nyy26

Yesterday was a good win. Joba Chamberlain showed some improvement. His velocity was better but keep in mind that he had nine days off. You should be able to throw your hardest when you have had nine days off. His control was good today as well, not too many walks. I thought it was going to be another short appearance because he threw 22 pitches in the first inning but he had an economical second and third innings and was able to go 6.2 innings total. Girardi was smart to take him out when he did in order to get him out on a high note in a situation where he could win and not lose. Hopefully yesterday?s start was a sign of what is to come.

Every team in contention for a playoff spot would like to add another bullpen arm. That is the case every July. If you remember correctly, the Yankees landed a deal that brought highly coveted lefty Dimaso Marte to the Bronx last July. Let?s take a look at who is on the block and for sale this year.Kerry Wood ? Kerry Wood was supposed to be great a couple of years ago. People were talking about the Cubs having the best rotation in the league with youngsters Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano and Kerry Wood. The only one that really panned out was Carlos Zambrano. Mark Prior fell off the face of the earth after being a top prospect coming into the year and having some success, his fall off was injury related. Kerry Wood was another fire baller who was very good but got bit by the injury bug a bit too often Injuries did in his starting career. I believe he even landed on the DL for a while one time because he hurt himself getting out of the bathtub. There was also a lot of chatter about Kerry Wood and steroid use because of all the injuries and the fact that he lost a lot of weight at one point. I don?t remember if he was in the Mitchell Report or not but I think he might have been. I though transitioning too the bullpen would rekindle his career because he would have a lighter load and could really let um rip in one inning of relief. The Indians gave him a pretty big contract this winter, much to many people?s surprise. He was coveted by many teams that needed bullpen help though. He's been a disappointment in Cleveland, and the Indians owe him about $15MM before the end of next year. They are also on the hook for more in 2011. He definitely is on the block and probably will get dealt if someone wants to take a flyer on him. He could help out a few teams. I don?t think the Indians would be looking for much in return since they are on pace for 100 losses and are currently having a fire sale after dealing there most valuable trade trip, multi-position playing Mark Derosa. Would I want the Yankees to get him? Not really, not unless he will cost nothing and Dimaso Marte?s return looks doubtful. Then I would take a flyer on someone like Wood, who if he gets his stuff back could be a great reliever.Rafael Soriano ? The Braves could get creative and try to deal Rafael Soriano. Many teams would take him and he could help out any bullpen. He has great numbers on the season. The Braves started the season with Mike Gonzalez as there closer but as he struggled he and Soriano started spitting save opportunities. Would I take Soriano on the Yankees? Once again it depends on what happens with Dimaso Marte. I would be more comfortable with Rafael Soriano in the bullpen over Kerry Wood. Soriano may not have as good stuff but he is a pretty darn good reliever who could close if you needed him to. The Braves are on the hook for 6.1 million dollars for Soriano. I f they want to rid themselves of that money they could easily find a buyer for Soriano. But the Braves are in position to make a run at the division or the wild card with the Mets currently out of the picture. It doesn?t make sense to me to deal your best reliever when you?re in the middle of a pennant race. They could opt to deal the left reliever Mike Gonzalez. Mike Gonzalez was highly touted by many baseball scouts at the beginning of the year, many thought that he would be a solid reliever this year. He hasn?t been terrible but also hasn?t lived up to what everybody thought he could do. Like I said earlier, the Braves had enough faith in him to make him the closer out of spring training, but he lost part of that job and had to start sharing save opportunities with Soriano. He is definitely more likely to be dealt than Soriano. The Braves are paying him three and a half million dollars this year but he will be a free agent this winter and probably will not resign if the Braves are intent on making Soriano the full time closer. Would I take Mike Gonzalez on the Yankees? This is another one that especially relies on what will go downs with Dimaso Marte. Gonzalez could be used as a lefty specialist because he is a lefty and has success against lefty hitters. If the Yankees don?t have faith in the lefty Phil Coke, which I must mention that they do and they think very highly of Coke. If they hadn?t signed CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, or if Andy Pettitte didn?t return, they were prepared to start the season with Phil Coke in the starting rotation. If they Yankees feel they need a lefty because Marte is not coming back and Coke can?t get it done, then I see some Yankee interest in Mike Gonzalez.Danys Baez ? He not exactly a great option for anyone trying to make a playoff spot but if he is better than what you have I guess it?s worth a shot. Especially if he can be had on the cheap since Baltimore is paying him five and a half million dollars. He is expensive and doesn?t have great numbers but I guess he could help out a contender that is short handed in the pen. I wouldn?t be getting him to be your ninth, eighth or even seventh inning guy but to his his own. Would I take him on the Yankees? No shot what so ever, I would