forks off the moment: New York Yankees

Showing posts with label New York Yankees. Show all posts

Bigger romantics? Yankee fans or Twilight fans?

Don't answer right away. It's a tougher question than you think!
As I wrote before, the Yankees as an organization, for all the corporate pinstripe all business image they have, they are really a bunch of softies.

The organization and the fans are all about nostalgia and they can't let go of their favorite stars. They don't forgive them of their weaknesses. They don't recognize the short comings even exist.

Listen to the fans wanting the Yankees to sign Jeter to a long term deal, or making excuses for Posada quitting on the team or Pettite's PED use and tell me they are more rational than those screaming for Team Edward or Team Jacob!

It's not just that they love their players. They never want them to go away. EVER.
Bernie Williams was on the most recent Hall of Fame vote and I bet I can find a few fans who think he should still be playing on the team.

And now there is discussion of how to fill the DH hole on the team with Posada retiring. "WHY? COME BACK JORGE!"

More than one site has said the hole should be filled by either Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui.

Of course it should.
Because the Yankees need to get more players on the downside of their career clogging up their lineup.

Matsui is 38 years old and no longer an elite player. Not 100% how OPS+ works, but I am guessing "92" isn't a great score.

Damon is also 38 and his on base percentage has dropped each of the last 3 seasons.

BUT THEY WON RINGS WITH THE YANKEES!
Bring them back!

They can't let go. It's all romance.

Actually there is an obvious solution to the Yankees' DH hole.

A-ROD!

Seriously, the Yankees should just plop him at DH.

Have you noticed he hasn't played 130 games at third for a season since 2008?

Last year he played third base 89 times.

The Yankees are better with his bat in the lineup, so make HIM the DH and have a younger player who can actually play the field at the hot corner.

Ahhh but there's the rub. DH for the Yankees needs to be filled by a beloved Yankee, something that A-Rod for some reason will NEVER be.

If Matsui and Damon are like Jacob and Edward, then A-Rod is the notorious Aro, trying to bring the Yankees into the Volturi.

And if you think for a second that I have any clue what I just wrote, then you are crazier than any Twilight/Yankee fan out there.

Bartolo Colon is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the A's need

The A's need to get leaner...
Younger...
Hungrier...

Exactly what part of Bartolo Colonlooks leaner, young or hungry?

A very interesting trade...

Michael Pineda for Jesus Montero.

I am not sure what to make of this trade between the Mariners and the Yankees.

On the one hand it seems to make sense for both teams.

On the other hand it makes sense for neither team.

It's not often a trade can be so perplexing but at the same time refreshing.

For the Yankees, they got Michael Pineda. At 23 years old he has already made the All Star team and gives New York youth they desperately need in the pitching staff.

Then again, he tailed off badly in the second half and seemed to pitch better in pitcher friendly Safeco Field. And the AL East beat him like a drum. And his home run rate rose dramatically in the second half.

Cause for concern?

Meanwhile the Jesus Montero era in New York lasted a whopping 18 regular season and 1 post season game.

The future home grown slugger is heading to the Pacific Northwest and presumably his #63 will never be retired in Monument Park.

He's a right handed masher who was ranked one of the top 5 prospects in all of baseball in back to back seasons.

Maybe he's not a long term solution at catcher but he could have caught a season with Russell Martin and split DH duties.

He might have been part of a NEW "Core Four!"

But off he goes. A homegrown talent going to spend his career elsewhere.

Some Mariner blogs are comparing him to Miguel Cabrera.

Then again lots of bloggers complained to me when I didn't call Colby Rasmus an elite player. It's one thing to be a prospect.

It's another thing to produce.

(I'm looking at YOU Alex Ochoa.)

And hitting doesn't win titles. Pitching does. The Yankees were banking on the likes of Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes and A. J. Burnett to keep them in 60% of their games. You can always sign a hitter, but 23 year old All Star pitchers don't grow on trees?

Pineda joins a staff where he, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes would all be under 26. Suddenly the rotation isn't so ancient. They are a turn around season from Hughes away from Cashman's vision of a young core of pitchers backing up Sabathia.

