Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/20/14

Supposed to be going to the Milwaukee Zoo for the first time since moving out here tomorrow.  I'm pretty stoked.  I'm a big zoo guy, and I think it's a disgrace to myself and my own existence that I haven't made it to a zoo that I live 15 minutes away from in 6+ years.  If I had serious money, I would build and open my own zoo where all the animals had generic people names.  You can't try and tell me you wouldn't want to go see a hippo named Steve and a kangaroo named Walter.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Daniel Burch of The Greedy Pinstripes recapped all of the Derek Jeter farewell ceremonies and gifts to date.  Gotta say the Cubs' gift was the best.

- Mike Axisa of RAB identified Yangervis Solarte's expansion of the strike zone as the primary cause for this latest slump.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud had a lot of updates on every level of the farm system.

- On Tuesday, Derek Albin of Pinstripe Pundits discussed some of the biggest unexpected stories of the Yankee season thus far.

- On Wednesday, Andrew Mearns of Pinstripe Alley commented on the all-around disappointing season that Gary Sanchez is having.

- - Katie Sharp of IIATMS/TYA used what we know and the numbers we have on Chase Whitley to try to predict what we'd see from him moving forward.

- Delia Enriquez of Bronx Baseball Daily had Adam Warren's thoughts on his role in the bullpen and how open he would be to changing back to a starter.

- On Thursday, el duque of It Is High... wondered if Big Mac's big Wednesday night can be the start of his offensive breakout.

- SJK of NoMaas had a suggestion for Cash on where he should look to find the source of the team's average performance this season.

Going back to a familiar and favorite well this week with some Deftones.  Hadn't heard this song for a few years until it came up on the iPod shuffle earlier this week.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Analyzing The Early Trade Rumors

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

The trade deadline is now less than 6 weeks away, and the engines on the rumor mill have started churning.  On Wednesday, Brian Cashman discussed the Yankees' plans for the deadline with Ken Davidoff, saying "we usually make moves every year, so I expect to make moves" when asked what he expected.  As for how aggressive the Yankees will be, I guess this statement from Cash sums it up best:

“I feel that we do have the ability to make trades if that’s a route we so choose.  How we line up with other clubs, I don’t know … but I definitely have people that are wanted within the industry. But we want those guys, too. We’ll see.”

Cash is no fool when it comes to playing the media game.  He isn't going to tip his hand.  But we all know what the Yankees' biggest needs are (starting pitcher, infielder/backup first baseman, right fielder) and we know they're going to look to fill some of those needs.  It's far too early to make any rational predictions, but there are already a couple rumors that popped up this week involving the Yanks.  Here's a quick trip around the early deadline rumor mill.

Kelly Johnson Day-To-Day With Bruised Fingers

The jinx strikes again!  I write about how Kelly Johnson is coming on and deserves to be in the lineup every day and pow!  He takes a pitch off the right hand trying to bunt in the 6th last night, leaves the game, and might miss a few more with bruised fingers.

Why Johnson was even being asked to bunt in that situation is beyond me, but the good news is that X-rays were negative and the injury is bruises instead of breaks.  Joe seemed like he had been coming around to the idea of going with Johnson more and Solarte less, evidenced by his decision to start KJ last night.  A quick recovery to get Johnson's bat back in there would be the best possible outcome here.

Game 71 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 TOR 4

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Thanks, Toronto!  See you again next time!  Enjoy the flight!  You kids get home safe!

Game Notes:

- The scoring was early and often against Blue Jay starter Drew Hutchison.  Brett Gardner doubled to lead off the game for the Yanks and scored on an Ellsbury sac fly in the 1st, Carlos Beltran worked his way around and scored on a Kelly Johnson sac fly in the 2nd, then sac flied Ellsbury home himself in the 3rd.

- In between all the saccing (sacking? sacing?), David Phelps gave up a 2-run home run to Melky Cabrera in the top of the 3rd to keep the Jays close.  Those were the only runs he'd allow in 7 very good innings.

