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Forgive the Ray Parker, Jr., tribute, but I just read that "Ghostbusters 3" is going to be made. This fact depresses me, so I will move on and talk about the potential Yankee call ups when rosters expand tomorrow.

Joel Sherman has reported that Jesus Montero is on his way up tomorrow. Obviously, one of the first things you want when rosters expand is a third catcher and the Yankees don't have one on the 40-man. Montero has to be protected anyway this offseason, so why not add him to the 40-man and see what he can do? If you are a Yankee fan, this is exciting news.

I would expect Brandon Laird to definitely be a callup as well. We've seen him already this year and with Scranton out of the playoff race and A-Rod hurting, another guy who can play third makes a lot of sense.

I would imagine we will see both Chris Dickerson and Greg Golson by the end of the AAA season, but probably only one of them tomorrow. Flip a coin.

If Ramiro Pena is ready (he is rehabbing in Trenton) he would clearly get the call.

I would bet on two pitchers minimum being added tomorrow (more if the Yankees empty the bullpen tonight) and my guesses would be Pendleton and Whelan. Hector Noesi can't return until September 6th, but he will certainly get a call. I would expect Andrew Brackman to get a callup when the AAA season ends and the same thing to happen with Dellin Betances since he is on the 40-man, but I don't think we will see Betances do much in the majors. The other "killer B" Manny Banuelos is probably going to stay off the ML roster because he doesn't need to be protected this offseason from the Rule 5 draft and he is still adjusting to AAA. If the Yankees are smart, they will squeeze Adam Warren and David Phelps onto the roster. I believe both need to be protected this offseason (another reason Banuelos will not be added now) and they might as well get some experience down the stretch.

It should be an interesting September.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Lackey plunking Cervelli last night was fine by me. But, I also recognize that it is applying 20th-century justice to a 21st century game. There used to be an unwritten rule in baseball that you didn't show up the pitcher. Both sides knew this and both sides acted in a certain way. But, those days are long gone. What Cervelli did last night is nothing different from what he always does; he claps when he gets to a base after a hit just like Swisher points to the sky. I understand why Lackey didn't appreciate it, but using his logic, David Ortiz should be drilled every time he poses like a statue after launching one into the seats. I also think Lackey did the Yankees a favor, he hit a very popular member of the team and he fired up the Yankees.

As for the game itself, a few observations.

CC Sabathia gutted that one out, didn't he. Use whatever tortured sports cliche you want, I prefer bend but didn't break, but they are apt descriptions of that performance. I wasn't surprised that Girardi went to him in the 6th with that pitch count, but I hope Joe doesn't abandon the six-man rotation after the Boston series now. CC threw 125 pitches, an extra day off would not be a bad thing at all.

I really like the job Boone Logan did last night after giving up the base hit to Crawford. Those were two big outs he got and he was throwing heat to get them. Since May he has been a much better pitcher.

The Yankees really had to win that game. They face Burkett and Lester in the next two and we all know who they are starting tomorrow. I'm not saying the next two are automatic losses, but if they had lost Tuesday, getting swept out of Boston would have been a definite possibility.

I can't figure Jorge Posada out. Each time he looks like he is heating up at the plate he cools off almost as quickly.

Game 2 tonight, which Phil Hughes will we see?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Another Yankees-Red Sox series, another chance to hear that the Yankees can't beat Boston. So far in 2011 that has been true, but it isn't something I will worry about if they meet in the ALCS. And it doesn't matter what happens in the final six games of their season series either as far as playoff predictions go. Let's say the Yankees win all six, does that mean they are now the "hot" team and would clobber Boston in the postseason? As anyone who watches sports knows, of course not.

The 2007 Yankees dominated Cleveland in the regular season, sweeping them twice and outscoring them 49-17 in six games and then promptly got bounced out of the playoffs by that same team. The 2007 Giants lost to the Patriots in the final game of the regular season and then beat the perfect Pats in the Super Bowl. LeBron James is still waiting to get the ring Dirk Nowitzki now has. And did anyone have the Mavericks making the finals when the NBA Playoffs started this year? We just saw Aaron Rogers lead the lowest seeded team in the NFC, Green Bay, to a Super Bowl title. Nope, the playoffs are unpredictable and it is foolish to try and extrapolate a future result from past performance.

