The Yankees added four players to their 40-man roster on Thursday when they purchased the contracts of right-handed pitchers Anthony Claggett, Christian Garcia and Steven Jackson, as well as left-hander Michael Dunn.

Mike Mussina followed through on his plans on Thursday, officially announcing his retirement from Major League Baseball.

Major League Baseball owners approved Hal Steinbrenner as control person of the Yankees as the last quarterly owners meetings of the year concluded.

Saying that he believes the Yankees should be "a pretty easy sell," manager Joe Girardi is keeping an optimistic outlook regarding the free-agent front.

As expected, Mike Mussina will be announcing his retirement. The veteran right-hander will make an official announcement later in the week, according to a report by Ken Rosenthal on Foxsports.com.

Phil Coke, who impressed the Yankees out of their bullpen as a late-season callup, was named to the Topps Double-A All-Star team on Wednesday.

While the Yankees wait for an answer from CC Sabathia, the organization will move forward on at least one more free-agent pitching front, reportedly preparing an offer for right-hander A.J. Burnett.

Nick Swisher is doing his best to shrug off his disappointing 2008 season, in which not much seemed to go right. Next year may already be off to a better start, as the newest Yankee still hasn't stopped pinching himself.

Alex Rodriguez and right-hander Mike Mussina were the only Bombers who garnered votes for the AL MVP Award, which was secured by the Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia on Tuesday.