Changing Priorities

There was a lot to hate about last night's game. Like so many games this season, the Yankees managed to not just lose, but lose ugly, with mental mistakes and failures in big spots. With this loss, the Yankees fall back to a six game deficit in the wild-card race, and I'm about ready to declare their playoff hopes dead. In order to make the playoffs now, the Yankees would have to win their next two games, sweep Boston next month in Fenway, play one game better than the Red Sox in the other 26 games left, and erase the 3.5 game lead that the Twins have. It's a ridiculously tall order made even more ludicrous when you look at the teams' remaining schedules and see that the Yankees play only 15 of their final 31 games at home while the Red Sox play 21.

This is why I think it's time for the Yankees to shift their priorities from a futile attempt to make the playoffs this year to gearing up for next season. The Yankees are going to have a lot of decisions to make this offseason, and they can help themselves in making those decisions by using the next month to evaluate what they can expect from their prospects and young players. For example, this winter the team will need to decide whether to re-sign Bobby Abreu and continue to use an outfield of Nady-Damon-Abreu, or find a replacement. They can make this decision much easier by playing Brett Gardner regularly over the rest of the season, and letting themselves see if he's good enough to be the center fielder next year. If he is, then an outfield of Damon-Gardner-Nady becomes a very attractive option.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but the sooner the Yankees can accept their defeat in this season, the sooner they can start to work towards victory in the next.

Minor League Monday 8/25/08

I didn't have time to put together awards this week, but there are a few stories from the farm that I wanted to share.

• The Yankees' highest and third-highest paid draft picks had auspicious debuts in the Gulf Coast league. Brett Marshall, the sixth round pick who signed for $850,000, pitched three dominant innings in relief, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out four batters. Even better, though, was 27th round pick Garrison Lassiter, who began his professional career with two multi-hit games and went 5 for 11 on the week with a stolen base to boot.
• I may not have any performance awards this week, but I can give Alfredo Aceves a nod for the best quote of the week. In Scranton last night, Aceves faced a Buffalo Bisons lineup which included three rehabbing major leaguers in Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Josh Barfield, two of whom have among the best hitters in the American League over the past few seasons. Aceves acquitted himself well, though, striking out Martinez twice and Hafner once as he pitched six scoreless innings for the win. How did he avoid any anxieties over facing experienced major leaguers? Apparently through ignorance. Aceves, who spent the last six years in Mexico, didn't even recognize any of the players, saying about Hafner "I've seen him before but I don't know where." You can check out the full story over at Chad Jennings' blog.
• In less amusing news, Austin Jackson, who is arguably the Yankees' top prospect, left Friday night's game in Trenton with back stiffness and has been placed on the DL. The move, however, is said to be purely precautionary and Jackson should be back in plenty of time for the first game of the Eastern League playoffs next week.
• On the subject of playoffs, congratulations are in order for the Trenton Thunder and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, who both clinched playoff berths last week. Additionally, Trenton clinched it's third straight divisional title. Considering the amount of shuffling the Yankees have had to do to their minor league rosters, the success of these teams is truly an impressive achievement for the coaches and staff.
• Finally, on last congratulation for pitcher Phil Coke, who was named to the 2008 Eastern League All-Star team. The 25 year-old lefty went 9-4 for the Thunder with a 2.51 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 118.1 innings before being called up to Triple-A earlier this month.
  

On Pavano

We're just a few hours away from game time, and there's been no change announced for today's starter. While a few hours is more than enough time for Carl Pavano to injure himself, it's looking like a safe bet that he'll be taking the mound today. I was considering making some kind of joke here, but upon further review I realized that there was no way I could top Bronx Banter's headline "The Return of Rumpofglassskin", which is my pick for the week's best Pavano joke. Honorable mention, however, must be made for Paul M.'s headline at the Baseball Think Factory "Pavano to pitch Saturday; Apocalypse comes Sunday". If nothing else, the man has provided Yankee fans with some laughs.

Depending on the kindness of strangers

A little over a week ago I said that if the Yankees weren't able to sweep the Royals, they might be done for the season. Well, not only did they fail to sweep the Royals, but they proceeded to lose two out of three against the Blue Jays. So, does that mean that I think the Yankees have no chance of making the playoffs? Surprisingly enough, no.

Make no mistake, the Yankees are in a big hole. Six games is a huge amount of ground to make up with just 35 games remaining. Even worse is the fact that they trail not just the Red Sox, but the Twins by that margin. Thus, even the opportunity presented by playing six games against Boston won't be enough. If they're going to make the playoffs, it won't be enough for the Yankees to play excellent baseball. They're also going to need either the Twins or the White Sox (who currently lead the Twins by just a half a game in the Central Division) to stumble. Thankfully, the Yankees do have four games against Chicago which they can use to help themselves, but in the end they're going to be depending on the performance of others' as much as their own.

Minor League Monday: The 2008 Draft Haul

With the signing deadline now passed, we can close the book on the 2008 draft. At the end of this post, I've put together a complete list of the Yankees' picks along with whether or not they signed and, where possible, the size of their bonus. For those of you who don't want to go through the entire list, here are the highlights:

• As expected, the Yankees weren't able to sign first round pick Gerrit Cole. This is obviously a big disappointment, since Cole has a truly special arm, but it's hard to blame the Yankees for it. Prior to the draft, all indications were that the only obstacle to signing Cole was his high bonus demand, something the Yankees were more than prepared to deal with. However, after he was picked, it appears that Cole and his family had a change of heart, refusing to even meet with the Yankees, and deciding to go to UCLA. On the bright side, the team will now get an extra pick in the first round of next year's draft as compensation.
  
• The Yankees also didn't sign their second round pick, Scott Bittle. This, however, was the team's choice. Apparently team physicians voiced concerns after an examination of Bittle's shoulder, and the team felt that they were better off taking a compensation pick in next year's second round.
• The Yankees did sign supplemental first round pick Jeremy Bleich for $700,000. That's well under the $800,000 slot recommendation made by Major League Baseball, something you don't see the Yankees do very often.
  
• Much more typical for the Yankees was the signing of 27th round pick Garriton Lassiter. A player with top five round talent, Lassiter fell in the draft due to a strong commitment to the University of North Carolina. As they did with sixth and seventh round picks Brett Marshall and Kyle Higashioka, the Yankees were able to lure Lassiter away from college with a big signing bonus. It's a tactic the Yankees have used to great effect before with players like Austin Jackson and Dellin Betances.

Anyway, as promised, here's the full list of draftees:

