Joe Leaning On His Bullpen Core

(How many untucks is too many?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

A Monday or 2 ago, I suggested the idea of Joe tinkering with his middle relief crew to see if he could find some more stable options.  With the deeper pool of guys he could help cover for the regression of some players, keep some of the harder-worked guys rested, and possibly overturn a viable option or 2 for postseason roster consideration.  Not only has that tinkering not really taken place, the regular middle relief crew has seen their workload cut back a bit in these last 2 weeks.  Joe has been leaning heavily on his core group of high-leverage relief pitchers lately, and now there might be cause for concern.

Game 149 Wrap-Up: NYY 10 TOR 7

(Gotta admire it when you haven't hit many in a while.  Courtesy of the AP)

The last 2 times the Yankees have played Toronto before this series it hasn't gone well.  Maybe it was Andy coming back, maybe it was the doubleheader, maybe it was just Ichiro being crazy, video game on fire, but the Yankees turned in a much better performance in terms of doing what needed to be done to win games in this series, and last night was a perfect example.  The pitching wasn't great, the offense blew a few opportunities, but they cashed in big in one inning and tacked on insurance when they needed it.  Don't look now, but this team has won 5 straight.

Game Notes:

- The stuff was definitely there for Phil Hughes last night.  The command?  Not so much.  Hughes got 5 swinging strikeouts in his first 3 innings of work, but he also gave up 2 XBH in the 2nd and a pair of hit batters in the 3rd to go down 2-0.

- Hughes found a little command in the 4th, and he ended up getting himself into the record books.  Hughes had to get a 4th out after a Russell Martin passed ball put a runner on.  He ended up getting all 4 outs in the inning via strikeout, just the second Yankee pitcher to do it.

- The offense only had 1 hit off Aaron Laffey after 3 innings, but it was an Ichiro HR to keep them within striking distance.  They were also making Laffey work by drawing a few walks.

- Those few walks turned into a few more in the bottom of the 4th, and then it spiraled into an all-out offensive assault.  Ichiro doubled home 2 more runs (dude is fucking nuts!), Derek Jeter singled home a run, and Nick Swisher slump busted by hitting a grand slam to make it a 7-run inning and an 8-2 Yankee lead.

- Hughes got 2 quick outs in the 5th, and appeared to be adjusting fine to pitching with the big lead, but then he gave up a dreaded 2-out walk and a home run to Moises Sierra.  His fastball was popping and his slutter was nasty; he just never really found that command.

- No worries, the offense got him his 2 runs back in the bottom half.  Jayson Nix hit a 2-out double to plate Curtis Granderson and The Captain followed that up with an RBI single of his own to make it 10-4.

- He's been mostly bad since his 4-inning save debut, but give credit to Derek Lowe for working 2 scoreless innings behind Phil.  He had his sinker working and even got a few strikeouts.

- Things got a little hairy in the 8th with Cory Wade on the mound, but Joba came in to limit the damage and then Joe went back to D-Rob for the 9th after his bombshow in the day game on Wednesday.  Robertson showed he had moved on by striking out the side to close things out.

An Open Letter To D-Rob

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Dear Dave,

Can I call you Dave?  Is that cool?  First off, let me just say that I'm a huge fan.  I've been a fan of yours ever since you first came up.  Love the escape acts, love the high socks, love the strikeouts, love the whole deal.  But you haven't really looked like yourself on the mound lately and I think I know what the problem is.  It's the cutter.  Look, I get that Mo is a great pitcher and a great teammate, and has the reputation of passing on the secrets of his cutter to any pitcher who wants to try and learn it.  As a Major League Baseball player, I imagine getting advice from Mariano Rivera on throwing a cutter is equivalent to mere mortals sitting at the right hand of Zeus while he rules the cosmos and tosses lightning bolts down on people, and I certainly don't blame you for trying to drink from that fountain of cutter knowledge.  But it's just not working for you, bro.  You need to cut out the cutter and get back to what you do best.

