Trade Deadline Prep Week: The Pipe Dreams

(Love me some Lucroy.  Courtesy of the AP)

The past 3 days have been spent on the realistic parts of the Yankee deadline position.  We know what they have, we know what they need, we know who they're after, and we know what stories are out there right now.  There's not much more to do about that other than watch it play out and hope Cash can pull off some magic, so why not expand the mind a bit and think outside the box of trade reality?  There are some higher-profile players out there who would be even better additions for the Yankees now and for the future than the players already discussed this week.  If Cash wanted to get bold, and the other GMs were willing to listen, here are some big swings the Yanks could take to try to really upgrade their team.

How's That Early Second Half Schedule Looking?

The Yankees resume their regular season tomorrow night and they'll start it deep in enemy territory with a 3-game weekend series in Bahhhston.  At 51-44, they currently sit 4th in the AL East , 6 games behind the Sawx (5 in the loss column) and 3 games behind both the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays for the Wild Card.  As luck would have it, the Yanks play their first 10 games of the second half against those 3 teams in what could be the make-or-break stretch for their postseason hopes.

After Baahhhston, the Yanks will travel to Texas for 4 before heading right back east for a 3-game home set against Tampa.  Then it's travel off day to the West Coast, 2 games against the Dodgers, travel off day, 3 at San Diego, 3 at the White Sox, travel off day, and 3 back at home against the Tigers.  21 games, 15 on the road, the first 10 against the 3 teams they're chasing in the playoff race, and the final 3 against the reigning AL champs.  The extra off days are nice, but that's still a tough stretch.  There's the soft underbelly of the 6 against the Padres and White Sox, but after going 3-4 against KC and Minnesota last week even those games can't be called gimmes anymore.

The end of this first second half stretch will bring the Yankees to August 12th.  The trade deadline will pass in that span, and perhaps a player or 2 will return from the DL.  By that Monday, we should know if the Yankees are serious postseason contenders or packing up the tents for the season.  They don't necessarily have to gain a ton of ground in the next 3 weeks, but they can't afford to lose much more.

Trade Deadline Prep Week: The Rumors

(Do teams still really want this guy?  Courtesy of the AP)

We know what they want and we know who they're after.  Time to get to what's being said about both of those things out on the market.  The Yankees have been connected to a number of players and teams in the last week, most of them already mentioned in the previous posts.  What's being said out there on the rumor mill might lend some clues as to what moves the Yankees are trying to make before the deadline or it could be smoke, mirrors, and shadow games.  That's the fun and frustration of the pre-deadline rumor mill.  What stories are floating around out there right now involving the Bombers?  And more importantly, what do they mean?

The King And His Court

That's respect right there.  And it was a perfect moment of universal respect for maybe the only professional athlete walking the planet who deserves it.  8th inning or 9th, Mo's entrance and the standing ovation he got from everybody in the park was a great ASG moment and one of what should be a few more very fitting cherries on top of his career sundae.

P.S.- It still should have been in the 9th.

(Photos courtesy of the AP)

MiL Rehab Roundup: 7/17/13

Nothing new on Derek Jeter's status, but Alex Rodriguez continues his rehab work in Double-A and could be bumped up to Triple-A for a few games before his 20-day window is up.  There's also a few other guys making progress.  Here's the latest:

A-Rod- Went 0-3 with a sac fly in last night's Trenton Thunder game and played 8 innings at third base.  According to Josh Norris, A-Rod will sit out today's game.  His rehab window expires next Monday.

Curtis Granderson- Via David Satriano, C-Grand has started hitting in the cage again, a good upgrade from his dry swings last week.  Cash said he's looking at mid-August for a return date so Curtis is still a while away.

Jayson Nix- Started hitting in a cage late last week; was expected to head to Tampa to ramp up his rehab this week.

David Phelps- Started his rehab throwing program in Tampa on Monday.  No word yet on how that went or if there are specific plans for rehab outings.