- Not that he didn't have to work for them.  Toronto put a runner on base in all but 2 innings and put a runner in scoring position with no outs in the 5th.  Phelps handled the trouble well every time and he punctuated the outing by K'ing the final 2 batters of the 7th.

- The Yanks tacked on for him with a Beltran RBI double in the 5th, a Derek Jeter RBI groundout in the 6th, and a Yangervis Solarte bases loaded walk in the 7th.  Toronto just couldn't keep them off the basepaths.  Story of the game.

- Shawn Kelley took over in the 8th and very quickly gave up a 2-run home run to Edwin Encarnacion to pull the Jays back within 2.  Joe had to use Matt Thornton to get out of that inning and Adam Warren for the save with a short bullpen, but they did the job.

Thursday Afternoon News And Notes

Been a little slow around the blog the last day or so with my 9-5 cutting into my time, but thankfully it's been relatively slow around Yankeeland as well.  Here are some of the smaller stories I've missed from the past 2 days:

- CC Sabathia threw his second rehab bullpen session yesterday.  It was another 25-pitch sesh, not sure if he mixed in any of this offspeed pitches this time.  Next one is set for Sunday and his pitch count should be bumped up.

- Michael Pineda is scheduled to play catch for the first time since his last setback on Saturday.

- 2 more top draft picks signed yesterday, 4th rounder Jordan Montgomery and 6th rounder Jonathan Holder.  Montgomery signed for full slot value, Holder about 60-70k below.

- Via Chad Jennings, outfielder Taylor Dugas was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A today.  He's way under the radar as a prospect, but he was hitting .294/.403/.424 for the Thunder this season and has a .293/.422/.368 career slash across 4 levels of the Minors.  Got a little Brett Gardner-ness to him.

Homegrown Hoedown

Big Mac was the king of the night last night and justifiably so.  Dude was swatting home runs over the short porch in right, speeding around the bases for 3-run triples to seal the game, and navigating a relatively young pitching staff through 9 innings of solid work to secure another win.  In looking at the box score this morning, I noticed another cool trend from last night, one deserving of its own post.  All 5 Yankee pitchers who pitched last night were under 30 years old and all 5 were homegrown players.

Chase Whitley, Adam Warren, Jose Ramirez, Dellin Betances, and David Robertson.  All drafted or signed by the Yankees, all developed through the team's farm system, all graduated to the Majors within the organization, and almost all contributing in very meaningful ways.  That's pretty cool.  When you can get 9 innings of 3-run ball with 2 BB and 8 K from a crop of your own pitchers against the best offensive team in the AL, that's gotta make your scouts and MiL people feel good.

For the season, that 5-some has combined to throw 149.1 innings.  They have a 2.41 ERA, 183 K/37 BB, and 4.6 total fWAR.  That's pretty damn good when you consider that Warren was working as a low-leverage middle relief guy at this time last year while Betances, Whitley, and Ramirez were all either working in different roles or just starting new ones in Triple-A.  Their overall track record when it comes to pitcher development doesn't look that great, but based on last night's game it would be unfair to say the Yankees completely suck at it.  There's at least a few things they have to be doing right.

Game 70 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 TOR 3

(Job well done.  Courtesy of the AP)

I know I said this series was going to be a big test for the Yankees, but in all honesty, can they just play the Blue Jays at home all the time?  They own them there.  Totally have them twisted into pretzels.  Case in point, last night's game.  Yanks had Chase Whitley up against Toronto ace Mark Buehrle, a matchup that should heavily favor the Jays.  Not in The Stadium though, and not when Buehrle was sporting a career ERA over 6 against the Bombers.  They tuned him up for a few early last night before tacking on against the bullpen late to secure their 15th (!!!!) straight win over the Jays at home.

Game Notes:

- The usual suspects at the top of the order gave Whitley a tad of run support in the bottom of the 1st.  Brett Gardner led off with a single, moved to second on an error, third on a flyout, and scored on a 2-out ribbie single by Alfonso Soriano.  For real.