Jones & Ibanez Running On Fumes

(Doesn't look like a positive reaction to that AB.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

It's no secret that Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez have been complete dog mess at the plate for a while now.  It should also come as no surprise that they've done a slow descent into below replacement-level production territory given how much more they've had to play this year because of injuries.  Jones' 264 total plate appearances are already more than he had last year, and Ibanez's 385 PA are much more than the Yankees envisioned him getting after seeing how poorly he produced over the course of 500+ the year before.  This is the risk you take when you fill your bench with old, limited players and it's finally coming back around to bite the Yankees at the most critical of times.  The question now becomes what do they do with them moving forward?

Game 148 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 TOR 1

(Looks like he's gonna get in.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Andy did the job in the day game yesterday, albeit a job that required 4 innings from the bullpen.  Joe managed that game to win, as he should have, and used his core bullpen guys to do it.  So that same pressure that was on Andy to deliver knowing it was going to be a tough day on the 'pen was transferred to David Phelps for the night game.  Phelps has no worries about pitch count, but he hadn't exactly been given a ton of leash in his previous starts this season.  He got some leash last night, and he ran with it all the way to a clean doubleheader sweep.

Game Notes:

- Walking guys will kill ya, and Phelps got another lesson in that in the top of the 2nd.  He gave out 2 consecutive free passes and got burned on a 2-out single by Adeiny Hechavarria.

- The bottom of the order got things started for the offense in the next half inning, with the suddenly red hot Ichiro involved again.  Jayson Nix walked and stole second base, then got thrown out at home on a single by Ichiro.  Never one to let a clutch 2-out scoring opportunity go by, Chris Stewart followed up with a run-scoring double to tie the game at 1.

- It was a damn good thing the bottom half was doing something, because the middle of the order was where rallies went to die.  Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson struck out to strand a Nick Swisher leadoff walk in the 3rd, then did it again to strand Swish and Cano to end the 5th.

- Phelps learned his lesson after messing around in the 2nd, and he was lights out after that.  He found his curveball and retired 10 in a row from the 3rd through the 6th.  Again, weak opposing offense, but still a solid job of pitching by Phelps.

- Phelps kept rolling into the beginning of the 7th until a Derek Jeter error broke his momentum.  A 2-out walk ended his night at 110 pitches and still just the 1 run when he handed it over to the 'pen.

- Ichiro was just absolutely out of his mind yesterday.  He stole second and third in just a handful of pitches in the 6th inning, and then singled home Granderson for the go-ahead run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th.

- I didn't think Joe would have the balls to use D-Rob or Soriano in both games, but he want back to Raffy for the 9th and Sour Puss delivered again.  A 9-pitch save, his second of the day, and he earned his untuck yesterday with a multi-save day.

Hey! Who Got 2006 Ichiro In My 2012 Ichiro??

I mean, I'm not complaining.  Dude was 7-8 today with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 4 stolen bases, and some damn fine outfield defense.  Shit's better than Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

(Photo courtesy of the AP)

Game 147 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 TOR 2

(Andrew Eugene Pettitte.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

A little bit of the luster was taken away from Andy Pettitte's return start after Mother Nature forced it from last night's main event onto the undercard of today's doubleheader.  But only a little bit, because Andy coming back and pitching is still a big deal and Andy is still awesome.  There was some added pressure on Andy to deliver in his limited pitch count, because Joe was going to have to be strategic with his bullpen usage, but the offense could have helped take some of that pressure off against the very hittable and generally terrible Toronto starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez.  They got off to a good start on that front, then faded and had to hold on for a semi-nail biter of a win.

Game Notes:

- After a scoreless top of the 1st from Andy, the offense came out and got 3 straight hits to get things rolling against Alvarez, the big blow a Robinson Cano RBI double.  A couple more runs on outs and the Yanks had a nifty little 3-0 lead.

- Andy wasn't shy about using all of his pitches today, and some were sharper than others.  He didn't use the cutter much, and he was throwing strike 1 regularly, but didn't seem to have the putaway location to work as efficiently as he would have liked.

