Afternoon Weirdness- The Horse Is A Shark And Swish Can Sing

It's like I've slipped into the Twilight Zone or something in the last 2 hours.

First, a story breaks about MLB investigating A-Rod for participating in illegal underground poker games and possibly leading to a suspension.  I'll be honest, I had no clue that A-Rod even played poker.  I thought he was too busy raking and banging Hollywood has beens.  So this comes as a bit of a surprise to find out that not only does he enjoy getting his Doyle Brunson on, but he plays in high-stakes underground games, has been warned about it before, and now might be facing suspension for it.  Dude, come on.  Just go to AC.

Second, Nick Swisher is releasing an album of cover songs, with kids as his backup singers.  I can't even begin to think of anything to say about this, so I'll just show you the song list and say that I would be interested in hearing Swish take on "Heroes" and "Everyday People."

1. Heroes
2. I Won’t Back Down
3. Where The Green Grass Grows
4. Lean On Me
5. With A Little Help From My Friends
6. Everyday People
7. Proud Mary
8. Take Me Home, Country Roads
9. Joy To The World
10. Hang On Sloopy
11. Jumpin' Jack Flash
12. Believe

Shit's gettin' a little whacky in Yankeeland right now, people.  Take the appropriate action.

The ManBan Promotion Situation Is A Little Weird

(Definitely not a LOOGY.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

On the surface, this move to call Manny Banuelos up to Triple-A actually makes perfect sense.  It's not like Banuelos has been struggling or experiencing growing pains in Double-A this season.  He's got a 3.59 ERA, 4.24 FIP (good but not great), and is still striking out almost a batter an inning.  For a player his age (just turned 20 this year) he's still very much outperforming what he should rightfully be doing as a 20-year-old pitcher.  The only issue he's had this season is an increased walk rate, something not uncommon for 20-year-old pitchers.  It goes against the book on Banuelos, who is praised for his command, but it's not like he's completely lost the ability to throw strikes like Andrew Brackman, it's probably more just needing some fine tuning to his delivery and his approach as he faces better hitters, and that's the kind of thing a pitcher can learn at any level.  So with Nova back with the Yankees for the time being, Brackman presumably being taken out on a boat to be shot soon, and David Phelps still injured, why not send the kid up?

The Yankees just held ManBanout of potential trades for pitching targets that they were interested in acquiring.  They've made a big investment in him, hold him in high regard, and have watched him consistently produce at a high level at every level of the Minors so far.  It's to their benefit to see how Manny's stuff plays at the next level to help them continue to formulate their plan for eventually adding him to the big league rotation, and they can also expose him to better and more experienced coaches and teammates who can help his development and improve his command and approach.  And judging by the results of his start on Tuesday (2 R, 8 K in 5 IP), it looks like his stuff is going to play just fine.  This isn't a panic move to try to rush him into the rotation, and there are no known discussions about ditching the kid's innings limit this year.  Just the next step in the process to becoming the eventual top-tier pitcher that the organization envisions Banuelos being, in almost the same fashion that The Jesus moved up through the system.

But this little blurb from Joel Sherman's Monday piece casts a bit of a shadow on this smart surface move:

"Banuelos will make his Triple-A debut as a starter tomorrow, but the plan will be to bring him along quickly in hopes he usurps Boone Logan as the primary bullpen lefty."

Huh?  Primary bullpen lefty?  That's where the train starts to veer off the tracks.  Teams don't make prospects untouchable in the face of possibly acquiring a top-of-the-line young starter if they're planning on turning that prospect into a LOOGY.  And regardless of how ghastly the left-handed relief options are internally, the Yankees should not be entertaining the thought of converting ManBan to a reliever, even if it is just for the short term.  They've been down this road before with Joba, and everybody knows how that ended.  If the plan is to have Banuelos one day be at the top of the Yankee rotation, then he should be developed and used as a starter and a starter alone.  Tinkering with his approach and pitching style to fit a reliever role could do more harm to his development and innings limit increases than good to the Yankee bullpen.  And Boone Logan or not, with the team in the position they are in right now with regards to the playoff race, there is no need to alter Banuelos' development.

You would think the Yankees would have learned their lesson after the Joba fiasco and the continuing inconsistencies of Phil Hughes, and so far everything they have done in handling ManBan has indicated that they did.  But if there really are serious plans to convert Banuelos into a temporary lefty reliever, then clearly something is still wrong with the organizational attitude when it comes to their young pitching.  Calling Manny up to Triple-A to let him test the waters, learn, continue to develop as a blue-chip starting prospect, and stay on his predetermined innings limit for this year is a good move.  Calling him up to Triple-A to turn him into a lefty version of '07 Joba is a horrible move, and a potentially devastating one to his future.  I certainly hope the latter is just a rumor and not the team's true intentions.

The Rich Getting Closer To Getting Richer

And I have an easy excuse to use Photoshops!

Earlier in the week, it was reported that The Jesus is "expected to join the Yankees' lineup in the very near future."  BOOM!!

And as if that news wasn't good enough, today marks the day that The Horse's rehab begins as he'll travel to Tampa and will start "baseball activities" tomorrow.  I have no clue if those activities involve hitting off a tee, running some light sprints in the outfield, or just working on getting the proper mix of Big League Chew and Skoal in your lip, and I don't care.  POW!!

Trade deadline, schmade deadline.  How many other teams are going to add the greatest player of his generation and one of the best young prospects in the sport this month?  Answer:  none.

Phil Hughes Pitches A Shutout!

Well, a 6-inning shutout anyway.  But that's a pretty damn good result for a guy who was maybe on his way out of the rotation if he bombed tonight.

In all seriousness, Hughes was damn good tonight.  He only needed 65 pitches to navigate through his 6 rain-shortened innings of work and was very effective.  He threw a lot of strikes (48 out of 65), got ahead in the count (15 out of 20 batters faced got 1st-pitch strikes), and he even got 7 swings and misses.  His stuff was better, his command was better, he was better.  For one night, at least, Phil made the Yanks look smart for not making moves at the deadline and holding onto their solid 6-man rotation.

