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One Yankee compared Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman's team meeting on Tuesday to the legendary one the duo had in June of 2009 in Atlanta that is credited by some with turning that championship season around.

The results of the 2012 get-together are still to be determined, but one Yankee told ESPN New York that the message was simple.

"A lot of people might blow the slow start out of perspective, but they wanted to keep it in perspective," the player said.

Even with the Yankees having lost six-of-seven, it was a matter-of-fact discussion, the player said. Girardi has said he isn't one to knock over tables, believing an even-keel is the best way to get the most out of his team.

The meeting, which was first reported by Jack Curry of YES, has now preceded two wins in a row. After the Yankees' 8-3 win over the Royals, Girardi declined to even acknowledge that he spoke to the team, saying that if he wanted the media know about it he would have PR head Jason Zillo send out invitations.

Meanwhile, fresh off his two-home run game, Alex Rodriguez saluted the talk without giving up too many details.

"Joe gave us a great talk," Rodriguez said. "He is a great manager. He has a lot of faith in us."

Yankees GM Brian Cashman will talk with Joe Girardi, Larry Rothschild and his scouts on Monday, but it is not a foregone conclusion that Andy Pettitte will pitch this weekend against the Mariners.

"We have an off day [today]," Cashman said from the dentist's office this morning. "There are five other guys in the current rotation and when is he ready for us? Do we want to add him now? How do you slot him in? Where do you slot him in? Does he need another outing? I don't have to make a decision on any of that stuff today."

So let us take a look. The Yankees have Ivan Nova, David Phelps and CC Sabathia lined up for the next three games against the Tampa Bay Rays. The easy move would be to take Phil Hughes out of the rotation, after his poor April. However, following Hughes' strong start Sunday, the Yankees may think he is on an uptick and may not want to lift him out of the rotation.

"I thought he was great," Cashman said of Hughes' 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball in Kansas City Sunday.

If the Yankees don't lift Hughes from the rotation, then after Hiroki Kuroda's start on Friday vs. Seattle, Hughes is scheduled to go on Saturday. Sunday is Ivan Nova's turn.

However, they could insert Pettitte between two of those righties to create a righty-lefty alternating setup to their rotation and push Hughes and/or Nova back one day. Pettitte would then start on Saturday, followed by Hughes Sunday and then Nova in Baltimore for the Yankees' two-gamer there. Phelps would be bounced from the rotation and Sabathia would pitch in the second game in Baltimore next Tuesday.

Under this scenario your Yankee rotation would go in the following order: Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettitte, Hughes and Nova.

There is a lot for Cashman and his lieutenants to figure out. They could also decide that Pettitte needs one more tune-up, even if he says he is ready.

In Mariano Rivera's absence, Cashman isn't going to move Hughes out of the rotation as a way to make the seventh inning stronger.

This makes sense if the Yankees still believe -- which I think they do -- that Hughes can be a very good starter. They aren't prepared to give up on him in the rotation so I don't think he is going to be the odd man out. At least, not yet.

If the Yankees determine they have better options in the rotation, that is when Hughes would lose his spot.

"My feeling is always the same," Cashmans said. "Any starter out of the rotation would be out of the bullpen. Everyone is focusing on Phil. Let's remember, Phil was used as the setup guy. That circumstance occurred before because there was a void. Whatever you ask about Phil, you can ask about CC.

"Listen, I'm not motivated to move any of our starters in the rotation just because there is a perceived, 'Who do we have for the sixth and seventh inning?' "

Here is my story.

The perjury trial for Roger Clemens begins today and reporters covering the case say that Brian Cashman is still on the government's witness list. Andy Pettitte is also expected to testify.

It's not quite as sexy as last year's "The Red Sox are the favorites,'' but still Brian Cashman won;t go so far as to pick his own team to win the division. Read the whole story here

With more charges against Brian Cashman's alleged stalker, Louise Neathway, comes the news that she pretended to be a reporter, according to prosecutors. This is from the AP story:

Prosecutors say a woman accused of stalking and shaking down New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman disguised her voice as a man's to call Cashman and posed as a newspaper employee to call his office.

