Phillies Agree To Trade Jim Thome To Baltimore Orioles

I know that this is not exactly Yankees related but it is relevant to the AL East so I decided that I would post it anyway. This afternoon the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to trade 1B Jim Thome to the Baltimore Orioles for  A ball pitching prospect Kyle Simon and 19 year old catching prospect Gabriel Lino (basically nothing....).

The Orioles were in need of a DH type hitter and someone to help from the left side and they got both with this Thome deal. Is he going to be the one to lead the Orioles to the promised land? Probably not... Is he going to help? Immensely in my opinion.

White Sox @ Yankees 6/30/12

The Yankees win behind 7 shut out innings from Hiroki Kuroda.

Yankees win 4-0

The Yankees look to break a two game losing streak against the Chicago Whitesox. Hiroki Kuroda will be on the mound this afternoon against Jake Peavy. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on YES and MLB Network's matinee.

1. Derek Jeter SS

2. Curtis Granderson CF

3. Alex Rodriguez 3B

4. Robinson Cano 2B

5. Mark Teixeira 1B

6. Nick Swisher DH

7. Raul Ibanez RF

8. Russell Martin C

9. Dewayne Wise LF

Go Yankees!!

Jim Thome and the Yankees

I was just over at ESPN.com and read something from Jayson Stark saying that the Phillies would start listening to offers for Jim Thome. The problem for the Phils is that Thome can't play the field anymore due to his back, therefore he's become a DH-only in a league that doesn't give teams a DH (*stupid*cough*stupid*).

Thome has said he'd like to return to a team that he already played for, but since the White Sox already have Adam Dunn, and the Indians will soon get back Travis Hafner, that option just isn't possible. But... is the option of being dealt to the Yankees a possibility? I say "no".

Although I'd love to see Jim walking up to the plate, instead of either Andruw Jones or Lord Voldemort's long-lost brother, the cost to get him wouldn't be worth it. Now, I'm not saying Jim Thome isn't worth what Philadelphia could get for him. What I'm saying is Jim Thome is not worth the cost to the Yankees.

The Yankees have to give guys like Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter half days off, meaning they DH instead of playing the field. In that case Thome would ride the bench. Sounds okay in theory, but in practice that means the Yankees would have traded away some good prospects for a guy that doesn't play everyday.

To put it another way, the cost of acquiring Jim Thome is too much not to play hin everyday. So I'm sorry to say that you'll be seeing more of Jones and Ibanez.

White Sox @ Yankees 6/29/12

Adam Warren makes his major league debut tonight in place of the injured CC Sabathia against the Chicago White Sox. The Sox are flying high after getting to the Yankees bullpen in the 9th and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3. For the Sox on the mound will be Jose Quintana,  former Yankee farm hand. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB Network. 

Lineups

1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Teixeira 1B
4. A-Rod 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Swisher RF
7. Jones DH
8. Nix LF
9. Stewart C

Go Yankees!!

HOPE Week Wraps Up With The Childrens Alopecia Project

The Yankees wrap up HOPE week with by helping the Childrens Alopecia Project. Many Yankees and sports figures, including Bald Vinny, will be having a picnic in a botanical garden in the Bronx to celebrate.

This Has been a great week and I wish more organizations would participate in this. Kudos to the Yankees for being the classiest evil empire of all time. 

THE STORY OF THE CHILDREN’S ALOPECIA PROJECT (CAP)
www.childrensalopeciaproject.org

In October 2003, while Betsy Woytovich was undoing the braids of her 5-year-old daughter Madison, hair began coming out in clumps. A doctor soon confirmed that Madison had alopecia, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, leading to hair loss on the scalp and elsewhere in varying degrees. It is a condition that affects approximately 4 million Americans.

Madison’s father, Jeff, searched for a support network, only to discover that there was no organization that focused on children with alopecia. They wanted to make sure that Madison and children like her maintained their confidence and self-esteem heading into their teenage years. So in August 2004, Jeff and Betsy created the Children’s Alopecia Project which focuses on three goals—to build self-esteem, provide support and raise awareness.

There are now 15 “CAP” Kids Support Groups all around the country that regularly work with families from 30 states. Additionally, there are associated groups in Hong Kong, Canada, South America and Russia. Over 1,000 families are registered members of CAP, while at least 10,000 families have received information or been counseled by members of CAP.

White Sox @ Yankees 6/28/12

The bullpen could not hold a lead in the 9th and the Yankees lose 4-3

Tonight the Yankees start a four game series with the Chicago White Sox at the stadium in the Bronx. With the battery of injuries to the starting rotation in the last 24 hours the pressure is really on Yankees stud Ivan Nova tonight to give a good outing and to give length. Opposing Nova will be  Dylan Axelrod. This will be the first time that we have seen recently acquired Kevin Youkilis in a White Sox uniform. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB Network.

Lineups

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Chris Stewart C

Go Yankees

HOPE Week Honors The GlamourGals On Day 4

A select few of the Yankees players will be surprising some senior citizens with make overs at a Nursing Home and a Rehab Center today. Here is the write up from the Yankees.