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School	Status
1	28	Gerrit Cole	RHP	Orange Lutheran HS, CA	Did not sign
1s	44	Jeremy Bleich	LHP	Stanford	$700,000
2	75	Scott Bittle	RHP	Mississippi	Did not sign
3	106	David Adams	2B	Virginia	$333,000
4	140	Corban Joseph	SS	Franklin HS, TN	$207,000
5	170	Chris Smith	OF	Centennial HS, CA	$158,000
6	200	Brett Marshall	RHP	Sterling HS, TX	$850,000
7	230	Kyle Higashioka	C	Edison HS, CA	$500,000
8	260	Dan Brewer	OF	Bradley	$125,000
9	290	Mikey O'Brien	RHP	Hidden Valley HS, VA	$200,000
10	320	D.J. Mitchell	RHP	Clemson	$400,000
11	350	Ray Kruml	OF	South Alabama	Signed
12	380	Luke Greinke	RHP	Auburn	Signed
13	410	Jack Rye	OF	Florida State	Signed
14	440	David Phelps	RHP	Notre Dame	Signed
15	470	Matt Richardson	RHP	Lake Mary HS, FL	Signed
16	500	Luke Anders	1B	Texas A&M	Did not sign
17	530	Addison Maruszak	SS	South Florida	Signed
18	560	Brandon Braboy	RHP	Indianapolis	Signed
19	590	Mitch Abeita	C	Nebraska	Signed
20	620	Pat Venditte	RHP/LHP	Creighton	Signed
21	650	Mitch Delaney	1B	Western Texas JC	Signed
22	680	Cory Arbiso	RHP	Cal State Fullerton	Signed
23	710	Ryan Wilkes	SS	Kentucky	Signed
24	740	Mike Lyon	3B	Northeastern	Signed
25	770	Jeff Nutt	C	Arkansas	Signed
26	800	Blake Monar	LHP	South Spencer HS, IN	Did not sign
27	830	Garrison Lassiter	SS	West Forsyth HS, NC	$675,000
28	860	Chad Gross	OF	Cuesta JC	Signed
29	890	Mike Jones	OF	Arizona State	Signed
30	920	Ben McMahan	C	Bishop Moore HS, FL	Did not sign
31	950	Spencer Lucian	2B	Princeton	Signed
32	980	Andy Suiter	LHP	UC Davis	Did not sign
33	1010	Tommy Baldridge	OF	Coastal Carolina	Signed
34	1040	Brad Rulon	RHP	Georgia Tech	Signed
35	1070	Andrew Shive	RHP	Azusa Pacific, CA	Signed
36	1100	Chris Dwyer	LHP	Salisbury School, CT	Did not sign
37	1130	Justin Harper	RHP	Yavapai JC	Did not sign
38	1160	Clay Caulfield	RHP	College of Charleston	Did not sign
39	1190	Erik Lovett	1B	Mount Olive, NC	Signed
40	1220	Sam Mende	SS	Clearwater Central Catholic HS, FL	Did not sign
41	1250	Mykal Stokes	OF	Tustin HS, CA	Did not sign
42	1280	Clint Preisendorfer	LHP	San Diego Christian	Signed
43	1310	Matt Summers	RHP	Chaparral HS, AZ	Did not sign
44	1339	Evan Ocheltree	OF	Wake Forest	Did not sign
45	1367	Creede Simpson	SS	Auburn HS, AL	Did not sign
46	1394	Matt Veltmann	RHP	San Diego CC	Did not sign
47	1421	Ryan Flannery	RHP	Fairleigh Dickinson, NJ	Signed
48	1448	Rob Scahill	RHP	Bradley	Did not sign
49	1475	John Folino	RHP	Connecticut	Did not sign
50	1502	Nik Turley	LHP	Harvard-Westlake School, CA	Signed

Yankees' First Round Pick Heading for UCLA

We all knew that the Yankees' first round pick, Gerrit Cole, was going to be a difficult player to sign. The combination of Cole's fantastic talent and his advisor Scott Boras made it seem like the Yankees would have to pay top dollar. Now, however, the New York Times is reporting that Cole has decided to attend UCLA regardless of how much money the Yankees offer. This is surprising and disappointing, but you have to respect his decision. On the bright side, the Yankees will now receive an extra first round pick in the 2009 draft as compensation. We can only hope that they put it to good use.

Meanwhile, with the deadline just hours away, there's no news on the rest of the Yankees' unsigned picks. I fully expect the team to sign supplemental first round pick Jeremy Bleich, but health issues have clouded the status of second-round pick Scott Bittle. It's entirely possible that the Yankees will let him go and accept another compensatory pick. After those first three picks, the Yankees have signed most of the noteworthy players that they picked. Those that remain unsigned are, by and large, high schoolers who were already known to have strong college commitments, so there really aren't any surprises. I'll give a full rundown of the draft haul tomorrow, after the signing deadline has passed.

You Ain't Got No Alibi

There's no polite way of putting this; the Yankees sucked on this ten game road trip. It wasn't just that they lost seven games, but that they lost while playing some ugly baseball. They wasted opportunities at the plate, stranded baserunners, gave up leads on the mound, mishandled balls in the field, and made some maddeningly illogical managerial decisions. Never before have I been so jealous of people who go to sleep too early to watch games on the west coast.

All we can do now, though, is look to the future. The Yankees are now 64-57, putting them nine games behind Tampa Bay in the division, and six games behind Boston in the wild card race. When all is said and done, I think it'll take 98 wins to take the division title and 94 wins to take the wild card spot. With only 41 games left, that means the Yankees need to go 30-11 in order to make the playoffs, which is obviously a very tall order. Even worse, of those 41 games, 22 are on the road, and only 13 are against losing teams. I'm not quite ready to say the Yankees are done, but if they can't sweep this weekend's series against the royals, it'll probably be time to get the fork out.

Don't Give Up on Kennedy

A lot of people are down on Ian Kennedy right now, and I can understand why. His performance yesterday was awful, and his comments after the game were pretty bad as well. However, it's way too early to write him off as a failed prospect. The problem is that people look at Kennedy as a guy who has failed as a major leaguer, and not as a guy who just isn't ready yet.

The fault, of course, lies with the Yankees, who pushed Kennedy into the majors far too quickly. Kennedy was drafted in 2006, and didn't sign until the middle of August. Over the next year he rocketed up the minors, pitching in five different leagues before making his major league debut on September 1, 2007. Even though he performed well, it's now obvious that he missed out on the education the minor leagues can provide.

Unfortunately, the minor league season ends in a few weeks, but the Yankees need to take advantage what time is left and send Kennedy back to Scranton. Once there, he's got to work on learning how to be a major league starter, which is a different task than just getting guys out. For example, he might face a batter who he could get out with a curveball out of the strikezone, but if that's a pitch a major league hitter wouldn't swing at, then he shouldn't throw it. Instead, he needs to try and make the kinds of pitches that would get a major leaguer out. Doing so might lead to some mistakes and some extra runs, but those are the kinds of learning experiences a player is supposed to get in the minor leagues, and until Kennedy gets them, you can't just write him off.

Translating

If you were reading, watching, or listening to the news, you might think that you learned new information about Joba Chamberlain's injury yesterday. You are, however, most likely mistaken about that. Don't feel bad, though, as there are many people who mistook the Yankees' announcement that Chamberlain has "rotator cuff tendinitis," for actual information, since it sounds like a real diagnosis. However, that "diagnosis" is based on the MRI Chamberlain had a couple of days ago, and there's no way to see tendinitis on an MRI. Thus, this diagnosis can't be anything but a guess. Granted, it's an educated guess made by two highly regarded physicians, but it's not terribly different from what was guessed when Chamberlain left Monday's game.

That said, there is a little bit of information to be deduced from this announcement. Even though the Yankees have been notoriously misleading when talking about injuries, it's reasonable to assume that the Yankees wouldn't make this announcement if doctors had seen anything on the MRI. That means that Chamberlain almost certainly doesn't have a full thickness tear in his rotator cuff, which is good news. He could still have a partial thickness tear, the aforementioned tendinitis, or something else entirely. Until he actually tests the injury by throwing a ball, there's no way to know what it is or when he'll be back with the Yankees.

When it Rains

Last night was another of far too many nights this season where everything went wrong for the Yankees. It started out well enough, as the team took an early three run lead, and Joba Chamberlain looked like his usual dominant self for three innings. He then proceeded to give up five runs before having to exit the game in the fifth with a sore shoulder, leaving the Yankees down by one run and everyone tremendously worried about his health. Fortunately Edwar Ramirez, and Brian Bruney managed to hold the Rangers scoreless long enough for AL Player of the Week Xavier Nady to tie it with a solo home run in the top of the eighth.