(He's back!  At least for one night.  Fuck it, I just wanted to use this Photoshop again.)

CC Good, Lackey Bad

(T-H-E  M-A-N.  Courtesy of The AP)

Last night was a case of true good pitching versus theoretical good pitching.  For the Yankees, CC was not nearly as dominant as his previous start against the Mariners, despite his final line appearing quite good:

8 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 104 Pitches (78 Strikes)

The 10 hits allowed were a season high, and even though he got 13 swinging strikes it was clear to anybody who watched that CC didn't have his best stuff.  His slider was a bit more floaty than it has been in the past month and he got in trouble a few times with it.  But at the end of the day, he still managed to limit the White Sox to just 2 runs and hold them there after his offense stopped producing.

On the other side, John Lackey turned in yet another outing that has become the norm for him this year:

6.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 106 Pitches (74 Strikes)

And he did this while actually looking like he was pitching pretty well (yes, I actually watched a Fraud Sawx game.  It was on ESPN in the background at my apartment while I was packing for vacation).  His stuff actually looked better than it has for most of this year, and early on Lackey was cruising, only to fall apart in the middle innings.  He couldn't locate when he had to, couldn't limit the damage, and didn't put his team in a position to win the game.

And that's the line that separates the real good pitchers from everybody else.  CC came out without his best stuff and best location and still got the job done when his team needed him to.  Lackey came out with what looked like very good stuff and very good command and collapsed.

Putting The Pitching Into Perspective

I've received a few comments regarding my take on the Yankees' deadline tactics over the last few days, basically arguing that the Yankees NEEDED to add a starting pitcher because they had no clear cut #2 option for the playoffs.  I'm sure there are plenty of Yankee fans out there who feel the same way, and probably a bunch more who are peeved that no bullpen arms were added, but I still stand firm in my belief that the Yankee staff is just fine, has been just fine all season, and will continue to be just fine moving forward as long as guys stay healthy.  Check out these numbers: 

Team A- 3.47 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 16.6 WAR, 7.40 K/9
Team B- 3.89 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 12.6 WAR, 7.16 K/9
Team C- 3.74 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 10.8 WAR, 6.96 K/9
Team D- 3.36 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 15.4 WAR, 6.59 K/9
Team E- 3.72 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 9.2 WAR, 6.76 K/9
Team F- 4.23 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 11.3 WAR, 6.83 K/9
Team G- 3.99 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 9.4 WAR, 6.20 K/9

That shows the breakdown of the top 7 teams in the American League (in no particular order) and what their teamwide pitching stats look like for this year.  You can gather from this that the top 3 pitching teams in that list are teams A, B, and D, with A having the best all around numbers.  I'll give you 3 guesses to figure out which team is which.

... Done?  Good.

Yankees- 3.47 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 16.6 WAR, 7.40 K/9
Red Sox- 3.89 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 12.6 WAR, 7.16 K/9
Rangers- 3.74 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 10.8 WAR, 6.96 K/9
Angels- 3.36 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 15.4 WAR, 6.59 K/9
Rays- 3.72 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 9.2 WAR, 6.76 K/9
Tigers- 4.23 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 11.3 WAR, 6.83 K/9
Indians- 3.99 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 9.4 WAR, 6.20 K/9

There you have it, folks.  The numbers don't lie.  The Yankee pitching staff, including the rotation that people swear ABSOLUTELY NEEDED to add a frontline starter, is the best in the American League.  Yes, the rotation has been carried by CC Sabathia (5.6 WAR), but that does not lessen the positive results it has gotten from Colon (2.2 WAR) and Garcia (2.2).  Even though we probably all thought that both of these guys would be long gone by now, thanks to injury or poor performance, they aren't.  They're still in the rotation and they're pitching as well as they have all season.  A.J. and Ivan Nova have combined to contribute over 230 innings of 2.0-WAR ball, and Phil Hughes is slowly making his way back to form.  In the bullpen, D-Rob (1.8 WAR) and Mo (1.6) have carried the load, but the team has gotten positive contributions from Hector Noesi, Luis Ayala, Cory Wade, and even Boone Logan.  Before he went down, Joba was putting up solid numbers and the team was seeing solid results from it.  This staff doesn't allow a lot of runs, they get good contributions from their starters, they limit damage, and they miss bats.

And those numbers you see above have been accumulated with the people the Yankees have had in-house all year.  We've waited and waited for guys to fall off and they haven't, and they haven't experienced any major crippling injuries that have hurt their depth or performance.  They've been steady, they've been consistent, and they've been effective.  You can call it luck, call it overachieving, but it doesn't change the results.  Sooner or later we have to start seeing this as what it is, and that is a damn good job by the pitching staff.

For all the talk about the Angels' dominant pitching, their rotation falls off dramatically after Weaver, Haren, and Ervin Santana, and they don't generate nearly as many Ks as the Yankee staff.  Do you really think that A.J. or Freddy can't go out and beat a Joel Piniero or a Tyler Chatwood in a Game 4 of a playoff series?  The Fraud Sawx are down to Beckett, Lester, a rickety Erik Bedard, and John Lackey in their rotation, with plenty of question marks ahead of Bard and Papelbawn in the 'pen.  I don't know about you, but I'll take my chances against all those guys when the Yankees are countering with their top 4, and I'll take my chances with D-Rob and Mo vs. Bard and Pap.  The Tigers are Verlander and a bunch of #3-#4 guys, the Indians were Justin Masterson and the same until they got Ubaldo.  Are you seeing what I'm getting at here?

The point is, the Yankee pitching is just as good as all the other top teams in the AL on its worst day, and over the course of 105+ games it has proven to be better.  The Yankees didn't have as big a need for Ubaldo or Kuroda or Wandy or Bedard or Harden as their competitors did, and that's why they weren't as willing to up their prospect ante to add any of those guys.  And while their competition is throwing guys like Andrew Miller and Jeanmar Gonzalez out to plug their injury holes, the Yankees have a solid legit Major League option in Ivan Nova, and top prospects like Adam Warren and the recently promoted Manny Banuelos to come in and fill a gap if needed.