- Pettitte worked around a couple baserunners in the 2nd, a pair of Nick Swisher errors in the 3rd, and a pair of singles in the 4th to keep the game scoreless, then had his best inning of the day in the 5th- a 7-pitch, K-groundout-groundout frame to end his day.

- The offensive disappearing act went into full effect after the 3-run 1st.  Alvarez retired 12 of 13 to keep them at 3 through 5 innings, and got a "strike 'em out, catcher interference 'em out" double play on A-Rod and Cano to end the 7th.

- A smattering of bullpen arms got the Yankees to the 8th with the 3-run lead intact, and Joe handed it over to David Robertson.  Unfortunately, D-Rob has fallen in love with his cutter lately, not realizing that he sucks at locating it and his curveball is his best pitch.  D-Rob gave up 2 earned runs on 4 solid hits without getting out of the inning to cut the lead to 1.

- Ichiro Suzuki got a rare day hitting leadoff and he didn't disappoint.  He singled and scored the game's first run in the 1st and came up with a bloop double down the left field line with 2 outs to keep the 8th inning going.  Swish singled him home for a big insurance run.

- He cleaned up D-Rob's mess in the 8th, and Rafael Soriano disposed of the Jays with the quickness in the 9th to give the Yanks their first win of the day.  Give this guy his due; he's been money since Mo went down.

Doubleheader Day Over/Under

I kinda liked doing that Over/Under post this past weekend.  It's quick, it's easy, and it doesn't require a whole lot of time surfing the various baseball websites while at work.  Since I don't have a lot of time today, and I'll be missing Andy's comeback start again, today seems like the perfect day to do another set.  First the lineup for today's first game:

1) Ichiro Suzuki- LF
2) Nick Swisher- 1B
3) Robinson Cano- 2B
4) Alex Rodriguez- DH
5) Curtis Granderson- CF
6) Russell Martin- C
7) Eric Chavez- 3B
8) Raul Ibanez- RF
9) Eduardo Nunez- SS

Jeter gets the bench to start to save him for the lefty tonight, which probably sets up a Jeter SS/A-Rod DH lineup for the nightcap.

Now the lines:

- Andy Pettitte IP Today: 5.1

- Ibanez-Jones Combined Hits: 1

- Combined Trips to the Mound for Joe: 7

- Total Hits for Cano: 4

- Total Team SB: 2.5

Doubleheader Pre-Thoughts & Thoughts

(Phil don't care about no rain.  Courtesy of the AP)

Monday was the last scheduled off day for the Yankees this year, an off day that was well-timed to get Derek Jeter another day off his bruised ankle and give the bullpen a day of much-needed rest.  Yesterday was supposed to be the start of a 16-in-16 stretch to close the season, but after the intense weather led to an early calling of last night's game it'll be a 16-in-15 instead, starting with today's doubleheader.  There's almost assuredly going to be some major strategic changes by Joe today, starting with his decision to announce David Phelps as the starter of tonight's second game.  My thoughts on today's double dip after the jump.

RIP Brett Gardner's Right Elbow

At this point, they might as well just amputate.

"Brett Gardner started a hitting program today. He has not swung a bat since his elbow surgery, but he has been taking fly balls for about two weeks and could be activated any day now."

Well that's the end of Brett Gardner's days as a 4-appendaged human being.  I thought I had already made this perfectly clear, but the Yankees really just don't seem to get it.  Call ahead and pencil the guy in for surgery this time next week.

Paging Dr. Van Nostrand!

Derek Jeter And The AL MVP

(To quote WWE-era Kurt Angle, Jeter could win the Silver Slugger and MVP with a bruised freakin' ankle.  Courtesy of the AP)

At this point it's getting hard to find a positive adjective that hasn't already been used to describe Derek Jeter's 2012 season.  What he's done this year has been simply remarkable, and almost unthinkably good given how bad he looked this time 2 years ago.  While the rest of the team's veteran hitters around him have regressed, and guys still in their primes did the same, Jeter has been very consistent and very productive at an age when he rightfully shouldn't be, and has flat out carried the offense for stretches.  With the regular season winding down, Jeter in the context of the AL MVP race has become an increasingly popular topic of conversation.  I'm positive he won't win the award, and he shouldn't, but it's definitely worth wondering and asking where Jeter will wind up in the final voting.