Worst ASG Ever? Worst ASG Ever

I don't know about y'all, but I thought the All-Star Game sucked a big one last night.  To start things off, I burned the ever-loving shit out of my hand right before the National Anthem and spent the bulk of the next hour running it under cold water and walking around cursing myself.  During one of the few times that I did stop to watch the game, I had the pleasure of watching Robinson Cano see all of 2 pitches before leaving the game after taking a Matt Harvey fastball off the knee.  Luckily Robbie was alright and it sounds like he's going to play on Friday, but still.  I wanted to see the guy hit and turn a gnarly double play while spitting sunflower seeds, not limping off with trainers tending to him.

And then Jim Leyland.  Jim, Jim, Jim.  Sweet, stupid old Jim.  Nothing like being able to tell my grandkids about the time I got to see the greatest closer in the history of baseball come in to his final All-Star Game to a stadium-wide standing ovation (players included) and set up for Joe Nathan in the 8th inning.  Seriously Leyland, you had 2 jobs to do last night.  Win the game and close it out with Mo if you had the chance.  You couldn't have set yourself up any better for that chance with the way you managed those first 7 innings, and then you went and blew it.

And don't give me the stuff about "well if the NL scores a lot of runs in the 8th then Mo won't get a chance to pitch in the 9th."  There was an entire bullpen full of All Stars out there.  I'm pretty sure Leyland could have started the 8th with Nathan, had 2 more guys on standby if things got hairy, and had Mo warming as the emergency option.  That would have been fitting and it would have made sense.  Don't get me wrong, it was a great moment when Mo came out last night; one I'll definitely remember.  It just didn't feel right having it come with him playing second fiddle to Joe Nathan.  Worst All-Star Game ever.

Reassessing The Yankee Lineup At The Break

(Courtesy of Kim Klement/USA Today)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Last and most certainly least in our quick little ASB reassessment series is the lineup.  By now, everybody's well versed in how weak this year's offense has been so the less said about it the better.  They rank in at least the bottom third of almost every major offensive category in baseball this season, and since the start of May they've been neck and neck with the Marlins for worst offense in the game.  Injuries have played a major part in the lineup's struggles this season, as have the cheap stopgap replacements for those injuries that have unfortunately had to take on bigger roles.  The lineup is the clear cut weakness of this team at the break, and if the Yankees don't end up making the postseason this year it will almost assuredly be due to the lack of offense.

Trade Deadline Prep Week: The Targets

(LoMo, anybody?  Courtesy of Jeff Curry/USA Today)

Deadline week kicked off yesterday with a look at the Yankees' biggest needs heading into the final 2 weeks before the July 31st non-waiver date.  There are more than usual for a Yankee team and almost all of them - certainly the most important ones - are on the offensive portion of the roster.  To their credit, the Yankees have been doing their homework on players who could fit these needs for a few weeks now, giving hope that they'll actually make a move to help the lineup for the first time since signing Lyle Overbay.  After the jump, find the 5 players the Yankees have been linked to the most recently.

Yanks' Deadline Strategy With Hughes Is Perfect

Assuming, of course, that what Joel Sherman reported in The Post yesterday has some truth to it.  That's a disclaimer that always has to come with any Sherman report, but if the team's strategy he laid out is actually what they're following then it might just be the smartest thing they've ever done with Hughes.

Basically it comes down to the Yankees not being willing to move Phil Hughes at the deadline just for the sake of moving him, which is the right approach to take.  According to Sherman, they're looking for more than just a stopgap or some mid-level prospects in return for him.  They want a position player with some years of control left - something the future lineup could really use - and if they don't get that they plan on keeping Hughes and making him a qualifying offer this offseason.  If a team is willing to sign him and forfeit the pick, the Yanks get another compensatory 1st round draft pick next year.  If no one is, the Yanks get Hughes back for another year in his prime and get another chance to move him at next year's deadline.

At worst, they come out with an extra 1st round pick in the 2014 draft if they follow this plan.  That's pretty good value for a guy who they weren't going to re-sign anyway.  At best, the Yanks get a useful piece that can help re-tool the lineup and achieve next year's payroll budget goal.  Anything less than that and the Yankees are better off keeping Hughes for the rest of this season, be it as a back end rotation guy or in the 'pen.  Kudos to Cash and the front office for being smart enough to realize that.  Now let's see if they follow through on the plan.

