Yankees May Start Working Gosuke Katoh At SS

The Yankees second round pick Gosuke Katoh has far exceeded anyone's expectations both at second base and with the bat this season but the Yankees find themselves wanting to work Katoh at SS this off season. Katoh is in his age 18 season after being drafted out of high school in the 2013 MLB First Year Players Draft and ended the 2013 season with a.310/.402/.522 triple slash and six home runs. Katoh is considered to be a great athlete with great range to go with it so maybe the transition would not be as difficult as one may think. The only problem may be his arm, or lack there of, at short stop. Imagine Johnny Damon trying to throw someone out from the warning track at home plate. This is the time to do it with him only being in the GCL so I cannot see a reason not to but I just hope it does not mess with his head like it seems like Eduardo Nunez has.

Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees 9/25

The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays play the middle game of their three game set at Yankees Stadium this week in the final home stand of the season for New York. The Yankees will send the Phil Hughes and David Huff combo to the mound to face off with David Price for the Rays. CC Sabathia was originally slated to pitch this game but a grade II hamstring strain ended his season. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on the YES Network, ESPN, and MLB TV.

New York Yankees 2013 Playoffs Meme

All you can do is laugh at it at this point...

Calling All Fat Ladies With Reasonable Singing Voices

Well we couldn't find a fat lady so we will just have to settle for Joba Chamberlain signing in the bullpen instead. We're done, good night Yankees fans. Shout out goes to my good friend @HalenMVB on twitter for the idea.

Yankees Need To Sign Kyle Lotzkar

I know what a lot of you are thinking, "who?", but hear me out as the Cincinnati Reds have released Kyle Lotzkar yesterday and the Yankees should offer him a contract ASAP. The Reds designated the 23 year old pitcher for assignment along with teammate Josh Ravin to make room for Johnny Cueto and Sean Marshall to come off the 60 day DL and now the Reds have made Lotzkar a free agent. Still most of you are scratching your head why I am so excited for this so please bare with me.

Let's get the cons out of the way early, the guy is an injury risk, I get that. Lotzkar was drafted in the supplemental round, 53rd overall, in the 2007 draft and has already had a stress fracture in his right throwing elbow and Tommy John surgery. He also was in 38 innings for the big league club this season and posted an 8.05 ERA with 37 walks which is ultimately why he was released and not stashed in AAA for another season. I am not sure of his options and arbitration and free agency and all that so don't quote me on it but I am sure the stat line did not help, anyway.

Now for the good as Lotzkar was ranked the 12th best prospect in the Reds organization prior to the 2013 season according to Baseball America and has been in the top 30 in each of the last six seasons. Lotzkar was praised for his 90-94 MPH fastball and his power curve ball which were both considered to be above average. Lotzkar was considered to have some of the best stuff in the Reds minor league system and that alone is worth mentioning because it is stacked with young power pitching. The Yankees could easily stash him somewhere with a CC Sabathia 60 Day DL transfer.

Lotzkar was considered to be the second best prospect coming out of Canada behind Phillipe Aumont at the time of the draft and was praised for his projectible frame,power arm, and two or more plus pitches. While Lotzkar struggled with his ERA and walk numbers this season, seen above, he made up for that a bit by striking out 41 batters in those 38 innings with the big league club this season. While his strike out numbers seem to be right on par with his minor league career numbers I have a feeling that the ERA and walk numbers may just be an anomaly that can play into our hands. The Reds just gave up on a guy that has a career, granted in the minor leagues, 10.5 K/9 ratio and a 4.7 BB/9 ratio and I think the Yankees should put him in the bullpen this season or at the very least, if possible, in AAA to replace possible Rule 5 draft guys like Chase Whitley and Tommy Kahnle. I see Lotzkar as the 2014 version of Preston Claiborne or Shawn Kelley, get it done Cash while I start typing out his Meet A Prospect post.

Yankees shutout by Rays, 7-0

Well, it's officially over. After losing last night's series opener to the Rays 7-0, the Yankees are now 5 games behind Tampa in the wild card standings with 5 games left to play.  We all knew this was coming, so it's not surprising. But it's still a little dissapointing that the last spark of hope has been put out. The Yankees were good this year, but they simply weren't good enough. 

Despite having an overall great season, Hiroki Kuroda's record with this loss has now dropped to 11-13. I don't know how he lost so many games in such little time, but he did. Records don't really matter in baseball, but it's still more fun to look at the stat sheet and see that he's had a winning season. 