What To Expect From Andy, Again

(He's already been struck down.  Does he come back more powerful than we could possibly imagine tonight?)

We've already had to do this once this season, and that was pretty damn unexpected, so just paint me completely shocked that it's the year 2012 and I'm writing my SECOND Andy Pettitte comeback post of the year.  After telling retirement to pound sand in the spring, and showing he had plenty left in the tank in 58.2 innings over 9 starts, Andy was sidelined in late June thanks to a line drive off the bat of Casey Kotchman that fractured his ankle.  He's worked diligently to make it back to the mound before the end of the regular season, and despite my skepticism that work will be complete tonight when Andy makes his return start against Toronto.  So what should we expect this time?

The Secret Of Loone Bogan

It's been another up-and-down year for Boone Logan.  At face value his numbers look pretty good- 3.99/3.72/3.61 slash , 11.05 K/9 in 49.2 IP over a career-high 72 games.  But the reality is that he's regressed from his much better 2011 campaign, suffering from problematic command (4.35 BB/9), general overuse, and possible over-exposure to right-handed hitting.  His groundball rate is down, his HR rate is up, and Logan is far from the dominant bullpen option he was earlier in the season and much closer to the designated LOOGY that he was when the Yankees first traded for him.

The issues that have plagued Logan this year are not physical, they are not mental.  They are the revelation of a long-rumored family secret, something that Yankee fans and bloggers alike have hinted at and joked about through the years but have never been able to positively identify as fact.  Until now.  In an AB4AR exclusive, I present the source of Boone Logan's 2012 struggles.

Please Don't Activate Brett Gardner

(If the cyborg elbow still can't swing a bat, why bother?)

Opposite the bummerific news of Mark Teixeira's lack of progress in recovering from his latest calf injury setback, the Yankees did receive some positive news earlier in the weekend on an even longer-standing member of their walking wounder brigade.  Brett Gardner, last seen being unofficially shut down for the season after finally having surgery on his troublesome right elbow, has been working on some bunting and baserunning drills recently and Joe indicated that there's the possibility of the Yankees activating Gardner to use him as a pinch runner/defensive replacement option in these last few weeks of the regular season.

As excited as I would be to see Gardner back on the field, and it's still crazy to me to think that he only played in 9 games this season, bringing him back now to serve in the capacity it sounds like the Yankees want to use him would be an unnecessary and potentially risky move.

Game 146 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 TB 4

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

There's a strange feeling of positivity surrounding the Yankees presently, at least for me.  They're nowhere near putting everything together as they need to, but there are signs that they are starting to move back in the right direction as a team.  Curtis Granderson has started to find his power, Alex Rodriguez has hit the ball well since coming off the DL, Joba Chamberlain looks much better, the offense has shown some ability to successfully execute and play small ball to score runs when they need to (like Jeter's late RBI single on Saturday), and Ivan Nova's strong return to the rotation was a shot in the arm for the pitching staff.  A second straight win to take the series against Tampa would have been another positive step, and although it didn't turn into the blowout it could have, it was still a positive day for the Bombers.

Game Notes:

- Both pitchers had their stuff working from the minute they left the bullpen.  Hiroki Kuroda fanned the first 6 batters he got out in the game, and Matt Moore struck out the Yankee side of the 1st.

- Moore's command wasn't nearly as good as Kuroda's, and the Yankees used that to small ball their way onto the scoreboard in the 3rd.  Eduardo Nunez worked a leadoff walk, stole second base, and scored on a Derek Jeter single to right.

- A-Rod kept the small ball going with an RBI single through a pulled-in infield and a steal of 3rd on a 3-0 pitch to Robinson Cano, and then Russell Martin kicked the power game back up with a 3-run shot to right to make it 5-0 Yanks.