Dost The A-Horse's Power Returneth?

That's video of Alex Rodriguez homering in his Double-A rehab game last night, courtesy of Josh Norris.  Was that a little pimpage I detected at the plate after the initial contact??  I think it was.  If so, that's a really good sign.  It's been a lot of GB outs and little pop for A-Rod since he started his rehab assignment a few weeks ago.  With just a few days remaining until his time is up, it's good to not only see him hit a ball deep and over the fence but know off the bat that it's gone.

We haven't heard many details about how his hip has been feeling since he started playing again.  Maybe this is a sign that it's feeling good and A-Rod has confidence in it now.  The Yankees need right-handed power in the absolute worsest of worst ways, and as long as MLB hasn't officially stuck it to him that power might as well come from The Horse.

A Quick Word On HR Allowed

I failed to reference it in the rotation reassessment post from this morning, but I'd be remiss if I didn't at least point out the 1 problem the Yankee rotation, and really the pitching staff as a whole, has had this year.  It's the long ball.  As much as chicks dig it, I have to imagine Joe doesn't when he's working with this weak of an offense and the Yankees have been a bit more generous than usual in allowing them this season.  Their 100 allowed as a team and 69 by the starters both rank 10th in MLB and the biggest offender is still a bit surprising.

That offender, of course, is CC Sabathia and his 21 long balls given up.  That's tied for 3rd most in baseball this year and is 3 more than the super homer-prone Phil Hughes has allowed.  Between the 2, they're responsible for 39 of the rotation's 69 and some of the more crippling ones, like the one Hughes gave up late in Saturday's game or the 3-run homer CC allowed after the Nunez error yesterday.  Everyone else's rates have been acceptable, but this number will be worth keeping an eye on in the second half.  It'll be tough to stay in contention for long if guys like Kuroda and Pettitte start giving up more dingers.

Trade Deadline Prep Week: The Needs

(Time to make a move, guy.  Courtesy of Ron Antonell/NY Daily News)

The Yankees don't step on the field again for a game until Friday.  With the bulk of this week being spent on ASG activities and the trade deadline just a few weeks away, it seems like the perfect opportunity to devote some real time to the Yankees' position leading up to the deadline and what moves they should/shouldn't make.  The way things have gone this season, the Yanks could very well be out of playoff contention come the end of the month, so for once they'll head into the deadline with more on their minds than just adding a player or 2 for a postseason push.  The immediate and distant future of the team can be affected at this trade deadline so let's give it the attention it deserves with a full week of pre-deadline analysis.  Today we'll start with the team as presently constructed and its biggest needs.

Reassessing The Yankee Rotation At The Break

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The All Star break has officially begun for the Yankees after the conclusion of yesterday afternoon's disaster show.  Rather than sit here and harp on how pathetic that game was, let's just focus on something positive and pick up where we left off last week with the bullpen.  After 95 games, the Yankee rotation is having another solid season.  A group that entered the season pretty much set in stone has collectively lived up to expectations, even if some of the individual performances getting there have been uneven and underwhelming.

At the break, the Yankee rotation sits top 15 in MLB in ERA (3.96), FIP (3.90), and K rates and 4th in fWAR (9.1).  That high WAR value can be attributed to this group's ability to pitch deep into games and limit walks.  They rank 7th in both BB/9 (2.35) and total IP (579.1).  Not surprising for a bunch of veterans who know how to pitch in YS3.  Moving into the second half, this is the one area that definitely doesn't need attention at the deadline.

Game 95 Wrap-Up: MIN 10 NYY 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

It was an ugly loss on Saturday afternoon, in what's become the new "typical Yankee fashion" of the offense no-showing against mediocre pitching.  The Yanks were looking to rebound today and secure a series victory before the ASB and they had CC Sabathia on the mound to do it.  The chances of that happening ended almost as soon as the game started and the Yankees set a new standard for the term "ugly loss."  Just an absolute disaster out there today, primarily in the field but also at the plate, on the mound, and on the basepaths.  A total and complete shitshow in every way and not the way to end the first half of the season at all.