The Yankees' front office has maintained this is a personal issue and it has no impact on Cashman's job or his status with the team.

The answer is, not very wrong at all, if the question is "Who should get the job as the No. 5 starter in the Yankees rotation?''

And as in most recent Yankee spring trainings, that is the only real question to be settled here, other than will it be Clay Rapada or Cesar Cabral as the ''other'' situational lefty out of the bullpen, and should they go with salted or unsalted sunflower seeds in the dugout this season?

All spring training, myself and my colleagues on the beat have been trying to read the tea leaves, in Brian Cashman's favorite phrase, to figure out who will be awarded this largely unimportant job because, frankly, there is no other issue to be decided. Like a Clearwater motel on spring break week, the Yankees simply have no vacancies.

But this week, things have gotten downright silly. This morning, GAK III of the Post virtually anointed Freddy Garcia the No. 4 starter, with the No. 5 spot coming down to either Michael Pineda or Ivan Nova. Feinsand of the News took a more cautious approach, writing about the "tough decision'' Joe Girardi will have to make over the next few days.

With all due respect to both gentlemen, whom I respect and consider friends, this is much ado about very little.

First of all, Freddy Garcia has been handed nothing yet, and if anything, seems the easiest of the three to relegate to bullpen duty without serious aftershocks. He's a veteran, not prone to being rattled by a change of assignment or scenery, having pitched for six teams over 13 years. He's no prima donna, and will not pout if his precious "routine'' is interrupted. And while he hasn't pitched out of the bullpen much, he has shown himself capable of pitching well in pressure situations. So if anyone can handle being given the short straw, it is Freddy.

And second of all, how ''tough'' a decision can it be when just about any choice Girardi makes can be reversed at any time? He's got six starters and none of them has pitched himself out of contention. So if he goes with, say, Freddy as No. 5 and sends Ivan Nova to the pen and it doesn't work out, he flip-flops them a month from now. You can substitute any names you want into that last sentence and it remains the same story.

Whatever Girardi's decision is - if it is, in fact, his decision in the first place -- it can hardly be very wrong, because it's not even close to permanent. And then, on May 1, Andy Pettitte comes back we have all this fun all over again.

Girardi said yesterday the four pitchers are still being evaluated and that each could still show him something that could tip the scales one way or the other.

This, too, is hogwash, because if the spring numbers really counted for anything, the guy fighting for his spot in the rotation would be CC Sabathia, who with an 0-1 record and 4.50 spring ERA and healthy .298 opponent's batting average against him, might well be locked into the Drive for No. 5 with Nova, who is at 1-2, 6.86 and .280.

But Girardi anointed CC his ace before a pitch was thrown, and rightfully so, and handed the No. 2 spot -- and the start in the April 13 home opener at Yankee Stadium -- to Hiroki Kuroda, who after a shaky start has had a fine spring (2-1, 2.91). Phil Hughes should have nailed down the No. 3 spot with his rebound performance this March (2.03 ERA, .220 OBA).

That leaves Pineda, who the Yankees thought enough of to part with Jesus Montero in order to obtain, Nova, who win 16 games last year, and Freddy, who has 13 years of experience and a lifetime of guile and guts on his resume, battling it out for two jobs.

So no matter which way Girardi goes, how wrong can he really be?

The answer is, not very wrong at all.

Here is the news story.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman appeared on "The Ian O'Connor Show'' this morning on ESPN New York 1050 and had some interesting things to say about the re-signing of Andy Pettitte, the low V-lo of Michael Pineda and the arch-rival Boston Red Sox.

Give a listen here.

From motivator to mediator, that's what I moved from. Here are some new things to know if you didn't read the updated Russell Martin story from night.

1) Martin's agent, Matt Colleran, told me that he and GM Brian Cashman spoke Wednesday. Cashman has since confirmed that.

Colleran said to me that he expects to give the Yankees a counter-proposal soon. Cashman said that he is open to continuing extension talks, but is waiting to hear back from Colleran.

2) The Yankees' initial offer was designed to be a three year deal, including this season. Since, the two sides have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $7.5M contract. If a new contract were agreed to, the sides would rip up this year's deal.

