Bobby V Is Making This Tough For Me

On the one hand, the fact that Bobby V is wandering around the stadium in full uniform on what I presume is a game day, and taking the time to once again make himself the center of attention sets me up perfectly to call him out for doing just that instead of sitting in his office putting together the lineup card or talking to his coaching staff about how they can change things up to help the Fraud Sawx stay at or above .500 for more than a day or 2.  And to turn down an opportunity to rag on Bobby V would be almost criminal.

On the other hand, he did just straight up videobomb the SHIT out of Dan Shaughnessy, easily the most unlikeable sports writer and Bahhston sports personality in the history of sports and the perfect personification of everything that is wrong with the Bahhston sports fanbase.  That quick look of bewilderment on Shaughnessy's face at the 3-second mark when he first hears Bobby V's voice is gold.  It's gold, Jerry, gold!  Anytime Dan Shaughnessy is getting punked out like that, I smile both inside and out.

So I'm torn.  What do I do here?  What path do I take??  I'm stumped.  You've won this round, Valentine.  Well played.

Monthly Minor League Report (July): The Lower Levels

(2012 2nd-Round pick Austin Aune.  Courtesy of Bryan "BeGreen90's" Flickr page)

July is over, which means we're heading into the dog days of summer in August.  Or are we already in the dog days of summer?  It's been hotter than hell out in Wisco for the better part of July, so to me that constitutes dog days.  But then again, I don't make up the rules.  Maybe July is designated by another creature and August is officially the dog days and I'm breaking all kinds of seasonal description protocol by mixing them up.  Whatever.  The changeover to August also means it's time for another round of Minor League monthly recaps and there's plenty to recap.  All the 2012 picks are signed and playing, so that's exciting.  And the much-anticipated round of call ups took place earlier in the month for some of the higher-profile prospects.  We start the MMLR, as always, with the lower levels.

Game 103 Wrap-Up: BAL 11 NYY 5

("Bad luck," my ass.  Courtesy of The AP)

I almost can't put into words how awful this game was last night.  If you watched even the first third of it, you know exactly what I'm talking about and you're shaking your head in agreement right now.  I sat at my computer, already typing out the results of the 1st inning, and watched with each heartbreaking ESPN Gamecast refresh as Ivan Nova let the 5-run lead he was staked to evaporate and turn into a 2-run deficit in a matter of minutes.  I was so distraught by what happened that I actually called my dad at home in Connecticut and just started venting.  Eventually we steered the conversation towards "The Dark Knight Rises" and the stupidity of people complaining about Bane's voice, but that still didn't and doesn't take away from the collective crappiness that was this game.

Game Notes:

- I bet Chris Tillman didn't expect to get 5 runs thrown in his grillmix in the bottom of the 1st but that's just what happened.  The Yankees were swinging with authority, Tillman wasn't fielding his position, and things escalated quickly.  A Robinson Cano 2-run homer was the big hit of the inning and the Yankes were off and running.

- And like that,

... the 5-run lead was gone.  After needing just 6 pitches to get through the 1st, Nova couldn't locate his fastball, couldn't locate his slider, couldn't locate his curveball, and gave up 7 runs in the top of the 2nd after striking out 2 consecutive batters and getting ahead of Mark Reynolds 0-2.

- It was probably equal parts Tillman settling down and the Yankee lineup being deflated by the events that transpired in the 2nd, but they were held scoreless through the next 6 innings and managed just 4 hits in those innings.

- Meanwhile, Nova continued to get shelled like a bag of stadium peanuts.  He gave up a pair of doubles and a run in the 3rd, and another run in the 5th to make it 9-5 Orioles.  Of the 10 hits that were charged to Nova's tab, 5 of them were XBH.

- A change in pitchers did nothing to shake the offense out of their Nova-induced coma.  The Yankees manged just 3 singles after the 5th inning, 2 of them infield singles by Derek Jeter.  Not counting the Cano HBP, which I don't, the Yankees only advanced a runner to second base once after the 3rd inning.  Talk about laying down and dying...

- Clay Rapada gave up a 2-run homer to add insult to injury in the top of the 8th.  Curtis Granderson grounded into a game-ending double play in the 9th to put the game out of its misery.

Trade Deadline News: Yanks Get McGehee And Add Another Bullpen Arm...

The Dempster rumors turned out to be smoke, but the Yankees did make a small deal, acquiring infielder Casey McGehee from Pittsburgh for Chad Qualls.  McGehee, a former Brewer, hasn't come close to matching his career season of 2010 these last 2 years, but he can play third and has some pop from the right side.  With Teix missing at least the next couple of games, this was the Yankees' biggest need and McGehee is an upgrade over Ramiro Pena.

