On the Yankees beat

Yay! Adios Josh Phelps, Welcome back Andy Phillips!

I don't know what I'll miss most about Josh Phelps -- the weak swing and miss with two strikes and runners on second and third, or the weak swing and miss with two strikes and the bases loaded.

before we get too excited about Andy (and personally I hope he does well) keep in mind that Phelps badly beat Phillips out for this job in Spring Training.

I wonder why they let phelps go-he seemed like their best-hitting 1st basemen. Even to have him on the bench, he would seem like a greater threat than anyone else they have.

Has there been any noise about the Yankees signing J.C. Romero? You would think they would like him as a lefty out of the pen over the guys they have.

Chip, its true andy was struggling in spring training, but he was also going through a lot. Someone in his family was in a serious car accident and he had a few other setbacks, I am sure hes back.

We got 2 auto outs in the lineup tonight Nieves and Mussina. Andy is not the anwser. He will hit a sizzling 230 for the time he is here then what. Get rid of him again. Boss, Cashman, please get us a 1b.

Where's our old friend Eric? He must be rejoicing after hearing the news of his beloved Andy Phillips' return. For Andy's sake, the Yankees sake and Eric's too, I hope Andy does well but I'll remain skeptical since he's 30 years old and hasn't done squat.
He's a helluva minor leaguer though.

Andy's been a fan favorite since he played with the baby Yankees in Staten Island. I seem to remember he was the one who had a nice singing voice and even did the national anthem once...

...nice guy, popular with teammates as well...

...now if he can just rise to the occasion for a few weeks.

so if andy fails and cairo does.nt respond to this super sub crap, can we FINALLY blame joe for F**king up the flow. there was absolutley no reason to bench cairo. is andy fails and it fu*ks up the lineup flow then JOE should be blamed!!!!!!!!!!!

Bomber,

Are you an idiot or something?

Torre benched Cairo to keep Posada's bat in the lineup because he's having a career year.

Seriously, find another sport to follow if you can't figure this one out.

Bomber-
You were pretty far off base on that one althogh Anonymous was a bit harsh.

I guess that Mountain air didn't do much for our boys last night, hopefully they follow the same pattern as the Mets series and come out swinging the next couple days.

I'm off on vacation for a while but will try to check in on ocassion. Let's hope I can come back and celebrate something w/ you folks, like another winning streak.
Adios for now!

i dont see phillips as a long term thing - simply an upgrade defensively over phelps.

personally, im more worried about the back up catcher position. nieves cant throw and cant hit (understatement of the year). he is an automatic out. moreso than any yankee pitcher hitting in NL parks.

last nights game reminded me of the dog days in May 2007. not that the team last night didnt have any fire or grit they were lacking way back then. but they were off balance at plate, couldnt muster back to back hits, and had no timely hits with RISP.

moose pitched well enough to win. too bad nieves has to 1 or 2 hop a throw to 2nd.

giambi goes on DL - we win 9 in a row. now...put damon on DL and maybe we'll win more! hes becoming a waste of AB. look forward to yanks trading damon this offseason.

Well here we go again with the sputtering offense. I think we are in for a long couple of weeks. And of course the Red Sox just keep on winning. I guess we will have to wait till next year and see what happens!

Maybe we could wait to give up on this year until they lose a series or two, not a game or two?

I'm going to agree with Diane on this - relax people.

Here's a note from the St. Petersburg Times:

TRADEWINDS: According to Gotham Baseball magazine's Web site, the Yankees are rumored to be interested in slugging 1B Carlos Pena and could make pitcher Sean Henn available, though not bay area product Tyler Clippard. If the Yankees can't get Pena they could pursue Ty Wigginton.

Diane:

I am sorry to sound so gloomy but watching last nights game brought back the wonderful memories of May, and I have this bad feeling that they are going to into a team slump again. Sorry that is just what I feel. When they were winning they would have gotten the job done in the eight and ninth innings. They didn't do that last night.