3) CBS' Heyman tweeted the Yankees would do a three-year, $20M deal. I have not been told exact numbers, but Heyman's figures seem like the range I would expect based on the conversations that I have had.

4) Ultimately, if the Yankees won't go higher, I tend to doubt that a deal will be done. When I mentioned three-years, $24-30M to one Yankee insider, they thought that was too much of a spread.

5) One more point: The Yankees can't finagle salaries so they are artificially lower in 2014 to reach their goal of being below $189M that year. The way the luxury tax works, it is based on average annual value. So they really can't do any discounted deals.

It is ancient history now, but Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that the team conceded the AL East in 2010. Does Joe Girardi agree with his boss?

"I did not concede the division," Girardi said.

Girardi said he tried to win every game, losing the point that no one said he didn't try to win, but that there were instances where he used Chad Gaudin instead of Mariano Rivera and that, at the end of the year, the Yankees turned to Dustin Moseley in Game 162 when they were in a tie for first place. They were satisfied with the wild card, which was the right call.

"We conceded the division two years ago because of the previous setup," Cashman said the other day.

Girardi is arguing as if he didn't do the right thing. With the setup then, the right move was to play for the postseason and rest your players so they were most prepared for October.

Girardi did admit with the new wild-card system, he would not have started Moseley in that last game. Still, he clearly didn't like his GM's description.

"What bothers me with that is when it comes out that way, it's almost like we weren't trying to win games," said Girardi, sounding more and more annoyed. "Now, when have you ever known me not to try to win a game? You saw how I managed against Tampa, bringing in all the left-handers to face the left-handers, the right-handers to face the right-handers. We had people hurt, and we had to get them healthy. Now, if it's in the month of May and a guy has to sit down for a week because he's hurt, no one says you're taking your foot off the gas.

"But because it's in the month of September, it was perceived that we weren't trying to win. That's not the case. I was trying to win every game. I wanted home-field advantage. I wanted to win our division. But I had a guy with a broken toe, a guy with I think Swish, I'm not sure, what it his knee two years ago? And his elbow last year? I believe that's what it was. Last year was his elbow, so I had to deal with that.

"I wasn't taking my foot off the gas. It was just the sense that we were banged up and we were getting them healthy, like we would in May, June, July or August. But when it's in the month of September, I think it's perceived a little bit differently."

This year, it will be different, for sure.

We will be writing more about this soon.

The Yankees announced today they have signed David Aardsma, a 30-year-old righty who saved 69 games in 2009 and 2010 for the Seattle Mariners but did not pitch last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery last July 22.

Brian Cashman, who just announced the deal in the Yankees clubhouse, called the signing "an R&D move'' -- for Research & Development -- meaning Aardsma, who will immediately be placed on the DL, is targeted more for next year than this season, although the GM did not rule out the possibility that Aardsma could pitch in the second half of the 2012 season.

"He's about a month behind Joba,'' Cashman said, referring to Joba Chamberlain, who had his surgery last June. "He's a guy who could help us this year, but who we expect to help us next year.''

Cashman compared the signing of Aardsma to the signing in 2003 of Jon Lieber, who recovered to win 14 games for the Yankees in 2004. Aardsma will be paid $500,000 for this season with incentives if he makes it to the big leagues.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained,'' Cashman said. "He's a power arm we picked up for $100,000 over the minimum (salary) and we feel it could have a nice payoff down the road.''

Cashman said the stockpiling of bullpen arms has nothing to do with the possibility that Mariano Rivera will retire at the end of this season. "This was in the works long before that,'' he said.

To make room for Aardsma on the 40-man roster, Pedro Feliciano, rehabbing from shoulder surgery, was moved to the 60-day disabled list, which is also Aardsma's ultimate destination in order to make room on the roster for Eric Chavez once his deal becomes official. Cashman said Aardsma will join the Yankees in camp on Monday.

UPDATE: Here is the Aardsma release:

The New York Yankees today announced they have signed right-handed pitcher David Aardsma to a one-year Major League contract with a club option for 2013.

