And Now For Some Real News

Good morning Fackers. Freddy Guzman and Josh Towers were both outrighted yesterday, refused minor league assignment, and elected free agency. Guzman pinch ran twice in the postseason, had one plate appearance (immediately after A-Rod's game-tying HR in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALCS), and did not steal a base or score a run. Towers appeared in two regular season games and pitched 5 1/3 innings. allowing three runs. Hey, I didn't say it was big news, just that it was news.

This should come as no surprise. Not only did neither figure into next year's plan, but the Yankees need to begin clearing 40 man roster spots in preparation for the Rule 5 draft. The 40 man roster needs to be finalized by November 20th and the draft will take place at the Winter Meetings in early December. Austin Jackson, Kevin Russo, Zach Kroenke, and Ivan Nova are amongst those that need to be added to the 40 man to prevent exposure during the Rule 5 Draft.

The Yankees ended the regular season with a full 40 man roster, plus Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady on the 60 day DL. By my count, the loss of Guzman and Towers combined with free agency filings by Nady, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston Jr, Eric Hinske, and eventually Andy Pettitte leave them with 33 spots spoken for.

Shelley Duncan, Edwar Ramirez, and potentially Jonathan Albaladejo are also candidates to be outrighted, though Ramirez and Albaladejo have options left. The Yankees hold a $1.25M option on Sergio Mitre that Joel Sherman has said they will exercise, though I can't imagine why.

Brian Bruney and Chien-Ming Wang are candidates to be non-tendered, but the non-tender deadline isn't until December 12th, so I can't imagine their fate will be decided before the November 20th 40 man roster deadline. For now, Sherman thinks that they will offer a contract to Bruney because he price is somewhat reasonable (~$1.5M) but not to Wang despite a favorable prognosis from Dr. James Andrews.

However many spots the Yankees open up, don't expect them to fill them all by the 20th. They'll still need some open spots available to add free agents as they're signed, so there's little sense protecting a fringe guy in November if he's only going to be cut in December.

An Ugly End To An Otherwise Lovely Road Trip

Ooof. Where to begin? This was an ugly one with four errors, four runs forced in by three walks and a HBP with the bases loaded given up by the Yanks. It was close until the fifth when a strikeout swinging that got away from Jose Molina ended up leading to the Yanks undoing. A lone bright spot, Derek Jeter picked up three hits and a walk, pulling within 5 hits of Lou Gehirg for first place on the Yankees' all-time hits list.

It was sloppy from the get-go with errors by Jerry Hairston Jr. and Robinson Cano to begin the first two innings. The Jays scored 3 in the 1st but Mitre escaped the second without any further damage. The Yanks came back to tie it up in the third with two outs on a single by Hideki Matsui and double by Nick Swisher that scored Matsui from first base.

Matsui scoring from first base? How is that possible, you might ask? Well the count was 3-2 so Matsui was running on the pitch and the "double" was really just an incredibly high pop up that somehow found a space between the Jays outfielders down the third baseline. While anyone else on the team would have scored easily, Matsui looked like he was running underwater and was only safe at home because he knocked the ball out of Rod Barajas' glove with his slide. He was initally called out and 3rd base coach Rob Thompson had to yell to home plate umpire Bob Davidson that the ball had been dislodged before the call was reversed.

The Yankees actually lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning 5-4 on a two run shot by Nick Swisher but gave back the lead in a major way. Sergio Mitre started the inning by giving up a single, and then got Vernon Wells to ground into a fource out. Edwin Encarnacion struck out swinging but Jose Molina couldn't hang on to it and it got far enough away from him to allow Encarnacion to reach first.

From there the flood gates opened with four straight singles, followed by two bases loaded walks, the latter by Mark Melancon. He just faced 4 batters, walked two and recorded only one out before being replaced by Josh Towers. The first batter he faced was Randy Ruiz, who he hit directly in the side of the face with an 0-2 pitch, forcing in yet another run. Ruiz was removed from the game but walked off under his own power.

Towers was supposed to be used for bullpen depth for tomorrow's double header but instead mopped up the final 3 1/3 innings today. Considering the final score, it's fortunate that the brunt of the impact was absorbed by just two pitchers. That said, it wasn't the kind of game the Yanks needed heading into the double header against Tampa tomrrow. At least it's a short flight home.