- Whitley made it stand up through 3 innings.  He was mixing pitches again, working both sides of the plate to hitters hitting from both sides of the plate, and keeping the Blue Jay lineup off the basepaths.  Not electric at all in comparison to Tanaka, but effective.

- A 1-out HBP seemed to rattle him in the 4th and he surrendered a couple of RBI singles to give the Jays a brief lead.  But a Carlos Beltran leadoff single and a Brian McCann home run in the bottom half put the Yanks back in front.

- Joe got Whitley through 5, then got out of that game while he was ahead and went to his bullpen.  Adam Warren tossed 2 perfect innings with 3 Ks, Dellin Betances cleaned up Jose Ramirez's mess in the 8th, and D-Rob breezed through the 9th.

- The offense tacked on 4 insurance runs in the bottom of the 7th again to make life a lot easier down the stretch.  Gardner was at the forefront of the rally with his 4th hit of the night, Ichiro drew a pinch hit, bases loaded walk, and Big Mac cleared the bases with a triple to right-center.

Kelly Johnson Is Starting To Get Some Shine

("Thanks for the at-bats, guy."  Courtesy of Getty Images)

When the offseason ended and the Yankee roster started to take shape over ST, it looked like Kelly Johnson was going to be an important piece.  He could play a lot of positions, he could play the infield ones well, he had left-handed power.  He was like Joe's "Draw 4" Wild card in Uno that he could use at any time in any situation.  Then Yangervis Solarte came out hitting like a maniac and Brian Roberts' switch-hitting body managed to stay healthy enough to play and suddenly KJ was the odd man out, getting his only playing time when Teix was hurt and he had to play out of position at first.

Now Solarte is really slumping at the plate, Roberts' body is banged up, and Johnson finds himself back in his regular position getting regular playing time.  He's been a fixture in the bottom of the batting the last few games and could finally be starting to settle into the role he should have been playing all along.

Wednesday Morning Food For Thought: Nothing Like A Good Old Strikeout

Mashiro Tanaka: 113 K in 99.2 IP
Dellin Betances: 68 K in 40.2 IP
David Robertson: 43 K in 23.2 IP

The strikeout is the best possible outcome for any at-bat from the pitching side.  The Yankees have 3 of the best in the business when it comes to getting strikeouts and all 3 of them were in action last night.  Correction, they WERE the action last night.  15 combined Ks in 9 innings, 6 of those victims being Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion, the 3 best Toronto hitters.  Tanaka struck out all 3 for the side in the 5th inning, Betances nailed them twice in the 8th, and D-Rob ended the game with a K after a 2-out triple.

Betances and D-Rob's combined total of 111 strikeouts is the most by any relief duo in baseball.  By a lot.  The next closest is Andrew Miller and Koji Uehara with 88.  Tanaka is tied for 2nd most among all starters behind David Price.  When you're playing a lot of close games and not scoring a lot of runs, run prevention becomes even more important.  The best way to prevent runs is to prevent guys from putting the ball in play and these 3 have shown a tremendous knack for coming up with those big strikeouts in big moments.

Game 69 Wrap-Up: NYY 3 TOR 1

(The guy fields his position too, NBD.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

What more can you say about Masahiro Tanaka?  The guy is a killer.  A stone cold assassin.  He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced in last night's series opener (the second time he's done that in 2 games against the Blue Jays), then proceeded to shut them the hell down for the next 6 innings.  Is it a fair statement to say that the Yankees have the best starting pitcher and relief pitcher in the American League?  In all of MLB?  It's at least up for debate after the tag team effort by Tanaka and Dellin Betances last night that propelled the Yankees to another win over the Jays at home.

Game Notes:

- So yeah, that leadoff homer.  Tanaka actually gave up 2 more hits in the top of the 1st, both with 2 outs, before ending the only real threat he'd face on the night with a strikeout.