Game Notes:

- CC got the 1st 1-2-3, but he didn't have much life on his 4 or 2-seam fastballs and he started getting knocked around in the 2nd when he gave up 2 runs on a lot of well-hit singles.

- Things really got out of control in the 3rd, however, when CC's defense let him down.  Robinson Cano failed to catch a deep pop-up that turned into a double, Eduardo Nunez airmailed a simple throw to first base with 2 outs, and CC gave up a 3-run homer on the next pitch to make it 5-0 Twins.

- Cano singled home a run in the bottom half of the inning to get the Yanks on the board, and they had a rally going with runners on the corners and 1 out.  Then Zoilo Almonte got thrown out trying to score on a fly ball and the wind was out of the sails.

- More bad CC pitching (2 hits, 2 walks) and more bad defense (Lyle Overbay booting a grounder) led to 3 more Minnesota runs in the 3rd and the white flag basically went up.  CC was done after 4, and the game was basically over.

- Ichiro drove in a few runs with an RBI groundout in the 4th and a solo HR in the 7th, but it was too little too late.  The Yanks dug themselves into a hole too deep for their offense to climb out of.

- Some good bullpen work from Preston Claiborne and Adam Warren behind CC.  Then some more bad work from Joba in his new mop-up role in the 9th.  2 hits and 2 walks in 1 inning ain't gonna build trade value.

Mo Going Out With A Bang

Mariano Rivera picked up his 30th save of the season last night, an accomplishment that has to be looked at as impressive no matter how you feel about the legitimacy of the statistic.  To do what he's done this season at his age, coming off major knee surgery, is astounding and a testament to both Mo's other-worldly greatness.  The sheer number of saves he's racked up is a testament to the continued overachievement of the team this season.  Lotta close games, not a lot of runs being scored, little margin for error.  In typical Mo fashion, he's done the job time and time again.

To put his final season in perspective, Mo is on pace for 52 saves this season.  That would be his highest total since 2004 when he had 53 and would be only the third time in his career he's notched 50+.  He's also on pace for 66 appearances this year, his most since 2009.  He's striking out as many guys as he always has and he's walking a couple fewer.  Very few get to do it, but Mo certainly looks like he's going to go out on top.

Game 93 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 MIN 0

(Little late, guys.  Courtesy of the AP)

Crummy night at The Stadium last night.  It rained to start the game, it rained to stop the game in the 4th inning, and it rained once the game was restarted.  Tough conditions for players in the field and pitchers on the mound and yet the Yankees still managed to put together a shutout victory.  That's the Twins for you, eh?  Hiroki Kuroda made the start last night, and despite being forced to leave early due to the weather he was still good enough to get the W and get another winning streak started.

Game Notes:

- It was a bit of a rocky start for Kuroda, who put 5 baserunners on in the first 3 innings, including a leadoff double in the top of the 3rd.  He had his sinker working though, and used it to get out of jams with GB outs.

- Plenty of opportunities for the Yankees early as well, albeit all by the free pass.  They drew 2 walks off Scott Diamond in the first 3 innings, 2 of them by Robinson Cano, but never turned anything into a real rally.

- Not really sure what anybody was re-thinking when the game restarted in the bottom of the 4th after a 73-minute rain delay.  Joe brought Kuroda back after that hour plus off to pitch, and it started raining again almost as soon as the game restarted.  Hirok worked around another 2 baserunners to get through the inning.

- Ron Gardenhire went to his 'pen for Ryan Pressly after the delay, and the Yankees got to hit for 2 runs in the 5th on another well-executed sac bunt/single combo and a big 2-out RBI single by Cano.