So for anybody out there who is still salty about no moves being made, here's a bit of advice.  Get past your feelings and your preconceived notions and check the numbers.  The Yankees, injuries and all, have a solid pitching staff and made the call as an organization to stick with the staff they have moving forward.  And given the results they've already gotten from that staff, it's tough to argue with that decision.  Can something happen to change that?  Of course.  But those same things can happen to everybody else.  And like I said last night, the Yankees have the pitching pieces in place to be covered today, tomorrow, next month, and next year.  How many of these other teams can say that right now?

Dave Robertson Is Good

I mean REALLY good!  Hey, everyone!  Come see how good Dave Robertson is!!

Yesterday was a perfect example of not just the kind of pitcher that Robertson has become, but the kind of respect and confidence he has earned from his manager to come in and shut people down in big spots.  After Noesi put a guy on with 2 outs in the 7th, Joe went right to D-Rob to get out of the potential jam, which he did perfectly.  He then came back out for the 8th and blazed through the 3 best hitters in the Oriole lineup, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, and Vlad Guerrero, striking out Markakis and Jones swinging and freezing Geurrero.  Robertson threw 19 pitches to record 4 outs, 12 of them strikes, 4 of those strikes swinging.  As the fireman yesterday, he didn't just man the hoses and put out the blaze, he also saved a woman and young child from the burning building and their pet dog.

Not like they already weren't going into yesterday's game, but after it D-Rob's numbers are just absurd now.  He's pitched 42.1 innings in 45 appearances this year, and in those innings he has put up a 1.49 ERA (tied for 7th amongst all relievers, 3rd amongst AL), 1.63 FIP (3rd MLB, 1st AL), 14.46 K/9 (2nd MLB, 1st AL), and 1.8 WAR (tied 2nd MLB, 1st AL).  He still walks his fair share of guys, but his stuff is so good and his ability to bear down and make pitches when he has to is so good that his tendency to be a bit wild at times actually seems to work to his advantage.  D-Rob has been nothing but lights out since Opening Day, to the point that I've just kind of taken it for granted and not given him his due, hence this post.  Soriano or no Soriano, D-Rob has earned his spot as Mo's setup man.  I think the fact that Soriano got used in garbage time on Saturday night and D-Rob was used in money time yesterday shows where Joe is leaning on the roles for these guys, and for once he's making the right decision when it comes to the 'pen.  Now hit the music!

Trade Deadline Passes With No Yankee Action

And that was the right move to make for the Yankees.

After Ubaldo went to Cleveland yesterday, the well pretty much dried up in terms of quality starting pitching options that were better than what the Yankees already have.  Hiroki Kuroda wasn't going to agree to a trade, Wandy Rodriguez's contract is a lot to take on and with questions about his ability to transition to the AL he probably wasn't worth the prospect package it would have taken to get him.  And everybody else beyond those 2 who could have been available just plain sucks.

And after the job the 3 Yankee starters did on Friday and Saturday, and with the job Freddy Garcia did again today, the Yankees are in a position where they currently have 6 starting pitchers who are capable of going out and pitching a very good game.  The fact of the matter is, there aren't a lot of teams out there, even among the major playoff contenders, who can say that.  Sure, there's no clear cut #2 starter, and each guy not named CC is just as capable of going out there and blowing up, but again I would say that that holds true for almost every other team out there.

Offensively, the team has already gotten Eric Chavez back, Andruw Jones has come to life, and this weekend provided more proof that Teix and Robbie Cano are starting to heat up.  Swish is on an absolute tear, C-Grand and Gardy are still producing, and Jeter and Martin are chipping in with hits and walks here and there.  Another bat wouldn't have made much more of an impact than the guys in the lineup already are, and of course there is the inevitable return of A-Rod next month.

I, for one, am very happy that the Yankees didn't make any moves at this deadline.  They did not have a glaring need, and they didn't let moves by anybody else influence how they went about talking to their targets or change their plans in terms of what they were willing to offer to get somebody.  The great thing about this team is that it is built to win today, tomorrow, next week, next month, September, October, next year, 2 years from now, and 5 years from now.  The organization is stacked from top to bottom and it was good to see the Yankees go through this deadline keeping that setup intact.

With the deadline out of the way, no we can focus on what's really important.  Whittling away at those magic numbers and making the traditional late-season run against the Fraud Sawx to overtake them in the standings.

Sunday Shaping Up To Be Slow

I said on Thursday afternoon that the past 2 days would clear the waters in terms of what the Yankees planned to do before the trade deadline tomorrow, and after the past 2 days, I'm thinking there isn't going to be anything major that happens.  Long story short, the rotation stepped up and answered the call.

On Friday night A.J. was unlucky that every hit he gave up was a big one, but he also threw 8 innings and struck out 10 batters.  His stuff was solid, and the results were unfortunate thanks to the bad BABIP luck and the lack of offensive support, but he did nothing to indicate that he wasn't worthy of pitching in the postseason and everything to indicate that the Yankees can be confident in him moving forward.

Today, Bartolo labored through 5 tough innings, but still managed to only allow 2 runs and rack up another 6 Ks.  He did nothing to suggest that his performance moving forward was going to be anything to the contrary of what he's already done.  He's healthy, he's no longer concerned about his hammy, and he continues to pitch well.  Numbers-wise, he's been a viable #2 all year.

Then in the recently-concluded nightcap of the doubleheader, Ivan Nova pitched a damn good game.  He was overshadowed by the offense explosion, but 7 innings of 2-run ball with only 7 baserunners allowed and 6 Ks against the best hitters of the Baltimore lineup is impressive.  Nova even got 8 swinging strikes on his 98 pitches.  He was aggressive, efficient, and confident out there on the mound and should have secured his position as the next in line for the remainder of the year should somebody get hurt or Phil Hughes continue to struggle.

