While We Wait: The Legacy of Determination

The Legacy of Determination: Chris Scandaglia’s fight against ALS

The original post can be seen HERE

Baseball has always been a game of passion and hard work. On the field, players defy the human imagination with their feats of glory. However on the field accomplishments can only go so far. Life off the field brings about greater challenges and often even greater outcomes.


Chris Scandaglia of Staten Island is one of the great human beings whose work off the field is greater than the mind can comprehend. Scandaglia, an insurance professional for Allstate, has dedicated the better part of eight years to charity work. The charity he fights for is ALS, (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) commonly known to the world as Lou Gehrig’s disease. However to Scandaglia, the disease is commonly known as the illness that took his grandfather’s life nearly 23 years ago.

Alex Rodriguez , widow Joanna Chiarulli , baby Nicholas, Robinson Cano, and Chris (Courtesy of Chris Scandaglia)

“I was nine when it happened,” said Scandaglia, referring to his grandfather’s death on December 26th1990, the day after Christmas. “I looked up to my grandfather and always wanted to honor him. This charity is the perfect way I can honor his legacy.”


Scandaglia began the charity in 2006 after discussing with his boss at a previous job ways to improve sales.


“I suggested that for a month, we donate one dollar of every insurance quote made to raise money for ALS,” said Scandaglia. “My boss said go for it and we did it.”


Many of Scadaglia’s co-workers got involved that year and an ironic amount of money was donated.

“We earned $2130 in 2006, the same number as Lou Gehrig’s 2130 consecutive games played streak,” recalled Scandaglia.

From there the charity grew. Scandaglia wanted to do more for ALS research and came up with the idea to help families in need. In 2010, Scandaglia continued his work by holding a fundraiser dinner in honor of his grandfather. It was then he got the idea to make the dinner as popular as possible. He began to contact different agents, including those from the New York Yankees, to see if they would be willing to attend the dinner. As it turned out, the Yankees brought their 2009 World Series trophy to the event. However that wasn’t the only time the Yankees contributed to Scandaglia’s event.


“I made calls and ended up getting some great responses,” said Scandaglia. “Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano came to the dinner in 2012. It was an amazing experience I’ll never forget.”


How does someone get famous Yankees like Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano to attend a fundraiser? According to Scandaglia, it takes “a lot of hard work and patience.” Scandaglia said Alex Rodriguez wouldn’t attend at first under he convinced A-Rod’s agent that it would be a good PR move to come.


It doesn’t matter how Rodriguez got there. What matters is the hard work Scandaglia puts into this charity. He does it by himself every year with no help from anyone.


“Sometimes my family thinks I’m crazy for spending the amount of time I do on this event,” said Scandaglia. “I know it’s worth it. I’m doing something that helps a lot of people.”


In 2012, Scandaglia decided to raise money for a family who suffered due to ALS. He found out Joanna Chiarulli of New York had lost her husband to ALS and sought to dedicate his fundraiser dinner for them.


“In 2012, we raised $10,310 for Joanna and her six month old son Nicholas,” Scandaglia said with a lot of pride in his voice. “It made me happy that the fundraiser was able to help them.”

Genevieve Morton, model Bill Hill husband of ALS wife who died, Yankee Lyle Overbay, Kelly daughter ALS, Scott son, ALS, Chris Scandaglia last 3 on right NY Yankee players Boone Logan, David Phelps, Chris Stewart (Courtesy of Chris Scandaglia)

A good amount of Yankees came to the 2013 event, including Boone Logan, Lyle Overbay, David Phelps and Chris Stewart. The 2013 event was in honor of the Hill family. Bill Hill lost his wife to ALS in on December 29th 2012. Scandaglia was thrilled the 2013 event raised $4612 and hopes the 2014 event will go just as well. There is a special reason why Scandaglia has high hopes for the upcoming event.


“The event for 2014 will be held on May 25, my grandfather’s birthday.” said Scandaglia. “I picked the day to honor hm because he was the reason I started this charity in the first place.”


Long Island Baseball Magazine encourages all of it’s viewers to attend this year’s fundraiser dinner on May 25th 2014 at Da Noi restaurant in Manhattan. More details on the event will be posted on Long Island Baseball Magazine’s website. The cost of the event is $125, with all proceeds going to families who have suffered from ALS. Long Island Baseball Magazine thanks Chris Scandaglia for his efforts and hopes all of the New York community will attend and support this great cause!