- Kuroda gave a run back on a solo HR in the top of the 4th, likely a byproduct of his long stay on the bench, and then got himself in big trouble in the 6th after walking the #9 hitter to lead off the inning.  Some fan interference and a freakish hop on a would-be double play ball contributed to a 3-run inning for the Rays and the end of Kuroda's day.

- I couldn't, for the life of me, explain why Joe used Boone Logan to start the top of the 7th against a righty, then removed him for David Phelps so that he didn't have him to pitch to Carlos Pena with 2 outs, but Phelps struck out Desmond Jennings to end the threat.

- It's worth noting that the offense did very little after the big 5-run 3rd.  They scratched a run across in the 4th thanks to some Nunez SBs, but only put just 2 runners on base after that.

- I'm sure Joe didn't want to use D-Rob and Sour Puss yesterday, as 2 full days of rest would have done them good, but he had little choice with the game being as close as it was, and Robertson and Soriano turned in 2 clean innings to preserve the win.

News On Teix Not Encouraging

There was some positive news on another injured Yankee that I'll address tomorrow, but the outlook wasn't so rosy for Mark Teixeira, who after being shutdown for another 10-14 days a week ago when he re-aggravated his calf injury, is still nowhere near ready to start rehabbing again let alone come back.

“I don’t have a timetable when he’ll go hit in the cage,” Girardi said. “He’s still sore.” (via LoHud)

That's not good if the calf is still bad enough that Teix can't even get a few swings in, and just strengthens the point I made earlier this week when discussing the offensive problems the Yankees have had at first base without Teix.  It's not reasonable to expect a guy who probably shouldn't have been playing in the first place to make it back to good-enough-to-play condition after making the original injury even worse.  Based on the team's initial estimation, Teix should be ready to come back a week from today at the latest.  If he can't even swing and hasn't been running, I just don't see how that's going to happen.

The more likely scenario is seeing the current platoon continue to operate as it has been, and sooner or later it might be worth giving Casey McGehee a look if Steve Pearce doesn't start to do something.

How's That For A Return?

An efficient 85 pitches in 6 innings; only 6 baserunners allowed in those 6 innings; fastballs located down in the strike zone; curveballs dropping out of the zone; 15 swinging strikes out of 53; 8 strikeouts; 2 runs allowed.

Dare I say Ivan Nova's first start since August 21st was...

Super?

Saturday Over/Unders

Getting ready to head to my company outing in a little while, probably won't be around until tomorrow afternoon, so here's some over/under lines for the remainder of this series.  If you were a betting man (or woman), what are ya takin' here?

- Yankee Hits w/ RISP Today: 2

- Yankee Runs Scored Rest of Series: 6

- Nova IP Today: 5

- Curtis Granderson HR Rest of Series: 2

- HR Allowed by Yankee Pitching Rest of Series: 4

Game 144 Wrap-Up: TB 6 NYY 4

(Just admit you're hurt so we can stop speculating.  Courtesy of the AP)

 

Normally a CC Sabathia-David Price pitching matchup is must-see TV.  The first team to 2 or 3 is usually going to win and there's always the possibility of a shutout, a complete game, or double digit strikeouts if one guy is really feeling it.  With the way Sabathia has pitched since coming off the DL, there wasn't quite that same luster last night, and the feeling was more geared towards hope, hope that CC wouldn't continue to get hit around and give up home runs.  He managed to not give up any last night, but still encountered many of the same problems that have plagued him all year.

Game Notes:

- The Yankees didn't get much against Price early, but they did manage 1 run in the 2nd inning.  Go figure that it was Steve Pearce coming through with the 2-out RBI single.  It's still not good that he's hitting in the middle of the lineup, but at least he produced there.

- After a close call in the 1st, CC worked painlessly and efficiently through the 4th, getting all 9 outs on the infield and 4 on the ground.  His command was better and he located his fastball well early in the count.  Sabathia was also throwing more changeups, a trend that's popped up recently.

- Things came apart for Sabathia almost inconceivably quickly in the 5th.  He gave up a leadoff double to Chris Gimenez, walked 2 batters after being ahead in the count, and allowed a pair of singles.  His fastball command went away, he couldn't finish hitters off, and Tampa took a 3-1 lead.