Obviously there is no way to predict how any pitcher will perform in pressure situations or in the playoffs against good teams.  But the Yankee pitchers who took the mound today and yesterday showed that they are capable of handling the job and made the likelihood of finding something better in the trade market very unlikely.  Throw in the fact that Ubaldo just got traded to Cleveland and Kuroda announced he wouldn't accept a trade anywhere and we're shaping up for a very quite final day tomorrow.  Sure, they may add a bench bat or a bullpen arm that we haven't heard much about, but from here on out I think it's safe to say the Yankees are going to roll with what they've got in the rotation.

From The "DUH" Department

Joe on A.J.:

"We just need A.J. to go pitch well." (via LoHud)

Gee, Joe.  Ya think?  I'd say 0 wins in July, combined with a 4.94 ERA, 5.35 FIP, 1.56 WHIP, 6.80 BB/9 in 23.2IP over 4 starts, and the fact that the front office may or may not be willing to part with their top 3 prospects in an attempt to shore up the rotation puts you right on point there.  What page of your secret binder did you dig that nugget of genius out of?

Derek Jeter 3K Looked Pretty Good

If you're a Yankee fan with HBO and you DIDN'T watch this last night, then first of all I hate you for having HBO and having the ability to watch this because I would have murdered somebody in my apartment complex if I knew they had HBO just so I could watch it in their place, and second of all you deserve to have your Yankee fandom taken away from you and be forced to be a Royals fan for the rest of your life.

I literally sat at my computer screen and watched this trailer twice in a row last night, and got goosebumps at least 4-5 times per viewing.  I touched on it briefly in my post about the meaning of Jeter's 3,000 hits earlier in the month, but it's worth saying again.  The guy is my favorite Yankee of all time, always will be, and no matter how far he falls in terms of his abilities over the next few years, I still have the memories and the visions of all the great moments he had that made him one of the greatest Yankees of all time.  And to see various other players, managers, and teammates expressing those same feelings was pretty cool.

P.S.- If this thing is out on DVD by Christmas and my grandmother, probably a bigger Yankee fan than me, doesn't get it for me, then she's never getting another birthday phone call from me ever again.

How's That $142 Million Working Out For Ya?

I know the Fraud Sawx are rolling right now and making a little gap in the AL East race, but I still think it's the right time for a fun little reminder of how well the Carl Crawford signing has gone for them.  Here's Carl's numbers to date:

.248/.283/.379 t-slash, .298 wOBA, 78 wRC+, 38 R, 23 XBH, 11 SB, -0.9 UZR/150, 0.0 WAR

Mind you he's "earning" $14,857,143 this season for that "production."  By comparison, for $529,500, the Yankee equivalent of a Best Buy gift card, Brett Gardner is putting up these numbers:

.285/.367/.407 t-slash, .355 wOBA, 122 wRC+, 53 R, 25 XBH, 32 SB, 23.4 UZR/150, 3.6 WAR

Gardner has also managed to stay healthy.  So yeah, I guess the Yankees are winning big time on that deal.  But Sawx fans can look on the bright side.  They've only got another 6 years and $127 mil of Crawford left. 

P.S.- How's John Lackey doing?

Saturday Will Determine The Yankees' Deadline Plans

After Phil Hughes' good but not great 6-inning, 2-run outing yesterday that involved giving up 9 hits to a Mariner lineup that would struggle in the Pacific Regionals of the LLWS, and with the consistently decent but not good  A.J. Burnett pitching on Friday, I think whatever plans the Yankees have or may have are going to be finalized after they get a look at 2 of their other questions marks on Saturday.  Those 2 question marks are Bartolo Colon and (in all likelihood) Ivan Nova, who will pitch in a double-header against the Baltimore Orioles.  Their performances in those games on the heels of whatever A.J. offers up on Friday can and, in my opinion, will determine which plan the Yankees choose to execute in the final day before the trade deadline.

Right now the Yankee postseason rotation would be CC #1 and then ....  The group of Burnett, Colon, Hughes, and Garcia are all capable of going out and performing admirably in a postseason game, but are all also capable of going out and laying an egg.  Combined, they are a solid group of guys who I'd feel comfortable using in a Game 3 or 4, but no one stands out head and shoulders above the other right now in terms of being a viable #2 candidate.  A.J. is the baseball equivalent of a Magic 8 Ball, Colon could very well be worn out and injured again by the time the playoffs roll around, Phil still doesn't have his velocity or command fully back and may not find it this season, and Garcia has already shown that his mish-mash of offspeed slop doesn't play well against good offensive teams.  It's easy to see why all those conditions add up to the Yankees being interested in targeting a starter.

Joe started to open a Pandora's Box of opportunities yesterday during his presser when he made this statement in regards to there being a competition between Hughes and Nova for the 5th rotation spot:

“There could be.  I’m not going to say that there will be, but we want our guys to compete all the time. We want guys to throw the ball well and earn their spots every time. As far as saying there’s a competition for Phil Hughes’ next start, I’m not saying that.”

You can take that as typical manager speak, but to me that signifies Joe and the Yankees tipping their hand a bit.  There are already plenty of rumors going around about the Yankees' involvement in several starting pitching trade targets (Ubaldo, Kuroda, Danks, and for the life of me Carlos Zambrano), and they already lost one yesterday in Edwin Jackson.  There are no real solid indicators that the Yankees are serious about adding any of these guys, but if they were truly comfortable with their rotation situation right now I don't think we'd be hearing about a maybe/maybe not rotation competition.  This weekend is the chance for that comfort to be re-established or for the discomfort be confirmed and the justification for trading for another starting pitcher be provided.  So here's how I see it.

If Burnett, Bart, and Nova come out and pitch well, I think Cash and the front office will be OK moving forward with what they have in the rotation and just figure out how they want to stack the guys come playoff time.  They'll focus their energies on trying to find a few 'under-the-radar' guys like they did last year to fortify the bench and bullpen, and move into August knowing that they'll be further strengthened by the returns of Sour Puss and The Horse.  If those 3, especially Colon, come out and stink up the joint, I think we'll see the Yanks switch their attention to the rotation and probably go after Kuroda on Sunday if he's still available.

