Yankees @ Blue Jays 9/27/12

Update :

 Yankees lose 6-0

Derek Lowe and Ivan Nova still suck

The Yankees will start what could be an important four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays over the end of this week and into the weekend up in Toronto Canada. The Yankees have a magic number of 6 to clinch the AL East and 4 to clinch at least a playoff spot. The Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound so will we see Dr. Jeckyl ( 9/15 start 6 IP 2 ER 8 K's and a win) or Mr. Hyde ( 9/22 start 2.1 IP 3 ER 2 K's and a loss) tonight? The Blue Jays will send Brandon Morrow to the mound looking to be spoilers. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB Network

Lineups

Derek Jeter SS
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Russell Martin C
Raul Ibanez LF
Jayson Nix 3B

Go Yankees!!

Mark Teixeira Running In Instructional Leagues

Mark Teixeira has been down with the instructional league team since Monday taking fielding drills, taking batting practice, and all the other routine things trying to stay in shape for a return to the Bronx before the playoffs. The only thing he has yet to do, until yesterday, was run but Mark participated in some running drills  yesterday for the first time since re-aggravating his calf injury. With only seven games left in the season it is now or never for Mark to test the leg and see if he is going to be able to come back and help us or not. I would rather him stay away from the turf in Toronto so maybe we will see him back for the final series of the year when we finish up with Boston.

This Day In Yankees History 9/27/12

In 1938 Lou Gehrig hits his 493rd, and final, home run in his career before retiring from ALS, or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. 15 years earlier to the day he hit his first career home run.

Yankees Magic Number

Yankees magic number to win the AL East

Magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 4

Thinking About 2013 : The Catching Situation

As we all know Russell Martin will be a free agent after the 2012 season, thankfully not signing the extension this past off season, and so will backup Chris Stewart. That only leaves the Yankees with long time back up and fist pumper Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine, who missed most of the 2012 season with a back injury. What should the Yankees do to shore up, or stop gap for guys like Gary Sanchez, the catching situation for next season? One guy comes to mind when I looked at the 2013 Free Agents from MLB Trade Rumors, Mike Napoli.

Napoli is not going to bat .300, he is not going to be Pudge Rodriguez behind the plate and controlling the running game, but he will be a definite improvement over what we have had the last couple of seasons. Napoli is a power hitting catcher that is currently playing for the Texas Rangers and has played for them the last two seasons. Napoli strikes out a little more then you would like to see but also has a nice on base percentage to even it out. That is just the beginning of what Napoli could bring to this team.

Napoli, like I said, is in his second season with the Texas Rangers so he has post season, pennant chase, and World Series experience which is always a plus in New York. You do not hear about Napoli being a trouble maker, a club house cancer, or anything like that so I consider that another plus to the Yankees. Mike Napoli is also easily considered the best available catcher, unless the Braves somehow have a computer glitch and click DECLINE when asked to pick up the option on Brian McCann, and the Yankees love to get the big names.

While both Napoli and Russell Martin are both hitting around .200 the similarities pretty much stop there. Napoli's OBP is usually around .120 points higher then his batting average and has a mid .400 SLG% year in and year out.In 2014 Napoli will be two years removed from a 30 home run season while Russell has never had a 20 home run season in his career. Napoli is having a considerable "down" season this year and still has a 20 point higher wRC+ at 106 so this kind of seems like a no brainer to me. Napoli also has less errors then Russell Martin, although he is no defensive catcher by any means, and also has some experience at 1B which could come in handy to give Teixeira days off.

The downside of Napoli will be that there are not a ton of power hitting catchers so the market should be pretty high for Mike. Not to mention that this will be his first year of free agency so he will probably want a multi year deal. This season Mike Napoli signed a 1 year,$9.4 million deal to avoid arbitration and stay with the team so expect a, and I say this loosely, significant raise on that. Is he going to command $15 million a season? Doubtful but I do not see him taking an AAV of less then $12 million in my opinion. This should be considered by the Yankees brass and the Yankees fans alike because this, assuming the money is right, makes too much sense NOT to do.

Plus his girlfriend would be a very welcomed addition to the wives and girlfriends section...