On the Yankees beat

Bad news for Andy Phillips. GM Brian Cashman said he's still a part of the team, but it sure doesn't look good for him after the Yankees acquired a first baseman / outfielder in Craig Wilson (for the price of mopup man Shawn Chacon. Phillips always hit in the minors, but the complaint was always that he never got a shot. This year he finally got a chance to play every day and went through some vicious slumps.

What's your predictions?

Outfielder Craig Wilson and righthander Salomon Torres of the Pirates are two players still out there that the Yankees have expressed interest in...

The Diamondbacks had scout Rico Brogna (yes, that Rico) at Double-A Trenton to see young righthander Tyler Clippard, though nothing was hot on that front last night.

It's not official just yet, but the Yankees and Phillies have all but completed a deal involving Bobby Abreu.

The Yankees will get Abreu and righthander Cory Lidle in exchange for shortstop C.J. Henry, their 2005 first-round pick, lefthander Matt Smith and a to-be-determined minor-leaguer.

Abreu, who was pulled from the Phillies lineup today, has yet to waive his no-trade clause, and early indications are the Yankees won't have to guarantee his 2008 $16 million option.

More to come.

As of last night the Yankees were optimistic of their chances to get Bobby Abreu, and with that comes a high OBP, a long homerless streak and a hefty contract.

Good move or bad?

Why?

Nice to see the Stadium crowd react with a loud ovation for Alex Rodriguez's first at-bat of the homestand. And it was nicer still for A-Rod that he delivered an RBI single on the first pitch.

There were even some chants of "A-Rod! A-Rod!" during his four-pitch walk with two on in the fourth, an encouraging sign that perhaps the fans are, finally, realizing the folly of their actions.

No one, other than A-Rod himself, will enjoy a hot streak more than A-Rod's friend Gary Sheffield. The Yankees' rightfielder has experienced plenty of fan abuse during his career and had conversations on the topic with A-Rod during their time together with the Yankees.

Because of his injury, Sheffield hasn't been around for the recent verbal abuse A-Rod has absorbed, and wished he could have provided some support. "It's good to have someone around who's dealt with it," Sheffield said. "He'll get better from this. It'll make him stronger. New York is a tough place, but he's a tough guy. People don't give him enough credit for that. And he's still putting up awesome numbers."

Not awesome enough for many irrational Yankee fans, who have inexplicably – has his 48-homer, MVP season of 2005 been forgotten so quickly? -- placed A-Rod in a can't-win situation.

Okay, enough about the current team. Let's get back to talking about Monday's trade deadline. Are you OK if the Yankees don't make any more moves, or at least nothing of major consequence? That sure seems to be a legit option right now, for the second year in a row. Who could have predicted that? The Yankees have inquired about old friend Jon Lieber, so throw his name into the mix.

So right now the laundry list of potential trade options begins with Soriano, Abreu, Lieber, Roberto Hernandez, Craig Wilson, Salomon Torres, etc. And your thoughts?

Here's the release:

JULY 26, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

YANKEES ACQUIRE C SAL FASANO FROM PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
FOR MINOR-LEAGUE INF HECTOR MADE;
DESIGNATE C KELLY STINNETT FOR ASSIGNMENT

The Yankees announced today that they have acquired catcher Sal Fasano from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for minor-league infielder Hector Made. To make room for Fasano on their 25-man and 40-man rosters, the Yankees designated catcher Kelly Stinnett for assignment.

Fasano, 34, batted .243 (34-for-140) with four home runs and 10 RBI in 50 games with the Phillies before he was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 4 with left knee inflammation and subsequently designated for assignment on July 22. In 64 games with the Baltimore Orioles in 2005, Fasano posted a career-high 11 home runs in 160 at-bats (a ratio of one home run every 14.55 at-bats).

Originally drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 37th round of the 1993 draft, Fasano owns a career batting average of .225 with 45 home runs and 125 RBI. He was previously signed by the Yankees to a minor-league contract in 2004 (appeared in 13 games with the Yankees in Spring Training) and played in 76 games for Triple-A Columbus, batting .299 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI. Fasano has played in 368 career games with six different teams (Kansas City, 1996-2001; Oakland, 2000-01; Colorado, 2001; Anaheim, 2002; Baltimore, 2005 and Philadelphia in 2006).

