Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles 9/30

Here we go ladies and gentleman, the final countdown. Three game and counting including tonight’s first matchup between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. Three games to decide it all and end a season. The Orioles will be heading to the postseason as a Wild Card team by all accounts and measures while the New York Yankees will be going home for a long, long winter unfortunately. In the first matchup between the two clubs the Yankees will send --- to the mound to square off with Yovani Gallardo for the Orioles. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. And MASN if you’re one of those Orioles fans and traitor types. I’m just saying.

It’s a sad feeling that I’m only going to be able to say GO YANKEES two more times after tonight. I’m not ready for the offseason. Not by a long shot. Make the best of these three games and let’s all go home.

Robert Refsnyder. I said his name three times today. Free him. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles 9/30

The final series of the regular season and it’s back at home in the Bronx when the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium open their doors to welcome Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles to town for a three-game set. The Yankees are left with nothing to play for other than maybe some positioning spoiling for the Orioles while Baltimore is trying to get their roster and pitching rested up for the AL Wild Card Game. Let’s spoil the fun and in the first match the Yankees will send Michael Pineda looking to do just that while Baltimore counters with Yovani Gallardo.

Pineda will look to finish the season much stronger than he started it, especially after back-to-back solid outings in his last two starts against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays. Pineda has allowed just one run in his last 11 innings and comes into his final start 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts against the Orioles this season.

Gallardo heads into his final start of the regular season fresh off a pretty good start last time out against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gallardo threw a quality start against the Diamondbacks hurling six innings while allowing two runs in a Baltimore victory.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. Damn I’m going to miss Michael Kay here is a few weeks and damn I am really going to miss seeing these Baby Bombers and this team claw and fight every single night. Who came up with this silly rule that baseball had to end for the winter? Not me. Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles 7/20

The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will continue their four-game set tonight in the Bronx with the third game of the series. The pitching has been good and the hitting has been timely but if history is any indicator of the future we could see both teams putting up some serious offense tonight. The Yankees will send Michael Pineda, more like Michael Piñata lately, to the mound for tonight’s contest against Yovani Gallardo, who in my opinion has always been vastly overrated. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen locally on the YES Network and anywhere you are on MLB TV.

The Yankees are set to play one more with Baltimore before welcoming the 2016 World Series champions, because it’s an even year and all, to town in the San Francisco Giants and to see any of these games live in the Bronx click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. Also be sure to click the TGP T-Shirts link as well to get a cool Jacoby Ellsbury milk carton shirt for stealing home plate not once but twice this season. It’s really cool!

Follow along during this game and every game this season either on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes or on Facebook. We may be broken and a little distraught and down and out but we will never give up on our team and you shouldn’t either. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles 7/20

The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles are preparing for Game Three in the Bronx and this is another big game for both clubs. New York is looking to “declare” themselves as GM Brian Cashman stated while Baltimore has the Boston Red Sox nipping at their heels in the American League East. Both teams need a victory and Buck Showalter will rage if it’s not his club which gives me extra incentive to want to win. I’m spiteful but so is he so I digress. In the contest tonight the Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound looking to be Big Mike while the Orioles counter with their ace Yovani Gallardo.

Pineda seems to be resorting back to his old ways and that is not getting enough attention in Yankee-Land. Pineda has allowed five earned runs in each of his last two starts for the Bombers but will remain in the rotation because, according to Joe Girardi, “there are no other options to take his spot.” Yes Girardi see’s you Sevy. Please put your hand down.

Gallardo has not been able to go deep into games this season which is a disturbing trend for Buck and the Orioles. Gallardo went just five innings in his last start after throwing 30 pitches in the first inning of the start and has put a definite strain on a strong Orioles bullpen.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. I know this was a couple days ago and I know that I say this a lot but seriously, Buck needs to let it go. The Yankees are set to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of their 1996 World Series victory next month, a World Series victory that Showalter was fired before and could not see. TWENTY YEAR anniversary Buck. Quit hating the Yankees, quit aligning your pitchers a certain way just to mess with us. Quit having Kevin Gausman throw at Alex Rodriguez’s head after he hit a monster and eventual game-winning home run off your boy. Get over it and get over yourself dude.

