Game 76: Nearly Lost You

The Yankees return home for the first time since Father's Day, opening a six game homestand with a three game set against the Seattle Mariners. The M's were the darlings of the off-season, unloading the onerous contracts of Carlos Silva and Kenji Johjima, signing spark plug Chone Figgins away from their division rivals, and making a series of lesser low risk, high reward moves. But far and away, the biggest coup for GM Jack Zduriencik was sending a package of prospects to Philly for Cliff Lee.

Everything seemingly has gone wrong for the M's since then. Franchise legend Ken Griffey Jr's continued decline and possible narcolepsy culminated in an uncomfortable retirement and a possibly fractured clubhouse. Off-season signing Ryan Garko didn't even make it to Opening Day, while fellow signee Eric Byrnes lasted a mere month before riding his bicycle off to the California keg leagues. Their offense has been abyssmal, with Figgins taking a nose dive, Milton Bradley providing plenty of problems but little pop, and virtually everyone but Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez failing to hit at an acceptable level. All of which leaves Seattle entering the series with baseball's sixth poorest record and the AL's worst offense by a long shot.

As such, Cliff Lee and his expiring contract have become the hottest commodity on the market with the trade deadline 32 days away. There has been no shortage of rumors about whether the M's will hang on to him in an attempt to turn it around, or if they'd prefer the two draft picks his Type A status will net, or where he'd land if he were to be traded. There's been a ton of contradictory information out there, but the latest seems to be that the M's are quietly prepared to make a move.

As when any big name player hits the market, the Yankees have been rumored as a potential landing spot, with reports that Seattle has scouted the Yankees system. Yet even though a vocal segment of Yankee fans have been loudly clamoring for Lee since before Spring Training even began, a deal to the Bronx is unlikely. Despite A.J. Burnett's recent struggles, the Yankee rotation has been a strength for the team this year. As we saw with Javier Vazquez earlier this season, good pitchers may struggle for stretches, but they won't struggle forever. And with pitching coach Dave Eiland returning to the club tonight, perhaps Burnett's turnaround is coming soon. There just isn't the need nor the room for another front line starter.

Even if there were, there is no recent precedent for the Yankees making such a move. Following the 2007 season, the Yankees passed on an opportunity to acquire Johan Santana, who had a full year remaining on his contract. In his refusal to make the deal, Brian Cashman made his position clear: he is reluctant to pay twice - in both prospects and contract extensions - to acquire a player. He held fast to that philosophy the following summer, when in desperate need of pitching, he refused to deal for CC Sabathia and his expiring contract, content to gamble that the big lefty would be there for the taking on the free agent market after the season. He was, and after last season's World Series, Cashman appeared to be quite shrewd for biding his time.

If that's not enough to quell those covetous of Lee as he takes the Yankee Stadium mound tonight, then the pitcher in the other half innings should be. Phil Hughes was the centerpiece of the package the Yankees would have shipped to Minnesota had they pulled the trigger on the Santana deal, and had the Yankees pursued a Sabathia trade the asking price would have begun with Hughes as well. Instead Cashman chose to hang on to his top pitching prospect. After suffering through an injury plagued 2008, the organization was rewarded with a breakout 2009 from Hughes the set up man and is now enjoying a 2010 in which Phil Hughes is one of the top starters in the American League.

It's very possible that one of the two starting pitchers tonight will throw the first pitch of the All-Star Game in Anaheim two weeks from tonight. While it's tempting to think of Cliff Lee in Yankee pinstripes, that temptation isn't enough for me to feel comfortable sacrificing potential future All-Stars in Jesus Montero or Austin Romine or Manny Banuelos or Andrew Brackman or any number of other good Yankee prospects Seattle would want in exchange for Lee. The Yankees nearly lost Hughes two and a half years ago. I'm not prepared to lose the next Hughes in exchange for three months of Cliff Lee. Cashman runs the risk of losing Lee to another club now, but as the Sabathia situation taught us two years ago, sometimes a little patience leaves you with the best possible deal.

