Blue Jays @ Yankees 7/17/12

Darnell McDonald has been designated for assignment to make room for CC Sabathia on the 25 man roster. 

Robinson Cano singles in the 2nd to extend his career high hitting streak to 20 games. 

Andruw Jones hits a three run home run to put the Yankees up 3-0

Yankees Win 6-1

CC Sabathia officially comes of the DL today and will start tonight for the New York Yankees against Brett Cecil and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays will be without Jose Bautista who was placed on the 15 day DL with wrist inflammation after a swing late in last nights game. That is just one of many blows and DL trips the Jays have had to endure. The Yankees do not need to hear any excuses about injuries though because they have had more then their fair share.The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on MY9.

Lineups

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

Go Yankees!!

Joba Chamberlain Strong In 3rd Rehab Outing

Joba Chamberlain made his third appearance in a rehab game and he was dominant. Joba pitched another perfect inning while striking out two more batters. His rehab assignment line goes like this:

4 IP, 0 ER, 0 Hits,  0 BB, 6 K

The out that was not a strike out came as, you guessed it, ANOTHER ground ball out. No word on the pitch count but it should not have been more then 15 pitches. Joba hit as high as 98 mph this afternoon.

In other news Eduardo Nunez played short stop in that game for the first time since his thumb injury. He played three innings in the field and grounded out in his only at bat. The best news? ZERO Errors on one opportunity. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Yankees Injury Updates : Gardner & Rivera

Brett Gardner suffered yet another set back, his third since injuring his elbow way back in May, after taking four at bats in a rehab game and waking up the next morning sore. Gardner will receive an MRI today to see if surgery is needed to fix the elbow or more rest and relaxation is the diagnosis. If Gardner needs some kind of surgery then we can expect to be all in on Shane Victorino or Justin Upton. If he just needs a couple days of rest then I could see us waiting it out and calling up Chris Dickerson if need be. I am just hoping Gardner does not need tommy john surgery.

Mariano Rivera and has camp has not ruled out a September come back completely. It is still possible that it may happen due to a partial tear of his ACL and not a full blown tear. How amazing would it be to tear an ACL and come back the same season.

Yankees Trade Targets : Zack Greinke

The Yankees will be linked to EVERY SINGLE starting pitcher at this years trade deadline. We are officially 14 days away from the trade deadline of July 31st at 4 pm ET. Do the Yankees need a starter to help out the back end of the rotation? Do the Yankees need insurance for Andy Pettitte? I personally do not think so but I am not Brian Cashman.

Zack Greinke has not been the CY Young guy that he was in Kansas City since, well, since he was a CY Young winner in Kansas City in 2009. It is no secret that he had many issues with anxiety, depression, and straight up boredom with baseball. Mix that not only with the New York fans and the New York media... but a pennant race and subsequent playoff and potential World Series run.. sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Greinke's value is as low as it is going to get so that is what makes it most intriguing. The thing is though is he any better then Kuroda, Pettitte (healthy), Nova, or Hughes? A couple months ago I would say yes but since June I am not so sure. Greinke is a pure rental player as well which gives us no chance to even get compensation for him if he leaves as a free agent. He is in the last year of a deal that will pay him $13.5 million this season.

Zack Greinke will miss his next two starts due to "exhaustion" from starting the Brewers last three consecutive games before and after the break. He has allowed 14 earned runs in his last two starts. Maybe the Brewers waited a little too long to trade him or maybe it is just exhaustion... I do not know. I do know the Yankees need consistency and LESS question marks and Greinke does not do that for us in my opinion. He would probably be "cheap" but I still dislike this trade idea and will have to pass on Mr Greinke wearing pinstripes this season.

Call Your Shot : Yankees Mega Prediction Game

I have been playing this mega prediction game on this sports forum and it is really fun so I figured I would share. What you do is predict whether the Yankees will win or lose each game in a series and put a point total to the game. How many point allotted depends on how many games there are in the series. On a three game series you get ONE three point game, ONE two point game, and ONE one point game. Here is MY example for the Blue Jays series.

