What To Do About The Brett Gardner Situation

(How do you replace that kind of grit??  Courtesy of The Daily News)

I got an interesting variance in responses after posting the news of Brett Gardner's latest elbow setback on The AB4AR Page last night.  There were calls for the Yankees to get more involved in the trade market (in a big way or small), calls for them to focus on re-signing their own free agents, and my personal thought that they don't really have to do either.  It's not clear what direction they are going to take, but what is clear is that the Yankees are going to react in some way to this latest setback.  They were in "wait and see" mode again, but they've waited and they've seen that Gardner is no longer an option to be counted on.  So what route are Cash and Co. going to take to address this issue?  Let's review the options.

Stabilizing The Pitching Staff With Some CC

All things considered, the Yankees have handled the double-whammy loss of CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte from their rotation about as well as anybody could have hoped.  The team has gone 9-6 since that fateful day of June 27th, hardly world-beating, but taking into consideration the fact that their AL East lead has expanded to 9 games in that time, that's a damn fine way to get through a 3-week stretch without your 2 best starters.

It hasn't exactly been the smoothest of sailing these past 3 weeks, something that should come as no surprise.  Adam Warren blew up spectacularly in his emergency start in Chicago, so much so that the Yankees demoted him and turned to the still-not-fully-stretched-out-as-a-starter David Phelps to take Warren's spot in the rotation on Independence Day.  Freddy Garcia had been more than adequate in his 3 starts this month, allowing only 6 earned runs, but he hasn't provided a lot of length (17 IP total in 3 starts).  Combine that with a couple of clunkers from Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova and the overall team pitching line over the past 15 CC-less games isn't nearly as sparkly as what we saw from the rotation in early June:

Game 89 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 TOR 3

(Everybody happy.  Courtesy of The AP)

With Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova coming up a bit small this last time through the rotation, Phil Hughes is going to continue to be a key piece of this undermanned rotation.  He was hittable in his most recent outing and looking to tighten up the command against a dangerous lineup and Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez.  The Yankees were also playing the first of 15 games they will play against the Blue Jays over the final 74 this season, so start getting familiar.

Game Notes:

- Alvarez wasn't fooling the Yankees at all early.  They loaded the bases on him in the 1st, hit a solo HR in the 2nd (Russell Martin), and hit back-to-back doubles in the 3rd (A-Rod & Cano) to take a 2-0 lead.

- Hughes worked the first 3 frames scoreless, and worked around a 2 on/no out situation in the 2nd to do, but he was a little spotty with his command.  He missed with a in the 4th and Adam Lind hit it for a solo HR to make it 2-1.

- I don't know what happened, but Alvarez made the adjustment and pitched the next 3 innings clean.  He retired 7 in a row to start off the run, then got a key inning-ending DP grounder from Raul Ibanez to escape the 6th.

- Hughes gave up an RBI double to Edwin Encarnacion in the 6th to tie the game at 2, but he didn't pitch horribly on the night.  7 innings of 2-run ball should get it done 10 times out of 10.

- Scary moment in the 8th when Jose Bautista hurt himself on a swing.  He looked like he tweaked something in his left wrist on a follow through, and it turns out it .  Sucks for you, brah.

- The Yankees had to get something out of that bases loaded situation in the bottom of the 8th.  They hadn't fully capitalized on all the opportunities they had earlier in the game, and with 2 outs Raul Ibanez made sure they wouldn't blow this one when he hit a game-winning grand slam to right.

- I was a little surprised to see Joe go to Soriano so quickly.  I think Cody Eppley has at least earned the right to try to work out of trouble with how he's pitched recently, but Joe went to Raffy and it was Untuck Time for the win.

SURPRISE!!!- Brett Gardner Suffered Another Setback With His Elbow

You mean to tell me that the guy who took longer than normal to recover from a simple elbow strain, and had setback after setback in his attempts to come back from said elbow strain, usually right after he tried to resume full baseball activities, has had ANOTHER setback to his strained elbow???  Get the hell outta town!

Believe it or not, that's where we stand on the Brett Gardner Injury Carousel again.  He got 4 at-bats in a simulated game yesterday, felt sore today, and according to Ken Davidoff, Gardner is scheduled for another MRI tomorrow.  Even if this MRI comes up clean, I think it's safe for us to stop expecting anything from Gardner this season.  Clearly there's something more here than just a strain, and to continue to risk further damage to Gardner's elbow by having him continue to ramp his rehab back up would be foolish.   Until Skynet upgrades the world's MRI technology to something advanced enough to show what the real problem is, just shut the BG-1000 down until further notice.

