I’ll Take That Trash Bin…

Here’s an interesting read on how the Yankees will “sell off” parts of the old stadium.

(Props to LoHud).

Meaningful Wins

For whatever reason, I find myself playing back the final seconds of the past two Yanks-Sox games (OK, it’s probably because we won the games, but still). These two wins were particularly meaningful for the Yankees and their fans. In recent years, it feels as if the “big hit” and “clutch pitching” has been a thing of the past for us, especially when facing the Red Sox, as they have bested us on many meaningful occasions (one series, specifically, comes to mind…). That “Yankee mystique” that we’re so used to from the team’s yesteryears made an appearance this weekend against our division rivals and you couldn’t have scripted a better ending. Let’s hope that these two clutch performances will invigorate the Yankees and lift them up in the standings. While the AL East crown may rest in Tampa (for now), the WC is certainly within reach.

A Few Notes: IFA’s, Karstens, Venditte, Tabata

If you’ve wondered about our good ol’ friend, Jeff Karstens, relax, because he’s been doing just fine in AAA. Tonight, Karstens outpitched Brett Myers (recently demoted ace) and went 7 innings, giving up 2 ER on 5 hits and striking out 6. He’s currently 3-3 and, as PA notes, he’s been dealing all season. Karstens and Darrell Rasner were once interchangeable names to Yankee fans, as they were both seen, essentially, as AAAA pitchers. However, with Sidney Ponson in the rotation, blowing leads left and right, Karstens will likely get the call if Ponson implodes in his next start against the Rays. I think Karstens could be a serviceable back of the rotation starter and his presence/performance can impede a C.C. deal from happening. If he’s pitching this well, I’m sure Cashman would rather call him up before sending out the farm system for Sabathia.

• PA also notes that Jose Tabata is headed to the DL with a hamstring strain.
• PA (he’s got oodles of news, OK, I just wanted to say oodles) also provides us with a list of the Yankees’ international free agent signings. Look out, these kids could be big players a few years from now.
• Pat Venditte’s versatility has led to the creation of a new rule for ambidextrous pitchers. Venditte will have to signify what arm he’ll be using before the batter steps into the box.

More tomorrow (Sox VS. Yanks, oh yeah).

Quick Recap

So, in case you missed it, Dan Giese pitched pretty poorly in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader (he and every other pitcher on the Yanks roster were miserable), allowing Carlos Delgado to drive in 9 (a Mets record) against the Yanks in their own ballpark. Giese will likely be relegated to the bullpen after that debacle, and considering how poor the pen was for us in the first game, that may not be a bad idea. Also, Sidney Ponson pitched fairly well for us in the second game, although he flirted with danger more than once. Andy Pettitte will head to the mound for today’s game and looks to extend his streak of quality outings.

While the Yanks split the double yesterday, the Rays and the Sox continue to win. At this point, all the Yankees can do is play ball and hope for either one to hit the skids, at least for a little while.

Game 80: Yanks VS. Mets

Here’s the lineup (via PA):

YANKEES (42-37)
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Ponson RHP

METS
Reyes SS
Castillo 2B
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Delgado 1B
Nixon LF
Castro C
Chavez RF
Martinez RHP

Couple of roster moves to make note of as well. Hideki Matsui has been placed on the DL (hopefully he’ll be around for the AS Game) which opens up a spot for Sidney Ponson. Also, Kei Igawa is up so be prepared to see him out there if Ponson gets manhandled (so then Igawa can come out and continue what has been an ongoing trend for the Yankees today).

Game 77: Yanks VS. Pirates

Here’s the lineup courtesy of PA:

YANKEES
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Christian LF
Rasner RHP

Yikes, Melky hitting lead? This year, when batting first in the order, Melky has a .250 BA and a .654 OPS. Damon has been our spark at the top of the order so it’ll be up to Melky to get the team going. Darrell Rasner will be on the mound and he’ll face off against a fantasy baseball favorite from last year, Tom Gorzelanny.

Giambi’s Resurgence Enough For A New Contract?

