Are We A Trade Match With The Whitesox - Outfielders

The Yankees have had some less than stellar results from their outfielders this season and the White Sox may be a match to help us improve in that area. Brett Gardner has been great, maybe even an All Star, this season and Ichiro has been hot and cold all season long. Vernon Wells had a great first month and has fallen off the face of the earth while Zoilo Almonte broke onto the scene in a huge way only to remember that he is a prospect. We have been so desperate for outfield help this season we even let Lyle Overbay play out there since Curtis Granderson has been out for most of the season with two freak injuries. Are the White Sox a good match to help us with our outfield problems? Let's see...

Alejandro De Aza has put up a triple slash of .261/.316/.420 with an OPS of .736. De Aza has also put up 10 home runs and 40 RBI's playing center field for the White Sox. His versatility and speed, 10 stolen bases in 14 attempts, make him an obvious attractive choice for the Yankees. He has the versatility to play any of the three outfield positions and can bat anywhere in the lineup. The only down fall for De Aza and the Yankees may be that he is a left handed batter and the Yankees have more than enough left handed batters and especially outfielders. De Aza is also a free agent after this season and is owed a little less than $1,000,000 for the rest of the season.

Alex Rios has put up a triple slash of .272/.330/.452 with an OPS of .783 this season. Rios has also slammed 11 home runs, knocked in 36 RBI's, and hit 18 doubles this season in right field for the White Sox. Rios has 13 stolen bases in 18 attempts and has only struck out 53 times in 294 at bats. The biggest issue with Rios is that $12,500,000 owed to him both this season and next season and that may keep him out of pinstripes. One redeeming factor that Rios has though is the fact that he is right handed and an upgrade over every Yankees outfielder not named Brett Gardner this season so I would at least kick the tires on this guy.

The DeWayne Wise ship has sailed in New York so I cannot see him coming over in a trade and anyway he is on the DL so that will make any trade difficult. Jordan Danks has only had 32 at bats and is batting a minuscule .125 batting average with a .222 on base percentage so he is definitely not in the Yankees plans this season. Casper Wells has also been limited to 39 at bats and has struggled putting up a .179 batting average with a .238 on base percentage so I cannot see him in the Yankees plans either. Dayan Viciedo is only batting .227 with a .263 on base percentage and can only be an improvement over Vernon Wells at this point so I cannot see him getting in Yankees pinstripes this season either.

It looks like it is Alejandro De Aza, Alex Rios, or bust for the Yankees and the White Sox this trading deadline.

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/26

On this day in 1939 the New York Yankees play their first game in their franchises history as they lose to the Philadelphia A's 3-2.

On this day in 1961 Yogi Berra collected his 2000th hit of his career against the California Angels in an 8-6 victory.

On this day in 1995 Mariano Rivera threw a five inning no hitter in the minor leagues before coming back to pitch for the Yankees. Mariano was started out as a starter but never flourished there and was thankfully moved to the closer role.

On this day in 2012 DeWayne Wise went into the stands at Yankees Stadium and "caught" a fly ball off of Jack Hannahans bat in the 7th inning. Relays would show that Wise did not catch the ball, not even close, but the play stood and the Yankees got a free out.

Wise Released, Pena Sent Down

DeWayne Wise refused his AAA assignment and the Yankees had until today to either release him or trade him... so they released him. His bunt and his "catch" will be two of the things we will remember in his short, but very solid, career with the Yankees

Ramiro Pena has been sent back down to AAA Empire State Yankees to make room for newly acquired Casey McGehee. Good Luck Ramiro, see you in September.

DeWayne Wise Clears Waivers & Goes To AAA

Color me SHOCKED. DeWayne Wise actually cleared waivers, something I in no way saw coming, and was sent to AAA Empire State Yankees. I fully expect him to be part of the Yankees September call ups when the rosters expand. Even if he isn't we will always remember him for the "catch" pictured above and the bunt that may have turned the season around. 

Yankees Acquire Ichiro Suzuki

MLB Network just broke the news that the New York Yankees, playing in Seattle tonight, have acquired Ichiro Suzuki for 2 minor league pitchers. More details to come when they become available.

DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar look like the two pitchers that are going to Seattle. I absolutely HATE losing DJ Mitchell for Ichiro but he is what he is... a bullpen arm. We have plenty of those available in the minor leagues.

The Yankees are also apparently getting cash in return for Ichiro who is in the final year of his contract. This year Ichiro is set to make $17 million this year but that will obviously be pro rated since we will get less then half a season of Ichiro. MLBTR is reporting that the Yankees will be getting "significant" money back in the deal.

The big issue is does Ichiro wear Bernie William's number 51? Stay tuned...

According to Joel Sherman, The Yankees are only on hook for $2 million of Ichiro's remaining salary for the rest of this season.