Then came Damaso Marte. Brought in with one out in the bottom of the eighth to face lefties David Murphy and Chris Davis, Marte did well enough in keeping the game tied into the ninth. Indeed, he pitched well enough that I didn't really have a problem when Joe Girardi sent him back out in the ninth to face pinch hitter Milton Bradley. I did, however, have a problem when, after Marte walked Bradley, Girardi left him in to face the top of the Rangers' lineup, which starts with three right handers. While Marte managed to get two of those three out, he walked the other and proceeded to walk Josh Hamilton to load the bases with two out and a right hander at the plate in Marlon Byrd. At this point, Marte had had thrown 41 pitches, more than he had thrown in a game since May of last year, so I was relieved when I saw a figure emerging from the dugout.

That relief soon turned to shock as I saw that the figure was Dave Eiland coming out to talk to Marte, rather than Joe Girardi coming out to bring in a new pitcher. Granted, the bullpen was short staffed, with Mariano Rivera unavailable because of back spasms, Jose Veras having pitched two days in a row, and Dan Giese having thrown three innings the day before, but David Robertson was up and ready to go. I've generally been a fan of Girardi this year, but stuff like this drives me crazy.

Bizarro World

Deadline trades in baseball tend to work in a predictable way; contending teams pick up players that will help them over the final few months of the season from non-contending teams, who get players that will help them become contenders in future seasons. There are exceptions, such as today's trade between the Yankees and the Tigers, where two contenders picked up players that will help over the final few months of the season, but those exceptions are usually variations on that central theme. Every once in a while, however, there's a deal which makes absolutely no sense, and the Yankees' second trade of the day fits that bill perfectly.

The Yankees, a contending team, sent LaTroy Hawkins to the Astros, who are 13.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central and 9.5 games behind Milwaukee for the wild card, and received Matt Cusick in return. Hawkins, as we all know, is a middle reliever who has followed a good year in Colorado with a bad one in New York, but could turn it around with a change of scenery. Cusick, meanwhile, is a second base prospect who doesn't have a lot of upside, but has a chance of becoming a pretty good player. In other words, this deal has a contender sending short term help to a non-contender in exchange for a prospect. To put it more succinctly, this deal is a complete inversion of reality as we know it.

Don't get me wrong, though, as I'm not knocking this trade. As a Yankee fan, I'm thrilled by it. Hawkins, after all, was designated for assignment following the acquisition of Damaso Marte, and I think it's something of a minor miracle that Brian Cashman was able to trade him for anything of value, let alone a prospect with even an outside chance of making the majors. Granted, the deal does include cash to pay Hawkins for the rest of the season, but that's money the Yankees were on the hook for anyway.

That said, it's a very strange deal, and I've got no idea what could possibly make Houston GM Ed Wade think that it was a good idea for him to make it. After all, the only reason he could have is that he thinks his team is one middle reliever away from getting to the playoffs. To me, that's a crazy notion, but if it is the case then I'd like to talk to him about a bridge I've got for sale.

Happy to Help

Just a few days after I suggest that Kyle Farnsworth is expendable, the Yankees send him off to Detroit for Ivan Rodriguez. Obviously, the Brian Cashman has been paying attention to my very sage advice. Except, of course, my suggestion about Farnsworth was preceded by my saying that there was no way to acquire a catcher better than Jose Molina. This, I suppose, is why Cashman makes several million more in salary than I do.

Anyway, this is a fantastic deal for the Yankees, who make a major upgrade at catcher without giving up anything that they'll miss, and not a bad one for the Tigers. In fact, the only people who come out badly in this deal are the cardiologists of the greater New York area, who will dearly miss Kyle Farnsworth and the coronaries he caused.

Yanks trade for Marte and Nady

It's not official yet, but from what I've been able to gather from several sources is that the Yankees have picked up lefthanded reliever Damaso Marte and outfielder Xavier Nady for pitchers Ross Ohlendorf, George Kontos, Phil Coke and outfielder Jose Tabata.

I'll give a more detailed analysis after the details have been confirmed, but my initial reaction is that it's a great trade for the Yankees. Marte and Nady are both good players who fit the Yankees' needs and are under contract for next season as well. Meanwhile, of the four prospects the Yankees gave up, only Tabata has the potential to be a real star, and he's had many personal issues and injury problems which have tempered enthusiasm for his future.

Update 11:27AM:It turns out that the trade is actually for Tabata, Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutchen. This makes the price slightly higher, as Karstens and McCutchen are more ready to contribute at the major league level than Kontos or Coke, the difference is very small. In fact, I'm tempted to say that it's a better price for the Yankees, as Kontos has the highest ceiling of the four, and Coke is the only lefthander. Considering how deep the Yankee farm system is in righthanded pitching, the loss of two guys that profile as back of the rotation types isn't a big deal.

Regardless, this is a great deal for the Yankees filling two of their four big holes. Now Brian Cashman faces the task of finding a better fifth starter than Sidney Ponson and a better catcher than Jose Molina without hurting the team in the long-term. As I've said before, I doubt that the latter is possible, but the former should be.

Right now the focus is on Jarrod Washburn, but I've got another idea if that falls through. With the acquisition of Marte, the dominating performances of Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and David Robertson, and the impending returns of Brian Bruney and Chris Britton, I think Kyle Farnsworth might be expendable. Rather than looking at teams that are out of contention and would want prospects in a trade, why not look at a contender like the Cubs, who have Rich Hill toiling away in the minors?

Oh Rickey

Yesterday, the Yankees announced the list of former players who will be attending Old Timer's Day on August 2nd. Since this is the last such event in Yankee Stadium, it's a long list, but one player really stuck out to me, as I think that he could become a problem: Rickey Henderson. I hope that the Yankees have made it clear to Mr. Henderson that he's supposed to be showing up to play for one of the Old Timer's teams, and not for the Yankees themselves. While you don't usually have problems with 49 year-old men showing up to play for a Major League team, with Rickey you never know. Then again, considering the Yankees' current outfield situation, that might not be such a bad thing.

Jorge jeading back to the DL

By now, I'm sure you've all heard the news that Jorge Posada is heading back to the DL, and there's a strong possibility that he won't be back until next season. Posada is to have an MRI today to help decide whether he should have season-ending surgery now in order to make sure he's ready for next year, or play through the injury and finish out the season. Personally, I'm hoping that he chooses the latter. It's far more important for the Yankees to make sure that they have Jorge Posada the borderline Hall-of-Famer for the next few years than it is for them to try and have Jorge Posada the catcher who can't throw for the rest of the season.

Assuming that Posada does opt for the surgery, the question the Yankees must now answer is whether they can do better than Jose Molina at catcher. The short answer is probably not. The long answer is that good catchers are hard to find, and the names that are currently being floated as possible trade candidates, like Yorvit Torrealba and Paul Lo Duca, aren't any better than the defensively great and offensively terrible Molina. Right now, the only catcher who might be available and might be an upgrade over Molina is Rangers' prospect Taylor Teagarden.

Teagarden is a very good defensive catcher who has good power and plate discipline, but struggles to make contact. At worst, he'd be Molina's equal, and he has the potential to be much better. However, Teagarden's availability depends on whether or not Texas believes that either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Maximiliano Ramirez is a long term solution at catcher. Additionally, a prospect of Teagarden's caliber wouldn't come cheap, and considering the Yankees' weak bargaining position, they'd have to give up a lot. In other words, I wouldn't hold my breath for this deal to happen.

Hear no Evil

You know, as long as I'm asking for favors from people who probably don't read this blog, here's another. I don't normally bother writing about players' personal lives (as shown by my non-existent coverage of A-Rod's divorce), because I generally don't care. However, this story in the New York Post about Joba Chamberlain dancing on the tables at MLB.com's 33 Club party concerned me.