Holiday Weekend Cop Out Recap

I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty, but man that was a tough game to watch today. That, coupled with it being Saturday on a holiday weekend, means it's cop-out-bullet-point-style-recap time. And away we go:

• Andy Pettitte wasn't great, needing 101 pitches to get through six innings and throwing just under 60% of them for strikes. He issued an uncharacteristic five walks and gave up four runs. He wasn't helped by some defensive miscues, including a mental lapse on his own part when he failed to back up the third baseline in the sixth, costing him his fourth and final run on the day. After the extra innings needed from the bullpen over the past two games, it would have been nicer if Pettitte could have turned in another stellar start covering 7 or 8 innings. But, he still did his job, gutting his way through six on a day when he clearly didn't have his best stuff and keeping the team in position to win.

• The Yankee offensive all at once had both a good and a bad day: good in that they were able to put 21 runners on base over the course of the afternoon, bad in that they left 14 of those runners on base and went a miserable 5 for 19 with runners in scoring position.

• Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira both hit big home runs. Cano's solo shot gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Teix's solo shot in the fifth broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Yankees a lead they would not relinquesh.

• Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both reached base three times, Cano four times. Melky Cabrera also reached three time, going 2 for 4 with an HBP and 2 RBI.

• David Robertson, Brian Bruney, and Phil Hughes finished off the game with three scoreless innings. D-Rob K'd one, Bruney K'd the leadoff hitter, got a fly out, and was then yanked after issuing a walk. Hughes worked 1.1 perfect innings with 3 Ks in getting his third career save.

• The Red Sox lost again, pushing the lead to 8.5 games.

• As previously speculated, the Yankeed did in fact recall Josh Towers. Kevin Cash, out for the year with an injury, was released to make room on the 40 man roster. Towers will provide added bullpen depth with Mitre going tomorrow and the double header on Monday.

• Mariano Rivera threw his bullpen session before the game and reported no problems. He should be available tomorrow.

Enjoy the evening folks. Back with a preview tomorrow.

(Photo)

Odds And Ends

Hey there Fackers. We're in the homestretch heading towards the holiday weekend. Here's a few things to chew on before you punch that clock.

• Today's the 16th anniversary of Jim Abbott "single-handedly" no-hitting the Indians (terrible joke, I know). With the Yankees in Toronto this weekend, it may be worth reminding our friend eyebleaf that 1993 was a happier time for the Jays. Much like the 1985 season that we talked about with Mike Pagliarulo, the 1993 Yankees spent the summer chasing the Blue Jays. The Yanks spent a record nineteen days tied for first with the Jays without ever being able to take sole possession of the lead. The Yanks would move into a tie for the final time the day after Abbott's no-no, but that would be as close as they got, as they faded down the stretch and finished seven games back. The Blue Jays won their second consecutive title when Joe Carter hit a Game 7 walk-off against Mitch Williams, and became the first team since the 1977-78 Yankees to go back-to-back.
  
  Still, the team finished the year at 88-74, good for the third best record in the American League during the final season of the Wild Card-less two division format. Interestingly, the Abbott no hitter against the Indians featured two teams on the rise, as the Yanks and Tribe would be the dominant forces in the AL for the remainder of the 1990s.

• Speaking of the 1990s, Alfredo Aceves' win last night was his 10th of the year. All of them have come in relief. Alf's ten relief wins are the most by a Yankee since Lee Guetterman had 11 in 1990. How bad was that 1990 team that had the worst record in the AL and second worst in MLB? Guetterman, a set-up man, led the team in wins. The franchise record for wins by a reliever is 15, done by Luis Arroyo in 1961.

• CC Sabathia was named American League Pitcher of the Month for August after going 5-0 with 2.64 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in six starts.

• Derek Jeter on the other land, lost out to Kendry Morales as the American League Player of the Month, despite hitting .377/.403/.574 in August with 6 HR and 15 multi-hit games. This just serves as further evidence that Jeter is not the player he once was. (yet another bad pun).

• As you may recall, Josh Towers spent a day with the Big Club last month before heading back to Scranton. With the bullpen having to work 5.1 innings last night, Joba Chamberlain starting today, Sergio Mitre Sunday, and a doubleheader Monday, Towers may be on his way back. He was pulled from his start at AAA last night after just two innings, and Chad Jennings reports that it was not injury related.
  