Okay, so this is a debate that I’ve been having with other Yankee fans for the past week or so. With Jason Giambi’s 2008 resurgence, many fans are wondering if Giambi will be back next year. In fact, many are very open to this idea and think that the Yanks should consider buying out his 2009 option ($5 million) which is worth $22 million, and then signing him to a one-year deal or maybe even a two-year deal. Now, I like Jason Giambi and have enjoyed watching him play this year. The entire mustache story is pretty hilarious and actually provides the Yankees with some legitimate character and personality. Plus, he’s certainly one of the best first basemen in baseball this year, as his offensive production has been tremendous.

However, I must also pose this question. Why hasn’t Jason Giambi participated in an offseason workout program like the one he did for this season, in previous seasons? Why didn’t he seriously work on his legs in the past and attempt to better his overall level of conditioning? For years, Jason Giambi has been hampered by nagging injuries, specifically leg injuries that have cost him 100’s of AB’s. This has obviously hurt the Yankees as well, as they could have used a healthy Giambi who could play the field, everyday and for every game. However, Jason Giambi is suddenly a vision of health and is playing the field with no problems. With this being a contract year (essentially), Giambi knew that he needed to prove himself and his workout regimen in the offseason has certainly helped him in 2008. This is the problem though, again, why didn’t Giambi really work on his legs during previous winters? Was there no incentive there?

This is why I don’t really understand the desire to bring Giambi back. He’s a question mark, even though he’s putting up phenomenal numbers and has put up phenomenal numbers for the Yankees. Giambi’s year, while great for the team, is also a frustrating demonstration of his work ethic from previous years. If Giambi wanted to be in great shape, he could have done so as we have seen him remain healthy throughout the year. He would have been able to play everyday and would have been very productive as well. However, he basically waited until he was heading into a contract year before really flipping the offseason switch. Now, the man can tag up, he can round the bases without us holding our breathe, and he’s picking it at first. So, what happens if Giambi is given a new contract? Will he simply forget the work ethic that gave him a clean bill of health for 2008? With a 37-year old player, health is certainly one of the biggest factors.

With Giambi’s contract off the books in 2009, the Yanks will have a lot more flexibility with their roster. They could make a play for Mark Teixeira, who is considerably younger and a better defensive player (plus he’s a switch-hitter), instead of signing an aging first baseman. Also, he plays practically everyday (he had an injury that kept him out a bit last year), which is an obvious plus. Again, I’m not discrediting Jason Giambi or saying that what he’s done for the team isn’t real or praiseworthy, all I’m saying is that, in terms of his health, can we really trust him to have another great year (or two or even three)?

Some Perspective

From Nick Cafardo (Boston Globe):

There seems to be a lot of folks assuming C.C. Sabathia will be traded by Cleveland at the deadline to a contending team. The reality might be different. Said an AL general manager, “Who’s going to give up the boatload of young talent that Cleveland would want in a deal like that? Yankees? Brian Cashman wouldn’t make the Johan Santana deal. Boston? Theo Epstein wouldn’t make the Santana deal, nor would he make a deal for Roy Oswalt a couple of years back. The Mets? Could they give Cleveland what they want? It’s a lot tougher to pull off than most people think.” And the other thing: The Indians play in the AL Central. One good week, and they’re back in the race.

Just a thought… Everyone is clamoring for a C.C. trade (hell, I love the guy), but at this point in time, it may be very difficult to pull off. Wang’s injury (depending on its severity) and Hank Steinbrenner’s drive after losing out on Santana could help trigger this trade though, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Blog Bounce: Melky VS. Gardner (RAB)

The guys at RAB came up with an interesting post last night, as they sparked a debate over who should be playing CF for the Yankees (you can join the debate, here). The RAB writers are big fans of Brett Gardner, who has been doing a terrific job for the club’s AAA team. Like the writers at RAB, most Yankee fans are still trying to figure out what the Yankees have in Melky Cabrera (is he the next Alex Rios or what?), although he remains a fan favorite amongst many circles.