7/16-7/18 NYY vs. TOR

Game 1: WIN 3 pts (Hughes 9-7, 4.33 ERA vs. Alvarez 5-7, 4.36 ERA)
Game 2: WIN 2 pts (Sabathia 9-3, 3.45 ERA vs. Cecil 2-1, 6.75 ERA)
Game 3: WIN 1 pt (Kuroda 8-7, 3.67 vs. Romero 8-5, 5.03 ERA)


I do not think there is a prize, other then bragging rights, for this but it is fun as hell. Especially when you are getting down to the wire and you purposely have to be strategic to get back into the game. We have a first half winner and a second half winner then those two battle it out in a playoff. All the rules are in the thread, seen HERE, so maybe some of you would be interested in playing?


Totally free and spam free to sign up. 

Blue Jays @ Yankees 7/16/12

UPDATE:

Russell Martin hits a home run to put the Yankees up 1-0. 

No this is not a typo...

Robinson Cano RBI double extends his hitting streak to 19 games.

Raul Ibanez hits a go ahead grand slam in the bottom of the 8th to put the Yankees up 6-2!!!

Yankees win 6-2

Tonight the Yankees continue their 13 games in 13 days stretch after the All Star break by going to Toronto to take in the last place Toronto Blue Jays. Do not let the record of the Blue Jays fool you, they are a good team with a ton of power and flashes of brilliance with the pitching staff. Tonight on the mound for the Yankees will be Phil Hughes and he will be taking on Henderson Alvarez for the Jays. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on the YES Network

Lineup

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

Go Yankees!!

Yankees Trade Targets : Shane Victorino

UPDATE:

Gardner said that he felt some soreness in his elbow after his rehab game. Joe Girardi is concerned and puzzled by this. We do not know if it is just fatigue, much like David Aardsma, or if it is yet another set back. Only time will tell...

The Yankees seem to be monitoring the left field and outfield market this year at the deadline. We should have a pretty good idea of how Brett Gardner is going to be by July31st. Brett Gardner is set to come back on July 27th to the big leagues, barring any more setback. The Yankees seem to be looking for a Plan B though and one of those plan B's is the Phillies Shane Victorino.

The flying' Hawaiian Shane Victorino has been the Phillies center fielder for what seems like forever but now that they are losing he seems likely to be traded this July. Shane is currently on the final year of a three year $22 million deal. Victorino has a ton of speed and would a terrific replacement for Gardner, if needed, both defensively, offensively, and on the base paths. It is widely thought that the Phillies will not be able to get any compensation for him so he should come pretty cheap if he is traded. Not to mention that he is not having a great season anyway only helps our case.

Assuming that Brett Gardner cannot come back this season and assuming that we cannot get Justin Upton this season then I would be all for Shane Victorino coming to the Bronx. He has lots of playoff experience and is basically an older version of Brett Gardner. He would fit right into the bottom of that lineup and would give us the versatility that builds championships. Bring on Shane Victorino as an obvious plan C kind of situation behind Gardner and Upton.

Yankees Trade Targets : Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels will ultimately sign a contract extension or get traded in the next 15 days, bottom line. The Phillies are trying their hardest to re sign Cole according to reports coming out of their camp, and I could see why they would want to, but those reports can be unreliable. Just think... if the Phillies re sign Cole for a similar deal that they gave Cliff Lee, as is being reported, then next season the Phillies would have $129 million invested in 7 players for the 2013 season.

Hamels - $25 million

Lee - $25 million

Halladay - $20 million

Howard - $20 million

Utley - $15 million

Papelbon $13 million

Rollins - $11 million

What can I say that you guys do not already know about Cole Hamels. What can I say to describe how well he has pitched this season and what he would mean to this team this season in the post season. He is the kind of work horse and hard nosed pitcher, ask Bryce Harper, that the Yankees "need" to compliment ace CC Sabathia. What Can I Say? Nothing... so I won't. Hamels is a no brainer if you are against the $189 million goal for the 2014 season. He would essentially make it impossible to keep both Cano and Granderson by signed a $20 million + AAV deal. Granted that this team "needs" more pitching then they do offense but I have kind of grown attached to Granderson and his play and personality on and off the field. I am kind of growing tired of the hired mercenary types that come, win a ring, then trash us when they leave. Cole kind of screams that kind of attitude to me. 