Now, I can't begrudge Joba for having his fun. He's certainly earned it, and I don't think it's anyone's place to tell him what to do in his free time. However, I can't stop imagining him falling off a table and injuring himself. As I said, I don't think anyone has the right to ask Joba to stop dancing, but I would like to ask the New York Post, or anyone else, not to tell me about it. I think it's best for everyone.

Picking Nits

It was most certainly a good day for the Yankees. New acquisition Richie Sexson made an immediate contribution by knocking in the Yankees first run, and the rest of the team followed his lead by knocking six runs off of Greg Smith on their way to a 7-1 win. Meanwhile, on the mound, Mike Mussina continued to baffle the the opposition, giving up just one run in six innings, and the bullpen work of David Robertson, Edwar Ramirez and LaTroy Hawkins was absolutely dominant, striking out six in just three innings of work. On a day like this, complaining might seem a little petty, but Brett Gardner managed to pick at one of my pet peeves.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gardner attempted to bunt for a base hit, and was just barely out as he slid headfirst into the base. It's that last part that gets me. Sliding into first is one of those things that drives me crazy, because it doesn't get you to the base any faster, and you run the risk of injuring yourself. Brett, I implore you, don't do that again.

Remembering Murcer

As we wait for baseball to start again, I thought I'd share a great little story with you. Steven Goldman is one of the best writers covering the Yankees, and his post on Monday about Bobby Murcer brought a tear to my eye. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to check it out.

Bringing the Thunder

I don't like the home run derby. It's not that I'm opposed to the concept, mind you. I actually think it's a good idea, but whenever I watch it I find myself incredibly bored by it. There's obviously no interest in the outcome, and watching a glorified batting practice while the three or four hundred announcers and analysts ESPN has covering it try to squeeze in as many product placements as possible just isn't that enjoyable for me. That said, I needed to balance my checkbook last night, so I had the TV on in the background. If nothing else, I figured, the small army of children they have shagging flies are kind of amusing.

Thank goodness for those kids, because otherwise I might have missed Josh Hamilton put on a show that people will be talking about for a long time. Twenty-eight home runs, hit into parts of Yankee Stadium that have only been hit a handful of times before. It was an epic performance, and if you missed it you should definitely check it out here.

I can only hope that something similar manages to save the All-Star Game, another event which I like in theory but manages to have all the fun sucked out of it by Major League Baseball and Fox.

Feeling the Burn(ett)

After an oh so brief respite, the Yankees returned to their offensive futility this afternoon as they were thoroughly dominated by AJ Burnett. For many people, though, this performance was more than just another bad day for the Yankee offense; it was also a look at a potential trade target.

Obviously, what we saw out of Burnett was good, even taking into account the slumping ways of the team he was facing. To me, it confirmed what I had suspected, that Burnett is pitching better than his 4.96 ERA would have you think. Taking a closer look at his stats this year, you see that he's still striking guys out (in fact, he leads the league), and isn't allowing any more walks and home runs than he has in the past. The only big difference has been that more of the balls that have been put into play against him are going for hits rather than walks. At .337, his batting average on balls in play (or BABIP) this season is far higher than it has been over his career. That suggests that he's either been a victim of bad luck or bad defense (or both). This means that his perceived value might be less than his actual value, and the Yankees could get themselves a bargain by taking advantage of that.

That said, there's another factor to consider with Burnett: his contract. Burnett is signed for two more years and is owed $24 million. This would be a good deal for a pitcher with his talent, except that Burnett has only managed to remain healthy for only three out of his eight full seasons in the majors, so it's a safe bet that he'll have problems in the future. When you consider the plethora of young pitching talent the Yankees have in their system and the excellent pool of free agent pitchers available after this season, it's easy to see how Burnett could easily turn from an asset to an albatross in a few months.

Bobby Murcer, 1946-2008

Bobby Murcer passed away earlier today. I never saw him play, as I was only two years old when he retired, and I certainly never met him, so I'll leave the task of paying tribute to him as a player and as a person to those who did. Instead, I'm going to spend a few moments talking about Bobby Murcer as I knew him; an announcer.

My first memories of Murcer are of the guy who would occasionally talk about the game I was watching while Phil Rizzuto was talking about something else entirely, and who would then be left alone when Rizzuto would suddenly head home before the game was over. As entertaining as Rizzuto was, I can't imagine it was an easy job for Murcer to be the straight man, but he did it well.

It was after Rizzuto retired, I think, that Murcer really came into his own as a broadcaster. There are plenty of ex-players out there who bring experise and love for the game to the broadcast booth, but there aren't many who were as likable as Murcer. His midwestern drawl and genial manner made him a great storyteller; the perfect company for a summer afternoon. He worked well with whoever was in the booth with him, no mean feat when you consider the revolving cast of thousands that make up the YES Network's announcing teams, but he was especially good when paired with Ken Singleton. Too often, the sportscaster's version of humor involves a barrage of self-aggrandizing catchphrases, but the team of Murcer and Singleton were genuinely funny, and were one of the few that actually made me laugh.

When measured against the accomplishments that his family, friends and colleagues can attest to it's a small thing, but I truly enjoyed Murcer as an announcer, and I'll miss him.

An Epic Battle

I've been having some technical difficulties lately, which have kept all my posts from the past two weeks from actually appearing on the site. I've got it sorted out now, so I'll be posting some of the relevant stuff that was lost over the next few days. Today, however, I want to talk about last night's game between the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones. It might not be as important as the Yankees' seven game winning streak or Chien-Ming Wang's injury, but it's just too cool of a story to ignore.

You see, last night marked the professional debut of Pat Venditte, a reliever drafted by the Yankees in the 20th round out of Creighton University. Venditte, of course, is the pitcher who gained national attention last year for his ability to pitch with either arm. The advantage of being able to pitch right-handed to a right-handed batter and left-handed to a left-handed batter is obvious, but it raises the question of how to deal with switch-hitters. In college this question was answered by NCAA rules, which stated that Venditte had to declare which arm he was going to use before the first pitch. Thus, Venditte would have to give up his advantage and settle for forcing switch-hitters to hit from their weaker side. However, no such rule in professional baseball, so the question arises again: What happens when a switch-pitcher faces a switch-hitter?

Well, in the ninth inning of last night's game, the answer was "hilarity". After facing the first three batters of the inning as a right-hander, Venditte saw Cyclones DH Ralph Henriquez taking warm up swings left-handed and switched his custom made glove to the other hand. Seeing that he was now facing a lefty, the switch-hitting Henriquez stepped to the plate as a right-hander. Venditte then proceeded to switch his glove back. Henriquez responded by crossing over to the other side of the plate. The switch-pitcher and switch-hitter continued to dance like this, neither player willing to give up his advantage in a hilarious game of chicken. Finally, after discussions with the players and managers, the umpires ruled Henriquez had to bat right-handed and Venditte proceeded to strike him out as a right-hander. You can watch the whole eight-minute affair here.

There's still no word on how this will be handled in the future. There's no rule dealing with this situation in the Major League Baseball rulebook (which also governs the Minor Leagues), and the Professional Baseball Umpire Corporation manual only says "In the rare occasion of an ambidextrous pitcher, pitcher and batter may change positions one time per at-bat.", which isn't that helpful. Officials from MLB and PBUC are still figuring things out, but while they do I've got my own suggestion. As far as I can tell, there's no rule saying that a player has to use a glove at all. Since the glove is the only sign a hitter has of what arm Venditte will use before stepping into the batter's box, maybe he should just leave it in the dugout. That way, batters won't know where the ball will be coming from until Venditte is set to throw. That surprise could be an even bigger advantage than what he's already got. Plus, it'd be very, very cool.