I agree. Settle down people. We lost ONE GAME. I am perplexed by this Josh Phelps deal however. While I am not surprised since he has been benched, I am surprised they would cut him and for Andy Phillips? Josh showed some real spirit on the team. Too bad!

By the way - for anyone who thinks trying to snag Dukes is a good idea - you might want to read this. For the record, I was in favor of trying for him and changed my mind after this - the guy is a freaken loon:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/20/Rays/Dukes_sounds_off_at_c.shtml

Carrie, I'm not surprised by the move, I am surprised by the timing. With Nieves and Posada both in the lineup I would have thought they would keep Phelps around to serve as an emergency catcher. Oh well, I'm still in favor of sending him back to the O's for Kevin Millar. I think Millar is a better option for the 1b spot than Phillips right now, and given Andy's age (31) it isn't as if the team is taking a look at an up and coming prospect.

Anomm

don;t ever come at me like that again my friend.

I was expressing my views numb nuts if YOU read my post it had nothing to do with POSADA vs CAIRO it had to do with ANDY OVERRATED PHILLIPS !! there is no need for him to be up here to remove Cairo who done a solid Job. so before you come at me with a hide away name chump read carefully and if you want to take this further lets do this.

I come and I vent but I keep it respectful and do not disrespect those who are respectful as well, Yes i'm callin you out cause your remarks was b*tched tailored. yOu don't want none of this so I will keep it humble.

Like I said Cairo should not lose playing time to ANDY PHILLIPS unless ANDY IS PLAYING like a MAJOR LEAGUER

Anomm

don;t ever come at me like that again my friend.

I was expressing my views numb nuts if YOU read my post it had nothing to do with POSADA vs CAIRO it had to do with ANDY OVERRATED PHILLIPS !! there is no need for him to be up here to remove Cairo who done a solid Job. so before you come at me with a hide away name chump read carefully and if you want to take this further lets do this.

I come and I vent but I keep it respectful and do not disrespect those who are respectful as well, Yes i'm callin you out cause your remarks was b*tched tailored. yOu don't want none of this so I will keep it humble.

Like I said Cairo should not lose playing time to ANDY PHILLIPS unless ANDY IS PLAYING like a MAJOR LEAGUER

Can anybody tell me who our first baseman will be after the trade deadline?

Whoa. Calm down fellas. Keep the anger for the Red Sox fans. LOL

I dont understand the phillips for phelps deal either. yanks cant be too concerned with a defensive 1st baseman if sada and damon are playing 1st (doesnt matter if it in NL parks or not)

again with the back-up catcher - didnt moose start last year, or year before, 5-0 or soemthing along those lines...with POSADA? since moose was obtained in 2001, hasnt posada caught a majority of his games....and never been reduced to not being moose's catcher? why, all of a sudden, is nieves his "personal catcher?"

big unit is different. he came to NY for 2 years, and clicked with flaherty, therefore allowing the two to play together every 5th day.

moose has had posada for the last 6-7 years. im not indicating that posada needs to catch every game...but playing nieves is like giving the other team 4 outs a game. and with the awful rule of pitchers hitting in NL, yanks gave up 5-6 outs last night.

nows the time to shore up that bench Cash and Joe - get another utility guy (loretta, canditalonato) and a back up catcher (ruiz, zaughn)

ALSO in Baseball You have what you call a flow of things benching Cairo for posada is logical because posada is having a good flow season. Benching Cairo for Andy phillips is Ilogical because Cairo is having a steady flow @ 1b and that flow needs not to be broken. this is where MANAGERS is NEEDED. to continue a sucessful Day to Day play of baseball.

Have a nice day

oooooosaaaaaah

Miguel -

I don't mind Nieves catching for Mussina. Jorge is 35 and getting an automatic day out from behind the plate every 5 days might be the best for him at this stage - it certainly worked in Atlanta where Javy Lopez never caught for Maddux.