On Ty Hensley's Shoulder "Abnormalities"

(Need to get some navy and white on this kid, stat!)

There was very little real drama to the Ty Hensley signing last Friday.  It was reported early in the week that the sides had wrapped up negotiations, and the signing going down to the final day before being announced as official was more Hensley's agent doing his job than anything.  Hensley made it clear very early that he intended to sign with the Yankees, and there was never anything that came up in the time since then that should have caused anybody to think that wasn't going to be the eventual endgame.  The ink has dried, Hensley is a Yankee, and now we can hopefully see him in action in a SS league and start to get an idea of where he fits in the Yankee prospect hierarchy.

What did cause a little bit of drama to stir up was the report from Jim Callis that Hensley went for a pre-deal MRI that showed some "abnormalities" in his pitching shoulder.  This discovery likely led to Hensley signing for a below-slot $1.2 million, and was quickly dismissed as nothing major.  But should we be concerned about our fresh new 1st-rounder?

Game 88 Wrap-Up: LAA 10 NYY 8

(Wah-wah-waaaaaaahh.  Courtesy of The AP)

Ivan Nova has been pitching pretty well of late. He had gotten his ERA below 4.00 prior to yesterday's game, and was the first Yankee starter to 10 wins.  But he's never been super effective against the Angels, and that was a trend that he couldn't break yesterday.  Nova's command wasn't particularly sharp and he had a short bullpen behind him, which was a shame because the Yankee offense caught Angels' starter Jered Weaver on a day where he wasn't at his best either.  They just couldn't do enough against him to pick up Nova.

Game Notes:

- Nova's stuff looked good in the 1st, but he threw a couple of pitches down the middle and gave up solo homers to Erick Aybar and Albert Pujols for a 2-0 Angels lead.  He was noticeably upset with himself leaving the mound after K'ing Mark Trumbo.

- The Yankee offense wasn't going to wait around to strike back in the bottom half.  Curtis Granderson lined a 1-out single on the first pitch, tried to steal on the next pitch, and then trotted home on the pitch after that when Alex Rodriguez drove it to right for a game-tying 2-run homer.

- One play that helped Nova big time was Curtis' absolutely OUTSTANDING catch for the 2nd out in the top of the 3rd.  Back to the plate, running full speed, and reaching up to make a catch just a step or 2 from the center field wall.  For that one play, the C-Grand defensive critics had to suck it.

- From absolutely outstanding to mind-numbingly stupid, the Yankees made the transition smoothly in the bottom of the 3rd.  After singling back-to-back with 1 out, A-Rod and Robinson Cano somehow both managed to get tagged out after Cano was picked off of first base on the old "fake throw to 3rd" play that's being outlawed after this season.  There's really no way to explain what happened without using the phrase "fucking stupid" in some fashion.

- Nova worked the next 4 innings scoreless after the 1st, but got into some more trouble in the 6th that gave the Angels a 5-3 lead.  I don't care who you are, there's no excuse for giving up home runs to Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis.

- On TBS, David Wells said Curtis was deserving of something at plate after making another nice catch in the 6th, and sure enough he came up in the bottom half of the inning and hit a bomb to right field for his 25th homer and a 1-run deficit.

- The teams traded runs in the 6th to make it 6-5.  After Nova left with no outs in the 7th, and with a short bullpen after the previous 2 games, it was Chad Qualls' job to keep the game close.  It was a job he would fail be allowing 3 runs in the 8th, and the Yanks would fail to close out the sweep.

Can Kosuke Fukudome Help The Yankees?

(He wears his shin guard well, I'll say that.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

In another under-the-radar free agent signing on Friday, the Yankees added former Chicago Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome on a MiL deal and assigned him to Triple-A Empire State.  The Yankees were loosely connected with Fukudome when he was first in the process of joining Major League Baseball, but he has never lived up to the "Hideki Matsui Lite" comparisons during a career of marginal improvement and very quick regression.

Strictly from a depth standpoint, this is another solid low-risk deal for the Yankees.  By the time they get away from their current 5-man bench setup and have Brett Gardner return from the DL, they are going to have to put Dewayne Wise on waivers and will likely lose him to another team.  To make sure they have enough OF coverage in case Gardner or somebody else gets hurt again, it's only smart to bring in another veteran player who fits their needs.  Fukudome fits this description in theory, but if he is needed at some point, can he actually do anything?

