News And Notes

While Jay and I were busy enjoying the weekend, there were some noteworthy tidbits coming out of Yankeeland.

First and foremost, Sergio Mitre will get the start against the O's tomorrow night. In nine minor league starts this year, Mitre is 4-1 with a 2.32 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. That's that good news. The bad news is that in 310.2 MLB innings since 2003, Mitre has a 5.23 ERA in the NL (81 ERA+) and a 1.55 WHIP. This is not a long term solution to the fifth starter spot.

To make room on the 40 man roster, Xavier Nady will likely be moved to the 60 day DL. Candidates to be moved off the MLB roster would have to be Mark Melancon and David Robertson, who both have options, or Brett Tomko who is on a Berroa-like streak of bullet-dodging.

Meanwhile, Alf Aceves and Phil Hughes, both superior hurlers to Mitre, remain in the pen where they continue to mow down opposing batters (or is that "Mo down opposing batters"?). Apparently the team has figured it better to play Russian Roulette for five innings every five days rather than for one or two innings each time through the rotation. At this point I've resigned myself to Hughes being in the pen for the remainder of 2009.

On a semi-related note, Brian Cashman is sending strong indications that the Yankees will not be a player for Roy Halladay as the deadline approaches. I support this position, though admittedly it could be tactical posturing on Cash's part. If the Yankees aren't going to pursue Halladay, that's one less option to sure up the rotation. Unfortunately, I don't think Mitre nor Chien-Ming Wang - who begins a throwing program today - is the answer for this year.

Damaso Marte is continuing his rehab with the GCL Yankees. He made his second appearance Saturday, this time throwing a perfect inning and striking out two batters.

HOPE Week begins for the Yankees today. The organization seems to have been more heavily involved than usual in charities and community outreach this year, and that's a great thing.

Jay will be back with tonight's preview shortly.

Old Timers' Day Ruminations

As I mentioned this morning, Old Timers' Day is probably my favorite day of the regular season. This was the fourth consecutive one I've attended, and for me, they don't get old. The Yankees were not a very good team in my early years of following them. But part of what I really enjoyed about the franchise was their history. My family had a copy of the 1987 documentary New York Yankees The Movie, detailing the team's history. I watched it until the tape wore out.

My father has a library of books on Yankee history, from the Bronx Zoo years, back to the Dynasty era, to the Ruth and Gehrig years. Once I devoured all of them, the local library was an excellent source of other books on Yankee and baseball history.

So for me, I really enjoy seeing the Old Timers come back. And while the Hall of Famers and the players from the most recent dynasty get the biggest pops, I enjoy knowing who "Bullet" Bob Turley and Luis Arroyo and Hector Lopez are when they're introduced.

I can appreciate why outsiders may be somewhat disgusted by it. It's highly self-congratulatory and self-indulgent, and that appearance isn't helped at all by twin blowhards John Sterling and Michael Kay continually trying to one-up each other introduction after introduction. But baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, is built on its own history. To my knowledge, the Yankees are the only franchise that still celebrates Old Timers' Day anually, a tradition that dates back to 1946. And as a fan of the team, I'm happy that the franchise gives the fan a day each year to bring back the heroes of the past. It's something that I wish fans of other teams had the opportunity to experience.

Last night, Mike at RAB linked to post from NBC's Circling the Bases blog, that criticized the Yankees' annual tradition. Yes, there is a sense of overkill following the closing of the Old Stadium and the opening of the New Stadium, but those are rare, once in a lifetime experiences. Old Timers' Day is 60+ year tradition. It should not be ended; it should be duplicated throughout baseball. Yes, Mantle and DiMaggio and Scooter and Murcer have all passed on. Outside of Yogi and Whitey, who are certainly on in years, Old Timers' Day doesn't really have any of the top tier Yankee Legends any more. But it's not just about the all time greats, it's really a day to celebrate anyone who contributed through the years, anyone who ever gave the fans cause to cheer.