The bigger part of this deal is that by moving Qualls, the Yankees clear up a roster spot for Joba Chamberlain, who is going to be activated tonight.  I haven't seen any official reports of it yet, but it sounds like a done deal.  For the first time since June 5th of last year, Joba will be in a New York Yankee uniform and available to pitch out of the New York Yankee bullpen.  That's great news for him and the bullpen, who need another non-matchup arm in the worst way.

Welcome back, Joba.  Now somebody do me a favor and HIT THE FUCKING MUSIC!!!

Inside An Ugly Stretch Of Yankee Baseball

(Game-ending strikeouts are the worst kind of strikeouts.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

As the final few hours before today's trade deadline tick down, the Yankees find themselves in a strange position.  The high of their fantastic 34-13 run that stretched into the middle of this month has been replaced by the low of their current 3-8 streak that started, interestingly enough, in Oakland, the same city where the previously-mentioned hot streak started at the end of May.  The overall quality of play has been lacking, the W-L results have been less than satisfactory, and the injury problems that have plagued major contributors since Spring Training have stayed ever-present, now shifting their torture to the middle of the order.  The Yankees still have a relatively healthy 6.5-game lead in the division, 7 in the loss column, but the outlook is far less comforting as it was just a few weeks ago.

What, exactly, has been happening over these past 2 weeks to change the mood in Yankeeland?  How could the Yankees go from flying high to stuck in the mud so quickly?  The answer, as usual, is in the numbers.

BREAKING NEWS: Update On Teixiera's Wrist

Well at least we can all breathe a sigh on relief on this injury scare.

Via Chad Jennings of LoHud, the results are in on Teix's MRI and they're as positive as they could be.  The MRI showed no structural damage in his wrist and he was given a cortisone injection.  The official diagnosis is inflammation of the left wrist, and the plan right now is to see how he responds to the cortisone and evaluate the wrist again in 3 days.

This is certainly better than any kind of worst-case scenario we could have imagined after hearing about Joe's "big concern" last night.  There's no word on whether or not Teix will have to go on the DL for the injury, and I wouldn't expect one until the re-evaluation of his wrist is done in 3 days, but for now this is good news.

Game 102 Wrap-Up: BAL 5 NYY 4

(At least Ichiro had something to smile about.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

It's been slowly bubbling beneath the surface for the last 2 weeks, started to rise on Sunday night after the second straight not-quite-comeback loss to Bahhston, and can completely surface after another loss in similar fashion last night.  That "it" is the fact that the Yankees aren't playing good baseball right now.  They aren't getting great start pitching, they aren't getting timely hits, and their bullpen work has been uneven at best.  They're 3-8 in their last 11 games and things have become more of a struggle since A-Rod went on the DL.  They're doing just enough to stay in games, but not enough to win them, and it's frustrating.  More potential injury problems to key members of the lineup only adds to the frustration.

Game Notes:

- Eric Chavez put the Yankees on the board first with an RBI single in the bottom of the 2nd.  Gonzalez helped the cause by balking Raul Ibanez to second with 2 outs, but give Ibanez credit for scoring from second; seems like the Yanks haven't been doing enough of that lately.

- Garcia worked easily through the 1st, but after that he started to get hit hard and hit often.  He gave up a double to Adam Jones to lead off the top of the 2nd, a HR to Wilson Betemit to lead off the 3rd, 2 more hits in that inning and in the 4th, and only a trio of double plays prevented the damage from being worse.

- Ironically enough, it was a pair of sac flies that gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead in the 5th.  But they came after Garcia gave up 2 hits to start the inning.  He just wasn't hitting his spots and wasn't fooling anybody with his stuff.

- Ibanez scored the Yankees' first run in the 2nd inning, and he scored their 2nd in the 5th.  Didn't have to hustle too hard for that one, though, as he smacked another HR to right to make it 3-2.

- Boone Logan hadn't pitched since last Tuesday, and had only faced 4 batters in the last 10 days, and it showed after he struck out the first 2 batters relieving Garcia in the 7th.  Logan completely fell apart, walking Omar Quintanilla, giving up an RBI double to Nick Markakis, and having another run charged to him when David Phelps came in and gave up a single to J.J. Hardy.