Throw in David Robertson and suddenly the Yankees might have their pitching foundation for the next 6 or 7 years.

(Just ask Joba Chamberlain.)

Provided Pineda isn't a one year fluke who gets torched in Yankee Stadium. (Remember how Jeff Weaver was going to be the young ace of the team?)

But there is more than one team in this deal.

The Mariners stink.

They've lost 95 or more games 3 of the last 4 years.

And with Ichiro in the final year of his deal, his Mariner tenure will likely end without a single World Series appearance.

The same was said for Griffey's time in Seattle...

And Edgar Martinez's...

And Randy Johnson's...

And Alex Rodriguez's...

And no doubt Felix Hernandez's time will end pennant-less in the Pacific Northwest.

They need to mix it up. And a player that Brian Cashman once said could be a new Manny Ramirez.

Maybe put Montero along side young Justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley and the Mariners will build a nice line up.

But I thought the Mariners best hopes to finally win the pennant was to take the Giants blue print. Stockpile pitching and win around your dynamic ace.

And the West could be won with great pitching. And shut down an East, Central or Wild Card opponent in a short series then play a National League style World Series... that was the Mariners ticket.

And I thought Michael Pineda could have been the Matt Cain to Hernandez's Lincecum.

So what's my take on the trade?

I literally have no clue.

It could be great for both or blow up in both of their faces.

The Yankees could have their young rotation and the Mariners could get a dominant lineup.

Or the Yankees could have a bust pitcher while the Mariners picked up a hitter with no position who can't handle big league pitching.

Maybe they should have stayed on their original teams.

Scott Proctor signs in Korea... hopes Torre won't follow him

Reliever and former Joe Torre whipping boy Scott Proctor has left the country. He will pitch next year for the Doosan Bears of the Korean League next year.

Now Joe Torre ran his arm into the ground in both New York and Los Angeles. Seeing that Torre would cross a continent to continue wear him down, Proctor figured Torre probably wouldn't cross an ocean to do so.

Not so fast, Scott.

Torre resigned from his job at MLB.

You had better hope his Dodger bid is accepted. If its not, Torre will go back home to Hawaii... and that's half way to Korea. And I hear the Bears need a new manager.

I'm just saying.

A-Rod runs to Germany to hide from Father Time

I have no clue what Kobe Bryant suggested to Alex Rodriguez. I hope it wasn't marital advice. But the two least favorite players for Boston Sports Fans met and evidently talked about going to Germany to get some sort of blood work done that sounds strange at best and fishy at worst.

Is it legal?
Probably.

It is a red flag that he can't find someone in America to do it?
Yeah. Sort of.

But there are two things that A-Rod can't prevent no matter how many procedures he has had and how many timezones he crosses:

Age and a lack of steroids.

He's on the wrong side of 35.
Back before the days of Performance Enhancing Drugs, that was right around the time that sluggers fell apart.

Jimmie Foxx was washed up by 35.
Frank Robinson was on the decline by then.
Dave Winfield had one more great season after 35, then fought constant injuries.
Eddie Murray was still effective, but his best years were well behind him.
Al Kaline was on his last legs.
Jim Rice was winding down.
Hank Greenberg had his last great season at age 35. He was out of baseball at 37.
Willie Mays never hit 30 homers after age 35 and was never again an MVP candidate.

Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth continued to put up amazing numbers after 35.
They were both pretty good.
And they were the exceptions.

A-Rod is no longer juicing. According to A-Rod his juicing days ended when he left Texas. He took them in Texas because of the pressure. And then he stopped (because Heaven knows there is no pressure in playing in New York.)

He was caught in 2009 and turned his year around by leading the Yankees to the World Championship... an act that bought A-Rod about 3 minutes of good will from Yankees fans. Since winning the MVP (his 3rd) in 2007, his OPS has dropped every season, his home run totals have dropped almost every year (he hit 30 in both 2009 and 2010) and he hasn't been able to avoid injuries.