So, the Yankees 2-10 record versus Boston means two things to me. First, head-to-head the Red Sox have been significantly better than the Yankees so far. Second, as a result of their superiority so far, they are in first place and the Yankees are not. Think about it, if the Yankees had split their series with Boston so far they would be 84-48 and Boston would be 78-55. That's translates into a 6-1/2 game lead in the AL East. That is what is significant to me about 2-10, because I believe that winning the AL East is vitally important to the Yankees chances to win a World Series title this year.

I don't know if Joe Girardi or Brian Cashman would agree with that. Last year, the Yankees seemed confused about what to do during the final month of the season and they alternated between taking their "foot off the gas" and "putting the pedal to the metal". (Remember when Dustin Moseley got scratched from a start and Hughes took his place after the Red Sox crept close in late September?) This year, I would love to see a definitive push for the AL East title. The good news is, despite their ineptitude against Boston, the Yankees are right in that race. The question is, will they take advantage of their good fortune?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Coming into 2011, it was generally accepted that the Yankees had two "A level" pitching prospects in Manny Banuelos and Delin Betances and four "B level" prospects, Phelps, Warren, Noesi and Brackman. While it is obvious that all of these guys wouldn't end up in the starting rotation, developing them towards that goal was the best move for the long term health of the franchise.

As we enter the last week of August, we can see the Yankees mostly followed that plan. Betances and Banuelos were started in AA and have recently been promoted to AAA. Phelps and Warren have become cogs of the AAA rotation while Brackman's poor performance led to his removal from the rotation. He is now part of the bullpen and pitching much much better since making a mechanical adjustment. Hector Noesi is the lone exception. He has languished in the majors as the "long guy" in the bullpen and will probably get sent back to Scranton today to make room for Freddy Garcia.

Last season, Noesi threw 160 innings between A, AA and AAA and compiled a 3.20 ERA. Baseball American rated him as the 7th-best prospect in the system and also tagged him as the guy with the best control. Many of the same things said about Ivan Nova in 2010, were repeated about Noesi in 2011. Yet to date, Noesi has thrown a total of 68 innings between AAA and the bigs, probably shattering any chance that he can be an effective starter in 2012.

The Yankees would probably defend their usage of Noesi by saying they needed a long guy in the bullpen and he was the best candidate. But, is that really true? Lance Pendleton could have filled that role. Brian Gordon, who the Yankees chose to make two starts in June before selling him to Japan, could have filled that role. George Kontos, a former prospect who put it all together this year, could have filled that role. The 12th guy in the bullpen is a luxury and not a necessity and I don't understand why the Yankees put Noesi in a role where he essentially lost a year of development.

Hopefully, it won't matter in the future. Betances and Banuelos will step forward and fill the rotation. Hughes and Nova will continue to pitch well, leaving the Yankees with four homegrown starters and Sabathia. But even if that happens, the Yankees wasted an asset in Noesi. If he had succeeded in AAA this year as a starter he would have been a valuable trading chip or another name for organizational depth. But, the Yankees chose instead to let him languish on the bench, a strange choice for their present and their future.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In this weekend of hurricane-disrupted baseball, it may have escaped your notice that the Yankees are now 2-1/2 games behind Boston. The Red Sox won a doubleheader yesterday to pickup a game on New York and the Yankees lost a 1/2 game with today's defeat in Baltimore. And, Tampa has crept to within six games of the wild card.

It's kind of funny. The Yankees had a "bad: win on Thursday and they had a "good" loss today. I characterize those two games that way because of the pitching performances in them. Think about it. Thursday's win over the A's obscured the fact that Phil Hughes was terrible. Today's loss does the same with a very good start from Bartolo Colon. The amazing thing is that 32 games before the playoffs start, we have absolutely no idea who the #2, #3 or #4 starters would be. We can assume AJ Burnett won't be one of them, but other than that it is impossible to guess.

Speaking of AJ, any predictions for his upcoming start in Boston? Mitchell stated the other day that he wouldn't watch AJ pitch live anymore and I think that is an excellent suggestion for his upcoming effort in Boston. At this point it really wouldn't surprise me if he didn't make it out of the first inning.