  Towers was DFA'd when he was sent out last time, so he'd have to be added back to the 40 man roster first. Kevin Cash, Anthony Claggett, Juan Miranda, and even Shelley Duncan are the only guys I think the organization would consider DFA'ing to make room. What is interesting however is that if they add Towers for the next few days, they likely won't need him beyond that, in which case they could DFA him again, opening up a spot to add Austin Jackson to the 40 man and call him up.
  
  That said, I doubt any of that will happen. The bullpen already has four extra arms with Mark Melancon, Edwar Ramirez, Mike Dunn, and Jonathan Albaladejo, who was recalled yesterday. Even with the extra work last night and Mariano Rivera's sore groin, they should have enough pitching to make it through the next five games.

We'll be back in a bit.

Game 111: Built To Last

The Yanks look to put a cherry on top of this weekend's ice cream sundae, and not even the inane idiocy of Joe Morgan on tonight's ESPN telecast will spoil the collective high of the Yankee fan base right now.

Andy Pettitte gets the ball for the Yanks, and he's been on fire since the All-Star break: 2.36 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 29:7 K:BB, in 26.2 IP. He's 16-9 with a 3.76 ERA in 196.2 career IP against the Sox, but is 0-1 this year and has a bit of a score to settle with them. Pettitte outdueled the AL's best pitcher last time out, and his draw doesn't get much easier this time.

Jon Lester will try to salvage the series finale for the reeling Red Sox. Along with Josh Beckett, Lester is one of only two reliable starters the Sox have right now. After squandering Beckett's masterful performance Friday night, the Sox really need to capitalize on having Lester go tonight. He's 3-0 with a 3.43 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees, with one of those victories coming on April 24th this year. I look at those numbers and prefer to think that he's due for a loss rather than think that he dominates the Yanks.

In roster news, as expected, Josh Towers has been DFA'd to make room on the 40 and 25 man rosters for Chad Gaudin. Unlike douche bag Brett Tomko, Towers is handling his exit gracefully, saying he's happy the Yanks chose to call him up and that he's eager to get back to Scranton.

For the second time in three days, I'm choosing to go with the Grateful Dead. As I mentioned earlier in the week, last Saturday would have been Jerry Garcia's birthday. Today marks the 14th anniversary of his death. As such, it's been Jerry Week on Sirius XM's Grateful Dead Channel, and seeing as I've already logged close to a thousand miles behind the wheel this week, I've been listening to a lot of Dead.

The Yankees are playing with house money tonight. They've already won the series. They have a 5.5 game lead in the AL East, the largest lead they've had since the end of the 2006 season. They will wake up tomorrow morning up at least 4.5 games up with more than two thirds of the season in their rear view mirror. Things are looking a bit dire for the Sox right now, but only a foolish heart would be booking flights and hotels for October just yet. The tables sure have turned from when these teams last met in early June. The Yankees carried a one game lead into that series before getting swept. Things are looking much better right now. I just hope that this lead is built to last.



Don't waste your breath to save your face
When you have done your best
And even more is asked of you
Fate will decide the rest

All the stars are gone but one
Morning breaks here comes the sun
Cross the sky now sinking fast
Show me something built to last

Roster Move

The Yanks made a roster move just before yesterday's game, adding Josh Towers to the bullpen. To make room for Towers on the 40 man roster, Damaso Marte (remember him?) was transferred to the 60 day DL. Mark Melancon was option to Scranton to make room on the 25 man roster.

Presumably, the move was made to get a fresh arm in the bullpen following Friday night's marathon. That's all well and good, except the pitcher that was optioned out to make room, Melancon, was one of two relievers not to pitch Friday - so I'm not sure how much sense the move actually made.

Thanks to CC's brilliant performance, Towers wasn't needed yesterday. He'll likely come off the roster today, as Chad Gaudin, acquired Thursday night, is due to arrive. I doubt Towers has options left, so he'll likey be DFA'd, thereby making room for Gaudin on the 40 man as well. I'm hopeful Towers winds up back in Scranton; they can certainly use the arms right now. Had Towers not been added yesterday Melancon likely would have been optioned today to make room for Gaudin.

As for Marte, I believe moving him to the 60 day DL was just a formality to open up a 40 man spot. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think transferring him resets his DL stay, and he'd already be on the 15 day DL for far more than 60 days. His rehab assignment is due to expire within two weeks, so another roster move will be needed to get him back on the 40 and 25 man rosters. Unless something major changes, I would imagine that will spell the end of Sergio Mitre's stay with the big club.