- The Yankees really made Marcus Stroman work for his outs.  They took a lot of pitches, fouled off a lot of pitches, and cashed in on that in the bottom of the 3rd when the lineup cycled around to Brett Gardner and he popped a YS3 Special home run down the right field line to give his team the lead.

- Stroman was knocked out before he could finish the 4th, and the Yanks got their insurance run against the bullpen in the 5th.  Derek Jeter singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, third on a groundout, and scored on Mark Teixeira's ribbie base knock to make it 3-1.

- Tanaka only allowed 2 baserunners to reach second after the 1st inning and he struck out 10 through 6 innings, including the side in the 5th (Melky, Joey Bats, Encarnacion) on splitter, slider, splitter.  Joe pulled him after 6 and 104 pitches and let his 'pen take him home.

- They did that alright.  Betances pitched a perfect 7th and perfect 8th with 3 more strikeouts, David Robertson only gave up a triple because Gardner missed a diving catch attempt and struck out 2 more of his own in the 9th.

Report: CC Returns To The Mound

CC Sabathia threw 25 pitch bullpen yest. (just fb/change up) Will throw another pen tomorrow (all pitches) & reevaluate from there #Yankees
— Meredith Marakovits (@M_Marakovits) June 17, 2014

It's been 2 weeks since CC Sabathia began rehab work on his right knee in the form of low-impact treadmill walking and playing catch.  Via Meredith Marakovits, that rehab schedule took a major step forward when he got back on a mound for the first time yesterday to throw a bullpen session.  Per Marakovits' report, Sabathia said he was encouraged and that his knee felt good.  If that holds through today's off-day and tomorrow's scheduled 'pen sesh, the next steps in the comeback plan can start to come together.

Cash declared CC out "until at least July" back on May 19th.  4 weeks and a day have passed since then and this is the first real significant progress CC has made.  I have to think the team is going to take it extra careful with him from here as they start to work him back into game shape, perhaps even more carefully than they're taking it with Pineda.  With the years and money still owed to him, that would be a wise move.

Upcoming Toronto Series Starts Gut Check Time For The Yanks

The Yankees are fresh off their second 9-game road trip of the season and this past one was the tougher of the 2.  3 games against a red hot Royals club, 3 against an unexpectedly competitive Seattle team, and 3 against the best team in the American League in the A's.  They came through it with a positive 5-4 record, although those results did little to help them gain ground in the AL East race.

That race comes back into full focus for the next month, starting tonight when the Yankees host division-leading Toronto for a 3-game set.  It will be the first of 5 straight series against AL East opponents, including another 3-gamer in Toronto this time next week, and 12 of those 15 games will be played at home.  Tonight marks the first time the Yankees have faced a divisional opponent since the first week of May and the first time they've faced the Blue Jays since the second series of the season when they took 2 of 3 in Toronto.

The Obligatory Giancarlo Stanton Dream Post

(Swoon... Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

When he fills out his lineup card for tonight's series opener against Toronto, Joe will have multiple options for right field.  He can play a 40-year-old lefty hitter with a noodle bat and deteriorated defensive skills who can slap some singles here and there but do little else.  He can play a 38-year-old former power hitter who's apparently lost his bat speed and power to the degree that he's nothing more than a platoon bat at the moment.  Or he could roll the dice and throw his 37-year-old projected starting right fielder back out there even though he has a bone spur in his throwing elbow that caused him to miss 3 weeks and has only recently started throwing a ball again in an effort to limit the stress on the elbow.

Appealing options, aren't they?  Safe to say the Yankees' plan to patch together right field for a year or 2 is already all but crumbled and fallen apart.  Both Ichiro Suzuki and Alfonso Soriano are in the final years of their respective contracts, and while one or both of them may try to stick around next year, I highly doubt they'll be doing it as Yankees.  Beltran, with what he's shown when he has been in the outfield and now the elbow problem to consider, could be transitioned to full-time DH duty as soon as this season.  That would leave another void in right, a position the team has struggled to fill with a reliable option since letting Nick Swisher walk.  Enter Giancarlo Stanton.