Hey Buck….. Go Yankees!

Yankees History w/ 18th Pick Overall in MLB Draft

With the announcement that the Baltimore Orioles signed former Texas Rangers ace Yovani Gallardo to a three year deal the New York Yankees became almost essentially locked into the #18 pick in the first round of the MLB First Year Players Draft. This got me thinking, what have the Yankees done in their storied history with the 18^th pick overall in the MLB Draft so I got to researching and found that he team has only had the #18 pick in the first round once in the franchise’s history. In 1978 the New York Yankees selected a shortstop out of Bullard High School in Fresno, California with the 18^th pick overall and his name was Rex Hudler.

Hudler went on to have a pretty decent MLB career posting .261/.296/.422 triple slash with 56 home runs in his 13 season career. Hudler was never the All Star or the guy to lead the team offensively but he still managed to produce a solid 6.5 career WAR with a career .972 fielding percentage. 

The Yankees have come close to taking a player 18^th overall in years past, the organization took Bill Burdach 19^th overall in the original MLB Draft in 1965 out of Wahlert High School. The team also took Terry Whitfield 19^th overall out of Palo Verde High School in 1971 before picking 19^th overall again in 1975 when they took Jim McDonald out of High School as well.

In 2005 the Yankees climbed one spot higher to the #17 position where they took shortstop C.J. Henry with their first pick. You may remember Henry being used as the center piece of the cash dump that was the Bobby Abreu trade with the Philadelphia Phillies and you may also remember that shortly after the trade the Yankees got Henry back after not hacking it in Philadelphia. Total win for Brian Cashman.

I find it amazing that the Yankees have drafted first overall, twice taking Ron Bloomberg and Brien Taylor, more times than they have at the #18 slot. Unless something goes down between now and then the 2016 MLB Draft will mark just the second time the Yankees take someone with the #18 slot and if he turns out to be half as solid as Rex Hudler was I think New York is in pretty good shape going forward. 

Yankees Draft & International Spending Caps Set for 2016/2017

With the new collective bargaining agreement and new rules set by Major League Baseball teams are now limited in how much they can spend both on the international market and in the draft. Rules like these were obviously set to hurt teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, the heavy spenders of the league, and set to help the smaller market teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays. With this current collective bargaining agreement set to expire after this season the final set of draft spending caps and international spending caps were set for the New York Yankees.

This season the Yankees will have $5,768,400 to spend on their first 10 rounds of picks in the MLB Draft and the team will also have $2,177,100 for the 2016/2017 IFA signing period. As a reminder the IFA signing period begins on July 2nd of every year so the Yankees can use their $2 million and change as early as July 2nd, 2016. This may be a moot point since the Yankees cannot give any IFA more than $300,000 in any single deal but still, the allocation of funds is there. Also as a quick reminder the Yankees have the 19th overall pick in the draft this season, 18th if the Orioles finalize their deal with Yovani Gallardo, and it is also worth mentioning that any deal after the 10th round worth more than $100,000 also counts against the team's draft pool.

The Yankees have a whopping$7,945,500 to spend on amateur players this upcoming season, the fifth lowest total in all of Major League Baseball.

Predicting the Rest of the Top Free Agent Destinations

Before the MLB Hot Stove season began I predicted all the top free agent destinations with varying degrees of success. When I say varying degrees of success I mean I did terrible, see HERE. I have seven correct and none of them were the top free agents on the list, so is life I guess. There are plenty of these top guys remaining including Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes, Wei-Yin Chen, Chris Davis, Ian Desmond, Yovani Gallardo, Ian Kennedy and Howie Kendrick. I predicted them once without a single free agent coming off the board but we have a much clearer picture now so I'm going to take a second stab at it.