In Peter Golenbock's Dynasty, an account of the 1949 through 1964 Yankees that won 14 pennants and 9 World Series, there's an interview with Johnny Blanchard, a Yankee platoon player from 1959 through 1965. I don't have access to the exact quote at present, but essentially Blanchard spoke of how important it was to him to go back to Old Timers' Day each year - to see his old friends and teammates, to relive the memories of years past. I think he may have even said he would die if they wouldn't let him come back anymore.

Blanchard was a fixture at Old Timer's Day. He passed away just prior to the start of this season and was remembered Sunday in the list of baseball deaths from the past year. I hope the other former Yankees in attendance yesterday remembered him, and remembered why it was an important day for all of them. In the aforementioned documentary there's a great quote from Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez: "Once a Yankee, always a Yankee". I'm grateful we have Old Timers' Day to remind us of that.

Above The Clouds

Both of my parents were still in high school in 1969, so I really have no concept of what the world was like at that point. It was the year Mickey Mantle announced his retirement and Stan Musial was voted into the Hall of Fame. The league had just added four teams (the Royals, Padres, Expos and Seattle Pilots who eventually became the Milwaukee Brewers) so the Yankees were now playing in the AL East as opposed to the AL at large.

There was no DH and the Yanks had a four man rotation headed by Mel Stottlemyre. Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer were just breaking into the league as full time players at age 22 and 23 respectively. The team finished a forgettable 80-81 under Ralph Houk but one of those 80 victories (and 11th inning walk-off, no less) came 40 years ago today on Bat Day at Yankee Stadium.

I only mention that because a far more significant event took place during the course of the contest: the climax of the Apollo 11 mission. Our pal Lar at wezen-ball (who was also just a dot on the horizon when it happened) dug up several accounts from around the Majors to see how they handled such a transcendent moment and found an impossibly detailed account of the announcement made during the Yankees game that day from Leonard Koppett of the New York Times:

'Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please,' came the voice of Bob Shepard, the public address announcer.

The umpires, according to prior arrangements, waved their arms and stopped play.

[...]

'You will be happy to know,' Shepard continued, 'that the Apollo 11 has landed safely...'

And a tremendous cheer drowned the words 'on the moon.'

The cheering continued for about 45 seconds. On the scoreboard, the message section read 'They're on the moon.' People stood. They waved the bats back and forth. Shepard kept talking, but his words could not be made out through the din.

Sounds like a pretty incredible moment, doesn't it? Click through to read the whole post. Lar is great at finding contemporary accounts of historical baseball moments and this is one of my favorite posts of his. He also has a graphic of the territory covered once the astronauts actually walked on the moon, superimposed over a baseball diamond. Wezen-ball is certainly a quality over quantity type of baseball blog and I would highly recommend adding that to your reading rotation.

The moon landing now seems to be distant history and something that I must admit I take for granted. The moment shows up in popular culture so much, like in Forrest Gump, the Ali G Show, the intro a Gang Starr song, and Dumb and Dumber, it's easy to become familiar with it, without actually appreciating the full magnitude of what it meant at the time.

It would be as if Columbus' chance encounter with North America was instantly relayed to Europe at the exact moment that it happened. Except NASA knew exactly what they were doing when they landed on the moon; they weren't trying to get to Mars. The level of science, technology and innovation necessary to put a man on a moving planetary body 238,855 miles away is still staggering 40 years later. It redefined what was possible.

In Koppett's account, he mentions that Sheppard, along with the other voices who made the announcement paused for a moment of silent prayer for the mission's safe return. Since we already knew how the story ends, I hadn't thought about the level of uncertainty involved with the second half of the journey until I read that.

Sure, it was sort of a pissing contest between the U.S. and the Soviets to see who could get there first and there weren't any tangible direct societal benefits from it. But sometimes it's good to do something just to do it. It's why people climb Everest and swim the English Channel. For the sake of saying you did. So now when people look at the Moon, it doesn't seem that far away.

What A Weekend

Good morning Fackers. Well, we have another weekend in the books, and I don't know about you, but we sure enjoyed ourselves. Jay was participating in another golf tournament. I had a helluva a cookout at my place Saturday, starting just after I watched the Yanks take game two of the series from the Tigers. I now have enough empties on my porch to get more than $10 in bottle deposit refunds. You could say it was a pretty fun Saturday.