rather see Kyle Farnsworth back in Yankee pinstripes.LaTroy Hawkins ? LaTroy Hawkins has been pretty good filling in for Jose Valverde while he was hurt. That?s hard to believe for me after what I saw him do in the Bronx last year. He was terrible last year in pinstripes and the Yankees eventually dealt him to the Astros mid-season for a cheap prospect. He has made thirty-eight appearances for the Houston Astros, who are still in playoff contention. They are only on the hook for three and a half million dollars to Hawkins as well, so they might keep him. They also have Jose Valverde, who was a top closer not too long ago. He was hurt for most of the season so far but should draw some interest. If the Astros decide they are out of the hunt, or have enough faith in LaTroy Hawkins, or just don?t want to pay the eight million dollars owed to Valverde, they could deal him for another piece they could use, I?m sure many teams would love to have him. Would I want Valverde on the Yankees? Before I answer that I just want to mention that Jose Valverde makes more money than Roy ?Doc? Halladay, who makes seven million dollars. And yes, I would like Valverde on the Yankees. I?ve always liked Valverde and if the Yankee scouts believe that he will be back in top form after the injury and Dimaso Marte will not be, then I would be all over Valverde if the Houston Astros want to deal him.Rafael Betancourt ? This isn?t the Rafael Betancourt of 2007 when he had one of his most effective years of his career. He has pitched okay this season and definitely will be available to anybody who wants him with Cleveland on pace to lose 100 games and having a fire sale. He is only making 3.35 million dollars this season so buyers won?t take too big of a hit in the pocketbook. Russ Springer ? He?s definably available but I don?t know that any team in the race would want him. He can strike some hitters out but hasn?t been anything close to good this year, I guess that?s why he is available. ESPN has him ranked the 257th best relieve pitcher in the league. That?s not saying much about the man who will be making 3.3 million dollars. Would I take him on the Yankees? Not a chance, you can find better guys in double and triple A.George Sherrill ? Probably the best value, very effective and affordable. A recent all-star, the Orioles have dangled George Sherrill out here before, but have never been able to swing a deal. They ask for too much, and rightly so, he is a great reliever and is cheap and under control until 2011 I believe. The Orioles probably missed the chance to sell high on Sherrill though. This season he was spitting save opportunities with Chris Ray. They will definitely get less in return now, but I still see plenty of contending team going after him. Would I take him on the Yankees? Yes, but I do not think that the Baltimore Orioles would deal him within the division. By the way, when I say affordable, I mean he is only making 2.75 million dollars.Chad Qualls ? Chad Qualls has gathered a lot of interest despite some pretty bad numbers this year. I understand that he hasn?t had many save opportunities because the Diamondbacks have not had any offense at all. The D'Backs already traded Tony Pena, so they may not want to deal Chad Qualls, who is only making 2.5 million dollars this season. Would I take him on the Yankees? He could come in and be a good setup man which is why I would take him on the Yankees. Without the pressure of the ninth inning and some run support, he could flourish in the Bronx.John Grabow ? He has been okay this year but has had some control problems. He is only making 2.3million dollars this year and will be a free agent this winter. So he could help out a team in need if they are in need of a reliever. Would I take him on the Yankees? Not a chance, this is another guy that you can find better of in double or triple A.Matt Capps ? He has drawn some interest and with the Pirates trading everybody for nobody you could probably get Capps for a song and a dance. He has pretty bad number this year but is a quality pitcher. Without the pressure of the ninth inning he could be another guy that flourishes in a set up role. The Yankees already showed some interest. I wouldn?t give up anything decent for him and the way the Pirates are trading everybody for nothing I don?t think they will ask for anything decent. He also only makes 2.3 million dollars this year and will be a free agent after the 2012 season.Juan Cruz ? I was lobbying for Juan Cruz during the winter and really wanted the Yankees to get him. It may have been a good thing that the Yankees didn?t sign him because he was a type A free agent and he would have costed the Yankees two draft picks. His numbers in Kansas City aren?t great, but Cruz has only given up 1 run in his last 11.2 innings. He has been very streaky, but he would definitely be another guy who could do great without the pressures of closing. Would I take Cruz on the Yankees? Yes, he would be a great eight inning guy. He still throws hard and has a great slider he only makes two and a quarter million dollars. Joe Beimel ? What can you say? He?s available, he not great and you could probably find a bunch of guy like him in your minor leagues. He is a 32 year old lefty. The only way I see a team taking him is if they are in despite need of a closer and are in contention or they need a lefty and don?t have anyone in there farm system that could do better. He make 2 million dollars this season and hasn?t pitched bad, he has been okay.Takashi Saito ? He is cheap and good. He only makes one and a half million dollars and has proven that he can get it done in the ninth inning. I think he had something like 40 saves not too long ago eighth the Dodgers. He also does not make much next year either. He would be a great addition to anny bullpen and would make a great set up man. Would I want him on the Yankees. Yes, if the price is reasonable he would be a great guy to use in the seventh and eighth innings.Heath Bell ? He is an All-Star closer that only makes 1.3 million dollars. The Padres would have to be idiots not to trade him while he is at his value is at its peak. He would also be under control until 2011. The Yankees did show interest at the beginning of the month but there haven?t been any new developments. Would I take the former Met on the Yankees. In a second. This Heath Bell is at the top of my trade deadline wish list. I hope that Brian Cashman will be able to pull off a heist and trade a couple of noody prospects in ordr to land this guy. He would be a great addition to the pen. The Yankees would be the only team with two All-star closers.

