Bullpen Help Coming

As we noted in yesterday's recap, Joe Girardi burned through five of his seven relievers yesterday - but boy, he sure matched up well in doing so. Trotting out a spot starter with a 65 pitch limit is a recipe for a long day for the bullpen, but needing five pitchers to cover 5.2 innings seems a bit much to me.

Regardless, the Yanks head to Anaheim tonight and send Joba Chamberlain to the hill. Chamberlain has averaged less than five and a third innings over his last six starts and has needed an unmanageable 17.3 pitches per IP this year. So this isn't exactly the best night to be carrying a fatigued bullpen, particularly when the only rested pitchers in the pen are a struggling Brian Bruney and a Brett Tomko-like Brett Tomko. I didn't think it was possible to be short on arms with a seven man pen, but apparently it is.

To that end, Girardi hinted during yesterday's post-game that an arm might be on the way. Last night, indespensible Scranton beat writer Chad Jennings reported that Mark Melancon will rejoin the Yankees today (h/t RAB).

Melancon was up briefly earlier this year, making four appearances covering 3.1 IP. He wasn't good, allowing two hits, five walks, and two earned runs. In his final outing he walked all three batters he faced. That said, this move is long overdue. Melancon has been dominating the International League, with a 2.50 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 39.2 IP. His K/9 is 9.5 while his BB/9 is just 2.0.

Unfortunately the pitcher who should go is one of the few fresh arms in today's pen, so Tomko gets yet another stay of execution. Jonathan Albaladejo and David Robertson both have options, so they would seem likely candidates for demotion.

However, between his 43 pitches Sunday and his 65 yesterday, Alfredo Aceves is spent until after the All-Star break. He too has options. While his performance certainly warrants continued presence on the Major League roster, he may be the best choice to farm out at present. Whoever is optioned out will have to stay down for at least ten days. Aceves is spent for the next three, then comes the three day All-Star break, followed by an off day next Thursday. Sending Aceves down will really only cost the Yankees his presence for three games while keeping the bullpen at full strength for this weekend's series. Plus, it looks increasingly likely that Aceves will be the new fifth starter. Sending him down today will allow him to make another minor league start or two to build endurance before the Yankees need him on the 21st.

We'll update on you the official move once it happens, which likely won't be until just before game time.

Back In The High Life Again

Good morning Fackers. As we try to make it through one more workday until the sweet, glorious weekend, we awake this morning with a little extra bounce in our step. The Yanks are tied for first in the AL East and for the best record in the AL, thanks to the combination of yesterday's sweep of the Twins and a Royals comeback victory (after being down four runs) over the Sawx last night.

Things are not good in Royal-land right now. They entered play yesterday with the third worst record in the AL and have had exactly one winning season (skippered by current Yankee Bench Coach Tony Pena) since the 1994 strike ended. Even longtime Royals optimists Joe Posnanski and Rany Jazayerli have apparently seen enough (h/t Rob Neyer for the links).

The Royals of course are led by former Yankee minor league manager Trey Hillman. After some early success last year, Hillman has fallen on the same tough times that did in his predecessors. But the man has a Hall of Fame cookie duster and that's gotta count for something. Not to mention a First Base Coach named Rusty Kuntz. Hopefully Hillman can keep his team rolling through the weekend and help the Yanks out.

We're now double digits into July. The All-Star break is three days away. The standings are no longer some small sample size fluke at this point; they're for real. The Yankees still have some flaws. Their record is still better than their run differential would predict. They're still 0-8 against the Sox. But despite all of that, they're still tied for the best record in their division, best in their league, and second best in baseball. So as we await tonight's late start, let that thought carry you through to quitting time. We're back in the high life again.

Twin Sweeps

(Photos via AP/ESPN)

Well it wasn't pretty, but the Yankees cobbled together enough offense and pitching this afternoon to complete their second sweep of the Twins in as many series.