Jorge has been one of the few guys to provide consistent offense this season, keeping him fresh by giving him time off (at least time off behind the dish) may help him continue that trend.

Who knows, maybe if the Yankees offer them Tie Clip the Rays will send NY Pena and Dioneer Navarro - at this stage the Yankees do have some pitching to spare.

Chip-

Cowboy Down with the Millar trade comments. Yankees do not need another former red sox idiot on the team. Yankees need to develop and trade for guys that aren't former Red Sox. Last thing I want in an August series with the Sox is Myers pitching, Damon in center and Millar @ 1st....God forbid a brawl or something of that nature. Yanks would have 3 guys in pinstripes hitting other guys in pinstripes.

GET RID OF FORMER SOX PLAYERS-THEY ARE A CURSE!

Bomber -

Andy has consistently hit well in the minors but not in the majors - now there could be two reasons for this. A) he could just be a AAAA player meaning he's too good for the minors but not good enough for the majors or B) in the majors he didn't play everyday as he did in AAA. Not every player is well suited to come off the bench and hit when he's getting 1 start every 5 days or so.

I think they are handing Andy the job so that once and for all they can see which is the story in this case. If he plays everyday and hits - excellent, if not, well at least he has a better glove than Josh Phelps and they can still go out and get a 1b.

Well I'm a fact man and here is Miggie's stats since he started .

6/19 @Col L 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .246
6/17 NYM W 8-2 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .250
6/16 NYM W 11-8 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 .246

6/15 NYM L 0-2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231
6/14 Ari W 7-1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 .224
6/13 Ari W 7-2 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .234
6/12 Ari W 4-1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .233
6/10 Pit W 13-6 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 .225
6/9 Pit W 9-3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222
6/8 Pit W 5-4 5 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .235

No real need to remove him unless your repalcing him with a extreme better player.

Miguel is 33 andy is 31 so the youth talk is N/A

I knew the Yankees were losing last night's game. For some reason, we always lose the game following a winning series against the Mets & Red Sox. It's an unwritten rule.

Then you have Nieves and Mussina, two non-bats in the lineup. This personal catcher stuff is bull$hit. Mussina must come to terms with the fact that Nieves will soon be history.

Then you have Posada playing 1st. He did a great job, but the atmosphere was not relaxed at all.

Then we're taking Cairo out of the lineup with the threat of replacing him with Phillips (unproven at 1st and at-bat). He may be great, but for now we can't sit comfortably with this move and proceed with confidence.

All of the above is upsetting our winning chemistry. Playing against a National League team in a park we've rarely seen comes negatively into play as well. I just felt from the get-go last night's game was a loss.

Bronx Bomber, I also feel very strongly about the mistake in replacing Cairo with Phillips (at least at this point in the season). What you said is worth repeating:

"ALSO in Baseball You have what you call a flow of things...Benching Cairo for Andy phillips is Ilogical because Cairo is having a steady flow @ 1b and that flow needs not to be broken."

Miguel, I think there are two reasons for the Mussina/Nieves matchup.

One is the obvious point that at 35 Posada needs a regular day off each cycle if he is to stay fresh and uninjured. A fresh and uninjured Posada, besides playing better behind the plate, will be able to continue his strong hitting longer. So somebody had to be caught by Nieves each time around.

The other is that Mussina is well known for extensively working up his game plans and calling his own games. He can do that with a 'placeholder' catcher like Nieves just as well as with Posada. The rest of the staff are less independent that way, while the changing cast of youngsters we've been throwing out there knew nothing about the hitters they would be facing and very much needed an experienced hand behind the plate. Mussina was the obvious choice.