A drop in power and inability to recover suddenly happening in the past few years, ESPECIALLY after the positive test was revealed? Are you SURE you stopped when your days in Texas ended?

His 1.067 OPS in 158 games in 2007 has turned into an .823 OPS in 99 games last year.
And he will be a year older.
With six years left to play in his megacontract that is set to pay him $29 million in 2012, $28 million in 2013, $25 million in 2014, $21 million in 2015, $20 million in 2016 and a mere $20 million in 2017.

He'll be 41 years old in 2017.
His body is breaking down to the point where he is doing experimental blood work in Germany to get him in playing shape at age 36!

How is this going to get BETTER over the next six years?
Yeah the Yankees have tons of money, but enough to pay a player in 6 years like a superstar even though those years seem behind him NOW?

If 2009 is already a hazy memory for Yankee fans NOW, how distant will it seem in 2017?

Good luck in Germany, A-Rod.
You better hope they found the fountain of youth there... and you had also better hope the fountain of youth isn't on the list of banned substances.

Will somebody PLEASE Interview Chris Chambliss?

Seriously. Why can't Chris Chambliss even get his name MUMBLED for a manager's job?

Three high profile managerial positions are available...
The Cubs, Cardinals and Red Sox all need to be filled.

I hear a lot of names floating around for those gigs.
Terry Francona will probably land one of them.
Maybe Ryne Sandberg will get one.

The likes of Pete Mackanin and Dave Sveum are mentioned. So have Mike Maddux and Mike Matheny.

I am sure they are all able baseball minds.

Davey Johnson is, for sure, as he is returning to Washington.
Bob Melvin once won Manager of the Year, so his returning to Oakland isn't nuts.

But Chambliss' name is never even MENTIONED.

Seriously, no offense to Robin Ventura, but he has been handed the keys to the White Sox and he wasn't even a coach!

Since the start of the 2010 season, people such as Juan Samuel, Mike Quade, Don Cooper, Brandon Hyde and Daren Brown all got to put "Major League Manager" on their resume.

John McLaren got to put a second franchise on his.

Do ANY of them have Chris Chambliss' qualifications?

I know I brought this up before, but it is getting absurd.

Let's review Chambliss' background.

16 full big league seasons.
Former Rookie of the Year.
Former American League All Star.
Former top 5 AL MVP finisher.
Former Gold Glove Winner.
Former playoff hero. (First since Mazeroski to end a post season series with a walk off homer.)
2 time World Series champ.
Coached for several of the Yankees World Series winners under Joe Torre.
Major League hitting coach for the Cardinals, Mets, Reds and Mariners.
Minor League Managerial experience over four different decades.
Former Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year.
Managed as recently as 2010 with Charlotte.

And the respect of three generations of players.

You wouldn't give a guy like THAT a shot?
A guy who wants one shot!

Ozzie Guillen is the sixth Marlins manager since 2005.
Six men have managed the Mariners since 2005.
Five men have managed the Orioles since 2005.
Five men have managed the Pirates since 2005.
Five men have managed the Royals since 2005.
Four men have managed the Astros since 2005.
Four men have managed the Brewers since 2005.
Four men have managed the Dodgers since 2005.

Of those teams mentioned in this time frame, only the 2005 Astros won the pennant.

That's 39 managerial hirings.
You are telling me that all 39 had more to offer than Chambliss?
I find that very hard to believe.

Interview him.
Give him a shot.

Clearly this isn't based on fandom. He was a Yankee!

It's just based on respect for a guy who has earned it over his 5 decades of baseball experience.

Ortiz to Yankees?.... oh why not?

It just keeps getting worse for a Red Sox fan.
Each day I wake up there is another factor to throw on to the "Winning 2 World Series should buffer the pain of this" pile.

You have the great collapse.
You have that agonizing last day.
You have the dismissal of Francona.
You have Theo jumping ship.
You have the disgusting character assassination of Francona.
You have the realization that the players remaining were gutless down the stretch.
You have to fear that the corporate stooges are going to turn the Red Sox into the Mets... expensive, old and non contending.

And today?
Ortiz says he might jump ship to the Yankees.

