Well the Yankees offense came alive in yesterday's 9-4 win against the Blue Jays, and they've got a chance to keep the momentum going before what promises to be a somewhat bittersweet segue into the All-Star break with the passing of Bobby Murcer. Kat has an update (below) on the black armbands, as well as some nice tidbits of Alex Rodriguez's home run totals.
Top 1st -- Tough start for A.J. Burnett. He strikes out Jeter, who rarely looks bad at the plate, retires Abreu with a ground ball, then strikes out A-Rod -- all in 12 pitches. Already looks good. It'll be interesting to see if they'll take a cue from Halladay's performance and try to be more patient at the plate, wear Burnett down.
Bottom 1st -- David Eckstein reached on a double, but Andy Pettite looked strong otherwise, strikes out Overbay, and retires Barajas on a ground ball.
Top 2nd -- Infield hit for Justin Christian. Oh, wait, that was Jason Giambi moving down the line like that! Posada hit into a double play, Burnett walked Cano, but Melky was thrown out at first on a nice play by Scott Rolen.
Bottom 2nd -- Yankees fall behind in the second. Mench's double of Pettite halted an 0-for-14 slump, then Mench scored on Scott Rolen's single to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Four-pitch walk to Adam Lind, and then Marco Scutaro hit a three-run home run, his third of the year, to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead. So a guy in a slump, and a guy with two home runs all year end up hurting you. Who knew? Blue Jays 4, Yankees 0.
Top 3rd -- Burnett stays out in the sun for just a short time again, retiring the Yankees in order. With the Yankees down four runs, the last thing they need is for Burnett to get into a rhythm here. Might be too late, but 23 of the Yankees' 50 victories are come-from-behind wins.
Bottom 3rd -- Overbay, Barajas, Mench -- all down in order in the third. Finally an easy inning for Pettite. Let's see if they can't get him some runs like they did for Rasner yesterday.
Top 4th -- With two on, a squandered opportunity. Abreu makes a nice hustle play to turn a single into a double, Posada reaches, but with two on and two out Cano grounds out to end the inning.
Bottom 4th -- And here comes the Yankees offense. Rolen hits a leadoff double then Lind follows it up with a single up the middle. Abreu caught a shallow fly from Scutaro then threw out Scott Rolen at the plate, who was tagging. Pettite then struck out McDonald for the third out of the inning -- huge development. He was one pitch away from walking the bases loaded.
Top 5th -- Melky hit a pop up to left, Burnett retires Betemit and strikes out Gardner. He's going very good right now.
Bottom 5th -- Pettite sets down Inglett and Eckstein with strikeouts, but Jeter can't nab a line drive by Overbay. He does retire Barajas for the last out. Pettite is keeping the Yankees in the game. It's still 4-0 and this hasn't gotten out of hand.
Top 6th -- Abreu reaches first on yet another hustle play, beating a throw from short by McDonald. A-Rod reaches on a single, but Giambi can't do anything with two on and one out, neither can Posada. He struck out and does not have a hit all series.
Bottom 6th -- Mench slaps his second leadoff double of the game, Rolen flies out and then Pettite gets Lind and Scutaro. Pettite is rolling. Other than the second inning debacle, Pettite has gotten out of every jam he's been in. He's been impressive here.
Top 7th -- Stop me if you heard this before: The Yankees go down in order in the seventh. Burnett is still in the game, and was reported to be on a restricted pitch count.
Bottom 7th -- Dan Giese comes in and gives up one hit, but pitched well and escaped the inning unscathed. Looks like Burnett will still be on in the eighth.
Top 8th -- Gardner and Jeter both struck out and then gets Abreu with ground out for the third out. All Burnett, all the time.
Bottom 8th -- A.J. Burnett is likely coming back for the top of the ninth. A good job by David Robertson to not a allow a run in the ninth. Realistically speaking the Yankees have a shot because they haven't allowed this game to get out of hand.
Top 9th -- A-Rod flies out, but then Giambi goes yard with an opposite shot. Posada responds with a lined single to right, and Cito Gaston saw enough of Burnett, who probably should have been taken out anyway. B.J. Ryan comes on and gets the save. Pettite is on the hook for the loss. It's off to the Bronx All-Star weekend. Toronto wins, 4-1.
Safe trip back, Kat. Later all!
Comments (43)
I see the d-bag troll has returned to annoy the regulars.
Above comment wasn't me.
Only 5 weeks to go until school starts again.
Larry.
Anytime a restriction is applied in baseball teams like the Yankees suffer baseball is different than the others a salry cap would destroy it, the Game needs a team like the yankees to be at least in the hunt . yes it would be great for Tampa to win it but if they was in it again would the buzz be there?
ask Chicago WS and St Louis .. people forgot about those squads
Larry.