The future of some guys' jobs and some prospects' futures in the organization are going to be on the line in the 48 hours coming up on Friday and Saturday.  It's my hope that the starters do their jobs and the Yanks hold pat on giving up top prospects in what would be an act of desperation.  But for now, all we can do is wait and see what happens.

Teix Starting To Turn It Around

(And the battle rages on for team HR lead.  Courtesy of The AP)

July has been an ugly month for good old Mark Teck-SHARE-uh.  His OBP is .320 and his SLG is barely over .400.  By now every blog in the Yankopshere has covered his struggles and what the true cause really is, but the last week or so may be a precursor to the usual Mark Teixeira summer breakout we're used to seeing.

After the win over Tampa on July 18, Teix's line had bottomed out at .239/.344/.496.  He had just 2 XBH in the entire month, neither of them HR and none since July 3, and just 4 RBI.  In the 8 games since July 18, Teix has 10 hits in 32 AB (.313 BA), including 2 2B, 3 HR, 6 R, and 9 RBI.  The power and timing that was seemingly missing from his swing earlier in the month looks like it's starting to come back, he doesn't seem to be pulling off the ball too early and popping everything up as he had been, and the results are much better.  Teix is in the middle of a 5-game hitting streak after another 2-hit night last night, and has all 3 HR and all 9 RBI in just the last 5 games.  He's seen his season line creep back up to .245/.344/.509.

Small sample yes?  Yes.  Drastic improvement?  Not at all.  But with the long stretch of diminishing results leading up to this recent resurgence, I'll take the baby steps as a good sign.  Teix is one of, if not the most important cog in keeping the Yankee offense dangerous during The Horse's absence.  And up until recently he hadn't been living up to that responsibility of his massive contract.  But now all signs are pointing in the right direction and if he can continue this upward trend, and get his production back to the normal Teix levels we expect, it makes the immediate concern for adding a bat at the deadline less of an issue and makes the long-term concern of having the Yankee lineup at full strength and at its most dangerous during the stretch run and postseason much more likely.

CC Better Than Perfect

(Damn rain.  Courtesy of The AP)

I'm really starting to run out of things to say to describe the job CC Sabathia is doing this year.  I said way before the season started that I wasn't going to get involved in the "will he or won't he?" opt out talk, but I'm going to break that commitment right now and just say that the Yankees would be complete fucking morons to not get a new deal done with him before he even has the chance to opt out.  He's that good and they need him.

It helped that he was basically pitching against a Double-A lineup last night, but that still doesn't take away from how brilliant CC was last night.  Through 5.1 innings CC hadn't allowed a baserunner , had 11 Ks, and had only thrown 62 pitches.  That's beyond dominant.  That's beyond perfect.  That's downright inhuman.  He had to wait through a 30-minute rain delay before he lost the perfect game in the 7th to a legit single, and then waited through another 15-minute delay that really cost him as he lost his command after that in the 8th.  The Mariner hitters certainly didn't do anything to halt his miracle working on the hill last night.  The only person/thing that could halt it was another miracle brought on by Mother Nature in the form of rain.  What a whore she is.

Even with the 2 delays and 3 walks that he handed out in the 8th, CC's final line was still mind-bogglingly good:

7 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 14 K (Career High), 102 Pitches (71 Strikes), 82 Game Score

He threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 25 batters he faced, and racked up 19 swinging strikes (26.76%).  The fastball was working, the slider was downright murderous.  It almost didn't matter whether he had the rest of the team out there behind him playing defense.  It was the type of performance that you tell your kids about later in life if you were at the game.

With all due respect to the Justin Verlanders and Jered Weavers of the world, if CC is not the leading Cy Young candidate right now, then something is seriously wrong with people.  He has a better FIP (2.49) than both of them, more wins (MLB-leading 15) than both of them, and a higher WAR (5.6) than both of them.  He's pitched more innings than anybody in baseball except for Verlander, strikes out more guys than Weaver, and does it for a better team that has arguably a weaker staff, making what he does more valuable to his team's success than either of the other 2.  And last night was the perfect example of just how valuable he is.

2 Legitimate Leadoff Options

(You can't lose with either guy hitting #1 right now.  Courtesy of The Star-Ledger)

Since the beginning of Spring Training, the debate has raged on over who should be the Yankees' leadoff hitter.  First it was Brett Gardner, then Derek Jeter, then Gardner again, then Jeter again, and so on and so forth.  Over the last couple weeks, however, it's become apparent that the Yankees actually have 2 very good leadoff options in both of these guys.

Gardner has been remarkably consistent and downright good ever since the month of April ended.  And after a bit of a rough patch early in July, he has continued his consistent production, currently putting up a .333/.400/.417 line in 72 July ABs, not too far off his spectacular June (.317/.404/.463 in 82 ABs).  He's also a perfect 12-12 in SB attempts for the month, and that, combined with his continued solid walk rate and high pitches/AB makes him a prototypical leadoff threat that wouldn't even be considered for the bottom of the order on any other team.

But a funny thing has happened that has muddied the waters a bit this month when it comes to the Gardner vs. Jeter debate.  Ever since he's returned from the DL, Derek Jeter has rediscovered his spark at the plate.  I touched on that point very early on in his return, brought it up again after his storybook 5-5 3,000th hit day, and now I'll mention it again as he has continued to be productive.  For the month of July, Jeter is hitting .324/.385/.521 in 71 ABs, raising his season line to a more respectable .273/.337/.366.  Of his 23 hits so far, 9 of them have gone for extra bases.  To put that into perspective, Jeter only had 12 XBH in the first 3 months of the season COMBINED.

