Recap: Phillies 7, Yankees 3

Esmil Rogers surrendered three earned runs in 3 1/3 innings and Chase Headley hit another home run Thursday night as the Yankees fell to the Phillies, 7-3, in a back-and-forth exhibition at Steinbrenner Field.

Rogers' Rough Start: Rogers gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in his 10 outs of work -- striking out three while throwing 66 pitches. He gave up a solo homer to Cody Asche in the Phillies' half of the second, a no-doubter to right that barely garnered a response from the Yankees' defense.

Headley Stays Hot: Headley connected on a long solo shot off the Phillies' Aaron Harang in the bottom of the second, his second four-bagger already this week. It was also Headley's second RBI in as many days -- the other coming on a single in Lake Buena Vista Wednesday.

Drew Extends Hitting Streak: At the dish with a runner on first and two outs in the third, Stephen Drew ripped a line-drive double to the right-field corner -- easily plating Slade Heathcott to pull the Yankees to within one. The knock extended Drew's current hitting streak to three, and raised his batting average on the month to an improving .192.

Beltran Evens the Score: With the Yankees down 3-2 with two men on in the sixth, Carlos Beltran came up clutch with a game-tying single to center -- his only hit in three at-bats on the evening. Sliding home from second on the play was infielder Nick Noonan, who had pinch-run for Didi Gregorius earlier in the frame.

Late Pitching Struggles: This contest remained locked at three-a-piece until Darin Ruf drove a Nick Goody offering over the right-center wall in the eighth -- a blast that would open the floodgates for Philadelphia's offense going into the ninth. Indeed, in this one's final inning, the Phillies circled the bases three more times against the Yanks' Chasen Shreve -- though only two of their runs were earned due to a Jose Pirela fielding error. 

Next Up: The Yankees will send Adam Warren to the mound when they visit the Tigers Friday afternoon in Lakeland -- a meeting set to begin at 1:05 p.m. ET. Warren is expected to pitch around four innings for New York opposite Detroit's Alfredo Simon -- a veteran right-hander who faced the Yankees last year with the Reds.

Spring Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies 3/19

The New York Yankees will stay home tonight inside George M. Steinbrenner Field to play host once again to the Philadelphia Phillies as a part of their Grapefruit League schedule. The Yankees will send Esmil Rogers to the mound to face off with Aaron Harang for the Phillies.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, ESPN and MLB TV. 

I Feel Bad for This Player: 2015 Edition

Earlier in the week I wrote an article about the superstition I had concerning the players I put on my desktop of my PC at home. It seems that every season since 2009 whoever is on my desktop has a healthy and productive season from AJ Burnett in 2009, Derek Jeter in 2012 and Masahiro Tanaka for 2015. There also, and I don’t purposely go out of my way to do this, seems to always be a player that I just harp on and harp on and beg to get lost coming to the stadium so Joe Girardi doesn’t put them into the game. It was Chris Capuano last year, it was Andruw Jones for a couple years, Chris Stewart comes to mind and for much of the 2009 season it was Damaso Marte. Who will it be in 2015? If I’m guessing, and I am, it’s going to be Stephen Drew.

Mark Teixeira is going to need a day here and there when he rips the skin around his fingernail fixing his hair but I have come to expect it at this point. Ivan Nova is going to have growing pains coming back from Tommy John surgery and the only consistent part of his game is going to be his inconsistency, you expect that as well. Alex Rodriguez is going to show at times that he basically hasn’t played for two seasons, has two bum hips and is a 40 year old player at the bat and in the field, he didn’t offer himself that ridiculous contract and would have been a fool to turn it down. Drew though won’t have that “I missed half the season because I turned down a huge qualifying offer because I have an idiot for an agent named Scott Boras” excuse and will have to produce and produce right away.

Like I said I don’t go out of my way to pick a player every single season and go after them, it just happens. It usually happens when there is a much better, much younger and much cheaper alternative in the farm system that I have admittedly grown attached to over the year. His name is Robert Refsnyder (not Robert Paulson….). 

Derek Jeter & Hideki Matsui Teammates Once Again

Former New York Yankees players and teammates Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui have both retired from the game of Major League Baseball but that doesn’t mean that they stopped being teammates. Jeter and Matsui are teaming up for a charity baseball game to support the survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The game will take place at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday, March 22 and will showcase a group of student baseball players from the Tohoku region that saw over 15,000 people killed in the quake.