Anytime a restriction is applied in baseball teams like the Yankees suffer baseball is different than the others a salry cap would destroy it, the Game needs a team like the yankees to be at least in the hunt . yes it would be great for Tampa to win it but if they was in it again would the buzz be there?
ask Chicago WS and St Louis .. people forgot about those squads
names being bandied about as potential trade candidates the Yanks might consider dealing for:
Nady
Marte
Fuentes
Blanton
Burnett
Ian Kennedy is being mentioned as possibly being dealt for Fuentes if this being the case why not try to land Holliday too?
Signing Sexson is a waste of time .He'll not play on a regular basis and I cannot imagine what that will do to his already horrible approach at the plate.
If Nady or Holliday are traded for this will probably mean goodbye to Melky.
I really don't want to see Sexson added to the team either. The guy is a mess and we don't need to see this joker striking out as a pinch hitter with the game on the line all the time.
If you look at yesterday's lineup, there were five or six guys batting below .260 and that's the problem, the bottom 3 were hard to watch so what this team needs is to get healthy. Damon and Matsui coming back will do a lot for a lineup that isn't scaring anyone or producing anything right now.
I don't want to see the Yanks give up Kennedy for Fuentes either. Fuentes has been decent but not great and if the Yanks thought enough of Kennedy to turn down a trade for Santana that included him, then they might as well ride him out for at least two seasons and see what he can do.
The hope I have for Kennedy and Hughes is that they develop like Mike Pelfrey appears to be doing for the Mets. He was awful last year and has looked really good over the past couple of months.
Jim and ruse - I don't look at Sexson as a solution in the long term, but, and I've been saying this for a while now. If you can replace Wilson Betemit's bat with Sexson's and it doesn't cost you anything, why NOT do it? Even if you just stick him on the bench to play against LHP he's worth it. Given that the current RH bats are Betemit, Moeller, Molina, and Justin Christian. Sexson, unlike those options, is capable of hitting a HR.
A lot of the second half will be predicated on how Damon and Matsui recover from injuries and how much Posada can catch. If Jorge has to DH then we're looking at Molina playing daily and likely Matsui in LF and Damon in CF. On the plus side, we replace Melky's slumping bat with Molina's slumping bat. We upgrade defense behind the plate, but downgrade it in LF and CF.
That said, I don't have faith in Matsui being healthy for the second half of the season. I think his knee is a LOT worse than is being let on and while I applaud him for playing through pain, I'm not sure how effective he's going to be.
Not great news from the futures front. From a scout on Montero:
"He's got a ton of power, but I wonder if he can get his footwork down," said one scout. "He's got a terrible arm and he's already big, so I don't see a lot of improvement coming there. Is he a prospect? Maybe. Is he a catcher? I don't think so."
Here’s the link: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07142008/sports/yankees/failing_to_catch_on_119771.htm
Joel Sherman says the Bucs have been scouting the Yanks system and are interested in Ohlendorf. Could there be something in the works for Marte and/or Nady? It would make a lot of sense if you Cash could get both, although I’d prefer Bay. Maybe Melky and Ohlendorf for Marte and Nady? Is that too much?
As for the Kennedy-Fuentes deal, I guess I’d do it, if it's just IPK. I've lost faith, and at this point it would be a lot more tolerable than losing Melancon.
As someone wrote this morning, Cash simply has to decide if he's a buyer or a seller. He's got 2 weeks starting Friday. Say what you want about injuries, truth be told, short of 6 games against the Padres and Astros, he's got a .500 team. If it was me, I'd think really hard about whether I wanted to sell the farm just to see if this particular group can get hot and lucky in September and October.
DC - That's nothing new on Montero. No one really expects him to stay behind the dish long term. He's 6'4" 225 and the biggest catcher in baseball is Joe Mauer at 6'5". Plus Montero is still growing. The odds are he's going to be a first baseman. But don't get discouraged, he's got a monster bat that will translate no matter where he plays on the field.
Thanks Chip. That's definitely more encouraging. But he's still a couple years away though, right?
DC ,
As many would know I touted for Nady since the early days of the spring when many on here blasted my thought.
However with my conversations with Brian Cashman he has acknowledged that he is a fan of Nady's and would feel it out and see what Pitt wants.
My assumption is Melky becomes expendable only in good returns, The play of Brett and Gardner even with their small ball is costing Melky daily.
I meant to say Justin and Brett.
Having them along with a power bat or two makes melk very expendable.
