LIers hope to make mark in Yankee camp

TAMPA, Fla. -- This is far from the first big-league camp for Garden City High School's Matt Daley, so the days of being wide-eyed in the presence of major leaguers has faded.

For another Long Islander in Yankee camp, Rocky Point's Dan Burawa, who is experiencing it for the first time, that isn't quite the case.

"It's been awesome," said Burawa, who in the clubhouse can glance to his left and see Alex Rodriguez's locker and to his right Mariano Rivera's. "Every day I'm still getting star-struck and everything, being around all the guys. At the same time, doing the work that they do and seeing the way they work, really makes me believe that I can be here full time one day."

While that day for the 23-year-old Burawa is probably a little ways off -- he pitched in Class-A last season and is likely to start this season at Double-A Trenton -- the righthanded Daley's hope, shared by the Yankees, is once he gets healthy he can help sooner, perhaps this year.

Daley, an undrafted free agent who signed with Colorado in 2004 out of Bucknell, made it to the majors in 2009. Daley, who won a state baseball title in 2000 at Garden City under longtime coach Rich Smith, pitched for the Rockies the last three seasons before a shoulder injury cut short his 2011.

The Yankees signed the 29-year-old Daley to a minor league deal in January.

"Before that [the injury], he had a good fastball, good slider, could really handle righthanded hitters," assistant general manager Billy Eppler said. "So you envision when he gets back to health you could couple him with a lefthanded reliever and probably get yourself through an inning because of his platoon advantage."

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Daley underwent surgery on his labrum in August and expects to throw off the half-mound next week -- the expectation is he should be game-ready by early to mid-summer -- has held righthanded batters to a .237 average and .295 OBP in 87 career games.

"I saw him pitch for Colorado," said pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who served in that capacity with the Cubs from 2002-10. "He can pitch. He's funky but commands the ball well. He's a good guy to have in the system."

Daley had other opportunities in the offseason but found the Yankees' situation the most promising.

"They were the team that showed the most interest from the get-go and it's always nice to feel wanted," said Daley, whose parents, John and Lynn, still live in Garden City. "But another thing is, the whole M.O. of the organization is winning and so, being a more veteran guy, I know that I'm not just going to sit down in Triple-A if I'm getting the job done. To know that they use a lot of guys and aren't afraid to call people up was a big selling point to me."

While Daley grew up a Mets fans -- he was born in Flushing and moved to Garden City when he was 11 -- Burawa, whose parents, Paul and Denise remain in Rocky Point, is a lifelong Yankee fan, still in the pinch-myself stage of being in camp.

But while saying he's "star struck" at seeing current stars like Rodriguez and Rivera -- not to mention past ones like guest instructors like David Wells and Andy Pettitte -- Burawa has turned heads of his own with his right arm.

"Who's to say Burawa's not another Robertson with the power arm he's got?" GM Brian Cashman said unsolicited Friday while discussing the importance of player development and the arms the organization has stockpiled in recent years.

The Yankees took Burawa, who played for Andrew Aschettino at Rocky Point, in the 12th round of the 2010 draft, drawn by a fastball clocked in the high 90's.

"One thing you can't teach is arm strength," Eppler said. "He was throwing a curveball in college and kind of the resonating thought among Damon Oppenheimer and his scouts was if we get this guy a slider and work on calming the delivery down a little bit, we might be able to have something."

Rothschild said the challenge for Burawa, 5-4 with a 3.64 ERA in a combined 39 games with Low-A Charleston and High-A Tampa, is the same as for most young pitchers.

"The stuff is going to be good enough," Rothschild said. "It's just a matter of repeating it and getting consistent."

Joe Girard, also unsolicited, commented on Burawa last week, mentioning the pitcher's live BP session from Wednesday and characterizing hitters' initial reactions to his fastball as "whoa."

Compliments aside, Burawa won't get carried away.

"I have professional innings under my belt so I'm not really looking to make a huge jump here," Burawa said. "I want to leave a good impression to show that the team made the right choice in drafting me. I want to put in their minds that I'm going to help the team win one day and in my mind I know I'm going to."