Made, 21, was batting .286 (90-for-315) in 86 games with Class-A Tampa in 2006. He was signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on July 17, 2001.

Stinnett, 36, was batting .228 (18-for-79) in 34 games with the Yankees this season. He was signed by the Yankees as a free agent to a one-year contract on November 30, 2005.

Okay, here's the game. I'm going to list the entire 25-man roster as it stands today, and let's have everyone pick out the spots they want to upgrade by Monday's trade deadline, keeping in mind guys on the DL. I'm interesting in your thoughts.

Here we go:
C: Jorge Posada
C: Kelly Stinnett
1B/DH: Jason Giambi
1B: Andy Phillips
2B: Miguel Cairo
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Alex Rodriguez
INF: Nick Green
LF: Melky Cabrera
CF: Johnny Damon
RF: Bernie Williams
RF: Aaron Guiel
OF: Bubba Crosby
SP: Randy Johnson
SP: Mike Mussina
SP: Chien-Ming Wang
SP: Jaret Wright
SP: Sidney Ponson
RP: Mariano Rivera
RP: Kyle Farnsworth
RP: Scott Proctor
RP: Ron Villone
RP: Mike Myers
RP: T.J. Beam
RP: Shawn Chacon

DL: Robinson Cano (expected back in two weeks)
DL: Hideki Matsui (expected September)
DL: Gary Sheffield (expected September)
DL: Octavio Dotel (too hard to tell)
DL: Carl Pavano (next season)
DL: Tanyon Sturtze (done for year)
DL: Darrell Rasner (doesn't matter)

So in your responses, just list the roster spots you want to upgrade, why, and potential replacements.

... that people seriously believe Alex Rodriguez could be available in a trade.

The trade deadline is coming fast, and just like the past few weeks, the Yankees' needs change on a daily basis. It can't be good for the Yankees that Steven White, a righthander at Triple-A Columbus who has garnered some interest, struggled in front of a few high-ranking officials from the Pirates and Nationals yesterday.

The Yankees definitely want Alfonso Soriano and Bobby Abreu, but like any big deal, a lot needs to happen to facilitate it, and it's hard to see everything coming together with a week to go. That the Pirates were in Columbus immediately makes you think about Craig Wilson and Roberto Hernandez. The Nationals' presence probably had more to do with righthanders Ramon Ortiz and Tony Armas Jr. than Soriano.

But Yankee fans can dream...

When Joe Torre pulled as many as regulars as he could in today's awful loss, this was the defensive alignment that he was left with: C: Kelly Stinnett; 1B: Aaron Guiel (first time in majors); 2B: Miguel Cairo; SS: Nick Green; 3B: Andy Phillips; LF: Melky Cabrera; CF: Bubba Crosby; RF: Bernie Williams. Who in their right mind could have ever envisioned that alignment happening this season, even for a meaningless inning.

Anyway, the Yankees' inconsistent up-and-down play of late has me wondering. What is the best lineup for the Yankees? And I'm not talking batting order. I want to know if you prefer Phillips at first and Jason Giambi as the DH, even though Phillips has struggled offensively. Or do you want Giambi at first, Bernie Williams as the DH and Guiel or Bubba or I guess even Kevin Thompson in right?

Joe Torre came to Phillips' defense before the game, saying he will continue to play him because he believes he has to "put a premium" on defense with the Yankees so inconsistently producing runs. Makes sense. Do you agree?

Any predictions on what Alex Rodriguez will do today? Seems hard to top himself after a week in which he became the youngest player to hit 450 homers, on his 2,000th career hit, struck out four times for the first time since 1995, made five throwing errors in five games... What next? There's five and a half hours until first pitch.

Predictions?

If you're spending your Friday night watching the game and reading this, I thank you.

Here's the latest news from Toronto:

-- The Yankees were not concerned by the results of an MRI on Octavio Dotel taken today, but they are sending the results to James Andrews just to make sure they're not missing anything. Dotel, meanwhile, is headed to Tampa, but will not be able to throw until the Yankees hear back from Andrews. So right now it just looks as if the righthander simply isn't ready off Tommy John surgery yet, and that it will probably be a few weeks before you can expect to hear talk of Dotel arriving in the Bronx.