- Those were the only runs they got and they were the only runs New York would need thanks to their excellent bullpen work.  Preston Claiborne worked the 6th and put 2 runners on in the 7th, but then Boone Logan took over and struck out 3 lefties to get out of the inning.  D-Rob and Mo handled clean 8th and 9th innings.

Jeter Diagnosis: Quad Strain

After letting us twist in the wind for the majority of the day, Brian Cashman announced a little while ago that the MRI on Derek Jeter's right quad revealed a Grade I strain and that Jeter will remain out of the lineup through the ASB before being re-evaluated.  There are no plans to put Jeter on the DL right now and the team is hopeful that a few extra days' rest will be enough to heal the strain and get Jeter back in the lineup.

All things considered, it's not the worst news in the world.  In that it came in his first game and is a pretty sure sign that he's not 100% physically, it's still bad news.  This is likely what we're going to see for the rest of the year with Jeter after the team scrapped his original rehab plan and rushed him back.  Strains and tweaks and twinges and a lot of extra days off.  I wouldn't be surprised if he did nothing by DH for the rest of the season when he is healthy enough to play.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 7/12/13

Going to a wedding tomorrow, my one and only wedding of this calendar year.  Already had it confirmed that the ceremony will include a full Catholic mass, which will be agony, and it has not been confirmed if the reception is open bar.  Full disclosure, I'm not planning on ever getting married or having kids, at least not any time in the foreseeable future.  But it just seems to me that if you're going through that whole wedding rigmarole and you don't have an open bar at the reception, you're an asshole.  Yes, that's a huge unfair blanket statement and it does not factor in a litany of legitimate reasons why some couples can't/wouldn't have an open bar.  I still stand by it.  If your wedding reception isn't open bar, your wedding sucks.  It's that simple.  I don't care if Mastodon is the wedding band.  It still sucks.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Chris Mitchell and Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits scored an interview with fringe prospect Rob Segedin, who's out for year with a hip injury.

- On Tuesday, el duque of It Is High... ranted on the lack of consistent offense and lack of real action to improve on the part of the front office.

- SJK of NoMaas perfectly captured Hal Steinbrenner's approach to building and running this year's team in one Photoshop.

- SG of RLYW pointed out the Yankees' losing percentage in games where they give up 2 runs or fewer as more undeniable proof of the offense's shittiness.

- Rob Abruzzese of Bronx Baseball Daily discussed how this season's down year for the farm system could come back to hurt the Yankees in 2014.

- On Wednesday, Michael Eder of IIATMS/TYA mused on the idea of MiL rehab schedules and how the differing approaches to handling them have and could continue to burn the Yankees this season.

- On Thursday, Michael Brown of Pinstriped Bible examined Vernon Wells' recent turnaround and how real it actually is.

- Brian Heyman of LoHud had the details on Travis Hafner's pitching machine snafu and comments from Pronk on his struggles.

- Matt Warden of RAB came through with round 4 of his "Potential 2013 Trade Targets" series.  I suppose it's time for me to start hopping on that train now too, huh?

- On Friday, Alex Belth of Bronx Banter had a perfect visual comparison for the tension in Yankeeland surrounding Derek Jeter's quad situation.  "Watchmen" references will always get you on the Palooza.

- Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes laid out his plan for the trade deadline.  Some of the moves make sense in theory, but judge for yourself.

This Friday's jam is "The Key To Gramercy Park" by Deadsy.  I remember seeing these guys open for KoRn when I was 16 and thinking they were going to be a big deal, even though the lead singer tried wearing a stage mic similar to the one in the video and it didn't work at all.  A synth rock fronted by the son of Cher and Gregg Allman that sounded like a Double-A version of Orgy not making it?  Who could have seen that coming??  As you can probably guess, 16-year-old me was not a professional music critic.  I still stand by this song and Deadsy's second album though.  Pretty good stuff.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  It'll probably be a slow one here for most of Saturday and Sunday.