For anyone who wants to attend the event or has questions on the event, please contact Chris Scandaglia at CSFGEHRIG@aol.com or on twitter @ChrisScandaglia

Should The Yankees Be Interested In Juan Francisco?

We all heard and read that the Brewers were among the teams scouting the Yankees excess catching depth recently. Milwaukee is said to be dangling Rickie Weeks or Aramis Ramirez but why not Juan Francisco? I think we could use Francisco more for a plethora of reasons, especially if it only costs Austin Romine or John Ryan Murphy.

Francisco would give us another power hitter in the lineup and a huge bat coming off the bench from the left side of the plate. Francisco split time with the Brewers and the Atlanta Braves last season and hit 18 home runs in 348 at bats, that's a home run every 19 at bats for those without a calculator. Over a 162 game season that ranks 11th best in the American League, who couldn't use that?

Francisco also gives us a legitimate backup at both third base and first base. He won't win a Gold Glove award at either position but he is probably a better candidate than Alfonso Soriano at first and Eduardo Nunez at third base defensively right now.

Francisco also looks like he is the odd man out on the Brewers roster thanks to former Yankees Lyle Overbay and Mark Reynolds signing deals with Milwaukee over the winter. The Brewers have excess infielders and we need infielders, the Brewers need a backup catcher and we have more than a couple. Let's make a deal Brian Cashman.

Lyle Overbay Lands Minor League Deal w/ Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers are doing their best Pittsburgh Pirates impersonation by grabbing up all the former New York Yankees they can. First they signed Mark Reynolds to probably be their every day first basemen and today they signed Lyle Overbay to a minor league deal. The deal comes with an invitation to spring training and likely includes numerous opt out dates if he does not make the major league roster. This one does not hurt as much as the Reynolds signing since we really had little use for Overbay in 2014. Thanks for the memories Lyle.

Why The Yankees & Rebuilding Will Not Work

Being posted as a part of Syndicated Sunday from Pinstriped Bible

Why the Yankees and rebuilding will not work

Things have just not clicked for the New York Yankees this year. Micromanaging office managers sometimes refer to this as "synergy," as does Jem from Jem and the Holograms when she needs to... never mind. For those of you not in the know, synergy and synergism refers to combining efforts in order to achieve greater effect. It's a much better and way cooler sounding term than "building team chemistry" for what teams want to accomplish because chemistry class sucked and so did everyone who did well in it. In baseball, it's a combination of pitching, defense, and offense that helps to win games. I shouldn't have to explain this to you but there are people who believe in a magical fourth element that somehow glues it all together. Some examples are Derek Jeter's leadership skills, veteran presence, the youthful spark from a rookie, and other such intangibles. There actually is a fourth element though, which I'll get to later. It's not magical though. It actually might be depressing.

I probably bring up the 1998 Yankees as an example more than I should, but really they are the absolute best modern day example of flawless synergy that I've ever seen. Everything worked for them. Pitching, offense, defense, everything. This year we've seen the opposite of that in full force. When the pitching was on, the hitting was off. When the hitting was on, the pitching was off. When the pitching and hitting were both on, someone got injured. When someone got injured, someone else got re-injured. When the pitching was on or off, Chris Stewart could not hit nor could he catch a fastball down the middle of the plate. Yeah, still bitter about that.

Pitching is what kept the Yankees afloat after the offensive boat hit the iceberg. Especially the bullpen. It took a while to fix that hole, but with Alfonso Soriano, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodriguez replacing the likes of Lyle Overbay batting cleanup and Chris Stewart batting 5th or 6th, which are both things that happened this year that I never want to see again, the Yankees offense could start competing. The buoyancy of the bullpen and starting rotation then began to falter. Hiroki Kuroda and Preston Claiborne started to come down to Earth at inopportune times. Meanwhile Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia have possibly righted the ship. Possibly. Ivan Nova is still an experiment in progress and Phil Hughes needs to be flung into the Gorge of Eternal Peril for not knowing that his name is Chef Boyardee. Joba Chamberlain can be flung for not knowing the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow.

That has been the Yankees season this year thus far. There has been little to no synergy. Injuries and re-injuries are primarily to blame. Even then we don't know what would have happened this year. There's little point in going back and speculating about how this season would have turned out if all our players were healthy because that's just not how baseball works. All the Yankees can do is focus on the now and use the past as example of what to avoid for the future. This is where the real problem is. It delves into that fourth element that I mentioned before, which I'll call dynamics.

