, and while many clubs would gladly sign up for a division title and entry into the League Championship Series, that just isn't good enough around 161st Street and River Avenue.

So it's back to the drawing board for the Yankees, who tend to be in this situation more often than not -- with two World Series victories since 2000, there have been many more statements of disappointment published by ownership than ticker-tape parades down the Canyon of Heroes.

"Some years, obviously, we have more success than others, but you can count on us trying to stay in it to win it," Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. "That's the Steinbrenner philosophy, which is do anything you can to make sure that the team is competitive and the fans of New York have a belief that this team has a chance to do something special."

Cashman will be the public face charged with tweaking the roster to climb the final mountains for a 28th World Series championship, and with several bold-faced names now entering free agency, the team that manager Joe Girardi welcomes to Spring Training in February could look very different.

Further complicating matters is a directive from ownership to reduce payroll below the $189 million mark for the 2014 season, aiming to take advantage of luxury tax incentives provided by Major League Baseball's new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While the Yankees still should have money to spend to field a championship-caliber team for 2013, the reduction figures to dent the ability to offer long-term deals to free agents, since the Yankees already are expected to offer an extension to Robinson Cano and could consider one to Curtis Granderson as well.

"We'll still do more than any other team would do to win, but at some point with the new rules it's going to become imperative to be a little more fiscally conservative," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told The Associated Press. "That's where we've got to rely on our young players, and we'll still be able to get players when we need them now and then."

In the winter of 2009, with the Yankees about to move into the new Yankee Stadium, ownership authorized a payroll blitz of more than $400 million that included big free-agent acquisitions like CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira.

Such a rush seems unlikely this year, so Cashman's best avenue of shuffling payroll may prove to be the trade market. Rumors about Alex Rodriguez help to sell newspapers, but seem unrealistic; still, Cashman is willing to pick up the phone and entertain offers, hoping that he'll run into something that makes sense.

Players can start signing with other clubs after midnight ET on Friday.

Contract issues

Free agents: Eric Chavez 1B/3B, Freddy Garcia RHP, Raul Ibanez OF/DH, Andruw Jones OF/DH, Derek Lowe RHP, Hiroki Kuroda RHP, Russell Martin C, Andy Pettitte LHP, Mariano Rivera RHP, Ichiro Suzuki OF, Nick Swisher OF/1B.

Eligible for arbitration: Joba Chamberlain RHP, Brett Gardner OF, Phil Hughes RHP, Boone Logan LHP, Casey McGehee 1B/3B, Jayson Nix IF/LF, David Robertson RHP.

Club options: David Aardsma RHP ($500,000), Robinson Cano 2B ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Pedro Feliciano LHP ($4.5 million club option), Curtis Granderson OF ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Rafael Soriano RHP ($14 million player option, $1.5 million buyout).

Areas of need

Catcher: Martin is a free agent, and despite his disappointing offensive year, he could still command a multi-year deal on the open market. He has expressed a desire to stay with the Yankees, and Girardi is high on Martin's defensive ability.

Outfield: Swisher said that he "absolutely" would like to return next season, but the Yankees are unlikely to offer more than a one-year contract and Swisher could command multiple years as a free agent. Swisher provided balance as a switch-hitter who hit for power and worked walks, qualities the Yankees will look for in a replacement.

Two of the three outfield spots could be filled by Gardner and Granderson. Ichiro was a terrific midseason pickup and it would not be surprising to see the Yankees make him an offer to hang around, but they probably wouldn't do so for more than one year. It has been suggested that the Yankees could look into a Granderson trade to free payroll, though it would be difficult to replace his power.

Bench: Jones will be permitted to move on after his disappointing second half, and while Ibanez was a good signing, he's also 40 and entertaining retirement. Even if Ibanez plays, he won't represent the same great value he had coming off a down 2011 with the Phillies. Chavez had a strong year before going hitless in the postseason; a backup corner role seems to help him ward off injuries, so a return isn't out of the question.

Rotation: The Yankees could roll the dice and try to re-sign Kuroda coming off his good first season in the American League, or they may look at his age (38 in February) and innings (a career-high 219 2/3) and decide to move on, seeing that their $10 million investment worked out. Pettitte will enter his familiar dance with retirement, but if he pitches, you can be certain he won't come at the same bargain-basement $2 million price. Sabathia, Hughes, Ivan Nova and David Phelps give the Yankees a good head start here, but there are holes to fill.

Bullpen: Soriano is expected to opt out of his contract, and if Rivera decides to pitch, he'll be doing so at age 43 and coming off knee surgery, so the Yankees are unlikely to match his $15 million salary from 2012. Both situations mean, at the very least, the ninth inning is looking a bit unsettled.

2013 payroll

The Yankees will continue to write some of the biggest checks in the game, having led the Majors with a $222 million payroll this year. The $189 million mark is a serious goal, but it isn't needed until 2014. The Yankees entered the winter with approximately $132 million already outlined on their 2013 budget, assuming that Soriano opts out and they pick up extensions for Cano and Granderson. They'll likely sit in the $200 to $210 million range next year, which provides some cushion for raises to arbitration-eligible players and offers to new free-agent acquisitions.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Changes could be in store as Yanks turn page to '13

NEW YORK -- During an end-of-season news conference, Yankees manager Joe Girardi was asked if the roster he currently has on hand should be expected to bring a championship to the Bronx in 2013.

"As many free agents as we have right now, no," Girardi said, with a chuckle. "I'm not saying we couldn't have won a world championship with the team we had a week ago, but we have a number of guys that could possibly not be with us next year. Those have to be ironed out."

2012 season wraps

2013 outlooks

Girardi said that he thought the 2012 club had what it took to bring the franchise's 28th title home, but prolonged lineup brownouts popped up in the postseason and sent the Yankees home with a bitter ending.

Now, even while the World Series is under way, the second Yankees season -- the one played in the Hot Stove league, where there are no standings but seemingly just as many newspaper back pages -- is already in motion.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that the club has already started talking about the tough decisions it has ahead for the winter months, needing to retool its roster to prepare for another run at a title in '13.

It is possible, considering the number of choices that need to be finalized before the team reconvenes in February, that major alterations could be made over the next several months.

"We've got a lot of free agents, and every year the roster changes," Cashman said. "I can't really tell you what constitutes major or not, but we do have a lot of players that are free agents. Almost every one of them has contributed in a big way here. We always have tough decisions every winter."

The Yankees would love to get younger and cheaper, keeping managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner's $189 million payroll target in mind for 2014, but Cashman said they're also fine with re-signing older players if they happen to be better than available options. Raul Ibanez, who hit several huge home runs down the stretch and in the postseason, was a prime example.

"I'm not going to apologize for it," Cashman said. "We got there and we are old. If you're old and still good, then it's not an issue."

Despite the punchless postseason showing, Cashman also said the Yankees won't get away from how he sees their ideal makeup: selective hitters with power, or as he prefers to summarize it, "big, hairy monsters."