-- Alex Rodriguez, perhaps heeding the advice of many of your comments to my last blog entry, was on the field before the game taking extra grounders and working on his throws. He and Joe Torre agree his problem recently has been that he is sidearming the ball instead of coming over the top and throwing it.

-- Sidney Ponson was set to arrive in Toronto Friday night after his visa issues were cleared up. The Aruban righthander will be with the team tomorrow and make his second start in pinstripes on Sunday afternoon opposite Shaun Marcum.

-- Spent some time this morning walking around the huge mall they have here in the middle of the city, and saw a guy wearing a C.W. Post shirt. Thought that was funny.

Interesting game last night, with two normally lights-out closers faltering, a rare home run hit off Mariano Rivera (and a walkoff at that), Alex Rodriguez making yet another error and Mike Mussina giving his honest opinion of that play and A-Rod's overall play.

Clearly the two biggest moments last night were the Vernon Wells walkoff home run off Rivera, and Rodriguez's throwing error that helped paved the way for the Blue Jays' four-run sixth inning. If you were writing the game story, which play would you focus on more? The walkoff homer off Rivera, or A-Rod's error? Please explain why.

Octavio Dotel, just three days away from being activated by the Yankees, is instead headed to see Yankees team physican Stuart Hershon tomorrow after feeling discomfort in his right triceps following his outing today at Class-A Staten Island.

The Yankees don't usually like to count on injured players, especially someone like Dotel coming off Tommy John surgery, but it was hard for them not to get excited before this. Torre said the plan was for Dotel to meet the Yankees here Sunday after today's outing, which would have been his final minor-league rehab appearance.

Just spoke with GM Brian Cashman, and he insisted this doesn't add any more pressure on him to swing a deal for a reliever (i.e. Roberto Hernandez). But what do you expect him to say? Obviously this is bit of bad news, and the Yankees, like every contender, are looking to add some depth to their pitching staff.

Could the Yankees be fortunate to have struck gold again with a castoff starting pitcher? Last year's charge to the AL East title wouldn't have happened if Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small hadn't been picked up in what can only be charitably called "desperate measures." Will Sidney Ponson fall into that same category?
The one-time Orioles starter, who was placed on waivers by the Cardinals earlier this month and claimed by the Yankees, turned in a fairly impressive 6 2/3 innings Tuesday night. Especially when you consider that he gave up two walks and a three-run homer in the first inning but only one more run thereafter. "He bulldogged it," Torre said. "There was a lot of grinding and grunting. He wasn't as sharp as he can be, but he gave us a huge start."
The 29-year-old, whose fastball was consistently in the low 90s Tuesday, will get another start Sunday in Toronto. And while a No. 5 starter is insignificant when it comes to the postseason, he can certainly pick up important victories to help his team get to the October playoffs.
The Yankees will likely make a deal for a far bigger name than Ponson by the July 31 trade deadline, but GM Brian Cashman's latest "what have we got to lose" gamble on a veteran pitcher could be just as important.
There's irony to Ponson's progress: If he continues to impress, the man he'll push out of the rotation for good is none other than Shawn Chacon.

With the July 31 trade deadline fast approaching, Joe Torre acknowledged Tuesday night, "Rightfield is the spot we're playing with." Translation: He's happy with Melky Cabrera as an everyday player but isn't as comfortable with Bernie Williams on a regular basis. So let those trade winds blow and those rumors fly – Bobby Abreu, Alfonso Soriano – Torre won't mind a bit. "If there's something that makes sense, we've got to go after it," the manager said. He seemed pleased with the starting rotation and the prospect of getting reliever Octavio Dotel back next week, reducing the need to deal for a pitcher. As for a solid bat for rightfield, Torre said, "We're not going to give up our future for a guy who won't help our future. And I agree with that." Translation: Pitching prospect Phillip Hughes isn't going anywhere and any outfielder the Yankees bring in won't be of the rent-a-player variety. It will either be someone with length on his contract [Abreu] or someone they'd want to sign beyond this year [Soriano] to replace Gary Sheffield, whose contract expires after this season. These next couple of weeks should be very interesting, don't you think?