What we really need is a real "Quality" fist baseman and a center fielder that can hit. What are the chances of getting rid of Damon in a trade and eating some of his money?

chip - i do have a problem with nieves and moose. nieves is awful. awful at the plate. awful behind the plate.

and why send another young arm....check that...an underdeveloped arm to a scrub team like the devil rays for 2 guys that couldnt hack it in NY to begin with?

what was wrong with cairo at 1st? did i miss a game? hes been scooping the ball, turning 2 very well, and hitting 1-4, 2-4, 1-5 every game he's in!

whats next? a trade to OAK for hasley? a trade to cinncy for bubba? maybe drag sterling hitchcock or al leiter out of retirement?

Theo E.

Just throwing it out there - Babe Ruth and Roger Clemens are both former Red Sox.

Developing players doesn't happen over night so while I agree that in the ideal world the Yankees would cultivate their own solution to 1b I don't reckon that will happen this season - therefor they need to go outside to get some help for now. Millar (while I have no love for him) has an average glove, can hit, has hit in the AL East, knows the division, has no problems playing with high expectations and won't wilt under the pressure of NY - and he won't cost the Yankees much of anything - seems to fit the bill to me.

Lucy,

Good Points !!

Chip,

I understand that but really i'm satisfied with Cairo's play and I do not feel the need especially with the team needing wins to begin to experiment in an area that has become stable had cairo hit a slump ok cool make the change but you see from his stats he has been steady and remember Iwas not a fan of his. he could be the good luck charm since he began the team has been on a roll. so if you play ANDY and he fails as usual then you try to replace Cairo and he does'nt have it then that is a CRITICAL error by Torre!!

I think having former Red Sox players on the team is a positive factor, since these guys are going to be bent on showing their former team how good they really are. They will do everything in their power to show the Red Sox that they were fools for letting them go. The Red Sox are a great team filled with tremendous talent. Their castoffs are often riches, as they tend to dispose of tremendously talented players due to an over-abundance of great talent.

Another plus is that these guys might provide us with inside information about the Red Sox, some tips and tricks that could help us on the field. Becoming familiar with the workings and habits of winning teams could be valuable. After all, look how well the Mets are doing with Willie teaching them the Yankee Way (which he admits to).

Forget about Phillips and Cairo. Cashmen will go out and get a very good full time firs baseman. We will just have to wait to see who that person is. Do you all agree?

Mike -
No chance of moving Damon (at least not in season)

Miguel -
Neither Pena or Navarro ever played in NY so saying they couldn't hack it here is a little off base. As for Clippard, he's looked very good at times but projects as a back of the rotation type for the Yankees. The Yankees do have a lot of pitching depth in the minors so trading a 22-year old potential 5th starter isn't as huge a deal for them as it once was, not with Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy and all the others (not to mention the kids they just drafted)

Nieves is a very good defensive catcher - that's what got him a spot on this team in the first place - he's never going to hit much but Jorge just can't play everyday, he's too old and the position is too demanding. If you want Posada to hit down the stretch his playing time needs to be managed.

Cairo did fine at 1b - but he's a utility player for a reason. He's batting I think around .240 right now and I promise you that if he played every day for the rest of the season his batting average will still be .240 in September. Andy may also hit .240 but he's going to do it with more power than Cairo. And playing every day in the minors Andy has shown the ability to hit better than that. No this isn't a youth movement, it's just a look see - there is a month before the trade deadline and the Yankees have holes, they want to see which ones can be fixed internally and which ones they need to go outside to fill.

Mike -

I don't think Cashman will use a big chip to land a 1b so I don't know how great of a 1b it will be - more likely a stop gap type player like one of the following (Hillenbrand, Pena, Hatteberg, Millar, Shealy, Aaron Boone)

Has anyone ever seen a catcher that the teams pitchers hate pitching too more than Posada. If the Yanks had anyone else that could actually catch and hit .250 Posada would be a DH by now.

Mike-

i'll answer your question with a question....WHO?

cashman is rebuilding and competing at the same time. why give up young, underdeveloped pitchers (i.e. clip, kennedy, chamberlin, hughes, desalvo, etc) for rental 1st baseman. we need a guy who can effectively play 1st...and cairo does that job 5/6 games a week.

also, our current SP staff isnt the youngest either. so to trade some of these young guys that havent had a full season to pitch in majors for a rental 1st baseman defeats the purpose.

