Matsui Likely Done For The Year

Terrible news for the Yankees. From Bryan Hoch:

NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui will cut short his rehabilitation and could be headed for season-ending surgery after experiencing more inflammation in his troublesome left knee.Matsui, 34, is currently on the disabled list and had been working out at the club’s Minor League complex in Tampa, Fla. He did not hit on Tuesday and is scheduled to see team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon in New York in the next few days, the Yankees said.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that Matsui’s continued issues have made it more likely that Matsui may not return this season.

“I can’t tell you that we’re there yet, but we’re getting close,” Cashman said.

This is a big blow. While some are advocating for Richie Sexson, I don’t really see how much of an improvement Sexson would be over Wilson Betemit. Sexson, like Betemit, swings at nearly everything and is a one-dimensional hitter. I guess you could alternate Sexson and Giambi at 1B and DH in order to keep Giambi productive all year, but then what happens if Giambi is injured (it could happen at any moment)? Then you’re basically stuck with Richie Sexson and Wilson Betemit in your starting lineup. Yikes. If the Yankees want to get some more offense, they’d do themselves a diservice by acquiring Sexson (a .151 hitter with a .620 OPS at Yankee Stadium). They would probably be better off chasing Xavier Nady.

Pap Wises Up

It looks like Papelbon is singing a different tune after yesterday’s somewhat controversial comments regarding the AS Game (and Mariano Rivera). Here’s a bit of text from Buster Olney on what Papelbon had to say, last night:

“I’m making a statement right now, saying I don’t want it, I want [Rivera] to have it. I said all that earlier, but that’s the way I feel about it,” Papelbon said.

“This is what I think, of course I want to close the game out. I wouldn’t be Jonathan Papelbon if I didn’t want to close the game out,” he said. “But at the same time, there’s also things within this game I have to understand and people have to understand. It doesn’t always work out that way.

“I feel I owe a lot to this game and that’s one of the things I owe to this game, to let an elder statesman go ahead of me.”

Looks like Terry had a talk with the young one.

Nady & Marte?

From Joel Sherman:

Officials attending the Future Games continue to insist Yankee GM Brian Cashman is sending out a vibe that he is uncertain if he is buying or selling at the deadline. If the Yanks decide to buy, officials say watch for them doing something with Pittsburgh for lefty reliever Damaso Marte and possibly Xavier Nady. The Pirates have been scouting the Yankee system and are known to like Ross Ohlendorf, among others.

If Matsui can get back to the team and stay healthy, then there’s really no need for Nady. Then again, the Yankee OF is a mystery right now. With Abreu stinking up the joint in RF and Damon injured out in LF (and with Melky not hitting in CF), another bat wouldn’t hurt. Nady is a notorious first half player but has the talent to do well in the second half. Marte has been on the Yankee radar for what seems like forever. I wonder if Ohlendorf is traded, if he’ll be looked at as a starter or a reliever.

TO THOSE STOPPING BY – The Yankees HAVE traded for NADY AND MARTE and the package is believed to be PHIL COKE, OHLENDORF and 2 other prospects or 1 top tier.

Pre-AS Game Bits: Damon, Stadium, A-Rumors

A quick batch of random bits:

• Although  many of us will miss Yankee Stadium, there are some players (non-Yankees) that won’t, and for a variety of reasons.
• Johnny Damon was scheduled to swing off of a tee yesterday, however, due to soreness his workout assignment will be pushed back a few days. Phil Hughes also threw a BP session (25 pitches), as he works his way back to the team.
• Cynthia Rodriguez alleges, in her divorce papers, that A-Rod had her secretly followed and wiretapped. Sorry Alex, but if true, that’s just creepy.

Hamilton Derby

Last night, as I watched Josh Hamilton hit HR after HR, I was literally in awe. Josh Hamilton is an inspirational story for us all, and what he has done this year, whether we’re talking about the first half of the season or the AS festivities, has been amazing. He’s been great for the game of baseball and he’s just fun to watch. Of course, being the hard-to-please person that I am, I do have a general complaint related to Hamilton, although, it’s more about ESPN.

The HR Derby, last night, quickly became the Josh Hamilton show, which was perfectly fine in some respects, however, after Hamilton put on his display, ESPN went into a frenzy and pretty much spoke of nothing else the whole night. I felt that Justin Morneau and Ryan Braun didn’t get their due, but I guess that’s what happens after a fellow competitor hits 28 HRs in the first round. It was pretty evident as Erin Andrews interviewed Justin Morneau (the winner) while Hamilton was hitting and asked him, not about his own outing which had occurred a few minutes earlier (where he hit 5 HRs in the finals), instead Andrews asked him about Hamilton and that was it (she didn’t ask him one question about himself). Even at the end of Hamilton’s go in the finals, Morneau, the presumptive winner, stepped to Andrews to be interviewed and Andrews brushed him off to speak to Hamilton about his loss. Granted, Morneau was about to be crowned and was going to get an interview anyway, but it just looked bad. Now, that’s a poor job by ESPN. There were a lot of great stories to latch onto last night and Hamilton’s was the biggest, but when other hitters are hitting maybe they should be awarded more respect? I think Hamilton would have told you the same thing.

Either way, outside of that and the lame Call Your Shot Promo (how horrible was that?), the derby was a lot of fun.

Papelclown Wants To Close

From PA’s Blog:

Terry Francona has literally said all the right things when it comes to the Yankees, even to the point of saying he’s hitting Derek Jeter second “because that’s where he deserves to be.”

Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Dustin Pedroia … the same. Respectful of the Stadium, the Yankees, the tradition, everything.

Then we have Jonathan Papelbon, who thinks he should close tomorrow night.

“If I was managing the team, I would close. … But I’m not managing the team,” he said today.

Sam Borden and some of the other writers there asked Papelbon whether Mariano Rivera had earned the right to close.

“I think we both earned that right.” he said

After acknowleding Rivera’s status, he said he earned the right to close by winning the World Series last season.

Talk about delusional. It’s Yankee Stadium, he’s having a Cy Young year, Mariano closes. Period, end of story.

Terry Francona wouldn’t bite when asked what he would do. But Joe Girardi seemed to have idea.

“Terry is a wise man,” he said. “He knows what to do.”

Everyone in baseball knows that a new season is a new season. You don’t get rewarded for the previous year’s achievements and Papelbon’s reasoning is just dumb. Mariano has earned his right to close the game after years (multiple) of consistent work in Yankee Stadium (a legacy), however, this year he’s been untouchable in save situations. Papelbon hasn’t been nearly as good as Mo (this year), so he shouldn’t expect the call in the 9th inning of today’s AS Game. It’s as simple as that.