Game 2 on tap, back tomorrow.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Happy to report from NYC that the sun is shining and everything in my neighborhood is intact. I hope the same is true for you as well.

We have a Yankee doubleheader on tap for today. Back with more after the first game.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:26 AM | Permalink

Give the Mets credit, they can read a weather forecast and they are smart enough to react to it. They have canceled their games tomorrow and Sunday. Contrast that with the Orioles who not only expect to play a doubleheader tomorrow (good luck) but would not agree to the Yankees' request to move the doubleheader to today. Now, it seems pretty likely that the Yankees and Orioles will have two games rained out tomorrow and another one probably rained out Sunday.

My question is, where is MLB in all of this? No matter how much rain Baltimore does or doesn't get tomorrow, it is pretty clear it will be a nasty, nasty day there. Having fans trying to drive to a potential ballgame doesn't seem like a very good idea and I hope somebody has the good sense to announce that the games are canceled tonight, before the weather hits.

And since I am cracking on MLB and the Orioles, let me add the Jets, Giants and NFL to the list. They moved tomorrow's EXHIBITION game to 2pm to try and avoid the weather, but now that New York City is shutting down all public transportation at noon, they should just cancel it. The rain is supposed to start tomorrow around noon and just get worse. Whatever fans show up at the game will have wet roads and lousy conditions to contend with when it ends around 5pm. Why risk anyone getting hurt for a game that doesn't even count?

Well, good luck to everyone out there in the path of this storm. Stay safe and stay dry.

Back tomorrow with some baseball thoughts.

UPDATE 9:45pm Sanity has prevailed as the doubleheader is canceled and the Giants-Jets tilt has been moved to Monday. Still wondering, what took them so long?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Rumors abound today that Theo Epstein might considering taking the Cubs GM position. What? No! That's crazy talk.

First off, both Buster Olney (subscription required) and Peter Gammons said Epstein might be tempted by the opportunity to bring a championship to Chicago.

My take, while the Cubs would probably hand Epstein any job he wants in their organization, just what would it mean if he left Boston? As it stands now, he never has to buy a beer in this town again. If he left, no more free beer. That should be enough for anyone to stay, but on a deeper level, it would be like a divorce of sorts.

Epstein hasn't been perfect, that is true, but he has a plan in place and is very disciplined in sticking to that plan. I find that most GMs, just wing-it and the results are spotty at best. It also can't be argued that having one of the largest payrolls and MLB draft budgets in baseball is a blessing, but money doesn't guarantee success, just look at the Cubs.

Sure Epstein could leave for another challenge, but being able to work in the town you grew-up in, run the team you've loved all your life and keeping some continuity at home all the while having almost any tool at your disposal would be nice and the fan base would always ensure it remains a challenge. I just can't see him leaving. My guess is Brian Cashman gets the nod. He isn't thrilled with NY and they (ownership) aren't thrilled with him.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The Beatles couldn't have said it better, the Red Sox line-up needs help, it's just not what it was.

Ellsbury - out
Youkilis - DL
Ortiz - out
Drew - DL

Drew wasn't helping from the get go, but the other 3 are major contributors and without them, the line-up just isn't generating runs. Ellsbury's injury is the most confounding as he was hit by an 88 mph on the upper right back. Don Baylor felt those like the rest of us feel a greenhead fly (in my case, I drop to the ground and groan for 20-30 seconds all the while looking around to make sure those around me are feeling sufficiently sorry for me, then I pop up and I'm ready to go).

In fact, Baylor never, EVER, reacted to a HBP. I never once saw him grab the spot he was hit and grimace. He'd just take his medicine and take first. Amazing.

Now Baylor was otherworldly. Ellsbury isn't otherwordly when it comes to injuries. I certainly am not suggesting he is not tough, it's just that he takes a bit longer, based on visual evidence, to come back from an injury incident. That last part sounded like an insurance disclaimer.