Justin Upton

Original Prediction: San Francisco Giants
New Prediction: Baltimore Orioles



Yoenis Cespedes

Original Prediction: Chicago White Sox
New Prediction: Chicago White Sox



Wei-Yin Chen * predicted before he signed, left up to show I'm humble :)

Original Prediction: Boston Red Sox
New Prediction: Washington Nationals



Chris Davis

Original Prediction: Washington Nationals
New Prediction: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim



Ian Desmond

Original Prediction:New York Mets
New Prediction: San Diego Padres



Yovani Gallardo

Original Prediction: Texas Rangers
New Prediction: Texas Rangers



Ian Kennedy

Original Prediction: Baltimore Orioles
New Prediction: San Diego Padres



Howie Kendrick

Original Prediction: Chicago White Sox
New Prediction: Arizona Diamondbacks

The Starting Pitching Market is Still Stacked

The big boys are starting to come off the free agency board from the starting pitching department and most of the huge checks have been handed out. The Boston Red Sox have already given David Price the largest contract for a pitcher in Major League Baseball history and the Arizona Diamondbacks gave the two largest contracts in the history of their franchise to Zack Greinke, who also has the highest average annual value in MLB history, and Johnny Cueto but that doesn’t mean all the big names are gone. For every Jeff Samardzija taken off the board there are two or three guys left to replace him, do any of them intrigue the Yankees?

By my unofficial count at least 10 teams are still looking for top of the rotation type starters and want to contend in 2016. That list includes the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Miami Marlins, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox (as scary as that is for Yankees fans to hear), the Detroit Tigers, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. There are probably another ten or so teams that are still looking for another starter to fill out their rotation before spring training while teams like the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers to name a few will let their prospects battle it out in spring training competitions. That’s a whole lot of competition for New York who are said to be in the market for another starter, the good news for Brian Cashman is there are still plenty to choose from.

It was almost a foregone conclusion that the Yankees would acquire Mike Leake at the trading deadline last season. That didn’t happen and he ended up going to the San Francisco Giants where he pitched well despite an injury. Since Leake was traded he will not be linked to draft pick compensation and he’s still on the right side of 30-years old. Leake is not your ace and is not likely going to lead your team to the World Series but if you need a durable guy that can keep an offense like the Yankees in every single game and give you 200 innings over the course of a season, Leake is your man.

The same can be said for the free agent market, the Yankees and former Baltimore Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen. Many linked the Yankees to Chen and expected them to sign the lefty away from their AL East rivals but New York seems willing to hold onto what they have in order to keep their (currently) 20^th overall draft pick in the 2016 draft. Chen was the ace of the Orioles and according to reports he wants to be paid like an ace both in terms of years and dollars but he wouldn’t be the ace in New York. At best, at very best mind you, he is a #2 starter with the Yankees. No thank you, not for five or six years and not for $100 million plus a draft pick.

Scott Kazmir is the left-handed starter that the Yankees have been coveting the past couple of seasons. The starting rotation has become very right-handed heavy, especially when (not if) CC Sabathia is injured, and Kazmir could be the perfect complement in the rotation. Kazmir would not require draft pick compensation and would likely lead the second-tier of available starting pitching. He’s been durable with the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics but I wonder if pitching in traditionally pitcher-friendly ballparks may have been inflating his stats just a tad. I worry about him inside Yankee Stadium, but he may be a risk worth taking if the Yankees are willing to open up their purse strings just a bit.

Ian Kennedy, the former Yankees farm hand turned 20-game winner with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kennedy has not been able to replicate his 20-win success with either the DBacks or the San Diego Padres but he has been durable and has given his team consistent innings over the years at the top of every rotation. Kennedy is not an ace though, not lately and definitely not in New York, but he would be intriguing back in the Bronx. Kennedy was thought of as the 3^rd best starter in the group with Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes and may have turned out to be the best of the three, it may be time for Brian Cashman to right a wrong here.

Cliff Lee has been cleared to pitch in 2016 and his elbow has finally been donned as healthy. Brian Cashman and the Yankees have coveted Lee for quite some time now and almost acquired him multiple times during his career either in free agency or via the trade market. There were hiccups along the way, Lee worried about him and his wife in the New York environment and Cashman didn’t want to part with certain prospects in another trade but Lee is a free agent once again. The Yankees have a tendency of getting their man a few years too late, see Carlos Beltran, and lightning may strike twice with Lee.

Mark Buehrle is likely going to retire but until he does he remains an option with all teams. How ironic would it be for Buehrle to join the team that has kept him up at night for his entire career? Ironic, yes, but likely? No.