Cervelli Slated To Be Activated Today (UPDATED)

Nothing official yet.  Won't be until later today.  But all signs point towards Francisco Cervelli being activated off the DL today to rejoin the team at home for the series opener against Toronto.  When that happens, the most likely candidate to give up his roster spot for Cervelli is the current backup catcher John Ryan Murphy.

Murphy has performed admirably in his role as backup to the backup.  He hit .286/.308/.365 in 65 plate appearances, handled his defensive duties well, meshed with his pitchers, and generally seemed to take positively to his second stint in the Majors.  In my eyes, and in the eyes of many others, he did enough to warrant keeping that job for the present and the future.  That said, it couldn't hurt to get him back down to Triple-A for some regular ABs.  If the team does fancy him a bigger part of their future than Cervelli, they need to get Cervelli back into games to build up some trade value for him.  In that sense, this move works for all parties involved and is a positive side effect of having the kind of catching depth the Yanks do.

So welcome back, Frankie.  Try not to sprain, strain, tear, or break anything on your way around the clubhouse today.

** UPDATE 3:19 PM- It's official, according to Mark Feinsand.  Frankie up, John Ryan down. **

The Best Of Prospect Times, The Worst Of Prospect Times

(Aaron Judge, certified stud.  Courtesy of MiLB.com)

It's Minor League All-Star Game season, which signifies the start to prospect promotion season.  The Yankees have already moved some guys up and down, but once we get through the midpoint of all the MiL seasons, you'll really start to see things pick up.  With that in mind, here are a few updates on some of the top names in the system and the wide disparity in where their seasons are heading at the midpoint.  All things considered, especially some of the more recent negative news, I think you have to say this has been another disappointing campaign for the Yankee system as a whole.  But check out the major "Bests" and "Worsts" after the jump and judge for yourself.

Should Vidal Nuno Even Be In The Rotation Anymore?

("Try to keep this one in the park, guy."  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

On Saturday morning, it was like things were finally starting to come together.  The Yankees had won 4 games in a row and looked pretty good doing it in all aspects of the game.  By last night, things were right back to normal.  Shoddy infield defense, inconsistent performances from the lower-level middle relievers, the inability to string hits together and drive guys in, and VERY uneven starting pitching.

Actually, uneven might be understating it a touch.  It was horrible.  After David Phelps' brilliant work on Friday night, the last 2 Yankee starters combined to give up 12 ER in just 7.2 IP on Saturday and Sunday.  The bulk of that (in the smaller amount of innings) came from the left hand of Vidal Nuno.  He gave up 6 ER to the first 10 batters he faced yesterday, and 8 overall in 3 innings.  Dom alluded to it earlier this morning and Katie hinted at it a few weeks ago, so now I'm just going to come right out and ask the question that needs asking.  Should Vidal Nuno still have a spot in the rotation?

Monday Morning Food For Thought: Solarte Really Slowing Down

I knew this was going to happen eventually.  We all did.  I was hoping it wouldn't happen right after I suggested he be moved up into the 2-spot, but a month later that seems to be the case.  Yangervis Solarte is coming back to reality as a hitter.  After coming back from his late-May slump with 9 hits in his next 6 games, he has really fallen off in June and created another hole in the batting order.

Solarte went 0-3 with a walk and  R scored last night.  The run was his first in a week, but the 0-fer made him 0-18 in his last 5 games.  That dropped him down to a .178/.260/.244 slash line in June and a .274/.347/.420 line for the season.  Solarte has been trending downward every month since Opening Day, from .an 865 OPS in April to an .809 in May.  The acceleration of that downtrend so far this month has been a dramatic one though, and it's creating more lineup and roster juggling confusion for Joe.  He already doesn't know what he's going to get or who he's going to be without day to day in his infield.  Now he can't even rely on the one constant he's had for the first 2 months.

So what's the diagnosis now?  Is this just another rough patch for Solarte or is this the sign of natural statistical regression to the mean settling in and his true Major League talent level coming to surface?