Dynamics cannot create synergy but rather help the Yankees avoid the problems of the past to possibly achieve said synergy. I say possibly because it's impossible to predict what can happen. I certainly did not think Soriano would be hitting as well as he currently is. Dynamics show that pitching Phil Hughes in Camden Yards is probably a bad idea, especially when a pitcher like David Huff has shown you he can possibly go the distance. Dynamics show that having Chris Stewart behind the plate is probably a bad idea when more youthful, less worn down backup only type catchers have a better chance of showing you more offensively and defensively. The lack of dynamics is the most frustrating thing this year, even more so than the injuries. Okay, maybe equally frustrating to the injuries. Injuries come and go and are usually uncontrollable, but continuing to play bad options when there are better, or at the very least potentially better, options available is the Yankees' M.O. and has been for years. It also shows little to no sign of stopping either.

Joba Chamberlain is still on this team. Austin Romine is still taking a backseat to Chris Stewart. JR Murphy has still not been called up and probably will take a backseat to Stewart when he is in September. Ichiro Suzuki is still starting when you now have two outfielders in Granderson and Soriano who make up for their "not quite as good as Ichiro" defense with their "better than Ichiro" hitting. The coming 2014 Yankees' season has a lot of unknowns. People are still calling for them to rebuild and I do not understand this at all. With the way the Yankees dynamics of baseball operations currently works, would you seriously trust this team to rebuild properly?

For the Yankees to rebuild, it requires a totally new outlook on how they conduct business and all signs currently show that it's not happening, nor is it really ready to happen yet. Rebuilding requires tools, time and a general plan. The Yankees don't have the tools, are very impatient, and the unknowns of 2014 are really preventing the Yankees from making any sort of rational plan on what to do. If they are to attempt to rebuild for the future it is going to have to wait. In the present, though, there is nothing preventing them from replacing Joba, benching Ichiro, and giving Romine & Murphy more of a chance. It's most likely not going to happen, though.

Until the dynamics of how this team operates changes, rebuilding should be the absolute last option on the table. There's nothing wrong with replacing a tool here and there, though. And in every sense of the word "tool" am I talking about Joba.

Mark Reynolds vs. Lyle Overbay: Take Your Pick

[caption id="attachment_16490" align="aligncenter" width="604"] Coming into the stretch, would you put Mark Reynolds (pictured above) in the lineup, or Lyle Overbay?[/caption]

There's no denying two things:

1) Mark Reynolds is carrying a hot bat into this Baltimore Orioles series, having three hits last night and simply demolished the Toronto Blue Jays;  going 5-for-8 in his two games.

2) Lyle Overbay is seriously struggling coming into this series He hasn't had a hit since August 18 vs. the Boston Red Sox.

The way that it was designed since the New York Yankees had picked up Mark Reynolds was simple; Reynolds will hit vs. LHP and Lyle Overbay will hit vs. RHP. However, the stakes are high and the times have changed. The Yankees are fighting for the final WC spot (along with the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics). They need the hottest bats in the lineup. They need Mark Reynolds. Reynolds is slowly forming back into his April form, hitting .319 in August. after having a sluggish May-July which ultimately caused him to lose his job with the Indians. Lyle Overbay however is hitting .231 in August and is 0-for his last-15.

If I'm the manager of the Yankees, Reynolds would be in the lineup today over Overbay. I like Lyle Overbay, I do--but this is a time where people's feelings can't get hurt. If you're not producing whether on the mound or at the plate, you're either getting pulled early or you're not getting the start. It's as simple as that. Right now, Overbay wouldn't get the start; Reynolds would. It sounds mean and sounds cruel but looking at numbers, that's how it would have to be done if the Yankees want to keep their playoff hopes alive. So take your pick, would you take Mark Reynolds...or Lyle Overbay going forward in this stretch?

Ronnier Mustelier International League Player Of Week

Ronnier Mustelier of the AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders has been named the International League Player of the Week for the week ending August 25th. In six games Musty put up a .556 batting average and has extended his hitting streak to 13 games. During his hitting streak Musty has hit an incredible .458 with six doubles, five runs batted in, and has played good defense at the hot corner. Not sure if this will translate into a September call up with a healthy Alex Rodriguez, Mark Reynolds, Lyle Overbay, and probably one too many outfielders on the roster already but you never know.