And for those who wanted the Yankees to trade for Cubs C Michael Barrett:

Chicago Cubs catcher Michael Barrett was traded to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

In return the Cubs will receive backup catcher Rob Bowen, a minor league pitcher and cash considerations, Olney reports.

Miguel,

What young pitchers have you seen so far this year that you think are absolute keepers and why?

Posada definitely needs a rest from catching, but Nieves is definitely not the answer with his .116 BA and .156 OBP (even his slugging percentage is a mere .116).

Posada makes me nervous as hell at 1st, and I'm sure the players can't be relaxed not knowing what they're getting at that position. It's a distraction at a time when we need to win every game.

Losing two bats in the lineup is coming at a bad time. I just wish we didn't have to play NL teams by their rules. I can't wait until this week is over.

Nudge -

I'm not sure you're correct about that. With the exception of Randy (and this year Mussina) I can't think of any other Yankee pitchers who have had issues with Posada. I think Corey Lidle last year worked with Fasano, but that had more to do with the fact that Fasano knew him from Philadelphia and the two were used to working together than anything else.

In fact most of them laud him for the way he handles them and especially over the last couple of seasons when he has had so many different guys to work with.

Nudge -

On your question to Miguel I would say Hughes is the only untouchable the Yankee fans have seen thus far. DeSalvo, Clippard, Karstens and Rasner are all basically the same pitcher at this point with Clippard having the most upside of the four - but I would still move him in the right deal.

Chip -

if my memory serves correctly, Carlos Pena was signed by Yanks on April 15th, 2006 and released August 16th, 2006. whether or not he played full-time, part-time, or no-time with the yanks, he essentially was on the Yanks...even if a short while.

as for Navarro...he was signed by the Yanks in 2000 as amatuer free agent. granted, he only played in 5 games in the big leagues, he played 4 in the yankees minor league system.

a little off base?

Chip,

Ever since he won the starting catcher position none of the staff was crazy about pitching to him because of his bad defense. But they put up with that because he is such a good hitter and not many pitchers have the gavitas to choose their own catcher. Then his defense improved for a season or two after working with Pena. But boy the Mets really hammered home what a liability he is behind the plate.

I have never seen a catcher completely miss so many fastballs as he does. At least one pitch a game goes to the backstop without him laying a glove on it.

Miguel,

I disagree. Clippard if lucky will someday be a fifth starter. Desalvo will never be anything. You can trade them. The others that you mentioned should definitely stay but I would trade one of them for Texiera. He is the way to go at first base. He is young and is an above average hitter and fielder. I say instead of a stop gap that we get our first baseman of the future now.

The problem with Phillips is that he's unproven at 1st and behind the plate, despite his decent success in the minors. He may need an adjustment period before he clicks at the Major League level. We can't afford this gamble right now, since we're already losing a bat in the lineup. Maybe we should wait until we're back playing American League teams again before putting him in the lineup. I don't know that now is the best time to make this move, especially with Cairo presently proving to be an asset to the team.

Miguel

Pena was signed to a minor league deal - hit well for AAA but the Yankees never called him up. In fairness, last year he was released by the Yankees, Tigers, and Red Sox so either he finally hit stride this year or he will be suspended for 50 games sooner or later.

Navarro was traded for Randy Johnson - so it isn't a question of them just dumping him, they wanted Johnson and had to include Navarro to get a deal done (he was later moved to the Dodgers for Shawn Green and was moved by the Dodgers due to the emergence of Russel Martin)

Chip,

Thats about right and Hughes is out of circulation now anyway because of the injury. Even if he wasnt I seriously doubt he would be moved since they have pinned so much of the future on him.