After a scoreless first, the Yanks jumped out to an early lead in the second. Alex Rodriguez drew a lead off walk then stole second base. He was then joined on the bases by Jorge Posada as a 3-2 offering from Francisco Liriano hit Posada atop the foot. Robinson Cano then bounced an easy one to second baseman Matt Tolbert, who may or may not have been screened by the advancing Posada. Either way, Tolbert booted the ball, loading the bases with no one out. Melky Cabrera flew to right, but not deep enough to score A-Rod. Cody Ransom followed with a walk, forcing in the first run. A fielder's choice from Brett Gardner erased Ransom at second but plated Posada, then Derek Jeter dropped a bloop single into short right-center to make it 3-0. The Yanks then ran themselves out of the inning. A pick off attempt from Liriano had Jeter caught between first and third. Gardner broke for home, and the throw from Justin Morneau was in plenty of time to get Gardner. It wasn't quite as bold as Gardner's mad dash against the Twins in May, but it was close.

Alfredo Aceves gave two runs back in the second. After an efficient first that saw just a single, Alf jumped out 0-2 on leadoff hitter Jason Kubel. But his third pitch, a fastball that was supposed to be outside, caught too much of the plate and was bombed out to deep centerfield to make it 3-1. Things got a little rough from there. Michael Cuddyer walked on five pitches, then advanced to second as Alf threw away a pick off attempt. With one out, Mark Redmond grounded to third. Cody Ransom made a nice play on a tough hop off the lip of the carpet, but struggled getting the ball out of his glove and threw away his rushed throw to first, allowing Cuddyer to score and Redmond to advance to second. Alf then got the next two batters, but his own struggles and the error forced him to use up 26 of the roughly 65 pitches he had in the tank.

Both starters threw perfect third innings, then the Yankees struck again in the fourth. Posada led off with a single, despite a brilliant play by Nick Punto to field the ball deep in the hole. Cano promptly doubled Posada to third. After another Melky flyout, Cody Ransom atoned for his earlier error, collecting his second RBI of the afternoon by driving in Posada. Gardner followed with his second RBI, singling in Cano to make it 5-2.

Just as he had in the second though, Aceves struggled after his offense gave him some runs. Kubel led off again, and this time Aceves retired him on a little nubber in front of the plate. Cuddyer doubled and moved to third on a Brian Buscher single. Alf then plunked Redmond to load the bases, and was at his 65 pitch limit.

David Robertson had the uneviable task of entering a bases loaded one out jam. He struck out Punto for the second out, but proceeded to walk Denard Span and Tolbert to force in two runs. Robertson rebounded to retire Joe Mauer to get out of the jam, but the Yankee lead was down to one.

Mark Teixeira pushed the lead back to two in the top of the fifth, knocking his first HR in 95 at bats. That closed the scoring on the afternoon, but the adventures were not over yet.

Robertson fanned Justin Morneau leading off the fifth, but then issued his third walk in just one inning. Girardi yanked D-Rob in favor of Jonathan Albaladejo, who sandwiched a walk of his own between two Ks to end the inning. Albie then worked a perfect sixth, convincing the official scorer to award him the "W".

Girardi got a little match-up happy again in the seventh. With lefties Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel due up, Phil Coke was the obvious choice to start the inning. Mauer led off with a bunt single, was erased on a fielder's choice from Morneau, then Coke fanned Kubel. The Yankees had a two run lead in the seventh, two outs, a runner on first, and Michael Cuddyer coming up. The Twins run expectancy for the inning was just 0.2255 at that point, while the Yankees win probability for the game was 72%. While Cuddyer is a good hitter, he's not as a good as Mauer nor Morneau, and this year at least, he's even a tick below Kubel. But he's right handed, so even though Coke has held righties to a line of .167/.297/.296 - even better than what lefites are hitting off him - Girardi saw fit to make a pitching change.

Phil Hughes was summoned. I understand Hughes is probably the best non-Mo arm in the pen right now. I understand that Girardi loves him. But as discussed at several points earlier, Fack Youk is starting to worry about the way Hughes is being used. If Girardi absolutely needed to deploy Hughes mid inning, the bases loaded one out jam in the fourth was a much more opportune spot. Instead, Girardi brought him in to replace Coke, who's likely just a peg below Hughes in the bullpen pecking order. Hughes didn't even have to retire Cuddyer, as Morneau was thrown out at second trying to advance on a pitch that skipped away from Posada.