Jeter's resurgence can best be explained by this blurb from last night's LoHud postgame wrap-up:

"... Jeter said it’s not so much driving the ball to right field that tells him he’s hitting better lately, it’s more the pitches that he’s choosing to take and the pitches he’s choosing to attack. “I can tell if I’m staying back, taking pitches and swinging at good pitches,” he said. “I feel as though I’ve been doing that for the last few weeks so I’m happy with where I am right now.”

That sounds much more like the Jeter we all know and love, and that approach is reflected in Jeter's July swing stats.  His LD rate is a season high 19.6% this month, indicative of a hitter who is seeing the ball better and taking good swings at hittable pitches.  His BB rate is also the highest it has been all year this month at 9.0%.  The improvements in Jeter's selection at the plate explain the better results he's had, and make him just as viable a candidate to lead off as Gardner right now.

With both guys swinging the bat well and the offense as a whole still missing a key cog in A-Rod, it makes sense to me to platoon both Jeter and Gardner at leadoff depending on the pitching matchup to maximize the value of their current hot streaks.  The numbers would support this theory, as Jeter has murdered lefties this year to the tune of a .936 OPS and .414 wOBA (compared to just .621 and .270 vs. righties), and Gardner sports a .788 OPS and .350 wOBA against righties vs. .738 and .338 against lefties.  I would even want to keep Jeter near the top of the order against righties to take advantage of his current hot streak more and lengthen the lineup a bit.  My 2 lineups right now would look like this:

Vs. RHP:

1) Gardner
2) Jeter
3) C-Grand
4) Teix
5) Cano
6) Swish
7) Jorge (or Chavez)
8) Martin
9) Nunez

Vs. LHP:

1) Jeter
2) C-Grand
3) Teix
4) Cano
5) Swish
6) Jones (Or Jesus)
7) Martin
8) Nunez (or Chavez)
9) Gardner

The problem is whether or not Joe wants to tinker with the lineup to try to get the most out of his current hot hitters at the top and help try to bridge the gap to A-Rod's return.  But given the inconsistency his boys have shown lately, I'd rather have the problem of multiple guys hitting well that deserve to hit leadoff than neither of them hitting well.

** UPDATE- 3:29PM- I completely forgot to include Eric Chavez in the lineup versions.  Idiot.  Obviously he would be a more attractive choice than Nunez and probably more than Jorge given the way he's swung the bat this month. **

Here Come The Reinforcements

"New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Eric Chavez could return Tuesday after the team was satisfied with an evaluation of the third baseman on Monday night." (Courtesy of ESPN.com)

"Soriano said he's feeling much better, leaving for NY tonight and expects to be activated Wednesday or Friday." (courtesy of the SWB Yankees' Twitter)

A strong lefty bat to fortify the bench and left side of the infield during A-Rod's rehab and the man who was signed to be the 8th-inning bridge to Mariano making their returns right before the trade deadline, lessening the likelihood that the front office will panic and overpay in a stupid trade to add some warm body?  I'll sign up for that.  Mrs. Doubtfire will too.

A Much Needed "Pick Me Up"

It's been a rough couple of days for your faithful Captain.  My car died on me on Sunday and I had to fork over a hundo to have it towed to a repair shop, it was a completely shitty day at the office yesterday, I couldn't come up with anything good to write about, and to top things off I'm going to be out a couple grand to replace the entire engine in my dead car.  The rain delay before the game last night wasn't helping matters either, as their was nothing else on TV worth watching.  But by the time SportsCenter came on, I got the little boost I needed and it had nothing to do with the NFL lockout being over.

(Courtesy of The Bahhston Herald)

Look at that.  Isn't it glorious?  That's Kevin Youkilis wincing in pain after he hurt his hamstring running to first base late in the Sawx' loss to KC last night.  And it was at that moment that I saw him wince and limp up the baseline on the replay that I knew things were going to be OK.  That injury to Youkilis' hamstring was God's way of saying "It's OK, Brad.  I know you've had a tough day or 2, but this will make you feel better."  And it did.  It doesn't matter if Youk misses any time or not.  The fact that was hurt, in pain, and I got to see it was all I needed.  I would pay a premium to watch Kevin Youkilis limp around in pain if I could.

So the pep is back in my step and I'm ready to go for a better day of blogging than yesterday's 0-fer.  Thanks to Kevin Youkilis and his gimpy hamstring.

What Does This Team Really Need?

The trade deadline is exactly one week away, and the more and more I watch this team play or read the game recaps, the more confused I become about what their plan should be for making moves at the deadline.

One day they put up 17 runs and 20 hits and look like they never even lost A-Rod to injury, the next they look like they've never hit in the Major League before.  One time through the rotation they've got everybody clicking on all cylinders, with Bartolo and Freddy pitching like they're in their prime, the next they both look old and washed up.  One outing Hughes looks like first-half 2010 Phil Hughes, the next he looks like he should be making more MiL rehab starts.  And don't even get me started on A.J. and Boone Logan.

On any given day, the Yankees can look like they'll sweep the World Series with the team they have right now or they can look like they should be blown up and start over.  And as much as I'd love to play the John Sterling "You just can't predict baseball, Suzyn" card, when it comes to inconsistency of this nature I just can't.  There are a multitude of needs for the team right now, even if none of them involve making a big Cliff Lee-like splash.  But those needs aren't going to come cheap, and how do you judge whether a 2-month Band-Aid is worth giving up some promising young talent, especially with Soriano and Chavez coming back soon and The Horse eventually galloping back into the lineup?

For my money, another impact reliever is a must, preferably a lefty.  I'm tired of Boone Logan and his shenanigans, and I don't have faith in anybody out there not named Robertson or Rivera (that feeling goes double for Soriano).  Next, I would want a bat for the bench, provided it doesn't cost much more than a C- or D-level prospect.  And as much as it pains me to say it, I think a starter should be the last thing on the wish list.  There's nothing out there that's head and shoulders better than what the Yankees have, and the guys who are better are either going to cost too much in terms of prospects or are just flat out not available.  CC is a monster, Bartolo is fine, Freddy is still getting it done, and you have to think Hughes is going to figure it out sooner or later.  As much as he pisses us all off, A.J. as your 4th or 5th best starter is something we can live with, especially with the 'pen and lineup getting strengthened from within with the guys coming back from injuries.