It's not going to happen. Not because of some team loyalty but because it makes sense for the Yankees to make Alex Rodriguez their full time DH.

But can anyone be stunned anymore?
Can anything else even rile us Red Sox fans up?

Right now, I am in full Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump mode, screaming at the rain and wind. "You Call This A Storm!"

I can take anything.

Don't gloat today, Red Sox fans... just grin

Hey fellow Red Sox fans... do me a favor. Stay off the Yankee message boards today.
Don't write on Yankee blogs and don't gloat.

Yeah the Yankees did a faceplant and couldn't take advantage of having Verlander rained out to only one start. They stranded a 25 man roster on base last night and A-Rod is back to being a goat.

Trust me, I understand. I LOVE the sight of the Yankees staring from the dugout with the collective "How did it get to here?" 1,000 yard stare.

It's great.
I'm reading all the articles breaking down the Yankee's disappointing ending which are all basically the same article that has been written EVERY fall since 2001 with the exception of 2009.

I'm watching the clips.

But I'm not gloating.

The Red Sox did an epic collapse and couldn't make the playoffs.
The Yankees collapse wasn't epic. It was more of a whimper.

So yeah, it takes a little of the sting out knowing that there won't be ANOTHER parade in New York.

But that's not reason to gloat.
Just grin and revel in a little Schadenfreude.

A strange universe for the Yankees

The Yankees have just finished a playoff series and are getting ready to hit the golf course.
And their year ended in Bizarro World manner.

Who fizzled for the Yankees?
CC Sabathia did.
So did Jeter for the most part. And Teixeira. And A-Rod. And Swisher.

Who came through in the clutch?
That would be A. J. Burnett.

The Yankees outhit the Tigers and had an ERA 2 runs lower than the Tigers... and yet lost the series.

Strange days indeed... most peculiar mamma.

Some perspective from my son

I watched the end of the Yankees/Tigers game with my sons. My boy Matty, who is starting to figure out baseball, was rooting for the Tigers because "they have the strongest legs."

When the game ended with Alex Rodriguez striking out he saw how happy the Tigers were.

But he also saw how sad the Yankees were.

"Why are they so sad?" He asked.

"Because they lost and their season is over." I replied.

"Well the Yankees should know it isn't about winning but about having lots of fun!" Matty replied.

I nodded.

I wonder how that sentiment will go over in the Yankee front office.

A. J. Burnett earned $41,250,000.00 last night

When A. J. Burnett signed a 5 year $82.5 million contract, I scratched my head. I thought "Are the Yankees ever going to get full value from that?"

And for the most part, Burnett has been a rotten signing.
But whenever someone trashes Burnett, a defender is quick to point out that he won the critical Game 2 of the 2009 World Series.

Had he been bombed that night, the Yankees would have been down 0-2 going back to Philadelphia. It would have changed the entire complexion of the World Series.

He earned his money that day.

And last night, with the season on the line, Burnett didn't pitch like an ace but he pitched well enough to send the series back to New York for a do or die game.

Two critical post season games in the past three seasons that Burnett has won.

So those two games might have justified the contract.
And last night he earned half of his contract.

I wonder if before last night's game I asked Yankee fans "would you have the Yankees pay $41,250,000 for a win tonight?" if they would say yes.

Turns out that's JUST what the Yankees did.

Hats off to Rivera... the greatest closer ever

Mariano Rivera didn't need to pass Trevor Hoffman on the All Time Saves list to take the title of Greatest Closer Ever.

Hoffman, while a fine closer, isn't in Rivera's league.
Only Gossage, Fingers, Wilhelm and Eckersley should be mentioned in Rivera's company. And with no offense to them (nor to Sutter, Quisenberry and Tug McGraw) Mariano is the greatest.

Yeah he doesn't throw the innings that Fingers, Gossage, Lyle or the like threw.
Nobody has done what Rivera does better: Make the 9th inning a foregone conclusion.

And here's the scary thing: Remember when Rickey Henderson passed Lou Brock and declared himself the greatest of all time? We laughed but was he wrong?