Game 87 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 LAA 3

(Robbie and Curtis practice their "Hey Arnold" handshake.  Courtesy of The AP)

It was a little MVP mano y mano yesterday at The Stadium as Mike Trout and Robinson Cano put on displays showing why they should be considered the top 2 contenders for the award right now.  Trout went 3-5 with a double, a run scored, and 2 stolen bases, and Cano went 2-4 with a home run, a run scored, and 3 RBI.  In the end, Cano's hits ended up being a bit more timely and he carried his team to the win and put them in position for a sweep today.

Game Notes:

- More 1st-inning fun for both teams.  The Angels plated 2 in the top half after stringing some singles together off of Yankees' starter Freddy Garcia, and the Yankees followed up with 2 of their own in the bottom half on Cano's 2-out, 2-run HR.

- The Yankees took a 4-2 lead on their second 2-run homer of the game in the bottom of the 3rd, this one by Curtis Granderson.  Certified rally starter Chris Stewart scored after leading off the inning with a single.

- Garcia settled down a bit after the 1st, but he still had to battle his way through 5 innings.  He put one runner on base in each inning, but managed to work out of trouble most of the time.

- The only other run Garcia allowed came in the 4th inning, and it was more due to the Angels manufacturing it than Garcia giving it up.  His biggest out of the game came at the end of the inning, when he got Albert Pujols to ground out with 2 runners on.

- Alex Rodriguez doubled to lead off the bottom of the 6th, and he was quickly driven in by a Cano single for an insurance run, and that was more than enough for the Yankee bullpen, who pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief of Garcia.

- The Yankees only managed to pitch 2 1-2-3 innings on the day.  Good thing one of them was the 9th, where Rafael Soriano struck out Trout and Pujols swinging for his 22nd save of the season.

Wait, WHO Returned Last Night??

Almost keeled over when I read this on RAB last night:

"Biggest news of the day is the return of Austin Romine, who went 0-for-2 with an RBI ground out while catching the first three innings."



FINALLY!!  I half expected to see the kid walking around in one of those aluminum back braces like Dee from "Always Sunny" for the rest of the season.  Now he's back on the field again.  This season is already going to be a down one for Romine, but it's not completely lost if he can stay healthy from here on out.  And with the way the Yankee catchers have struggled this year, he can still keep some of his prospect shine with a good couple of months.

Game 86 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 LAA 5

(More lefties, please.  Courtesy of The AP)

Mark Trumbo is going to be the next great Yankee killer.  I can feel it in my bones.  Every good team in the AL seems to have one these days, and he just seems like he's the next one in the making for the Angels.  He looked like he was going to be the Angels' hero last night after his big 3-run homer in the 7th, and it took some out-heroing from Mark Teixeira to make sure he wouldn't be, but I'd feel a lot more comfortable pitching around that guy in playoff situations if the Yankees have the opportunity.

Game Notes:

- The Angels got on the board first on an Erick Aybar solo shot in the top of the 3rd.  Hiroki Kuroda left a sinker up, something he did on more than one occasion last night, and Aybar made him pay.

- The Yankees didn't stay behind for long, though, as Mark Teixeira blasted a home run of his own in the bottom half of the inning, this one a 2-run job thanks to Derek Jeter being on base, and the Yankees took a 2-1 lead.

- Curtis Granderson created a primo run-scoring opportunity by leading off the bottom of the 6th with a triple.  But the trio of Teix, A-Rod, and Cano failed to bring him in with a couple of groundouts and a soft lineout.  Props to C.J. Wilson for making his pitches, but goddamn!  Somebody hit the ball in the air.

- Kuroda got through the next 3 innings facing the minimum number of batters thanks to Russell Martin's 2nd caught base stealer of the night in the 5th, and recorded 7 of the 9 outs on the ground, but he was just a little bit off with his stuff all night.

- That offness finally came back to bite him in the 7th when the first 2 batters got aboard on a single and an HBP and Trumbo hit another sinker that stayed up for a 3-run homer and a 4-2 Angels lead.  Those 3 runs, and the bonus one that Albert Pujols drove in the next inning made Kuroda's night look worse than it was.