"I am not going to turn myself into, as Joe used earlier in the year, 'the Bronx Bunters,' because all of a sudden we didn't hit for this week in October," Cashman said. "That's not our DNA. That's not what makes us successful and that's certainly not what's getting us in the postseason every year but one year [2008] since I got here."

CONTRACT ISSUES

Free agents: Eric Chavez 1B/3B, Freddy Garcia RHP, Ibanez OF/DH, Andruw Jones OF/DH, Derek Lowe RHP, Hiroki Kuroda RHP, Russell Martin C, Andy Pettitte LHP, Mariano Rivera RHP, Ichiro Suzuki OF, Nick Swisher OF/1B.

Eligible for arbitration: Joba Chamberlain RHP, Brett Gardner OF, Phil Hughes RHP, Boone Logan LHP, Casey McGehee 1B/3B, Jayson Nix IF/LF, David Robertson RHP.

Club options: David Aardsma RHP ($500,000), Robinson Cano 2B ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Pedro Feliciano LHP ($4.5 million club option), Curtis Granderson OF ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Rafael Soriano RHP ($14 million player option or $1.5 million buyout).

A position-by-position look at where the 2012 roster stands going into 2013:

Catcher
The Yankees approached Martin with a three-year extension before the season, which Martin declined, gambling that his 2012 season would produce bigger numbers. That didn't pay off, as Martin batted under .200 for much of the campaign before finishing at .211 with 21 homers and 53 RBIs in 133 games.

Martin's bat picked up late in the year, and he earned raves from the pitching staff, which might be enough to bring him back next season. The Yankees do not view Chris Stewart or Francisco Cervelli as starting catchers, and Minor League catchers Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez aren't ready to take the reins.

First Base
The Yankees are set with Mark Teixeira at first base, as the switch-hitter enters the fifth season of his eight-year contract. Teixeira had an eight-season streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs snapped -- he missed most of September with a left calf injury -- and was also slowed early in the year by a nagging cough. The four-time Gold Glove Award winner batted .251 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs in 123 games. Swisher showed himself to be a capable first baseman in 41 games, and Chavez saw 10 games of duty.

Second Base
There is still a fair amount of head-scratching over Cano's postseason struggles coming off a red-hot finish to his campaign, one in which he batted .313 with a career-high 33 homers and 94 RBIs in 161 games. But they'll chalk it up to a bad nine-game skid; the Yankees aim to pick up Cano's $15 million option for 2013 and will consider a contract extension in the near future as well. Nix proved himself a capable backup, and the Yankees should take looks at prospects David Adams, Corban Joseph and Jose Pirela in the spring.

Shortstop
Derek Jeter led the Major Leagues with 216 hits this season, batting .316 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 159 games. The Yankees will keep their eyes on Jeter as he enters his age-39 season and returns from the fractured left ankle he suffered in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, but Girardi still sees Jeter as a viable everyday shortstop and doesn't expect the injury to change that.

The Yankees have Nix and Eduardo Nunez on board as backups; an experiment with Nunez as a utility player has been scrapped and the Yankees are trying to develop him only as a shortstop, potentially as trade bait.

Third Base
Alex Rodriguez was essentially reduced to a well-paid platoon player in the postseason, his struggles against right-handed pitching so glaring (0-for-18, 12 strikeouts) that Girardi and Cashman agreed the Yankees had a better chance of winning games with A-Rod on the bench. Still, the Yankees believe Rodriguez is healthy and see him as their everyday third baseman in 2013.

While trade talk may continue to stir, Rodriguez is under contract through 2017 at a price tag of $114 million guaranteed, making it extremely unlikely the Yankees will find a trade partner. Chavez was Rodriguez's primary backup and enjoyed a comeback season, hitting .281 with 16 homers.

Outfield
The Yankees' changes for 2013 could begin with Swisher's expected departure following yet another batch of postseason struggles in the Bronx. After hitting .272 with 24 homers and 93 RBIs in 148 regular-season games, Swisher could land a multi-year contract elsewhere; the Yankees will likely make just a one-year qualifying offer to ensure they pick up Draft compensation.

Center fielder Granderson is coming off a career-high 43 home run showing and remains under team control with a club option that the Yankees are expected to pick up, prepared to live with his strikeouts in exchange for power. Gardner should return to the mix after missing most of 2012 with a right elbow injury. It would not be surprising to see the Yankees tender an offer to Ichiro, who batted .322 in 67 games after being acquired from the Mariners, though an outfield with Gardner and Ichiro doesn't replace Swisher's power. Zoilo Almonte, Chris Dickerson and Melky Mesa should get looks in the spring.

Designated Hitter
Ibanez etched his name in the Yankees' postseason books with a late run of clutch home runs, giving the team its money's worth after signing him away from the Phillies this spring. Ibanez turned 40 during the season and said he isn't sure about his future, with retirement thought to be on his mind. The Yankees are ready to cut ties with Jones, who hit just .197 and was left off the playoff roster.

Rotation
The Yankees expect to have CC Sabathia back to head the rotation after surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow, but there are question marks beyond that. Pettitte will again wrestle with retirement, but he hinted that a light workload didn't fully exhaust his pitching itch. Kuroda jumped to the AL and was a wise $10 million investment, but could now command a multiyear deal as a free agent.

Hughes figures to be back with a raise through arbitration, and the Yankees need to decide what to make of Ivan Nova after his late-season struggles bumped him from the playoff rosters. The Yankees could also have David Phelps and Adam Warren compete for a rotation spot. Michael Pineda is coming off labrum surgery and isn't expected to be ready until June; Manny Banuelos would have been in this mix but will miss the entire year following Tommy John surgery.

Bullpen
Soriano is expected to take advantage of a 42-save season to opt out of his contract, leaving a $14 million pay day on the table in search of a new multiyear deal. The Yankees were fortunate to have Soriano around as an insurance policy when Rivera went down for the year in May, but it's unclear if they will pursue a new deal with Soriano.

Rivera told Cashman that he isn't sure about pitching in 2013, though the Yankees will certainly have a contract for him if he says the word. Losing both Soriano and Rivera could press Robertson back into closer duty. As currently comprised, the Yankees' bullpen also figures to include several selections from the group of Chamberlain, Cody Eppley, Logan and Clay Rapada. Lowe's sinker ball style worked well in the bullpen, but he might seek offers to start. The Yankees also have promising righty Mark Montgomery working his way up the chain.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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RiverDogs' Aircraft carrier derby voted top promo

Most creative Minor League Baseball promotions inspire employees of other teams to react with sentiments along the lines of "Why didn't I think of that?"

And then there was the event that the Charleston RiverDogs staged on June 18, at which the sentiments were more likely to be along the lines of "I never would of thought of that!"

The event in question, the 2012 MiLBY award winner for Promotion of the Year, was truly unprecedented: the RiverDogs held the first round of the South Atlantic League Home Run Derby on the deck of the USS Yorktown, a decommissioned World War II-era aircraft carrier turned living history museum stationed on the Charleston Harbor. Derby participants, standing within a makeshift inflatable batting cage, blasted baseballs into the water (where they were summarily retrieved by volunteers on jet skis).