Here’s a bit of text from the post:

This season though has been a tale of two Melky’s. His Opening Day homer gave us all hope that he was in line for the breakout season that many predicted was coming, and as recently as May 4th it looked like the breakout was legit. After hitting .291-.359-.505 with a team leading six longballs through his first 31 games, Melky has become an offensive blackhole. The numbers aren’t pretty: .257-.293-.284 with a whopping three extra base hits (all doubles) in his last 30 games.

This is true about Melky. His BA in June is .294 (so hits are falling), but so is his slugging percentage (it’s also .294), which is sort of scary. His lack of XBH is obviously effecting that number, but his OBP of .333 is pretty decent. It appears as though his homer hitting way at the beginning of the season was a hot streak, but if he can up that slugging percentage, he could certainly be a good offensive CF.

Here’s some more text on Gardner:

Enter Brett Gardner. The Yanks’ third round pick in 2005 has spend the first two-and-a-half years of his professional career terrorizing the opposition, whether it be by working counts (.387 career OBP), spraying hits to all fields (.290 BA), or running wild on the basepaths (141 SB). He’s added another much needed element to this game this year: power. Through 60 games he’s already tripled his homer total of the previous two season combined, and is slugging at a .454 clip, almost 80 points better than his career output coming into the year.

Now, I’m a big fan of Gardner and what he can do for the Yankees. His minor league numbers are much more consistent when compared to Melky’s figures (Melky had a couple of performance spikes which got him a call but they could be signs of his true abilities). He gets on base and is an Ichiro-type, although his abilities are nowhere near Ichiro’s, obviously.

I would like to see Brett Gardner on the Yankees, however, I would not want to see him taking playing time away from Melky. If Melky’s numbers plummeted, I wouldn’t be opposed to a demotion for Melky and a call up for Gardner, since I think it would really help the two through competition. But, until Melky’s BA, OBP and SLG drop, then I’m sort of against the idea. I’m also opposed to having Gardner come up to be a pinch runner or bench player, since he should continue to develop in AAA.

It’s strange to say, but Melky really carried the team (along with Abreu and Matsui) at the beginning of the season with his bat and his defense (his defense has stuck with him and Brett Gardner doesn’t have his arm, but he’s faster and could probably run routes well). Melky, like many other players, will certainly have his good months and his bad months. I’ll wait to see how he performs for the rest of the month and then make a decision about his future. For whatever reason (his youthful exuberance?), Melky has managed to charm us and therefore we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt (he also has a lot of untapped potential, or at least I think he does).

Really?

From the NY Post:

“He gave up a run yesterday in a tough situation, but that’s not going to keep me from using him in tough situations, because for this team to be successful, Kyle has to pitch in those tough situations and be successful,” Joe Girardi said after the loss to the Twins.

That is a scary, scary thought.

Has Joe Girardi changed his tune since then (as in yesterday)?

Manager Joe Girardi maintained, “Kyle’s history gets brought up during the course of this year, where I feel he’s had a ton of good outings.”

Apparently not (and I thought “history” or “stats”, as most of us call them, were significant for Girardi). We’ll see how long he’ll stick with Farnsworth until he too comes to the realization that Farnsworth simply cannot work (at least effectively) in the 8th inning. He had some solid outings earlier in the year, but a lot of those actually came in the 7th inning, not the 8th.

In other news, after being hit in the foot by a pitch in yesterday’s game, Jason Giambi’s X-Rays came back negative and he’s listed as “day-to-day”. It’ll be interesting to see what the Yankees do with 1B today. Maybe we’ll see Jorge in there instead of the mighty Shelley Duncan.

IPK Battles Baltimore

Ian Kennedy, while allowing only 4 hits, also walked 4 and struck out 4, but in the end the truly important number was 1, as he held the Orioles to 1 ER in 6 innings of work. He didn’t get the decision but he seems like he’s turned that infamous corner, although he must work on his control in order to further his career. He battled against Baltimore, yet when you’re struggling, a good end result serves as a positive stepping stone and that’s all that really matters for a guy who’s still figuring things out. Kennedy can feel his good friend Joba Chamberlain breathing down his neck and he knows that he’s going to have to step it up if he wants to hang around in NY (although he’s a lock for the 2009 rotation as long as he settles in).