Proceeds from the game will go towards helping children in the region. Jeter and Matsui also plan on putting on a baseball clinic and taking part in a home run derby while in Japan this weekend helping the children affected. My money is on Matsui still having some fuel left in the tank and in that bat, just saying.

Jeter compared the events of that day to the September 11^th attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. and was quoted as saying:

"The kids will never forget what happened," Jeter said. "But if they can come out and have fun and enjoy themselves through the sport of baseball, that's what we're trying to do here."

Matsui was also ecstatic to have a big name and face like Jeter helping the cause for Japan and their people:

"Having Jeter here is a wonderful thing," Matsui said. "He had an illustrious career in Major League Baseball. I'm happy and the kids taking part in this event will be thrilled. We hope they have a great time and return to Tohoku with some great memories."

Tony Clark wants Pete Rose Reinstated and so do I

We all knew it was coming when we heard that former Commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig was retiring and new Commissioner Rob Manfred was taking over but now it’s official and the ink is dry. Pete Rose has sent in his application to Commissioner Manfred for reinstatement into the game of Major League Baseball. Manfred said he was open to the idea and would review the case, although naturally no timetable would be set for a decision either way, but this week Rose got one significant person inside MLB in his corner in MLB Player’s Association head Tony Clark. Clark went as far as to ditch the political correctness of it all and said he wanted Rose back in the game. Clark was quoted as saying the following short, simple and to the point quote:

"I would love to see Pete reinstated."

We all know that Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 following an investigation that concluded that he bet on the team he was managing, the Cincinnati Reds, to win games. Sports betting was against the rules and the moral conduct code then as much as steroids are against them now yet players with one, two or in Manny Ramirez’s case three strikes (that we know about) are still not banned from the game permanently. Rose betting on the game was wrong but unlike say a Shoeless Joe Jackson ban for throwing and affecting the outcome of World Series games Rose went out and did what he would have done whether he had a bet on the game or not, he tried to win the game. He was employed to win games and his career as a manager was dependent on him winning games. He had a lot more at stake than money every time he went into that dugout as a manager, his livelihood and his ability to provide his family was at stake.

The message has been sent to anyone and everyone who would ever consider betting on the game, especially Rose, and it’s time to re-open that case and that book in history and right a wrong. Call me progressive, call me soft-hearted, hell call me a liberal I don’t care just don’t call me late for dinner. Get Rose back in the game, the game deserves it a lot more than Rose deserves it and the game needs one less black eye on its plate. This is an easy fix and would start off the Manfred era with a bang, make it happen. 

Derek Jeter Hints at Wanting to Own MLB Team Again

Derek Jeter has always kind of hinted at wanting to own a Major League baseball franchise and also flirted with the idea of purchasing part of the Buffalo Bills as recently as this offseason. Jeter once again hinted towards wanting to be an owner of an MLB team this week when he was asked while promoting his trip to Japan this weekend to host a charity baseball game with Hideki Matsui. More on that a little later in the day but the nugget I took from that is Jeter still seems genuinely serious and interested in owning a MLB franchise one day.

Jeter’s exact quote when asked about owning a team was:

"I need to get away from (baseball) for a little while," Jeter said at a press conference. "I've been doing it professionally for 23 years, at this moment now I'm not thinking about getting back in the game. My ultimate dream is to one day own a team but that's in the future."

TGP Daily Poll: New York Beats Philadelphia

I feel an offensive explosion coming on and it sucks to be the Philadelphia Phillies. The New York Yankees will beat up on the Phillies on Thursday by scoring six or more runs.

Vote in our prediction poll on knoda.com

New York Yankees Top 10 Prospects From Last Five Seasons

New York @Yankees Top 10 Prospects, 2011-2015 (2011-14 postseason lists; 2015 preseason list) http://t.co/vY6JtTo80l pic.twitter.com/x45d2I1YTO
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 18, 2015

This Day in New York Yankees History 3/19: YES Network Debuts

On this day in 2002 as the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, more commonly known as the YES Network, makes its debut as a regional cable TV channel. The Yankees owned network will televise Bronx Bombers games as well as covering the then New Jersey Nets games in the NBA.

On this day in 1989 the Yankees traded catcher Joel Skinner and a minor league player to the Indians for outfielder Mel Hall. New York was looking to replace the injured Dave Winfield after the future Hall of Fame outfielder missed the season due to back surgery.