Game 130 Lineup: Yankees @ Rays

Yankees need this game. If not, they'll get swept by the Rays and the Yankees playoff chances will diminsh. Here's your lineup:

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alfonso Soriano DH
Curtis Granderson LF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Mark Reynolds 3B
Chris Stewart C

Ivan Nova RHP

Some Notes and Transactions:

-- Derek Jeter has the day-off today. If all goes well, he'll meet the Yankees in Toronto tomorrow for the series vs. the Blue Jays.

-- Lyle Overbay feels well enough to play today. He sat out the last two games with a stomach virus. Robinson Cano and Vernon Wells were joking about him.

Cano to Overbay: "You're getting your color back,"

Wells to Cano: "Whatever color he had,"

-- Yesterday I was having a conversation with someone on Twitter about Mark Reynolds possibly being a fit at 3B next year if A-Rod is suspended. Well, it looks like today the Yankees are going to try it out and see for themselves.

-- Interesting fact: Mariano Rivera has 36 saves at the Trop in his career. The next player to have the most saves? Jonathan Papelbon (was with the Red Sox at the time) with 10.

Game 129 Lineup: Yankees @ Rays

Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Alfonso Soriano LF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Vernon Wells DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Reynolds 1B
Austin Romine C

LHP CC Sabathia

Some Notes and Transactions:

-- Brett Gardner's X-Ray results came back earlier today and they were clean. Gardner is just having the day off vs. the left hander Price.

-- Lyle Overbay was still dizzy and nauseous when he entered the clubhouse today. Joe Girardi isn't sure that he's going to get in the game tonight.

-- Derek Jeter will have one more rehab start tonight and then will join the Yankees in Toronto. I'll be covering Derek Jeter's rehab start so follow me on Twitter @dfiregirl4 for Jeter updates.

Yankees Are Not In On Justin Morneau

This morning we reported that the Yankees were back in on Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins since he has cleared waivers and can be traded to any team. Now Buster Olney on his twitter feed is saying that the Yankees are not expected to make a move for Morneau and are simply monitoring the power hitting first basemen. In this business we like to call these conflicting reports.

Morneau is a free agent after the 2013 season and is owed less than $2,000,000 for the rest of the season but is in the middle of his third consecutive down year by his standards. Morneau has put up a .269/.322/.434 with 15 home runs this season for the Twins and would be an upgrade over the likes of Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay. Finding him a spot would not be difficult since rosters expand in less than two weeks either but I still am not sure I like the idea. Morneau would have to be a part time DH and part time first baseman taking at bats away from our outfield rotation.

The Yankees Are "Back In" On Justin Morneau

According to Jeff Todd on MLB Trade Rumors the New York Yankees are said to be "back in" on Justin Morneau with this recent resurgence. Say what? Where do the Yankees plan on playing Mr. Morneau? We still have Lyle Overbay from the left side at first base and Mark Reynolds on the right side at first base so where does Morneau fit in? Would he DH and leave one of our outfielders sitting on the bench every game? I can't see this as anything more than maybe getting the Baltimore Orioles, who are only one game up ahead of us in both the Wild Card and AL East chase, to pay more for a declining slugger. I don't buy it and I hope Brian Cashman is not buying it either.

Article Revisit: Yankees Should Sign Mark Reynolds

The Yankees signed Mark Reynolds last night after the Cleveland Indians designated him for assignment last week and released him this week as predicted here on The Greedy Pinstripes. Here is the article!

Mark Reynolds Released But Is He A Target?

Mark Reynolds released by the Cleveland Indians but is it too late for the Yankees to care?

The Yankees have been looking for a right handed platoon power bat all season long to match with Lyle Overbay at first base and one has finally become available, but is it too late? I think for the first time in history a team released their team leading home run hitter when Reynolds was designated for assignment last week but now the fact that he has cleared waivers leaves me even more perplexed.

Reynolds is entering his age 30 season and would only require the team that signs him to pay his pro-rated league minimum salary which would be somewhere around $200,000. I understand that since May 1st Reynolds has a triple slash of .187/.287/.282 with seven home runs but has 15 home runs overall and would be a nice compliment to Overbay at first. His defense at both first and third base is pretty horrible but if the Yankees were still competing I think they could bypass that in search for offense.