He is just 26 years old, a man of few (English) words and many innings. Who would have thought that Chien-Ming Wang would be the Yankees' most durable and perhaps most reliable starting pitcher in 2006, especially after spending nearly two months of 2005 on the disable list with a serious injury to his pitching shoulder. But Wang, like All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano, has proven that the Yankees can, indeed, turn out big-time major leaguers at it did at the start of the Joe Torre Era with the likes of Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. On Monday night, Wang pitched at least seven innings for the seventh time in his last eight starts, a tonic for an over-taxed bullpen and a rarity among so many starters of this era. "This kid is tough," Joe Torre said. "You hate to say you expect it [seven or eight innings every time out] but it doesn't surprise you." What is surprising is that Wang's fastball is regularly clocked at 95 mph, unusually high for a sinkerball specialist. "He's been doing it all year," Torre said after Wang notched victory No. 10 last night. "It's a heavy 95-96 because of the sink on the ball." And it's a heavy burden for the kid from Taiwan, one the Yankees can be thankful he seems to be carrying with ease.

Johnny Damon is not in today's starting lineup because he still has soreness in his calves, which he said started to bother him during the early innings yesterday. He also has been suffering from a stomach ailment of some sort since Friday night, saying he is unable to keep food down. But nothing is wrong with his toe, he said.

Big opportunity for the Yankees today. A sweep of the White Sox, which would pull them to within three games of Chicago in the wild card standings, would be really impressive given the state the Yankees were in a week before the All-Star break.

What do all of you attribute their turnaround to?

Also, in case you missed it, George Steinbrenner admitted yesterday there is a player he would like to acquire over the field of candidates, and it sure seems that player is Bobby Abreu. And you know what happens when The Boss wants something...

It's obviously long in the past, but I was wondering, do Yankees fans blame them for trading Jose Contreras to the White Sox for Esteban Loaiza in 2004?

It essentially was a salary dump. General manager Brian Cashman admitted before tonight's game he simply felt Contreras wasn't going to be able to succeed in New York. So if he felt that way midway through the second year of a four-year, $32-million contract, no wonder Esteban Loaiza's expiring contract was attractive. Even if it belonged to Esteban Loaiza.

So which camp are you in? Do you believe Contreras would have turned it around in the Bronx? Or is what we've seen from him since going to happen only when he left New York, regardless of where he went next?

And by the way, tough way for him to suffer his first loss in nearly 11 months. Though somewhat fitting that his streak ended here, at a place that caused him so much fright during his short tenure. Remember those frustrating Contreras starts when he would be doing good and then after something bad happened he just fell apart and couldn't throw a strike??? Feels like a long time ago.

With only a few hours until the Yankees kick off the second half against old friend Jose Contreras and the defending world champion White Sox, I wanted to take one final look at the first half, concentrating on your comments from the past week.

And away we go...

For the first-half MVP, a total of eight players received votes. Using a simple 3 points for first, 2 for second and 1 for third, here's the final tallies.

1. Jeter, 33 points
2. Mussina, 23 points
3. Giambi, 15 points
4. Rivera, 12 points

Can't go wrong with this voting. Jeter clearly has been the most consistent and perhaps clutch player for the Yankees all through the first half, even though he is a long home-run drought. And Mike Mussina has been a much-needed rock in the rotation at a time when Randy Johnson was struggling to find himself.

For the first-half LVP, nine players received votes and one vote went to the middle relief as a whole. Laughed out loud at the votes for Kelly Stinnett. As some readers pointed out, what were you expecting from the backup catcher? He hasn't been good, granted, but even if he was, how much of a difference would he've made?

1. Shawn Chacon, 30 points
2. Carl Pavano, 25 points
3. Kyle Farnsworth, 10 points
4. Kelly Stinnett, 9 points

Shawn Chacon has been a disappointment, no doubt about it. Sure looks as if they should have traded him in the offseason when his stock was so high. But can't blame them for hanging on to him. He proved he can pitch in New York in big spots and handle the pressure. Surprising how quickly he fell apart. And no surprise on the votes for Carl Pavano. Perhaps the most disappointing signing of the Cashman era.