- Wilson exited after 7 and the Yankees wasted no time going to town on Scott Downs.  Jeter doubled, C-Grand walked, and Teix smoked a hanging 1-2 curve into the left field bleachers to tie the game at 5.

- With nobody out, the rally was far from over, and after Nick Swisher walked and was replaced by Dewayne Wise, the Angels chose to intentionally walk pinch hitter Raul Ibanez to get to Martin.  That plan backfired as Martin hit a single down the right field to score Wise and give the Yankees a 6-5 lead that they wouldn't lose in the 9th.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 7/13

My parents put our family dog down today, probably just an hour or so ago, which really sucks.  I've known for some time now that his days were numbered and had resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to be around when he finally passed, but that still doesn't make it any less of a bummer.  I grew up with this dog (we got him the summer before I entered middle school), so to think back on his life and reminisce is kind of like looking back at my own life and thinking about the person I've become in that time.  I was a goofy 11-year-old kid when we first got him, with no clue about anything, and now I'm a 26-year-old cubicle monkey of a man who has to pay taxes, schedule my own eye exams, and pretend like I actually give a crap about my job.  Makes me feel fucking old.  He was a good dog and I'm going to miss him, but enough of the pity party.  Let's get back to the baseball talk and onto the links!

- It's from last Sunday, but Mike Ashmore of Thunder Thoughts interviewed Trenton's pitching coach Tommy Phelps and got his take on Dellin Betances, Vidal Nuno, and Brett Marshall.

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas beat me to the punch and passed out a very deserving round of credit to the Yankee bench.  And he didn't even mention Jayson Nix.

- Steve Goldman of Pinstripe Alley worked the numbers to show how, despite low totals, Andruw Jones is one of the greatest HR hitters in Yankee history.

- On Tuesday, friend of the blog Jamie Insalaco of Bomber Banter weighed in on everything he didn't like about Monday's HR Derby.  Can't argue with anything he said.

- CJ Hangen of Yanks Go Yard looked at what the Yankee lineup is missing with Brett Gardner's continued absence.

- Steve Serby of The NY Post had a Q&A session with Brian Cashman.  Definitely a must-read to get Cash's take on the team's standing at the break, A-Rod's decline, his relationship with Joe, and much more.

- EJ Fagan of TYA discussed the terms used when discussing starting pitchers and pitching prospects, and proposed some new ways of ranking them to come up with more appropriate terms.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily explained why the Trenton Thunder are currently the best team to follow in the MiL system.

- Mike Axisa of RAB reopened the RISP Fail case at the ASB and pointed out how the Yankees have slowly been improving in that department in the past few weeks.

- Also on Wednesday, former TYA colleague Eric Schultz made his RAB debut with a PITCHf/x evaluation of Mark Teixeira's hitting approach.  Congrats to Eric on the new position.

- On Thursday, William Tasker of IIATMS listed the 10 worst offensive seasons in Yankee history.  I love Top 10 lists, and ones related to suckiness are even better.

- Fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite made a case for Cash going after Melky Cabrera in free agency this offseason.  With what he's done the past couple seasons, it's not a bad idea.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had the latest injury updates on all the Yankee DLers.

- On Friday, Alphonso of It Is High... had a welcome message for Ty Hensley in light of the news of his sketchy MRI results coming out last night.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog debated the performance-enhancing-ness of Toradol in response to Gordon Edes' piece on the Fraud Sawx clubhouse situation, and whether it should be allowed under MLB's current policy.

I haven't gone old school in a while, so we're traveling back to the 70s for today's Friday Afternoon Jam.  A little Sabbath never hurt anybody, right?



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Upcoming Second Half Un-Wrap

Yankee baseball is back tonight, baby!  It's not really "back" back for me until Sunday afternoon when I get to watch them on TBS, but that still beats watching John Kruk stuff KC barbecue down his fat facehole.  The Yankees are comfortably in first place, they're rested, and they're getting healthier by the minute.  A hot start to the second half of the season can help quell any major trade deadline rumors before they even get started and start to put the Yankees in prime position to lock down the AL East quickly.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks open with a series at home against Mike Trout and the Anaheim Angels of California.  This will be the third time these 2 teams have met this year, with each team owning a 3-3 record.  The Yankees took 2 of 3 in a mid-April home series.

- They get to stay at home after this weekend with another 3-game home series against Toronto scheduled.  6 games at home after 4 days to rest; there are worse ways to start after the All Star break.