And of course I have to talk about the New York Yankees. First I would like to take a minute to tell you how much I think of Roy Halladay as a pitcher. I think he is the best pitcher in the league. If I needed to win one game I would pick Roy Halladay over any pitcher in the league today. That is how good Roy Halladay is. That being said, I do not want the Yankees to trade for Roy Halladay. Why? Because I think it will cost too much. I do not want to deal Phil Hughes or Jesus Montero at all. I?d be more willing to trade Joba Chamberlain but I?d have second thoughts because he would be in the same division. I would have no problem working out a deal that sent Chamberlain and more to the Cleveland Indians for Grady Sizemore or another young stud.The Yankees will probably try to get a deal done for Roy Halladay but I am certain that they will not be willing to deal the pieces necessary to get him. The first two names that the Toronto Blue Jays will ask for are Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. And of is was in charge of the Blue Jays I would start there also, you need to get a young potential ace pitcher that you can control for years to come if you are going to deal the best player in the game. I am positive that Brian Cashman will not deal Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain. He has said he is happy that he did not deplete the farm system to get Johan Santana a couple of years ago so I don?t think he will consider doing it this year. The Next name mentioned would be Austin Jackson. I have to think that the Jays will ask for him no matter what. I?m not sure I would be willing to deal him and more. Dealing Jackson would leave the Yankees with a lack of quality outfielders in there system. I don?t think that Jackson will be that great of a player and the Yankees will be losing Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady to free agency and most likely Hideki Matsui to retirement. That leaves them with Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher, and Brett Gardner. It wouldn?t make any sense for the Blue Jays not to ask for Jesus Montero, and I will not deal him by any means. Jesus Montero has proven to be a great hitter in the minor leagues and is only nineteen years of age. He has to be a Victor Martinez or even more. It?s been a long time since the Yankees have had a power hitter like Montero come up through their system which is why I do not want to trade him. The Yankees are stacked with catching prospects so I would give them Romine or Cervelli. After one of those two the Jays would ask for a pitching prospect such as Andrew Brackman, Dellin Betances or Zach McAllister. All three of those pitchers have the potential to be a very good number three starter. I would rather keep the prospects and let the Jays deal Halladay some place far away. That would be a win for the Yankees too (as long as he doesn?t end up in Boston).Obtaining Roy Halladay would solve a lot of problems. He the Yankee rotation would be more consistent and be the best in baseball; in fact it would be one of the best we have seen in the majors in a long time. He would give the Yankees a rotation that can get them to the playoffs and beyond. His presence in the rotation and the ability to pitch very deep into ball games will take a lot of pressure off an over-worked bullpen and help keep the bullpen arms fresh and ready for the rest of the season while keeping them effective.The Blue Jays would be smart to try and dump Vernon Wells? ridiculous contract on someone, but I would not take him in a deal for Roy Halladay. I will not deal Phil Hughes or Jesus Montero and would like not to deal Joba Chamberlain because I would like to think he will be good one day. Anyone else is fair game, but I still don?t think the Blue Jays will deal him within the division. JP Richardi has already said that, in fact, he has yet to return a phone all that Brian Cashman placed inquiring about Roy Halladay back on Wednesday.Roy Halladay does have a no-trade clause because he is a ten year veteran that has spent five or more years with the same ball club so he would have to sign off on any deal. But from what everybody has been saying it seems like he just wants to go anyplace where he can win. He has specifically mentioned the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies.JP Ricciardi is doing the right thing by trying to deal Roy Halladay now. Teams will give up less next year because they know he has to deal him because he will not resign. Hopefully the Blue Jays learned from how the Twins screwed up a couple of winters ago when they waited too long to deal Johan Santana a got basically nothing in return. I think Halladay will be dealt before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Ultimately I believe he will end up in Philadelphia. Originally I thought he would be a St. Louis Cardinal but they don?t seem too thrilled about giving up there top prospects. The Philadelphia Phillies are the front runners right now.