The RiverDogs' aquatic revitalization of a moribund All-Star festivities staple beat out 11 other contenders en route to being voted 2012's best promotion by MiLB.com readers. And for good reason, as this was an event that truly had it all: stunning visuals along with copious local and national media attention. It also had both a national sponsorship and philanthropic tie-in via MillerCoors' "Welcome Back to the High Life" initiative for returning American veterans. Oh, and that there was a cameo from RiverDogs co-owner Bill Murray (the team's "director of fun") sure didn't hurt.

The idea to stage the derby on the USS Yorktown came courtesy of Dan Migala, sports business expert and co-founder of the Chicago-based Property Consulting Group (PCG). Migala, a self-described "think-big kind of guy," was brought aboard (so to speak) by RiverDogs general manager Dave Echols and industry icon Mike Veeck of the Goldklang Group (which owns the RiverDogs in addition to several other Minor League teams).

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Migala has experience with military-themed promotions dating back to his time as vice president of creative partnerships for the San Diego Padres, where he worked extensively with team president Tom Garfinkel to engage with the region's military population. He was brainstorming ways to engage with Charleston baseball fans in a similar fashion when inspiration struck.

"If anything, this is a lesson in the process of thinking big and going beyond the ballpark," said Migala. "When I first saw [the USS Yorktown], it was like the scene in Field of Dreams. But instead of seeing a baseball field in the cornfield, in this case it was on an aircraft carrier. From there, it was a matter of working out the logistics and finding a [sponsorship] partner, because this wasn't the type of event where it was just 'insert sponsor here.'"

Enter Miller High Life, whose "Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life" promotional campaign seeks to provide veterans "with thousands of memorable 'High Life' experiences, such as tickets to professional sporting events and concerts." This iconic brand was eager to partner with the RiverDogs on this unique Home Run Derby, once Migala approached them with what he calls "seven innings worth of an idea."

"The goal is then for the sponsor to come in and be the closer, so to speak," continued Migala. "And [Miller High Life] did that. They customized it by partnering with local bars, producing online videos and having [commercial spokesperson] Wendell Middlebrooks attend. ... For Minor League Baseball marketers to unlock national sponsorship dollars, you need to create an idea that sponsors want to invest in at that level. [Miller High Life] was looking at this as a national promotion, using Minor League Baseball as the foundation to tell their story."

"We always strive to provide our loyal High Life drinkers with innovative and fun opportunities," wrote Miller High Life brand manager Brendan Noonan in an email. "We are proud that our involvement in the derby was tied to our 'Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life' initiative that helped veterans across the country enjoy some of life's little luxuries this past summer."

As Migala was working on the sponsorship parameters, Echols was engaged in the task of making sure that the derby would work on a logistical level. The USS Yorktown is now part of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, and Echols said that the museum was eager to participate as they are "trying to find revenue-generating events, and always looking for ways to highlight the uniqueness of the ship."

Securing permission to hit baseballs into the harbor was a bigger concern for Echols and his staff, and in this regard he likely became the first general manager to deal with Harbor Police and the Department of Homeland Security while coordinating a promotion.

"We had to work to assure them, and then the community, that we wouldn't be letting balls drop to the bottom, as this could endanger animals and the environment," he said.

The aforementioned "volunteers on jet skis" took care of this potential problem, and Echols soon secured the necessary approvals from the various governmental agencies and city governments (on both sides of the water) that were needed to make the derby a reality. And soon, that's just what it was -- a glorious reality.

Approximately 400 fans attended the free event, with their access to the USS Yorktown granted upon providing a not-so-secret password of "Home Run Derby." These fans lined the sides and upper-deck sections of the USS Yorktown as some of the SAL's top hitting prospects blasted baseballs beneath an inflatable batting cage provided by InMotionAir. ("They sent me a blast email out the blue, advertising inflatable batting cages," recalled Echols. "Once I saw that, I thought, 'My goodness, someone wants to make this work.' Everything just fell into place.")

American war veterans honored by Miller High Life also were taking swings beneath the inflatable cage along with Murray, a recent inductee into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame. Echols reports that the resulting local media coverage of the event "moved the needle" when it came to ticket sales for the following evening's All-Star Game at Joseph P. Riley Stadium, and though that was the main event, this is the rare instance in which a Home Run Derby ultimately overshadowed the game itself.

"It was a total team effort and a flawless promotion that was fun to be a part of from start to finish," said Echols. "The combination of an influential industry leader in Dan Migala, the Veeck flair and a national sponsor gave our fans and the All-Star players a lifetime memory, and that is something our entire staff is extremely proud of."

"In order to think outside of the box, we removed the batter's box," said Migala. "This could start a trend."

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Boyer was happy ball wasn't hit his way to end Series

The Giants made their first World Series appearance as residents of San Francisco in 1962 when they played the Yankees. A 50th anniversary World Series confrontation between those teams was made impossible by the Tigers' sweep in the American League Championship Series. But the Giants are involved in the Fall Classic -- quite involved you may say. And part of the impetus for the following retrospective is Tigers president, CEO and general manager Dave Dombrowski, who a few years ago shared a terrific anecdote from 1962 with MLB.com writer Marty Noble.

That anecdote and other bits of history Noble has collected from former Yankes third baseman Clete Boyer and former Giants third-base coach Whitey Lockman make for an intriguing story that first appeared in the 2012 edition of SCOREBOOK, the journal published each year in conjunction with the winter dinner staged by the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The story follows.

We begin at the end. The Yankees lead the Giants, 1-0, in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. Many of us recall the final play: Willie McCovey swings, makes typical Willie McCovey contact, and Yankees fans throughout the land inhale hard through clenched teeth, as people do when one car is about to collide with another.

The baseball and the glove of second baseman Bobby Richardson collide, and Richardson makes the play as if he had anticipated every aspect of it. The Yankees put the World Series in their back pocket, winning for the third time in five years, the ninth time in 14. Ho hum! Or, "How about that?" And they don't win another for 15. But that's not the story.

These are the stories, the kinds of stories that seep out gradually over years, even decades, and colorize what most of us witnessed in black and white, the kinds that illustrate how human each of us is, even the seasoned professionals who can hit Marichal and strike out Mantle, Mays, Maris or McCovey, the kinds that make retrospectives compelling and so entertaining.

McCovey comes to bat with two out and runners on second and third, the result of a double to right by Willie Mays off Yankees starter Ralph Terry that advanced Matty Alou from first. The score might have been tied at 1 before McCovey's turn, but Roger Maris quickly retrieved Mays' hit and relayed the ball to the infield. Giants third-base coach Lockman held Alou.

Boyer, the Yankees' third baseman, surveys the circumstances and gulps quietly as his knees begin to shake. He talks to himself: "You know we're gonna walk McCovey --- it's the right thing to do, walk the lefty hitter. But then it's [Orlando] Cepeda, [he's] right-handed, and there's no chance he's not gonna pull something hard off my knees. We're gonna lose, 2-1, and I'm gonna be the goat.