Draft Day 1, Part 2

With their third pick of the draft, the Yankees have taken Scott Bittle, the closer for the Ole Miss Rebels. Bittle doesn't have classic closer stuff, as his fastball sits around 90mph, but he dominated hitters with a devastating cutter, striking out 130 in just 70 innings. Don't, however, make the mistake of comparing him to any other closers who rely on a devastating cut fastball. Unlike Mariano Rivera, Bittle doesn't break 90mph with his cutter, and it's more of a swing and miss pitch than a breaker of bats. To me, it seems like a kind of high pick for someone whose ceiling is as a setup man. I'd rather have seen them take Preston Paramore, the catcher for the Arizona State Sun Devils who walks more than he strikes out and is very good defensively.

Update 7:25PM:I'm much happier with the next pick, David Adams. The second baseman for the University of Virgina Caviliers, Adams began the year as a possible first round pick, but had a disappointing season where he was merely good and not the star he was in his previous two seasons. If he can bounce back to his earlier form, he'll be a steal in the third round.

Update 7:59PM:We're reaching the limits of my knowledge, but what little I know of the Yankees' fourth round pick, Corban Joseph, is good. A shortstop out of Franklin High School in Tennessee, Joseph possesses a short lefthanded swing and uses the whole field. He has the ability to stay at shortstop, though he probably won't be a gold glover, and is only an average runner. It sounds like a solid pick to me.

And I think that's it for me tonight. I'll be back tomorrow with a review of the entire draft.

Live Blogging 6/5/07, Draft Day Special

I'm sorry about the recent lack of posts, but I've been feeling under the weather lately. I thought I'd make up for it by doing a double live blog, covering both today's game and the First-Year Player Draft, which will commence at 2pm. So, without further ado, here are your starting lineups:

Yankees

1. Johnny Damon - DH
2. Derek Jeter - SS
3. Bobby Abreu - RF
4. Alex Rodriguez - 3B
5. Hideki Matsui - LF
6. Jorge Posada - C
7. Robinson Cano - 2B
8. Wilson Betemit - 1B
9. Melky Cabrera - CF

Pitcher: Chien-Ming Wang

Blue Jays

1. Shannon Stewart - LF
2. David Eckstein - SS
3. Alexis Rios - CF
4. Scott Rolen - 3B
5. Matt Stairs - DH
6. Lyle Overbay - 1B
7. Kevin Mench - RF
8. Rod Barajas - C
9. Joe Inglett - 2b

Pitcher: Dustin McGowan

Obviously, the big story of the game is the return of Jorge Posada. I'd be very surprised if the Blue Jays don't test his shoulder.

Update 1:13PM:Well, Toronto's not going to be able to test Posada's shoulder like that, as it take Wang only ten pitches to send the first three batters back to the dugout. He's definitely got his best sinker today, and just as importantly, he's throwing it for strikes at the knees.

Update 1:25PM:Considering how many baserunners they've stranded this season, you've got to be happy with the Yankees getting two runs here. Still, after a leadoff walk followed by a double, I kind of hoped for a bigger inning.

Update 1:30PM:If, by the way, you're someplace where you can't watch the game on TV, you can watch the draft online here. Right now the various teams' delegations are being introduced. The Yankees, I believe, will be represented by Tino Martinez.

Update 1:35PM:Wow. Posada wastes absolutely no time as he rips the first pitch he sees into right field for a single. Even if baserunners go wild against him, his bat is going to be a major boost.

Update 1:48PM:MLB.com is reporting that Tampa Bay will select Tim Beckham, a high-school shortstop from Georgia, with the first pick. Obviously, Beckham wasn't a player the Yankees were watching, as he was always going to be taken well before their turn came around. As they've done in recent years, I think the Yankees will be focusing on players who other teams might pass on because they'll be expensive to sign. Unfortunately, more and more teams are willing to shell out big money for their big draft picks, so the Yankees may not be able to do that in the first round. That said, there is a chance that either first baseman Eric Hosmer or shortstop Casey Kelly, both high-schoolers out of Florida with top 10 talent, will be available, as Hosmer is a Scott Boras Client and Kelly has a strong commitment to the University of Tennessee as quarterback as well as a baseball player.

Update 2:01PM:Wang manages to wriggle out of trouble thanks to a nice play by the Captain, but he's really got to get that sinker back into the strike zone or this game is going to get ugly.

Update 2:17PM:Well, the draft has officially started and the Rays, annoyingly, took all five minutes to make the pick they knew they were going to make all day. Congratulations to Tim Beckham.

Update 2:18PM:Matt Stairs hit a sky-high fly ball that very slowly drifted over right field. It looked like an easy out right until it landed on top of the fence for a two-run home run. That might have been the laziest home run I've ever seen.

Update 2:28PM:So much for Eric Hosmer, who was just taken by the Royals with the third pick. As I said, more and more teams are becoming willing to pay big money to their high draft picks, and Kansas City is a perfect example. That said, the Yankees can still flex their financial muscles in the later rounds, as they've done in recent years with players like Austin Jackson and Dellin Betances, two players who other teams felt were too expensive to sign away from college.

Update 2:38PM:What a horrible error by Melky Cabrera. He completely missed an easy fly ball that could've resulted in a double play and the end of the inning. Instead, the ball bouces off his glove, a run scores and there's two men on with one out.

Update 2:44PM:That'll do it for Wang. who leaves with the Yankees down 7-2. Obviously Melky's error hurt him, but he wasn't doing well to begin with. If anyone knows where his command went, I'm sure he'd like it back.

Update 2:49PM:Prior to this year, Chien-Ming Wang gave up 2.41 walks per nine innings. Over the past month, that number is at 5.88. I'm not sure what the problem is, but the Yankees need to figure it out fast.

Update 3:04PM:Now that's dissappointing. Bases loaded with no one out and all Abreu, Rodriguez and Matsui can muster is two runs off of a ground ball and a sacrifice fly? That's a huge waste of an opportunity to get back in this game.

Update 3:08PM:There aren't many times when I'm happy to see LaTroy Hawkins, but this is one of them. Hopefully this means that Joe Girardi realizes that Ross Ohlendorf is only effective as a short reliever.

Update 3:35PM:Wilson Betemit doesn't have the bat to be an everyday first baseman, and I can understand why people might be upset to see him in the lineup instead of Jason Giambi for the second straight game, but he's still a valuable player. There simply aren't many guys with that kind of power that can play every infield position.

Update 3:50PM:How is it that Jose Veras managed to jump ahead of Chris Britton in the bullpen? He did a nice job bailing out Hawkins here, but his stuff doesn't really seem special, and Britton is the one with a track record of success in the majors.

Update 3:55PM:Over at the draft, Casey Kelly is still available, as is Christian Friedrich, a lefty from Eastern Kentucky who would be a real coup for the Yankees.

Update 4:07PM:The Cubs, Mariners and Tigers just took three college relievers in a row, which I think is good news for the Yankees, since I doubt that they were interested in any of them.

Update 4:10PM:Well, Brad Wilkerson provides the first test of Posada's shoulder, and it doesn't go so well. Wilkerson's jump was too good for anyone to throw him out, but Posada's throw was way off target, and only a leap by Robinson Cano saved it from heading into the outfield.

Update 4:23PM:Just three picks left before it's the Yankees' turn, and there's still quite a few interesting players still left. Aside from the aforementioned Casey Kelly and Christian Friedrich, there's Tulane ace Shooter Hunt and high-school righties Gerrit Cole and Tim Melville. All of these would be strong picks, so the Yankees have to be feeling pretty good right now.

Update 4:28PM:I understand the impulse to have Robinson Cano bunt here, but considering how bad he looked trying it, you've got to question the move. Bunting is a skill, and a manager should know which of his players has it and which don't.