THE STORY OF GLAMOURGALS
http://www.glamourgals.org/

Rachel Doyle was a sophomore in high school when her grandmother passed away in a Nevada nursing home. To honor her memory and create a bridge between the generations, Doyle, then 17, created the first chapter of GlamourGals in 2000. The organization is comprised of male and female high school and college-age volunteers who give manicures and makeovers to the elderly at senior homes. The organization’s goal is to foster self-esteem and mutual respect while building meaningful relationships. Additionally, many seniors in nursing homes do not receive frequent visitors, and GlamourGals helps to fill that void.

More than a decade after her first makeover, Doyle serves as CEO. Her vision and dedication has seen the organization grow to approximately 1,300 volunteers in more than 62 chapters spanning 13 states, along with a chapter in St. Andrews, Scotland. The organization just expanded to the Bronx in April 2012.

Roster and Payroll Updated

I have updated the Roster and Payroll pages. Due to the fact that Pettitte's move to the DL has not been made official, that does not reflect on the changes here. Nor has Ryoto Igarashi been added to the 25-man/active roster yet.

This will leave the 40-man roster full, while the 25-man/active roster will be at only 24 after the Pettitte/Igarashi switch. I will change that as official news becomes available.

Really!?!?

That was me. You know... besides the fact I'm not a young black kid.

I went to work this morning at 8:30am, and then went directly to a camp for basketball officials. I didn't get home until a little while ago, and as far as I knew the day was a good one for the Yankees as they beat the Indians 5-4. So you can imagine how hard my jaw hit the desk when I went to the LoHud Yankees Blog to check out their postgame notes.

The first thing I read was a post regarding Adam Warren being called up. Chad Jennings started out by saying Adam was being planned on as the long-man to replace Freddy Garcia. At that point I stopped reading and scrolled down to see what was going on. I mean... why was Garcia not going to be in that spot anymore? Was Garcia released? Traded? Or... *gasp*... was somebody hurt?

I was going to put a picture of a Yankee pitcher I'd be okay with being injured, but there isn't one. So here's a cute picture of a chimp and a white tiger.

My first bit of news was that Andy Pettitte fractured his ankle. Initially I thought the worst, as the words "Joba" and "Chamberlain" popped into my head. So it was a weird feeling of sadness/relief when I read that Andy may be out for a couple of months.

Of course, that wasn't all. I hadn't read that Adam Warren was going to start for the Yanks, meaning somebody else was hurt. So when I went further down the page, and read that Sabathia too was injured, I was simply in a state of shock.

I know! Let's pretend it's 2010, and Javier Vazquez is hurt. That makes me feel a bit better.

Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia were both lost on the same day (technically, CC was hurt last night, but it was official that he'd miss a couple starts today)? You've got to be kidding me!

Now for the moment you all have been waiting for... my positive spin on things.

The Yankees are currently 46-28, good for the best record in Major League Baseball (the Rangers are at 47-29, .004 percentage points below NY). They've scored 102 runs over their last 20 games, which averages out to 5.1 runs per game. Over the last 30 days the Yankees have actually scored 133 runs, third most in MLB (the Rockies and Red Sox have both scored 141 runs in that time). So if there was a time in which this should happen, where the offense has to pick up some slack, this looks to be it.

Adam Warren, who is somebody that prospect humpers have been dying to see get a shot, will face the White Sox on Friday. The southside Chicago team has scored 348 runs, 5th in the American League. However over the past 30 days their bats have cooled off a bit, as they've only scored 108 runs in that time, which is 21st in MLB. On top of that, Adam is lined up to face the Rays on July 4th in Tampa. The Devil Rays are 8th in the AL in runs scored with 317, but have only scored 103 runs in the past 30 days, which is tied for 23rd in the Majors. So the Yankees have lucked out a bit here.

On second thought, this guy doesn't look scared of anybody.

Then there's Freddy Garcia. The sweaty guy will likely face the Rays next Monday in the series opener, and as I just said... that team is not exactly hitting the snot out of the ball. The only unfortunate thing I really see happening is that Garcia is lined up to face the Red Sox, who have been blistering the ball this season. Sadly for those guys they are having issues on the other side of the ball, which could lead to a high-scoring game. Of course, I'm assuming Freddy doesn't pitch that well. But I'm thinking worst-case scenario with him, which is hardly a ridiculous thing to do.

So if things go well, Sabathia will likely return in the 2nd week of July, and bump one of Garcia or Warren from the rotation. At that point the team will be looking for one fill-in to help the team for the next six or so weeks. Playing Toronto (3 series), Oakland, Seattle (2 series), Baltimore, Detroit, and Cleveland during that stretch will be nice.

I'm not saying the news isn't bad. There's no way a team can lose it's ace, and one of it's other top starters, and feel good. The point I'm making is that things could be much worse than they are, and I didn't even mention that the All Star break will be in there as well, to help make sure CC is good to return, and give Andy more time to recover without the team having a few more games than they normally would.

Yankees Call Up Adam Warren & Ryoto Igarashi

The Yankees have called up starter Adam Warren from AAA Empire State Yankees and reliever Ryoto Igarashi. Warren will get the start in his major league debut on Friday in place of CC Sabathia against the Chicago White Sox.