Rickey broke Lou Brock's stolen base record when he swiped his 939th base in 1991.
He would play for another 12 seasons and stole 467 more bases.

That's going to be Rivera with saves.
Does he show ANY signs of slowing down?
Is there ANY reason to believe he won't still be an elite closer in 2 or 3 years?

That's why I BEGGED the Red Sox to sign Rivera to a multi year deal last winter.

I have written a lot of positive things about Rivera... a lot considering I am a Red Sox fan.

I drove home the fact that Hoffman is NO Rivera.
I saluted him...
I argued he was the difference over the other playoff teams in 2009....
I argued that he should have won the World Series MVP in 2009...

And I pointed out that if you thought he was overrated then you are an idiot.

Jeter got more fanfare for his 3,000th hit.
Rivera's accomplishment was more muted.

Why?
Because Rivera didn't need it to claim the title of "Best Ever" at what he does.

New Sully Baseball Video "John Sterling Through History"

In the latest Sully Baseball Video, I try to imagine what John Sterling's home run calls would have been like through history.

It's scary stuff.

As always, all the videos can be seen on The Sully Baseball Short Form TV channel.

If the Orioles don't win today, they should be contracted

The Orioles have done everything in their power to drive me nuts this week.
They score 10 against the Yankees one night and lose.
Yesterday they let 2 homers in the 7th sink them.

Today the Yankees are doing everything in their power to hand the game to the Orioles.
The lineup today looks like a split squad spring training game.

Nunez leading off? Andruw Jones batting 5th? The kid Montero batting 6th? Laird, Golson and Pena rounding out the lineup?

And if putting in the Junior Varsity team wasn't enough, A. J. Burnett is pitching.
The 1919 White Sox put up a better fight in the World Series than this team, and they were TRYING to lose.

If you lose this Baltimore, I will do everything in my power to remove the franchise from the big leagues and put a AAA franchise in the AL East.

Get to work!

Come on CC! Have ONE more bad outing in you

The Red Sox could very well be handing the Cy Young Award to Justin Verlander this year.

Why?

Because CC Sabathia has been so terrific against every other team except the Red Sox.

His numbers are Cy Young contender worthy.

17-7 record. 2.99 ERA. 205 innings pitched. 4th in the league in strikouts with 191.

But his WHIP and BAA fall far short.

And I wonder how much of that (plus his ERA which is good but not top 5) is due to his rancid 0-4 record against the Red Sox with a big fat 7.20 ERA.

If he were merely mediocre against the Sox he'd be a 19 game winner among the league leaders of ERA and maybe a few more strikeouts thrown in there.

Now the law of averages say that Sabathia will be good today.

And the Yankees are facing John Lackey, so his performance will probably be filed under "Who the hell knows?"

That being said...

One more Sabathia loss would not only mean the Magic Number for the Division would be 26 going into September...

Not only mean that the favorable match ups of Beckett vs. Hughes and Lester vs. Burnett would finish the series...

Not only give the Red Sox a 2 1/2 game lead (2 in the loss column over the Yankees)...

But put the ole "We're just not as good" doubt in the Yankees cranium.

That's always a good thing.

Let's play ball.

Um... Didn't A-Rod help the Yankees win a World Series?

There was a very odd article in the New York Times by Harvey Araton from the other day. The great Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers pointed it out to me.

The premise of the article had to do with Alex Rodriguez and his body that could very well be breaking down. His multiple trips to the disabled list in the past few years seem to confirm that.

And yeah, the contract is going to last until I think 3295.

But the article is odd for two reasons.

It implies that he hasn't been an elite player for a dozen years when in fact he was the AL MVP as recently as 2007.

And he kinda sorta helped the Yankees win a World Series.

In fact he hit critical "Game on the line Game Tying Homers" in the Division Series and ALCS and clobbered a key homer in the World Series.

He won the Babe Ruth Award. He had an OPS over 1.500 in both the Division Series and ALCS. It was .973 in the World Series.

Most players who win multiple MVPs and was instrumental in a World Series Championship are kind of revered in a city.

