Rotation Set

PA brings us the pitching plans for the weekend (and on):

Saturday: Pettitte (vs. Santana)

Sunday: Wang (vs. Perez)

Monday: Off day

Tuesday: Mussina

Wednesday: Rasner

Thursday: Kennedy

I’m looking forward to seeing Wang VS. Perez over the weekend. Last time, when he faced the Yanks, I recall Perez acting like an arrogant clown. Let’s see how he deals with Wang come Sunday.

Yanks-Mets Postponed

The game today was postponed due to the weather. Tough stuff.

Thongs & Cookies

I’m pretty busy with work today and I’m trying to get it all in before I skip out to have some fun and watch the Subway Series. However, RAB has provided us with some valuable information that I must share with you. Apparently, Jason Giambi wears a gold thong when he’s trying to bust out of a slump (no wonder he can’t circle the bases well). What’s even sadder is that Jeter, Bernie, Cano, Ventura, and Damon have all worn it at some point (the same thong!). RAB is also reporting that Kyle Farnsworth is a master in the kitchen and makes some pretty good peanut butter cookies.

Sox fans, rejoice. The Yankees not only embarrass themselves with their play on the field, but even their off-the-field stuff can come back to haunt them (Giambi asked A-Rod to wear the thong once, but he immediately fainted when he saw it).

Hank Having Second Santana Thoughts

Jon Heyman (SI) has a nice read out on Brian Cashman and Hank Steinbrenner. Although relatively short, the text is simply packed with information. Here are a few key points:

• Hank is upset with Cashman over Hughes and IPK. He’s reportedly having second thoughts about the non-Santana deal and “can’t get over it” says one source.
• Cashman has dealt with this type of thing before and knows that he himself has a lot riding on Hughes and IPK. However he acknowledges that their performance or value cannot be judged until further down the road.
• Gene Michael was one of the only people in the Yankee organization that thought dealing for Johan Santana was the right move (instead of keeping Hughes or IPK).
• Hal Steinbrenner is, according to Heyman, a big fan of Brian Cashman and he supports Cashman’s decisions. In the end, people within the organization think that the Steinbrenner and Cashman will work out their issues, come to an agreement and solidify their future relationship (meaning a new contract for Cash).

Interesting stuff. Steinbrenner’s blatant pouting has been somewhat embarrassing for the entire Yankee franchise. Also, publicly rethinking and revisiting the Santana trade isn’t going to help him feel any better when Santana squares off against the Yankees tonight (nor will it instill confidence in Hughes or IPK in the immediate future or down the road). What’s done is done and Brian Cashman he’ll have to live with it, at least until the next big trade candidate comes around.

Kennedy Defends Himself

From the NY Daily News:

“I felt like I was ready; I threw that one start (at Triple-A) and felt like I had the right mind-set,” Kennedy said. “Tonight doesn’t show it, but I felt like I was mentally a lot different. I was attacking guys.”

IPK only walked one guy tonight, which is fine with me and I thought he looked slightly better after a one-game stint in the minors. I feel like he should have stayed down there for at least one more start, but I guess now is the time for him to figure it out at the top level. He had a couple of poorly placed fastballs that got hit on the screws (one by Riggans comes to mind), but he did last 5 and had an economical pitch count (78 pitches). He’ll learn as he goes from this point on and the Yankee offense will have to show up to give the kid a breather next time. He’s still searching for that elusive first win in 2008.

Conflicting Reports on McCutchen

Earlier today, I reported some information from George King III about Daniel McCutchen. McCutchen was reportedly headed to Triple-A; however, Jeff Nalbone of the NJ Star Ledger spoke with Mark Newman, the VP of baseball operations for the Yanks and, apparently, McCutchen is staying put for now (AA). So we have a conflicting report on McCutchen’s status but I’ll keep you updated when we find out more.

(Thanks to Chad Jennings at the SWB Yankees Blog).

Revisiting a Familiar Place

The Yankees are back in last place (AL East) and it’s a position that is strangely familiar to them, especially at the beginning of the season. The team’s pitching has been decent, with a couple of rough outings mixed in here and there, but Wang, Rasner and Moose have been doing their jobs. The offense just has not delivered at all and even without Posada or A-Rod, the team should be putting up better numbers.

Joe Girardi sums it up with the following quote:

“You look at a guy like Kazmir today, and he threw 50 fastballs in a row,” Girardi said. “We get one hit. That’s not good. We’re a better hitting club than this. They threw the ball well and did the things well that have to be done to win three out of four. We did not.”

The lineup has just hasn’t hit anything that its supposed to hit. Girardi is totally right. Matt Garza did the exact same thing to the Yankees a few days ago, throwing almost nothing but fastballs yet somehow, the Yankees who are a good fastball hitting club, could not mount anything against him. It’s just frustrating for everyone, whether its the players, coaches or the fans, nothing seems to be working offensively and we all seem to be waiting on A-Rod to inject some sort of life into this stagnant group of powerless hitters.

To show you how bad the Yankees are offensively, let’s look at the AL league leader in RBI, Josh Hamilton. Hamilton has had an extraordinary season, driving in 44 runs while hitting .293 (he hits cleanup for Texas). Now, our cleanup hitter, Hideki Matsui, has been batting either in the cleanup spot or around the 5th spot (he started off the season either 6th or 7th). Hideki Matsui is hitting absolutely everything and his average is at .317. He’s hitting .273 with RISP and .308 with RISP and 2 outs. Yet, while hitting at such a high clip in the cleanup role for the NY Yankees, Hideki Matsui has… wait for it—18 RBI. Compare that to the league leading Josh Hamilton and his 44 RBI (Jose Guillen of the KC Royals has 1 more RBI than Matsui and he’s hitting .217 on the season).

How is this happening? What’s going on? Could it be Johnny Damon’s streaky ways (he had 1 measly hit against the Rays)? Maybe it’s Bobby Abreu’s declining eye? How about those endless lineup changes by Joe Girardi? Maybe it’s just the aging lineup in general? Eh, it’s hard to tell anymore, but these guys need to figure something out soon before it’s too late. It’s still early, however the team looks dead on their feet and when you can’t hit a fastball, something is wrong.