Confident Cano Delivers

I cannot tell you how much the Yankees needed this type of win. I couldn’t help but to flash my toothy grin as soon as I saw Matsui touch home. What a great feeling for a floundering club.

That’s 2 in a row. The team has a long battle ahead, but they look like they’re up for it now that they’ve gotten some level of stability back with A-Rod’s return and Rasner’s innings.

Hank Huffs and Puffs, Yet Again

From the NY Post:

HANK Steinbrenner had a message yesterday for his Yankees: Gentlemen, it’s time to get your act together. New York Yankees

“We’ve got to forget about all the injuries and start playing our butts off,” Steinbrenner told The Post. The Yankees were buried by the Rays on Monday. These are difficult days for Joe Girardi’s club.

“The bottom line is that the team is not playing the way it is capable of playing,” Steinbrenner said. “These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money.”

The Yankees, whose $209 million payroll is the highest in baseball, are in fourth place in the AL East with a 19-21 mark. Starting pitching ranked 27th with a 5.08 ERA heading into last night’s 2-1, 11-inning loss in Tampa.

The offense is limping along because of injuries to MVP Alex Rodriguez and perennial All-Star Jorge Posada, but this slide is deeper than injuries.

Steinbrenner is right to say that injuries cannot be used as an excuse. There is too much talent for the Yankees not to be playing better.

“We have good professional hitters and I have a lot of faith in them,” Steinbrenner said from Tampa. As for the team in general, he noted, “I’m not saying they are not giving the effort, but they need to be playing harder.”

He then paid the much-improved Rays a compliment, saying, the Yankees have “got to start playing the way the Rays are playing. (The Yankees) need to start treating it like when they were younger players and going after that big contract, like they’re in (Triple-A) and trying to make the majors. That’s the kind of attitude and fire the players have to have.

“There’s no question we need to turn it around and we have the talent to turn it around. We’ve got the team in place, and now they just have to go out and do it.

“This is going to get turned around,” Steinbrenner said. “If it’s not turned around this year, then it will be turned around next year, by force if we have too.”

If you were a Yankee player, would this threat scare you? To be honest, I’d probably laugh and I can picture Bobby Abreu squinting his eyes and bellowing in the clubhouse. Then again, he’s playing for a new contract next year and he knows that the Yankees can give him a lot of money. Let’s see how he and the rest of the team reacts tonight against Tampa Bay and the talented changeup wielding, James Shields.

Puzzling Pettitte

Here’s a bit of text from RAB on Andy Pettitte:

Over his last four starts spanning 21.1 innings, Pettitte finds himself 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA. He’s given up 28 hits and six walks while striking out a respectable 17. Pettitte just hasn’t had it lately, and the Yanks need him to find it.

I watched Pettitte pitch today and as Ben posted, “Pettitte just hasn’t had it lately” and it’s really problematic for the Yankees. Chien-Ming Wang is the ace and Pettitte is his right hand man. If Pettitte doesn’t go, the Yankee rotation becomes a questionable assortment of inexperienced kids and one particularly old man (not that Pettitte is a vision of youth himself). Pettitte’s best aspect is his reliability and recently, he just hasn’t been anything close to that. He’s falling behind in counts and its forcing him to be too hittable.

Hopefully, he’ll rebound sooner rather than later. The Yankees are having enough trouble hitting (no A-Rod or Jorge) and if they have to worry about every rotation spot outside of Chien-Ming Wang (Mike Mussina, besides his string of successful starts, isn’t a guarantee), then that’s simply unacceptable and will make it that much harder for the club to claw themselves out of the AL East’s doghouse.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words$100,000

This original picture of Yankee greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig is currently being auctioned off by the Leland Organization. Lelands is a popular Sports Auction House that has been around for awhile now. Online bidding at Lelands.com has already begun and Josh Leland Evans, founder of the group, believes that the picture could fetch up to $100,000.

So, if you’ve got $100,000 laying around somewhere (your kids can use scholarships to pay for their education), feel free to stop in and place a bid. Or, if you’ve got some more dough, feel free to bid on an actual baseball cap worn by Lou Gehrig. It’s only being sold for around $30,000 (as of now).