I’m going to be frank and honest here, I never saw the fascination for some with Yovani Gallardo. He’s consistent but he’s never great. He’s durable but overall has been unreliable. Despite it all he received a qualifying offer from the Texas Rangers this season. The fact that he is linked to a draft pick is an automatic “no” for me. I’ll happily give up the pick for an ace, Gallardo just isn’t an ace to me.

FYI: Nine Teams Can Help the Yankees Draft Status

The New York Yankees have all signs pointing to holding onto their first round draft pick this winter rather than sacrificing it to sign a high-priced free agent. This would likely take them out of the bidding for the likes of Chris Davis, Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo and others leaving the other 29 MLB teams to bid and sacrifice their picks. The Yankees have a total of nine teams that can help them improve their draft status in 2016 and all they have to go is go out, go big, spend big and bring in a big name to excite their fan base all at the expense of their draft pick.

Just as a reminder, the first 10 picks in the draft are protected so the best the Yankees could do conceivably, although highly unlikely, is the 11^th pick in the draft in a perfect world. New York started out 22^nd overall and have seen two first round picks sacrificed by the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks leaving the Yankees in the 20^th position.

These nine teams can help the Yankees and here they are in ascending order: 

Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Houston Astros.

The Surprising Patient Fans

I've been impressed with the amount of patience many Yankees fans have shown this offseason.

"It hasn't been easy, but we can do it."

When it comes to what needed to be done to best prepare the team for 2016, I believe getting a starting pitcher was priority #1 this offseason. And when I say "starter", I don't mean just anyone.

The Yankees don't need a middle to bottom of the rotation starter. Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi, Ivan Nova, CC Sabathia... the Yankees can use those four to fill 80% of the rotation. However, the Yankees won't use all four of those starters in the rotation because they also have Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino. That's six options four five rotation spots.

Wait.... Do the Yankees even need a starter?

Speaking of Severino and Tanaka, the Yankees don't necessarily need an "ace" either. That's not to say neither of those guys have questions marks surrounding them. In fact, both of them have questions marks... Masahiro is somewhat of a health risk, and Severino only has 11 MLB starts under his belt. But if you assume they can stay healthy then a team could do a heck of a lot worse with those two at the top of the rotation.

Again... Do the Yankees even need a starter?

Yes.

While it would have been nice, the Yankees don't need a "David Price" or "Zack Greinke". The Yankees simply need somebody that they can lean on to throw 200+ innings, which means giving them 6+ innings over 30-32 starts. Someone along the lines of an Andy Pettitte or Hiroki Kuroda.

That guy may be Wei-Yin Chen, although he has yet to reach the 200 inning mark in any of this 4 MLB seasons, despite starting 31 or 32 times in three of those four years.

Johnny Cueto could fill that role fairly well. A 2.81 ERA over the past three years, and has thrown 455.2 innings over the past two? Sure!

Yovani Gallardo has started 30 or more times in each of the last seven seasons, and had an ERA below 4.00 in all but one of those years.

So what's the problem?

Well... money. Hal Steinbrenner will not let his general manager spend on free agents, so Cashman has to use trades to make any and all improvements to the team. But when you have pitchers like the aforementioned three available as free agents, teams willing to trade away their own pitchers are reluctant to do so.

Look at it this way...

If you're the general manager of a team, and you have a good/young pitcher you're willing to part with in a trade, would you deal away that player now when "buying" teams have more options, or would you wait until those "buying" teams have no other choice but to ask for your guy?

If you're smart, you'd wait until people are desperate for your guy, so you can charge them more. It's simple economics... supply and demand.

"What in the World is 'supply and demand'?"

The fact of the matter is the Yankees are unlikely to get their new "Andy Pettitte" or "Hiroki Kuroda" until those other pitching options are no longer available. And that requires patience... something that Brian Cashman has, but few Yankees fans (me included) do.

Which is why I'm so impressed with... *sigh*... Yankee Universe (I don't like that name). If you had told me the situation the Yankees would be in on December 13th, after the GM Meetings, and after two other trades were made, I would have predicted that Yankees fans would be up in arms that nothing has been done to improve the rotation.