- Curtis Granderson got him back within a run with a solo blast to lead off the bottom of the 5th.  It's been a strange few games for Curtis, truly all or nothing, but he got all of the 5th fastball he saw in that at-bat.

- Sabathia got 3 groundball outs in the 6th and looked to be back on the right track, but couldn't close out the 7th inning, giving up a 2-out single to Ben Zobrist that scored a run and put the Rays back up by 2.

- Don't ask me why Cody Eppley was left out to start the 8th inning against a red hot B.J. Upton.  In a 2-run game in a playoff race this close it should have been Joba.  Upton took Eppley deep to extend the lead to 5-2, a run that would end up being very big.

- With Price out of the game after 7, the Yankees wasted little time trying to make a late run.  Derek Jeter singled and Alex Rodriguez homered to pull them within 1 with just 1 out in the 8th.  The Yanks drew 2 more walks, but Russell Martin struck out swinging and C-Grand grounded out on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

- Joe went to Joba for the 9th, and Chamberlain got burned by some bad Eduardo Nunez defense to plate a Rays' insurance run.  Fernando Rodney sat the 9th down 1-2-3 and that was your ballgame.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 9/14

It's the annual company outing tomorrow, and for the 3rd year out of 4 my company is doing a big tailgate at the Brewers game.  The company outing is always a bit of a minefield.  It's supposed to be fun, supposed to be a time when everybody can put their professional guard down and just enjoy each other's company for a day, but at the same time you know you're being judged by everybody in a position of authority while you're there and you're judging the fuck out of everybody else too.  Tomorrow's event could be especially entertaining because not only are we having beer, the powers that be decided not to limit it.  I know there are plenty of people who I work with who can DRINK, and I am fully prepared to witness some legendary drunken shenanigans.  And when it's all said and done we all get to go in and watch the Brewers and the Mets continue their epic battle for the top spot in the "middle of the pack" group of NL teams.  Riveting.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Jimmy Kraft of Yanks Go Yard wondered if we were starting to see the beginning of CC Sabathia's decline.  It's not a comforting question to ask, but one that's fair to after watching him pitch since coming off the DL.

- Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers weighed in with her opinions on the "Joe vs. Joel" dustup from last weekend.  Hers is decidedly pro-Girardi and anti-Sherman, and I can dig a lot of what she's saying.

- Josh Kramer of IIATMS put Russell Martin's season in the context of salary and concluded that Martin hasn't been worth his $7.5 mil this year.  Hard to argue with that, and even harder to comprehend how screwed up the Yankee catching situation has gotten.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud went position-by-position through the best 2012 MiL performers in the system.  With all the injuries down there, it's easy to forget that there were plenty of players who had really good years.

- On Tuesday, Matt Keegan of Pinstriped Bible examined Nick Swisher's approach and spray charts to try to explain his sudden and extra-slumpy slump.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog checked the remaining schedules for the playoff contenders to help set some confidence for the Yankees' chances and ID who they should be watching.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily compiled and unveiled his list of the top 10 greatest rookie seasons in Yankee history.  No surprise that there isn't one season on there since '96.

- George S of Gutty Gritty Yankees discussed the team's failure to implement and execute the hit-and-run as another way to generate runs with their current watered down lineup.

- Brian D. of Yankees Fans Unite offered up his 9/11 tribute by looking back at the Yankees' 2001 postseason run.

- On Thursday, Mike Axisa of RAB broke down how the rotation would line up for the rest of the year if Nova and Pettitte rejoin soon as planned.  Assuming they stay healthy and pitch well, that rotation order inspires a lot more confidence.

- Mike Eder of TYA looked at Andruw Jones' struggles against the fastball recently to see if he's losing bat speed.  That would certainly explain his non-existent second half.

- On Friday, Robert Casey of Bleeding Yankee Blue mused on the legitimacy of Derek Jeter's MVP case.  He won't win it, we know that, but I'm intrigued to see where Jeter ends up finishing on the ballot.