The Red Sox are trotting out Darnell McDonald, Ryan Lavarnway and Jed Lowrie/Marco Scutaro in place of Ellsbury, Ortiz and Youkilis. Lavarnway is holding his own posting a .293/.429/.353 line, not bad for a rookie in his first 5 games, but McDonald has been bad overall this year, but in his defense, had an OPS of .988 in July and .863 in thus far in August. So wait, both Lavarnway and McDonald have been good of late, what about Lowrie/Scutaro? Scutaro has a .787 OPS in August and Lowrie? Ok, he has been bad in August with a .604 OPS. In fact, Lowrie hasn't been good since April. He's another guy who gets injured and that's basically it. He needs to figure out how to stay on the field for a full season.

So why else are the Red Sox not scoring runs?

August:

AGon - .668 OPS
Pedroia - .711 OPS
Saltalamacchia - 643 OPS
Crawford - .770 OPS (ok, but need much, much more except that's his career OPS!!! Cripes!!!)
Reddick - .639 OPS

Wow, the healthy starters have been terrible. That's the real reason for the Red Sox offensive woes. Time for the regulars to pick it up and score some runs. Nothing Terry Francona can do here, he just needs his injured core players to get healthy and his healthy core players to start hitting again.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Yankees need to swallow the harsh truth, AJ Burnett is a bust. They made a huge mistake when they gave him a fat contract, but that money is now a sunk cost. They are going to pay AJ $37 million or so over the next 2-1/4 seasons no matter what. And despite what Brian Cashman claims, that money is the only reason AJ is still a Yankee. If he was in the last season of his contract or didn't make so much money, the Yankees would cut him at this point.

It's not just the bad performance with AJ, it's the attitude. Did he show up his manager last night? Certainly looked like it to me on TV. Is his manager sick of AJ? Check out this video of the postgame press conference. Jack Curry is asking the questions that set Girardi off. Curry used to write for the New York Times and now does analysis for YES. He is a very level-headed and respected member of the press and I for one am shocked that Girardi jumped on him, but I think it was a sign of his frustration with the AJ situation. Joe has to keep handing him the ball because of the contract. If you gave him truth serum, he would admit to wanting to do something different. And that's what the Yankees have to do at this point. They need to get AJ to go away and the best fit in my mind is with Houston.

The Astros are trying to get rid of Wandy Rodriguez because Rodriguez is going to make at least $25.5 million over the next three seasons. (He has a $13 million option for 2014 that becomes a player option if he is traded) Add in that option and Rodriguez is going to make approximately $36 million or so. Wouldn't it make sense from a Yankee standpoint to see if the Astros would be willing to take AJ Burnett and cash in exchange for Wandy Rodriguez? Rodriguez has a 3.31 ERA, albeit in the NL and is a lefty. It's hard to imagine that he could be worse than AJ, even with the transition to the AL and there is a chance he is significantly better. If Houston is looking for salary relief, the Yankees can certainly provide it. Offer to pay half of AJ's remaining salary and throw in a middle of the road prospect. Houston gets a pitcher who could be better in the NL and they remove $16 million in liabilities from their payroll going forward. The Yankees spend more money, but remember that $37 million is already spent. Even if they gave Houston $16 million they would be removing AJ from the team and only adding around $5 million to the payroll from 2012-2014.

If the Yankees don't manage to trade him, they are going to have to demote him to the bullpen after next Saturday's doubleheader. Nova and Hughes are clearly better than him right now and there is simply no way AJ deserves to start over either of them. But demoting him to the bullpen will make a bad situation worse. The Yankees have about a week to solve their AJ problem. Let's see if Brian Cashman can fix it.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

My favorites are Gammons and Kurkjian.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well the Red Sox have managed to lose more games in August than they did in all of July. The offense in August (thru 8/16) is offering a .745 OPS compared to the season %/ratio of .805. In the last week (again thru 8/16) the OPS is .687, or, stated differently, the same as Carl Crawford's OPS in 2011 (actually slightly better than Crawford's).

Loyal reader, blmeanie, got me started on the Red Sox offensive woes with his blog entry today. The Red Sox have been terrible and puncuated that point with a shutout loss today, collecting all of 3 hits.

The negatives have been injuries to Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and apparently Adrian Gonzalez, who Terry Francono suggested on WEEI.com,is battling a neck injury (I am too, it's just that mine's fat). Oh and the big whopper of a problem with the Red Sox line-up is Carl Crawford. He has been terrible in 2011. What's that? Give him some time? O.K., you tell me how much time is enough.