Hughes returned for the eighth. After retiring the first two batters, Ron Gardenhire set up a pinch hitter for Redmond: Jose Morales. So we have a close game, bottom of the eighth, two outs, and the mighty Jose Morales coming up to pinch hit. Sound familiar? While this was a Mo worthy situation on Wednesday night, apparently the extra run lead and the lack of a runner on first was enough to make Girardi comfortable to allow Hughes finish the inning himself this time. And that he did.

Mo pitched the ninth, working around a two out single for his 23rd save. In all it was a good day. It was a game in which the Yankees squandered some offensive opportunities and made a couple costly errors. It was a game in which they sent a spot starter to the mound, with a low pitch limit, and he didn't pitch particularly well, yet the still escaped with a win. Still they managed to go through five relievers, leaving mop-up man Brett Tomko and the struggling Brian Bruney as the only guys not to pitch. Tomorrow they send arguably their least reliable starter to the mound. I hope they have enough of a pen to piece that one together too. We'll see you then.

Game 85: Outshined

It's our second matinee in four days as the Yankeess and Twins wrap up their season series this afternoon. The Yanks look to sweep the season from the Twinkies for the first time since they went 7-0 in 2003. Barring a playoff matchup, this will also be the final time the Yanks play at the Metrodome.

Former phenom Francisco Liriano gets the start for the Twins. The lefty was part of the Twins' haul from San Francisco in the A.J. Pierzynski deal (nice work again Mr. Sabean). Liriano set the world on fire as a rookie in 2006, moving from the pen to the rotation in May and going 12-3 with 2.16 ERA (200 ERA+), a WHIP of exactly 1.00, and 10.7 K/9. An elbow injury allowed him just two starts after August 1st and cost him all of 2007.

Liriano returned last year. He got off to a rough start, carrying an 11.32 ERA after three starts, earning him a trip to AAA. He lit it up at Rochester, leading to his agent and the MLBPA investigating filing a grievance to get him recalled. He came back up in early August and went 6-1 with a 2.74 ERA, a 1.19 WHIP, and 8.2 K/9 over his final 11 starts. But the wheels have come off this year. Liriano leads the AL in losses with eight, has a 5.49 ERA (74 ERA+), and his WHIP has ballooned to 1.48. One of his better starts this year came against the Yanks on May 15th. He went six innings, gave up just one run, fanned six, but also walked six and took a no decision.

For the Yankees, Alfredo Aceves gets the spot start. Alf has been a revelation out of the pen this year, versatile and valuable, and has earned this start. In four MLB starts covering 23 innings last year, he went 1-0 with 2.74 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He held opponents to a .238/.304/.393 batting line, but benefited from an absurdly low .236 BABIP. In four minor league starts this year Aceves was 2-0 with 3.80 ERA and a WHIP of just 0.97. He made two relief appearances against the Twins in May, pitching a perfect inning in both, and picking up two of his five wins on the year.

Alf last pitched Sunday, going four innings of scoreless relief, allowing just a single hit, and picking up his first Major League save. He needed just 43 pitches to cover the four innings. It would serve the Yanks well if he can be that efficient today, as he's expected to be capped at about 65 pitches.

The fifth starter spot won't be needed again until July 21st. There's no telling who will get that start, but it's looking increasingly likely that it won't be Phil Hughes - which is a huge mistake in my estimation. Aceves is likely the next best choice for the near future, and a good start today will go a long way towards ensuring he gets the ball again on the 21st.

As for the line-up, A-Rod will be the DH today with Cody Ransom starting at third. Might it have been better to DH him last night and play Hinske at third against a righty? Johnny Damon and his leftfield tightrope act get the day off, with Swisher moving into the two spot in the order and Melky playing in left. Posada catches the day game after catching last night's game.

There will not be a live chat this afternoon folks; sorry about that. While we still intend to do them for weekday afternoon games, doing two this week just isn't feasible. Feel free to use the comment section to discuss the game as it unfolds. I'll be kicking around there.

The good news is that if you're a Cablevision customer living in-market, and you're willing to pony up $20 to $50, you can watch today's game on your computer, which means my workday afternoon just got a little less productive.

Soundgarden got left out of our little Seattle inspired grunge-o-rama against the M's last week, so we'll make it up to them today. The Yanks will head to California after the game. But at 6-0 against the Twins this year, they're definitely feeling Minnesota as Alf tries to outshine Liriano.