Sandwiched around the cook/drinkout, I attended both the Friday and Sunday games. The biblical downpour on Friday night was something else. In the past three years I've sat through more rain delays than I can even remember. It seems as if it rains every other time I go to the Bronx. But none of them compare to Friday. We stayed at our seats in the very last section of the left field terrace until the official rain delay was called. And we got under cover just in time to avoid the worst of it.

I don't know how much footage YES showed of the rain, but it was incredible. The upper deck concourse has down spouts coming down from the roof. They were running like fire hydrants. There was a full pond back around the home plate area of the concourse. Thankfully, that would be the last inclement weather of the weekend, and in some ways, the torrential downpours were preferable to the oppressive humidity that preceded it.


More impressive than the rain was the performance from Phil Hughes. I still have some serious concerns about how he's being deployed. But watching him record all six outs via K on Friday, and 8 of 9 total on the weekend is very impressive.

With the possible exception of Opening Day, Old Timers' Day is my favorite day of the season, so it was very cool to be in attendance with my brother, father, and uncle on Sunday. I love a good pitchers' duel, and Sunday certainly was one of those. I'm not ready to say all is well with Joba based on just one start, but Sunday was a leap in the right direction.

Last week started with the end of an ugly three game sweep at the hands of the Angels. With no baseball for the next four days, there was much talk of the Yanks' troubles against the division leading Angels (2-4) and Red Sox (0-8). But baseball is a funny game. Just as the Yanks found a way to lose all three games in Anaheim, all games that they led at one point, they found a way to win all three games against Detroit this weekend, all games that they trailed at some point. The sweep ran the Yankees record against the division leading Tigers to 5-1. It's almost as if the baseball gods put things back to equilibrium as soon as possible. I'm sure Detroit is happy they won't be seeing Joba, Hughes, or Mo again this regular season.

In all, a great weekend. An exciting three game sweep of the division leading Tigers, featuring two classic pitchers' duels. That coupled with two Sox losses pulled the Yanks back to within a game of first. The tenth anniversary of David Cone's perfect game, the annual Old Timers' Day celebration, great weather, etc. It all adds up to make this Monday morning look a little less daunting than most.

Back with more later.

Yanks Claim Another Pitchers' Duel

(Photos from AP/ESPN)

Saturday's game, which we did not recap thanks to it being too nice a weekend to be writing recaps, was a classic pitchers' duel between established aces CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander.

As Jay metioned in the preview, Sunday's game featured less established starters who tease with their potential. Edwin Jackson is in the midst of a breakout season at age 25 after struggling through his first six Major League seasons. Joba Chamberlain has displayed extended flashes of brilliance in his career, but has also been mired in a stretch of bad starts which has seen him labor, exit early, and seemingly deny his problems. Both pitchers would be on top of their games Sunday.

The afternoon started in typical frustrating fashion for Chamberlain. He needed 23 pitches to get through the first, allowing a walk and a single. He walked the leadoff batter in both the second and the third, then surrendered a leadoff homer in the fourth. At that point, in 3+ innings of work, Joba had issued three walks, two hits - one of them a homer, and needed 57 pitches - just 33 of them strikes - to get nine outs and fall behind 1-0. It appeared it would be another wasted start, but from there something seemed to click.

Joba reverted back to his old form. The rest of his afternoon would consist of 3.2 scoreless innings. He needed just 50 additional pitches, 35 of them strikes. He would allow just one more hit (thanks to some inventive defense by Nick Swisher), one hit batsman, no walks, and record 6 of those 11 outs via strikeout. His velocity increased to 96 and 97 MPH according to the Stadium gun.

Perhaps most telling was his work in the fifth. With the game tied at one, Chamberlain found himself in a first and third, one out jam, with the dangerous Miguel Cabrera at the plate. Chamberlain induced a pop out from Cabrera, then fanned Marcus Thames with a 95 MPH heater on a critical 3-2 pitch.

Jackson was just as good. He cruised through the early innings, needing just 40 pitches to get through the first three, facing one over the minimum. Staked to a 1-0 lead in the fourth, he got two quick outs before he gave the run back on a mammoth homerun to left by Alex Rodriguez. He followed that with consecutive walks to Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada, but worked his way out of the jam.