Update 4:37PM:Finally, the Yankees turn has come. Christian Friederich is gone, but there's still plenty of good players that have fallen. So many, in fact, that the Yankees really need to base their decision as much on what players might fall to their next pick at number 44 as on their talent.

Update 4:45PM:The Yankees take Gerrit Cole, a right handed pitcher from Lutheran High School in Orange, CA. The folks on ESPN are comparing him to Phil Hughes, based largely on the fact that he's considered the best pitching prospect from southern California since Hughes. Cole, however, is a very different kind of pitcher. Hughes is all about command, while Cole is all about power, throwing his fastball consistently from 94-96mph and occasionally hitting 98mph. However, even though he's got more velocity, Cole's command is erratic, and his mechanics make some scouts worry about the possibility of injury. If the Yankees can improve upon those weaknesses, he's got potential as either an ace starter or closer. It's exactly the kind of high risk, high reward pick the Yankees have been making over the past few years, and it's a good strategy for them.

Update 4:56PM:Meanwhile, back at the game, the Yankees wasted their opportunities to take the lead in the eighth, and now find themselves down to their last out with Matsui at the plate representing the tying run. He's been pretty bad today, as the only starter without a hit, but there aren't many hitters I'd rather see in the clutch.

Update 5:00PM:And that would be why. Now it's a question of whether Jason Giambi's moustache can overcome the gimpiness of Jason Giambi's foot.

Update 5:02PM:The Moustache delivers! A walk off, pinch-hit home run into the upper deck in left field, and that's the game.

Update 5:17PM:The first round of the draft is over, and with it goes ESPN's coverage, but MLB.com will be showing the rest, which is going to continue until 9PM today. The Yankees next pick is in the supplemental first round, which they recieved as compensation for losing Luis Vizcaino to the Rockies. So far, two of the players who I had hoped would fall to the Yankees, Casey Kelly and Shooter Hunt, have been taken by Boston and Minnesota respectively.

Update 5:27PM:And the Yankees surprise me greatly by taking Jeremy Bleich, a lefty from Stanford that most people saw as a third or fourth round pick. It's especially surprising since Tim Melville, a right hander from Missouri has fallen from his expected mid-first round status because of the money he's asking for. I guess the team didn't want to take two high school pitchers in a row and went for some polish instead. Anyway, Bleich is a pretty classic lefty who throws his fastball in the 88-91mph range and complements it with a good curveball and changeup. At best he's a middle of the rotation starter, and it won't take him long to develop.

Update 5:42PM:With the end of the first round, there'll be a break till 6:15PM, so I'm going to wrap up this post and start a new one when the Yankees make their next pick at number 75.

Links

On Monday I promised to share any further information I could dig up on Alfredo Aceves, the righthanded pitcher who has been so successful for the Tampa Yankees and Trenton Thunder. Well, Mike Ashmore of the Hunterdon County Democrat sat down with Aceves for a short chat which you can read over at his blog. It's a short interview, as Aceves' English isn't great, but it does provide some insight into where he came from and why he didn't pitch in the US until he was 25.

As long as I'm linking to other blogs, now is as good a time as any to point out that I've added a small list of non-Yankee baseball blogs on the right. The first is Warning Track Power, written by fellow Poughkeepsie Journal blogger Matt B. If you're interested in keeping up with the Mets, or with Willie Randolph (one of my favorite Yankees as a child), I reccomend you check it out.

If, on the other hand, you're interested in an experience that's almost the polar opposite of being a Yankee fan, I suggest reading Rany on the Royals. Baseball Prospectus writer and dermatologist Rany Jazayerli is always entertaining as he shares the "painful, humiliating, soul-sucking" experience of rooting for the Royals.

Finally, for a look into the inner workings of a Major League front office, head over to It Might Be Dangerous... You Go First. Paul DePodesta, former General Manager of the Dodgers and current Special Assistant for Baseball Operations for the Padres, doesn't give up any secrets on his blog, but he does provide a fascinating look at how decisions get made in baseball. It's an especially interesting time to be reading as DePodesta and the Padres ready themselves for the draft next week.

The Silver Lining

I hate to say I told you so, but after his strong start against the Orioles last week, I wrote that Ian Kennedy couldn't repeat that success if he continued to rely heavily on his fastball and didn't throw more breaking balls for strikes. On Thursday, Kennedy started the game by throwing thirteen fastballs and just four breaking balls to the first five batters, and none of those breaking balls were in the strike zone. There's one event in baseball where a hitter doesn't have to worry about breaking balls and can wait for a 90mph fastball to hit. It's called the home run derby, and the Orioles proceeded to hold their own as Kevin Millar and Ramon Hernandez knocked back to back homers to give Baltimore a three run lead.

Thankfully, those two home runs seemed to help Kennedy realize that, as he proceeded to throw fifteen breaking balls in his next thirty-one pitches, seven of which seemed to be in the strike zone. By keeping the hitters off balance, he proceeded to cruise through the rest of the second inning, as well as the third, with the only damage coming thanks to errors and passed balls.

Of course in keeping with this season's theme, Kennedy followed this success with an injury, but at least he's given us reason to be optimistic about his return.

Minor League Monday 5/26/08

For some reason, my Minor League Monday post from last week seems to never have been posted. Rather than waste some perfectly good writing, I'm going to present the players of the each past two weeks this time around.

Hitter of the Week 5/12-5/18 - Juan Miranda, 1B, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple A):

A Cuban defector, Miranda didn't make his American debut until last season, when he was already 24 years old. He's quickly made up for the lost time, however, climbing the organizational ladder to Triple A in just one season, where he's had encouraging early success. A classic slugger, Miranda has a patient approach at the plate, waiting for a pitch upon which he can unleash his light tower power. He returned to the Scranton Yankees on the 12th after losing a couple of weeks to a shoulder injury and promptly hit a home run and drew a walk. Overall he hit .294/.478/.706 on the week with two home runs and six walks.

Unfortunately, once that week was up he proceeded to head back to the disabled list, having reaggravated his shoulder injury. If he can come back from the injury and remain healthy, Miranda should be in line to replace Jason Giambi next year. However, Miranda has huge problems against lefties putting up a .393 OPS versus a 1.013 OPS against righties, so if he did take Giambi's place he would almost certainly need a platoon partner.

Pitcher of the Week 5/12-5/18 - Dellin Betances, RHP, Charleston Riverdogs (Single A):

There might not be a more exciting pitcher in the Yankees' system than Betances. Standing 6'8" and throwing in the mid to upper 90s, his stuff and potential is undeniable. In fact, I think that even at this early stage in his development, major leaguers would have a hard time getting hits off of him. The problem is that those major leaguers probably wouldn't bother swinging, since Betances often doesn't know where the ball is going when it leaves his hand. His May 16th start is a good example of this, as he no-hit the Asheville Tourists for six innings, but gave up a run thanks to a wild pitch. At 20 years old, he's still got time to learn command, and if he does, he'll be a real force to reckon with.

Hitter of the Week 5/19-5/25 - Austin Jackson, CF, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

The year's first repeat MLM, Action Jackson had a very strong week highlighted by a seven RBI game on Wednesday in Reading. There's very little I can add to that, as the numbers speak for themselves. In six games last week he hit .333/.467/.750 with two home runs, a triple, two doubles, six walks, and a stolen base to boot. In other words, he hit for average and power, showed patience at the plate, and speed on the basepaths. Add to that good range in center field and a solid arm, and you've pretty much got the whole package. Obviously he has to show that he can perform over the course of a full season, and do the same in Triple A, but don't be surprised if he's fighting for a starting job with the Yankees come spring training.


