DL Party

PA at LoHud has the news on Betemit and Albalaelbow:

Wilson Betemit will be placed on the 15-day disabled list tomorrow. Alberto Gonzalez has been summoned from Scranton.

Jon Albaladejo has a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament and a strain of the posterial capsule. It is not expected he will need surgery, but he won’t be back any time soon.

Betemit’s injury isn’t a big concern. Alberto Gonzalez will be back and he’ll do a fine job while Betemit rehabs a bit. But, Albalaelbow’s situation doesn’t look good at all. Anytime you’re dealing with a ligament, let alone ulnar ligament worries, you’re bound to be out for a while. Ask Josh Johnson (Hi Joe Girardi) or John Patterson who is now with the Rangers (had an ulnar nerve situation) but will likely be out for the rest of the year. Those injuries are serious and could really hamper a pitcher’s career.

Hopefully, for Albaladejo’s sake, his injury isn’t as serious.

Girardi Nixes Boomer

Here’s Joe Girardi’s take on a David Wells return to NY.

From CBS Sports:

“You know what?” Girardi said. “It’s hard not to play this game. I’m sure he wants to pitch again. He did well in New York. The passion people have in New York. … I’m sure all of us would love to still play in New York.

“I don’t know if he’s capable of pitching, still.”

At least he’s honest.

Playing Darrell’s Advocate

Darrell Rasner with some help from the bullpen just pitched a beauty for the Yankees against the Detroit Tigers and it got me thinking about the offseason. As of right now, Rasner looks like he’s really helped his career by learning that cutter in the minors. In fact, he looks like a strong #4-5 big league starter.

Now, knowing what we know now, I’ll pose a question about the rotation. Would you have traded Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy for Johan Santana in the offseason (you knew it was coming)? If that trade had occurred and if Rasner performed well in ST (assuming that he would have learned the cutter already), our current rotation would have been Santana, Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Rasner.

Would you have taken that?

It’s really an unfair question to ask now, in retrospect, but I’m sure Yankee fans are wondering about what could have been while Hughes sits on the DL and Kennedy dominates Triple-A ballclubs. I’m still happy that we didn’t make the trade but if the depth in the Yankee minor league system forces us to rethink that decision, it could become one of those big “what ifs” Yankee fans wonder about for years.

Game 2: Yanks VS. Tigers

NY @ DET. Darrell Rasner is on the mound.

2-0 Yankees right now thanks to Bonderman’s wildness and a DJ homer.

Here’s the current box/lineup through the top of the 1st:

	NY Yankees
	J. Damon LF	0-1
	D. Jeter SS	1-1
	B. Abreu RF	1-1
	H. Matsui DH	1-1
	J. Giambi 1B	0-0
	M. Cabrera CF	0-0
	R. Cano 2B	0-0
	W. Betemit 3B	0-0
	C. Moeller C	0-

Padres Pick Up Henn

Sean Henn, a guy who just could not pitch with any success in NY, was DFA’d and has now been claimed by the San Diego Padres. The Padres are pros at retooling a bullpen with unknowns and the open terrain of Petco Park definitely help a lot of pitchers. I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes over their setup guy role if Hoffman dies out this season (with Heath Bell moving into the closer role).

Pitcher Problems: Igawa & Albaladejo

“The plan is for him to start again in five days, but sometimes … I mean, that’s the plan,” Girardi said.

Hmm, words of confidence from Kei Igawa’s manager.

So the Yankees tried something new, giving Kei Igawa a shot against the Tigers, only to see him give up 6 ER in 3 IP. Igawa looked awful as the Tigers tee’d off against him and you could tell from the get go that it was going to be brutal. Anyone who gives up 11 hard hits in 3 IP isn’t going to do well now and they probably won’t do well later. I think the Yankees know that and after watching tonight’s game, I doubt they’ll have Igawa start next week. In fact, I’ll be surprised if he isn’t traded in the next month or so (to the San Diego Padres). The Yankees will likely ship him back to Triple-A and recall another. Hopefully, with a few good starts in the minors the team will be able to build Igawa’s trade value so that they could at least get a bag of balls for him (or maybe some towels for the clubhouse).

I was all for bringing Igawa up, not for him to get a chance to pitch, but for him to give the bullpen a break after it was abused by rookie ineffectiveness and he couldn’t even do that. In fact, Jonathan Albaladejo who has been fairly solid this year when the Yanks needed him, actually injured himself after relieving Igawa and he’ll be placed on the 15-day DL (Chris Britton will finally get a chance to pitch for an extended period of time). So, in the end, the Kei Igawa experiment (much like the Carl Pavano, Jared Wright, Randy Johnson, Jeff Weaver, Javier Vasquez, Kevin Brown, etc., experiments) looks like it’s coming to an end in the not too distant future.

There’s really nothing left to say other than good riddance.