I have no clue what the Yankees' plans are over the next week.  From reading all the rumors and stories, it doesn't sound like they do either.  But with the inconsistency they've shown lately, I think a move or 2 is an absolute must.  I'm just happy I'm not in Cash's shoes to have to make those calls this year.

People Are Still Writing About Kei Igawa

I know, I can't believe it either.  But there's a very in-depth story by Bill Pennington about the $46 million waste of space from yesterday's NYT, which you can find here.

It's bad enough that writers still find this story of epic failure newsworthy.  As much as he sucks, you can't really help but feel bad for Igawa when you read this story.  But it gets worse when you read Cash's comment when asked about the Igawa deal.

"It was a disaster.  We failed."

"Oof" and "da" right there, folks.  I really don't think a GM could describe any deal for any player in a worse way.

Is Brandon Laird Going To Play?

Seriously, what's the deal?  Does Joe just hate young players or something?  It's bad enough he's got Hector Noesi rotting away in the bullpen while he brings Boone Logan in to pitch to multiple right-handed batters, but now we have to continue to watch Nunez flub the ball all over the field or Ramiro Pena flat out suck in general instead of giving Laird a chance to play?

At worst, it's reasonable to expect that Laird can hit much better than Pena and maybe as well as Nunez.  He's rocking a .266/.296/.412 line in Triple-A for the season, and those numbers have been much better over the last couple months after an atrocious April.  Nunez's MaL career line is barely over that (.256/.307/.380 in 217 plate appearances), and Laird hits for much more power.  And while he won't win any Gold Gloves at 3rd, I don't see Laird flubbing as many balls or making as many bad throws as Nunez.  So if he was called up, and there are this many things he can do as well if not better than the other 2 IF guys, why isn't he playing?  Is whatever he's learning being in the locker room and on the bench with the Major League Squad really that much more valuable than what he would do playing every day at SWB or at least getting some ABs and time in the field in the Majors?  Fuck and no.

Give the kid a shot, Joe.  You already know what Pena is going to give you, and Eddie Nune has shown what his value is as an everyday player (not that great, as evidenced by his -0.4 WAR on the season).  I'm not saying Brandon Laird is going to make us all forget about Alex Rodriguez, but doesn't he deserve a shot?  He brings more to the table offensively, which could be a help to the struggling O, and won't take as much off of it defensively.  He better see some time this weekend, period.

Eric Chavez's Role When He Returns

(Don't hurt yourself, dude.  Courtesy of MiLB.com)

Eric Chavez, out since early May with a broken foot, is rehabbing along side Rafael Soriano right now in Tampa, and so far it's going well.  He had 4 hits the other night for the High-A Tampa Yankees and ran the bases without any issues, and played the field at 3rd last night while picking up another hit.

I don't know exactly what the timetable for his return is, but with each passing game at the Major League level, Chavez is looking like he'll be a more important piece of the puzzle down the stretch.  The Yankees' current offensive struggles showed no signs of ending last night, and with A-Rod out, Jorge looking like he needs to be taken behind a barn and shot again, and Joe being contractually obligated to only play Andruw Jones once every 10 days, Chavez will be a welcome addition to the lineup.  Small sample sizes be damned, the guy did nothing but hit from the minute he put a jersey on in ST, and was rocking an .834 OPS with twice as many walks as Ks before he hit the DL.  You think the offense couldn't use a little of that action right now?

Now it's going to be important that Chavez stay healthy, or at least be used in a way that he has the best chance to stay healthy when he first gets back, but if I'm Joe I'm not looking at him as just some added bench depth at this point.  Jorge should be officially on notice that he either needs to get his shit together or he's going to be spending a lot more time on the pine while his ABs go to Chavez.  He has completely stopped hitting from both sides of the plate, and a L/R platoon of Chavez and Jones will be more dangerous and probably more productive at this point.  And if Chavez isn't having any issues with the body, and continues to produce at the plate once he comes back, I would have no problem making him the full-time DH over Jorge.

And not only that, if Eric is really feeling frisky, I wouldn't mind Joe using him at 3B a couple times a week and plopping Eduardo Nunez on the bench.  Nunez has shown he can carry the stick in the Majors, but let's face it, the guy is a complete disaster in the field and will end up costing the Yankees more runs than he would create if he's left out there for the duration of The Horse's DL stint.  Last time I checked, Eric Chavez had a closet full of Gold Gloves somewhere in his house.  So a better bat in the lineup and a better glove in the field?  Yeah, I think that'll work.

The return of Phil Hughes and soon to be returning Rafael Soriano have and will help bolster the Yankees' pitching depth down the stretch and possibly lessen the need for them to make a big deal for an arm before the deadline.  With the offense continuing to sputter, the return of Chavez could mean the same thing for the lineup.  It's fair to say that the Bombers could definitely use another bat out there right now, and if they can add that bat internally, I'm all for it.  He shouldn't be playing every single day, since he is made of glass and all, but Eric Chavez should be used as much as possible when he comes back to help rebound from this recent offensive drought.

Happy Birthday To The Big Fella

Carsten Charles Sabathia turns 31 today.  And he does it with 171 career wins.  To put that into perspective, here's a little tidbit on that achievement, compliments of LoHud:

According to Elias, the last pitchers with at least 170 wins before turning 31 are currently in the Hall of Fame: [Catfish] Hunter, Bob Feller, Hal Newhouser, Robin Roberts, Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Ferguson Jenkins and Jim Palmer.

Not bad company to be amongst, huh?  In addition to his birthday, CC also takes the mound tonight looking to lock up a series win for the team and his 15th personal win on the year against James Shields.  It's a fair statement to say that CC has been one of the 3 best pitchers in baseball this season, and it's not a stretch to say he's been the best since about mid-May.  What better way to cap off the last 8 weeks with a birthday victory, right?