- The real news on that play was Mark Teixiera leaving after making a diving attempt at Hardy's single. He was shaking his left hand after the play and although X-rays were negative after the game, Joe didn't sound optimistic in his postgame comments.

- Chavez answered right back in the bottom half with a solo HR and his 2nd RBI of the night to make it 5-3.  And then Ichiro followed that up with his first career Yankee homer to make it 5-4.  At least the bottom of the order was nice enough to show up last night.

- After Joe almost overmanaged his bullpen into more late-game innings allowed, the Yankees had a great chance for a 9th-inning comeback after Nick Swisher led off with a ground rule double.  But the bottom of the order, who had been the only source of offense all night, couldn't get it done and the streak of mediocrity continues.

BREAKING NEWS: Mark Teixeira Leaves Tonight's Game With Wrist Injury

When the injury clouds rain on Yankeeland, they pour.  Mark Teixiera left tonight's game against the Orioles in the 7th inning after injuring his left wrist diving for a ball off the bat of J.J. Hardy.  He was shaking his hand and flexing his wrist on the field right after the play and was replaced on the field in the next inning.

Multiple Yankee beat guys are reporting that Teix is scheduled to go for tests on the injured wrist tomorrow, and Joe Girardi called the injury a "big concern."  There are some reports that he got an X-ray after leaving the game, but that hasn't been confirmed and results are unknown.  Needless to say this is not good news if  you're a Yankee fan.  More details on this story as they become available.

** UPDATE- 9:33PM- Joe confirmed that Teix is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow and said "we'll keep our fingers crossed."  That statement paired with the "big concern" line pretty much tells the story of where this is going.  Not good at all. **

** UPDATE- 9:53PM- Teix said he actually hurt the wrist on a swing in last night's game but tried to play through it tonight and aggravated it on the dive in the 7th. **

** UPDATE- 10:08PM- Via Marc Carig, X-rays on Teix's wrist came back negative, so at least that's a little bit of good news. **

Gary Sanchez & Mason Williams Get A High-A Education

(Sanchez photo courtesy of Tim Priddy/Four Seam Images, Williams courtesy of Tyrone Walker/The Post and Courier)

No matter what order you'd rank them personally, there's little doubt that Gary Sanchez and Mason Williams are the 2 best Yankee position prospects right now (and yes, the order in which I just mentioned them is how I would rank them).  With the way the top-tier pitching prospects have faltered this season, it's not much of a stretch to say that Sanchez and Williams are the best Yankee organizational prospects period.  When you're blessed with the natural physical gifts and core baseball tools in the way that these guys are, you're going to rise up the prospect board pretty quickly and that's exactly what Sanchez and Williams have done in the early part of their careers.

Their individual successes in 2012 earned them each a promotion to High-A Tampa recently, and last Friday Kiley McDaniel of ESPN posted a scouting assessment of the Tampa Yankees, including a very detailed scouting report on Sanchez and Williams based on what he'd seen since their call-ups.  It's an Insider-only piece, and the details of McDaniel's report paint a very positive picture of where both players are right now in their development.  The report also points out the weaknesses in Williams' and Sanchez's respective games, weaknesses that are starting to be exposed more now that they're facing a better level of competition, and sets the stage for the next step in their prospect evolution and future scouting evaluations as they finally get to a level where natural tools aren't enough to get by.

Andy Pettitte's Non-Setbacking Setback

There was a bit of breaking news prior to last night's game involving Andy Pettitte and his rehab from his broken ankle.  There were reports that he had pushed himself too hard while working out in Seattle (which I still say is completely stupid) and was going to have to back off for an undetermined amount of time.  Seeing as how he was already scheduled for a return sometime in September, that undetermined amount of time could put his return at all this season into jeopardy.

Quick to quell the rumor mill before it could get started too much, Cash, via Ken Davidoff, said that Andy did NOT suffer a setback but rather experienced the "ebb and flow of rehab."  I don't know about you, but that sounds like the definition of a setback to me.

So that raises the all-important question.  Is what happened to Andy, whatever it was, a setback or not?  Is it a setback... or isn't it?  That's the question.

/grabs a bottle of Hennigan's



Think about that for a while.

Game 101 Wrap-Up: BOS 3 NYY 2

(Sad Raul is sad.  Courtesy of The AP)

It was a frustrating game last night.  The Yankees got great starting pitching from Hiroki Kuroda but couldn't do much against an inconsistent Felix Doubront.  They were able to muster up a little late-game offense to tie it up and force extra innings, but that ended up being nothing more than a moral victory after they lost the lead and the game in the 10th.  If you're interested in my thoughts on the game as it unfolded, check out last night's live blog.

