No arbitration for Hughes: Yankees SP Phil Hughes agreed to a one-year, $3.2 million deal on Monday in order to avoid salary arbitration, according to reports. Hughes, who made $2.7 million last season, also has performance-based bonuses in his new contract. Hughes went 5-5 with a 5.79 ERA in 17 appearances (14 starts) last year. (Updated 01/16/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 2/12/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Hughes is expected to compete for the fifth spot in New York's starting rotation during the spring after the team added SPs Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda last week. A shoulder injury severely hindered Hughes last season, but he showed he can be a capable starter when he finished 18-8 during the 2010 campaign. Fantasy owners should monitor his status as he could be a rebound candidate if he lands a starting position. (Updated 01/16/2012).
12/14/2011 12:20 Projections Snapshot: Throwing out first pitch on projections
In his first look at pitchers, our Al Melchior highlights four hurlers who will likely be targeted as No. 3 or 4 starters, including the Rangers' reliever-turned-starter Neftali Feliz.
12/13/2011 11:23 Top 300 overall for 2012
Our Scott White lays out an initial Top 300 overall list for owners looking to get a jump on Draft Day next spring.
Coming off an 18-win season that included a trip to the All-Star game, Phil Hughes was supposed to take the next step toward becoming a mainstay in the Yankees rotation in 2011. Instead, he went all Chien-Ming Wang on his Fantasy owners (2009, anyone?), imploding with a 13.94 ERA in his first three starts. It's not like his problems began there. Reports of his reduced velocity first surfaced in spring training, and when his fastball was still topping out in the 80s come April ... well, you can understand why he struggled. Fortunately, a couple months of rest helped him regain his velocity, and he was at least competent to close out the season. But the ordeal weighed on the front office to the point that it no longer considers Hughes a lock for the starting rotation. In fact, with Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda added this offseason, the Yankees have room for only one of A.J. Burnett, Freddy Garcia and Hughes in their starting rotation. Hughes' bullpen experience could easily make him the odd man out, but given his long-term appeal, the Yankees might prefer to keep him in the rotation. Given his upside on a playoff-caliber team, he's worth a late-round pick in mixed leagues. (Updated 2/1/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start