Game 68 Wrap-Up: OAK 10 NYY 5

(Kind surprised Nuno didn't give up a home run there.  Courtesy of the AP)

Well I hope everyone's Fathers Day was better than Vidal Nuno's.  What started as a winnable series to secure a very good road trip on Friday night quickly turned into more of what's become the new norm for this Yankee team over the last 2 days, and at no time was the gap between them and the true AL elite wider than today.  The A's bats woke up in a big way, not an uncommon happening against a junk baller like Nuno, and his streak of solid road starts came to an ugly and early ending.

Game Notes:

- A pair of leadoff singles put the A's in business in the bottom of the 1st.  A 3-run Derek Norris home run following a strikeout cashed in that business and put them on top 3-0.

- They cashed in on that single-single-home run formula again in the 2nd, this time after Nuno struck out Brandon Moss to start the inning.  Ahead in the count, he threw a bad slider and Coco Crisp crushed it to make it 6-0.

- 2 more baserunners to start the 4th and that was it for Nuno.  Jose Ramirez was called on to clean up the mess and instead he made things worse, giving up a walk, a hit batter, and 3 singles to the next 4 hitters.  When the dust settled, it was a 10-0 nothing game.

- The Yankee lineup decided to wake up after the game was already out of reach.  Mark Teixeira doubled a run home in the 6th, the only one they would get off Oakland starter Jesse Chavez, Carlos Beltran hit a solo HR to start the 7th, and Brett Gardner made things a little more respectable with a 2-run shot in the 9th.

- The bullpen regulars got a day of rest for the most part.  Shawn Kelley worked a scoreless 5th, Adam Warren tossed 2 scoreless, and Matt Thornton managed to complete a whole inning without turning it into batting practice.

Teix Tacks On Another Health Concern

Mark Teixeira was a late scratch for last night's game.  Apparently he was feeling some tightness in his left shoulder/upper back area and couldn't work it out in BP, so Joe played it safe and sat him to see if a day off helped.  Teix told reporters he wasn't that concerned about it and Joe said there was a good possibility he would be able to play this afternoon, but this latest dent in Teix's physical armor has to add concern about how he's going to hold up over the next 3 and a half months.  Since April 4th, here's the list of ailments he's racked up:

• Hamstring strain (14 games missed)
• Groin stiffness/leg fatigue (0 games missed; got 1 half-day off)
• Wrist soreness/cortisone injection (5 games missed)
• Shoulder/back stiffness (1 game missed and counting)

That's a lot of pain and stiffness in a lot of different parts of the body, a 34-year-old body that hasn't been completely healthy for a long time now.  Teix did a great job coming back strong from the hammy strain with 5 HR in his first 11 games back and has remained the only consistent power presence in the middle of the order even as he's battled the wrist problems.  But his inability to go more than a few weeks without something acting up is not a good omen when you look back at the last few years.  Sooner or later, all these little "nothing" injuries are going to add up to something and I don't expect that something to be good.

Game 67 Wrap-Up: OAK 5 NYY 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankees had halted their skid, kept their heads about .500 water, and put together a nice little 4-game winning streak heading into last night's middle game in Oakland.  It looked like things were starting to get back to normal with a rotation that was collectively pitching well, a strong, deep bullpen, and a lineup fully comprised of its regular expected starters.  Last night everything reverted back to the ways of May, including Mark Teixeira being scratched with an injury, and the winning streak was ended.

Games Notes:

- Hiroki Kuroda was on the mound and in the bottom of the 2nd all his season-long problems manifested.  With 1 out he walked a batter, with 2 outs he gave up a single, and after loading the bases with another walk he gave up a 2-run single to Eric Sogard on a poorly-placed sinker.

- The  Yanks turned a 2-out rally of their own into a run in the top of the 3rd, albeit with some defensive assistance.  Kelly Johnson walked, Brett Gardner singled, and Johnson came around to score on an Oakland throwing error to make it 2-1 A's.

