Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 8/6

For the final time this week the New York Yankees will welcome David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox to Yankee Stadium for a game head-to-head. New York’s bats and pitching have reigned supreme thus far this series and there is no reason to believe the bats won’t continue their hitting ways tonight in the Bronx. New York will presumably need all the offense they can get as they send CC Sabathia to the mound to face off with the Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

After tonight’s game the Yankees welcome Troy Tulowitzki, Saturday’s starter David Price and the Toronto Blue Jays to Yankee Stadium. To see Tulo manning the shortstop position in the Bronx and Price manning the mound live click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and purchase a pair of tickets or more. If you can’t make it live or can’t stand to see Price and Tulo not wearing Yankees pinstripes live then simply jump on Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to root for the home team each and every game this season.

Sabathia is ready to mow down some Red Sox and I’m ready to watch it so I’ll end this here, Go Yankees!

Notable August Trades in Major League Baseball History

The Yankees season is not over because the team did not make any notable acquisitions at the July 31st trading deadline last month. Earlier today I brought you my wish list for the August 31st trade deadline which included James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman and Martin Prado and I almost immediately caught a ton of flack on Twitter about it. Apparently many fans don't think that big trades like this can happen in July so here are a few notable August trades in the history of the August 31st waiver wire trade deadline.

• In 2003 the Pittsburgh Pirates sent one of their best players on the team, Brian Giles, to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects. You may recognize some of the names that were traded for Giles, Oliver Perez and Jason Bay. 

• On this day in 2008 the Toronto Blue Jays acquired a player who was not even on the Major League roster at the time. The most notable player at the tgime of the trade was the Pittsburgh Pirates newest player Robinson Diaz but the clear cut winner was Toronto who acquired some dude named Jose Bautista. 

• In 2000 the New York Yankees acquired a familiar face to complete their dynasty years, the team sent a prospect to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Luis Sojo. Sojo was a big member of the 1996-1999 Yankees before leaving for Pittsburgh via free agency. Sojo was acquired for the playoff and World Series run and did just that with a four-hit game and the game winning hit to clinch the 2000 World Series over the New York Mets. This isn't exactly a notable trade as much as it was a stretch to include the Yankees on the post. We're a Yankees blog afterall. 

• And who could forget the mega-deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox where over $250,000,000 in dollars changed hands overnight. The Dodgers sent James Loney, Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Rubby De La Rosa and Jerry Sands to the Boston Red Sox for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. 

Imagining a Lineup without Brian McCann

The New York Yankees announced last night that Brian McCann was listed as day-to-day with an MCL injury in his knee. McCann suffered the injury while blocking a curveball in the dirt and is said to be healthy enough to avoid the disabled list. While I'm not flat out calling the Yankees a liar I will preface this post by saying that the team stated that Mason Williams was just fine and would be back soon and before we knew it he was on the 60 day DL and undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. While we don't really have to imagine what a lineup would be without McCann, he's not an everyday player anymore, we should really start to take notice at what the lineup would look like if he was to miss a significant portion of time this season.

1. Ellsbury

2. Gardner

3. Rodriguez

4. Teixeira

5. Beltran

6. Headley

7. Murphy

8. Gregorius

9. Drew

When the bottom of the order is clicking on all cylinders that lineup can be just fine but if Didi goes back to hitting in the low .200's and Drew starts falling away from .200 again that could mean a lot of automatic outs in the Yankees lineup again. Any team losing one of their middle-of-the-order hitters is tough but it could be especially bad for the Yankees.

Here's to hoping McCann will be okay for the remainder of the 2015 season.

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 8/6

The New York Yankees have seemingly had their way with the Boston Red Sox this series and as much as it pains me to say it tonight will mark the final time these two teams play this week inside Yankee Stadium. We have seen the Major League debuts of Henry Owens for Boston on Tuesday and Luis Severino for the Yankees on Wednesday so who knows what is in store for the contest tonight. We do know this, the Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound looking to secure another victory for New York while the Red Sox counter with Eduardo Rodriguez. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Sabathia left his last start against the Texas Rangers battling signs and symptoms of dehydration, a bout that forced him into a Texas hospital. Sabathia is back and presumably filled with fluids and looking to not allow five earned runs or more like he has in each of his last two starts. The last time Sabathia faced the Red Sox he allowed two runs over six innings in a no decision inside Fenway Park on May 1^st.

• Rodriguez has possibly been the team’s most consistent starter since Clay Buchholz went down with an injury while facing the Yankees before the All-Star break. The left-handed starter has had his rough outings along with his good outings but overall he has been solid allowing three runs or fewer in none out of the 12 starts he has made this season.

The Yankees finish their series with Boston tonight before staying home to welcome Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, Russell Martin and the Toronto Blue Jays for a super important series for both clubs. As long as the Yankees keep winning it doesn’t matter how many prospects the Blue Jays trade away and how many players the team acquires, they can’t make up the ground. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves though, the Yankees still have to blow out Boston once again tonight. Go Yankees!