I'm looking California
And feeling Minnesota
So now you know, who gets mystified
So now you know, who gets mystified

Show me the power child, I'd like to say
That I'm down on my knees today
It gives me the butterflies, gives me away
'Til I'm up on my feet again.
I'm feeling outshined.

Why Would J.P. Ricciardi Want Everyone Talking About Roy Halladay?

To draw some attention away from this, perhaps?

The Blue Jays have released B.J. Ryan, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. The 33-year-old lefty signed a five year $47MM deal with the Jays before the 2006 season that was, at the time, the largest deal ever for a reliever. The contract expires after 2010, but the Jays still owe Ryan about $15MM.

"Hey guys, talk about the best player on my team for a while as I try to sweep a disastrous free agent signing under the rug!"

At the time the Jays signed Ryan to that deal, it was the largest ever to be given to a relief pitcher. He was only 29 years old, but as Joe from RAB mentioned a little while ago, some of the more knowledgeable voices in baseball saw his elbow as a ticking time bomb. Joe goes into more detail about how the market for relievers played out that offseason, with Billy Wagner ending up with the Mets, Ryan signing with the Jays, Tom Gordon going to the Phillies, thereby leaving the Yanks with Kyle Farnsworth.

In 2006, the Jays got even more than they expected, and Ryan was the best of those four relievers by far. He appeared in 65 games (72.1 IP) with a 1.37 ERA (333 ERA+) and a 0.875 WHIP. He gave up only 3HR and while converting 38 saves. The following year, he pitched in 5 games before missing the rest of the season Tommy John surgery. He came back in '08 with a respectable campaign (58 innings, 2.95 ERA, 32 Saves) and appeared to be an effective reliever once again.

This year, however, he fell so far that the Blue Jays paid him $15M just to disappear, conceding any potential value they could get out of him this year or next. He walked 17 in 20 2/3 innings, had an ERA of 6.53 and threw just over 50% of his pitches for strikes. This doesn't appear to be guy who just needs a change of scenery; he might be done for good. By virtue of who he was, though, it's likely that a team will take a flier on Ryan.

Fangraphs estimates that the Jays have got $10.8M out of Ryan's 2006 season, only slightly more than 1/5th of his contract represented ($9.4M). Since then the Jays will have revieved only $1.4M worth of services over the last four years of that contract (including -$0.7M in 2007, -$2.2M this year and nothing in 2010) while paying $38.6M. Ouch.

Praise be to Mo.

Joe Girardi Refuses To Be Outmanaged

With two outs in the eighth inning last night, Joe Girardi gave way too much respect to a bad hitter. It was a lot like calling on Phil Coke to face Brayan Pena back in April, except this time he got away with it.

There were two outs and a man on first base, and the pitcher on the mound was a converted starter, clearly capable of throwing more than 13 pitches in an outing. Instead he went to his 39 year old closer to get yet another four out save.

Why?

I'll tell you why. Ron Gardenhire made a managerial move and Joe Girardi was too scared to stand pat in response. This is the epitome of overmanaging. Making a move for the sake of making a move.

Jose Morales has good numbers in the Majors, but before he got called up, he was hitting .273/.362/.327 in AAA. He has only four extra base hits in 70 MLB plate appearances this year, none of which are home runs. As a matter of fact, he's hit just 6 homers in his last 746 minor league PA's, and 0 in 127 this year. Not exactly a threating presence at the plate.

I love the fact that Rivera isn't coddled like Trevor Hoffman and can get saves that require more than three outs. But let's conserve those for when they are actually needed, not when the opposing manager summons a guy with a career .373 minor league slugging percentage to pinch hit. Girardi has brought Mo into the 8th inning three times in his last 7 outings. Easy there Joe, it's only July.

Notice that I didn't question the move to bring in Phil Coke, which made sense but didn't work out. I'm questioning removing Hughes, which was overkill, and worked out anyway. Hindsight is irrelevant, optimal decision making is about using the information at hand to choose the best alternative at the time. This was unnecessary.

After the game Girardi hinted that Hughes might stay in the bullpen for the rest of the year. how about letting him build up some confidence, instead of essentially telling him you don't think he's capable of getting a big out?