The Red Sox will definitely try to make a run and swing a deal for Roy Halladay. For the last couple of years we have been hearing about the great Clay Buchholz down in triple a, but it seems he is just gathering dust with the occasional spot start here and there. If the Red Sox are realistic, I think they would deal him in a heartbeat. The Toronto Blue Jays would also ask for top hitting prospect in the Red Sox system, Lars Anderson. Lars Anderson is supposed to be a promising prospect so I?m not sure how willing the Red Sox would be to deal him. And I am certainly not sure if the Red Sox would be willing to deal Clay Bucholz and Lars Anderson and then throw in prospect Michael Bowden. The Red Sox might be willing to throw in a lower level pitching prospect, which would include someone such as Nick Hagadone or Daniel Bard. Roy Halladay would give the Red Sox a huge advantage in any playoff series because they could run out him, Beckett, and Lester not to mention they would be World Series favorites this year and next year.

The Angels are another team that has an abundance of starting pitching prospects that they could use to get a trade done for Roy Halladay.Their best prospect would be an outfielder named Peter Bourjos. Bourjos is a stud on defense and I believe that his name would have to be the starting point for the Blue Jays if the Angels were serious about making a deal. Of course after him the Angels would have to add on at least one pitcher, and they have many. The Blue Jays could choose from pitchers Jordan Walden, Trevor Reckling, Sean O?Sullivan, or Kevin Jepsen. The Blue Jays might also like the top catching prospect in the Angels organization, Hank Conger. The Blue Jays could choose to ask the Blue Jays for the 25 year old second basemen Howie Kendrick. Howie Kendrick has batting-title ability but struggled very badly this season. He was swinging at everything and couldn?t hit a breaking ball for his life. He was sent to the minors where he hit well above .300 and appeared to have gotten his stroke back. He was called up and has gotten a hit in all except two games I think, including a three hit game against the Yankees; he has something like a .500 career batting average against the Yankees.I don?t know if the Jays would even consider taking Howie Kendrick, especially with the emergence of Aaron Hill at second base. I?ve always liked Kendrick and like I said, he has batting title up-side, it?s just a matter of whether he can capitalize on his potential. If the Blue Jays would be willing to take Kendrick, the prospect price should drop and a deal might get done.

If the Los Angeles Dodgers were to add Roy Halladay their rotation they would have an excellent crop of pitchers and maybe the best rotation in the league. It wouldn?t make any sense for the Dodgers to deal Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley but Toronto?s asking price might start there. The Toronto Blue Jays might ask for Matt Kemp, in which case I would advise the Dodgers to walk away. No way should the Dodgers even consider dealing Matt Kemp. Kemp is a stud and will be a perennial all-star in center field for years to come. The Dodgers have enough pitching prospects in their system to get a deal done with Toronto. With two good outfielders already, one of them a future star (and Manny Ramirez), the Dodgers could trade top prospect out fielding prospect Andrew Lambo. After Lambo there are many pitchers on the farm that the Blue Jays could choose from. The Blue Jays would likely ask for two of those prospects. The players they will have to choose from are James McDonald, Ethan Martin, Josh Lindblom, Scott Elbert, Chris Withrow, and Nathan Eovaldi. There is no doubt that the Dodgers have the prospects to make a deal for Roy Halladay as long as the Blue Jays don?t ask for Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, or Chad Billingsley.