Nudge-

i am not clear yet on what pitchers are absolute keepers and what arent. obviously, hughes is a keeper. yet, for the last 7 years, it has been the yankees who ship out young pitching (not necessarly prospects) for rental guys. sure, it has helped them in years past...via champiosnhips, post season berths, etc, but now isnt the time to do so.

is it fair to say clip and desalvo are not absolute keepers because they have been forced to come up to big leagues through injuries? perhaps over the offseason they develop more and become effective stable pitchers in yank rotation. the kids in AA ball...kennedy and chamberlian (?) look to be promising, but are they keepers? who knows?

i'd hate to find out in 2-3 years, when they are on another team pitching lights out because yanks traded them for a ty wigginton and back up catcher.

Nudge - I don't think you can use the Mets' series as a barometer of Posada's defensive abilities. Jose Reyes has made a lot of catchers look bad and by all account Carlos Gomez is even faster than Reyes.

Now Posada is certainly not on the Pudge Rodriguez level, but he's also not Mike Piazza. I would say he is an average receiver with a plus arm and a very good ability to call a game. I think at times the fact that he can be a bit of a hot head does work against him because he will butt heads with the pitchers - but by and large the Yankees could do far far worse than having Jorge behind the dish.

Miguel,

All I am saying is that they ran a whole line of guys through here and the only one that impressed was Hughes(for 7 innings only remember). The others with the exception of Clippard are 24 and older so you cant expect much more development. At that age they should be pushing their way onto the big club and especially one that was thin on starters. Yet they were only emergency call ups and pitched their way back to AAA. If any one of them had showed progress they would have had a job for the season. Instead now you have to have Kei Igawa back on the mound every fifth day.

In the Mets series runners were primarily stealing bases against the pitchers, not against Posada. If pitchers are slow to the plate it is virtually impossible for the catcher to make up for the lost time against really speedy baserunners like at least two of the Mets.

Not a rational basis for putting down Posada.

Miguel -

In fairness the Yankees have shipped out a bunch of "prospects" in the last 10 years and of them all the only ones who have amounted to much were:

Mike Lowell, Jake Westbrook, Ted Lilly, Eric Milton, Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera - and the last three of those have been dogged by serious injury issues.

At the same time, other guys who were on about the same level as Clippard, DeSalvo and Karstens - like Brad Halsey, Brandon Claussen, Tony Armas - haven't amounted to anything.

I think the fact that you have a group of guys that you lump together like Clippard, DeSalvo, Karstens, Wright, Rasner - means that picking out one of those guys and sending him off in a trade isn't a huge blow to the farm system.

Nudge,

I agree with you. I have seen nothing from Clippard, Desalvo or Chase Wright that impressed me at all. Only Clippard might be a fifth start down the road. I think trading anyone of them is a good move to get a real first baseman.

chip-

u stated that "neither Navarro or Pena ever played in NY". minor league or not, i have seen at least one of them in pinstripes, whether it was one game, 2 games, or 15. i admit i might have been off base in saying they couldnt hack it in NY by not getting called up or being trade bait, but certainly not off base in mentioning they were yankee products, at one time, even if for a short while. misunderstanding and dead issue - moving on

not an advocate for sada to play every game, but am an advocate of getting rid of nieves....hes not productive in any area

Chip,

Posada is Mike Piazza at his worst! Maybe not even quite as good. Piazza was the best in the league at blocking balls in the dirt and plays at the plate. Jorge wont stick his nose in there and instead tries to swipe tag everyone. Since he broke his leg in the monirs he has been reluctant to have contact.

Reyes is a great baserunner but the Mets set team records against Posada. Gomez, Wright, Green, anyone with legs was stealing. But at least he could throw out the 50 year old Franco!

BTW - according to ESPN Curt Schilling is heading to Alabama to visit Dr. Andrews about a "shoulder issue" and Randy Johnson may be out for the remainder of the year due to another problem with the disc he had operated on over the winter.