But here we are... and the majority of Yankees fans I've spoken to are not worried. It's not as big a surprise, but a number of fans are not worried about the team replacing Adam Warren and/or Justin Wilson, either.

Of course, there will always be that fan who will call Brian Cashman an idiot. There will always be that fan that goes nuts over the Yankees passing up a "David Price" or "Zack Greinke". But for the first time in what seems like forever, Yankees fans in general are being patient and allowing Cashman to rebuild.

Does that mean we'll see another Core Four (or Five) soon? Unlikely. I wouldn't count on ever seeing a core like that develop again. But the Yankees finally appear to see the big picture, meaning that the future is no longer something they will take care of later. And I like that. Because as nice as it would be if the Yanks were true 2016 World Series contenders, it'll be so much better when they are World Series contenders year after year in the near future.

"I got this, folks."

Potential Black Friday Deals for the New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are preaching austerity once again and the general consensus is the team is not going to be one of 30 trampling over each other to get the next “great deal” via free agency. New York could be looking at adding a starting pitcher, another bullpen piece or maybe even another middle infielder to either upgrade over Brendan Ryan or to fill in at second base if the team doesn’t have the utmost confidence in Robert Refsnyder and Dustin Ackley like I do. New York will be present and accounted for when Black Friday (free agency) really kicks off and rush is on but instead of trampling over people for the latest and greatest toys (David Price, Jordan Zimmerman, Yoenis Cespedes), they will likely be content with these lesser known deals. 

Nobody wants Doug Fister after one bad season in Washington, nobody. If it weren't for the absolutely deep free agent market Fister would still be in high demand. That's baseball and it could be the Yankees gain if they truly want a starting pitcher. Fister may be forced into taking a one year deal to build value and that's right up the Yankees alley. Fister had forearm problems that set the tone for much of his season and if those are behind him the Yankees could get a decent middle-of-the-rotation starter for relatively nothing.

Steve Pearce is a name I keep linking to the Yankees because it makes so much sense. He'll likely come on a one year deal and can play the outfield, first base and second base. Pearce is a right-handed bat with pop potential that pretty much finishes out the Yankees bench. Well, if they didn't have Brendan Ryan and a platoon at second base.

Yovani Gallardo is getting ground balls on nearly 50% of his pitches thrown, that's huge. He doesn't strike out as many batters as he used to but he doesn't give up home runs either. Gallardo proved he could pitch in a hitter friendly ball park after pitching for the Texas Rangers last year so I can't see him pitching inside Yankee Stadium being the problem. You know what is the problem though? Texas offered him a qualifying offer. 

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers 7/30

The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers will finish off their four game series tonight in Texas before New York takes off to Chicago for a three game set. New York has had a stranglehold on the Rangers this series and look for the total annihilation tonight in Texas. New York will send CC Sabathia to the mound looking to put yet another game between them and the rest of the American League East Division while the Rangers will counter with Yovani Gallardo. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees will fly to Chicago to face off with the Chicago White Sox after this series before an off day on Monday. After that the team returns home and returns to the Eastern Time zone for the remainder of the 2015 season. Click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to have your tickets in hand for when the team returns home to play host to the Boston Red Sox. Until then head over to Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to interact with us during each and every Yankees game this season.

Sabathia is ready to throw dirt on the Rangers coffin and I’m ready to see if the Yankees offense can put up more runs in a game than the New York football Giants again. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers 7/30

The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers will play in the finale of their four game series this week inside the great state of Texas with the Yankees going for the jugular. New York has pitched well this series outside of Chris Capuano’s start, if you want to call it that, and have slugged their way to a football score or two in the series. Tonight the Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound looking to keep this hot streak and this streak of dominance alive as the Rangers counter with Yovani Gallardo, if he isn’t traded before game time. The contest will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Pineda is Big Mike no more after losing each of his last two outing against the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins. At one point Pineda was thought to be the ace of the staff after striking out 16 Baltimore Orioles hitters on Mother’s Day but after allowing nine runs on 14 hits in just 11.2 innings many are left rethinking that philosophy.