So break out your parachute pants and hit the music to celebrate.  It's CC Time, baby!

Freddy Comes Up Big Again

I'm past the point of trying to figure out how he does it.  I'm just going to go ahead and say that Freddy Garcia has done an outstanding job this year for the Yankees, and last night was arguably his best outing of the season.  He was much sharper than in his first start back after the long layoff, and it should in his results:

6.2 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 92 Pitches (66 strikes)

He threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of the 29 batters he faced.  He got 13 swinging strikes (14.13%).  And he basically kept the Tampa batters off balance all night with his selection of offspeed garbage, bearing down and getting big outs when he had to with runners on base.

Garcia has now pitched 103.2 innings for the Yankees this year.  He has 8 wins, and 12 quality starts out of the 17 he's made.  He sports a 3.21 ERA and a 3.74 FIP, both far better than what his ZiPS projections were before the season (4.83/4.58).  Freddy's 1.7 WAR is the 3rd highest total amongst Yankee pitchers this season, just behind Bartolo Colon and much higher than what A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova have done over a similar innings count.  Cash should be walking into Hank's office every day and putting clippings of Freddy's outings and printouts of his stats on his desk.  Maybe throw a few of Soriano's shitty numbers in there too, just to rub salt in the wound.

It isn't always pretty.  He isn't going to wow you with anything.  But Freddy Garcia is a professional pitcher who knows how to get the job done, and he's been reliable almost every time he's stepped out there.  He isn't flashy, but he knows how to get outs, and grinds his way through it.  Freddy Garcia is The Garbage Man.

(Another great Photoshop performance by Swanny Duckson)

The Post Where I Argue ONCE AGAIN That The Jesus Should Be Called Up

The Yankees are 5-3 in the 8 games since the Horse had his surgery.  They're still comfortably in 2nd in the AL East and the Wild Card race and right within striking distance of Boston for 1st.  On the surface, all looks well.  But the reality of the situation is that the offense is struh-gull-ing right now with A-Rod on the shelf.  The rest of the team has not stepped up and picked up the slack to account for his absence, and with his return still probably a month away, a shakeup might be in order to add a little muscle to the lineup.

For the season, the Yankees are averaging 5.12 runs per game, but in the last 8 games they have scored just 32 runs (a 4 R/G average for the mathematically impaired).  14 of those runs came in 2 separate 7-run outings, so that's them down to 18 total runs over the other 6.  And looking through the lineup, there are a lot more ugly numbers to be had than pretty ones.  Robbie Cano and C-Grand are both having solid months in July right on par with what they've been producing all seasons, and Jeter has actually produced pretty well since coming off the DL (.286/.314/.429 in 49 July ABs).  But Mark Teixeira is having a brutal July (.237/.318/.288 in 59 ABs), and the combination of Jorge (.135/.214/.162 in 37 ABs) and Russell Martin .170/.264/.234 in 47 ABs) has been so bad that I'd rather see some cancer kids from the ESPN "My Wish" thing hitting in their spots in the order instead of them.  Even Swish has slowed down after his torrid June (.260/.321/.320 in 50 ABs), and the bench, save for Andruw Jones and his very limited ABs, is a bare bones collection of Triple-A guys.  The only guy who you can say is having a GREAT month is Brett Gardner (.365/.431/.462 in 52 ABs).

And it seems like teams are starting to realize it.  Save for the semi-boneheaded decision by Joe Maddon to intentionally walk Swish the other night, you don't see pitchers trying to tip-toe through the Yankees lineup right now.  They recognize that guys are slumping, they recognize that A-Rod isn't there, and they're attacking the Yankee hitters.  And a slumping, weakened lineup is an easy one to beat.

So what's the solution?  Seeing as how the biggest black hole of production is coming, once again, from the C/DH spots, it makes perfect sense to me to call up The Jesus.  He's back off the DL, he's hitting again, and quite frankly, I'm getting fed up hearing about how he's bored, not focused, pressing, etc.  Even if it's not the level of power production that the MSM and uninformed baseball fanbase would like to see, the guy is still hitting .282/.340/.412 on the season, and he's still one of the top 3-5 prospects in all of baseball.  I don't feel like I have to remind people of this, but I will anyway.  Some scouts have compared Montero's bat to that of Miguel Cabrera.  That isn't a comparison that gets thrown around a lot.

(Not to mention the fact that he's the son of God)

 Before he got hurt, Alex Rodriguez was still valuable to the lineup.  At best, he was getting hits, drawing walks, and helping the team score runs.  At worst, he was still a presence in the lineup that pitchers were aware of and had to think about facing.  Montero could be that same sort of presence, at a lesser level, because of his reputation and the fact that pitchers haven't faced him yet.  Bare minimum he provides more than what the team is getting from Posada and Martin, gets to show what he can do catching at the Major League level, opens up space for Romine to be promoted, and showcases what he can and can't do for prospective trade partners.  Anything more than that is gravy.  If it doesn't work out, you can send him back down to SWB, no big deal.  But if it does, and he catches fire, then the lineup becomes even deeper and more dangerous when A-Rod does return.  Isn't that scenario better than what the Yankees are rolling out there every day right now?

Just a little over a week ago, the Yankees ranked 2nd in baseball in wOBA, OPS, and WAR.  In only a handful of games since then they have fallen behind the Rangers to 3rd in all of those categories, actually dropping 0.1 points in total team WAR.  It's indicative of a small sample size and also the good baseball the Rangers are playing, but it still classifies as proof that the offense is struggling, and it doesn't take a genius to realize that The Horse's absence could be a major determining factor.  Brandon Laird, Greg Golson, and Chris Dickerson are nice and all, but they aren't going to get it done in the everyday lineup.  The Yankees need to make a move to bring a little more depth and danger back to that lineup, and the move that makes the most sense is calling up Jesus.  End the drama, patch up the biggest hole(s) in the lineup, and give the team a better chance to win.