With Texas winning their last 200 games out of 201, please sense the extreme exaggeration, I think it may be too little too late but you never know. What do you think? Should we make a run at Mark Reynolds for the rest of the 2013 season? Drop a comment in the comment box and let me know your thoughts.

Yankees Sign Mark Reynolds To Major League Deal

I believe I predicted this a week or so ago but it is finally a reality now that the New York Yankees have signed Mark Reynolds to a major league deal today. The Yankees are only on the hook for a pro-rated portion of the league minimum for the rest of the season which is somewhere below $200,000. The Yankees have been searching for a right handed power bat to compliment Lyle Overbay and, strike outs and terrible defense and all, they found it with Reynolds. Reynolds has put up a .207/.315/.373 triple slash with the Indians this year including 16 home runs. Welcome to the team Mark!

Delmon Young Released But Is He A Target?

The New York Yankees are suddenly creeping right back into the wild card race and the playoff hunt with a strong series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and a little help from the league. The Yankees may now consider some upgrades on the roster, especially if they only require money and not players in trade, and a intriguing player just became available on the free agent market. The Philadelphia Phillies released Delmon Young yesterday after he refused an assignment to AAA after being designated for assignment. Young is a right handed bat with some power and has put up a stat line of .260/.301/.397 in 291 plate appearances this season after signing a one year deal worth $750,000 in the off season.

If the Yankees were to sign Delmon we would only be on the hook for around $180,000 for the rest of the season and he would become a free agent at the end of the season. Delmon is really a DH only kind of player but has dabbled some right field and other outfield spots in his career. Delmon has a career 162 game average triple slash of .283/.316/.423 with 16 home runs but would he be a fit for the Yankees?

If Delmon could play first base and finally give the Yankees the right handed platoon partner with Lyle Overbay I think he would already be signed but do the Yankees really need another outfielder and DH type to rotate into the lineup? We honestly need another outfielder like we need another injury or another prospect to bust. Also I cannot see the Yankees clogging up the DH spot so it seems likely that the Yankees will pass on Young whether he is an upgrade to the lineup or not.

Mark Reynolds Released But Is He A Target?

Mark Reynolds released by the Cleveland Indians but is it too late for the Yankees to care?

The Yankees have been looking for a right handed platoon power bat all season long to match with Lyle Overbay at first base and one has finally become available, but is it too late? I think for the first time in history a team released their team leading home run hitter when Reynolds was designated for assignment last week but now the fact that he has cleared waivers leaves me even more perplexed.

Reynolds is in his age 30 season and would only require the team that signs him to pay his pro-rated league minimum salary which would be somewhere around $200,000. I understand that since May 1st Reynolds has a triple slash of .187/.287/.282 with seven home runs but has 15 home runs overall and would be a nice compliment to Overbay at first. His defense at both first and third base is pretty horrible but if the Yankees were still competing I think they could bypass that in search for offense.

With Texas winning their last 200 games out of 201, please sense the extreme exaggeration, I think it may be too little too late but you never know. What do you think? Should we make a run at Mark Reynolds for the rest of the 2013 season? Drop a comment in the comment box and let me know your thoughts.

It Is Time To Sell: Lyle Overbay

Lyle Overbay, and let this sink in and let it show how far we have fallen as a team this season, has been a godsend for the New York Yankees this season after being released at the end of spring training by the Boston Red Sox. Overbay has been a savior for the Yankees at first base, and when needed in the outfield, and has probably been our biggest clutch hitter this season. The best thing is he has to have trade value at this point but not enough to probably get claimed on waivers, thus allowing us to trade him to anyone we want.

The AL East is out so we can move on from them, the St. Louis Cardinals have a log jam at first base so count them out as well, but what about the Arizona Diamondbacks? They have right handed Paul Goldsmchidt currently there and he is having a tremendous season offensively but Overbay could definitely add some depth and veteran leadership along with Eric Chavez in that infield. Overbay gives the D Backs a different look from the left side of the plate and would be a valuable part time player in their playoff run this season.

The Diamondbacks have plenty of guys in the lower levels of the minor leagues so if we could get a AA arm for Overbay I think that would be fair. There is no replacement for veteran leadership in an overall young clubhouse, clutch hitting, and good defense at a premium position. I'd hate to lose Overbay but the fit works in Arizona and we are going no where really fast this season.