Game Notes:

- Need proof that Kuroda got jobbed last night?  Of the 24 outs he recorded, 15 of them were on the ground and only 2 left the infield. 2 of the 7 hits he allowed were groundballs that found holes, and 1 was a line drive right at Derek Jeter that Jeter probably should have caught.

- Kuroda was very good last night.  He once again had his slider working to perfection to right-handers, and although he couldn't get the downward break on his splitter that he had the previous 2 starts, he made up for it by having a solid sinker and a lively 4-seamer.

- Doubront had really good stuff last night, and he should get credit for that.  15 swinging strikes out of 64 (23.44%) is nothing to sneeze at.  But he also battled inconsistency with his fastball, and left more than a few hittable pitches over the plate.  The Yankee offense just didn't do much with them.

- The 1-4 hitters for the Yanks last night (Jeter, C-Grand, Teix, Cano) were a combined 1-19 with 1 BB, 6 K, and 6 LOB.  That's just not going to get it done against any pitcher, whether he's commanding his stuff or not.

- Of course Russell Martin showed up on a night where nobody else did.  As I told my buddy Gary last night via text, Martin has one of these games every 12-15, so we probably shouldn't expect to hear much from him offensively until about the second week of August.

AB4AR Yanks-Sawx "Return Of Swish" Live Blog

(Pimp juice.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

It was implied when Joe used him as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th last night, and it was made official when tonight's lineup was posted.  Nick Swisher is back.  Not all the way back, as he's the DH tonight and not playing his usual spot in right field, but being healthy enough to swing the bat and run the bases is a step in the right direction and the Yankees could certainly use Swish back in the lineup to help lengthen it a bit.

The Bombers are looking to bounce back from last night's 9th inning disappointment to get the series win, and based on the way he pitched last time out, they've got the right man for the job in Hiroki Kuroda.  There's some weather in the area again, which is good if you're looking for a symbolic final cleansing of last night's loss but not so great if you're live blogging the game like me and hoping that rain delays don't drag this thing out until midnight.  Hopefully the heavy stuff clears through and stays away once the game starts.

Yankee Starting Lineup-

1) Derek Jeter- SS
2) Curtis Granderson- CF
3) Mark Teixeira- 1B
4) Robinson Cano- 2B
5) Nick Swisher- DH
6) Andruw Jones- LF
7) Russell Martin- C
8) Ichiro Suzuki- RF
9) Jayson Nix- 3B

SP) Hiroki Kuroda- RHP

First pitch is scheduled for just after 8PM Eastern/7PM Central.  Regardless of Mother Nature's cooperation in making that happen, I'll be back sometime right around 7 to kick this live blog off right.  Go Yankees!

Teix Turns His Swag On

The impact was felt only briefly, thanks to Curtis Granderson's Scott Smalls impression in the bottom of the 9th, but hands down the biggest moment of last night's game was Mark Teixeira taking Vicente Padilla yard one pitch after Padilla tried to clown him with a 51 MPH floater and then pimping the ever-loving shit out of it by standing and admiring the shot and doing the slow walk down the first baseline.

One of the biggest criticisms of Teix has always been that he's got the personality of a black-and-white photograph of a bowl of plain oatmeal, and it's a fair criticism.  The guy is a bit of a stiff.  So to watch him admire a home run in such an exaggerated fashion, a fashion that was almost as over-the-top as a Barry Bonds or David Ortiz performance, brought a smile to my face.  Teix has been having a great month, and he's going to be looked to even more with A-Rod on the shelf.

I don't expect him to step to the plate tonight with a bunch of gold Jesus chains on, or start his own series of complicated handshakes in the dugout, but it was good to see that Teix does have some personality in there.  In that moment last night, his swag was on a hundred-thousand-trillion and it was fucking awesome.

Game 100 Wrap-Up: BOS 8 NYY 6

(Failboat.  Courtesy of The AP)

On paper, this should have been a cake matchup for the Yankees yesterday.  CC Sabathia had been pitching pretty well since coming off the DL, Jon Lester had been pitching like absolute garbage for pretty much the entire season.  But as the old saying goes, that's why they play the game.  There was a pretty significant rain delay that pushed back the start of this game, and there's no way to know for sure if that had any effect on CC, but he was not sharp and put his team in a pretty big hole.  They managed to climb out, only to be kicked back down again in the 9th inning on one of the worst defensive plays you'll ever see.