DC - I would say second half of 2010 at the EARLIEST. He's only in Low A ball right now
DC/Chip: Montero has been improving drastically behind the plate defensively and many that watch him regularly are saying that he could potentially stay a catcher, assuming he doesn't grow too much. He's performed better than expected, but does have a below average arm, but it's still better than Piazza's was. He's still a teenager and playing at low A, so he's a ways away to say the least, but that's not a bad thing. The main reason he's staying at low A all year is to work on his CATCHING. Same thing with Romine, though lately they're saying that Romine may be in low A in 2009 while Montero will get moved to high A Tampa.
HYD - Cashman was on during the future's game yesterday and said basically the same thing you did, that the only reason they would move him out from behind the plate is if he outgrows the position. From a Yankee standpoint it makes sense to let him stay at catcher as long as possible. On the 20-80 scouting scale he has 80 power so he's already pretty valuable, but a catcher with that kind of pop is a lot MORE valuable than a 1st baseman. I assume that at least until he hits AA for the first full season he'll remain behind the plate. But if he gets bigger, as he gets closer to being a ML player, they'll transition him out from behind the dish.
Again, it will depend on how his body develops. Watching him for a couple of innings yesterday I can see where scouts think he's going to have to move. His frame already makes him look a little cumbersome behind the dish.
The ONLY reason WE Yankee fans Dont want a Salary Cap is because its easier to Purchase than it is to Build, We Would be Lousy with a Cap, ..And Thats a Fact. All other comments above are Lies and meaningless. BUY BUY BUY, Those past Championships are a Fraud, and you know it.
I don't want to hear anyting about being a seller. If you are going to charge the highest prices in the major leagues, I want my moneys worth. If Cashman bails on the season, maybe us fans should too.
There's a guy who posts on the DN blog who calls himself "cesspool." How can you call yourself "Loser" and expect your "facts" to bear any weight?
I'd be all for revenue sharing, if only there were a way to ensure that the funds went into team or player development. You can't force them to pour the revenues into MLB salary--then they'd just have to sign FA's, which would make no sense long-term. But you could force them to spend the money on team and/or player development. Tracking it would be tough, but otherwise I see no reason the Sox, Dodgers, Mets and Yanks should pay some billionaire to keep a tax shelter in a football town that's too small to support anything but a playoff bound baseball team.
The biggest problem is that there is no incentive for the low budget teams to improve. If they do well, they risk losing the revenue sharing. The system should be altered to a reward-based one, so that there's incentive for improvement among the bottom feeders. There's nothing you can do about the populations of KC or Milwakee or Pittsburgh, but you can make the FO's work harder at marketing to draw more fans, and spend more on scouting and player development.
Bomber, I think Nady would make a lot of sense. I think I'd rather have Bay, as some people have said here in recent days, but I doubt the Bucs would part with him. I'm also ready to see what Brett can do on a daily basis.
All-Star Lineups
National League
1. Hanley Ramirez, SS
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Lance Berkman, 1B
4. Albert Pujols, DH
5. Chipper Jones, 3B
6. Matt Holliday, RF
7. Ryan Braun, LF
8. Kosuke Fukudome, CF
9. Geovany Soto, C
Starting Pitcher: Ben Sheets
American League
1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Josh Hamilton, CF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Manny Ramirez LF
6. Milton Bradley, DH
7. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
8. Joe Mauer, C
9. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Starting Pitcher: Cliff Lee
Seems pretty fair. If I'd been hand picking with a gun to my head, think I might have given the 2 middle infield spots in the AL to the Texas Rangers, and let the Yanks-Red Sox rivalry be the backups. I love Jetes, but it hasn't really been his year, so far (though things are looking up). Not sure Manny deserved it this year, and I bet JV "Tek" is glad he's not starting--what with his below JV performance. Sox fans should be embarrassed. I'm surprised the Cincy kid isn't starting instead of Sheets. But who would've picked Sheets and Lee to start the game in April?
Looking forward to watching a great night at the stadium tomorrow. Anyone going?
Biggest thing I have with the All Star weekend is the HR Derby. So many of the guys who would have been entertaining in that aren't on the team and thus aren't able to participate. Instead of Dan Uggla, Grady Sizemore, and Justin Morneau - it should be Adam Dunn, Giambi, Ryan Howard.
Having read the comments about possible trades. I find it very intersting. I like Bay and Marte from Pittsburgh. They offer us players who are good quality and something that we need. Kennedy, Melky and some player from the minors might do it. Pittsburgh would get lower salaries and value back.