The Brewers have inquired about the Toronto Blue Jay ace Roy Halladay. Last year the Brewers swung a deal for CC Sabathia. That was an excellent move as Sabathia had a MVP like performance the rest of the season and carried the Brewers into the post season. I do not think that the Brewers will want to offer up more of their top prospects again but the Blue Jays have already said they want the team?s two best prospects. Any deal would have to begin with their two best hitters, Mat Gamel and Brett Lawrie. Most likely, according to Baseball America, Alcides Escobar is their best prospect. Escobar is an average hitter and a great defensive short stop. The Brewers do not have many pitching prospects. They do have 26 year old Manny Parra. He was sent down to the minors after being horrendous this year. He was called back up and had a great start before the all-star break. I do not think that the Blue Jays would consider taking Parra, mostly because they probably don?t consider him a prospect, or a good one for that matter. I do not think that the Brewers will be able to put a deal together that would blow the Blue Jays away. If they did get the deal done it would no doubt include Escobar, Gamel or Lawrie and Salome.

St. Louis Cardinals could definitely use Roy “Doc” Halladay tremendously. Besides that, the Blue Jays probably wouldn’t mind dealing him there because the Blue Jays aren’t seeing the St. Louis Cardinals anytime soon and probably wont as long as Roy Halladay is there. (He will be a free agent after next season in which case he will probably be a Yankee). The Cardinals already have Adam Wainwright, who has been tremendous for them this season and especially of late. Wainwright gives the St. Louis Cardinals a chance to win every time he hits the hill and with a great offense behind him, powered by Albert Pujols, I don’t see it just being a fluke. Roy Halladay would thrive with that offense behind him. He’d probably win 25 games next year with an earned run average of under 1.50 if he made the move to the National League. Any deal for Halladay would most likely include the Blue Jays asking for 23 year old major league prospect Colby Rasmus. Rasmus, centerfielder, has been the top prospect in the bird’s system for the past few years and has been pretty successful in the majors this year. The next piece of the puzzle would be third base prospect Brett Wallace and outfielding prospect Daryl Jones. The Blue Jays have already expressed interest in both of those two young prospects. Wallace a better average hitter than Daryl Jones but Jones is the more athletic one and has a boat load of speed. I can’t imagine that the Toronto Blue Jays won’t want a pitching prospect in return, so they might also ask for one of the top two starting pitching prospects in the St. Louis Cardinal’s system. Their names are Jess Todd and Clayton Mortenson. Jess Todd is projected to eventually be a number two starter and Clayton Mortenson is projected to eventually be a number three starter. A deal for Mr. Roy Halladay from the St. Louis Cardinals would probably look something like this: Colby Rasmus plus Brett Wallace or Daryl Jones plus Jess Todd or Clayton Mortenson.I don’t know whether or not the Cardinals will be willing to deal that much young talent but acquiring Roy Halladay would make them instant World Series favorites. Colby Rasmus probably will be a good major league center fielder for years to come and in addition the Sr. Louis Cardinals would have to give up two more pretty good prospects. I think the appeal of what Roy Halladay could do in the National League and a very good chance another World Series title would convince the Cardinals to get a deal done.The Mets are definitely father from making the playoffs than any other team that would go after Roy Halladay however, the addition of Roy Halladay could make them contenders in the National League East if the rest of the team is able to come back healthy enough to give him a couple of runs a game. Also, Roy Halladay is also under contract for one more year, so the Mets will also have him for next year, when presumably the team will be healthy. That would give them a rotation of Roy Halladay and Johan Santana, those are the two best pitchers in baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays want each teams two best prospects in any deal so the Mets would have to start with Fernando Martinez. Fernando Martinez has struggled in the major leagues this year but is still a young prospect with some promise. Not to mention he had a trial by fire when they threw him in there after all of the injuries. The next best hitting prospect in the system is shortstop Wilmer Flores. Those two guys are two pretty good prospects, and I?m not sure the Jays would swap out either for Nick Evans. If the Mets were to give up those two guys I don?t think they would also give Toronto Mike Pelfrey as well. They will probably have to give up at least one pitching prospect. Toronto will likely choose between Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, Brad Holt, Bobby Parnell and Eddie Kunz. If the Toronto Blue Jays are completely set on trading Roy Halladay this year and do not receive a better offer from anyone else, they might do trade that included Fernando Martinez, Jonathon Niese, and Bobby Parnell. A deal with the Mets would also depend on whether or not the Mets would want to trade hitting prospects or pitching prospects, and whether or not they want to deal Mike Pelfrey.