In the 'biggest surprise of the first half' category,' these are the entries that I liked best: No sophomore slump by Robinson Cano; three games out with injuries to Sheff and Matsui; Steinbrenner leaving Cashman and Torre alone; Posada's resurgance; Jaret Wright (his mostly strong first half has fallen under the radar).

Very interesting stuff; a good job by everyone. Most everyone picked the Yankees to make the playoffs, which makes sense. They've done it every year since 1995, including last year's remarkable turnaround, so it's hard to step up and say this is the year they won't. History says they will find a way.

Sidney Ponson, released by the St. Louis Cardinals, is now the new Yankees fifth starter.

General manager Brian Cashman just said minutes ago on a conference call that the Yankees will formalize a contract for the pro-rated league minimum tomorrow, and Ponson will be on the mound Tuesday night.

"It's a low risk move for us," Cashman said.

Ponson is a much-troubled righthander who started the season strong for the Cardinals, with a 2.93 ERA on June 2, but has struggled lately. He has allowed 28 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings over his last six outings before his release.

(Photo courtesy of AP)

Also...

I enjoyed everyone's midseason comments. Lots of insightful, timely and witty stuff. I'll touch on them before the second half officially begins tomorrow night.

With today marking the final game before the All-Star break, bringing a very interesting first half to an end, let's mark the occasion with some awards. Here's the categories, you make your choices, and I'll weigh in with mine.

First half Most Valuable Players
1.
2.
3.

First half Least Valuable Players
1.
2.
3.

Biggest surprise of the first half?

What needs to happen in the second half for the Yankees to succeed?

Who will the Yankees acquire in a trade before the July 31 deadline?

And predict the Yankees' final regular-season record and place in the standings.

Chien-Ming Wang took a shutout into the ninth inning tonight against the Devil Rays, and in yet another example of how critical he's been to the Yankees, he's at the top of the league leaders in innings pitched. You could make a case he's one of the five most important Yankees during their first half of the regular season. (Which is a good question, who do you think are the five first-half Yankee MVPs are, in order?)

Back to Wang. Watching him pitch the past year, fans got to be saying, 'Finally, a young pitcher to come through the system who can handle New York.' Totally accurate. It's clear by now that he's the real deal. How can you not believe it?

But when you look back at his road to the majors, it's funny (to us, maybe not so much the Yankees) to take a closer look at his minor-league progression.

For example, he had shoulder surgery while he was in the minors, which can be the equivalent of a scarlet letter for minor-league pitchers. So right there that's a huge knock against him, value-wise. But what jumps out at me the most is that during the 2004 season the Yankees allowed him to pitch in the Olympics.

Nice gesture, yes, but it's hard to believe that if the Yankees really believed he was this good they would have allowed him to do that. His poise on the mound is remarkable, and you wonder if that was always the case in the minors, that he carried himself in a way where nothing seemed to affect him, good or bad.

You got to figure he did, but in the same sense, why wasn't there scouts screaming, 'This guy has the makeup for the big leagues, even New York.' Not only did you not here that, many teams could have had Wang in trades prior to last season, and chose not to. Don't you think the Diamondbacks, in retrospect, would have taken him for Randy? Right now it's the Yankees that wouldn't do that trade.

As I type this, we're in the sixth inning, and Jaret Wright is cruising. He has nine strikeouts, and that's the most he's had since he struck out nine on June 22, 2004. That day, two of his strikeouts were future Yankee teammate Carl Pavano.

Wrote my Insider today on Brian Cashman still having the power in the organization as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. George Steinbrenner said so in his statement on Wednesday, and Steve Swindal -- The Boss' son-in-law and future successor -- confirmed as much in a telephone interview yesterday.

And just like that, as I finished typing that graph, Wright strikes out potential Yankee trade-deadline acquisition Aubrey Huff, his 10th strikeout of the night. That ties his career-high set on Sept. 6, 1998. That's eight-plus years and two shoulder surgeries ago. It also may be his last strikeout of the night. Scott Proctor is warming in the bullpen, an interesting development considering the Yankees only lead 1-0.