Melky in my estimation is not expendable because of Gardner's play. I know its early to judge but Gardner should divert from his minor league practice of making every AB, 8 pitches long. He is quickly getting into the wrong end of the count which now becomes a defensive AB. Take a strike if its not your cup of tea but swing away if it is even if its the first pitch. This is not little league and working for walks especially a guy with his power can be harmful to his OBP.
I had a thought yesterday after watching the game and the pitiful display of offense from the Yanks. It coincides with the remark of our record being plus 5 because of the Padres and Bucs. I have no expectations for this team this year if the talent put on the field minus Damon/Matsui cannot score runs or play better than 10/12 ball during the last 22 games even with our 4 of 6 from the Sox's and Rays what expectations can you have. They look lost at the plate. Our pitching with Rasner/Ponson in the 4 or 5 spots is weak at best. These guys can give up a month of runs in a few innings. So, I sit back root and hope Cashman can make this team younger and more balanced without giving up the farm. Its all about the age of these guys. They are braking down and will continue to do so this year and next.
This is a bit off topic, but Michael Kay actually had a good point on his radio show a little while ago.
His theory is that a big reason why there are just a handful of MLB teams with winning road records is because of the banishment of amphetamines or "greenies" as a result of the steroid era.
The reason for this is because teams are going from city to city and arriving at 2-3 in the morning and just don't have that extra spring in their step the next day and things like Red Bulll and coffee just doesn’t have that same pep.
Greenies have been around MLB as long as hot dogs and Cracker Jack and I would assume that nearly everyone who stuck around the game for awhile had taken them at some point in their career. Not that this was a bad thing - it’s clearly not the same as taking HGH or steroids.
Now I've made the argument several times in recent weeks that I believe the banishment of greenies has played a huge part in the game's evolution and GMs gearing more and more towards their own farm system instead of signing aging players on the FA market.
The banishment has impacted the veterans a lot more than the young kids and these vets are starting to slow down and show their age a little sooner than a decade ago.
This evolution is exactly why the Yanks need to let guys like Giambi, Abreu, and Moose walk at the end of the season and Damon and Matsui walk at the end of 2009.
This is quickly becoming a young man's game. And no matter what happens the rest of the season, this team needs to waive good-bye to these guys for the good of the team's long term plans.
Anyway, since it's quiet I thought it would be a good time to break out my "completely baseless trades." The only rules I give myself are: I'm not COMPLETELY off the wall (so no Matt Holliday for Wilson Betemit) and there has to be some basis for the other team to give up the player (so I can't trade for John Lackey because the Angels aren't giving him up)
1. KC Royals get: Melky Cabrera, Jose Tabata, Ian Kennedy, Dan McCutchen
NYY get: David DeJesus and Zack Grienke
DeJesus is an immediate upgrade from Melky (and he's a local guy) Grienke has his issues but he's young and has lots of stuff on the mound (plus the Yankees have his brother in the system). KC would get 2 ML ready pitchers and Tabata as the potential star of the bunch. Both DeJesus and Grienke are arbitration elligible after this season.
2. Cincy gets: Ian Kennedy, Melky, Alan Horne
NYY get: Aaron Harang, and Bill Bray
Harang's on the DL right now and he's having an awful year and his contract increases next season to something like 12 mil so the Yankees could get him without having to give up too much. They would still have to give up something of value since Harang has been a stud for the last couple of seasons. Bray is a LH specialist reliever.
3. San Diego gets: Ian Kennedy (are you sensing a theme)
NYY get: Scott Hairston and Kevin Kousmanoff
Kousmanoff is losing his spot to uberprospect Chase Headley. Both he and Hairston could give the Yankees some much needed right handed pop. Kennedy would thrive in the spacious PETCO Park.
4. Houston gets: Tabata, Kennedy, Horne, Melky, Betances, and Damon Sublett
NYY get: Carlos Lee, Roy Oswalt and Geoff Blum
Houston would have to be willing to punt on the season, and admit that giving Carlos Lee that kind of money was a mistake. For the Yankees, Lee obviously would bring explosive power from the right side of the plate (though the OF D would be pretty weak with him in LF and Damon taking over for Melky in CF) Blum would upgrade the bench, giving the Yankees a switch hitter who knows how to play the role of part time player - no small feat. Oswalt would be a gamble to see if he rebounds.
Viper - I kinda/sorta agree. But at the same time, I've seen young players (and teams loaded with young players) come out of the gate on fire and then fade down the stretch because they don't know how to pace themselves the way older players do. I think the key no secret, you need to have a reasonable mix of young players and savvy vets - that's why I don't think Tampa or the Brewers will be in it down the stretch this season (too much of the former not enough of the latter) and why a team like Boston is so tough - they have a great mix of young and old. Thats what the Yankees are aspiring to.
