Waiting for Moeller

The Yankees are waiting for Chad Moeller to clear waivers (he was DFA’d) so that they could have a legitimate, experienced backup for Jose Molina while Jorge Posada is on the DL. Moeller has to clear waivers before the Yankees can do anything with him, meaning that we’re simply hoping no other team claims him while in baseball limbo. Without Moeller, the Yanks will rely on Chris Stewart, who has only played in 23 Major League games (6 with Chicago and 17 with Texas).

Moeller has looked comfortable with the Yankees, so far. In fact, he looks so comfortable, I wonder if another team will try to claim him, which could be definitely be a possibility. The Yankees were not smart with Jorge Posada, that’s the bottom line. They could have let Jose Molina, or when he was injured, Chad Moeller continue playing while placing Jorge on the DL. Both of those guys were hot, and they easily could have continued their mashing for at least an extra week or so (Molina has fizzled out, but Moeller was still hitting consistently). Instead, the Yanks tried to force Jorge’s bat into the lineup, whether it was getting him behind the plate as soon as possible or playing him at first. They really should have just let him rest up and discontinue all baseball activities (they should have put him on the DL early). Now, they may lose him for a long time, especially if he ends up having some sort of procedure done in order to repair his muscular tear (he’s meeting with his doctor later this week).

Although it sounds bad, It’s not the end of the world for the Yankees. Think of Jorge Posada as a baseball luxury of sorts. Most teams have survived without a tremendously talented offensive catcher, and the Yanks can do that as well. However, it’s definitely nice to have those luxuries around, isn’t it?

Wang Dominates Cleveland, Jorge Headed to the DL

Today, Chien-Ming Wang continued his dominating 2008 season, striking out 9 Indians in the matchup and outdueling the reigning Cy Young winner, C.C. Sabathia. Wang had everything working today and after a slightly shaky first inning, his 2-seamer and his slider kept Cleveland off of the scoreboard for 7 straight innings. Joba locked up the 8th, and in the 9th, Mariano Rivera closed up shop, earning the save, which was actually the 450th of his career (Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith are the only other 2 closers to have managed that feat). Wang earned his 5th win of the season and he and Arizona’s Brandon Webb (a similiar pitcher) are the only two pitchers with 5 wins so far.

In other news, Jorge Posada is headed to the DL and it’s a really big blow for the Yankees. Jorge thinks that his “shoulder strain” is something more than that, stating that he could not throw today after making a few throws yesterday. He has a slight muscle tear (subscapularis muscle) and although surgery has been ruled out so far, it’s still possible that he could be headed for that route if the pain appears to be a persistent problem (or if he reinjured the shoulder yesterday). Jose Molina is a solid backup catcher, but that’s what he is. He’s our backup and he’s not the offensive wonder that we’ve seen these past few weeks. He was simply riding a hot streak (at least he can call a better game than Jorge) and Jorge’s offense will definitely be missed.

If Jorge has to have surgery, you wonder how this will effect his future as a catcher. We may actually end up seeing him at 1B sooner rather than later.

Game 3: Yanks VS. Indians

Here’s the lineup:

Damon 7
Jeter 6
Abreu 9
Rodriguez 5
Duncan 3
Ensberg DH
Cano 4
Cabrera 8
Molina 2

No Jorge today. There’s definitely something going on (and where is Matsui?). It’s up to Chien-Ming Wang to stop the skid.

UPDATE (1:26) — Couple of notes that I missed yesterday. Shelley Duncan has been called up and Billy Traber has been optioned to Triple-A. It was the right move since he was very ineffective against lefties, thus far. Also, Jorge did throw out Grady Sizemore yesterday which was, from what I recall, the first time he’s thrown someone out since his injury. He might be sore which could signal the reason he’s out of today’s game. It doesn’t seem like we have to worry just yet.

UPDATE (2:40) — Jorge is reportedly headed to the DL. PA is reporting that Jorge has a muscle tear, but this isn’t actually new information. I reported this on April 16th (come on, I had to plug myself).

Offense Still Struggling

I apologize for the lack of posts tonight. I actually had a presentation earlier in the day and then I made my way to Safeco Field for the Mariners-A’s game which was a very fun experience. Safeco Field is such a beautiful stadium and the concession stands, the methods for fan interaction, the food, man, there’s just so much they have to offer there and it was a really great time. Yankee Stadium is pretty much the only ballpark that I’ve ever been to (other than Shea) so after seeing what Safeco has to offer, I’m excited about the new stadium. I’ll post up pictures tomorrow (we were really close).

Sadly, I didn’t get to see the Yankees-Indians game at all, although I heard the offense was particularly terrible tonight. Ian Kennedy’s performance was a fairly good one when we consider his other outings, however, nothing is guaranteed with the rotation and I feel as if the Yankees are starting to wear thin on their promise to develop their young guns.

More tomorrow.