Brotherly love?

Fun move by the Halo's

Ouch. That has to make for some awkward family moments. I actually wonder if this is a good idea, as it can’t be good for a young player’s psyche to know he cost his brother his job. I doubt the team really endeared itself to the Weaver family on this one.

A-Rod? Really?

A-Rod hit a clutch, game winning home run today. In other news, the forcast in hell today is a brisk 31 degrees (-1 degrees celsius).

Gammons near death

Peter Gammons had emergency surgery today for a brain aneurysm discovered this morning. This could be the end of an era. There has been no one like Gammons.

2.5 down, Bullpen update

Even though the Yanks have played pretty well of late, Boston has won nine in a row. Nothing much you can do about that but keep winning.

Here's a bullpen update from the Post. Seems that Dotel had a good session off flat ground yesterday (big deal), Aaron Small accepted his assignment to Columbus (a little surprising), and--for the big news--Pavano might be on a mound by the end of the week. If that is the case, we might actually have him back by mid-August. I'm sure he'll be of no real use to us this season, but we've got him for two more, and working off some rust this season would be a good thing.

REPORT: FORMER BLOGGER'S COUSIN TREATS MATSUI

Dr. Melvin Rosenwasser, the orthopedic surgeon who operated on Matsui's wrist and is overseeing his subsequent rehab, is the cousin of former Steiner's Warriors blogger Mark Rosenwasser.

When asked for comment, Rosenwasser stated:

"Melvin is my dad's first cousin. [He] is a professor of orthopedic surgery specializing in the hand at Columbia. He's handled Sheffield, Jeter, and now Matsui I guess. "

In other news, Octavio Dotel paid a visit to Dr. James Andrews this week for a checkup on his tricep. Andrews reported Dotel to be in "marvelous" condition, with "muscles so toned as to make my hands quiver and my soul thank God I was born a healer of men." Dotel's recent inflammation is not considered serious, but Andrews was "glad to oblige" and scheduled another visit with Dotel in two weeks. "I want to watch his muscle very closely," said Andrews. "I assured him that I have ways to relieve such inflammation."

Posada an All Star?

His stats in comparison to other AL catchers are pretty good. He's third in average (.300), second in OPS (.924), tied for first in HR (10), first in BB (35), and second in OBP (.419). He's done all this having less AB then any other starting catcher in the AL.


Should he be an All Star? I say yes
Should he start the game? I say yes

Some news

On the trade front, perhaps another front line pitcher has become available.

Bernie went 5-5 this evening, raising his average to .294. He's also on pace for 15 homers and 85 rbis. It seems that sticking him in the outfield and leaving him alone--as some of us suggested be done last season--is paying off. I admit, however, that I thought he was finished a month ago. But if he can continue to be productive, then I don't think we need another outfielder and should concentrate on a middle reliever or starter.

Rivera threw two innings again tonight. I'd say that over the last two weeks he's had more 1+ inning appearances than one inning appearances. I guess there are two ways to look at this. One, it's bad, because he'll be out of gas by season's end. Two, he's athletic enough to hold up and by September he'll have built the stamina to do it without breaking a sweat. My money is on the former, only because he's 36 years old, but who knows.

Wildcard Woes

Has anyone been paying attention to the Central? Both Chicago and Detroit have much better records than the Yankees/Boston. If the season were to end right now we wouldn't even make the playoffs! Thankfully, we have 90 games left.

In the past we've had the Wildcard cushion more often than not. Perhaps though, this year could be different. What division will produce the AL Wildcard?

Terrible Loss

Today's loss may have been our worst of the season. Chacon was given a seven run lead and couldn't get out of the fifth, then the relief corps, including Rivera, proceeded to finish the job he started.

An increasingly obvious weakness for this team is the inability of our starters to go deep into games, even when they pitch well. It seems that at this stage in their careers Mussina, Johnson, and Wright aren't able to go much past the sixth inning. Chacon has just been bad, so he's been pulled early as well. This lends weight to the argument that we should be pursuing another middle reliever or perahps thinking about moving Chacon into the pen and getting a starter. We still can't afford to give up Cano, of course, but it might be worth pursuing a inning-eater like Livan Hernandez.