Hughes has pitched 50 1/3 innings to date this season, between starting and coming out of the bullpen. If he stays in the 'pen being used how he is now, how many innings could he possibly pitch? 80? 90? 100 max?

What happens next year if they want to put him back in the starting rotation? The Yanks are going to be in the same spot they were at the beginning of this season; miles away from a reasonable innings limit for a starter.

The way things are going, Chien Ming Wang is far from a lock to hold down one of the spots. Andy Pettitte wanted to pitch in the New Stadium, but as rough as it has been on him so far, it's beginning to look more and more like he isn't going to want to come back. We'd all like to think Joba Chamberlain will get things figured out, but that's not a guarantee either. That leaves the Yanks with two starting pitchers, A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia, both of whom are fairly significant injury risks.

Do I think having Hughes in the bullpen gives the Yanks the best chance to win in the short term? Sure, but so does calling up J.P. Ricciardi tomorrow and offering him Hughes, Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero for Roy Halladay. The organization has stated multiple times that they see Hughes as a future component of the Yankees' rotation. Why don't they start acting like it?

The Half Century Mark

A.J. Burnett was far from sharp tonight; wild was more like it. He walked four batters while only striking out two and whipped three wild pitches off of the artificial turf past the backhanded stabs of Jorge Posada. But in the end he was good enough.

The first of the wild pitches was erased after Burnett picked Denard Span off of second base in the first inning. His throw hit Robinson Cano's glove right on the bag at ankle level, and caught Span so off guard that he didn't even bother to slide.

In the top of the second, the Yankees loaded the bases with three one out singles by Matsui, Posada and Cano. Nick Swisher drove in a run with a slow chopper back to Anthony Swarzak, bringing up Brett Gardner with two outs. (According to Ken Singleton on the YES broadcast, Gardner came into the game leading all AL Rookies in on-base percentage, batting average, walks, stolen bases and runs scored. Surprising, yes?) He continued his recent hot streak by lofting a single to left, which scored Posada and Cano, making the score 3-0.

Burnett's wildness resurfaced in the third inning, but only after he had recorded two outs. After allowing a single and a stolen base to Denard Span, he walked Brendan Harris, bringing up Joe Mauer. He then threw two consecutive wild pitches, the first moving the runners to second and third and the next allowing Span to score. It might have cost Mauer an RBI because on the following pitch, he ripped an opposite field double to bring the Twins within one.

The Yanks struck again in the 5th, spearheaded by a leadoff double by Derek Jeter. Mark Teixiera followed that up with a one out walk and A-Rod drove Jeter in with a single. That would be the last batter Swarzak would face as he left the game after 4 1/3 IP, surrendering 4 runs on 8 hits.

Burnett settled down after his rocky 3rd inning, working scoreless a scoreless 4th, 5th and 6th. He got Brendan Harris to line out to start the 7th, but with Joe Mauer on deck and 3 for 3 on the night, Joe Girardi elected to call on Phil Coke to match up with the lefty. Burnett couldn't have done much worse, as Mauer took a 3-1 fastball out to the opposite field for a solo homer. Coke then retired Justin Morneau on a slider in the dirt for the second out of the inning. Girardi, again matching up, brought in Phil Hughes to face the righty Michael Cuddyer, who turned the first pitch he saw into a pop out.

Hughes came out for the 8th inning and needed only 7 pitches to take down the first two hitters. With Nick Punto and his abysmal 59 OPS+ coming to the plate, Ron Gardenhire decided to call on switch-hitting backup catcher Jose Morales to pinch hit.

Giradi countered with Mariano Rivera to get a four out save (more on this later), and like the unstoppable force that he is, Mo cut them down in order, including two strikeouts.

It was much more similar to the first four games the teams played against each other this year than the one last night, but the Yanks continued their dominance over the Twins on the season and pulled down win number 50 for 2009.

The Red Sox beat the A's 5-4 to remain one game up in the AL East. The Yanks will make the first move tomorrow, as they have a second weekday matinee of this week at 1:10.