- There'll be a mini-West Coast swing this time next week, 6 games out against the AL West bottom dwellers.  The last time they had one of these was late May, when they started to turn things around, so hopefully this trip can be equally fruitful.

- After that, the Yankees could have a chance to start putting the AL East race to bed with 6 games against Baltimore and Bahhston.  They're up 7 right now, they've got a relatively friendly schedule out of the gate, and they're getting their ace back.  Time to start stepping on throats.

Missing The Melkman

(Just Melky bein' Melky...)

Melky Cabrera has been a popular topic around the Yankosphere this week after his performance in the All Star game.  I guess getting punked out by a former player that your team gave up on national TV in a game that was over after the top of the 1st inning has a way of making that happen.  Melky's 2006-2009 Yankee career was one defined by "not enough."  He could hit for a little bit of average, but not enough to be a legit top-of-the-lineup threat; he could hit for some power, but not enough to justify a full-time position in the lineup or make up for his lack of average; he could do some things defensively, but not enough to be called a good defensive outfielder.  All of this took place between the ages of 21-24 for Melky, a time where only the most elite players are playing at or close to the full potential.

What made Melky special was his personality and knack for always being in the middle of memorable moments.  He brought a little bit of fun, youthful, unpredictable energy to an otherwise stale clubhouse and the palling around that he and a young Robinson Cano did was always a topic to be touched on when discussing Melky.  He was essentially Nick Swisher before the Yankees signed Nick Swisher, just not with the level of production, and with the Yankees still somewhat married to the idea that an All Star, current or former, at every position was the way to go, he was shipped off to Atlanta before the 2009 season.  It didn't seem like a tremendous loss at the time; the Yankees were giving up a player who had never hit more than 13 HR in a season, never driven in more than 73, and never posted a wOBA higher than .333.

It's Simple Physics, Russ...

Calculate the velocity, V, in relation to the trajectory, T, in which G, gravity, of course, remains a constant.

It's not complicated.

Umm, Is That An Official Diagnosis?

(See ya in 2014, kid.  Courtesy of Brian Bissell/Future Star Photos)

Via Andrew Marchand:

"Yankees GM Brian Cashman said that top prospect Manny Banuelos is on his throwing program, as he continues to recover from what the Yankees have described as a sore elbow. Jose Campos ... hasn't started throwing again yet. He also has a sore elbow.
'They will both pitch this year,' Cashman said.

When asked if there is any long-term concern over their elbows, Cashman said, 'I hope not.'"

I touched on this briefly on the AB4AR Page yesterday, but what kind of an answer is that?  You hope not???  These guys are the organization's top 2 pitching prospects.  They haven't pitched in months after being shut down with elbow injuries, giving them plenty of time to be tested, evaluated, diagnosed, and rested.  And after all that time, as they start to get ready to throw and pitch again, you're basing your long-term prognosis on the condition of their pitching elbows on HOPE???

I hate to be a Debbie Downer here, but the Yankees might as well just pencil ManBan and Campos in for Tommy John Surgery right now.  Maybe they can get a group discount if they book the appointments at the same time.

Things I'm Looking Forward To In The Second Half

We're just one day away from meaningful baseball games starting up again, and that time can't pass quickly enough.  It's been absolutely brutal without them this week because there is NOTHING on TV.  I barely paid attention to the HR Derby on Monday, started tuning out of the All Star Game around the 3rd inning and turned it off completely by the 5th on Tuesday, and don't even get me started on how stupid the ESPYs are.  The Yankees are coming back into my life at the perfect time, and as some people say, the season REALLY starts now.  There are plenty of obvious second half storylines to follow, like the trade deadline, Andy's return, September call-ups, and the always fun start of the magic number countdown, but there are plenty of other things I'll be following as well.  Like what, you might ask?  Well, how about...

Mark Teixeira: Middle Of The Lineup Enigma

(Something tells me that AB didn't go well.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Mark Teixeira is an interesting topic of discussion for me.  I've loved the guy at times, and I've hated the guy at times.  I've preached patience with him, and I've called him out for his lack of production this season.  A few weeks ago, Mike Axisa of RAB commented on the adjustment Teix made in his approach in mid-May during his 3-game rest to finally rid himself of his vocal cord ailment, scrapping the more-balanced swing approach he entered the season with and returning to his pull-happy ways, and the results generated by the adjustment.  At the time of Mike's post, it appeared that Teix was swinging the bat well, but when you look at the big picture, Teix's overall performance this season is down from what we can all agree was a subpar 2011.  Something's not adding up here.

