Logan Has Bone Spur In Elbow, OK To Pitch

Normally a face-to-face with Dr. James Andrews spells doom for your elbow.  Boone Logan got to be the exception to that rule in the case of his current injury.  Via Mark Feinsand, the official Andrews diagnosis is a bone spur in the back of his left elbow.  It will eventually require surgery, which Logan will have in the offseason, but he was cleared to return to game action and threw a long toss session today.

Obviously this is great news for Logan and the Yankees.  There are no ligament problems with his elbow and his offseason surgery shouldn't hinder his FA market value too badly, and the Yankees get another important piece of their bullpen puzzle back as they gear up for one last charge.  Expect to see Logan get another few days to throw and then rejoin the 'pen later this week.

2013 AB4AR Minor League Season Awards

The year on the calender changed, but the story stayed the same for the Yankee farm system in 2013.  A lot of injuries, a lot of inconsistent performances from the top prospects, and not a whole lot to get excited about from the 2 most recent drafts.  Depth is not the issue with the Yankee system right now.  They've got plenty of "good" prospects who could all find a way onto their roster in the next 1-3 years if ownership decides to keep the payroll down.  What they lack is a few or even 1 clear cut stud prospect who is absolutely going to be a future cornerstone of the team, and that became very apparent this year.  A lot of the names on this list aren't going to be the names you see in the top 5 of any Yankee prospect list, but they're the names who played the best and did the most to stand out in another pedestrian season for prospects.

Time To Make Some Hay

The Yankees went 4-7 on their 11-game AL East gauntlet, nearly sweeping the O's and then getting swept by the Sawx in the final 7 games.  That put them in a really deep hole with respect to the Wild Card race, but they've got an opportunity to climb out with their remaining schedule.

The Yanks have 12 games left, 6 home and 6 on the road.  They start off tonight in Toronto, against a team they've owned this season, before heading home for 3 against the San Francisco Giants, staying there for 3 against the Rays, and then finishing up on the road against the lowly Astros.  9 of the 12 remaining games are against sub-.500 teams and the other 3 are against the team they're chasing in the playoff race.  For as daunting a task as it is for them to come back and make the playoffs, that schedule does make it a bit easier.

89 wins is the number being thrown out as the key number to make the playoffs.  The Yankees need to go 10-2 in this last week plus to reach that number.  It's hard to see them sweeping the Rays, even at home, so they basically have to go 8-1 in those other 9 games to have a chance.  It's not impossible, but it is a longshot.  If there's one more run left in this tired, tattered group, it needs to start tonight in Toronto.