Fleece Factor recently had the distinguished privilege of sitting down with Kat O’Brien of Newsday in New York to discuss all things Yankees. O’ Brien serves as a beat writer for the team and keeps a daily blog of the Yankee universe that is a must read. Her blog can be found here.

O’Brien, a Notre Dame grad, began covering the Yankees this past season for Newsday. Before her time in NY, O’Brien covered the Texas Rangers for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Fleece Factor - Everyone’s favorite storyline that seems to never end - where do you see the Johan Santana story ultimately ending? Does he get dealt or does Minnesota just end up holding onto him for now? If he gets dealt, where to? Could he be in pinstripes or do you buy Hank’s proclamations that the Yanks are out of it?

Kat O’Brien- I think Johan Santana does ultimately wind up getting traded. It’s been my feeling all along that the Yankees would wind up with him. I’ve become less and less convinced of that, though, and could see the Mets winding up with him. I wouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point. I don’t feel like Hank Steinbrenner has ever been utterly convinced not to get him, and I think anything could happen. The Yankees’ rotation, as is, could be great but there is a lot of risk involved.

Fleece Factor - With Joba pitching so well in the 8th last year, do you see any way he stays in that role for 2008? Seems awfully risky to try and go with Farnsworth and Hawkins as your set-up men, correct?

Kat O’Brien- As the Yankees are currently constituted, I see Joba Chamberlain as a starter with Ian Kennedy likely the odd man out. Chamberlain will have innings/pitch limits, though, which could mean some time in the bullpen.

I would definitely be concerned about using Kyle Farnsworth as a set-up guy, but I do think LaTroy Hawkins was a good pick-up. Between the two of them, one should be able to set up.

Fleece Factor - Aside from the young trio of starting pitchers, there is a lot of age on this edition of the Yankees.  Did you see this as a problem last season and do you think they will suffer from it in 2008?

Kat O’Brien - There certainly is a lot of age among the starting position players and part of the rotation (Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte). Most of those players are at such a high level, though, that you’d still take them over most alternatives. For instance, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter may all bein their mid-30s, but their level of play surpasses that of most competitors.

One concern with players as they get older is that they may need more days off and may be more prone to minor injuries. Overall, though, I don’t think it’s too big of a worry.

Fleece Factor - Looking at the Yankees right now, do you see a team that could contend with the Red Sox in 2008 or do you think they need a few upgrades to get to that level?

Kat O’Brien- I think the Red Sox look like favorites on paper, but as Jeter so frequently points out, the games aren’t played on paper. The Yankees are definitely within the ballpark that they could be better than the Red Sox.

Fleece Factor - Clearly, a lot of Yankees were included in the Mitchell Report as users of Performance Enhancing Drugs. A) Does the organization seem to care all that much about the high number of players (both past and present) that have been “outed” as cheaters? B) How do you think the fans and media will handle the Pettite admission that he did use HGH?

Kat O’Brien- Regarding the large number of Yankees named in the Mitchell Report, I don’t think anybody in the organization is pleased about that. However, I think they believe that the fact that McNamee and Radomski are both from New York is the reason so many Yankees and Mets were named. If someone from Chicago or LA or Kansas City had been an informant, I think there would have been a lot of players named from those cities.

I doubt people will be too hard on Andy Pettitte, given that he admitted trying HGH and that it was a mistake. It also, as it stands, was a brief use and not for a long period of time.

Fleece Factor - Were you surprised that A-Rod will be playing 3B for the Yankees this upcoming season after all the “threats” from Hank this offseason?

Kat O’Brien - I guess I’ve learned never to be surprised about anything that happens with Alex Rodriguez. He’s tough to predict. I never had a strong feel for whether he would be back or not, though after the opt-out and the manner in which it happened, his return did surprise me.

Fleece Factor - What do you see as the one storyline of the 2008 Yankees that nobody seems to be talking much about?

Kat O’Brien - I think one topic not really being discussed is how different things will be with Joe Girardi as manager and not Joe Torre. I think that change will be felt in many ways, large and small.

The other big topic is the rise of the Steinbrenner sons (both Hank and Hal) in the organization, and what that means for decisions in the organization. Will it change how much money the Yankees traditionally spend? Will it affect the pursuit of free agents? What impact will it have on whether or not Brian Cashman remains with the Yankees?

We thank Kat O’Brien for her time and hope to bring you more of her insight in the near future.

Filed under: New York Yankees, _Interviews