Alex Rodriguez Homers In Rehab Game

Alex Rodriguez quad muscle looked fully healed today as he went 1-2 with a home run in his first rehab game with the Trenton Thunder. A Rod played five innings at third base and fielded a couple of ground balls cleanly at the hot corner. Alex is expected to play seven innings in the field Saturday and could be back with the Yankees on Monday vs. the Chicago White Sox if he is not suspended.

Melky Mesa Sent To AAA, Thomas Neal Designated

Melky Mesa has been sent to AAA Scranton to make room for recently activated Curtis Granderson on the 25 man roster. Thomas Neal has been designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40 man roster for Granderson. Hopefully, although I cannot see it happening, Neal will clear waivers and go back down to AAA.

Game Thread: Yankees @ Padres 8/2

The Yankees and the Padres start a three game weekend inter league series tonight in the Yellow Stone of Major League Baseball, Petco Park. The pitching match up is CC Sabathia for the Yanks and Andrew Cashner for the Padres. CC Sabathia is 0-2 with a 10.93 ERA in his last three starts against the Twins, Red Sox, and Rays respectively. Cashner has won his last two starts and looks to build on that going forward for the Padres. Hopefully the Yankees can build on a big win against the Dodgers on Wednesday and streak towards a Wild Card spot.

Here is the Yankees lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Curtis Granderson LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Chris Stewart C
CC Sabathia LHP

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New York Yankees @ San Diego Padres 8/2

Welcome to August baseball Yankees fans the season in really in the stretch run now and it begins tonight when the Yankees travel to Petco Park to take on the San Diego Padres. The Yankees will send the big man CC Sabathia to the mound to face off with Andrew Cashner for the Padres. The game will be televised at 10:05 pm ET on YES and MLB TV.

Biogenesis Suspensions Will Be Announced Monday

And the soap opera goes on and on and on....

First we heard that the suspensions associated with the Biogenesis steroid fall out would be announced the week after the All Star Game and that did not happen. Most recently we heard that they would be announced this week sometime and that did not happen either. Then we heard that these would be handed down today, Friday, and now I bring to you the announcement that the suspensions will not be announced until Monday. Well that is if you believe anything that comes out of anyone's mouth that is associated with these shenanigans anymore because I don't personally.

The timing is convenient for Sunday or Monday because most teams will have right at or around 50 games left in the season and most players not named Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Braun are expected to receive 50 game suspensions. Either way I am beyond ready for this whole ordeal to be over, processed, and passed us so we can stop speculating and talking about it already.

Game 108 Lineup: Yankees @ Padres

It's a brand new series and this game is a chance for CC to start the game on the right foot. Here's the lineup!

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Curtis Granderson LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Chris Stewart C
CC Sabathia P

Some Notes:

-- To make room for Curtis Granderson on the roster, the Yankees have sent Melky Mesa down to the minors and have designated Thomas Neal for assignment.

-- Major League Baseball has announced that they will reveal the suspended players no later than Monday. Alex Rodriguez will face a suspension while Francisco Cervelli could also be punished.

Alex Rodriguez Rehab Update

[caption id="attachment_16342" align="alignright" width="300"] Alex Rodriguez went five innings with a home run in his rehab start in Trenton on Friday night[/caption]

With the Biogenesis Report suspensions looming, you would think Alex Rodriguez would be worried. Well if he was, it didn't show. A-Rod played a rehab game today in Trenton earlier this evening with his future still uncertain on where he'll be on Monday: with the Yankees or at home due to a suspension?

Back to the rehab game, Alex Rodriguez looked like a player that wasn't bothered by his recent injuries, going 1-for-2 with a 2-run home run that left Arm & Hammer Stadium in Trenton. Alex Rodriguez also fielded two baseballs during the evening.

The first ball hit to him ricocheted off his glove, but he was able to recover it and throw to first for the out. The second ball hit to him was a ball in the hot corner that Rodriguez snagged and threw to first, looking as if the hip or his calf weren't nagging him.

Rodriguez walked in the first inning on five pitches, he homered in the third on a fastball that was down the middle of the plate and struck out in the fifth inning on a 2-2 change-up. After A-Rod's final AB, he went to the sidelines (while the game was still in the fifth inning) and started signing autographs, taking pictures and he even gave his bat to a fan. A-Rod made his way to the clubhouse which officially ended his night.

Rodriguez is supposed to play another game tomorrow night and then his fate will be in the hands of Major League Baseball on Sunday night, with MLB making the decisions on Monday morning. Will A-Rod be in Yankees pinstripes Monday or will he be suspended (or banned) from baseball?

My Lineup For The Yankees Tonight Vs. San Diego

Curtis Granderson is expected back tonight in San Diego for the weekend series with the San Diego Padres so I wanted to take a shot at what I think the lineup will look like tonight against Andrew Cashner. I bombed the last lineup prediction so do not put much faith into this but it is what it is, so here it is.

1. Gardner - CF

2. Jeter - SS

3. Cano - 2B

4. Soriano - LF

5. Granderson - RF

6. Overbay - 1B

7. Nunez - 3B

8. Stewart - C

9. Sabathia - P

Alex Rodriguez To Take A Plea Deal?

Jon Heyman is reporting that Alex Rodriguez may take a plea deal.

The plea deal, which comes as no surprise, would keep ARod off of the field until 2015. However, considering the evidence they have, MLB believes that a 150 game suspension would be too light.

MLB may have a problem as the US Attorney's Office in Miami investigating Biogenesis, which could mean Anthony Bosch wouldn't be a witness for MLB since he wouldn't want to make himself look worse to the feds. So even a 150 game ban for Rodriguez could be difficult to obtain, which means MLB would be considered the "loser" in this fight.

Alex, as well as the others to be suspended due to their involvement with Biogenesis, reportedly have until Monday to make their decision on whether to accept or appeal.

Lyle Overbay Appreciation Thread

Where would the New York Yankees be this season without Lyle Overbay in the starting lineup? We were set to give the last spot on the bench to former Yankee Juan Rivera until the Red Sox let Overbay go right before Spring Training was over and it may have been the best thing that has happened to this team this season. Lyle Overbay has had clutch hit after clutch hit and has even outperformed a normal Mark Teixeira season in a lot of categories not labeled home runs. Matt Imbrogno from IIATMS and formerly of the Yankees Ananlysts had an interesting tweet this morning stating that Lyle Overbay has a 78 wRC+ in high leverage situations this season which tells you the whole story. Thank you Lyle for coming in and far exceeding anyone's expectations. Thank you for being a class act and a good teammate by not causing a stir when Mark Teixeira came back and took at bats from you. Rather than leaving the team or complaining you happily went to the outfield and found a way to help the team. Thank you Lyle for everything you have done for this team all season long and I just hope that we can repay you with a playoff run.