Crawford went 0-9 with 5 k's against the Rays this week. Michael Felger of 98.5 the Sportshub pointed out that his 0-9 included nary a walk. That's lousy baseball Carl. Quick, who has the lowest OPS of Red Sox starters? Yup, Carl Crawford does, yet he makes the most of any Red Sox everyday players save...J.D. Drew. Wow. The 2 highest Red Sox everyday players are Crawford and Drew, whose OPS is somehow less than Crawfords at .622.

So Theo Epstein has to be A.) frustrated with Drew (what's that Epstein, "I thought you guys were going to ask about J.D. Drew having the 2nd highest OPS of all AL outfielders - quote on 98.5 in 2009) and B.) VERY WORRIED about Crawford. My hope is that Crawford is experiencing first year Boston/New York jitters. Otherwise the Red Sox are screwed. A Night in the Ruts indeed (the first Aerosmith album I recall, courtesy of my cousin Doug, a darned good singer/guitarist himself, rock on Dougie).

The good news is that the Red Sox have a good offense despite Drew and Crawford. J.D. Reddick has been a godsend and the rest of the crew chew up and spit out pitchers. But, when injuries set and, and they always do, the Red Sox need to be able to fall back on their highest paid players, right?

So far Crawford has been given a free-pass, but if the Red Sox don't go deep in the playoffs and Crawford keeps playing this poorly, we might be be in for an enourmously long and painful 6 more years with Crawford.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

AJ Burnett has turned himself into the perfect parody. With his new hairstyle, he has become Goldilocks. For those of you who don't have young children, Goldilocks was the girl who broke into a house and kept trying things in threes after finding the first two unacceptable.

That's AJ, unless things are "just right" he is going to be a mess. You watch him pitch and his raw stuff is some of the best you will ever see. A great fastball and a knee-bending curve. When he first signed with the Yankees, I was critical of the deal because I assumed his injury problems would follow him to New York. You could make the case that he is actually too healthy- 542 innings as a Yankee so far. And in those 542 innings he has compiled an ERA of 4.60 and a record of 31-33.

The old baseball saying is that "flags fly forever". AJ Burnett earned every dollar the Yankees paid him with his start in Game 2 of the 2009 World Series. In Game 1 Cliff Lee handcuffed the Yankees' bats and CC Sabathia wasn't good. AJ had a lot of pressure on him in Game 2 and he delivered with a great start. Without that, the Yankees probably head to Philly down 2-0 and it is hard to imagine that they would have prevailed. But, that start and the $40-plus million left on his contract do not change the fact that Goldilocks is the Yankees worst starter right now. To use a tennis expression, Ivan Nova "held serve" tonight. Phil Hughes gets another crack at starting Saturday. Assuming Hughes pitches well and the Yankees follow through on their plan to go back to a five-man rotation, AJ is the one who has to go to the bullpen. The Yankees can pretend otherwise, but waiting for Goldilocks to find a game that is "just right" is a losing proposition.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:22 PM | Permalink

You may not believe me, but this post was going to have that title no matter what happened in the Yankees-Sox game tonight. Sure, Boston won and did it by coming back against Mo, but to me that was the smaller story. To me, the bigger story was the fact that the Yankees showed us the end of Jorge Posada's career in pinstripes.

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing them for what they did. 300+ AB's is more than enough time to show what you can do and Posada's .230 average and .681 OPS simply doesn't cut it. Three months ago, I raged against Posada being demoted to 9th in the lineup against Boston. Tonight, I cannot repeat that stance. In fact, I think the Yankees made a very smart decision starting his eventual ouster now.

The fact is, A-Rod is on his way back and will probably be ready to suit up as a Yankee again next week in Kansas City. Alex's return is a good thing, but if his return pushed Posada to the bench it would be an unnecessary distraction for the club and a weight on Alex's mind. But, that was the most likely outcome if the Yankees maintained the status quo this week because Eric Chavez is producing and Posada is not. When A-Rod returns, it is Chavez who should keep getting AB's and not Posada.