Aardsma, 30, has made 254 career relief appearances over parts of six Major League seasons with San Francisco (2004), Chicago-NL (2006), Chicago-AL (2007), Boston (2008) and Seattle (2009-10), going 13-15 with a 4.20 ERA (265.2 IP, 124 ER).

He began the 2011 season on the 15-day disabled list recovering from labral left hip surgery, which was performed on January 3, 2011. He made a brief rehab stint with Triple-A Tacoma from April 19-29, before having his rehab halted with right arm soreness. He was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on June 13 and underwent “Tommy John” surgery in July, missing the remainder of the season.

From 2009-10, the right-hander ranked fifth in the American League with 69 saves, trailing Mariano Rivera (77), Jonathan Papelbon (75), Joakim Soria (73) and Brian Fuentes (72). With 38 saves in 2009 and 31 in 2010, he became just the fourth pitcher in Mariners history to record multiple 30-save seasons. Overall, he has converted 69-of-83 (83.1%) career save opportunities.

The Colorado native was originally selected by San Francisco in the first round (22^nd overall pick) of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft.

In a corresponding move, the Yankees placed LHP Pedro Feliciano on the 60-day disabled list to make room on the 40-man roster.

Two years after the fact, the truth comes out: as many suspected, the Yankees weren't trying to win their division in the final weeks of the 2010 season, preferring to face their own personal Washington Generals, the Minnesota Twins, in the ALDS than the Cliff Lee-led Texas Rangers.

Although Yankees manager Joe Girardi angrily considered questions that even hinted at that possibility "questioning my integrity'' back in September of 2010, GM Brian Cashman acknowledged the obvious on Sunday when asked if he was in favor of adding another wild-card team to the playoff mix.

"I like it and we're Exhibit A,'' he said. "We conceded the division two years ago because of the previous set-up.''

Cashman said the difference that year between winning the division and being the wild card was "a T-shirt and a hat.''

In reality, losing the division meant being rewarded by facing a weaker team in the first round and buying some time to get healthy before facing Lee and the Rangers. In the end, it didn't really matter -- the Yankees lost the ALCS in six games -- but it exposed a major flaw in the system that the addition of a second wild-card team, and one-game play-in, could eliminate.

"It's going to create a lot of buzz and excitement and meaningful games deeper into
the season, as it should be,'' Cashman said. "It certainly brings back the importance
of being a division winner again.''

As for the Yankees admittedly less-than-honest effort at the end of 2010, Cashman said, "I felt we made the appropriate decision. I won't say we gave it away because Tampa earned it, but we were willing to not win it if it meant putting ourselves in a better position to move forward in October. Those are choices that I think it's best to eliminate from the equation.''

Yankees GM Brian Cashman addressed the very public stalker situation. Here is our news story.

It's February 19 and future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, near Hall of Famer Johnny Damon, future Japan League Hall of Famer Hideki Matsui and Raul Ibanez, , a dependable 25HR-95 RBI guy the past eight years, are all out of work.

And to hear Yankees GM Brian Cashman tell it, it's because all of them are waiting by the telephone hoping for a call from the Bronx.

“In fairness to those guys, there’s an obvious need here in New York with a team that’s considered a contender that probably every one of those guys wants before they make their final decisions on other opportunities,'' Cashman said. "There's a vacancy sign here and everybody knows it. They’re probably sitting on the board waiting because of that reason, they’re all hoping to be that guy.''

Cashman was circumspect about who the Yankees might sign but the front-runner is known to be Ibanez because of his ability to play the outfield. Eric Chavez, who played 58 games for the Yankees last season but spent three months on the disabled list after breaking his foot, is also in the mix but more likely as a backup infielder than a DH. Damon, who called Cashman the other day, was told basically, thanks but no thanks.

"The preference would be to find someone from the left side that can do some damage against right-handed pitching, but at the same time, in the event we have injuries that hit in-season, that my manager could put out for defense,'' Cashman said.

If you feel you fit those requirements, submit your resume to B Cashman c/o The New York Yankees, and wait for your callback. But be warned: There's a lot of other guys sitting in front of the telephone waiting for the same thing.