It is very improbable that the Yankees get a deal done for the best pitcher in the league, Mr. Roy ?Doc? Halladay. I am giving it a fifty percent chance that Roy Halladay is dealt at all. I would also give it a one percent chance that he is traded within the division. The last thing that the Toronto Blue Jays would want to do is trade Roy deal Halladay to the Yankees and then have to face the best pitcher in the league a bunch of times a year when they play the Yankees, and you know they will line Halladay up to make sure that he is pitching against Toronto. Trading Halladay within the division, whether it is to the Yankees or the Red Sox wound be a terrible thing for the Blue Jays to do, even if they are getting a boat load of prospects because Roy Halladay is most of the reason why Toronto is starting to get their fan base back and trading him to one of the two teams those fans hate the most would no doubt drive some away, at least for the rest of the 2009 campaign. If Halladay is dealt, it will probably be to a national league team or an American league team on the west coast, someone the Toronto Blue jays won?t see (at least they will be dealing him out of the county no matter where they deal him (get it, because the Blue Jays play in Toronto, which is in Canada, and every other team in the United States)). Ill get back to the Yankees chances after I take a look at the other top suitors.Roy ?Doc? Halladay is a type-A player, meaning that he would fetch the first two draft picks of which ever team signs him for the Blue Jays. Therefore, the Blue Jays would want two type A prospects in return for the best pitcher in the league. The Blue Jays and J.P. Richardi already said that the will go hard after the top two prospects of any team that tries to deal for Halladay. They said he will not be dealt unless they are blown away with a deal. So let?s take a look at where negotiations would start for the teams that are front runners.

The Yankees only have 3 World Champion players on their team. Their names are Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. Those players have something special and I would trust any of them in a big situation over Mark Teixeira or Alex Rodriguez. There?s just something special about them, you know they will come through. Like the other day when the Yankees had the bases loaded and nobody out Jeter and Posada both got on base and up came Mark Teixeira. He had a pretty good at bat but ultimately made out without getting the runner home. Then Alex Rodriguez came up and grounded into a double play. That was a key moment when the Yankees were losing 4-2 in the seventh and could have easily taken the lead after already loosing the series and being on the verge of getting swept. It?s times like those where I would rather take a Jeter, Posada or Youkilis over anybody. Derek Jeter is having one of the best seasons of his career and Jorge Posada is still one of the game?s best catchers at the age of 37 and Mariano Rivera is as great as ever. These three key Yankees are still championship-caliber players in 2009 and I?m not sure anyone else on the team is.The Yankees can win right now with the hitting they have but I?m not sure they have the pitching for it. Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte are way to inconsistent and are not giving the Yankees a chance to win when the head to the hill. Wang is probably a moot point for the rest of the year and Sergio Mitre certainly isn?t the answer.The Yankee bullpen has been over used this season due to the inconsistencies of the pitching staff. They put in 283.1 innings. Only three American league teams have used their pen more often, the Baltimore Orioles, The Oakland Athletics, and the Cleveland Indians. Those are three pretty bad teams with pretty bad pitching. There are two ways to approach this. The Yankees could add another bullpen arm or acquire a good starting pitcher.There are many teams looking to deal a bullpen arm, some closers and some relievers. Brian Cashman seems optimistic about the return of Dimaso Marte, but I am skeptical myself.There are also a bunch of teams that would sell starting pitchers in this type of market, when the young player under control for a while is desirable by smaller market teams.I?ll touch upon different trade options in my next post.