August Trade Waiver Wish List

The New York Yankees relatively stood pat at the July 31st trading deadline this season despite seeing teams like the Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays and others get better. New York did trade two prospects for Dustin Ackley although Ackley has since been placed on the disabled list with a possible season-ending surgery. While many Yankees fans around the world are standing next to some little chicken screaming about how the world is falling the rest of us are compiling a waiver trade wish list before August 31st, my list is below.

• James Shields will clear waivers due to his salary, guaranteed. The Padres are out of playoff contention in the National League and would love to shed the back-loaded salary going forward. He won't be the ace, he's not "Big Game" James anymore but he will be a better option to pitch the third game of a playoff series than CC Sabathia. 

• Martin Prado I cannot see clearing waivers. The second base market is barren to say the least and utility players are harder and harder to come by making Prado extremely valuable. If he clears waivers, and if the team is not going to call up Robert Refsnyder, then why not take a waiver on Prado again?

• Craig Kimbrel/Aroldis Chapman should clear, especially Kimbrel, and talks could resurface involving Jorge Mateo. I hope not but it's not what I hope, it's what Brian Cashman is thinking and that can be unpredictable at its best. 

TGP Daily Poll:Yankees Call up Gary Sanchez

Brian McCann is considered day-to-day after damaging his MCL in his knee in Tuesday night's game. McCann is not on the disabled list and is said to be available if needed but I can see the Yankees giving Gary Sanchez the call.

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

It's worth mentioning that he hit a home run after the knee injury occurred if memory serves so I'm not extremely worried about his knee. Knee injuries for catchers suck though, so I'll be watching it closely. That's a huge bat to lose in the lineup.

Weekly Check In: Jaron Long

Picture courtesy of Pinstriped Prospects

The New York Yankees pitching depth will be under more scrutiny in the next few weeks with the team in contention for a playoff spot, the teams behind them in the division stacked and ready to make a run at the American League East crown and with the likes of Michael Pineda injured. New York has already called up Luis Severino to the Major Leagues and he made his Major League debut last night while Bryan Mitchell has been moved back to the bullpen after his first start of 2015. Who becomes the new “go to” pitcher if the Yankees need to make another move? Is it Jaron Long?

Long, the son of former Yankees hitting coach and current New York Mets hitting coach Kevin Long, is currently in Triple-A with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and may now be at the top of the pitching depth chart. Danny Burawa is working out as a starter now but he couldn’t conceivably be relied on for huge lengths of time if a player was to go on the disabled list so the rotation may all hinge on Long if someone goes down.

The good news for the Yankees is Long has followed up his breakout campaign of 2014 with another solid season in 2015 that garnered his promotion to Triple-A. Now Long is knocking on the door hoping to sit on the same bench that his father sat on for all those years inside Yankee Stadium. 

Year	Lev	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	AAA-AA	8	8	4.58	22	110.0	140	67	56	8	27	70	1.518	11.5	0.7	2.2	5.7
2015	AA	3	2	3.33	5	24.1	25	12	9	1	4	17	1.192	9.2	0.4	1.5	6.3
2015	AAA	5	6	4.94	17	85.2	115	55	47	7	23	53	1.611	12.1	0.7	2.4	5.6
3 Seasons		21	14	3.23	56	265.0	274	118	95	12	52	201	1.230	9.3	0.4	1.8	6.8
Rk (1 season)	Rk	1	0	0.00	4	6.2	4	1	0	0	1	7	0.750	5.4	0.0	1.4	9.4
A (1 season)	A	3	1	1.64	11	49.1	44	15	9	0	8	46	1.054	8.0	0.0	1.5	8.4
A+ (2 seasons)	A+	2	3	3.60	8	30.0	24	13	12	2	5	28	0.967	7.2	0.6	1.5	8.4
AA (2 seasons)	AA	10	4	2.60	16	93.1	87	34	27	3	15	67	1.093	8.4	0.3	1.4	6.5
AAA (1 season)	AAA	5	6	4.94	17	85.2	115	55	47	7	23	53	1.611	12.1	0.7	2.4	5.6

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

This Day in New York Yankees History 8/6: Hank Aaron Passes Babe Ruth

We all know this is a New York Yankees website but we pay respect when respect is due which is why we honor the Braves slugger Hank Aaron today. On this day in 1972 Hank Aaron passed the great Yankees legend Babe Ruth for the most home runs hit with one team. Aaron hit his 660th and 661st career home run with the Braves to pass the Babe’s record with the Yankees.

The Yankees also traded away Bucky Dent four years after becoming Bucky "F'in" Dent and Armando Benitez for Jeff Nelson on this day but really today belongs to Hammerin' Hank in my opinion.