Viper, very interesting! The effect of the new HGH and steroid rules was a no brainer and has been clear for a while, but I was skeptical about how much the greenie thing would actually be enforced and matter. You make a compelling point. Still, it's possible that what we're seeing is an adjustment period--a hangover of sorts--as the players who were on them (if not everyone) acclimate to the new rules and their bodies adjust to the demands of the schedule without mother's little helper. Still, you're right in suggesting that, if greenies have been as prevalent as some believe, then we're likely to see careers become a lot shorter than they have been in recent decades. Even though they've been around for eons, it might just be the lack of greenies--and not HGH or steroids--that have the final say in whether asterisks go into the books for the broken records of the '80's and '90's.
Chip, love the trades. When does the internship start?
Chip,
I'd pull the trigger on your #1 proposal in a second. I'm a much, much, much bigger fan of Greinke than Meche.
My only concern with Greinke is how he would handle the pressure of NY. His metal issues have been well-documented, but there's no question he's got great stuff. But NY is obviously a completely different animal than KC.
And, who knows? He and his brother could be pitching on the same team in a few years.
On the second point, the Yanks will be guaranteed to have at least 3 players in the 2010 starting lineup who are 35 and over:
Posada (39), Jeter (36), and A-Rod (35)
I think that would be enough old guys for one lineup considering the everyday grind that these guys have to endure.
Any more old guys and we'll be seeing a similar lack of energy that we're seeing this season.
Chip, you went over my head on Damon Sublett. Who is he?
P.S. Not that going over my head is hard to do.
P.P.S. And the internship thing was meant as a compliment. That's how Cash started. Make sure they give you a parking space, if you don't take the train.
DC - Sublett was drafted last year. He's a 2nd baseman. Had a fantastic year for Staten Island last season. This year he's kind of having a rough time adjusting to High A Ball. He's a pretty good prospect, but with Carmen Angelini, Corbin Joseph, and David Adams (Plus Cano already being here) he's a guy who they could move. He's a good young player, but he's a project more than a prospect at this stage.
I'm currently holding out for my own cubicle
By the way, the Yankees brought back Ben Broussard on a minor league deal
By the way... on Sully Baseball today, I preached unity among Red Sox and Yankee fans.
I cited the Newsday blog as one of my personal sources of Red Sox/Yankee peace
Click on my name to read what I wrote...
OK, back to talking baseball
Are the participants in the HR derby required to be on the all-star team? I saw somewhere that Giambi declined to participate because he didn't make the team and made other plans for the time off but I thought only players on the team could participate in the derby and if that's not the case, you have to have Griffey in it!
Jim A.
Apparently, the league asked Giambi to participate in the derby. I was surprised by that, too. I can understand why he declined.
I guess they're desperate because of the lack of star power this year. The other thing I noticed is that every guy involved is white. Not that it should matter, but with the game's difficulty in recent years in attracting young black athletes and the league's need to promote its inner-city RBI program, you would think they'd be dying for a Fielder, Howard or someone to participate. Not Giambi. Maybe they're asking those guys, too. If not, they're just being blowhards again. Too bad.
That's US black--or African-American--athletes. We all know that the Latin -American world is well-represented across races in professional baseball, if not in this particular derby, as well it should be.
Didn't they already drop Broussard once this year?
DC - Broussard had a clause in his contract that he could become a FA if he wasn't with the big club by a certain date. He used that - signed with the Cards, they released him, so he signed with the Cubs, they released him, and now he's back.
As for the need of African Americans in the HR Derby. By and large I'm disappointed with this year's participants. I mean Grady Sizemore and Justin Morneau? That's the best they could come up with? I understand with Manny and Alex opting to not participate it hurts, but it just seems to me that this year's group lacks gravitas.
Maybe they could do a derby with just Broussard and Sexson. Winner gets to sit on the Yankee bench until August 1.
But it would probably have to be first one out. And it could take a while.
CHIP
Way to much "talent" given away for DeJesus and Greinke.Royal's management will be run out of town if they trade Greinke the teams best starter.DeJesus for Melky and McCutchen makes some sense but I don't see it happening.
Isn't Sizemore African American?
Jim A. Thanks for bringing that up. Actually, his mom is white and his dad is black, which would make him just as African-American as, say, Derek Jeter. There seems to be some question as to the ethnicity of his mother, however. Turns out she may be Latina. I don't give a damn one way or the other--or the other, as it were--but, apparently, this is cause for some consternation on the internet.
I just brought it up because I'm interested in getting inner-city kids--black, white, yellow, green, purple--to play ball in their free time.