Reassessing The Yankee Bullpen At The Break

(Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

While the lineup tries to keep its head above water and the rotation experiences its peaks and valleys, once again the Yankee bullpen is doing the job in 2013.  Their 3.33 ERA and 3.56 FIP are both top 10 MLB rankings, their K and BB numbers are both top 5, and they rank 4th in strand rate (80.7%) and fWAR (3.4).  It's almost par for the course at this point, and the formula they've followed for years - greatest closer of all time, dominant R/L setup men on the back end, hard-throwing middle relief, quality depth - is playing out perfectly.  While the performance may remain the same, there have been some shifts in role and recent trends that have shuffled the deck a bit in the hierarchy.  As the Yanks come to the ASB and approach the 2 week mark until the trade deadline, have these changes put them in the market for a reliever?

Hafner Might Be Cooked

• .318/.438/.667, 9.9% BB rate, 13.9% K rate
• .179/.286/.299, 13.0% BB rate, 31.2% K rate
• .174/.230/.348, 6.8% BB rate, 25.7% K rate
• .171/.275/.229, 10.0% BB rate, 27.5% K rate

Those are Travis Hafner's monthly splits for this season, starting with April at the top and ending with his present production in the first half of July.  They are not encouraging.  His physical size and reputation are still enough for pitchers to tip toe around him when there are runners on base, but if they throw good stuff close to the plate there's not much Pronk can do with it.  In the season's first month he was worth 1.0 fWAR.  He's registered as a negative WAR player in each of the last 3 and now sits at just a .316 wOBA and -0.1 fWAR for the year.

Pronk was out of the lineup last night after fouling a ball off his foot and if the Yankees want to try to get anything out of him in the next 2 and a half months they might want to consider keeping him out through the ASB.  He has very little speed in his swing and very little pop in his bat when he does make contact.  He was a huge injury risk when the Yankees first signed him.  Now it appears like too much playing time has sapped him of his strengths as a hitter.

Game 92 Wrap-Up: NYY 8 KC 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

The story of the day was obviously Derek Jeter.  All Derek Jeter all the time.  He made his return from the broken ankle that ended his 2012 season earlier this afternoon, batting 2nd as the DH.  After looking like he might fall behind Alex Rodriguez in the race to return, Jeter surprised almost everyone by returning today and he helped spark another good offensive game.  In typical Jeter fashion, he got a hit in his first at-bat (infield single) and it was on from there.  It wasn't powerful and it wasn't pretty, from Jeter or the team, but it was effective and it got them their 50th win of the season.

Game Notes:

- It was really a struggle for Andy Pettitte early.  He gave up 3 runs in the top of the 1st after getting beat on another bunt single and giving up a 2-run double to Salvador Perez.

- The bad bunt defense cost Andy again in the 2nd when he threw the ball away trying to make another play.    He could never really settle into anything in the first 2 innings because of the bunt issues and the Yanks found themselves down.

- Surprisingly, it was only 1 run down as they hung 3 on Ervin Santana in the first 2 innings on Vernon Wells sac fly and an Austin Romine RBI double.  Even a weak Yankee lineup can hit this guy.

- Pettitte did settle down after escaping the 2nd and was actually not bad from there.  He gave up 2 more hits and hit a batter, but his stuff looked much better and he kept runs off the board.

- The Yanks made their move in the bottom of the 5th.  Ichiro singled to lead off and stole second base with Jeter up.  Jeter moved him over and 2 walks loaded the bases for Lyle Overbay.  Santana threw him a 1-0 fastball that Overbay was right on the Yanks had a 5-4 lead.  A few tack-on singles by Zoilo and Eduardo gave them the cushion.

- Monster close out by the bullpen.  Shawn Kelley, David Robertson, and Boone Logan combined for 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 5, including the top of the 8th by D-Rob.

That's So Eduardo!

(Courtesy of MLB Memes)

"Next time on 'That's So Eduardo!', Eduardo Nunez gets lost in the infield and accidentally wanders across to the second base side of the bag.  And when he does, he finds out he might have bitten off more than he can chew stepping into mean old Mr. Cano's neighborhood.  Tune in next Wednesday night at 8 for an all new episode of 'That's So Eduardo!"  Only on YES."