Game 84: On The Run

Almost exactly one month ago, A.J. Burnett tossed a 2 2/3 inning, 5 hit, 5 walk, 5 run clunker against the Red Sox and Josh Beckett. At that point, Burnett had a 4.89 ERA, a 4-3 record and some assurance for his detractors:

"When I do get on that run, it's going to be impressive," he said. "I promise you that."

In his four starts since then, Burnett has notched three wins, with his only loss coming when he threw 6 1/3 innings of one run ball against the Marlins in a game the Yankees lost 2-1. On that run he predicted, A.J. has thrown 27 1/3 innings and given up just three runs, good for a 0.99 ERA, lowering his season mark to 3.83 in the process. He's allowed only 16 hits and walked 12 while striking out 33 and has easily been the Yankees best starter over that time.

A last minute scratch by the Twins swaps Glen Perkins (out with a fever) for rookie Anthony Swarzak, who was originally supposed to be starting tomorrow night. The big 23 year old righty has made five starts in the Majors this year, with his first and last being the most impressive. Against the Brewers on May 23rd, he threw 7 shutout innings en route to the victory, and he equaled that feat against the Cubs on June 13th. He was sent down to Triple A Rochester shortly thereafter, where he has sported a 2.34 ERA over his 10 starts in 2009.

Swarzak's number are much better away from the HHH than at home and he will have to attempt to correct that while facing what is close to the most potent line-up the Yankees have to offer. Jorge Posada will be behind the plate, A-Rod at third, Hideki Matsui in the DH slot and Damon, Gardner and Swisher manning the outfield, from left to right.

After thumping the Twins last night, the Yanks are 5-0 against them this year have have won 17 of their last 23 meetings, dating back to 2006. A win tonight would be the Yankees' 1100th against the Twins franchise, although that record dates all the way back to April 29th, 1901, when the Yankees were still the Baltimore Orioles and the Twins were the Washington Senators.

More relevantly, if Burnett can continue his dominant charge, the Bombers could notch their 50th win of the season tonight. The Yanks aren't in Kansas, but don't forget that the Central Time start pushes the game back til 8.

[synthesizer noises]

"(Leaning) More Towards Listening"

At around 8:00 yesterday morning, Ken Rosenthal started chumming the water, and it's been a non-stop feeding frenzy ever since.

Let the Roy Halladay sweepstakes begin.

Oh, I bet this is going to be juicy!

"We have to see what's out there," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says. "I'm not saying we're going to shop him. But if something makes sense, we at least have to listen. We're (leaning) more toward listening than we've ever been."

Or not... And with that one lukewarm, non-committal quote from the Jays' GM, the baseball blogosphere was off to the races.

MLB Trade Rumors was the first to pick it up, and from there it has spread like wildfire with scribes from all over the country tripping over themselves to interview Ricciardi and talk to other sources to get the next tasty tidbit.

Who are the most likely potential trading partners? What about his no trade clause? Who's salaries might the other teams have to take in return? The Phillies might get him!

Are we the only ones not buying Rosenthal's original line of reasoning here?

Ricciardi says the Jays will not trade Halladay if they do not receive the right offer, knowing that the team's best chance of competing next season is with the pitcher at the top of the rotation.

C'mon.

Hmmm. You make an excellent point Ken. "C'mon". I hadn't thought of that. The two perfectly reasonable statements from Ricciardi above now make no sense at all. And you did it with just with one simple, informal contraction.

Once this process starts, it's almost impossible to stop.

Except in the case of say, Jake Peavy, who you reference in your article when talking about what the White Sox would be willing to trade.

Rest assured, the Jays are assembling prospect lists and preparing to assign their scouts to investigate rival farm systems. Halladay is a goner. It's just a matter of when and where.

Well, no shit, Ken. That "when and where" could be two weeks from now, this December, next season, next offseason or when he finally retires from the game of baseball. Thank you for that bold prediction.

-----

In PeteAbe's post about this, he said

J.P. Ricciardi played it exactly right yesterday.

He put the word out that he would be willing to discuss a deal for Roy Halladay and then picked up his cell phone a few times over the course of the day to reiterate that to ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports.com.

No fool is Ricciardi. Within a few hours, it was the biggest story in baseball. Halladay became the hot topic on sports-talk radio stations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago along with a few hundred blogs, including this one. Everybody was trying to figure out who their teams can send to Toronto for the respected right-hander.