Jackson gave up another moon shot in the sixth, this one to Mark Teixeira. He again followed that by pitching into a jam, an A-Rod single and Posada double putting runners on second and third with two outs. Once again Jackson was able to minimize the damage, but enough damage had been done.

In position to win and having already thrown 97 pitches, I had hoped Chamberlain wouldn't return to the mound for the seventh. It isn't that I'm opposed to pushing him, but given his recent history I felt it important that he exit the game on a high note. Joba made good use of the extra rope he was given, fanning both batters he faced. With the top of the order and the dangerous Curtis Granderson due up, Joe Girardi then went to the bullpen. He was booed by the crowd, but I felt it was the right move - again, it was important that Chamberlain exit on a high note.

The move worked like a charm. Phil Coke needed just one pitch to get Granderson to loft a soft liner to short, ending the inning. The Yankees threatened again in the bottom of the inning, and again came up empty. It didn't matter; the one run lead was all they needed. Phil Hughes had a dominant eighth, recording two more Ks, and Mariano Rivera despite issuing his fourth walk of the year, pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the sweep.

Back with more in the AM.

Game 91: Old Time Rock And Roll

The Yankees have been hosting an Old-Timers' Day in its current format every year since 1946. It's amazing to to think that, even back then, the Yankees had enough distingushed former players that they felt the need to honor by hosting a pregame ceremony once a year. This year will include the largest number of attendees ever, probably due in part to the fact that it's taking place at the New Stadium.

Among those donning pinstripes will be legends such as Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, Moose Skowron, Dave Winfield, and Paul O'Neill. The widows of Thurman Munson, Elston Howard, Catfish Hunter, Phil Rizzuto and Billy Martin will also be there to represent their husbands. Don Zimmer, now a member of the Rays coaching staff (for home games only), will be back in Pinstripes for the first time since his angry departure in 2003. Always a fan favorite, Zim promises to get one of the louder ovations from the crowd.

Far smaller hands will be given to the likes of Aaron Small, Homer Bush, Andy Carey, Jeff Torborg, Brian Doyle and other relatively obscure former Yanks. You can't fault those guys for accepting the invite, even though their presence might drag out the ceremony a bit. The Yankees have taken a "more the merrier" type of approach to Old Timers' Day and I think overall, that's probably a good thing. The events start at 11:45 and the first pitch of the game is slated for 2:05.

On the mound today will be two pitchers who are anything but old-timers. At age 25, Edwin Jackson has had a breakout season thus far. He's got a 2.52 ERA and has given up only 94 hits in 121 2/3 IP. Even with 35 walks, his WHIP is still a dominant 1.060. In his only start against the Yanks this year, Jackson threw six innings of shutout ball in what started off as a pitcher's duel against Phil Hughes, but the Yanks blew the game open in the seventh and won 11-0. Part of the reason for their success back in April was working Jackson's pitch count to 117 and getting him out of the game early so they could do their damage against Tigers' bullpen (now without Joel Zumaya). One would imagine they will be taking a similar approach this afternoon.

Joba Chamberlain will be the Yankees' hurler this afternoon, at least for the first 4 or 5 innings anyway (kidding... hopefully). We are all heavily invested in Joba's ability to become a dominant starter his last two outings, totalling 8 innings, haven't been especially encouraging. He was charged with 7 runs over those two games, but 6 unearned runs came to the plate when he was on the mound as well. The Yankees were lucky to win the first of those starts 10-8 but lost then next 10-6. The team is 12-6 when Joba starts, but that is more of a testament to the offense and the bullpen than it is to his contributions as a starter. He needs to get it going if he wants to be back for some Old-Timers' Days down the line.

Still like that old time rock and roll,
That kind of music,
just soothes the soul,
I reminisce about the days of old.