And your Sunday starter is..... Kris Wilson.

Wilson pitched his way into the mix with a strong two innings last night, even though it was in the equivalent of garbage time. Wilson attacked hitters, and went six up, six down. After the game Joe Torre talked it over with Ron Guidry and they decided Wilson would be a better choice than Ron Villone because he's been a starter. Yankee fans surely are crossing their fingers hoping Wilson is this year's Aaron Small.

Kris Wilson gave at least one fan a special memory. (Read the sponsorship line at his baseball-reference.com, the previous link, and you'll see what I'm talking about.)

Shawn Chacon, a savior last season, is now in the bullpen, and he wasn't surprised by the demotion. "I know how it works around here," he said.

On the injury front, Johnny Damon is definitely out for tonight and it seems likely that he may not be a player again for the Yankees until after the All-Star break. He still feels the injury and won't attempt to swing until tomorrow, or maybe even not until Saturday. At that point it's not worth playing him one game with four days off after that. Aaron Guiel is in rightfield and Bernie Williams is in center.

Lots of developments today, so let's not waste any more time.

-- George Steinbrenner released a statement: "Brian Cashman is working hard to improve the team and the responsibility is totally in his hands." A minor jab, at best, but another few losses and we could see a few more of these Boss missives. Left a message, but haven't heard back from Cashman yet about his reaction.

UPDATE
“It’s not a shot,” Cashman said. “I take it as support. I take it more as, ‘Talk to Cash, he’s working on it.’ He’s right. It is my responsibility. He stated the obvious.”

-- Joe Torre held a short meeting before the game, and he drove home the point to his players that today's the first game of the second-half of the schedule. So forget about what happened before today, including, oh yeah, that 19-1 drubbing last night.

-- The Yankees claimed outfielder Aaron Guiel off waivers from the Kansas City Royals, and Torre said he will platoon with Bernie Williams in rightfield for the time being. If you're looking for more about Guiel, check out his unofficial personal Web site.

-- With the Yankees bullpen beat up from last night's awful loss, and with Mike Mussina pitching with a sore right groin, the Yankees called up Kris Wilson from Triple-A Columbus as an insurance policy. Kevin Reese was optioned to Columbus.

-- No word yet on who starts Sunday. Torre said he may announce it after the game. Sure looks like Ron Villone may get the nod, and Shawn Chacon goes to the bullpen.

Can't get much worse than that, huh? A 19-1 loss on George's birthday, the day when the Yankees officially hit the halfway mark of the season. Ouch.

It's a game like this that makes you really wonder what they need.

Is it a starting pitcher? Yes! Obviously they can't keep sending Shawn Chacon out.

Is is a reliever? Yes! Only Villone, and Farnsworth in garbage time, did well.

Is it a corner outfielder? Yes! They can't score at all the last two weeks.

So which is it? Good question. Joe Torre believes offense, so you figure that's the direction they're going in. One name to keep in mind is Aubrey Huff of the Devil Rays. Torre has always respected him as an offensive threat, and the Yankees had scout Jim Benedict in St. Petersburg the last two days watching the D-Rays.

First, gotta give you guys props. I'm very impressed that mostly everyone who posted comments did not follow the Yankees' lead and blame last night's loss on the umpires. Yes, the umps were bad last night, but that happens. Good teams overcome that.

Secondly, everyone here seems to be up in arms that Bubba Crosby isn't getting more playing time in rightfield. Let's take a step back for a second. The Yankees definitely need to upgrade rightfield, but Bubba Crosby is not the answer. He plays above average defense, has a strong arm and has speed, making him a fine fifth outfielder / pinch runner. But put him in the lineup five days a week and he'll get exposed.

That said, if you're asking for him to get a start or two a week, maybe three depending on how Bernie is doing, then that makes sense. I think with Bernie slumping of late, that's what we'll see. Until the trade for [insert name here].

I'm never one to place a loss on the umpires. That being said, Joe Torre and company had several complaints about C.B. Buckner's strike zone and several other calls by this crew. Here they are, and you make the call on whether it's legit or not.