- Hirok got through the next 2 innings without issue, but hit a wall in the 5th after a leadoff walk to Sogard.  A single, an RBI groundout, and 2 passed balls by John Ryan Murphy made it 4-1 Oakland, and Joe elected to lift Kuroda with 2 outs and not allow him to face Yoenis Cespedes.

- Shawn Kelley took care of that with a strikeout and Joe handed the ball over to David Huff for the remainder of the game.  Huff pitched 3 innings and gave up a run in the 6th for the final Oakland run.

- Joe must have known his offense wasn't going to wake up against Scott Kazmir.  They stranded runners at second against him in the 5th and 6th and went down 1-2-3 in each of the final 3 innings against the bullpen.

Can Heath Bell Be Of Any Value?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The shuffling and re-shuffling of the middle relief deck has been a constant for the Yankees this year.  Early injuries to the rotation, some DL stints at the front end of the 'pen, and a lot of really poor performances have combined to a rotation of mostly mediocre characters through the last 2 spots and the Yanks are very much still in search of a couple of reliable options.  They've got rookie Jose Ramirez in 1 spot for the moment, and the recently-acquired David Huff in the other.  You'll remember him from his tandem starter duties with Phil Hughes last season.

Another move Cash made to add some organizational depth was signing Heath Bell to a MiL deal on Friday.  Bell was released by the Rays earlier in the season after putting up a 7.27 ERA in 17.1 IP and most recently he had been pitching some OK ball for the Baltimore Orioles' Triple-A affiliate (4.22/3.24 in 10.2 IP).  He's been on an accelerated downtrend for the last few seasons, so is there any reason to think he might have something offer the Yankee bullpen?

Draft Signing Updates: Lindgren, DeCarr And Foley

The Yankees signed a group of lower round draft picks earlier this week.  Yesterday they locked up 3 of their higher picks when 2nd rounder Jacob Lindgren, 3rd rounder Austin DeCarr, and 5th round Jordan Foley all agreed to deals.

Lindgren, via his dad's Twitter, signed for exactly slot value of $1,078,700.  Not much of a surprise considering the pick and his profile as a college pitcher.  Foley also signed for exactly slot value at $317,500, according to Chris Cotillo.  DeCarr signed for an even million bucks, not quite double the slot value of his pick (585.1k), but a good enough chunk of change to get him to pass on his commitment to Clemson.

DeCarr was the biggest and only real no-sign risk from the Yankees' picks in the first 10 rounds, so the rest of the signings should just be a formality now.  No word yet on where DeCarr will be heading, although my guess would be SS Staten Island.  Both Lindgren and Foley are ticketed for Low-A Charleston to start their pro careers.  Have to think there's a very good chance that neither stick there long.

Pineda To Be Out Until August

The news on the field has been all good in the last 4 games.  There was a bit of off-field news before last night's game that's not so good.  When speaking the media before the game, Joe said that Michael Pineda will be out of action until August as he works his way back from his back/should muscle setback.

According to Joe, Pineda has yet to resume playing catch after being shut down a few weeks ago in an ExST start.  Joe expects him to resume playing catch "fairly shortly" and from there the Yanks are going to take it slow with him and build him back up to a regular workload through bullpens, BP sessions, and some MiL rehab games.  They anticipate that process taking a month and a half, so it'll almost be like another Spring Training for Pineda.

Joe was quick to state that Pineda had not suffered another setback.  The team just wants to be careful with him and make sure they don't rush him and give him enough time to heal.  While it's good to know that there have been no further setbacks, the return of the kid gloves mentality with Pineda is not a good sign at all.  The injury is already in the vicinity of his shoulder injury and when all is said and done it's going to keep him on the shelf for 3+ months.  With all the health problems he's had, it's looking more and more like he's never going to be the pitcher the team expected him to be when they traded for him.