It’s called building a market.

Did he play it exactly right, though? Cause it kinda seems like Ken Rosenthal just blew a harmless quote out of proportion, thereby creating a pointless media shitstorm over something that may or may not happen. Since when do you have to build a market through the media? I'm pretty sure the market for a pitcher who eats AL East line-ups and shits complete games was already there.

Does it really do Ricciardi any good to have every member of the baseball press foaming at the mouth awaiting the next tenuous detail of the trade? Is it a good thing that Rosenthal is making it seem like the Jays have no choice but to trade him?

Ask Kevin Towers how that worked out for him.

A Rivederci Frankie

At long last, Jose Molina will be activated from the DL either today or tomorrow, and Francisco Cervelli will be sent down. It's the right move to make, but I, like many other Yankee fans will be sad to see the Cisco Kid depart.

Cervelli came up on May 5th, after Jorge Posada was DL'd with a hamstring problem. Three days later, Molina went down, leaving the Yanks with a catching tandem of the young Cervelli and Kevin Cash. Cervelli quickly established himself as a fan favorite, not only for his infectious enthusiasm, but also for an impressive burst out of the gate, hitting .375 through his first 28 PAs and playing outstanding defense, both calling a good game and flashing a strong arm. I always found his post-game interviews fairly humorous too.

While his offense came back to earth a bit, he still provided the ocassional shot in the arm. None were bigger than his first Big League home run, coming in Atlanta on June 24th. His homer that night snapped a fourteen inning scoreless streak for the Yankees and sparked an offensive hot streak that's still going. Last night, he likely capped his two month stay, hitting the ball well each time up in going 2 for 4 with a double, sac fly, a run scored, and two RBI.

Of course, "a rivederci" is Italian for "until we see each other again", and we certainly will see Frankie again. Cervelli will be recalled when rosters expand in September, if not sooner. With Jose Molina's contract expiring at season's end, it's a safe bet that Frankie will be Posada's caddie in 2010. In the meantime, Cervelli, like Ramiro Pena, will get some needed seasoning at Scranton. Despite outperforming his offensive expectations at the Big League level, Cervelli has had just 152 minor league PA above A-ball. Getting regular at bats against AAA pitching will only help his development and leave him in a better position for 2010 and beyond.

Needing more minor league at bats may not be the only thing Cervelli has in common with Pena. Pena was sent down to learn to play CF as well, to increase his versatility as a supersub. With the way the Yankees current roster is constructed, carrying three catchers isn't feasible. But if Cervelli could play other positions, it would make more sense. He was signed as a shortstop, and is still young and mobile enough to be able to play other positions. Bronx Banter's Bruce Markusen suggested this over the weekend, and I think it's a good idea. With the current depth at catcher in the Yankee system, increasing his versatility will only increase Cervelli's value down the line.

Yankees Broadcasts Creeping Dangerously Close To Respectability

Last night's game was fairly long (3:17), and after the Yanks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, the game was never in doubt. But that doesn't even begin to explain this:



No "Thuh Yankees Win... Thuuuuuuh. Yannnnnnnkkkkeeessss. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnn"?!?!??

What's next? Are they going to forget to play New York, New York after they win at home?

H/T of course goes to IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS... caught, which Sterling allegedly didn't even do on A-Rod's near grand slam that was robbed by Carlos Gomez?

Sterling's apparent jet lag/heavy medication, coupled with the fact that Michael Kay is on vacation until after the All-Star Break has made both the radio and TV broadcasts damn near tolerable. Now if they could just jettison Suzyn Waldman...

Alf Lands In The Rotation

Good morning Fackers. The mystery of just who would take Chien-Ming Wang's turn in the rotation on Thursday was answered before last night's game, as it was announced that Alfredo Aceves will start the Yankees' final regular season game at the Metrodome. Since Jonathan Albaladejo was recalled when Wang was DL'd, the Yanks will not be shorthanded in the pen over the next several days.