"That cartoon guy in the paper [New York Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo] is going to draw the horns on me. I know it."

As Boyer trembles, Yankees manager Ralph Houk walks to the mound. "I start for the mound," Boyer said, "knowing Ralph is going to say 'Four balls.'

"But I get there, and I hear him say, 'What do you wanna do?' I can't believe it. The Major is giving Terry a choice. It's 'Pick your poison, kid.' But I'm still sure Terry's gonna say 'I'll walk McCovey and take my chances with the righty [Cepeda].'

"But he doesn't say that. He wants to go after McCovey, the lefty. I'm standing right next to them, and it's all I can do to keep myself from screaming 'All right, all right.' I'm safe. Terry can be the goat. I'm safe. Terry made the decision. I didn't. I still can't believe it."

Well, Gallo put the hero's crown on the head of Terry that night, and Boyer's image was nowhere to be seen the following day -- just as he preferred it.

"I don't know if I ever told Terry," Boyer said. "I know I never told Houk. They always used to say I wanted the ball hit to me, but not that day. I was the happiest man in the ballpark when the ball went in the other direction."

Epilogue

Weeks pass. Lockman still is in Northern California, and he is having trouble sleeping. He never has been any kind of insomniac, but his hours in bed are unsettled. It's mid-December, 1962, and late in the evening. He reaches for a phone book and a phone. He finds the number he wants -- needs -- and pays no mind to the time or geography. He must speak with Elston Howard, the Yankees' catcher in Game 7.

Howard lives in Teaneck, N. J. He's sound asleep when the phone rings.

"Ellie," the caller says. "It's Whitey Lockman, Ellie. Can't sleep. I gotta know. Tell me, if I send Alou, does he make it?"

Howard got right to the point. "Go back to bed. He's out by 15 feet."

Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Changes could be in store as Yanks turn page to '13

NEW YORK -- During an end-of-season news conference, Yankees manager Joe Girardi was asked if the roster he currently has on hand should be expected to bring a championship to the Bronx in 2013.

"As many free agents as we have right now, no," Girardi said, with a chuckle. "I'm not saying we couldn't have won a world championship with the team we had a week ago, but we have a number of guys that could possibly not be with us next year. Those have to be ironed out."

2012 season wraps

2013 outlooks

Girardi said that he thought the 2012 club had what it took to bring the franchise's 28th title home, but prolonged lineup brownouts popped up in the postseason and sent the Yankees home with a bitter ending.

Now, even while the World Series is under way, the second Yankees season -- the one played in the Hot Stove league, where there are no standings but seemingly just as many newspaper back pages -- is already in motion.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that the club has already started talking about the tough decisions it has ahead for the winter months, needing to retool its roster to prepare for another run at a title in '13.

It is possible, considering the number of choices that need to be finalized before the team reconvenes in February, that major alterations could be made over the next several months.

"We've got a lot of free agents, and every year the roster changes," Cashman said. "I can't really tell you what constitutes major or not, but we do have a lot of players that are free agents. Almost every one of them has contributed in a big way here. We always have tough decisions every winter."

The Yankees would love to get younger and cheaper, keeping managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner's $189 million payroll target in mind for 2014, but Cashman said they're also fine with re-signing older players if they happen to be better than available options. Raul Ibanez, who hit several huge home runs down the stretch and in the postseason, was a prime example.

"I'm not going to apologize for it," Cashman said. "We got there and we are old. If you're old and still good, then it's not an issue."

Despite the punchless postseason showing, Cashman also said the Yankees won't get away from how he sees their ideal makeup: selective hitters with power, or as he prefers to summarize it, "big, hairy monsters."

"I am not going to turn myself into, as Joe used earlier in the year, 'the Bronx Bunters,' because all of a sudden we didn't hit for this week in October," Cashman said. "That's not our DNA. That's not what makes us successful and that's certainly not what's getting us in the postseason every year but one year [2008] since I got here."

CONTRACT ISSUES

Free agents: Eric Chavez 1B/3B, Freddy Garcia RHP, Ibanez OF/DH, Andruw Jones OF/DH, Derek Lowe RHP, Hiroki Kuroda RHP, Russell Martin C, Andy Pettitte LHP, Mariano Rivera RHP, Ichiro Suzuki OF, Nick Swisher OF/1B.

Eligible for arbitration: Joba Chamberlain RHP, Brett Gardner OF, Phil Hughes RHP, Boone Logan LHP, Casey McGehee 1B/3B, Jayson Nix IF/LF, David Robertson RHP.

Club options: David Aardsma RHP ($500,000), Robinson Cano 2B ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Pedro Feliciano LHP ($4.5 million club option), Curtis Granderson OF ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Rafael Soriano RHP ($14 million player option or $1.5 million buyout).

A position-by-position look at where the 2012 roster stands going into 2013:

Catcher
The Yankees approached Martin with a three-year extension before the season, which Martin declined, gambling that his 2012 season would produce bigger numbers. That didn't pay off, as Martin batted under .200 for much of the campaign before finishing at .211 with 21 homers and 53 RBIs in 133 games.

Martin's bat picked up late in the year, and he earned raves from the pitching staff, which might be enough to bring him back next season. The Yankees do not view Chris Stewart or Francisco Cervelli as starting catchers, and Minor League catchers Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez aren't ready to take the reins.

First Base
The Yankees are set with Mark Teixeira at first base, as the switch-hitter enters the fifth season of his eight-year contract. Teixeira had an eight-season streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs snapped -- he missed most of September with a left calf injury -- and was also slowed early in the year by a nagging cough. The four-time Gold Glove Award winner batted .251 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs in 123 games. Swisher showed himself to be a capable first baseman in 41 games, and Chavez saw 10 games of duty.

Second Base
There is still a fair amount of head-scratching over Cano's postseason struggles coming off a red-hot finish to his campaign, one in which he batted .313 with a career-high 33 homers and 94 RBIs in 161 games. But they'll chalk it up to a bad nine-game skid; the Yankees aim to pick up Cano's $15 million option for 2013 and will consider a contract extension in the near future as well. Nix proved himself a capable backup, and the Yankees should take looks at prospects David Adams, Corban Joseph and Jose Pirela in the spring.

Shortstop
Derek Jeter led the Major Leagues with 216 hits this season, batting .316 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 159 games. The Yankees will keep their eyes on Jeter as he enters his age-39 season and returns from the fractured left ankle he suffered in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, but Girardi still sees Jeter as a viable everyday shortstop and doesn't expect the injury to change that.

The Yankees have Nix and Eduardo Nunez on board as backups; an experiment with Nunez as a utility player has been scrapped and the Yankees are trying to develop him only as a shortstop, potentially as trade bait.

Third Base
Alex Rodriguez was essentially reduced to a well-paid platoon player in the postseason, his struggles against right-handed pitching so glaring (0-for-18, 12 strikeouts) that Girardi and Cashman agreed the Yankees had a better chance of winning games with A-Rod on the bench. Still, the Yankees believe Rodriguez is healthy and see him as their everyday third baseman in 2013.