Seriously, all this clip needs is the old school 90s laugh track over it and it would be perfect.  Cano's reaction, from the moment he stops and crosses his arms to the little gesture at the infield dirt, is gold.  Gold, Jerry, gold!  No wonder he was so quick to hop on the Jay-Z Sports Management Express.  He's definitely got a career in show biz in his future.

Return Of Super Nova?

(From Ivan The Terrible back to Ivan The Great)

Don't look now, but Ivan Nova has been killing it since returning to the active roster.  While his spot start on June 23rd came with little fanfare and no expectations - understandable given how poorly he'd pitched since the start of last season - Nova has been the best starter in the rotation since then.

29.1 IP, 21 H, 8 ER, 5 BB, 28 K

That's Nova's line in the 4 appearances he's made since coming back and it's damn good.  He's allowing less than 1 baserunner per inning, striking out almost a batter per inning, and if it wasn't for a few HR given up in June he'd have a sparklingly low FIP to go with his neat little 2.45 ERA.  Most importantly, he's made a few more tweaks to his repertoire and approach that are paying huge early dividends.  Mike Eder has been tracking this for a few weeks now, and has pointed out both Nova's transition from slider to curveball for his out pitch and much improved use of his sinker as reasons for his recent success.

Quick Hits: Catching Up On Yankee News

A lot more happened yesterday evening than just the ending of a losing streak.  Being out at a charity fundraiser at a bar last night (drinking for the kids!!), I missed all of it.  If you're like me and need to catch up, here's a hot lap:

- Derek Jeter will be activated from the DL and in the lineup today according to Ken Rosenthal and Joel Sherman (more on that here).  No confirmation from the team or word of the potential roster move to clear a spot.

- David Phelps will be heading to the team's Tampa complex on Monday to start a rehab throwing program. He's on the DL with a forearm strain and had been scuffling before the injury.

- Alex Rodriguez went 1-3 with an RBI single in his latest High-A rehab game yesterday.  He was the starting DH and played 8 innings.

- The Yanks finally signed their last 1st round pick, agreeing to a $1.8 million bonus with OF Aaron Judge.  That's a little less than I expected given how long he held out, but he still comes in slightly over slot.

Game 91 Wrap-Up: NYY 8 KC 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

As JeterWatch 2013 heated up yesterday, the healthy Yankee players took the field attempting to break another embarrassing losing streak.  3 runs in 3 games is pathetic at every level of baseball, so to shake things up and try to get the offense going again Joe went with ... the exact same lineup as Tuesday night.  Hey, whatever.  He's the guy getting paid to make those calls.  Ivan Nova was back on the hill after his stellar complete game against Baltimore and he turned in another beauty.  Even better, Joe's lack of moves worked and he actually got some run support.

Game Notes:

- The lineup got its usual weak 1 run in the bottom of the first on a walk, a single, a groundout, and a wild pitch.  It was clear Wade Davis didn't have his A-game; what wasn't clear was if the Yankees could finally take advantage of that.

- Robinson Cano didn't wait long to answer that question in the bottom of the 3rd, crushing a 3-run HR to dead center field to put the Yanks up 4-0.  Davis left a 1-1 curveball up and it looked like Cano was looking offspeed all the way.

- Nova allowed a pair of 2-out singles in the 1st, then promptly retired 12 in a row into the 5th.  He was working his fastball again as his primary out pitch and located his 2-seamer well to get GB outs.

- It was surprising to see Davis left in after loading the bases to start the 6th, but he was allowed to pitch to Lyle Overbay and that was the nail in his coffin.  Overbay muscled a fastball over the fence in left field for a grand slam and a comfortable 8-0 lead.

- Nova escaped a bases loaded situation in the 5th and made the lead stand up strong through his innings.  He gave up a meaningless run in the 8th on a 2-out walk and double by Eric Hosmer.

- Joba came in to finish it up in the 9th and handle the only situation he appears capable of these days- blowouts.  That should build some trade value.  After scoring 3 in 3 games, the Yanks got at least that in 2 innings last night for a much-needed victory.