Hitter of the Week 5/19-5/25 - Alfredo Aceves, RHP, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

Some of you may be asking "Who is Alfredo Aceves?", and you're not alone. It's a question I asked myself several times after seeing him put up strong starts for the Tampa Yankees. Unfortunately, the information I've been able to gather is pretty thin. Aceves is 25 years old and in his first minor league season, having been signed by the Yankees out of the Mexican League last year. He throws a four seam fastball, cutter, curve and changeup. Oh, and he's the first pitcher to throw a complete game shutout in the Eastern League this season, as he shut down Altoona last night. This performance comes after he held Reading scoreless for seven innings in his Double-A debut on Tuesday. That makes for 16 innings, no runs, 13 strikeouts, 5 hits, 1 walk, and a little bit of a mystery. I'll be sure to share any further information about where this guy came from and how he's been so successful as soon as I can uncover it.

Most Valuable Facial Hair

Over the past week we have finally seen the Yankees become the team they were supposed to be this season; a team whose inconsistent pitching would be bailed out by a punishing offense. After weeks of offensive struggles, the team averaged just over 7 runs a game, while going 5-1. A lot of credit for this turnaround has been given to Alex Rodriguez, and deservedly so. Since returning to the team on Tuesday, A-Rod has scored a run and gotten a hit in all but one game, and his presence as the only big power threat from the right side seems to have boosted the lineup as a whole.

However, I'm surprised by the lack of attention being paid to the team's newest member, as he's been just as hot as A-Rod. I'll admit, I was surprised to see Fridriech Nietzsch playing first base, but I guess he really is an Ubermensch.

In all seriousness, though, Jason Giambi's moustache has done a heck of a job, hitting .526/.625/.947 on the week, and with any luck it'll continue to follow in Don Mattingly's moustache's footsteps.

The cloud in the silver lining

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm generally an upbeat person, often trying to find hopeful signs in even the worst losses. So, you might expect that I'd have found Ian Kennedy's performance last night to be cause for celebration. After all, it was Kennedy's best start by far this season, and one of only two which didn't result in a Yankee loss. Surprisingly, however, what I saw last night didn't seem like good pitching from Ian Kennedy, but bad hitting from the Baltimore Orioles.

Kennedy started the game by throwing twelve straight fastballs to retire the first three batters, and continued to rely heavily on that pitch for the rest of the game, throwing it around 80% of the time. This was fine last night, as the Orioles weren't able to hit that fastball particularly well, but it's not a strategy that I think will work for him very often. Kennedy simply doesn't have the kind of overpowering fastball that you need to be able to pull that off, and he needs to use his other pitches to keep hitters off balance. Unfortunately, none of those other pitches seemed to be working for him last night, and therein lies the problem. Of the few off speed pitches that he threw, less than half were strikes. Unless Kennedy can improve upon that, I think we're going to see hitters simply ignore his off speed pitches and wait for a fastball they can hit hard, much as they've done before.

What a difference a day makes

On Tuesday night the Yankees played about as badly as a team possibly can. First, their defense let them down, with Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon commiting costly errors. Then their pitching collapsed, as Mike Mussina was unable to recover after Jeter's error and failed to make it out of the first inning. Finally, their offense was completely stymied by Daniel Cabrera and Lance Cormier, who only allowed seven Yankees to reach base in the game.

Twenty four hours later, they looked like a completely different team. Every starter managed to reach base at least once, and only two (Melky Cabrera and Bobby Abreu) failed to either score or knock in a run. Meanwhile, Darrell Rasner absolutely sparkled, holding the Orioles to just five hits, one walk, and no runs while striking out six over seven innings.

The only constant over the two games was Alex Rodriguez, back from injury in style, as he knocked three long home runs into nearly the same spot in right center field (though one was erroneously ruled a double). The past couple of days have shown that the Yankees aren't as bad as they've shown so far, but they're also not as good as they ought to be. If anyone can elevate them to that level, though, it's A-Rod.

Saturday Afternoon Pics

Friday was my birthday, and I celebrated by heading down to the stadium for Saturday afternoon's game against the Mets. Unfortunately, no one told the Yankees as they suffered a pretty sloppy loss to the Mets. The goat of the game was obviously Kyle Farnsworth, who came in with the Yankees down by just one run and proceeded to allow two homers and a walk to the first three batters he faced, putting the game well out of reach.

What was almost even more disheartening, however, was watching Derek Jeter make a very rare mental error on the basepaths. In the bottom of the sixth Jeter got a clean hit into center field which he inexplicably tried to stretch into a double. It didn't work out.


As you can see, Jeter wasn't anywhere close to making it to second, and I have no idea what could have made him think that he should try.

On the bright side, Andy Pettitte did a good job dominating the Mets in the first three innings and recovering nicely after putting the first four batters on in the fourth inning.


In off the field matters, the Yankees have been conducting a little ceremony after the fifth inning of each game to count down the final games at Yankee Stadium.

Considering all the nostalgia and schmaltz that's going into the Yankee Stadium farewell hoopla, I think it's pretty weird that they would choose to set the background music for this particular ceremony as Europe's "The Final Countdown". So much for dignity.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

"Post hoc ergo propter hoc," is a Latin phrase that translates to "after this, therefore because of this". It's a logical fallacy where a person assumes that one event causes another just because it happened in that order, and they're often wrong. For example, if you stepped on a fissure in the sidewalk and then your mother had a spinal injury, you might believe that "step on a crack, break your mother's back". It's lazy thinking, and I hope Hank Steinbrenner is smart enough to avoid it. The fact that the Yankees won on the night after he ranted about them having to play "smarter and harder" doesn't mean that he's the reason they won. Just as Mike Mussina didn't start pitching lefthanded, Mariano Rivera didn't suddenly realize he hadn't been trying the night before, and Robinson Cano didn't think his way into four hits.

All that happened last night was the same thing that happened the night before. The Yankee hitters stranded lots of men on base, and the Yankee pitchers did the same. The only difference was that this time the hitters managed to plate one extra run. In the great scheme of things, that's not a lot, and anyone who thinks that last night was evidence of real improvement is fooling themselves.

Minor League Monday 5/12/08

It's deja vu all over again, as this week's Minor League Monday honors the same two players I honored last September.

Pitcher of the Week - Ryan Pope, RHP, Tampa Yankees (Single A Advanced):

There was a lot of competition for this award this week, as pitchers on every one of the Yankees' farm teams threw scoreless starts. Pope, however, gets the nod thanks to his excellent command, as he struck out six over six innings without allowing a walk, and because he's an intriguing prospect. Last year, Pope managed to continue pitching well despite the jump from the relatively weak competition in the NAIA to the much stronger New York-Penn League. Now he's skipped a level again, and still hasn't had any problems. With a fastball that tops out around 93mph, he's not overpowering, but his strong command of it and his plus curveball and changeup makes him a good candidate to be a back of the rotation starter in a couple of years.

Hitter of the Week - Austin Jackson, CF, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

After his breakout season last year, Jackson came into with high expectations, so it's easy to be disappointed by the .268/.358/.349 line he put up in April. However, like all stats, those numbers are useless without context; specifically the facts that Jackson is young for the league, and he plays half his games at Mercer County Waterfront Park, which is a notoriously bad place to hit. Last week, with a month of Double A experience under his belt, Jackson took advantage of a road trip to show us what he's capable of. In six games he hit .348/.444/.522, with two doubles and a triple. Granted, he still has yet to hit a home run, but this improvement makes me think that it's just a matter of time.

Comebacks

Yesterday afternoon I made my way down to the stadium for the first time this season and was rewarded with a win that was filled with great signs from players who have been struggling. The first came from Robinson Cano, who entered the game as arguably the worst hitting regular in the American League. In retrospect, it's pretty obvious that his performance wasn't going to remain so terrible. Beyond the fact that he's just too talented a player for that to happen, his .165 BABIP is just too low to be anything but horrible luck. It's one thing, however, to know that he'll turn it around and another thing altogether to see it happen. He had two hard hits with the double and the home run, and the flyout he made in the third inning was hammered as well. He's now hitting .273/.304/.591 in May, and I think we can declare this slump officially over.