While trade talk may continue to stir, Rodriguez is under contract through 2017 at a price tag of $114 million guaranteed, making it extremely unlikely the Yankees will find a trade partner. Chavez was Rodriguez's primary backup and enjoyed a comeback season, hitting .281 with 16 homers.

Outfield
The Yankees' changes for 2013 could begin with Swisher's expected departure following yet another batch of postseason struggles in the Bronx. After hitting .272 with 24 homers and 93 RBIs in 148 regular-season games, Swisher could land a multi-year contract elsewhere; the Yankees will likely make just a one-year qualifying offer to ensure they pick up Draft compensation.

Center fielder Granderson is coming off a career-high 43 home run showing and remains under team control with a club option that the Yankees are expected to pick up, prepared to live with his strikeouts in exchange for power. Gardner should return to the mix after missing most of 2012 with a right elbow injury. It would not be surprising to see the Yankees tender an offer to Ichiro, who batted .322 in 67 games after being acquired from the Mariners, though an outfield with Gardner and Ichiro doesn't replace Swisher's power. Zoilo Almonte, Chris Dickerson and Melky Mesa should get looks in the spring.

Designated Hitter
Ibanez etched his name in the Yankees' postseason books with a late run of clutch home runs, giving the team its money's worth after signing him away from the Phillies this spring. Ibanez turned 40 during the season and said he isn't sure about his future, with retirement thought to be on his mind. The Yankees are ready to cut ties with Jones, who hit just .197 and was left off the playoff roster.

Rotation
The Yankees expect to have CC Sabathia back to head the rotation after surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow, but there are question marks beyond that. Pettitte will again wrestle with retirement, but he hinted that a light workload didn't fully exhaust his pitching itch. Kuroda jumped to the AL and was a wise $10 million investment, but could now command a multiyear deal as a free agent.

Hughes figures to be back with a raise through arbitration, and the Yankees need to decide what to make of Ivan Nova after his late-season struggles bumped him from the playoff rosters. The Yankees could also have David Phelps and Adam Warren compete for a rotation spot. Michael Pineda is coming off labrum surgery and isn't expected to be ready until June; Manny Banuelos would have been in this mix but will miss the entire year following Tommy John surgery.

Bullpen
Soriano is expected to take advantage of a 42-save season to opt out of his contract, leaving a $14 million pay day on the table in search of a new multiyear deal. The Yankees were fortunate to have Soriano around as an insurance policy when Rivera went down for the year in May, but it's unclear if they will pursue a new deal with Soriano.

Rivera told Cashman that he isn't sure about pitching in 2013, though the Yankees will certainly have a contract for him if he says the word. Losing both Soriano and Rivera could press Robertson back into closer duty. As currently comprised, the Yankees' bullpen also figures to include several selections from the group of Chamberlain, Cody Eppley, Logan and Clay Rapada. Lowe's sinker ball style worked well in the bullpen, but he might seek offers to start. The Yankees also have promising righty Mark Montgomery working his way up the chain.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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RiverDogs' Aircraft carrier derby voted top promo

Most creative Minor League Baseball promotions inspire employees of other teams to react with sentiments along the lines of "Why didn't I think of that?"

And then there was the event that the Charleston RiverDogs staged on June 18, at which the sentiments were more likely to be along the lines of "I never would of thought of that!"

The event in question, the 2012 MiLBY award winner for Promotion of the Year, was truly unprecedented: the RiverDogs held the first round of the South Atlantic League Home Run Derby on the deck of the USS Yorktown, a decommissioned World War II-era aircraft carrier turned living history museum stationed on the Charleston Harbor. Derby participants, standing within a makeshift inflatable batting cage, blasted baseballs into the water (where they were summarily retrieved by volunteers on jet skis).

The RiverDogs' aquatic revitalization of a moribund All-Star festivities staple beat out 11 other contenders en route to being voted 2012's best promotion by MiLB.com readers. And for good reason, as this was an event that truly had it all: stunning visuals along with copious local and national media attention. It also had both a national sponsorship and philanthropic tie-in via MillerCoors' "Welcome Back to the High Life" initiative for returning American veterans. Oh, and that there was a cameo from RiverDogs co-owner Bill Murray (the team's "director of fun") sure didn't hurt.

The idea to stage the derby on the USS Yorktown came courtesy of Dan Migala, sports business expert and co-founder of the Chicago-based Property Consulting Group (PCG). Migala, a self-described "think-big kind of guy," was brought aboard (so to speak) by RiverDogs general manager Dave Echols and industry icon Mike Veeck of the Goldklang Group (which owns the RiverDogs in addition to several other Minor League teams).

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Migala has experience with military-themed promotions dating back to his time as vice president of creative partnerships for the San Diego Padres, where he worked extensively with team president Tom Garfinkel to engage with the region's military population. He was brainstorming ways to engage with Charleston baseball fans in a similar fashion when inspiration struck.

"If anything, this is a lesson in the process of thinking big and going beyond the ballpark," said Migala. "When I first saw [the USS Yorktown], it was like the scene in Field of Dreams. But instead of seeing a baseball field in the cornfield, in this case it was on an aircraft carrier. From there, it was a matter of working out the logistics and finding a [sponsorship] partner, because this wasn't the type of event where it was just 'insert sponsor here.'"

Enter Miller High Life, whose "Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life" promotional campaign seeks to provide veterans "with thousands of memorable 'High Life' experiences, such as tickets to professional sporting events and concerts." This iconic brand was eager to partner with the RiverDogs on this unique Home Run Derby, once Migala approached them with what he calls "seven innings worth of an idea."

"The goal is then for the sponsor to come in and be the closer, so to speak," continued Migala. "And [Miller High Life] did that. They customized it by partnering with local bars, producing online videos and having [commercial spokesperson] Wendell Middlebrooks attend. ... For Minor League Baseball marketers to unlock national sponsorship dollars, you need to create an idea that sponsors want to invest in at that level. [Miller High Life] was looking at this as a national promotion, using Minor League Baseball as the foundation to tell their story."

"We always strive to provide our loyal High Life drinkers with innovative and fun opportunities," wrote Miller High Life brand manager Brendan Noonan in an email. "We are proud that our involvement in the derby was tied to our 'Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life' initiative that helped veterans across the country enjoy some of life's little luxuries this past summer."

As Migala was working on the sponsorship parameters, Echols was engaged in the task of making sure that the derby would work on a logistical level. The USS Yorktown is now part of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, and Echols said that the museum was eager to participate as they are "trying to find revenue-generating events, and always looking for ways to highlight the uniqueness of the ship."

Securing permission to hit baseballs into the harbor was a bigger concern for Echols and his staff, and in this regard he likely became the first general manager to deal with Harbor Police and the Department of Homeland Security while coordinating a promotion.

"We had to work to assure them, and then the community, that we wouldn't be letting balls drop to the bottom, as this could endanger animals and the environment," he said.

The aforementioned "volunteers on jet skis" took care of this potential problem, and Echols soon secured the necessary approvals from the various governmental agencies and city governments (on both sides of the water) that were needed to make the derby a reality. And soon, that's just what it was -- a glorious reality.