Reviewing My 5 Most Important Yankees

(This guy looks like he knows his shit, right?  Courtesy of my own awesomeness)

Back in April I tried to think outside the box a bit and pick who I thought were going to be the 5 most important players in determining the Yankees' success in 2012 not named Cano, Teixeira, Sabathia, and Rivera.  Some people understood what I was trying to do, some didn't.  With the All Star Game over and definitely not worth recapping, and regular season games not scheduled to start up again for another 2 days, I thought I'd take a quick look back and see how my picks are doing.  After my prognostication skills took a hit at the hands of Robbie in the HR Derby on Monday, I need something to restore my legitimacy (and repair my ever-fragile ego).  So let's take a look, huh?

Calm Down, People. Mo's Not Coming Back This Year

I hate to shart in people's celebratory ice cream sundaes, but it's the truth.  Everybody and their mother, their father, their mother's friends from book club, and their father's buddies from rec league basketball was abuzz today after Joel Sherman penned this piece in The Post quoting Mo's rehab doctor as saying he believed Mo could return to the mound in 2012.  I'm not going to bother listing his reasons why, you can find that out for yourself by reading the story, but they seem perfectly reasonable.  The reaction to this story around the Yankosphere and associated comments sections was something like this:



I get it.  I really do.  I worship at the Altar of Mo just as much as anybody.  I've probably slurped him in the pages of AB4AR more than any other individual Yankee, and with the number of times I've referred to him as a robot or inhuman, this story should be right up my alley.  But to actually expect that he is going to return to pitch in a Yankee uniform this year is just silly.

Is Boone Logan Getting The Joe Torre Treatment?

(Post-Jason Heyward HR in Atlanta. Courtesy of The AP)

Since being acquired as a throw-in part of the now infamous Javy Vazquez trade, Boone Logan has steadily risen up in reliever status from "he's not the worst in the world" in 2010 to "you know, he can be pretty good when you use him in the right spots" in 2011 to "this dude can really pitch" this season.  Logan has been productive enough in his 2+ years in pinstripes that it's almost fair to start referring to that trade as "The Boone Logan Trade" if you want to put a positive spin on it.  There was a time earlier this season when Logan was the best reliever out in the Yankee bullpen, and that, combined with the injuries/recent Cory Wade sucktitude suffered by the 'pen this year has put Logan in a bit of a precarious position.  He hasn't got off to a good start in July (5 ER, 3 BB, 2 HR allowed in just 2.2 IP), and looking at his usage rate already, it's worth questioning if old Booney (copyright: Joe Girardi) is getting overworked.

Anticipating Another Quiet Trade Deadline

(Expect stealth again from Cash this season at the deadline)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the upcoming trade deadline as one of the reasons the Yankees will win the AL East this year.  This past offseason was another all-or-nothing one, as it usually seems to be for the Yankees, but the trade deadline is always a great opportunity for them to right some offseason wrongs or fill in-season gaps created by injuries or poor performance.  At the time of that "5 Reasons" post, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte were still on the active roster and the Yankees held a 5-game lead in the AL East.  In the 2 weeks since they've upped that advantage to 7 games, and were it not for a HR that D-Rob allowed late in Chicago and a couple of games they absolutely gave away in Tampa, that lead could be even bigger.  That being the case and me having a chance to step back and look at the big picture right now, I think we're headed for another very quiet trade deadline season in Yankeeland.

S A Big D, Kansas City

And one that just worked out for an hour at the YMCA without showering at that.  You see that, Kansas City?  Do you?

That's reality.  That's Robinson Cano and the rest of the Yankees once again being on top of the American League while you wallow away in baseball purgatory for the umpteenth consecutive year.  And yeah, I made that big enough to not fit in the post window on this site for a reason.  You're 2nd to last in the weakest division in the entire league, and you have the 2nd worst run differential.  And you're upset that the AL HR Derby captain didn't pick somebody from your team to be in the derby?!  Get your fucking priorities straight!  Billy Butler is the best player on your fucking team and he's a DH.  What does that tell you???

The fact that the All Star Game is in your stadium this year is the first thing that's made you and your team matter in the baseball world in roughly 20-25 years.  That's back when George Brett was still relevant, and not some old fart talking about shitting himself during Spring Training and getting passed on the all-time hits list by Derek Jeter.