Game 90: Uptight (Everything's Alright)

Ten years ago today, it was Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium. After being fired as Yankee manager just sixteen games into the 1985 season, Berra refused to return to Yankee Stadium so long as George Steinbrenner owned the Yankees. When Mickey Mantle passed away in 1995, and then Joe DiMaggio in early 1999, it left Berra as the greatest living Yankee. Allegedly, when Steinbrenner went to visit The Yankee Clipper on his deathbed, Joe D. implored Steinbrenner to make ammends with Yogi.

Steinbrenner heeded that advice, and an unofficial burying of the hatchet was held at Berra's museum in New Jersey shortly after DiMaggio's death. But July 18, 1999 would be Berra's big day at the Stadium. Don Larsen was flown in for the festivities, and it was Larsen, author of MLB's only post-season perfect game, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Berra caught it, just as he did the final strike on October 8, 1956, then returned Joe Girardi 's catchers mitt to him.

Girardi took the mitt, and then proceeded to catch a perfect game from David Cone. It was perhaps the most efficient game ever pitched: Cone needed just 88 pitches, a whopping 66 of them strikes (75%), to throw the perfecto, striking out ten. He didn't have a single three ball count all afternoon. The game, though delayed by rain briefly, required just two hours and sixteen minutes to complete.

To mark the anniversary, Cone will throw out the ceremonial first pitch today. It will likely be caught by Girardi, who may then turn the glove over to Jorge Posada. I wouldn't expect a perfect game today, but I would expect one helluva pitching match-up.

CC Sabathia squares off against Justin Verlander in a rematch of their April 27th match-up in Detroit. Sabathia was good that night, allowing just six hits and no walks while fanning seven in eight innings of work. But Verlander was better, seven innings of seven hit ball, no walks and nine Ks. Verlander didn't allow a run, CC allowed four. The Yanks will try to turn the tables today.

It's a beautiful day. We have a great pitching match-up. They'll be celebrating a little bit of history at the Stadium today. I'd say everything is alright, but ten years ago today it was clean out of sight. Here's one of Motown's finest to tell us about it.



Baby, everything is alright, uptight, clean out of sight

Back At It

When play resumed in the bottom of the 8th inning, Yankee Stadium couldn't have held more than 5,000 fans. Whittled down from the original 46,197, the 57 minute rain delay drove home the all but the most hearty Pinstripe supporters.

There were about a dozen people in each of the bleacher sections, and if you buy into the seating-based Yankee fan stereotypes, one would have to assume that many of them were sitting in better seats when Derek Jeter led off the inning with a sharp single to center. At that point, the Yankees seemed to be in control of the game, but for the first six and a half innings, that did not appear to be the case.

Despite the gloomy, overcast conditions at gametime, the weather held out for quite a while. The rain started falling in the sixth inning, and at that time the Yankees were trailing, as they had been for nearly the entire game.

To lead off the game, Curtis Granderson took two pitches before ripping a double to right off of A.J. Burnett. He came around to score two batters later (after being advanced to third), on a Miguel Cabrera groundout. The Yanks tied it up on a Hideki Matsui single in the bottom half of the inning but the Tigers added another picket to their fence in the second.

Granderson again proved lethal in the leadoff role to start the fifth inning, sending a solo shot to right center field to bring the score to 3-1. It might have stayed there if Josh Anderson hadn't let a routine single by Mark Teixeira bounce through the wickets and up against the wall, allowing Johnny Damon to score easily. It wasn't the first costly error he's committed against the Yanks this year.

For the second time in a row, A.J. Burnett wasn't sharp. However, he found a way to work around a 11 baserunners and a throwing error (his own) and keep the game competitive. He allowed 5 BBs to just 1K, and spent 104 pitches in the process of getting through 6 innings. But he never allowed more than one run in a frame and left the game with the Yanks still in striking distance at 3-2.

After Phil Hughes worked a scoreless half of the seventh inning, the Yanks jumped on Joel Zumaya in the form or a Derek Jeter single and a two bagger courtesy of Johnny Damon. Still with no one out, Mark Teixeira worked the count to 3-0, took a strike and then blasted a three run shot to RF to shift the balance of the game permanently.

Hughes came back on for the 8th and rung up 3 more K's, bringing his total to 6 for the two innings he pitched. His line included 3 hits, a balk and 40 pitches, but Phil was dominant, mixing a fastball that touched 97 with a cutter and a curve.