Lyle Overbay Appreciation Thread

Where would the New York Yankees be this season without Lyle Overbay in the starting lineup? We were set to give the last spot on the bench to former Yankee Juan Rivera until the Red Sox let Overbay go right before Spring Training was over and it may have been the best thing that has happened to this team this season. Lyle Overbay has had clutch hit after clutch hit and has even outperformed a normal Mark Teixeira season in a lot of categories not labeled home runs. Matt Imbrogno from IIATMS and formerly of the Yankees Ananlysts had an interesting tweet this morning stating that Lyle Overbay has a 78 wRC+ in high leverage situations this season which tells you the whole story. Thank you Lyle for coming in and far exceeding anyone's expectations. Thank you for being a class act and a good teammate by not causing a stir when Mark Teixeira came back and took at bats from you. Rather than leaving the team or complaining you happily went to the outfield and found a way to help the team. Thank you Lyle for everything you have done for this team all season long and I just hope that we can repay you with a playoff run.

Time To Play The Waiver Game Brian Cashman

Welcome to August baseball. What do I do if I am the GM of the Yankees today? I place Hiroki Kuroda, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano, Vernon Wells, Ichiro Suzuki, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Lyle Overbay, Chris Stewart, Curtis Granderson, Boone Logan, and David Robertson on waivers. Most, if not all, of these men will clear waivers and will be available in trades with anyone. Why do I say this you ask?

We place the aformentioned guys on waivers because this may get out of hand in a hurry with 23 of our 49 games remaining against the three teams we are chasing in the AL East. Those teams, the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Tampa Bay Rays, have played us tough this season and are going to make or break the season and our playoff hopes. Brian Cashman, and you Yankees fans reading this, have to be prepared to blow this team up. In no way do I want to trade anyone listed above, before that even gets started, but it may have to happen in the end.

Brian Cashman has been trying to rebuild the farm system since 2005 and we have not had many impact guys come out of the system since. If Cashman really wants to rebuild the farm a trade of Hiroki Kuroda and Brett Gardner alone rebuilds the farm over night. Add in a David Robertson trade or a Robinson Cano trade and we have one of the best farm systems in all of baseball. As much as I would hate to blow it up, hell let's be honest I refuse to blow it up, it may be done before the August 31st waiver trade deadline.

HOPE Week Stops In With Stand For The Silent

The Yankees latest stop this week and the last day of HOPE Week is with an organization called Stand For The Silent. Stand For The Silent is an organization that fights against bullying and held a presentation in the great hall at Yankees Stadium today. Kirk Smalley ran the presentation for around 500 people today as he has with the previous 700,000 people before that have been blessed to have seen this presentation.

Standing with Kirk for the presentation was Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal, Brian Cashman, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Travis Hafner, Boone Logan, Lyle Overbay, and Austin Romine. The Big Show from the WWE will also be there but that's for another post on another blog.

Here is the write up from Chad Jennings for the Stand For The Silent organization.  This concludes what has been an absolutely great HOPE week thus cementing that the Yankees may be the best evil empire to have ever existed, kudos Yankees!

Should Yankees Be Interested In Ty Wiggington?

Yesterday we learned that the St. Louis Cardinals released infielder and right handed bat Ty Wiggington after signing him to a two year deal worth $5,000,000 this off season. Wiggington is in his age 35 season and would give us the true right handed platoon bat that we "need" for Lyle Overbay. Wiggington has been terrible this season putting up a triple slash of .158/.238/.193 in 63 plate appearances for the Cardinals this year but he is an obvious upgrade over Travis Ishikawa. With the Cardinals on the hook for his $1,100,000 that he will make this season minus the prorated league minimum I think this makes sense for us to look into, at least temporarily.

Yankees Claim Travis Ishikawa From O's

The Yankees have claimed Travis Ishikawa off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles in a real head scratcher. He is out of minor league options and yet another left handed bat and would require us to make a 40 man roster move. Ishikawa is a first basemen if you could not figure that out already and gives Lyle Overbay his first real back up this season. I can see Kevin Youkilis being added to the 60 day DL to make room for Ishikawa and Alberto Gonzalez DFA'd to make room n the 25 man roster. I was hoping to get Russ Canzler so this is a little disappointing.

UPDATE:

Kevin Youkilis has in fact been added to the 60 day DL to make room for Ishikawa.