Our man Alf is the logical choice after the Yankees made it clear that Phil Hughes wasn't stretched out enough to start and announced that Sergio Mitre would make his scheduled start for Scranton last night. Aceves threw four innings of relief on Sunday, mostly out of necessity and certainly because of excellent performance, but perhaps also in part to get him stretched out a bit. He'll have a 65 pitch limit and should be good for about five innings Thursday.

The Yankees would be wise to follow Aceves with a multiple inning outing from Phil Hughes, building his arm strength, then take advantage of the upcoming three day All-Star break and subsequent off day and immediately option Hughes down after Thursday's game. Once optioned down, Hughes cannot return for ten days unless he's replacing an injured player. Optioning him down before the All-Star break will minimize the amount of Big League games he'll need to miss, and allow him at least two minor league starts to get stretched back to starting. Joe at RAB suggested a similar move as soon as Wang was injured.

Thanks to the All-Star break the Yankees won't need a fifth starter again until Tuesday July 21st. As good as Aceves has been, Hughes is the better pitcher, still figures to be a rotation stalwart for years to come, and right now gives the Yanks the better shot at winning every five days. Allowing him to shadow Aceves with a multiple inning stint Thursday then sending him out should give him enough time to be ready to start on the 21st and will allow Aceves to go back to his valuable and versatile role in the pen.

As for Wang, this latest setback should be the final nail in the coffin for his 2009 season. Hopefully he can get through this with rest and rehab and use a full rehab assignment to get himself right. Anything the Yanks get out of him this year has to be considered gravy at this point. Hopefully he'll start with a clean slate in 2010.

Lastly, not adding Mitre to the roster now still leaves the Yankees with a 40 man roster spot with which to toy. Technically the 40 man is full, but Xavier Nady, who undergoes Tommy John surgery today, can be transferred to the 60 day DL at any point, thereby opening a spot. I expect the Yanks to keep that ace up their sleeve as the July 31st deadline approaches. As for Mitre, he was impressive last night, allowing 7 baserunners and 1 earned run in 6.2 innings while striking out seven. For the year now, he has a 2.72 ERA in eight minor league starts covering 46.1 IP. He's allowed 44 hits and just 7 BB, while striking out 38. He's certainly worth keeping in mind as the season wears on.

Twin Killing

In tonight's game preview, we detailed the Yanks four game sweep of the Twins in May. Despite the four game sweep, the Yanks run differential for the series was only +5 and they required three walk-off wins. Tonight, they continued beating the Twinkies, and this time did so far more handily.

The Yanks scored early and often, scoring in three of the first four innings to take a 5-1 lead, and tacking on five more in the sixth to put the game far out of reach. Derek Jeter led off the game with a single and was later plated on a Hideki Matsui single. In the second, Robinson Cano led off with a double, moved to third on a Brett Gardner infield single, and scored on a Frankie Cervelli sac fly. They then added another run as Gardner scored on a Mark Teixeria base hit.

CC Sabathia gave a run back in the bottom of the inning on a Michael Cuddyer solo shot. But the Yankees chased Scott Baker in the fourth, adding two more runs. Carlos Gomez robbed Alex Rodriguez of a grand slam hauling in a drive that was ticketed to land over the fence. A-Rod had to settle for a sac fly, and a bases loaded walk from Nick Swisher forced in the Yankees' fifth run.

In the sixth, the Yanks ended the game for all intents and purposes, and all the damage was done with two outs. Robinson Cano finally broke his twenty-plus RISP oh fer, dropping a broken bat single into centerfield to score Teix and A-Rod. Brett Gardner followed with a two run triple scoring Swisher and Cano, then Cervelli ripped a double off the leftfield fence, to plate Gardner and close out the scoring.

The entire Yankee offense was great. Every starter had at least one hit, Cano and Cervelli had two each, Gardner three, and Teix four. Five of the starters drew walks, including two each from Matsui and Swisher. With the big lead, Damon, Jeter, and A-Rod all got the late innings off, saving them from the turf.

The Cuddyer homer was the only blip on the radar screen for Sabathia, as he rebounded from last Thursday's poor start. He needed 100 pitches, 68 of them strikes, to get through 7 innings. He allowed just three hits and a walk, and struck out three. He didn't allow more than a single baserunner in any inning. The big lead made it safe for Brett Tomko to close out the last two innings, but not before allowing the second Twins run in the eighth.