DeWayne Wise has been designated for assignment (DFA) to make room for Ichiro on the 25 man roster which means Ichiro will be active for TONIGHT'S GAME!! I fully expect Ichiro to bat in the 9 spot for the Yankees and play RF for now while Swisher is out and will play LF for the rest of the season while Brett Gardner is out.

Blue Jays At Yankees 7/18/12

UPDATE:

Robinson Cano extends his hitting streak to 21 games

Nick Swisher got his 500th hit as a Yankee, an rbi single to put the Yankees up 1-0

Mark Teixeira , on Mark Teixeira bobble head day, hits a two run home run to make it 3-0 Yankees

Andruw Jones with an rbi single to make it 4-0

DeWayne Wise does his best Curtis Granderson impression with an rbi single to put the Yankees up 5-0

Yankees win 6-0

This afternoon the Yankees will look for a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium. On the mound for the Yankees is Hiroki Kuroda who has probably been our ace in the last two months. On the mound for the Jays will be Ricky Romero. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on YES

Lineups

1. Derek Jeter DH

2. Nick Swisher RF

3. Mark Teixeira 1B

4. Alex Rodriguez 3B

5. Robinson Cano 2B

6. Andruw Jones LF

7. Jayson Nix SS

8. Russell Martin C

9. Dewayne Wise CF

Go Yankees!!

Who Is In... Who Is Out?

Today being another off day got me thinking just what the Yankees are going to do when all of their current disabled and DL'd players come back to action. The Yankees have quite an impressive list of players on the DL currently including Brett Gardner, Mariano Rivera, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, David Aardsma, and some other guys that we do not expect to see this year. The 40 man roster is full... what do we do?

Let us start with Joba Chamberlain who just got off of an ankle surgery after a freak trampoline accident and a tommy john surgery. He threw his first rehab game pitching 1 IP with 2 K's and an unearned run. The most important part, to me, was the 97 mph. We have not seen that kind of velocity since he was a dominant set up man for Mariano Rivera. Who goes down when Joba makes it all the way back to the majors? If you ask me today, and I know I am going to shock some people, but I say DJ Mitchell will go back down to AAA Empire State Yankees. I know a lot of people think Chad Qualls was just keeping the seat warm for Joba but he has pitched very effectively in a ROOGY kind of position. I like his veteran leadership and I love matchups in the pen. That is why Rapada stays for me and keeps me two left handers in the bullpen. Do not get me wrong I love what I see out of DJ Mitchell but he is a young guy and has plenty of time to make the pen out of spring training next season.

Brett Gardner has played a total of nine games this season to the tune of 28 at bats. He has been battling an elbow injury and elbow setback after elbow setback. The Yankees really "need" his speed and presence in the lineup, if anything to get Raul Ibanez back on the bench where he belongs. We currently are carrying 6 outfielders because of the lack of need of a 5th starter right before and right after the All Star break. We will not have five when Gardner comes back, which is slated to be in late July. I expect that Darnell McDonald be cut and David Phelps to be called back up, now fully stretched out and dominating AA batters, to fill the starting spot for Andy Pettitte or long man spot for Freddy Garcia. DeWayne Wise has been a pleasant surprise for the Yankees this season and some even say that he may have turned the Yankees season around... but when Brett Gardner comes back he is going to be DFA'd.

I do not expect Mariano Rivera to pitch again this season after tearing his ACL shagging fly balls in the outfield. Even with a partial tear it will still be tough after sitting and waiting for about a month to get rid of a blood clot and reduce swelling before he even had surgery. Also the fact that it would be a September comeback anyway means the rosters would be expanded so we would not need to make a roster move. My question is what do we do, saying he comes back and is healthy and effective, come playoff time? I would have to think that Clay Rapada , as of today, would have to lose his roster spot and we keep Qualls, Joba, and co. This is probably all wishful thinking though.

If David Aardsma can get good news from his little set back and fully come back from tommy john surgery and be healthy then we have a cluster and a big "problem" in our bullpen. That means with Joba back, assuming anyway, that someone who is very effective would have to go down. I mean I guess we could push him back till September when the rosters expand but that is no fun to speculate about. Would a very effective and big surprise in Cody Eppley be sent down? This is certainly a good problem to have.

The Yankees do not really need to make any moves in this years July 31st trade deadline. The Yankees have an ace, a #2 starter, a dominant closer, a dominant (at times) set up relief pitcher, and an all star caliber speed demon of a left fielder coming off the DL soon in reserve. All the Yankees have to do is get healthy and they will add more to their team then any team will at this year's trading deadline.