- Last but not least, I'm throwing the link up to my buddy's Tunnels to Towers 5K donation page again.  If you aren't already donating and supporting someone doing the run, here's a great chance to help a great cause.

For this week's jam I'm going with "Unsung" by Helmet.  It's catchy, it's got a great guitar riff, and it doesn't get nearly enough play on the radio out here despite being an awesome 90s song.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Sour Puss To Opt Out? I'll Take It

(He's actually smiling!  I would be too if I was looking at getting another huge deal)

Get your grain of salt ready, considering the source, but Jon Heyman reported yesterday that Rafael Soriano is considering opting out of the final year of his contract after this season.

"There is a good chance Rafael Soriano will invoke his opt-out clause following a season in which he has been a savior for the Yankees, people familiar with the situation say."

Can't really say I blame Raffy if he does make that decision.  $14 mil is a lot of money to walk away from, but Soriano has had a monster year (2.14 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 9.31 K/9 in 59.0 IP, 38-41 in save opps) and there are going to be some deep-pocketed teams in the market for a closer.  He capitalized on his big year in Tampa to get this Yankee contract, why wouldn't he do the same thing after this season?

And from the Yankees' standpoint they really wouldn't be dead in the water without Soriano.  They'll likely get Mo back next season, they'll still have D-Rob, Joba, Boone Logan, and Aardsma out there, and they could use part of that extra $14 mil to fill any leftover bullpen holes.  If Soriano wants to test the FA waters, let him.  Make him a qualifying offer and when the Dodgers throw 3 years/$48 mil at him, take the extra draft pick and walk away.

Game 143 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 BOS 0

(Phil Hughes: Rotation Life Raft.  Courtesy of the AP)

It's good to know that the ESPN trolling of the Yankees and Yankee fans hasn't lost any of its zing now that the Fraud Sawx are less than an afterthought in the AL East.  I'm sitting in Hooters last night with a couple guys from work (classy) watching SportsCenter, and they're going on and on and on about how the Orioles "just seized control of the division with another dramatic walk-off win."  Ummm, they didn't "seize" anything.  They were up by 1/2 a game and the Yankees hadn't even played their game yet.  Let's wait for the outcome of that game before we just declare Baltimore the AL East champion for the day, huh?  Oh, and then Phil Hughes came out last night and shat all over ESPN and Baltimore's little 1/2 game lead party.

Game Notes:

- After being blanked through 3 innings, the Yankee offense did one of its patented "good but not enough" scoring innings in the 4th, loading the bases on an A-Rod single and a couple of walks but only scoring a single run on an Andruw Jones sac fly.

- The good news for them was that Hughes was locked in last night.  He sat the first turn of the Bahhston lineup down in order, managed to pitch a shutdown inning after the Yanks scored in the 4th (yay!), and dominated with mostly his fastball.

- He was in the lineup at DH after aggravating his bone bruise the other night, and Derek Jeter came through with a big RBI single in the 7th to tack on an insurance run.  That's leadership, folks.

- Hughes mixed in some more changeups and sliders in the later innings, and pitched into the 8th before coming out after getting an out and giving up a double to the dreaded Pedro Ciriaco.  7.1 innings of shutout ball is damn good, no matter how crappy the opposing lineup is.

- Joe played matchup with his bullpen A-team to finish the 8th, got the ball to Soriano for the 9th, and it was untuck time in a hurry.  Sorry to spoil your celebration, Baltimore, but you're still tied for first place.

- Lotta good milestone notes from last night.  Hughes made his 100th career start, Jeter's RBI single tied him with Willie Mays for 10th on the all-time hits list with 3,283, and A-Rod's 1,888th career run tied him with Lou Gehrig for 9th all-time.

My Melky Mesa Theory

(Can we get this kid some swings in a different set of pinstripes?  Courtesy of Paul Hasdall)

There wasn't much reaction to the Yankees calling up Melky Mesa on Monday.  With Mark Teixeira expected to miss 2 weeks and there being plenty of position player depth on the active roster, the move looked like nothing more than adding a warm insurance bench body to cover for the loss of Teix and rewarding an upper-level prospect with a long MiL history for a job well done in Double- and Triple-A this season.  That's pretty much how the move has played out so far, with Mesa staying glued to the bench over the past 2 games despite there being instances where his skill set could have helped, but I think there might be something more to this move.

