A-Rod Goes On The Offensive

(If that isn't the biggest "you can all go fuck yourselves" smile I've ever seen, I don't know what is.  Courtesy of the AP)

Does this sound like a guy who's ready to make a deal with MLB to you?

"There is more than one party that benefits from me not being on the field. It’s not my teammates and not the Yankees fans.”

In the end he's probably going down big time, come hell or high water, but good for A-Rod for not just laying there and taking it.  And good for him for having the balls to come out and say what any reasonable and rational fan has already thought and what every MSM writer is afraid to report on.  The Yankees have to be ecstatic about how this is going to go down.  If Bud gets his way, they aren't only off the hook for Alex's salary next year and in a much better position to make Operation 189 work, they could be off the hook for every last cent for every last year of that miserable contract that they themselves created and offered to Rodriguez back in 2007.  I don't think it's fair to suggest that the Yankees are helping MLB make their case against Alex, but they certainly aren't and haven't been doing anything to help him.

This is really all A-Rod has left and he knows it's basically him against the world.  Can't hate on a guy for taking that opposition head on.

Not An Ace

Whether you're somebody who's been singing the "CC isn't an ace" song for a while now or just a recent convert to the idea, we can all agree that these numbers from CC Sabathia's last 4 starts are just too ugly for words.

19.2 IP, 37 H, 27 R (22 ER), 10 BB, 20 K, 4 HR

That's a 10.07 ERA and a 2.39 WHIP.  Pathetic is the only way to describe it and it's nowhere near ace-quality work from the guy the Yankees still call their ace.  CC flat out isn't getting it done, he's not even competitive out there on the mound, and something needs to be done about it.  Whatever he's doing between starts to try to fix things isn't working and it's time for Joe and the rest of the coaching staff to stop pretending it's not happening, stop waiting for things to correct themselves, and get to work on helping CC fix it.  He's the worst pitcher on the entire staff right now, and diminished fastball or not that's not something any of us ever expected to see.

Game 108 Wrap-Up: SD 7 NYY 2

(This is becoming a way too familiar sight.  Courtesy of the AP)

Late game, long night, late wake up, short recap.  Not that you really need to know all the fine details looking at the final score.

Game Notes:

- It was another bad start for CC Sabathia.  He gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st on a pair of singles and a pair of walks.  Can't even remember the last time the big guy walked in a run.

- The Yanks got their 2 in the top of the 2nd after an Ichiro leadoff single.  He stole second and scored on Eduardo Nunez's double, and Nunez came around to score on a couple of groundouts.

- 3 more hits and 2 more runs allowed for CC in the 4th.  He was getting hit hard and putting guys on in every inning.  He failed to get out of the 6th inning and left with the loss on his hands.

- There would be no late comeback this time.  The offense only put 1 guy on base in the final 4 innings, and Joba Chamberlain and Adam Warren each gave up a solo HR for good measure.

- If you're wondering, Curtis Granderson went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts in his first game back.