But, as much as I wanted to see Posada moved out of the lineup, I cannot begin to celebrate the realization of that desire. Age gets all of us in someway and this is the way it will get Jorge. Posada may linger on the bench until September, but barring injury, that will be the extent of it. The Yankees will keep him on the roster until the season ends out of deference to the past. It is now almost a certainty that he will not be playing for them in October and any baseball he plays in 2012 will occur in a different uniform. If the Yankees feel secure in their standing with the fans we may even see him released and Montero promoted.

These are moves that my head agrees with and understands the need for. But my heart aches. I don't want to let Jorge go, even though I know it is time. Win or lose, tonight was all about that for me.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

Not much you can say about tonight's game from a Yankee standpoint. CC didn't have it and the Yankees couldn't overcome that. Sure, they had their chances against the Red Sox, but their failure to covert with the bats wasn't the problem- CC was.

Now they have a tough slog ahead of them. Beckett usually kills them and while Garcia has been good, he has a 10.13 ERA vs. Boston this year. But, today showed again why you have to actually play the games on the field. First place on the line, let's hope the rain holds off.

Back tomorrow.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 10:44 PM | Permalink

Longtime Yankees' fans will recognize the title of this post as a tribute to Phil Rizzuto. It was the scorecard entry used by Rizzuto when he missed something that happened in a game and it stands for "wasn't watching". You can put a big "WW" next to my entire scorecard last night. Due to a family commitment, I saw almost none of the game live, but watched the MLB Condensed Game this morning. I'm sorry I missed the real thing because it looked like it was a very good and very tense baseball game.

I give Girardi tremendous credit for going to Boone Logan in the fifth. That was a gutsy call and he would have been killed if it hadn't worked. I say killed because Logan has been anything but a lefty specialist this year. Lefties are hitting him at a clip of .250/.313/.458 while he has dominated righties .222/.300..244. He has given up 9 extra-base hits and 8 of them have been hit by lefties. But, the batter at the time, Adrian Gonzalez shrinks from Ruthian-like numbers vs righties (.377/.436/.652) to a more mortal .301/.366/.377 vs lefties. It was the right call considering the circumstances and it worked.

Today's game would appear to be a mismatch on paper. CC Sabathia has been rolling, he has a 1.01 ERA over his last eight starts while Lackey, to be charitable, has been bad. But, Boston has smacked CC around this year (3 starts and a 6.16 ERA) so this will be a very interesting test of CC's streak. The Yankees will face a pretty hot pitcher in Josh Beckett tomorrow night, so they would be wise to take advantage of their opportunity this afternoon.

Back after the game.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 02:11 PM | Permalink

This weekend we have a Yankees-Sox series with the two teams tied for first. It doesn't get much better than this in the regular season. It was just about two months ago that Boston came into New York and swept the Yankees out of first place. Since that series, the Yankees have had the best record in the AL and Boston has had the second best.

In some ways, this series is very similar to an August 2009 series between the Yankees and Red Sox. New York entered that series in first, but they were 0-8 versus Boston. This year's club doesn't have the lead the 2009 edition did coming into this series, but they are 1-8 versus Boston. The criticism that they can't beat Boston has to be ringing in their ears.

We all know what the 2009 club did. Can this club do the same? Assuming Colon and Garcia remain what they have been all year, I like their chances. Both of these teams should easily make the playoffs. Neither one will admit that the AL East crown matters, but it does. Three big games coming up. I can't wait.

UPDATE I find this video hysterical.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Yankees are smart to deploy a six-man rotation right now, but they are wrong to carry 13 pitchers in order to accomplish it.

As good as Phil Hughes looked last night, it's hard to really say he is "cured" until you see him do it a few more times. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see him rise to the challenge and show command and velocity with his fastball, but let's remember that his ERA is still 6.93. Hughes should keep getting the ball, but his rotation spot should not be guaranteed until he repeats the results from last night a few more times.

Ivan Nova has certainly done more than enough to warrant inclusion in the rotation. His overall ERA of 4.01 is not impressive, but consider his monthly numbers. April- 5.82, May-3.90, June-3.58, July (2 starts) 2.25. That's a pretty clear trend of improvement and he clearly deserves to take the ball and start for them. And contrast it with AJ Burnett's numbers this year. April-3.93, May-4.06, June-4.15, July-4.83. Personally, I am more concerned with AJ (what's new?) than Nova, but AJ will get the longer leash thanks to the 2+ years and $40+ million left on his contract. (I don't agree with that, but it is a financial reality and the Yankees are smart enough to know AJ could never emotionally handle a demotion to the bullpen.)