After the rain delay and the top half of the 9th, the Honorable Mariano Rivera brought the proceedings to a close by getting former Yankee Marcus Thames to pop out to Teix in front of the pitcher's mound.

It was the 8th time in a row that the Yankees had come out of the All-Star break with a victory, and their third win in four games against the Tigers; seemingly the only first place team they can handle this year. They'll be back at it tomorrow at 1:05 with CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander squaring off in a battle of aces.

[Photos via ESPN/AP-Bill Kostroun]

Game 89: Break On Through

After what felt like an interminable All-Star Break, the Yankees return to action tonight, kicking off a ten game homestand against the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. The Yanks took two of three from Detroit in late April, leaving the Tigers just a game above .500 at the time. Since then they've gone 37-29 and currently hold a 3.5 game lead over the White Sox in the Central.

The Tigers have struggled a bit offensively. They are just below league average in runs per game and as a team are only hitting .259/328/.422. Of course they play their home games in cavernous Comerica Park; we'll see if the bandbox that is the new Yankee Stadium jump starts the bats at all. On the pitching side, the Tigers' staff is allowing the third fewest runs per game and has the fourth best ERA+.

Detroit sends a dreaded rookie left-hander to the mound tonight in Luke French. French was first recalled in mid-May, making two scoreless relief appearances. After getting sent back down, he was recalled and inserted into the rotation in early July. Tonight will be his third start. On the year, he's 1-0 with 1.93 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. However, his BABIP against is absurdly low, his BB/9 is high, his K/9 is low, and his FIP checks in at 5.06. The numbers, though based on a small sample size, suggest that Mr. French is in for a rough outing or two at some point. Hopefully it's tonight. And if he lives up to his surname, he'll likely turn tail and run at the first sign of trouble.

A.J. Burnett goes for the Yanks, and I'm glad he gets the first start after the break. He's been the Yanks best pitcher of late, going 4-1 with a 1.34 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP over his last five starts, while holding opponents to a .193/.294/.277 batting line. He still leads the AL in walks, but Detroit is just tenth in the AL in BBs drawn. I'm hopeful Burnett won't be too rusty after not starting since last Wednesday.

It's been eight days since the Yankees last won a game. It's been five days since they last played a game. The bitter taste of that three game sweep in Anaheim has lingered for too long. The Yanks are a combined 2-12 against division leading Boston and Los Angeles. Twice this year they've climbed into at least a tie for first place in the division, and twice they've followed that with a bad, bad stretch of baseball. They enter the season's second half three games out of the division, leading the wild card, and getting a shot at the AL Central leaders. As we break on through to the second half of the season, it sure would be nice for the Yankees to break on through the glass ceiling they've hit earlier this year and go on a nice little run. A ten game homestand offers ample opportunity to do just that.

You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Try to run, try to hide
Break on through to the other side

College Football Closer To Reality At New Stadium

Back in May, we ran a post about Notre Dame expressing interest in playing at Yankee Stadium. Today, that looks closer to being a reality.

According to the Times Herald-Record, Army and Notre Dame will play their 2010 game at the Stadium. The Black Knights will also reportedly play a game there in 2011, 2012, and 2013 against opponents yet to be determined.

I agree with ESPN's Graham Watson in thinking that having the annual Army-Navy game there would be great, but the locations for that game are already booked for years to come.

While I can appreciate the novelty and the nostalgia of hosting football at the new Stadium, I'm not sure it's the best idea in the world. The Yankees have invested billions of tax payer dollars in building a new baseball stadium. Why jeopardize the quality of the turf by subjecting it to a football game?

As Jay noted last week, multi-purpose ballparks are dying off. In recent years Veterans Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Candlestick Park and Qualcomm Park, all former two sport venues, have been replaced. The Metrodome will join them at season's end. Of the remaining dual sport MLB parks - Network Associates Coliseum and Landshark Stadium - are considered the worst venues in baseball. Why would the Yankees want to jump back to the multipsort mindset of 20 and 30 years ago?

