Aaron Boone injured his left knee while playing basketball on January 16th and is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the damage on February 10th. The Yankees won't disclose the specifics of 3B-R Boone's injury until after the surgery, but there's a high likelihood that he tore his ACL. Boone incurred a similar injury in 2000 when he partially tore the ACL in his left-knee in July, requiring surgery in early August of that year. As he needed seven months to recover from that knee injury, the 30-year-old likely will be out at the very least until after the All-Star break because of this incident.

Boone's contract prohibits him from playing basketball in order to minimize his risk of incurring injury, potentially giving the Yankees the ability to void the deal. However, New York does not appear set to address that issue until after Boone's surgery. Given their deep pockets, I don't expect the Yankees to vacate the contract. I suspect they'll instead use this opportunity to convince Boone to agree to a contract extension at a price lower than what he might expect as a free agent at the close of the year. Of course, that still leaves the club short a third baseman heading into the 2004 season. Comments from GM Brian Cashman indicate that the team may be more concerned about defense at third than offense. The Yankees feel their offense can support a weak spot in the order, but their fielding already is substandard.

C/CI-L Tyler Houston signed a minor league contract with the Yankees in late January and will receive an opportunity to compete for the third base job in spring training. While Houston missed a sizable portion of 2003 due to injury, he's healthy now. However, the 33-year-old apparently lacks the defensive skills the Yankees desire in their full-time starter, and his limited plate discipline could lead to problems at the plate, though he offers some power.

Earlier this week, New York reportedly competed a deal with the Rangers, sending RHP Jose Garcia to Texas for C/CR-L Mike Lamb. The Yankees signed Garcia as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela in 1999, but he didn't pitch outside of the Venezuelan and Dominican Summer Leagues until 2003. The 22-year-old spent most of last season at A Battle Creek in the Midwest League with a short stint at A+ Tampa in the Florida State League. Garcia demonstrated solid control with limited dominance, though he was old for the Midwest League. Playing against competition at A+ and AA in 2004 should be a better test of his skills, but he could develop into a decent starter.

Lamb only spent a short time in the majors in 2003 due to the Rangers' excess of talent at his positions, however he continued to display useful skills at AAA Oklahoma in the Pacific Coast League. If the Yankees are comfortable with his defense, the 28-year-old's sound plate discipline and solid power offer them more offensively than their other possible replacements at third.

SS-R Erick Almonte, UT-R Miguel Cairo, and IF-S Enrique Wilson also will compete for the job in spring training. Of all the candidates, Wilson probably offers the most defensively. The former shortstop regularly posts a range factor at third base among the league leaders, and if Wilson maintains that level of excellence in regular playing time, he adds more to the New York defense than even Boone offers.

Yankee third base "prospect" Drew Henson probably would have received cursory consideration, but Henson recently bowed to pressure to leave baseball for professional football. He forfeited the remaining $12M he was scheduled to make over the final three seasons of the six-year, $17M contract he signed with New York when the Yankees drafted him out of high school with a third round pick in the 1998 draft. Whether due to overly rapid advancement in the first few years of his career or a lack of focus on baseball, the right-handed hitter never developed the plate discipline or fielding consistency to succeed even in the upper minors. Meanwhile, the huge gap between Henson's performance and the expectations created by his contract turned him into a punch line.

The Yankees also signed IF-R Felix Escalona and IF-R Homer Bush to minor league deals, but neither likely will receive a long look in spring training . Bush left baseball in 2003 in order to seek treatment for hip pain that threatened to end his career. The 31-year-old likely will require some time in the minors in order to re-establish his routine, and unless he catches someone's eye with a stunning performance at AAA Columbus, I don't expect New York to give him his break.

Instead of sending Escalona back to the minors for the development time he needed after surviving his Rule 5 season, Tampa Bay kept him in the majors for a brief while in 2003 before eventually losing him on waivers to Baltimore when they tried to sneak him off their 40-man. The Orioles also failed to place the 24-year-old in a stable environment commensurate with his limited maturity. While there's still some chance he could develop into a major league player after a few years of uninterrupted time in the minors, Escalona shouldn't be a factor in the big leagues any time soon.

In other Yankee news, 2B-R Alfonso Soriano agreed to a one-year, $5.4M contract on January 20th. Given New York's willingness to throw money around, I'm amazed at the way they've seemingly mishandled Soriano. Despite his obvious patience issues and questionable defense, the 26-year-old is clearly a talented player, providing both power and speed from second base. I would expect a shrewd club with ample means to capitalize on the popular perception that Soriano didn't meet expectations in 2003, using that slant to negotiate a sensible multi-year deal. Instead, the club will need to pay out the nose to keep one of their few remaining homegrown players should Soriano take the next step forward in his development and truly discover the value of a walk.

1B-S Tony Clark signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Yankees in mid-January. He'll also receive an additional $25,000 when he reaches 350 plate appearances and for every 25 PA up through 475 PA. New York expects him to make the team out of spring training as their primary back-up at first base. Clark's power began to return last season, though his plate discipline hasn't yet rebounded from the dip it took when he moved from starting to working off the bench. He isn't an adequate replacement for Nick Johnson if Giambi can't regularly play the field.