So, keeping Hughes and Nova in the rotation makes a lot of sense to me. It gives the Yankees more time to figure out which one of them can help in the playoffs (Excuse my looking ahead, but the Yanks have a 98.9% chance of making the playoffs according to Baseball Prospectus) and it allows them to use their other pitchers less. That's a big deal for someone like Bartolo who I have continuously pointed out hasn't thrown 100 innings since 2005. (He's at 109 right now) But, Garcia threw only 157 innings last year and less than that in the three previous seasons combined.

And CC Sabathia could use a bit of a breather too. He has 176 innings and has only thrown less than 100 pitches in 1 of his 24 starts this year. If you figure he gets about 10 more starts under a usual rotation and averages his current 7.3 innings per start, he will throw 250 innings- 13 more than last year and 20 more than 2009. Perhaps it is merely a coincidence, but his playoff numbers are bad- 4.66 career ERA- and his one good postseason was 2009 when he "only" threw 230 innings in the regular season. (You could also say his 2001 postseason was good, but it was also one start.) In every other year he has thrown more than 230 and in every other year his postseasons have been mediocre at best. (2010 ERA of 4.5 in ALDS and 6.3 in ALCS) John Flaherty said on YES last night that the Yankees couldn't use a six-man rotation because it would cost CC Sabathia the chance to win games, but isn't the point to win the World Series?

So for all of those reasons, I think a six-man rotation isn't a bad move for the foreseeable future, but the Yankees need to get back down to 12 pitchers. The Yankees have been comfortable in the past using starters in games on their throwing days and they should embrace that concept again. If they need a long reliever, they can just use the starter who would have been pitching that day in relief and figure things out the following day. They have really botched Hector Noesi's development this year, getting him only 55 innings so far between the majors and minors. Sending him back to AAA and letting him stretch out as a starter again would be a good idea. And remember, rosters expand four weeks from tomorrow, so there will be plenty of available arms in the near future.

UPDATE 10:45PM I take back anything remotely nice I said about AJ. What a joke that he couldn't last five in this game.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

August 2nd is a day indelibly marked on my brain because of two events in 1979. The first was my great friend, Chris, breaking his finger playing soccer. The second was the plane crash that killed Thurman Munson. I remember calling Chris to see how his finger was and sharing the news of Munson's death. He didn't believe me.

Munson was only 32 when he died, meaning he would be 64 today. Chris was taken from us a few days short of his 28th birthday and would be 41 today. They were both blessed with many gifts, but cursed by a lack of longevity. One I knew well, one I didn't, but I miss them both terribly.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Read any column judging the winners and losers from the trade deadline and the Yankees will be listed as losers. The popular sentiment is that by failing to do anything at the deadline the Yankees made a huge mistake. I will agree with that opinion if the Yankees fail to use the prospects they kept. But, if they bring some of them up to the majors, the deadline will be anything but a bust.

Start with Jesus Montero. He put up a line of ..271/.346/.514 in July and could be the perfect answer to the Yankees problems at DH or catcher. Russell Martin put up a line of .213/308/.263 in July which sadly was an improvement over his .185/.274/.241 June. Jorge Posada put up a line of .217/.284/.250 in July. Francisco Cervelli has a line of .235/.305/.306 in 2011. The Yankees are almost certainly going to add Montero when the rosters expand, but why wait? Promoting him now makes sense for the current club and the future- it will settle allows Austin Romine to catch at the AAA level.

Next look at Manny Banuelos, on his way to AAA. He is walking too many batters, but his overall numbers are still good. And, he has a 1.24 ERA and 32 K's against lefties. The Yankees have been very, very careful with his innings this year since he only threw 64 last year and his career high is only 109. He has thrown 95 so far this season in 20 starts and you I would expect him to finish the season out of the bullpen to keep his innings down further. If the Yankees want a second lefty in the pen, this is the guy.

And don't forget about guys like Phelps, Warren and Whelan. The Yankees have made the decision to seek help from within. Thankfully, they have a deep pool of talent to choose from.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)