Here are a whole bunch of pre-game roster moves:
Catcher Chad Moeller cleared waivers and the Yankees signed him to a major league contract. The Yankees are very happy about this, and he's happy to be back. He's on the roster
Catcher Chad Stewart, called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Monday, was optioned back to Triple-A.
Alex Rodriguez was officially placed on the disabled list for the first time since 2000.
To clear room on the 40-man roster for Moeller, Sean Henn was activated from the disabled list and then designated from assignment.
Chris Britton was re-called from Scranton to take Rodriguez's slot.
In other news:
*Brian Bruney has decided not to undergo surgery for now on his torn Lisfranc ligament. He said there was not unanimous consensus among the three doctors, and one said he did not think surgery would be a good move at all at this point. So he's going to try to rehab it using the boot. Given the timeframe of recovery, he would almost certainly miss the rest of the season if he had surgery. If he rehabs for six weeks and discovers he needs surgery, he could still have it and be back in time for spring training. So there's not much downside to doing it this way.
*Rodriguez said he thinks he made his injury worse, going from a Grade 1 strain to a Grade 2 strain (right quad), by playing too soon. But there's no way to know for sure. He never had an MRI the first time, because he went back to Florida first as his wife went into labor.
While he said he went back too soon, he put that on him, not the team: "I wanted to play. I begged to get in there. The team had nothing to do with it. I had every opportunity to sit down."
Rodriguez said he had a similar injury, though the pain was worse, in high school. He's hoping to miss just the two weeks. If he needs a rehab assignment in the minors, he said that's fine. Whatever the team wants.
*No updates on Posada.
*No further news on whether or not Phil Hughes is remaining in the rotation.
Comments (16)
Id rather see Hughes and Kennedy for a few more starts than Rasner and Igawa
I'm I the only one slightly disturbed by the fact that all of a sudden being able to keep Chad Moeller has become this big a deal and reason for celebration?
Nope Chip we are on the same page on the Chad issue
Chip...haha...Chad Stewart looked so bad last night that a backup catcher dropped by the Nats is now the Yanks savior, disturbing indeed.
BB/Diane: I think, as Hughes' most ardent (thought not always most vocal) supporter around here, that it would be in good spirits to read the things that I post, digest them, and then respond. I stated my case, I made my arguements, in the end, I know Phil has an enormous amount of talent and that he'll come out of this rut. I don't know if I should be in favor of him staying on the MLB team or going to AAA because I don't know what it's going to take. Maybe you missed my post, maybe you're not bunching me in with some other group that you're speaking of, I can't really tell, but your comments, based on what I've seen posted on the board today, are a bit rash. I don't think people attack because something negative is said about Hughes. I don't think my responses are ever in an attacking fashion, but I will respond if I think that: 1. someone is stating something factually inaccurate about Hughes, his performance, or the facts surrounding the game, 2. someone is being too extreme and forgetting that this year is a transition (if you can't accept that, then you're not reading the writing on the wall) or that it's not May 1 yet, and 3. someone else comes across in an attacking manor.
I kind of want to compare Hughes to the normal overachiever. You know, the guy/gal who graduated early from hs and/or college, finished near or at the top of their class and when all was said and done, found themselves 20 years old, a college grad, and not even able to drink legally. They get to their first real job and their talent has far exceeded their professional grooming. Their anxious and want to contribute, to prove themselves worthy, but they don't have the most tact, so what may have been a splendid idea is swatted away harshly or for the sake of the analogy, smacked into left field. If this person is lucky, they're given some leeway, an opportunity to prove themselves and prove that they can be part of the team and make everyone better. Hughes is facing a lot of pressure. What you're calling excuses, I'm calling facts and circumstances. The correlation may not be extreme for each of these circumstances (weather, lineup, catcher, lights, defense, lack of run support, pressure, youthful exuberance, etc, etc, etc), but most have a proven negative correlatory track record.
One last thing BB, I love your updates from the stadium and am glad you can provide us that insight. While I don't agree with your opinions all that often, I respect them generally, but will say I think you're a little too trigger happy (already eating crow over the Posada signing). I'm sure you can find a number of flaws in my opinions and style as well and to them I'll respond in form, touche. I try to be a realist, even when it comes to my favorite players and 2/3 of them on the Yanks are making it difficult so far this season (Robbie & Phil), where as the Melkman is making me proud.
Di: Lately I'm finding your attitude in general to be more hostile. Is this because you're upset with the Yanks' performance or just not holding anything back? I guess this is how PTRS came to call you Ninja...I wasn't around this blog when he first came up with the name.
In the future, why not be more specific with the people you're "calling out" instead of hiding behind the forced assumptions? I mean, I don't actually think you were addressing me, but who knows. If to you a Hughes fan/supporter = bowing at the altar, then I might even be enough of a religious man for Ant to like me.
Well said Bill...well said.
BTW - I need to borrow some polish, the 9 foot Hughes statue on my front lawn is getting tarnished. It’s making it very difficult to pray and slaughter bulls in his honor.
; )
No no no haha
I'm eating crow over Melky.