Victor Martinez said he couldn?t see himself leaving Cleveland and that he wants to retire and Indian. His name has popped up in trade rumors all season because of his great bat from the catcher?s position. The Indians would want a stunning offer to move him and it is very unlikely that they do.Some people are saying that a Roy Halladay trade is more likely to happen during the winter. That would make much sense for the Jays organization because Halladay?s value is higher now and will not be in a contract year until next year. Halladay does not have an exclusive list of teams that he would only except trade to and would not mind pitching in the National league. Could you imagine him in the national league? Could you imagine 9 innings every time out with a sub 1.50 ERA? Because that?s what Halladay would do. He guesses there is a 50% shot that he gets dealt. He said the most important thing for him at this point in his career is winning. Many players are already speaking out in order to campaign for their team to get Halladay.Francisco Rodriguez doesn?t like baseball! The Met?s closer better known as K-Rod said he enjoys the game less than he did growing up but realizes it?s a business. That?s a brilliant thing to say when you just signed a huge deal and your team is hovering in fourth place when you were supposed to make the playoffs.Edwin Jackson isn?t bitter about what went down with him and Tampa Bay when he was there. I?m sure the Rays are kicking themselves for giving up too early because Jackson is having a great season and has some of the best numbers in the league right now.Pedro Martinez will be taking a physical for the Philadelphia Phillies today. He will be pitching out of the bullpen for them if he passes. Good for Pedro for getting back into the game all though he did sort of pull a Roger Clemens by not coming back until half way through the season. The Mets and Met fans would be devastated if Pedro Martinez is what ultimately keeps them out of the playoffs.Mark Buehrle said he would like to wear a Cardinal?s jersey for one day. I?m not sure if you can read much into that. What pitcher wouldn?t wan to a team that will give you great run support every time out? Not to mention it is a great city with great fans.Jay Bruce will miss a few weeks due to an injury. This was supposed to be Bruce?s break out year, formerly dubbed the best hitting prospect in the league, the power numbers were there for Bruce so far this season but the batting average has been very disappointing.The Padres should be shopping Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell, especially Bell who definitely will not draw as big of a package next year. Gonzalez?s value will always be there but they should at least see what he can fetch no while his value is at its peak. The closer he gets to free agency the less people will be willing to pay for him.Manny Acta was fired as manager of the Washington Nationals. I know the team has a terrible record but this move is kind of a head scratcher, I mean, what do you expect? They have the worst players in the league despite a few good ones. There is a small possibility that the Mets might give Acta a call if they decide to fire Jerry Manual during the season.

The Yankees benched Alex Rodriguez today. They said it was because of fatigue, but one might think it was due to the fact that Rodriguez is slumping. Then again, his slumping could be due the the fact that he is tired. This is his spring training technically, and technically this would be the end of spring training if it was his spring training. Players usually tiered out toward the end of spring training despite having a bunch off days off, not playing as hard, and not playing as much and as long. Arod has been playing full games, nine straight at one point, and playing in real ballgames. Maybe the couple of days off will refresh him and he will go on one of his hitting surges. The Yankees should be able to survive two games against the Marlins without him. Then again, they couldn't survive three games against the Washington Nationals with him. But what are you going to do?

The Yankees have informed Pedro Martinez that they will not sign him. Yankee Universe just breathed a sigh of relief. I don?t think the Yankees were ever serious about thinking about bringing in Pedro Martinez, arguably the most hated opponent of the past two generations. It may have been a smoke screen for another deal, but who knows. Pedro says that he is in ?tippy-top shape?. I?m not sure what that means but I guess he has been watching himself over the winter and spring. Just a Mango and an Advil right? Along with the Yankees, the Texas Rangers, Milwaukie Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals also watched him pitch today. I would assume The Rangers would be interested, though they have been rumored to be in on Ben Sheets if he returns healthy sometime in July. Texas is actually competing so it would make sense to bring in another veteran to add some stability to the rotation. Milwaukie makes sense with the struggling rotation, as well as St. Louis. Bothe clubs could easily compete. I still think Pedro will have to go to the National League in order to have any kind of success. I don?t think it will be possible for him to pitch well in the American League anymore.Scott Boras is speaking out on Magglio Ordonez saying there was no compelling reason for the Tigers to bench him. Boras will likely file a grievance saying that the Tigers are only benching him to avoid paying him his 18 million dollar 2010 option which he gets if he gets a certain number of plate appearances.Jim Leyland had his contract extended by the Detroit Tigers organization. Barring a firing or retirement, he will be the manager through 2011. This is good news; Leyland is one of the best managers in the game. He is a very old school, tough manager.Brandon Webb has had a setback and now they are saying he could miss the whole season. Webb made one start this season after being denied a contract extension. It?s a shame; Webb was a great pitcher for a few years, perennial Cy Young candidate. Hopefully he will bounce back next season.