Two other observations: Soriano singlehandedly manufactured the tying run. He's also leading MLB in assists, which is amazing. And boy, is Daryle Ward fat. What a disgrace to professional athletes everywhere.

Bern, baby, Bern

Great game by Bernie today. He's actually having a real good month, as he seems to be playing better since he plays the outfield every day. Maybe he can do a poor man's version of what Tino did last year: having one really good month and help carry the team through a rough stretch (then completly dissapearing once everyone else gets themselves in order)

Clubhouse Summary

Good article summarizing the current state of affairs in the Yankee universe, including status reports on Sheff, Pavano, Dotel, and Crosby.

Hurtin'

Well, we've lost four in a row, but as of publication, we're still only 1.5 games behind Boston. That's not bad, considering Sheff and Matsui are out and Giambi and Jeter have missed time recently. But while the latter two should be back soon, we can't count on the others at all this season. And without them, I'm not sure we have enough hitting to win (considering how many times our hitting has had to bail out our mediocre pitching).

While Cashman says his priority is a pitcher, I wonder if that is the right move. Jaret Wright has been solid, more or less, and Johnson, Moose, and Wang aren't going anywhere. That would mean replacing Chacon. But in a situation like this I think you need to look at the potential for gain. Chacon may be a .500 pitcher this season when all is said and done, but is the guy we're going to bring in going to do much better? Unless you can get a front line pitcher--and from where?--there isn't much to gain in bringing in another starter. On the other hand, we could more easily and more cheaply bring in a front line outfielder (an Abreu or Soriano, perhaps), greatly increasing production over Melky or T-Long or Bernie. The upside for bringing in an offensive player seems greater.

Grim Forecast

Well, the Slate guy is apparently right. As I'm sure you all know, bulldog Jason Grimsley is spilling his guts to the Feds, and the names on that list are the usual suspects: Orestes Destrade, Dave Kingman, and Bob Tewksbury, among others.

Jason Grimsley, you might remember, logged some serious innings in long relief for the Yankees in 1999 and 2000, filling in for the injured Ramiro Mendoza in 2000 as the primary middle man.

First Place Again

Interesting article about Ortiz' troubles in the NY POST. Sounds like he's being a big baby about it.

First Place

For as bad and injury plagued as our pitching has been, the Red Sox have been worse. Beckett has an ERA of 5.27, Clement a whopping 6.68, and the Wells/Dinardo combination over 7.00. Today, against the Yankees, the Sox will start David Pauley, who has one miserable major league start to his name.

Also, they don't buy the Pujols, Giambi feel good stories over at Slate.

Bullpen Injury Updates:

Here is some news regarding the Yankees disabled relievers Octavio Dotel, Jesus Colome, and Tanyon Sturtze:

"New York Yankees reliever Octavio Dotel is expected to join Class-A Tampa on Thursday. He worked a scoreless inning Saturday to complete his first consecutive-day outing in an extended spring training game against Tampa Bay minor leaguers. 'The arm is responding pretty good,' Dotel said. 'I can't complain. I'm getting closer. So far, so good.'"

"Right-hander Jesus Colome, out with a shoulder injury, is scheduled to pitch in his first extended spring game on Monday."

"Tanyon Sturtze (60 Day DL, May 14th) purchased a hog farm last Thursday in northwest Arizona. 'I'm looking beyond this silly game,' said Sturtze. 'And what I see is hogs.'" Sturtze is not expected to pitch again this season."

Getting Old

This is scary. I love how Andy and Bernie are all for it, though.

Damn!

Ah, hell. Disappointing loss tonight. Well, pitching Mo three the night before cost us. Sadly, Farnsworth has been lousy. Any word on Dotel? Adam? Mark? Anybody?