IF we are going to sign Cole Hamels I would much rather let the Phillies trade him elsewhere, maybe the Dodgers, and sign him in the offseason. We would not have to give up a draft pick or a prospect... just money. When it is someone else's money I have zero issue with spending as much as we can to put the best product on the field. 

I truly dislike emptying the farm, even if it was possible, for a rental. We will only have Hamels guaranteed for the rest of this season. The worst part about it is that we could not even get draft pick compensation because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that the Players Union struck with the league. Wouldn't it be nice though? Another guy for the fans to hate and make us Yankees fans "Get Greedy" and another guy with a knockout wife for the Wives & Girlfriends section...

Extend Cano & Granderson?

Brian Cashman Said What?

The Yankees have a strict policy not to extend players during the season and before their current deals expire. The Yankees brass is considering breaking this rule, and for good reason, for both Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano.

See the Yankees are trying to get under the $189 million threshold for payroll by the 2014 season and the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) says that your salary is based on an Average Annual Value (AAV) and not what you are making this season. For example Alex Rodriguez's contract is heavily front loaded with Arod making as little as $20 million at the end of his deal but his AAV has been and always will be $27.5 million. The AAV is what counts against the luxury tax threshold. While this does not work in our favor for Alex, it can work in our favor for both Granderson and Cano.

As it stand now, including club options, Cano's AAV is only $9.5 million because of him only making $3 million in 2008, $6 million in 2009, $9 million in 2010, and so on and so on. If the Yankees choose to extend Cano's contract for, let's say for simplicity sake, $20 million a season for 5 more season Cano's AAV would be $14.28 million. If we let the contract run out and re sign him as a free agent to that same 5 year $100 million dollar contract then Cano's AAV becomes $20 million. Extending Cano now saves us roughly $5.5 million towards the 2014 goal AND allows us to keep him.

Curtis Granderson's AAV as it stands now is a measly $6.88 million because of him only making $1 million in 2008, $3.5 million in 2009, $5.5 million in 2010, so on and so forth. Let us say, again for simplicity sake, we extend Granderson for that same 5 year $100 million contract that we gave Cano. Granderson's AAV would only be $12.84 million as opposed to the $20 million that he would garner if he were re signed as a free agent. That is a $7+ million savings right there.

If we extend both Cano and Granderson NOW instead of letting them technically hit free agency we can save around $13 million bucks AAV, stand a much better chance at getting under the $189 million tax threshold, AND keep our two best hitters in the lineup. Sounds like a no brainer to me Cash... so get it done. 

Yankees Trade Targets : Matt Garza

The trade deadline is officially in 15 days on July 31st. Like I said in an earlier post the Yankees are going to be linked, whether true or not, to every single starting pitcher available at the trade deadline. The Cubs look to be in rebuilding mode and will be looking for the lower level prospects that we have boat loads of. Let us look at potential trade candidate for the Yankees Matt Garza.

Matt Garza is halfway through a 1 year $9.5 million contract that he signed with the Cubs this offseason. He is under team control for all of 2013 though because of him being arbitration eligible. The Yankees will have some competition for Garza if they choose to get involved because the O's, Dodgers, Tigers, Blue Jays, and Red Sox just to name a few have expressed some serious interest in the Cubs right hander. Garza is having a typical Matt Garza season when you look at FIP, K/9, BB/9, GB%, K's, BB's, BABIP, and WAR. 

I have never really understood why everyone is so high on Matt Garza. Sure he has had some sorts of success in the AL East and all that but the guy, to me, seems wildly inconsistent. I know that kind of contradicts the statement above about Garza having another "Garza like" season but I think that he has always been inconsistent. Garza is nothing more then a #3 or #4 pitcher but has played on teams that needed him to be a #2 pitcher. We do  not need a #3 or #4 pitcher in my opinion, especially if we are going to be paying like he is a #2 pitcher. I say pass on Garza.