Game 66 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 OAK 0

(Next time on "Foul Territory", Mark learns how to high five properly.  Courtesy of the AP)

Check it out, people.  A real, actual winning streak.  Isn't it amazing??  The Yankees have played some brutal baseball since mid-May, but they've started to turn things around across all facets of the game over their last 4 games.  Their starting pitching has been much better, their relief work has been consistent and solid, they haven't been booting and throwing the ball all over the field defensively, and they've scored 4 or more runs 3 times in a row.  Last night's latest victory featured the up-and-down David Phelps outdueling Oakland's Sonny Gray in this weekend series opener.

Game Notes:

- Once again, the Yanks got off to a fast start.  3 straight singles by Gardner, Jeter, Ellsbury and a Mark Teixeira sac fly plated 2 runs in the 1st and another Gardner single scored Brian Roberts in the 2nd.

- Phelps was very sharp from the get go, and retired the first 10 batters he faced into the 4th inning.  He was locating his fastball down and on the corners for strikes and generating weak contact for his defense.

- The Yankee bats went a bit cold after the 2nd and allowed Gray to stick around through 6.  He gave way to the bullpen in the 7th and in the 8th against Jeff Francis was when the offense struck again.  With 2 outs and runners on first and second, the bottom of the order rattled off 3 straight singles to score 4 more runs.  Brian Roberts' base knock and the missed catch on the play at the plate was the big blow.

- The only thing Phelps wasn't was efficient with his pitches, and he exited with 2 outs in the 7th after giving up a double to Jed Lowrie.  Dellin Betances came in and did the fireman thing to get through the 8th.

- The 4 late runs put the game safely out of reach and gave Joe the chance to rest his regulars, so he went with Jose Ramirez in the bottom of the 9th and watched Ramirez retire the 3 best Oakland hitters in order.  This is why they kept  him up and not Daley.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/13/14

I can't explain why, but I'm feeling very good about the Rangers' chances tonight.  I'm almost irrationally confident in them and it's a little scary.  Most people felt that if they played a whole 60 minutes like the played the opening periods of Games 1 and 2, they would have won.  It's now Game 5 and they've still yet to accomplish that feat.  The 3rd period the other night was hide-your-eyes scary to watch, so maybe tonight is the night that they put 3 whole periods together and bring the series back to The Garden for a final time in the 2013-2014 season.  Win tonight and they have a real chance again.  1 shift at a time, 1 period at a time, 1 game at a game.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Mike Axisa offered up some simple lineup change suggestions to help ignite the unproductive lineup.  So far, the Yankees haven't implemented any of them.

- SJK of NoMaas had a few roster shakeup ideas of his own.

- On Tuesday, William Juliano of The Captain's showed how the Yankees' good luck has been hiding the truth of their weak performance over the first 62 games.

- On Wednesday, Katie Sharp of IIATMS/TYA identified all the unseen value coming from Brian McCann this season thanks to his elite-level defensive metrics.  Guy has been an absolute stud behind the plate.

- El duque of It Is High... noticed a somewhat unsettling trend in the Yankee organization.  W-L record isn't a huge deal in the Minors, but that top-to-bottom breakdown can't make you feel good, can it?

- On Thursday, Michael Brown of Pinstripe Alley examined the Yankees' offensive performance in the clutch.  Whether you believe in the idea or not, we can all agree that ranking in the lower half of MLB in that category is not good.

- Delia Enriquez of Bronx Basebally Daily commented on Masahiro Tanaka's competitiveness and desire for perfection and how it makes him a better pitcher.

- On Friday, Chad Jennings of LoHud got some collective thoughts on Chase Whitley's start to his Major League starting career, from guys like Joe, Jeter, and Whitley himself.

- Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits used the newest scouting report on Ian Clarkin to search for accurate pitcher comparisons.

It's been all rock so far this year, so let's change it up with a little hip-hop this week and an underrated classic from Blackstar, "Redefinition".  Most people know and prefer "Definition", but this song is just as tight and deserves some recognition.  Too bad Mos Def went all religious psycho and got on the outs with the US government.  A Blackstar reunion would be sweet.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.