Game Notes:

- Sabathia struck out Jacoby Ellsbury to start the game, then gave up a bunch of well-struck hits that led to 3 Fraud Sawx runs in the top of the 1st.  The big hits were doubles by Adrian Gonzalez and Will Middlebrooks on 4-seamers that were up and over the plate.

- Lester looked good through his first 2 innings of work, but made a mistake in the 3rd, to Chris Stewart of all people, and Stewart hit his first home run of the season to make it 3-1 Bahhston.

- CC settled down and worked through the 4th inning without issue, but with 2 outs in the 5th his command started to elude him again.  He gave up a single to Pedro Ciriaco, walked Dustin Pedroia, and grooved a first-pitch slider that Gonzalez crushed for a 3-run homer and a 6-1 lead.

- The lineup quickly worked to pick CC up in the bottom half of the 5th.  Andruw Jones led off with a walk and came around to score on Jayson Nix's 2-run home run.  After another walk and an Ichiro single, Derek Jeter scraped another run across on a groundout and it was 6-4.

- Joe got one more inning out of CC then went to David Phelps in the 7th.  As he has done since being recalled, Phelps was fantastic in his 2 innings of work, striking out the side in the top of the 8th to keep the Yanks within striking distance.

- And strike they did in the bottom of the 8th, in one of the most badass ways imaginable.  Vicent Padilla was on to pitch, and after giving up a leadoff single to pinch hitter Raul Ibanez, he got to face his mortal enemy Mark Teixeira with 2 outs.

- After throwing an eephus pitch for a strike, Padilla tried to come back with a fastball 2-1 and Teix was waiting for it.  He launched it deep into right field for a game-tying 2-run homer and did his best Barry Bonds impression walking almost a third of the way down the first base line to watch it before starting his trip around the bases.

- The Stadium was rocking after the Teix bomb, but were quickly quieted in the 9th.  Rafael Soriano came on and walked Ellsbury with 1 out.  Ciriaco was up next and hit a line drive to center that Curtis Granderson couldn't have made a worse play on.  He came in first, then got turned around trying to recover, and fell on his ass reaching for the ball as it landed over his head for a triple.  It was a truly horrible play by C-Grand and after Ciriaco came home on a sac fly to make it 8-6, the Yankees' goose was cooked.

Thinking About Other Possible Trade Targets

(This guy WOULD look good in pinstripes... )

The Yankee trade talk has quieted down a bit since the Ichiro deal and the initial boom in hypotheticals in response to the Alex Rodriguez injury, but it's never wise to consider Cash "done" until the trade deadline has passed.  There are still a few days until the happens, and with Eric Chavez hobbled by an HBP last night, production from the catcher position still inconsistent and underwhelming, and the natural connection of the Yankees to any big name pitcher who may be available, it's still worth at least talking about what the Yankees could do.  At the moment there is nothing to indicate that the Yankees are or will be involved in major negotiations about any of the gentlemen mentioned below, but here's my takes on a few players whose services could fit the Yankees' future wants and current needs.

Game 99 Wrap-Up: NYY 10 BOS 3

(A whole lotta something sorta Grand-ish.  Courtesy of The AP)

Gonna have to make this one quick.  Damn internet at the apartment has been crapping out all last night and all this morning.  Plus the game was so one-side that I don't really need to waste a whole lot of words describing what everybody already knows.  But in case you missed it, here are the highlights.

Game Notes:

- Mark Teixeira's hustle down the line and the Fraud Sawx's laziness in trying to turn 2 kept the bottom of the 1st alive for the Yankees, and Raul Ibanez made that count with a 2-run homer to make it 3-1 New York early.

- Bahhston would keep it close through 3 and a half innings thanks to 3 solo home runs off of Yankees' starter Phil Hughes, but that was all they would get as Hughes settled down and managed to work 7 innings.

- The lead was extended from 4-3 to 6-3 in the bottom of the 4th on an Ichiro Suzuki single and a Russell Martin 2-run HR.  Always good to see the bottom of the order producing.

- Props to Joe for sticking with Hughes despite Hughes having to work hard through 5 innings and clearly not having his best command, and props to Hughes for rewarding Joe's faith by retiring the sides in the 6th and 7th in order.

- Curtis Granderson had the final big blow in the bottom of the 8th to cap off his day with a 2-out grand slam in the bottom of the 8th, his 28th HR of the season.  It was a GRANDERSLAM!  Nailed it.