Yankees At The Half Way Point

We have played exactly 81 games so we are exactly at the half way point in the season. The Yankees are 49-32 which is only .5 game behind the Texas Rangers for the best record in all of baseball. That is .5 games behind FOR THE BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL with guys like Brett Gardner, CC Sabathia, David Robertson, Mariano Rivera, Michael Pineda, and so many more names that have hit the DL for some time this season. Rather then harp on the negative though I prefer to look at the positives. Let us look at the Yankees leaders at the halfway mark.

Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson are the only two Yankees to play in all 81 games thus far this season.

Jeter and Cano are the only Yankees to have 100 hits at the half way mark (103 and 100 respectively)

Cano and Swisher both have 20 + doubles this season so far (23 and 20)

Five Yankees have triples thus far this season. Robinson Cano, DeWayne Wise, Curtis Granderson, Raul Ibanez, and Eduardo Nunez.

Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano seem to be leading most of these categories and home runs is no exception. Granderson has 23 and Cano has 20.

Cano leads the Yankees with 50 RBIs

Quietly Curtis Granderson leads the Yankees in walks, by a lot I might add, with 48 BB's.  He also leads the team by a lot in strike outs with 96 K's.

Without Gardner wreaking havoc on the basepaths it has been up to Alex Rodriguez to lead the team in stolen bases with 7.

The Yankees have three .300 hitters if you count Brett Gardner's 28 at bats. The other two are Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter.

Overall the Yankees, in my opinion, have far exceeded expectations when you see who has been on the DL for what amount of time. I think we can get noticeably better with little or no moves and just health... and that is scary for the rest of the league.

New New York Yankees

According to Pete Caldera, the Yankees have called up Dewayne Wise. This was confirmed as Chad Jennings at LoHud said that Wise is listed as available tonight. Jennings also said that Cody Eppley was in Kansas City.

No word on the corresponding moves, although Mariano Rivera is clearly being sent to the DL. There's a chance that either Nick Swisher will join him there.

Update: Michael Pineda was moved to the 60-day DL, and DJ Mitchell was sent back to AAA.

Should The Yankees Risk Losing The DH?

In the bottom of the 3rd inning last night, after having drawn a walk, Nick Swisher was removed from the game with an apparent leg injury. Andruw Jones came in to run for Swish, and remained in the game. Jones went on to get two hits, including a solo HR in the 8th inning, but what will happen to an outfield that has lost all of it's depth?

Joe Girardi was quoted as saying Nick Swisher would miss "more than a few days", which led many to believe Swish would be going on the 15-day DL here soon, but that's not necessarily the case. Girardi went on to say that it was a "real low-grade strain", and that they'd have to give it a few days to see how things go before making a decision about the disabled list.

Many believe the Yankees should stick with what they have, meaning they shouldn't call up anybody. After all, Gardner should be ready to come off the DL as soon as he's eligible to do so on Thursday. But looking at the team's active roster, now without Swisher, perhaps the team should call up another outfielder. As things stand the Active Roster only has 11 batters, meaning that the bench would only go two-deep for the entire series against the Orioles. That doesn't give Girardi much to work with, especially if somebody else should pull up lame during a game. I can see Ibanez tripping over his own feet trying to get to a fly-ball in the gap, leading to him landing hard on his shoulder and needing to leave the game. The Yankees put Nunez out there, and now the team has one player remaining on the bench. It's just not a situation I think Girardi wants to get in.

But with a decision on Swisher and the DL to be put on hold, I don't see any good options for the team. Chris Dickerson and Dewayne Wise have been hitting really well so far in AAA (.350 and .369 respectively), so either seems like a good candidate. But when Swisher is ready to come back, and assuming Gardner does return on the 3rd, then the team would lose one of those current AAA guys, as neither can be simply be sent back down to AAA.

At least for tonight the Yankees may as well go with a two-man bench, probably starting ARod at DH and Nunez at 3B. That way the team is in no danger of having to lose the DH during the game, should somebody else pull up lame. And the best nine hitters would be in the lineup. Girardi would already have players to replace Martin and Tex on the bench (Stewart and Chavez), and Nunez could shift from 3B to any other position with Chavez taking over at 3B. By tomorrow maybe the team will have more information on Swisher, and can go from there.

Another Vazquez Gone

Jorge Vazquez was released today, as the team reportedly Steve Pearce at 1B for the AAA Yankees. Jorge will turn 30 in less than two weeks, and to go along with his poor OBP last season in AAA, I can't say he'll be missed. The fact that the team didn't trade Vazquez before releasing him tells me quite a bit about Jorge. Meaning he's not somebody that any Yankee fan should be shedding a tear over.

In other minor news, neither Jayson Nix nor Dewayne Wise was claimed, meaning the Yankees can send both men down to AAA. But the fact is, the AAA Yankees just have too much going on, meaning something's got to give here.