Even one with the baggage of steroids hanging over them. (See Pettitte, Andy.)

I'm not saying that the contract WON'T be an albatross... but shouldn't the 2009 title put a LITTLE in his credit column?

What if Hideki Irabu had signed with the Padres?

Hideki Irabu, one of the fastest throwers in Japanese baseball history and his leagues greatest strikeout artist, died today in Los Angeles County. The first reports say it looks like a suicide.

For a pitcher who has been the butt of many jokes and a Frank Costanza rant, there suddenly is nothing funny about him. Like Donnie Moore before him, a player who was a source of ridicule suddenly became a tragic figure.

In 1997 he was brought to New York as a newly minted millionaire potential hero and given the key to city by Rudy Guiliani and a spot in the defending World Champion Yankees' rotation. 11 years later his credit card was declined in a bar in Japan and he got into a brawl.

And today, trying to find work in an independent minor league, he was found dead.

Sitting at my dining room table, I can't sit and pretend to know all of Irabu's demons. Clearly anyone who could go through with ending their own life has plenty. But it is impossible to avoid the thought that failing on such a grand scale in New York may have contributed to his downfall. Joe Torre had him on the roster for the 1998 and 1999 post season but used him in a single game over 6 series. He pitched in mop up duty for Roger Clemens' dreadful Game 3 start in the 1999 ALCS.

I remember being startled when he came out of the bullpen against the Red Sox that day. I forgot he was even on the team.

He became a symbol of a Steinbrenner move to make a backpage splash and tap into the Japanese market instead of improving the team. (Of course if he delivered, Steinbrenner would have taken the credit of being forward thinking.)

And his debut in 1997 was a solid win where he pitched into the 7th. And remember in 1998, he started off as a very effective pitcher. He was the AL Pitcher of the Month for May, 1998. By mid June of 1998, he was 6-1 with a 1.59 ERA and was a big contributor to the Yankees stellar first half. As late as July 20th he had a terrific record (9-3) and a very good ERA (2.86.) A string of 6 bad starts, plus the emergence of El Duque Hernandez, pushed him out of the post season roster.

But his 1998 could hardly be called a total failure. But 1999 was not a good year for him and by 2000 he was an Expo. By 2002 he was a Ranger, his last season in the majors. He pitched in 2009 for the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League. Former Padres shortstop Garry Templeton was his manager. His teammate was Jose Lima, who passed away last spring.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he played in a smaller market.

The Padres paid the posting fee for Irabu to bring him to America and they owned his signing rights. But, wanting to be on the biggest stage (and have the greatest marketability) he refused to sign with San Diego. He and his agent engineered the trade that sent him to the Bronx.

Had he stayed with the Padres, his fame would not have been as great, but neither would the magnification of his failures. Like the Yankees, the 1997 Padres were coming off a post season berth and had talent.

If he had put up the same numbers with the 1998 Padres as he did with the 1998 Yankees, he would have been beloved by the fans instead of being cursed out.

Remember the '98 Padres were a terrific team that went on to win the National League pennant. They were not as good as the historic 1998 Yankees, but they had a deep lineup and a tough bullpen.

And their fan base is forgiving. Playing for a large passionate fanbase has its disadvantages. Not being able to hide any flaws is one of them. Trevor Hoffman had many high profile critical game blown saves in his career with the Padres. Had he blown those games in New York, Philadelphia or Boston, he would have been run out of town on a rail. In San Diego they are retiring his number.

I wonder if Irabu had pitched in San Diego, if he would have been able to develop and adapt to America better than in New York, where he was expected to be the next Nolan Ryan right out of the gate.

I wonder if Padres fans could have accepted him for what he was instead of tormenting him for what he wasn't. 13 wins and an OK 4.06 ERA mixed in with a pitcher of the month award would get a lot more respect in a smaller market gunning for their second ever pennant.

Maybe he pitches well along side Kevin Brown, Andy Ashby, Sterling Hitchcock and Joey Hamilton. Maybe he fares well against the Yankees in the World Series.

Or maybe his demons were just too strong to conquer. Maybe this has nothing to do with bis baseball career.

