Alex Rodriguez Picks Up A Hit In Latest Rehab Game

Alex Rodriguez played in his latest rehab assignment game for the Tampa Yankees at DH today playing eight innings. Alex went 1-3 a single and a an RBI in three at bats. Alex is now 2-15 in his six rehab games which is not encouraging but he has been healthy and I guess that is all that matters at this point. Alex knows and admits that he is no where near a come back like Derek Jeter is and is taking it slow in his recovery and I commend him for that.

Kansas City Royals @ New York Yankees 7/10

The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals will play game three of their four game set at Yankees Stadium tonight. The Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound to face off with Wade Davis for the Royals. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES, and MLB TV.

Jeter and Rodriguez Can Only Be Upgrades

As Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez continue their minor league rehab assignments it has becoming increasingly clear how desperate the Yankees are for them to return. The Yankees lost their third straight game yesterday and they only scored one run in each of the three losses.

After four hits only netted them one run against James Shields, the Yankees only got two hit’s the rest of the game. That is how things have gone for the Yankees lately, as they have only one home run over their last 74 innings. Nobody knows what Jeter and Rodriguez will be when they get to the Bronx, but they for sure cannot make things any worse.

Jeter seems set to return for the weekend series against the Twins, while it seems like Rodriguez’s rehab will take a little longer. Rodriguez still has a possible MLB suspension looming for his involvement in the Biogenesis case, but he would likely appeal if that occurred and would be able to continue playing until the appeal is heard.

Obviously Jeter and Rodriguez are big improvements over Eduardo Nunez, Alberto Gonzalez and Luis Cruz. That goes without saying. Yankees third basemen this year have a slash line of .220/.282/.368/.650 with a .289 wOBA and 58 wRC+ and Yankees shortstops have a slash line of .215/.272/.320/.592 with a .245 wOBA and 47 wRC+. That is beyond hideous.

Jeter and Rodriguez as diminished players should be easily able to top those numbers. I would be more concerned about Rodriguez’s hip than Jeter’s ankle because the hip is more of a chronic issue,. Once Jeter’s broken ankle is healed then it’s healed. Obviously, staying on the field will be the biggest key to both Jeter and Rodriguez contributing down the stretch of the season.

Rodriguez’s decline last season was overstated, as his .342 w/OBA and 114 wRC+ both ranked 8th among MLB third basemen. So, he still produced like a top 10 MLB third baseman just last season. Sure, his power numbers were down, but he still had a pretty good season last year and the Yankees would be absolutely thrilled if he were able to put them up again.

Jeter is unlikely to repeat his stellar season from last year, when his slash line was .316/.362/.429/.791 and he posted a .347 wOBA. However, as previously stated, Jeter as a diminished player is a big upgrade over the garbage the Yankees have been throwing out at shortstop this year. Also, the intangibles and leadership that he brings to the table should only help as well.

One thing that Jeter and Rodriguez will bring to this Yankees season is buzz, energy and excitement, which the Yankees have been lacking all season with their egregious offense. Perhaps that energy will light a spark under the current players and the Yankees could go on a run. Maybe Jeter and Rodriguez being fresh will help them catch lightning in a bottle down the stretch of the season. Nobody knows how Jeter and Rodriguez will perform, but everybody knows that the current players at shortstop and third base are certainly not the answers.

Game 91 Lineup: Royals vs. Yankees

Here's the Game Three lineup! Follow me on Twitter for Twitter play-by-play action at @dfiregirl4.

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Zoilo Almonte LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Eduardo Nunez SS
Luis Cruz 3B
Chris Stewart C

Ivan Nova RHP

Some Notes:

-- The Yankees are reportedly shopping both Joba Chamberlain AND Phil Hughes. The SF Giants, Atlanta Braves, LA Angels (Hughes) and Philadelphia Phillies (Joba) have all expressed interest.

Derek Jeter Will Be Back Friday

According to Craig Carton on twitter Derek Jeter will be activated and with the Yankees Friday for the Twins series. Reportedly all his stuff is en route from Tampa to New York as we speak. Nothing confirmed or official so keep that in mind before Brian Cashman jumps down your throat for it but it looks like Jeter is very close to being back and it is not a second too soon. 

Not A Typical Salary Dump

"Sell, sell, sell!"

Ken Rosenthal was told by an American League executive that the Yankees are aggressively trying to trade Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes.

Although nothing is set in stone, word is that Joba could be dealt to a National League team soon.

I've said many times that, since Joba and Phil are in their walk years, trading them didn't make sense. Only a contender would be interested in such a player, and they aren't going to trade back anything of value. Unless they have a young player coming up, or a log-jam at a position, which I've only really seen in Colorado with Corey Dickerson.

But after giving it some thought, I think I see what's going on here...

The Yankees are looking to free up money before taking on a player from a team that wants to dump salary. So they are going to trade away Phil and Joba, while getting only salary relief in return. It's strange that the Yankees are wanting to free up money, but the team has been a lot more budget conscious lately.

Hughes and Chamberlain, by the trade deadline, would be owed around $4 million. But the Yankees aren't going to take that money and sit on it. No. The Yanks will use that "$4 million" to acquire a player or players whose team is simply trying to dump salary.

Some believe that team could be the Phillies, who would owe Michael Young and Carlos Ruiz about $4 million by the trade deadline (Texas gave Philly $10 million towards Young's 2013 salary of $16 million). But it still seems odd that Philadelphia, a team that's not hurting for cash, would make a salary-dump move like that.

UPDATE: Jon Heyman says that the Angels may be interested in Phil Hughes. The Yankees have said they are looking to trade Hughes for a bat, and a rival executive has gone on to say that Phil "could fetch quite a bit."

UPDATE 2: The Phillies are not one of the teams interested in Joba Chamberlain, says Ken Rosenthal.

Vote David Robertson Into The All Star Game

Tomorrow is the final day that you can vote for David Robertson to be the final member of the 2013 All Star Game in Citifield in New York. You can do this many ways including going to MLB.com and voting, Yankees.com, texting "A3" to 89269, or by tweeting #HighSocksForVote on twitter. You can vote an unlimited number of times until midnight tonight and David needs your help so take a minute and vote please. We need to send another one of our own to the game especially since David really does deserve it.

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.

Morning Bits

Good morning everyone!

The Yankees lost to the Royals again last night by a score of 3-1.  It was not only the third straight loss for the Yankees, but also the third straight game in which the Yankees managed to score only one run.

C.C. Sabathia allowed the 19th and 20th home runs hit off of him this year to Billy Butler and David Lough respectively.  The most home runs Sabathia has ever allowed in a season is 22, which was last year.

The Yankees and Royals will meet again today in a game that starts at 7:05 PM ET and will be televised by YES.

Tonight's pitchers are Ivan Nova(3-2, 4.09 ERA) and Wade Davis(4-7, 5.42 ERA).

Now on to today's news links:

Stephen Lorenzo of the New York Daily News reports that Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner says that the Yankees need A-Rod back as MLB looks to suspend him.

George A. King III of the New York Post points out that the Yankees have hit one home run in the last 74 innings that they have played.

Have a great day everyone!

This Day In New York Yankees History 7/10

On this day in 2001 Derek Jeter became the first Yankees player to hit a home run in the All Star game in 41 years when he hit a sixth inning home run off of Jon Lieber at Safeco Field in Seattle. Yogi Berra was the last to do so in 1959.