Joba's Return Right Around The Corner

(A Joba fist pump right now would be the kitty's titties.  Courtesy of Audrey Tiernan/MCT)

It would be super mega-awesome if Joba returned to the bullpen (and the mound) this weekend.  From a storyline perspective, it wouldn't get much better than having him return at home against the hated, struggling Fraud Sawx, blow them away with some high-90s smoke, and walk off the mound with a triumphant fist pump.  The newspapers would eat it up, fans would eat it up, it would provide some much needed positive energy after the Yankees' rough West Coast trip, and it would make it fun to watch the BBTN guys try to spin the story in a way that poo-poo'd the Yankees and made excuses for the Fraud Sawx.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 7/27

One of, if not the single worst thing about working in the corporate world is meetings.  People always want to have meetings, are constantly scheduling and re-scheduling meetings, and are leaving meetings early so they can go to other meetings.  My company thrives on meetings.  Not in the sense that we do good business because of our ability to have good meetings, but in the sense that people around the office flat out cannot function without scheduling meetings.  You can be in the middle of a discussion with one person or multiple people about some topic, working towards a solution, and out of the blue some mouth-breathing manager will say, "let's schedule a meeting" and boom!  Conversation over.  It's maddening.  If you have to schedule a meeting to better prepare yourself for a topic that you were just discussing, you should not be in charge of people.  You should be driving an ice cream truck or working as a ticket taker at the county fair.  Anywho, onto the links!

- It's from last Saturday, but Josh Norris of Minor Matters scored another interview with Yankees' pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras.  Definitely a must-read to get Contreras' take on guys like Jose Campos and Mark Montgomery.

- On Tuesday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog did what he does best and composed a well-reasoned, logical analysis of the Ichiro trade.

- Fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite interviewed 2012 1st-round pick Ty Hensley.  Lots of good self-analysis by Hensley on his stuff and commentary on the shoulder abnormality MRI.

- Joe Pawlikowski of RAB examined Hiroki Kuroda's numbers this year and how they've helped disprove, at least for Kuroda, the belief that NL pitchers can't get it done in the AL.

- Mike Eder of TYA broke down the changes in Phil Hughes' pitch selection and arm slot since April to show how he's improved since then as the season has progressed.

- Vizzini of NoMaas had a pretty good idea for a minor trade that could shore up the Yankees' catching situation, and sound support for why it makes sense for Cash to do it.

- On Wedneday, Kate Conroy of LLP started looking ahead to the month of August and the tough schedule that awaits the Yankees.

- Matt Imbrogno of TYA built off of JoePaw's post and compared Kuroda's results on his sinker and slider from April/May to the results from June/July to ID one of the sources of Kuroda's turnaround.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily mused on a couple of potential replacements for Swish that the Yankees could target at the deadline.  It would be against their usual MO, but still sound strategy.

- William Tasker looked at Curtis Granderson's ridiculously bad defensive metrics this season and wondered how they could influence the Yankees' future plans for him.

- On Thursday, Jimmy Kraft of Yanks Go Yard gave his thoughts on the Ichiro trade and why Ichiro is a good addition in the outfield for the Yankees.

- Andrew Mearns of Pinstripe Alley issued an open letter to Joe Girardi on his problems with Joe's bullpen management this season.  As someone who is always harder on Joe for his 'pen mgmt. than everybody else, I approve Andrew's message.

- On Friday, Chad Jennings of LoHud got some quotes from Ichiro on his thoughts about playing in Yankee Stadium as a member of the Yankees for the first time this weekend.

For the Friday Jam, I'm going to play a huh-YUUUUGE nerd card here, almost as big as the nerd card I could play by mentioning my comic book knowledge, and admit that I am picking this weeks' song, "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage by the way, because of WWE.  I watched the 1,000th episode of "Monday Night Raw" on Monday night (duh), and when CM Punk jumped back in the ring and clotheslined The Rock I marked out HARD!  The Rock blows these days and I'm ashamed to admit I used to root for him when I was 13, so it was awesome to see CM Punk upstage him and completely wreck his shit to close the show.  I'm praying that Punk's clothesline was the start of a huge heel turn, and him coming out to his original WWE entrance song, which is not a bad song by any means, would be a great way to get that storyline going.



There you go, people.  I work 40-50 hours a week in a lowly cubicle monkey job, I worship and write about the Yankees, I drink a lot of beer, I use way more movie and TV show lines in my everyday conversation than any grown man should, and I watch wrestling.  This is my life.

Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Be on the lookout for a live blog for Yanks-Sawx on Sunday night.

