Now Hiring: Anyone Who Can Drive In Runs

That was an abysmal loss for the Yankees. Mike Mussina was dominant, even if he did give up 2 ER. 2 ER against the offense is fine for any club. However, the Yankee offense was totally brutal in Moose’s outing as the team only mustered 1 ER off of a solo shot by Alex Rodriguez (off of Scott Feldman, what?). Texas has one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball, therefore, this 1 R loss is all the more embarrassing. In fact, Feldman had never won a road game until today, that’s how bad this loss was.

Although I’m emphasizing the negative right now, there were some positives. Brett Gardner looked great at the plate, even if he didn’t get a hit. He worked counts and busted out of the box, narrowly missing a base hit and beating out what could have been a double play. Also, with the way the offense is going right now, you’d have to assume that they’re poised for a breakout. Hopefully they’ll do enough to win this series against Texas, and then, maybe against Boston, the breakout will occur.

Game 83: Yanks VS. Rangers

Here’s the lineup:

Gardner LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Mussina RHP

Brett Gardner will make his debut. Exciting stuff. It’ll be up to Mike Mussina to keep the potent Ranger offense off-balance tonight.

Support Ian Kinsler

Although we’re Yankee fans, practicality and realism has certainly set in and I’m sure no one is holding their breathe in hopes that Robinson Cano will be the starting 2B in the AS Game this year at Yankee Stadium. Right now, Dustin Pedroia is in the lead when his performance really doesn’t warrant an AS appearance (at least, not as a starter). Ian Kinsler has been one of the best players this year and has stood out as the best 2B in 2008. So, let’s keep that rodent off the field and vote for Ian Kinsler instead of Robinson Cano for this year’s team. If we can’t put Cano there, at least we can make sure the right guy gets the job.

Go here, to vote.

Horne Injured

Alan Horne was injured in yesterday’s start for AAA. Right now, there’s no real information as to what went wrong with Horne and he’s saying that, physically, he feels fine (he’s not hurting) and just needs to regain life in his arm and his body (the patented dead arm experience). Horne had a bicep issue earlier in the year, and hopefully he’ll bounce back soon from whatever is ailing him. I believe that he could be a valuable trading chip if the Yankees decide to go that route in order to better their rotation.

Time To Get Hot

The Yankees have a 9-game test ahead of them, as they’ll be facing the Texas Rangers for 3 games, the Boston Red Sox for 4 games and then they’ll see Tampa Bay for 2 games. The Rangers are an offensive powerhouse right now and while Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley are both All Star caliber producers, let’s not forget names like Michael Young (he’s turning it on right now) and David Murphy, as this is a team that can really swing the bat. The Yankees are pretty lucky though since their pitching is dreadful and they’ll see Scott Feldman (4.60 ERA), Kevin Millwood (5.08 ERA) and Luis Mendoza (5.74 ERA). The Yankees HAVE to take this series before facing Boston and TB in order to pad their record a bit. Tampa Bay and the Red Sox aren’t pushovers and they lead the AL East (TB is in first, Boston second). Any wins against these two teams will be absolutely huge for the Yanks as they’ll climb the ladder while simultaneously knocking their opponents down a few notches. This stretch of games will define the 2008 season.

Mike Mussina, Joba Chamberlain, and Sidney Ponson will square off against Texas and they’ll hopefully start us off on the right foot (Moose needs to set the tone and get this thing going).

Manny Manhandles Club Employee

Forget Shawn Chacon, at least he had a good reason (sort of) to be angry. Manny Ramirez pushed a club employee to the ground this weekend in Houston after the employee told him that he might not be able to get Manny’s entourage tickets to the Houston-Boston game (Manny wanted 16 tickets on game day). What is that about? Of course, I doubt anyone will be too upset about this, although many fans and writers are willing to crucify Shawn Chacon for what he did. I recently attended a Sox-Mariners game at Safeco and I was able to watch the Sox as they had batting practice. During that time, I saw a pretty big group of males that Manny seemed to know (his “entourage”) that were on the field and talking to him and Ortiz. Then, I saw them in the stands once the game started (they were really close). Talk about diva-like behavior.

Roster Move Recap

Okay, so there were a few notable roster moves (other than the impending Gardner move) that occurred during the week. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Ian Kennedy has been activated from the DL and was sent to Single-A Tampa. It seems rather harsh of the Yankees for them to send IPK all the way down to Single-A, but he’s missed a substantial portion of the season and is still very young (let’s not forget his problems when he was up in the majors), so this isn’t necessarily a “tough love” move. However, as Joe Girardi has stated, nothing is guaranteed for Kennedy and if he wants to see the majors again in 2008, he’ll have to earn his call up. Phil Hughes is in a similar position as Brian Cashman recently told reporters that Hughes may not be seen in the majors again, this year (that’s always subject to change of course).
• Next, after Kei Igawa was called up a few days ago, he’s been sent back down after the series with the Mets (breathe easy). Igawa was just another fresh arm after Friday’s doubleheader and he was basically Ponson insurance over the weekend. Also, Oneli Perez, who was recently claimed off of waivers was DFA’d in order to allow room for Dave Robertson, who was called up on Saturday.

Move Over Melky, Gardner Gets His Shot

Sorry Melky Cabrera, but Brett Gardner has been called up by the Yankees (Gardner’s hometown paper seemed to have broke the story). Gardner is quoted in the hometown article and seems thrilled (obviously) to get his shot. He’ll certainly push Melky for playing time as the Yanks would not have called him up unless he was going to get some regular AB’s (Melky’s production has been fairly terrible these past few months). He could be an option in the DH role, although Girardi will likely alternate Betemit, Giambi and Damon in that position with Hideki Matsui out. Currently, there is no news about a corresponding move, but I’d assume Alberto Gonzalez or Justin Christian will be the victims of this promotion.

Gardner was hitting .287 with an .841 OPS (and 34 SB) before he got the call. If Melky Cabrera is traded, sent down, or relegated to the bench, this could possibly be for the best. We all love Melky, but as an offensive player, he hasn’t shown the club much this year despite a hot start. The Yankees could use a speedy player like Gardner on their team and he could plug a tremendous hole at the bottom of the order (.412 OBP).