Nudge,

Either you're letting your antipathy for Posada influence your judgment (and don't you say you're only interested in evidence, not liking or disliking?), or else you didn't watch the whole Subway Series. On the only occasion when the pitcher didn't make it impossible, Posada threw out Reyes quite handily. Or did I hallucinate that?

Nudge,

For your future reference, watch the influence of the pitcher's leg kick and other time-consuming motions on whether pitchers throw out base-stealers. It's enlightening. The performance of a catcher in throwing out base-stealers always needs to be differentiated by which pitcher is getting the ball to him and how long it takes. Different pitchers have widely varying times to the plate, and some of them are extremely predictable. Good base-stealers know to the fraction of a second their times to the plate.

If Schill is going to Dr. Andrews, that cant be a good sign. I mean, pavano must have seen Dr. Andrews a handful of times, right?

Whats the chance he pitches sunday against Peavy? (or the chance peavy pitches...pending his appeal...that would be red sox luck not to face him)

In a sport where you are ultimately defined by championships, posada has 4 rings. He HAS to be doing something right.

Apologies to all for the error in my most recent post, when in the second line I said 'whether pitchers throw out base-stealers' when obviously I meant 'catchers'. My bad!

That guy was out last night at 2nd . neieves got him but these umpires and their messed up calls. and that run scored

I've watched Schilling the last 3 times he pitched and was convinced he's been pitching w/ a sore arm/shoulder.Against the Braves he threw an inordinate number of changeups.His velocity has been around 89mph.

I see the Tampa papers are reporting the Yanks are interested in Wigginton to fill the 1st base hole. This is a pretty good fit for this year and next. When negotiations with A-OPT start on the extension, we are not "over a barrel", as Wigginton plays 3rd base among many other positions.

The Yanks made the right move releasing Phelps if nothing more than giving NY more options late in games,Phillips plays 1B,3B,2B,RF .The Yanks will make a move before the trade deadline.Cairo/Phillips/Minky are not longterm solutions.

There is a reason Wigginton has moved across the diamond to 1B .He is an absolute joke at 3B.

I think the Colorado Rockies announcers said rookie pitchers have started something like 24? of the Yankees first 68 games.Posada has taken on the burden of catching these "raw" talents while batting .345 .I tip my cap.

AROY

FYI Sweeney was placed on the 15-day DL.

Lets take a closer look at the rookie pitchers that have gotten a look-see this season:

1)Rasner - As much as I didn't think his stuff was impressive, he got guys out. He did a good job in the opportunity he was given. His demotion was perplexing when it happened because he was pitching well. Then he got hurt.

2) Karstens - He never really got started this year due to injuries, but what I recall of him last season, bleh... He was lights out in ST, though.

3) Chase Wright - Everyone was singing his praises after his first start/win, but then the home run debacle. I hope the Yankees front office didn't destroy this kid by calling him up too soon. He was a single A pitcher (with two starts at AA when he got the call).

4) Hughes - looked good... as advertised, though he probably would've benefited by a full season (instead of one month) at AAA. Damn you Carl Pavano.

5) DeSalvo - I just don't see it with this kid. His stuff isn't impressive and he was having a hard time getting major league pitchers out.

6) T-Clip - I think he has a future. He pitched well initially, but he too was rushed to the show. His normal progression would have been spending this season at AAA.

7) Igawa - Not really a rookie in my eyes... Probably should've started the season in the minors, but Cash did not have a fourth/fifth starter (Damn you Carl Pavano).

To summarize:

Potential aces: Hughes
Potential #3 starters: Clip, maybe Chase Wright
Potential #5 starters: Rasner, Karstens, DeSalvo

GITMO

I don't see Wright as a #3 starter.Clippard is raw and as you said could have benefited from a full year at SWB.1 note: Desalvo was sent down because he couldn't throw strikes,first start back at SWB ,7 IP 78 pitches 55 strikes.The future:
Hughes
Kennedy
Chamberlain
Marquez
ma