Approximately 400 fans attended the free event, with their access to the USS Yorktown granted upon providing a not-so-secret password of "Home Run Derby." These fans lined the sides and upper-deck sections of the USS Yorktown as some of the SAL's top hitting prospects blasted baseballs beneath an inflatable batting cage provided by InMotionAir. ("They sent me a blast email out the blue, advertising inflatable batting cages," recalled Echols. "Once I saw that, I thought, 'My goodness, someone wants to make this work.' Everything just fell into place.")

American war veterans honored by Miller High Life also were taking swings beneath the inflatable cage along with Murray, a recent inductee into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame. Echols reports that the resulting local media coverage of the event "moved the needle" when it came to ticket sales for the following evening's All-Star Game at Joseph P. Riley Stadium, and though that was the main event, this is the rare instance in which a Home Run Derby ultimately overshadowed the game itself.

"It was a total team effort and a flawless promotion that was fun to be a part of from start to finish," said Echols. "The combination of an influential industry leader in Dan Migala, the Veeck flair and a national sponsor gave our fans and the All-Star players a lifetime memory, and that is something our entire staff is extremely proud of."

"In order to think outside of the box, we removed the batter's box," said Migala. "This could start a trend."

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Boyer was happy ball wasn't hit his way to end Series

The Giants made their first World Series appearance as residents of San Francisco in 1962 when they played the Yankees. A 50th anniversary World Series confrontation between those teams was made impossible by the Tigers' sweep in the American League Championship Series. But the Giants are involved in the Fall Classic -- quite involved you may say. And part of the impetus for the following retrospective is Tigers president, CEO and general manager Dave Dombrowski, who a few years ago shared a terrific anecdote from 1962 with MLB.com writer Marty Noble.

That anecdote and other bits of history Noble has collected from former Yankes third baseman Clete Boyer and former Giants third-base coach Whitey Lockman make for an intriguing story that first appeared in the 2012 edition of SCOREBOOK, the journal published each year in conjunction with the winter dinner staged by the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The story follows.

We begin at the end. The Yankees lead the Giants, 1-0, in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. Many of us recall the final play: Willie McCovey swings, makes typical Willie McCovey contact, and Yankees fans throughout the land inhale hard through clenched teeth, as people do when one car is about to collide with another.

The baseball and the glove of second baseman Bobby Richardson collide, and Richardson makes the play as if he had anticipated every aspect of it. The Yankees put the World Series in their back pocket, winning for the third time in five years, the ninth time in 14. Ho hum! Or, "How about that?" And they don't win another for 15. But that's not the story.

These are the stories, the kinds of stories that seep out gradually over years, even decades, and colorize what most of us witnessed in black and white, the kinds that illustrate how human each of us is, even the seasoned professionals who can hit Marichal and strike out Mantle, Mays, Maris or McCovey, the kinds that make retrospectives compelling and so entertaining.

McCovey comes to bat with two out and runners on second and third, the result of a double to right by Willie Mays off Yankees starter Ralph Terry that advanced Matty Alou from first. The score might have been tied at 1 before McCovey's turn, but Roger Maris quickly retrieved Mays' hit and relayed the ball to the infield. Giants third-base coach Lockman held Alou.

Boyer, the Yankees' third baseman, surveys the circumstances and gulps quietly as his knees begin to shake. He talks to himself: "You know we're gonna walk McCovey --- it's the right thing to do, walk the lefty hitter. But then it's [Orlando] Cepeda, [he's] right-handed, and there's no chance he's not gonna pull something hard off my knees. We're gonna lose, 2-1, and I'm gonna be the goat.

"That cartoon guy in the paper [New York Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo] is going to draw the horns on me. I know it."

As Boyer trembles, Yankees manager Ralph Houk walks to the mound. "I start for the mound," Boyer said, "knowing Ralph is going to say 'Four balls.'

"But I get there, and I hear him say, 'What do you wanna do?' I can't believe it. The Major is giving Terry a choice. It's 'Pick your poison, kid.' But I'm still sure Terry's gonna say 'I'll walk McCovey and take my chances with the righty [Cepeda].'

"But he doesn't say that. He wants to go after McCovey, the lefty. I'm standing right next to them, and it's all I can do to keep myself from screaming 'All right, all right.' I'm safe. Terry can be the goat. I'm safe. Terry made the decision. I didn't. I still can't believe it."

Well, Gallo put the hero's crown on the head of Terry that night, and Boyer's image was nowhere to be seen the following day -- just as he preferred it.

"I don't know if I ever told Terry," Boyer said. "I know I never told Houk. They always used to say I wanted the ball hit to me, but not that day. I was the happiest man in the ballpark when the ball went in the other direction."

Epilogue

Weeks pass. Lockman still is in Northern California, and he is having trouble sleeping. He never has been any kind of insomniac, but his hours in bed are unsettled. It's mid-December, 1962, and late in the evening. He reaches for a phone book and a phone. He finds the number he wants -- needs -- and pays no mind to the time or geography. He must speak with Elston Howard, the Yankees' catcher in Game 7.

Howard lives in Teaneck, N. J. He's sound asleep when the phone rings.

"Ellie," the caller says. "It's Whitey Lockman, Ellie. Can't sleep. I gotta know. Tell me, if I send Alou, does he make it?"

Howard got right to the point. "Go back to bed. He's out by 15 feet."

Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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No Mo? Rivera may be pondering retirement

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 10/25/12 7:09 PM ET

NEW YORK -- All-time saves leader Mariano Rivera no longer sounds as emphatic about his plans of pitching in 2013, and could be weighing the temptations of retirement after all.

General manager Brian Cashman called Rivera on Tuesday to check on the closer's future plans and was informed that no final decision has been made.

"I talked to Mariano Tuesday night, and he is not sure what he's interested in doing just yet," Cashman said. "I think in Spring Training he was intending to retire at the end of the year, so I don't think he knows what he wants to do just yet. Am I surprised by that? No."

Cashman said that the Yankees do not need an answer at this moment, and likened Rivera's situation to that of left-hander Andy Pettitte, who said that he needs about a month to decide what he wants to do next year.

Rivera's season ended on May 3 with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament, and he vowed he would pitch again in 2013.

"I am coming back. Put it down," Rivera said the day after he sustained the injury chasing a fly ball during batting practice. "Write it down in big letters. I'm not going down like this."

Rivera spent the months following surgery taking part in intense rehab, which manager Joe Girardi said seemed to be an indication of his future plans.

"From watching how he rehabbed and everything that he was going through -- [he] picked up a baseball sooner than he was supposed to and got his hand smacked a little bit -- that would tell me that Mo probably wants to play," Girardi said on Wednesday.

But Girardi, who had not spoken to Rivera since the Yankees were ousted from in the American League Championship Series, floated the possibility that Rivera might need more time to decide what his future holds.

"I think he'll sit down with his family, evaluate where he is maybe a little bit later in this process and [see] how he feels," Girardi said. "But I don't think that you push a rehab like he pushed it unless you think that you possibly have some interest in coming back."