-- C.B. Bucknor's strike zone. Torre and catcher Kelly Stinnett said it fluctuated a heck of a lot. One example that Torre pointed out was in the ninth inning, two outs, two on and Kevin Reese batting, representing the tying run. The count was 2-and-0 to Reese when a pitch that Torre thought was a definite ball was called a strike. Obviously there's a huge difference right there between 3-and-0 and 2-and-1, so you can understand their beef. Reese grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

-- C.B. Bucknor's foul-tip third strike call to Jason Giambi in the third inning. Here's the situation: two on, one out, Yankees up a run with Giambi up, and he's already homered in the game. An 0-and-2 pitch is inside, and Bucknor makes a delayed call saying it hit the knob of Giambi's bat before entering Victor Martinez's glove. Giambi says no way. The inning ends with a thud, as A-Rod is intentionally walked, loading the bases, before Bernie Williams grounds out.

-- The non-call by Mark Carlson in the bottom of the third inning when Victor Martinez may have made contact with third-base coach Jeff Datz while trying to stop his momentum. Torre managed to get the umpires to talk to each other on this one, but they decided not to overturn the call. It didn't amount to anything, as Wang got out of the inning, but the Yankees felt it was another example of poor umpiring. Bench coach Lee Mazzilli was especially hot, holding four fingers up from the dugout as his way of pointing out that four umpires missed the call.

Your thoughts?

Guess my prediction of a pitcher's duel Sunday night was a little off. Well, if Randy Johnson is allowed to say after his awful start Saturday that he will forget about it and move on, then I'll do the same. Let's pretend it never happened, OK? Here in Cleveland it's drizzling and the forecast calls for more rain, so should be interesting to see how tonight develops. Also, check out this crazy game that Double-A Trenton played last night. Clubhouse is about to open, so that's it for now. More later.

Surely no one could have predicted Game 1 going to the Yankees, 2-0, with a five-pitcher one-hitter. But say you saw the Mets' 8-3 win in Game 2 coming and I'll believe you. Randy Johnson is far from a sure thing, and the Mets have now hit him hard twice this season. So now let's look ahead and get it on the record.

Game 3 has Alay Soler going against Jaret Wright. Prediction time. And let's start with mine. The Yankees always have trouble against pitchers they've never faced, so I'll say Soler goes six strong innings. Wright also has been pitching well recently, so this will be a pitcher's duel. I'll say Yankees win, 3-2, on an eighth-inning home run by A-Rod.

Now it's your turn.

So as I sit here waiting for the clubhouse to open on this fine Saturday morning, my mind wanders back to last night's game, which was filled with intriguing developments from a Yankee perspective. Everyone is doing good posting their comments -- I especially enjoyed everyone's takes on the left side of the infield debate -- and now I'd like to hear your thoughts on the following matters from last night's game.

-- Mike Mussina. How concerned are you? Most definitely there has to be some concern, because the Yankees couldn't say for certain whether he will make his next start. If he can't, it's not the worst thing, as the All-Star break gives him four extra days of rest and the Yankees an opportunity to readjust their rotation. But still, this is Mussina, easily the best Yankees pitcher this season. Groin injuries can linger, and this one is more worrisome because it's on the right side, his push-off-the-rubber side. Mussina pitched three innings with it, but don't read too much into that. His adrenaline was already pumping.

-- The bullpen. How about that collective performance? Easily the best of the season. That's where Ron Villone is most useful, and you've got to love the fire that Scott Proctor showed on the mound. Yelling at Joe Torre?!?! Never would have imagined that. But he certainly backed it up, striking out David Wright. And Kyle Farnsworth looks as if he took everyone's advice, because this was a night where his stuff worked to his advantage. He gave them a dynamite eighth inning, something the Yankees certainly they wish they saw more of.

-- The offense. It was such a feel-good win, beating the Mets and gaining a game on the Red Sox, but lost amid all of that was another poor performance by the offense. Yes, it was impressive how they pushed across the second run with two outs in the fourth inning, with Bernie Williams stealing second and scoring when Andy Phillips singled on the next pitch. But two runs against Orlando Hernandez isn't what they expected coming in. Right now the Yankees are winning despite their offense, and who knows how long that can last.

-- Where would the Yankees be without Jason Giambi's bat in the middle of the order?