Trade Deadline Prep Week: The Rumors

(Do teams still really want this guy?  Courtesy of the AP)

We know what they want and we know who they're after.  Time to get to what's being said about both of those things out on the market.  The Yankees have been connected to a number of players and teams in the last week, most of them already mentioned in the previous posts.  What's being said out there on the rumor mill might lend some clues as to what moves the Yankees are trying to make before the deadline or it could be smoke, mirrors, and shadow games.  That's the fun and frustration of the pre-deadline rumor mill.  What stories are floating around out there right now involving the Bombers?  And more importantly, what do they mean?

The King And His Court

That's respect right there.  And it was a perfect moment of universal respect for maybe the only professional athlete walking the planet who deserves it.  8th inning or 9th, Mo's entrance and the standing ovation he got from everybody in the park was a great ASG moment and one of what should be a few more very fitting cherries on top of his career sundae.

P.S.- It still should have been in the 9th.

(Photos courtesy of the AP)

MiL Rehab Roundup: 7/17/13

Nothing new on Derek Jeter's status, but Alex Rodriguez continues his rehab work in Double-A and could be bumped up to Triple-A for a few games before his 20-day window is up.  There's also a few other guys making progress.  Here's the latest:

A-Rod- Went 0-3 with a sac fly in last night's Trenton Thunder game and played 8 innings at third base.  According to Josh Norris, A-Rod will sit out today's game.  His rehab window expires next Monday.

Curtis Granderson- Via David Satriano, C-Grand has started hitting in the cage again, a good upgrade from his dry swings last week.  Cash said he's looking at mid-August for a return date so Curtis is still a while away.

Jayson Nix- Started hitting in a cage late last week; was expected to head to Tampa to ramp up his rehab this week.

David Phelps- Started his rehab throwing program in Tampa on Monday.  No word yet on how that went or if there are specific plans for rehab outings.

Worst ASG Ever? Worst ASG Ever

I don't know about y'all, but I thought the All-Star Game sucked a big one last night.  To start things off, I burned the ever-loving shit out of my hand right before the National Anthem and spent the bulk of the next hour running it under cold water and walking around cursing myself.  During one of the few times that I did stop to watch the game, I had the pleasure of watching Robinson Cano see all of 2 pitches before leaving the game after taking a Matt Harvey fastball off the knee.  Luckily Robbie was alright and it sounds like he's going to play on Friday, but still.  I wanted to see the guy hit and turn a gnarly double play while spitting sunflower seeds, not limping off with trainers tending to him.

And then Jim Leyland.  Jim, Jim, Jim.  Sweet, stupid old Jim.  Nothing like being able to tell my grandkids about the time I got to see the greatest closer in the history of baseball come in to his final All-Star Game to a stadium-wide standing ovation (players included) and set up for Joe Nathan in the 8th inning.  Seriously Leyland, you had 2 jobs to do last night.  Win the game and close it out with Mo if you had the chance.  You couldn't have set yourself up any better for that chance with the way you managed those first 7 innings, and then you went and blew it.

And don't give me the stuff about "well if the NL scores a lot of runs in the 8th then Mo won't get a chance to pitch in the 9th."  There was an entire bullpen full of All Stars out there.  I'm pretty sure Leyland could have started the 8th with Nathan, had 2 more guys on standby if things got hairy, and had Mo warming as the emergency option.  That would have been fitting and it would have made sense.  Don't get me wrong, it was a great moment when Mo came out last night; one I'll definitely remember.  It just didn't feel right having it come with him playing second fiddle to Joe Nathan.  Worst All-Star Game ever.