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Tomorrow night at midnight postseason rosters are sort of set.  I say sort of because there is a convenient loophole that teams always exploit. 

The rule is basically that anyone on your active roster plus your DL is eligible for the postseason.  So for the Yankees it is the 25 guys currently in the majors plus Gardner, Wang and Nady.  Now, we all know that no matter what, Wang and Nady won't be healthy for the postseason and that is the loophole.  The Yankees can replace Nady and Wang with anyone in the organization as long as they play the same position.  So, Nady could be replaced by Austin Jackson for example.  

So, with 13 pitchers and 12 hitters, the Yankees can keep the roster as is tomorrow and then use Nady and Gardner's injuries to subtract two pitchers and add two oufielders (with Gardner obviously being one of them)  But, why not give yourself maximum flexibility tomorrow and bring Ramiro Pena back and demote a pitcher?  That would give the Yankees 13 bats and 12 pitchers on the playoff roster, but remember the injuries to Wang, Nady and Gardner mean they could change the roster to contain anywhere from 10-13 pitchers or 12-15 batters- basically a very flexibile situation. 

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Joba pitched an inning more than I thought he would today, but that may have been a function of economy (only 35 pitches) more than anything else.  Unfortunately, the results were not great, but let's see a couple of more "short" turns before we evaluate it.  

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Yankees have amended the "Joba Rules" in a very smart way.  Joba will get the ball every fifth day, but he will be limited in the innings he throws.  His last start will be around six innings so he would be ready to go at full strength if the Yankees make the playoffs. 

I think this is a much better plan that the "your next start will be revealed to you later" plan.  Joba is trying to establish himself in this league and he doesn't need the distraction of wondering when he is getting the ball next.  Now he knows and I think that will help him.

The interesting thing to watch will be how the Yankees limit Joba over the next month.  He has pitched 130 innings so far and if they want to keep him at 160 for the season we can take a pretty good guess and it looks something like this:

August 30th- 2 Innings

September 4th- 2 Innings

September 9th- 2 Innings

September 15th- 2 Innings

September 21st- 3 Innings

September 27th- 3 Innings

October 3rd- 6 Innings 

You would have to assume as things stand that means Chad Gaudin gets the ball after Joba but that could change too.  Now the only question that remains is how will Joba perform under the new rules?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Sadly, Brad Penny really would be an upgrade for the Yankees.  Yes, his numbers are bad.  A 5.61 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP while striking out 6.1 per nine is nothing to write home about.

But then you have to remember that the current fifth starter is Sergio Mitre.  Mitre has a 6.82 ERA, a 1.879 WHIP and has only struck out 5.3 per nine innings.  

Admittedly, when that is your baseline, it is very easy to surpass it.  Penny isn't much, but he is definitely an upgrade over what the Yankees have in the fifth spot of the rotation.  If he clears waivers on Monday you can sign him Tuesday when rosters expand and have another arm at your disposal.   

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

From the department of why wouldn't you do this, the Yankees have claimed the player the Red Sox were trying to trade to the Mets for Billy Wagner.  As a result, Buster Olney speculates that they have made life harder for Boston. 

Again, why wouldn't you do this?  Squeeze your closest divisional rival and tweak your crosstown one at the same time.  Isn't that win-win? 

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fact: A.J. Burnett blew up in his last start throwing to Jorge Posada

Fiction: Posada and Burnett can't work together.

Fact: Before that start, Burnett and Posada had compiled a 4-3 record and an ERA of 3.00 over their past ten starts together.

Fact: Joe Girardi didn't exactly make this better by starting Posada last night making it necessary to start Molina today.

I think what you have are two "opinionated" players in Jorge and A.J. and that means sometimes they wil disagree.  That doesn't mean they cannot work together (see Fact #2) but they might need someone to help them get on the same page.  I don't know if they have found that person yet.  I think the guy who needs to play that role is Girardi, but he seems better at creating controversy (see Fact #3) than stopping it.  He certainly caused more column inches to be wasted on this today by his choice of catchers.  Which leads me to my final fact.

Fact: No matter what you think, Posada would catch AJ in the playoffs.   

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 12:47 PM | Permalink

Joel Sherman wrote an amuisng piece in the Post today about how Yankees' fans are having to dig for things to complain about.  While I agree to most of it, I think he forgot one issue that will be a problem in thr future if it isn't corrected and that is Phil Hughes and his lack of innings. Today is August 25th and so far Hughes has thrown 8 innings in the month.  For the season he has thrown about 90 innings between the majors and minors.

This isn't a problem right now, it is a problem for 2010.  We know the first three rotation spots are going to C.C., A.J. and Joba and I would put it at 60-40 that the Yankees bring Pettitte back.  That leaves one rotation spot and that spot belongs to Hughes.  The problem is Hughes isn't throwing a lot of innings this year and that will impair his ability to throw a lot next year.  

The Yankees need to figure out a way to get more innings from Hughes.  Whether it is spot starting him after rosters expand or bringing him into pitch the 7th and 8th innings of games, they need to get creative.  Otherwise, we will spend all next summer playing the innings limit game again. 

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:09 AM | Permalink

So, do you look at things and say the Yankees have lost nine-of-fifteen to the Red Sox?  Or do you say they have won six-of-seven?  Aren't stats great?

Here's what I am willing to say on August 24th. The Yankees have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Red Sox right now.  In fact, they have a significantly better chance because even if they blow the division they could make it as the wild card, but beyond that who knows.  If these two teams meet in the ALCS I would flip a coin. 

That's a topic for another day.  For now the Yankees passed another test and leave Boston with a 7-1/2 game lead.  38 games to go. 

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Jim Rice was "misquoted"?  That's what we are supposed to believe? 

I wish Rice has just stepped up to the microphone and said something like "I hate the Yankees.  Always have always will, after all I am a Red Sox.  So yeah, I took a shot at Jeter.  I played in the 70's and 80's when we weren't best friends with each other.  The sight of Jeter and Pedroia talking amicably on the field makes me sick."

I would have respected something along those lines.  I would have respected if he has simply said "I apologize to Derek for mentioning him in that quote."  This approach is pretty lame. 

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday was a day I knew I wasn't going to see much baseball ahead of time.  With a bunch of things going on, I couldn't carve out that window between 4pm and 7pm to watch the game.  In fact, I wasn't even able to listen to the game.  So, my first and only encounter with Saturday's game was when I turned on the TV at one point and saw it was 12-0.  Off went the TV and I quickly returned to my labours. 

All I can say is let's hope AJ Burnett doesn't have to pitch in Fenway in the playoffs.  Not sure what his problem is, but he doesn't seem as comfortable there as he was in other uniforms.  Tonight will be an interesting game with both teams pitching their aces and a national TV game.  

Back late today.   

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I kid, I kid, there are still two games to play.  But, in reality the Yankees did what they needed to on Friday with a win.  Now it's a question of will they take the chance they have to really bury Boston these next two days?

Some notes from the game (some which I twittered so apologies if you have seen them)

Pettitte needed to do more, but the Yankees got lucky.

Bruney to Marte was a scary swap, but Marte really did show something there.

It is time to get rid of Mitre.  Especially when you consider that with Damon out early and Pena back in the minors, the Yankees had very little on the bench tonight.  13 pitchers is pointless and they have Gaudin, get rid of Mitre.

The Yankees have another favorable pitching matchup tomorrow, we will see what they do with it. 

Lastly, I think Jim Rice better take a mulligan on these comments.   It is grossly unfair to lump Jeter into a trio of A-Rod and Manny.  I would love to hear his reasoning. 

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)