Travis Hafner Expected To Be Activated Today

Here is a name that I did not think we would see again this season, the Yankees are expecting to activate DH Travis Hafner off the 60 day DL today and transfer CC Sabathia onto the 60 day DL to make room for Hafner on the 40 man. Hafner would provide a left handed bat off the bench and maybe some power if it were May. This is another head scratcher giving a guy with no plans to be in pinstripes for 2014 at bats over guys that do. We're done, we're not making the playoffs, give the kids a shot.

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/25

On this day in 1929 in the fifth inning of the Yankees and Red Sox game all the players were summoned to home play to be informed that New York manager Miller Huggins had passed away. There was a moment of silence and the flag was lowered to half staff in honor of Huggins.

On this day in 1968 Yankees star Mickey Mantle stepped up in the ninth inning for his final Yankees Stadium at bat of his career. Luis Tiant would walk the Mick before striking out the next batter to complete his 3-0 shut out.

On this day in 1998 the Yankees set a new American League record for victories in a season with their 112th win, a 6-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The 1906 Cubs with 116 wins are the only team in major league history with more wins then the 1998 Yankees.

On this day in 2009 the Yankees hit their 127th home run at Yankees Stadium setting a new record for most home runs at home in a season. Alex Rodriguez would hit the historic home run off of Boston's pitcher Jon Lester in a 9-5 victory. This would break the Yankees record of 126 home runs at home by both the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

SALUT! CENT'ANNI! (For my paisan out there.)

Ok, while I procrastinate, let's talk. It's all over; we can look forward to what my dad grew up with; except instead of Horace Clarke at second, it's Cano (hopefully), but instead of Jeter and A-Rod on the left side, it's Brendan Ryan and Nunez. It was over after they lost 2 of 3 in Toronto, a team that the Yankees couldn't wait to play all year. It hurt the Yankees every time they would go on their stride, they had the Red Sox to humble them that weekend. It'll be a long, cold winter, especially with the Giants now.

I work on our school's (University of Miami) TV show down here called SportsDesk. I had written a monologue dedicated to Andy Pettitte that was supposed to air last week but was postponed, so I'll put it on here. I realize "Mrs. Andy Pettitte" already put down her little tribute on here, so no one can accuse me of ripping anyone off or plagiarizing:

Yankee closer Mariano Rivera is retiring at the end of the season. This afternoon, Andy Pettitte announced that he will also join the Sandman in the rocking chair. Andy really must’ve had the Yankee ghosts on his side; since 1996, he always seemed to be on the mound for some of the greatest moments of a Yankee run. From a Game Five pitchers duel with John Smoltz in 1996, starting and winning the clinching game of the series in 1998, to taking the hill for the finale of all three postseason rounds in 2009, and winning each of them. Through today, he’s amassed 255 wins in 18 seasons, two of which being 21-win seasons. He’s the all-time leader in postseason wins with 19, and through now has never, ever had a losing season (in danger now); quite an accomplishment. Hall of Famer? Maybe. Yankee hall of famer? You betcha! So here’s to you Andy…SALUT! CENT'ANNI!

In Italian that pretty much means "To 100 years!"

And to Mo: In the same amount of time, you've dazzled everyone from a skinny rookie to blown-up McGwire with that one pitch--that cut fastball that ever-so-gently broke before it hit Jorge's glove...or Russell or...Chris Stewart... You've been the epitome of class on and off the mound, and a true role model for people, not just little children, but an example of how a human being should conduct him/herself. God bless you...again I say SALUT! CENT'ANNI!

With the Yankees out of it, and the Giants being the Jets...go Knicks?? Yikes!

'Till Next Time!

Neil Dwyer @neildwyer1993

Game Thread: Rays @ Yankees 9/24

The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays begin the biggest series of the season for both teams tonight at Yankees Stadium. The Yankees sweep and we still have a shot at this, one loss and the season is basically over, two losses and the season is mathematically over. Much like the last few weeks these are must win victories for the Yankees. The pitching match up is Hiroki Kuroda for the Yankees and Matt Moore for the Rays and the game can be seen at 7:05 pm ET on MY 9 and MLB TV.

Here is the Yankees do or die lineup

Ichiro Suzuki CF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Alfonso Soriano LF
Mark Reynolds 1B
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Vernon Wells RF
Brendan Ryan SS
Chris Stewart C

Follow us on twitter by following @GreedyStripes. This is the final Yankees home stand this season so get your Yankees tickets now before the 2013 season is over.