So go ahead and boo your fucking lungs out at Cano tonight.  Doesn't change the fact that he and his team are moving on to bigger and better things this season and your team will stop playing meaningful games sometime later this month.  And enjoy the sellout crowd tomorrow.  You guys should get to experience that at least once in your lives.  I'll see you in October.

Oh wait.  No I won't.

Robbie Cano Going For 2 In A Row Tonight

(Squared that one up.  Pure sex.  Used courtesy of Brad Mangin)

Yeah, I rhymed that on purpose.  I'm that good.

If y'all remember way back to last July 11th, you may recall a little post where I correctly predicted that Robinson Cano was going to win the HR Derby.  You might also remember that I was very humble in my post-Cano victory post later that night.  Or you might not remember either of those, but just remember the stunning visuals that accompanied the prediction post.  In any case, Cano is back in the derby tonight, this year as the AL captain, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to step up and defend my HR Derby prediction title for 2012.  What better way to do that than by sticking with my homer instincts and going with Robbie Cano again.

It's a bit of a risky pick, I know.  In 129 career PA in Kauffman Stadium, Cano has a .322/.375/.452 line with just 3 HR.  It's not exactly a place that Robbie owns from a power standpoint.  But then again, there aren't many parks out there that he does.  His hitting approach in real games is different than in a HR Derby, and Cano showed last year that he's got the type of smart derby approach and smooth relaxed swing that won't tire him out to be a major threat.  Add in his ace-in-the-hole pitcher in his old man again, and there's no reason why Cano shouldn't be the favorite tonight and shouldn't repeat last year's victory.

So there you have it.  Robinson Cano and his "Oh so smoove" swing are winning the whole damn thing again this year.  Book it.  Robinson Cano FTW.  And just to tie this all together, it probably wouldn't hurt to have Kate Upton appear somewhere in here.

Taking It Easy With CC

(Is there a handful of Captain Cruch in there?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

News started to trickle out yesterday on CC Sabathia's current status and the Yankees' plans for re-integrating him into the rotation after the All Star break this week.  I commented before on how the timing of his injury was "perfect" for allowing him to get some rest and make sure that his groin strain was fully healed before coming back, and my hope/worry was that the Yankees would not rush him after the ASB just to get him back in the rotation and would make sure that he was 100% before activating him.  Given the plan that was described yesterday, it seems like the Yankees are planning to do just that and that's a damn good thing.

Game 85 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 BOS 3

(Who would have expected 10 wins from Nova after his April?  Courtesy of The AP)

Ivan Nova has stepped up since CC and Andy hit the DL on June 27th, allowing just 4 ER in 13.1 IP in 2 starts against the White Sox and the Rays, 2 games that he probably should have gotten Ws in.  Last night he took the mound again in Bahhston, still looking for his 10th win of the season and looking extend the Yankees' division lead heading into the All Star break. 

Game Notes:

- A barrage of well-struck hits and an errant throw gave the Yankees their fourth straight 1st-inning lead at 2-0, and brought their series 1st-inning run total to 14.  The big blow was Mark Teixeira's RBI double over the third base bag.

- Derek Jeter's clusterfuck performance in the field didn't help, but Nova wasn't sharp early.  The stuff was there, but his fastball command was sketchy, he wasn't efficient, and he missed his spots at bad times in allowing the Fraud Sawx to plate 2 runs in the first 3 innings.

- Jon Lester wasn't much better.  Like Nova, he was spotty with his command, not efficient with his pitch count, and he got hit harder than Nova in every inning.  An Alex Rodriguez RBI triple and an Andruw Jones RBI single in the 5th ended Lester's night and made it 5-2 Yankees.

- Nova settled down and worked through the 6th without further issue.  He started to find his fastball command a bit, and his curveball was really working.  He threw a lot of pitches early, but gave the Yankees some length on a night they needed it.

- I'd say Andruw Jones had a solid last 48 hours.  He crushed a hanging fastball that was so high it was probably out of the strike zone over the monster for a 2-run homer, his 4th of the series, to essentially put the game away in the 7th.

- A little bit of shoddy bullpen work behind Nova to close it out.  Cody Eppley walked 2 in the 7th, D-Rob allowed a run in the 8th, and Rafael Soriano also walked 2 in the 9th, but the Yankees held on for the game and series win.