Rivera turns 43 next month and is set to become a free agent, and it appears unlikely that the Yankees would be willing to match his $15 million salary coming off a knee injury.

However, Cashman said that if Rivera wishes to pitch, the Yankees would obviously engage in contract negotiations.

"But if you're asking me if I know if he's going to pitch or not, the answer is, I don't know," Cashman said.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Changes could be in store as Yanks turn page to '13

NEW YORK -- During an end-of-season news conference, Yankees manager Joe Girardi was asked if the roster he currently has on hand should be expected to bring a championship to the Bronx in 2013.

"As many free agents as we have right now, no," Girardi said, with a chuckle. "I'm not saying we couldn't have won a world championship with the team we had a week ago, but we have a number of guys that could possibly not be with us next year. Those have to be ironed out."

2012 season wraps

2013 outlooks

Girardi said that he thought the 2012 club had what it took to bring the franchise's 28th title home, but prolonged lineup brownouts popped up in the postseason and sent the Yankees home with a bitter ending.

Now, even while the World Series is under way, the second Yankees season -- the one played in the Hot Stove league, where there are no standings but seemingly just as many newspaper back pages -- is already in motion.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that the club has already started talking about the tough decisions it has ahead for the winter months, needing to retool its roster to prepare for another run at a title in '13.

It is possible, considering the number of choices that need to be finalized before the team reconvenes in February, that major alterations could be made over the next several months.

"We've got a lot of free agents, and every year the roster changes," Cashman said. "I can't really tell you what constitutes major or not, but we do have a lot of players that are free agents. Almost every one of them has contributed in a big way here. We always have tough decisions every winter."

The Yankees would love to get younger and cheaper, keeping managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner's $189 million payroll target in mind for 2014, but Cashman said they're also fine with re-signing older players if they happen to be better than available options. Raul Ibanez, who hit several huge home runs down the stretch and in the postseason, was a prime example.

"I'm not going to apologize for it," Cashman said. "We go there and we are old. If you're old and still good, then it's not an issue."

Despite the punchless postseason showing, Cashman also said the Yankees won't get away from how he sees their ideal makeup: selective hitters with power, or as he prefers to summarize it, "big, hairy monsters."

"I am not going to turn myself into, as Joe used earlier in the year, 'the Bronx Bunters,' because all of a sudden we didn't hit for this week in October," Cashman said. "That's not our DNA. That's not what makes us successful and that's certainly not what's getting us in the postseason every year but one year [2008] since I got here."

CONTRACT ISSUES

Free agents: Eric Chavez 1B/3B, Freddy Garcia RHP, Ibanez OF/DH, Andruw Jones OF/DH, Derek Lowe RHP, Hiroki Kuroda RHP, Russell Martin C, Andy Pettitte LHP, Mariano Rivera RHP, Ichiro Suzuki OF, Nick Swisher OF/1B.

Eligible for arbitration: Joba Chamberlain RHP, Brett Gardner OF, Phil Hughes RHP, Boone Logan LHP, Casey McGehee 1B/3B, Jayson Nix IF/LF, David Robertson RHP.

Club options: David Aardsma RHP ($500,000), Robinson Cano 2B ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Pedro Feliciano LHP ($4.5 million club option), Curtis Granderson OF ($15 million or $2 million buyout), Rafael Soriano RHP ($14 million player option or $1.5 million buyout).

A position-by-position look at where the 2012 roster stands going into 2013:

Catcher
The Yankees approached Martin with a three-year extension before the season, which Martin declined, gambling that his 2012 season would produce bigger numbers. That didn't pay off, as Martin batted under .200 for much of the campaign before finishing at .211 with 21 homers and 53 RBIs in 133 games.

Martin's bat picked up late in the year, and he earned raves from the pitching staff, which might be enough to bring him back next season. The Yankees do not view Chris Stewart or Francisco Cervelli as starting catchers, and Minor League catchers Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez aren't ready to take the reins.

First Base
The Yankees are set with Mark Teixeira at first base, as the switch-hitter enters the fifth season of his 10-year contract. Teixeira had an eight-season streak of reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs snapped -- he missed most of September with a left calf injury -- and was also slowed early in the year by a nagging cough. The four-time Gold Glove Award winner batted .251 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs in 123 games. Swisher showed himself to be a capable first baseman in 41 games, and Chavez saw 10 games of duty.

Second Base
There is still a fair amount of head-scratching over Cano's postseason struggles coming off a red-hot finish to his campaign, one in which he batted .313 with a career-high 33 homers and 94 RBIs in 161 games. But they'll chalk it up to a bad nine-game skid; the Yankees aim to pick up Cano's $15 million option for 2013 and will consider a contract extension in the near future as well. Nix proved himself a capable backup, and the Yankees should take looks at prospects David Adams, Corban Joseph and Jose Pirela in the spring.

Shortstop
Derek Jeter led the Major Leagues with 216 hits this season, batting .316 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs in 159 games. The Yankees will keep their eyes on Jeter as he enters his age-39 season and returns from the fractured left ankle he suffered in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, but Girardi still sees Jeter as a viable everyday shortstop and doesn't expect the injury to change that.

The Yankees have Nix and Eduardo Nunez on board as backups; an experiment with Nunez as a utility player has been scrapped and the Yankees are trying to develop him only as a shortstop, potentially as trade bait.

Third Base
Alex Rodriguez was essentially reduced to a well-paid platoon player in the postseason, his struggles against right-handed pitching so glaring (0-for-18, 12 strikeouts) that Girardi and Cashman agreed the Yankees had a better chance of winning games with A-Rod on the bench. Still, the Yankees believe Rodriguez is healthy and see him as their everyday third baseman in 2013.

While trade talk may continue to stir, Rodriguez is under contract through 2017 at a price tag of $114 million guaranteed, making it extremely unlikely the Yankees will find a trade partner. Chavez was Rodriguez's primary backup and enjoyed a comeback season, hitting .281 with 16 homers.

Outfield
The Yankees' changes for 2013 could begin with Swisher's expected departure following yet another batch of postseason struggles in the Bronx. After hitting .272 with 24 homers and 93 RBIs in 148 regular-season games, Swisher could land a multi-year contract elsewhere; the Yankees will likely make just a one-year qualifying offer to ensure they pick up Draft compensation.

Center fielder Granderson is coming off a career-high 43 home run showing and remains under team control with a club option that the Yankees are expected to pick up, prepared to live with his strikeouts in exchange for power. Gardner should return to the mix after missing most of 2012 with a right elbow injury. It would not be surprising to see the Yankees tender an offer to Ichiro, who batted .322 in 67 games after being acquired from the Mariners, though an outfield with Gardner and Ichiro doesn't replace Swisher's power. Zoilo Almonte, Chris Dickerson and Melky Mesa should get looks in the spring.

Designated Hitter
Ibanez etched his name in the Yankees' postseason books with a late run of clutch home runs, giving the team its money's worth after signing him away from the Phillies this spring. Ibanez turned 40 during the season and said he isn't sure about his future, with retirement thought to be on his mind. The Yankees are ready to cut ties with Jones, who hit just .197 and was left off the playoff roster.

