Unless there is a quid pro quo for Alex, this makes little sense.

Brackman is now on the 40 man roster.

This was, IMO, a stupid signing. Brackman had little leverage except for returning to college. He had no future in basketball. Unless there is a quid pro quo for Alex, this makes little sense.

can someone explain the details of a ‘ML contract.’ does he have to be added to the 40-man, 25-man or something? within what timeframe?

~~the yankees can afford to take risks with potentially big payoffs~~

That is an excellent point, Dan. The Yankees are assuming more risk and spending more money in exchange for acquiring players who have higher upsides. The Yankees have a comparative advantage in that they can do this whereas others cannot. By the way, the amount paid in bonuses to these six players ($6.8 million)is still $3.2 million less than what they are paying Carl Pavano this year.

Besides, word from Dr. Andrews, at least via Brackman, is that he doesn’t need TJ surgery…

cashman could be following the billy beane model of recent years… he seems to believe that the risk of injury isnt as great as the potential gain from investing in an injury risk (or a malcontent such as milton bradley and frank thomas). Not sure if that makes sense, but more simply: guys are undervalued when they are injured or are injury-prone, so get them while their value is low.

the yankees can afford to take risks with potentially big payoffs

Well, probably because the Lieber deal worked out pretty well, for one year at least. It’s not a bad strategy really, they just missed on Dotel. The jury is still out on the others.