Halfway Point Thoughts & Afterthoughts

("Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"  Courtesy of The AP)

The Yankees have played 81 games this season, the exact halfway point of the regular season.  They're 49-32, 5.5 games up in the AL East, and they're coming off a scheduled off day prior to tonight's opening game of the latest Yanks-Sawx series.  Since there's no game to recap, I figure this is the perfect time to do a mental purge of all the little things that have been beboppin' (and rocksteadyin') around in my head lately that haven't been worthy of their own individual post.

Fun Fact: I was originally going to call these posts "Emptying The Notebook" until that hobbit Tim Kurkjian stole the idea.


- I'm sure he didn't want to offend anybody and get accused of favoritism, and the 3 guys he picked are all fine choices, but how does Robbie Cano NOT take Curtis Granderson to be on his HR Derby team??  Those 2 sweet swings together, possibly matching up in the finals?  It would have been poetry in motion.

- What's the word on Ty Hensley?  The day after the draft it sounded like he was already pulling out his pen to sign a deal and if my math is correct he's the only Yankee pick from the first 10 rounds that's still unsigned.

- I made a point to pay attention to Adam Warren's stat line in his first start after the beating he took in his Major League debut last Friday, and it wasn't good (6 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 0 K).  I know it was just one start, but the kind of outing he had last Friday can really shake a young pitcher.  I'd like to see him get another good start under his belt sooner rather than later.

- If you had to sign Russell Martin today, what kind of contract would you offer him?  Would it even be for 2 years?  The Yankees look smart right now for not re-upping him for 3 this past offseason.

- Since his 2-HR game against the Mets, Martin is 4-54 (.074 BA).  That's other-worldly levels of bad hitting.  The Yankees might as well strap a glove and a batting helmet to a pitch-back screen at this point.  They could send Chris Stewart down to clear a 25-man roster spot.

- I try not to get too bogged down by All Star snub talk, but the fact that Zack Greinke and Josh Reddick are not in the game is an absolute joke.  You could have made a case for Greinke being good enough to start the game, and Reddick is 2nd amongst ALL Major League right fielders in fWAR.  But thank Tebow that the Rangers got an 8th guy on the roster in Yu Darvish.

- Derek Jeter GB Rate Update: 64.5% for the season, 71.3% in June.

- When is Joe going to take the kid gloves off of D-Rob?  Either the guy is healthy and able to pitch the way you would normally use him, or he's not.  And if he's not, then to me that means he wasn't ready to come back and shouldn't have been activated from the DL.

- Speaking of healthy, with the multiple setbacks suffered by Brett Gardner, David Aardsma getting shut down with elbow pain in his rehab, and ManBan and Jose Campos still being nowhere near returning, is it worth asking if the Yankees have an organizational flaw in diagnosing/handling elbow injuries?

- I get that they're facing 3 lefties this weekend in Bahhston, but the Darnell McDonald signing still strikes me as nothing more than a troll move.  That's what Andruw Jones is for.  Use him. Darnell McDonald blows.

- That being said, he does have a fantastic name to say in the Bahhston accent.  "DAHNELL FACKIN' MCDAWNALD!!!"

- There seems to have been a much more positive vibe towards Mark Teixeira, both around the blogosphere and in the MSM, since he went back to his all-pull hitting strategy.  Question- if that strategy is working so well for him, why am I looking at a guy with a .247/.332/.463 line, .341 wOBA, and 111 wRC+ that are all lower than the numbers he put up in those categories last season?

- Dewayne Wise, so hot right now.  Wise.

- I know Joe is married to the "vs. R/vs. L" lineup order, but at this point there's no reason to ever be batting Cano 5th.  He hits 3rd all day, every day.  It's that simple.

- And while we're at it, it probably wouldn't hurt to move A-Rod and his OBP up to the 2-spot and drop Curtis down to the 4-5 area to flip-flop with Teix so his HRs can have a chance to drive in more runners than just himself.

Boom!  Notebook emptied.  Suck it, Kurkjian.