Stick with me on this, because this theory is admittedly out of left field (or right).  It also operates under the assumption that the Yankees will make the postseason, an assumption that has become decidedly more gross since the Yankees started to morph into a baseball version of a beat up military platoon.  But it does make a little bit of sense, at least to me, if you consider it with an open mind.  Methinks that the Mesa promotion is more than just filling the bench during September, and it is actually the Yankees sneaky giving him the chance to audition for Andruw Jones' postseason roster spot.

I Don't Know What To Say About Andy

(Does The Force help boost pitch counts?)

This scares me:

"If we feel he [Pettitte] can move around and compete enough in a game, it’s conceivable."- Joe, via The Post.

“We got through today, which was really good and he’s worked hard to get to this point because it’s been on a little bit shorter rest and we have to see how he bounces back.” - Joe, via LoHud.

“Can I give you 100 pitches? No.  But I feel like my stuff has been crisp. If they want me to do this, then I want to get back in there. I’m comfortable with doing that.” - Andy, via LoHud.

I don't like this.  I don't like it one bit.  But...

Game 142 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 BOS 4

(Nothing to see here, folks.  Just The Captain being a badass and playing through an injury as usual.  Courtesy of the AP)

This trading a 1-game lead for a tie thing every other day is starting to get old, and by the looks of the moves they announced yesterday the Yankees could be thinking the same thing.  There's 20 games left in the season and the urgency is starting to get turned up on their rotation situation.  Ivan Nova is going back in on Saturday for Freddy Garcia, and Andy Pettitte threw a 55-pitch simulated game and could be making his return as soon as next week.  That put some pressure on David Phelps to perform last night and a game the Yankees needed, and he hasn't exactly been coming up roses in those games.  But to the Yankees' credit, they didn't just yank the kid.  They gave him another start last night in Fenway Park, and Phelps looked up to the challenge.

Game Notes:

- The offense seemed determined to make it a frustrating night, putting up just 1 baserunner, an Eric Chavez double, in the first 3 innings against the positively horrid Aaron Cook.  Dude even struck out 2 guys!

- Luckily for them Phelps showed up with his A-game last night.  After looking overwhelmed by the pressure in his last 2 starts, Phelps was focused, sharp, and nasty with his fastball command and curveball bite through 3 hitless, scoreless innings.

- Clearly the Yankees had Cook right where they wanted him after 3, because in a span of 6 pitches in the 4th Curtis Granderson went yard to right center, Alex Rodriguez singled, and Robinson Cano went yard to left to give New York a 3-0 lead.

- Phelps started to get hit a little bit his second time through as well, but he worked through trouble to hold the Sawx at 1 run through 5.2 IP.  The 5th inning was big for Phelps, as he retired 3 in a row after Jarrod Saltalamachhia led off with a triple, 2 on strikeouts.

- Granderson rocked one to right center for his first HR, and he rocked one to right for his second in the top of the 7th inning to put the Yankees up 5-1.  All of a sudden he's locked in on the fastball, and good thing because the rest of the team couldn't scratch a run across.

- Joe needed 3 innings from his 'pen after the 6th and they didn't get off to a strong start to that mission.  Cody Eppley and Boone Logan combined to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 7th, and both runners scored as Joba tried to clean up their mess.  Once again, he looked good doing it.

- The Yankees had a grand chance for an insurance run with Chris Dickerson on third with 1 out in the 8th, but that positive situation took a nosedive when Derek Jeter grounded into a somewhat predictable inning-ending double play and then came up limping big time running the play out to first.  I know his left ankle has been bothering him for a while now, but this looked worse.

- In typical Jeter fashion he brushed it off as nothing, and Rafael Soriano did the same thing after giving up a solo homer in the 9th that made it a 1-run game.  He held on for the save and the Yankees held onto their tie for first in the division.