Nick Swisher's Return & Adjusting A Horse-Less Lineup

(Hopefully this guy returns tomorrow.  Courtesy of Barton Silverman/NY Times)

The lineup was already a bit short without Nick Swisher this week, and it got even shorter with Tuesday's injury to Alex Rodriguez.  The Yankees managed to get by on Wednesday thanks to Jayson Nix's big 8th-inning double, but the team has a glaring lack of right-handed power right now with by Swish and The Horse riding the pine.  Swisher took some BP earlier in the week and all signs point to him making a return to the lineup this weekend against Bahhston, likely Saturday.  A-Rod, of course, is going to be out much longer than that, which still leaves the Yankees with just Swisher, Teix, and Andruw Jones as the only real sources of righty power in the lineup.  With a shortened lineup and a lack of right-handed pop, now would be an appropriate time for Joe to do some lineup juggling and match up even more against RHP/LHP.  If I were calling the shots, here's how I'd do it.

Let's Give A Call To The Bench

They haven't gotten a whole lot of ink this season while the majority of the focus has been on the injuries, RISP Fail, and starting rotation, but the contributions of the Yankee bench this season should not be going unnoticed.  Their collective role has become more important with the injuries suffered by everyday players in the lineup and Joe's need to keep the older players in the starting lineup fresh with regular rest and DH days, and across the board the bench guys have lived up to those roles.  Their importance is only going to increase with Alex Rodriguez down and out for the next 6-8 weeks, and much like certain unsung members of the bullpen earlier in the season, the ability of these unsung bench bodies to produce could be the extra little boost the Yankees need to keep marching forward and not miss a beat with A-Rod gone.

Game 98 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 SEA 2

(That's why he wears the "C."  Courtesy of The AP)

Well it took almost 100 games this season, which is later than it's been in recent seasons, but the Yankees finally had to play their first game without A-Rod due to injury yesterday afternoon.  Eric Chavez got the start at third base in his place, both Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones were in the lineup to fill out the DH and OF spots, and Joe went with a 1-2 of Ichiro and Derek Jeter in the batting order to attempt to keep the middle of the lineup as deep as possible.  Ivan Nova was the starting pitcher against Hisashi Iwakuma, and the Yanks were looking to at least salvage something from this series with a win.

Game Notes:

- Jeter isn't the first name that comes to mind when discussing making up for A-Rod's lost power in the lineup, but he sure looked powerful hitting a 1-out homer to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st.

- Of course Nova gave the lead right back in the bottom half.  The soft liner singles weren't the problem; they happen.  The back-to-back walks to load the bases and force in a run were, and they led to another run on a fielder's choice in the next AB.  Can't give shitty teams free baserunners.

- Keeping the "missed opportunities" theme from yesterday going, the Yankees put at least 1 runner on base in every inning against Iwakuma, 2 each in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings, and came away with no more runs to add to Jeter's leadoff HR.

- It took Oliver Perez, yes THAT Oliver Perez, relieving Iwakuma in the top of the 6th to get a 1-2-3 inning for Seattle.  Go figure.

- Nova kept the Mariners at 2 runs through 5 innings, but he didn't have much in the way of command and was yanked for Clay Rapada after walking the first 2 batters in the bottom of the 6th, his 5th and 6th walks of the day.

- Rapada and David Phelps did the job, and the lineup FINALLY put enough timely hits together to recapture the lead in the top of the 8th.  The big blow was a pinch-hit bases-clearing double by Jayson Nix, and Russell Martin followed up with an RBI single to make it 5-2 Yanks.

- D-Rob handled the 8th, Soriano the 9th, and the Yankees were able to enjoy their flight back to civilization with a series win.  After the weak LD barrage in the 1st inning, the Mariners managed just a single hit from then on.

Taking Stock Of The Internal Third Base Options

(SPOILER ALERT- Nobody on this list can replace this guy.  Courtesy of The AP)

The injury cloud that has hovered over the Yankees since Spring Training is still there and starting to rain on the position players now.  Alex Rodriguez is officially heading to the DL again, for what will surely be an extended period of time, and the Yankees are left with decisions to make about what to do to replace him in the immediate short term and long term for the remainder of the regular season.  Those decisions have an added level of urgency and intrigue connected to them with this injury butting up against the upcoming trade deadline.  Cash already made a splashy swerve move this week, but there certainly no talks being had about corner infielders.  As those talks start to heat up today, the Yankees will first look to their internal cache of fill-in options.