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day everyone. The final game of the Detroit series has been rained out. No news yet on when the two teams will make up the affair.

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.

The Barry Question

I saw this over at Bryan Hoch’s weekly mailbag (Yankee Website):

Why don’t the Yanks cut their losses with Giambi like the Blue Jays did with Frank Thomas and then go out and sign Barry Bonds for a million or two? He would be a great hitter with the right-field porch.
– Andrew M., Oceanside, Calif.

I just don’t see it. For one, Giambi doesn’t have a $10 million option for next year that vests with playing time, like Thomas did in Toronto. The Yankees are trying to get away from one-dimensional players, and they have plenty of left-handed DH types; ask Hideki Matsui, who is trying to keep a good attitude while being relegated to platoon duty. I’m not sure any big league team will touch the circus that comes along with having Bonds on its roster, especially one that operates in the New York media market, but we’ll see.

There’s always a “but” in there, somewhere. Jason Giambi will likely fail at producing enough to warrant regular playing time, BUT would the Yankees ever be desperate enough to even consider signing Barry Bonds (even if it’s only a one-year deal)? He has said that he’d only play for a contender, and I’m sure the Yankees qualify in that regard. The club might as well give Shelley Duncan or even Morgan Ensberg the job before jumping into that trap.

BUT (again), for some reason, I think it would be kind of interesting (yeah, I said it) if he was on the Yankees. Abreu-A-Rod-Matsui-Bonds (they’re interchangeable)? What do you think?

Drop It Like It’s Hot

Steve at WasWatching is wondering when the Yankees will sever their ties with Jason Giambi, especially since there doesn’t seem to be a marked improvement in the cards for the aging first baseman. I too wonder why the Yankees don’t just cut the guy. The Tigers, Indians and Mariners have all trimmed the fat in the past few days, ridding themselves of the unproductive hitters that have essentially burdened their lineups.

Of course, none of those guys came with a $23 million price tag.

But, when will the Yankees decide to the do the right thing that is best for the entire team? That is the ultimate question. Instead of catering to one player’s needs and desires, or trying to avoid embarrassment by cutting a $23-million player, the Yankees need to acknowledge that this situation simply has not worked for the club and it will not work later. They need to step it up and say goodbye to Jason Giambi.

Yankee Fan Kills Sox Fan

I just saw this on FOX Sports (MSN).

A woman accused of running down a man in her car after a Red Sox-Yankees argument in a bar never hit her brakes as she accelerated toward the small group he was in, a prosecutor said Monday.

“She never braked, and she accelerated at a high speed for about 200 feet. She went directly at this group of people,” prosecutor Susan Morrell said of Ivonne Hernandez, who is charged with reckless second-degree murder in the death early Friday of Matthew Beaudoin, 29.

Authorities won’t describe the argument beforehand in Slade’s Food & Spirits, but witnesses said it heated up when Hernandez identified herself as a New York Yankees fan. Like the rest of New Hampshire, Nashua, 45 miles northwest of Boston, is Red Sox country.

Bartender Tanya Moran said the argument spilled outside, and at least one person in a group that included Beaudoin began chanting “Yankees suck!” when they saw a Yankees sticker on Hernandez’s car.

Hernandez, 43, allegedly gunned her car and struck Beaudoin and his friend Maria Hughes, 21. Hughes had only minor injuries, which Beaudoin’s sister Faith said was because her brother shielded his friend.

Hernandez, of Nashua, was arrested at the scene. She acknowledged she had been drinking and refused to take a breath-alcohol test, said Morrell, a senior assistant attorney general. Hernandez said she had been in an argument with the group.

“She indicated to police that she wanted to scare this group of people. She thought they would get out of the way,” Morrell said.

I can honestly say that I’ve been in several sticky situations with Sox fans, situations that have had me pitted against a group of unruly fans (or, them pitted against an unruly me). However, once a situation escalates to an unhealthy or dangerous level, sometimes you just have to take a step back and think about what you’re fighting for. This is a terrible situation and the Yankee fan should be punished accordingly. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Matthew Beaudoin.