Also making a comeback is Wilson Betemit who hit a solo home run right after Cano's. He's now got two hits in as many games since coming back from the DL, and has looked solid at third base. It's a far cry from how he performed while struggling with corneal ulcers in April, and proof that sight is a valuable tool for a baseball player. Just in case anyone was wondering.

Then there were the rebound performances of Joba Chamberlain and Ross Ohlendorf. On Tuesday, Chamberlain revealed that he's some kind of strike throwing cyborg sent from the future by blowing the lead and picking up the loss. Yesterday he showed that, while he is human, he's a resilient one, striking out the man who hit the big home run against him, David Delucci, as he retired the top of the Indians lineup in order. Ohlendorf, meanwhile, continued to show that the beatings he took in the last half of April really were the product of overwork. He threw two efficient, scoreless innings, and as long as he doesn't have to continually throw three or more innings at a time, I think he'll be very dependable.

Minor League Monday 5/5/08

I'm a little late with this week's Minor League Monday, but I decided to add a new award. I realized that relievers rarely play enough in aek to really merit recognition as the pitcher of the week, so I've added a Relief Pitcher of the Month award:

Relief Pitcher of the Month - Wilkins De La Rosa, LHP, Charleston Riverdogs (Single A):

It probably seems a little strange for me to be giving this to a guy who walked 11 batters in just 15.3 April innings but, as I've mentioned before, these awards aren't just for performance; they're for newsworthiness as well. De La Rosa has done a good job working around those walks, striking out an exceptional 26 and holding hitters to a .154 batting average, resulting in a very nice 1.15 ERA. What makes him stand out from the other dominating relievers in the Yankee organization, however, is that he does it by throwing a high 90's fastball with his left hand.

The Yankees have a lot of power pitchers in their system, and a few left handed ones, but very few that are both. There's no doubt De La Rosa is raw. A converted outfielder, this is only his second season on the mound and he's still learning how to throw the slider and changeup, but that electric fastball makes him a guy well worth keeping an eye on.

Hitter of the Week - Eric Duncan, 1B, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (Triple-A):

Duncan's name might be familiar to many of you. A first round pick in 2003, he was hyped the way only a Yankee prospect can be, by being mentioned in possible trades for a future Hall of Famer. Even though the Yankees did end up landing Randy Johnson without him, the drive to raise his trade value pushed him up the minors and set him up for a series of disappointing seasons which have destroyed his status as a prospect in the minds of many. However, he's quietly been putting together a solid season in Scranton, and went 6 for 19 this week with a double and a home run to bring his season line up to .270/.382/.429 line thus far. It's possible that, at 23, Duncan has finally learned the lessons he missed when he was rushed up the minors.

Pitcher of the Week - Zachary McAllister, RHP, Charleston Riverdogs (Single A):

I've written about McAllister before, and most of what I wrote still applies. He's still a pitcher with unusually good command of four solid pitches; two and four seam fastballs, a slider and a changeup. This week that command brought him two wins and only one earned run in fifteen innings. Even more impressive is that he walked only one batter while striking out ten. For the season he's struck out 29 while walking just 5 in 39 innings, and has amassed a miniscule 0.92 ERA.

The Hits Keep Coming

I know I promised to do some nitpicking, but apparently my list of disasters that have befallen the Yankees was not complete. Barely an hour after I finished that post, it was revealed that Phil Hughes had suffered a stress fracture to his ninth right rib. It will be at least four weeks until he's even allowed to throw a baseball again, meaning he probably won't be back with the team until July. However, there's more to this story than just the time Hughes will miss.

First, this sheds new light on Hughes' performance this season. Stress fractures develop gradually, and it can take anywhere from two to four weeks before you can see them on an X-ray. This means that he could very well have been pitching with this injury since the season began. It's impossible to say whether or not it hurt his performance, but it certainly would make sense.

More important than how this injury affected his past, however, is how it affects his future. A stress fracture of the rib isn't a common injury among pitchers, and one on the ninth rib is even more unusual. As far as I know, no explanation has been provided as to what might have caused it, and that makes me worry. The most obvious explanation, after all, is that it was his pitching motion that placed so much stress on the rib. If that's the case, then what's to stop it from happening again once he returns to the mound?

I have no idea if the Yankees will ever answer those questions in public, but I hope that they're at least asking them in private.

April is the Cruelest Month

The first month of the baseball season is over and the Yankees find themselves in third place with a losing record. While this is certainly an improvement over last season, I don't think it's what any of us expected. Baseball, however, is all about the unexpected and a lot of what has gone wrong for the Yankees are things that no one could have seen coming, let alone do anything about:

• A schedule which started by playing twenty games straight without an off day.


• Miserably cold and/or rainy conditions in the first thirteen of those games.


• A Papal visit to Yankee Stadium which created a schedule where the team would play a Major League record 18 road games in April, with only two days at home between 8 and 10 day trips.


• Injuries which caused Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez, three of the most valuable and durable players in the game, to miss significant time.


• Injuries to the backups for Jeter and Posada, with Jose Molina only able to catch sporadically as he worked through a hamstring strain and Wilson Betemit unable to play at all thanks to corneal ulcers.


• The freakish coincidence of A-Rod going pulling his quad the night before his wife gave birth. This kept him from getting an MRI, something which might have kept him from aggravating the injury.


• Pneumonia which hospitalized Joba Chamberlain's father and caused the pitcher to leave the team in order to be with his family.


• A torn Lisfranc ligament in Brian Bruney's foot which may cause him to miss the rest of the season

Looking at that list, I have to say that it's something of a minor miracle that the team is only one game under .500. This isn't to say that the team shouldn't be doing better. While you can't really blame anyone for the above mishaps, you can question how Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi and the rest of the Yankees' staff have reacted to them, and I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Minor League Monday 4/28/08

I somehow managed to miss Minor League Monday last week, so these awards will cover two weeks.

Pitcher of the Fortnight - Daniel McCutchen, RHP, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

When a pitcher faces a team two times in a row, he often finds himself at a disadvantage, since hitters have a better idea of what to expect. On Friday, however, the New Britain Rock Cats had no idea what to expect, as McCutchen struck out twelve of them over seven one-hit innings in Trenton just five days after he held them to two runs over seven innings in New Britain. As I've mentioned many times before, the Yankee farm system is packed with righthanded pitching prospects, so it can be hard for someone like McCutchen to stand out since he doesn't have the kind of high ceiling of a Dellin Betances or Andrew Brackman. However, McCutchen's polish and excellent curveball could make him a very useful Jon Lieber kind of fifth starter.

Hitter of the Fortnight - Matt Carson, OF, Trenton Thunder (Double A):

The current owner of a 15 game hitting streak, Carson has been absolutely pounding the ball in a stadium that's very pitcher friendly. Over the past two weeks he's hit .407/.458/.833, including four home runs. Still, as good as he's been, it'd be a stretch to call him a prospect. Carson is 26 years old, and it's only after a 186 mediocre games at Double A over the past few years that he's managed to find this success.

A few other notes:

• Darrell Rasner is making a strong argument for taking Ian Kennedy's place in the rotation. In five starts, Rasner has walked more than one batter only once, on April 16th, and has yet to allow more than one earned run in a game.



• Austin Romine, who has been alternating with Jesus Montero between catcher and DH in Charleston, had just started to get into a groove when he strained his groin last week. There's no word on the severity or how long it'll be till he comes back. It's turning out to be a really bad spring for Yankee catchers.