Did you hear the distant cry
Calling me back to my sin
Like the one you knew before
Calling me back once again

I nearly, I nearly lost you there
And it's taking us somewhere
I nearly lost you there
Let's try to see now

[Song Notes: Any series against the Mariners always has me thinking of the Seattle bands of the early nineties. Rather than going with one of the name brand grunge bands, tonight we'll go with the Screaming Trees. Though lesser known than Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, they had a few good tunes to their credit, this being one of them. Just goes to show that you don't always need to go shopping on the top shelf to find what you're looking for.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Brett Gardner's sore wrist keeps him out of the lineup tonight, but he is reportedly available for defense and pinch running duties. With a lefty on the mound Chad Huffman gets the start in left. There's a likely a roster move coming as well, as it's widely speculated that Dustin Moseley will be added to the bullpen in advance of him exercising his opt out clause today.[UPDATE 6:45 PM: No Moseley tonight, as he's still with Scranton.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Chad Huffman LF
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP Phil Hughes

Mariners:

Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chone Figgins 2B
Russell Branyan 1B
Milton Bradley DH
Jose Lopez 3B
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Jack Wilson SS
Rob Johnson C
Michael Saunders LF

LHP Cliff Lee

This Never Would Have Happened If Posada Was Driving

The only way this could be a better metaphor for Game 5 of the World Series is if it happened in front of McFadden's (h/t BBTF):

"[Molina] was heading north on River Road with two other passengers to pick up his belongings at the stadium when he smelled something burning," said Edgewater Fire Chief Joe Chevalier. "When he saw smoke, he pulled over at the Mariner and someone from the marina came over with an extinguisher but it was no use."

Shortly after, Chevalier arrived on the scene to find the SUV fully engulfed in flames just inside the entrance to the Edgewater Mariner.

Let's try that again:

"[Molina] was [starting in Game 5 of the World Series] for [the Yankees] to pick up [their 27th Championship] at [Citizen's Bank Park] when he smelled something burning," said [Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland]. "When he saw smoke, he [made a mound visit] and someone from the [dugout] came over with an extinguisher but it was no use."

Shortly after, [Joe Girardi] arrived on the scene to find [A.J. Burnett] fully engulfed in flames just inside the entrance to the [third inning].

In the latter scenario, it would have been Chase Utley that started the blaze.

Happy Trails, Brayan Pena

Yesterday, the Royals DFA'd Brayan Pena. Does that name sound familiar? I alluded to the situation in a recent post, but just in case you didn't click through...

Going for the sweep in Kansas City on April 12th the Yankees held their first close, late lead of the season. It was 4-3 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, and Joe Girardi called on Damaso Marte, who quickly retired lefties Mark Teahen and David DeJesus on two fly balls. When the Yankees signed Marte to a $12M/3 year extension this offseason, I'm guessing they thought of him as more than just a lefty specialist. But instead of leaving Marte in to face righty Billy Butler, Girardi went to the 'pen for Jose Veras, who had pitched 3 out of the last four games, and proceeded to walk Butler on 5 pitches.

Sitting in the on-deck circle was the legendary Brayan Pena, with 75 Major League games spread out over 5 years under his belt, 2 career HRs and a .254 OBP. So Girardi brought in lefty Phil Coke, who promptly allowed a double, single, and a double, resulting in the three runs that won the game for Kansas City. Oh yeah, and Pena's a fucking switch hitter.

Remember now?

Baseball is a cruel game. One day Joe Girardi is bringing in a pitcher specifically to face you, and two weeks later you get sent to the minors.

It's amazing how a bullpen can go from being quite effective last year to extremely sporadic this season without any significant changes to the cast of characters. I think at least some of the blame belongs to Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland who have been getting awfully cute with their match-up decisions. I don't want to nitpick every managerial move, but in general, I'm not in favor of bringing in the third pitcher of the inning to face a switch hitter with a .582 career OPS.