Game 97 Wrap-Up: SEA 4 NYY 2

(Hey look!  Another Yankee getting hit by a pitch!  Courtesy of The AP)

It had already been a frustrating game for the Yankees before they came to bat in the top of the 8th inning last night.  They had failed to capitalize on a litany of opportunities given to them by a not-so-sharp Felix Hernandez and found themselves trailing in the game after Freddy Garcia gave up just enough runs to the horrible Seattle lineup.  But all of that went out the window when Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch in the 8th and went down in pain, clutching his left hand.  It didn't look good, it didn't sound good, and the diagnosis after the game was not good.  The Yankees lost the game last night, but the loss of A-Rod could prove to be far more devastating.

Game Notes:

- Curtis Granderson got things started in the top of the 1st with a solo HR to make it 1-0 New York.  A-Rod walked but was quickly erased by a Robinson Cano GIDP.

- The lead didn't last long, as Michael Saunders took Freddy yard on a 1-0 fastball in the bottom of the 1st to tie things up.  It was about as horribly as one could locate a fastball, belt high and right over the middle of the plate.

- The Yankees got another 1-out walk in the 3rd, and just like in the 1st they immediately erased it with an inning-ending DP.  That's 4 inning-ending double plays in the first 12 innings of this series, if you were wondering.

- Freddy struck out the side in the 2nd, but gave up what would prove to be the game-losing runs in the 3rd.  An infield single off a deflection, a groundball single through the right side, a soft liner single to right, and a sac fly.  Nothing that major, but well placed and effective to make it 3-1 Seattle.

- The Yankees loaded the bases with 1 out in the top of the 4th on a pair of singles and a walk to Mark Teixeira, but could not plate a run as King Felix got the next 2 batters out.  Like I said, tons of missed opportunities.

- There was nothing to suggest that the A-Rod HBP was intentional, nor the one to Jeter earlier in the 8th inning or Ichiro earlier in the game, but if I'm Ivan Nova I'm laying a fastball in Michael Saunders' back tonight.  You just can't let 3 of your guys getting hit go like that, especially when one of them ends up on the DL because of it.

- As for the rest of the 8th inning, the Yankees once again had the bases loaded with 1 out, and scored a run on a Teix sac fly to make it 3-2.  But Joe left Raul Ibanez in to face a lefty (WHY??????) and Ibanez predictably struck out swinging to end the inning.

- After giving up the 3 runs early, Freddy settled down and actually retired the next 15 batters he faced in order before giving way to the bullpen with 1 out in the 8th, including 4 swinging strikeouts.  What started out looking like another disaster turned into a pretty solid outing for Garcia.

- Unfortunately, the mix-and-match crew in the 8th couldn't pick him up.  The infield RBI single by Kyle Seager was a fluke, but the 3 walks to load the bases weren't.  The call to intentionally walk Jesus Montero with 2 outs was also questionable.  Ballgame over, Yankees lose.

Well That's A Fine Way To Wake Up This Morning

(Un-friggin-believable.  Courtesy of The AP)

"Rodriguez has a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal near his left pinky."

The Horse is heading to the DL for 2 months.  Shittiest wakeup ever?  Shittiest wakeup ever.

Joba=Beast Mode

I dropped a line about this on the AB4AR Page earlier this afternoon (hint, hint, "Like" that shit), but it definitely warrants its own post.

Cash was on "Boomer and Carton" this morning, a show I really miss and stupidly forget to put on every single morning when I get to the office, and he had some very interesting things to say about Joba's rehab.  Apparently, not only is Joba well ahead of schedule coming back from both TJS and his ankle surgery, but somewhere along the way he managed to transform back into the 21/22-year-old version of himself:

“Joba’s out of control.  The stuff he’s featuring is remarkable. He’s as high as 100 but upwards consistently 96, 97, 98. He looks really good...

So yeah, he’s due back here shortly. I mean, the worst-case scenario would be the first week of August, but he should be here ahead of that."

What's that you say?  Joba sitting upper 90s with the heater again?

/checks Fangraphs

Why he hasn't done that since 2007! Sounds like we got us a little Henry Rowengartner situation here.  This is great news indeed!  And it will be even better if he's still throwing that kind of smoke when he returns to the bullpen in the near future.  Say he's stupid for getting on the trampoline, say he's underachieved as a Yankee, say the Yankees should make him a starter again.  Say whatever you want about Joba.  But don't say he hasn't worked his ass off to get back this season, and don't say you aren't excited to see him take the mound again for the first time.

Now Joba just needs to get the 3 R's back into his routine and he'll be golden.