But seeing how far he fell makes it impossible to wonder. Did he have to perch himself up so high?

Phew

It was a group effort of lousy pitching tonight in Toronto... and good news for the Red Sox.

Bartolo Colon was really awful in the first. Yeah, 5 of the first inning runs were unearned, but 3 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning is nothing to brag about.

That would be a 40.50 ERA stretched out to a season.
I don't care which stat you use. That sucks.

The Yankees got 6 wins and a decent ERA out of Colon through the All Star break, which is more than anyone could have expected.

As the second half comes along, and his medical records are in, and the fact that he hasn't thrown 100 innings in a season since his Cy Young season 6 years ago is sitting in front of us, and the fact that he missed the entire season last year and at a fat 38, even stem cells might not keep him healthy... the carriage could be turning into a pumpkin.

He's let up 8 earned runs in his last 2 starts (6 1/3 innings pitched combined in those starts.)

Now the Yankees nearly came all the way back but fortunately for the Blue Jays, Red Sox fans and Yankee haters everywhere, the bullpen sucked almost as much as Colon did.

Seriously, if I told you the Yankees scored 7 runs on 14 hits including 2 Andruw Jones homers and saw Jose Bautista leave the game with an injury, you'd assume the Blue Jays got squashed.

Thanks to Ayala, Noesi, Logan and Mitre, it ended a Jays blow out.

A bad game?
Or the Yankees pitching depth starting to get exposed?

Well find out.

All I know for the Red Sox?
THE MAGIC NUMBERS IS 72!

ROCKIES! Trade Ubaldo Jimenez!

At one point last year, Ubaldo Jimenez looked like he could win 30 games. 25 was a lock.
He was the 26 year old home grown ace of the Rockies and things were just going to get better.

He was 15-1 at the All Star break.
His ERA was sub 1.00 into June.

The second half? He went 4-7 with a decent (especially for pitching 1/2 his games in Denver) 3.80 ERA.

His numbers were solid and Cy Young worthy. But there was something mildly disturbing.

His whole career he's been a decent pitcher who put up decent numbers. And for one half of a year, he was a Cy Young candidate.

What if that one half of a season was a fluke?
What if it was an anomaly?

What if this is... *GASP*... Javier Vazquez all over again?
As I wrote before, Vazquez had a terrific 2001 with Montreal and coasted on the reputation of that season until 2009 when he had another great year for Atlanta.

The Yankees were of course burned when they brought him back... but my point is this:

Jimenez might not be an ace. But teams might THINK he is!
He started the 2010 All Star Game. That was almost exactly a year ago.

When exactly will his value be higher than RIGHT NOW?

The Rockies are sub .500 now and don't have the arms to catch up with San Francisco for the West nor for Atlanta for the Wild Card.

So take a look at Jimenez as a chip. A young good starting pitcher who everyone thinks is an ace!

Why hold on to him until people figure out he's NOT an ace?

If the Yankees want to give up some of their top prospects (and supposedly Jesus Montero is being offered) take it.

Drive up the price as the Yankees, Tigers, Reds and almost every other contender is looking for an arm.

With Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki locked up for long term deals, the Rockies can't really afford many expensive mistakes. And expecting Jimenez to be the pitcher that he was for 1 half of a season as opposed to the pitcher he was for 3 seasons is a risky prospect.

Get two quality players and let him become a decent but not great player for another team!

And don't wait too long.
Did someone say "Brandon Webb?"

That's more like it, Cleveland fans!

Look at that! A huge crowd to see the Indians play. And if the playoffs started today, Cleveland would not only be in, but have home field advantage over the Boston Red Sox!

I'm glad to see it isn't as easy to get a seat at the Jake (or whatever the hell it is called now.)

Now I understand this was a game against the Yankees and it was the 4th of July. So there were some factors going into a big crowd.

But even keeping this in mind, it is officially the second half of the season and even though the Indians have hit some rough patches, they are still in first place by themselves.

Keep showing up, Cleveland fans!
(And don't make me post my video again!)

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