I did'nt give melky the props he deserved.
as for Posada I agree that we should have signed him but not for the length , Chip actually pointed this fear out waaay back.
As for the attacks on here last season we got on rick about Arod and he took it in stride, this year the Hughes supporters who just knew this kid was going to win 15 games this year and be an ace who argued tooth and nail that they may be reaching is awfully defensive of his poor starts while throwing others who pitched bad under the bus.
It is good to be a Hughes fan as well as a Kenendy fan whom I feel was def placed in a bad spot after getting for what 20 innings of work. Like i said I have seen alot of can't miss prospects in Yankee land from Bam Bam to Brian Fisher to kevin thompson
i pointed out that the leash was much shorter for Kei who not only had to pitch in AMerica but had to almost battle the DIce K signing but no one on here gave him that Benefit even myself but all of a sudden hughes has all this protective measures. I'll say this again fan in the stands is not hearing "transition Year" neither is joe girardi
BB: I thought the crow was about both Posada and Melky. The length may have been too long, but I don't think this injury actually supports this arguement. For as many regular season games and postseason games as Posada has played without ever going on the DL was impressive. The odds were stacked against him. As long ago as last season I remember saying Phil may post an ERA of 5.00 in 2008, so I wasn't calling him a 20 game winner. There have been some pretty great pitchers never to win 20 games. It's a difficult feat. I wasn't here at the beginning of last year, but the comparisons of Rick and ARod are different. Rick can still make his arguement. Those that are against ARod will be against him until he becomes the second coming of Mr. October. He has a defined track record. Forecasting on prospects or liking or disliking prospects is much different. There are many other reasons why people attack Rick anyway.
Whoever called Kevin Thompson can't miss? An 18th round draft pick. Can't miss? Brian Fisher was a prospect before I was born, but he was a Braves prospect, not a Yankee prospect. He played for the Yanks later on.
BB - Most of my friends and family are Yankee fans, they fully understand that there will be growing pains this year getting our three pitching prospects ( 23 or younger ) up to speed. I know there are still fans that dont want to hear that. They want to make the playoffs at all costs, well they'll just have to get over that line of thinking. Im SO happy that Cashman and H&H put an end to the madness that was eating away at the team from the inside. Look what happened when King George was suspended from baseball, Stick and Buck built up a dynasty by bring up home grown talent and adding in solid vets. Not MVP's, not CY Youngs, not HR champs...good solid players. Then we start to win, the King comes back into power, gets greedy and starts the cycle all over again.....Brown, RJ, Giambi, etc. All proven vets that have rooms full of awards, it all amounted to nothing. Now there is going to be a transition year, they said it loud and clear when they opted not to trade for Johan. Do you think George would have passed up on that deal in 2001? PLEASE, he would have shipped out Phil, Ian, Melk, Marquez and a fruit basket full of cash for Johan. You will never hear Girardi say this is a transition year, this is his 1st year as a Manager, no way he ever says that no matter how true it is. The Yanks are focused on shedding the dead weight, getting the kids up to speed and signing good young players this off season. Their focus is on 09, whether they pubic ally state it or not. I support that notion 100%, and yes, I am a fan in the stands as well!
I'd be surprised if someone didn't pick up Sean Henn. He's pitched well for SWB, he throws hard, and he's still young and cheap. Someone will take a chance on him, so I say, Sean, it was nice to have known you; good luck.
Tyler Kepner seems to believe that Rasner will be coming up and that Hughes will either be sent off to SWB or the DL with a non-pitching arm related injury.
Its a shame, its very difficult to find LHP that throw as hard as Henn.
Hey, has Robertson pitched at Scranton yet? With Bruney going down, ( I have a feeling this will end his year one way or another ), we really need a young kid to step up. I like that Britton was called up, maybe he can give us some decent innings. Overall, Ive been very pleased with the pen. If Hughes and Ian can find ways to get into the 6th consistently, and our bats awaken with runners on base, we should make a major push this summer.
HOLY VERAS!
Jose Veras' stats at AAA
13 ip
9 saves
8 hits
2 ER
4 BB
21 K
0.92 WHIP
1.38 ERA
Not bad at all, HYD, have you seen him live closing yet?
I haven't gone to SWB yet this year, so I haven't seen him. Robertson didn't end up going to SWB, they changed it to Steven Jackson last minute. I think they're testing Robertson as a long man right now. His first outing after not getting the promotion, he pitched 3.2 innings.
As far as Bruney, the Yanks must be pretty confident he'll be coming back, otherwise they would've put him on the 60 day DL to help with all of these roster moves.
Maybe this time Britton will get to pitch before the Yanks option him back to SWB for Wilson Betemit?
If Hughes goes down to SWB, are you up for a road trip to see him DRU?
I was reading that Bruney received mixed opinions about his injury. 2 Dr's recommended surgery, the 3rd suggested he wears a boot for a month then see how he feels. Either way, a torn ligament is never a good thing. I bet he tries to come back and aggravates it again. I really hope Britton gets a shot to showcase his skills. I never understood why this guy keeps getting screwed?
I would be down to make a trip out to Scranton, let’s try to set that up.