Morning News and Notes

Good morning Fackers, and Happy Friday to you. Not only is the work week nearly over, but our extended All-Star Break sabbatical has finally reached its end. Yankee baseball returns tonight; time to get back to business around here. Here are a few news items to start you off this morning:

Missing Man Damaso Marte has officially begun his rehab assignment. He started for the Gulf Coast League Yankees last night, allowing two hits and an earned run in his inning of work. Not exactly what you'd want to see from a Major League veteran facing Rookie League competition, but right now it's about Marte getting his work in, not necessarily the results. His rehab clock is officially ticking now. Barring further injury, which is a never a sure thing with Marte, he'll be back within 30 days. Mr. Tomko, please prepare to pack your bags.

Via Rob Neyer, Jeremy Sandler of The National Post reports that Dick Scott, Blue Jays' Director of Player Development, was scouting the Tampa Yankees this week. Sandler then proceeds to pull out his jump to conclusions mat and state the the Jays are likely scouting the Yanks' prospects for a potential Roy Halladay deal:

One Tampa Yankee prospect Toronto might look at is catcher Jesus Montero, New York's second-best prospect according to Baseball America. The 19-year-old is hitting .356 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 48 games at Single-A this season.

Well that's great Mr. Sandler, they should scout Montero, except he's been with AA Trenton for more than a month now. I thought that silly things like "checking your facts" was what "real journalists" were taught in school.

George Steinbrenner made an appearance at the Yankees Minor League Complex yesterday. The article doesn't contain any direct quotes, but implies that he did address the media in some way. To my knowledge, this was Steinbrenner's first public appearance of the year. I'm actually a little surprised by it.

The Yankees' contract with international free agent The Artist Formerly Known as Damian Arredondo has been voided because the player in question is not in fact "Damian Arredondo" nor is he 16 as believed. This is just further evidence as to how seedy and corrupt the Latin American free agent process is.

Back with more later on.

Another Link-A-Roo

It's been a slow couple of days around here, Fackers, and we hope you understand. I know Matt's been swamped at work and I have had a lot of irons on the fire as well. Here are some more links that will hopefully tide you over.

-----

PeteAbe rounded up the Yankees' farmhands' stats from the MiLB All-Star games last night.

David Pinto from Baseball Musings continues his look at all 30 teams during the All-Star break today. Yesterday he examined the Yankees. Looking at where in the AL the Yanks rank it terms of pitching and offense, it becomes pretty apparent who hasn't been holding up their end of the bargain thus far.

Tommy Craggs over at Deadspin rounded up some experts on pitching mechanics to try and fix Obama's lollipop curveball. It was a pretty respectable toss, and when you compare it to his golf swing, he looks downright coordinated.

Cliff from Bronx Banter grades the Yankees based on their first half performance. On the whole they seem a little generous to me, but hop over and see for yourself.

Matthew Pouliot at Circling the Bases takes a level-headed sabermetirc look at the AL MVP. You can probably guess who comes out on top so far, but it's interesting to see how Matthew came to that conclusion.

Ben K. from River Ave. Blues talks about what the Yankees might have to give up in order to get Roy Halladay and why front officies and fans likes their own prospects better than others do. In his article, Ben links to Trenton Thunder blogger Mike Ashmore's case for trading Jesus Montero, which is well reasoned, but still doesn't make me want to see him go.

Jason Stark looks at the divergent possibilites of the Phillies signing Pedro Martinez. Joel Sherman compares him to David Cone. My thoughts... Pedro + Citizen's Bank Park = Yikes.

Before the season began, Lar from wezen-ball collected predicitons from seven bloggers (including me), Lar and a few of his friends. Click through to see how we are doing. (Hint: I'm not looking very good).

Derek Jeter's Humble Abode Coming Along Nicely

When we last checked in with the construction of the All-Star shortstop's quaint future dwelling on Davis Island in Tampa, it was just being framed. Now it's beginning to take shape and you can see what kind of elbow room 30,870 square feet will give you.

Oddly, the Tampa Bay Online gallery that I'm linking to above calls the home an "English Manor". I'm not a European Historian, but I'm pretty sure most manor homes have more square footage on their property than they do in the home.