• Gallardo has not looked great in his last four starts for Texas making it less and less likely that the team trades him before his start tonight. Gallardo has a 0-3 record with a 6.52 ERA in his last four starts and has allowed five runs in four innings in his last two starts combined. Gallardo is 4-4 this season with a 2.43 ERA at home in nine starts and has also posted a 1-1 record with a 4.63 ERA in two career starts against the New York Yankees.

The Yankees will head to Chicago to face off with former Yankees faces in David Robertson and Melky Cabrera after this series while the Texas Rangers unfortunately go on to play someone else. New York has today and until 4:00 pm ET tomorrow to make deals to add to their team before the non-waiver trade deadline passes so it should be an interesting 28 hours or so in Yankee-land. I can’t wait for that and I can’t wait for this game. Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers 5-24

Wow that ceremony for Bernie Williams was awesome and so long overdue. No one does it like the Yankees, nobody. The #51 is officially retired and the plaque is made for Monument Park so now it's time to win the game in true Bernie fashion, by any means necessary. Tonight the Yankees play host to the Rangers inside Yankee Stadium for the final time in this three game series with Chris Capuano and Yovani Gallardo on the mound for their respected teams. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

The Yankees stay home tomorrow to play host to the Kansas City Royals on Memorial Day so thank a veteran and spend the day at the ballpark. Get your Yankees tickets off the blog by kicking the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to grab a pair for any game of the Royals and Yankees series. If you can't make it or you're at home grilling out and enjoying the paid day off then join me on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) and/or on the comments section of the site to interact during the game.

Capuano is ready, Delino DeShields is ready, let's play ball. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers 5/24

For the final time in this three game set the New York Yankees will play host to the Texas Rangers inside Yankee Stadium this weekend. These two teams ditched all pitching in the first game of the series and bashed each other's brains in for the first game of the series before pitching returned a bit in the second game. Who will win the third game and how? You'll just have to check out the contest on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball when Chris Capuano takes the mound to face off with Yovani Gallardo for the Rangers. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN.

• Capuano is making just his second start of the season after starting the 2015 season on the disabled list with a strained quad muscle. Capuano would like to forget his first start where he completed just three plus innings giving up four runs and four hits to the Kansas City Royals in a loss. 

• Gallardo has not pitched well this season for Texas and has posted a 1-5 record with a 4.63 ERA in his last six starts. Gallardo has given up four runs in five innings in that period including a loss to the Boston Red Sox in his last start. Gallardo is only making his second career start against the New York Yankees. 

The Yankees stay home to play host to the Kansas City Royals at home in Yankee Stadium tomorrow for Memorial Day. It's always to end a series with a victory and it's always good to win, period, let's be honest so let's get a win tonight to make John Kruk, Curt Schilling and company #ShutTheKrukUp. Go Yankees!!

Yankees Are On Yovani Gallardo's No Trade List

Yovani Gallardo signed a five year extension worth $30,100,000 during the 2010 season which included a full no trade clause through the 2012 season and a partial no trade clause for the 2013 - 2015 seasons. That limited no trade clause includes 10 teams that can change at the beginning of every season and this season that list includes the New York Yankees. Thankfully, I think anyway, the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox are also on his no trade list for this season so that always helps. Yovani could always waive his no trade clause and go to one of these 10 teams anyway if he so chooses but this complicates matters a little bit.

I mentioned that him being able to block trades to our division rivals and teams we are chasing, the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, may be a good thing even though his stats say that he is struggling a little bit this season. Gallardo has pitched to a 4.20 ERA this season and has seen his velocity drop down to under 91 MPH on the fastball. He is still a good pitcher though and only 27 years old so you never know what a change of scenery or a new pitching coach can do for a pitcher.

Gallardo is owed $11,250,000 in 2014 and has a club option worth $13,000,000 for the 2015 season and would still be on the right side of 30 years old heading into free agency. The Yankees may be interested in acquiring Gallardo to replace Phil Hughes if we traded him or to have him tucked away along with CC Sabathia, David Phelps, and Michael Pineda for the 2014 season. Either way it should be an interesting trade deadline and we should explore all areas to upgrade because frankly, we need upgrades everywhere it seems.