Rotation
The Yankees expect to have CC Sabathia back to head the rotation after surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow, but there are question marks beyond that. Pettitte will again wrestle with retirement, but he hinted that a light workload didn't fully exhaust his pitching itch. Kuroda jumped to the AL and was a wise $10 million investment, but could now command a multiyear deal as a free agent.

Hughes figures to be back with a raise through arbitration, and the Yankees need to decide what to make of Ivan Nova after his late-season struggles bumped him from the playoff rosters. The Yankees could also have David Phelps and Adam Warren compete for a rotation spot. Michael Pineda is coming off labrum surgery and isn't expected to be ready until June; Manny Banuelos would have been in this mix but will miss the entire year following Tommy John surgery.

Bullpen
Soriano is expected to take advantage of a 42-save season to opt out of his contract, leaving a $14 million pay day on the table in search of a new multiyear deal. The Yankees were fortunate to have Soriano around as an insurance policy when Rivera went down for the year in May, but it's unclear if they will pursue a new deal with Soriano.

Rivera told Cashman that he isn't sure about pitching in 2013, though the Yankees will certainly have a contract for him if he says the word. Losing both Soriano and Rivera could press Robertson back into closer duty. As currently comprised, the Yankees' bullpen also figures to include several selections from the group of Chamberlain, Cody Eppley, Logan and Clay Rapada. Lowe's sinker ball style worked well in the bullpen, but he might seek offers to start. The Yankees also have promising righty Mark Montgomery working his way up the chain.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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RiverDogs' Aircraft carrier derby voted top promo

Most creative Minor League Baseball promotions inspire employees of other teams to react with sentiments along the lines of "Why didn't I think of that?"

And then there was the event that the Charleston RiverDogs staged on June 18, at which the sentiments were more likely to be along the lines of "I never would of thought of that!"

The event in question, the 2012 MiLBY award winner for Promotion of the Year, was truly unprecedented: the RiverDogs held the first round of the South Atlantic League Home Run Derby on the deck of the USS Yorktown, a decommissioned World War II-era aircraft carrier turned living history museum stationed on the Charleston Harbor. Derby participants, standing within a makeshift inflatable batting cage, blasted baseballs into the water (where they were summarily retrieved by volunteers on jet skis).

The RiverDogs' aquatic revitalization of a moribund All-Star festivities staple beat out 11 other contenders en route to being voted 2012's best promotion by MiLB.com readers. And for good reason, as this was an event that truly had it all: stunning visuals along with copious local and national media attention. It also had both a national sponsorship and philanthropic tie-in via MillerCoors' "Welcome Back to the High Life" initiative for returning American veterans. Oh, and that there was a cameo from RiverDogs co-owner Bill Murray (the team's "director of fun") sure didn't hurt.

The idea to stage the derby on the USS Yorktown came courtesy of Dan Migala, sports business expert and co-founder of the Chicago-based Property Consulting Group (PCG). Migala, a self-described "think-big kind of guy," was brought aboard (so to speak) by RiverDogs general manager Dave Echols and industry icon Mike Veeck of the Goldklang Group (which owns the RiverDogs in addition to several other Minor League teams).

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Migala has experience with military-themed promotions dating back to his time as vice president of creative partnerships for the San Diego Padres, where he worked extensively with team president Tom Garfinkel to engage with the region's military population. He was brainstorming ways to engage with Charleston baseball fans in a similar fashion when inspiration struck.

"If anything, this is a lesson in the process of thinking big and going beyond the ballpark," said Migala. "When I first saw [the USS Yorktown], it was like the scene in Field of Dreams. But instead of seeing a baseball field in the cornfield, in this case it was on an aircraft carrier. From there, it was a matter of working out the logistics and finding a [sponsorship] partner, because this wasn't the type of event where it was just 'insert sponsor here.'"

Enter Miller High Life, whose "Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life" promotional campaign seeks to provide veterans "with thousands of memorable 'High Life' experiences, such as tickets to professional sporting events and concerts." This iconic brand was eager to partner with the RiverDogs on this unique Home Run Derby, once Migala approached them with what he calls "seven innings worth of an idea."

"The goal is then for the sponsor to come in and be the closer, so to speak," continued Migala. "And [Miller High Life] did that. They customized it by partnering with local bars, producing online videos and having [commercial spokesperson] Wendell Middlebrooks attend. ... For Minor League Baseball marketers to unlock national sponsorship dollars, you need to create an idea that sponsors want to invest in at that level. [Miller High Life] was looking at this as a national promotion, using Minor League Baseball as the foundation to tell their story."

"We always strive to provide our loyal High Life drinkers with innovative and fun opportunities," wrote Miller High Life brand manager Brendan Noonan in an email. "We are proud that our involvement in the derby was tied to our 'Welcome Veterans Back to the High Life' initiative that helped veterans across the country enjoy some of life's little luxuries this past summer."

As Migala was working on the sponsorship parameters, Echols was engaged in the task of making sure that the derby would work on a logistical level. The USS Yorktown is now part of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, and Echols said that the museum was eager to participate as they are "trying to find revenue-generating events, and always looking for ways to highlight the uniqueness of the ship."

Securing permission to hit baseballs into the harbor was a bigger concern for Echols and his staff, and in this regard he likely became the first general manager to deal with Harbor Police and the Department of Homeland Security while coordinating a promotion.

"We had to work to assure them, and then the community, that we wouldn't be letting balls drop to the bottom, as this could endanger animals and the environment," he said.

The aforementioned "volunteers on jet skis" took care of this potential problem, and Echols soon secured the necessary approvals from the various governmental agencies and city governments (on both sides of the water) that were needed to make the derby a reality. And soon, that's just what it was -- a glorious reality.

Approximately 400 fans attended the free event, with their access to the USS Yorktown granted upon providing a not-so-secret password of "Home Run Derby." These fans lined the sides and upper-deck sections of the USS Yorktown as some of the SAL's top hitting prospects blasted baseballs beneath an inflatable batting cage provided by InMotionAir. ("They sent me a blast email out the blue, advertising inflatable batting cages," recalled Echols. "Once I saw that, I thought, 'My goodness, someone wants to make this work.' Everything just fell into place.")

American war veterans honored by Miller High Life also were taking swings beneath the inflatable cage along with Murray, a recent inductee into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame. Echols reports that the resulting local media coverage of the event "moved the needle" when it came to ticket sales for the following evening's All-Star Game at Joseph P. Riley Stadium, and though that was the main event, this is the rare instance in which a Home Run Derby ultimately overshadowed the game itself.

"It was a total team effort and a flawless promotion that was fun to be a part of from start to finish," said Echols. "The combination of an influential industry leader in Dan Migala, the Veeck flair and a national sponsor gave our fans and the All-Star players a lifetime memory, and that is something our entire staff is extremely proud of."

"In order to think outside of the box, we removed the batter's box," said Migala. "This could start a trend."

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