Tom Glavine has decided that he will not pitch in 2009. Glavine was rehabbing on the disabled list for the Braves for a while but was released in order to make room for Nate McLouth after the Braves acquired him. Glavine was a bit upset with the Atlanta organization because they trotted him out to pitch a minor league game forty minutes from Atlanta and they sold out the game. The AAA team never sells out so it was obviously because of Glavine, but they had him go out there even though they knew he would be released the next day. Glavine called out the team for using him and since then the organization has apologized and both sides are fine. Glavine deciding to take the year off leaves Pedro Martinez as the only guaranteed hall of fame available. Pedro has been watched by the Rays Cubs and Yankees. The Rays considered bringing him in as a reliever but they could not meet Pedro?s demands. The Cubs are very interested and are trying to work out a deal but are not sure they could meet Pedro?s demands. I would assume the Yankees would be looking at him as a reliever as well but I?m not sure how much id like that move. How could you bring probably the most hated player by Yankee fans onto the team when he is way past his prime? I know they brought Clemens in but he was a team removed from Boston and was still in his prime. The Mets should be the ones looking at Pedro and they would be fools if they weren?t. The Mets could use another starter and reliever. Pedro would probably like to rejoin the Mets as well. Talks went cold on resigning Pedro this winter because Pedro was asking for too much money where as the Mets wanted to offer an incentive based deal. Pedro did not believe he should have to pitch for his money because of his track record and both sides pretty much just stopped talking. I?m sure Omar Minaya has kept in contact just as a backup plan. But you have to ask yourself how much Pedro has left. Can he be a quality four or even five starters? And could he make the transition to be an effective reliever even though he doesn?t through that hard anymore? I?m not sure he could work out n the bullpen but he might be able to start. Then again, if he started you would probably only be able to get five or six innings out of him before going to the bullpen, otherwise you would risk hurting him.Nick Johnson is a free agent after this year and is the most likely Washington National to be dealt. Johnson has always been a pretty good player and hitter, often coveted by other teams at the trade deadline ever since the Yankees dealt him away. Johnson would be a match in many places. The Mets should defiantly take a look a t him and inquire on how much it would take to get him. He would be a nice addition to that team to play first base. The Nationals said that Adam Dunn?s price would be astronomical. He?s at the top of the league in homeruns and walks like he always is; he?s also at the top in strikeouts like he always is. Dunn?s never been an average hitter but boy can he hit home runs. Last year around the trade deadline the Blue Jays general Manager said that Adam Dunn doesn?t care and doesn?t try. That was a very offensive comment especially with Dunn testing the free agent market last winter. Dunn is a great hitter and could be an option for many places because he can sort of play the outfield as well as first base. However, I do not think he will be dealt because the Nationals will ask too much.Danys Baez and George Sherrill are likely to be dealt from Baltimore. Sherrill was an all-star closer but has been spitting save opportunities this year. I?m sure there will be many teams going after him including the Angels and possibly the Yankees. I don?t think /Baltimore would ever trade him to the Yankees, unless they gave up a lot more than asking price.The Diamondbacks are looking to deal free agent to be Doug Davis and Chad Tracey. Davis already expressed that he would be willing to sign an extension with Arizona if they offered a contract before the end of the season, but if they didn?t he would test the market. I?m sure there will be a lot of teams after Davis who could be a good starter for many competing teams. The Mets will likely be involved on him. Chad Tracey is interesting because he is a good player but has struggled this year. He can play first and third and defiantly has a high ceiling if you were to have him stick around for more than one year. I could see the Mets making a package deal that involved both Doug Davis and Chad Tracey. That deal would help the Mets tremendously, it just depends how much the Mets are willing to give up. Would Arizona ask for Fernando Martinez or John Niece? And would the Mets deal one of them? They are defiantly two names to watch this July.One major league executive believes that Brian Giles should get released. I think we might see him dealt in July.The Padres will most certainly be sellers once again this summer. The big fish Jake Peavy will not be dealt because of his injury but Cla Meredith, Chris Young, and Kevin Kouzmanoff could be. Meredith has had a good season and could catch a decent prospect in return. A bunch of teams will probably be after Kevin Kouzmanoff. Chris Young has had a pretty bad year and is currently on the fifteen day disabled list so I?m not sure any team would touch him.The Royals could deal reliever Ron Mahay who was coveted in July and December a few years ago. He would be a good option for a lot of teams. I wouldn?t be surprised if the Yankees take a look based on their past interest. The Mets will probably take a look as well.The Houston Astros aren?t likely to sell at this point and the big chip they had was Roy Oswalt but they would have to sell low on him because of the bad seasons he is having. Some believe that Olswalt just needs a change of scenery but I do not believe he will be dealt anyway. If the Astros do decide to have a fire sale in July, Ivan Rodriguez, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Valverde could be moved. Pudge is an interesting candidate but I don?t think many teams would touch unless they are really desperate because of his failure last year when he was dealt to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth. LaTroy Hawkins has had a great season filling in for Jose Valverde, but still, I?m not sure many team s would give up much for him. He will probably be dealt though. Jose Valverde is probably less likely to be dealt than Hawkins because he is coming of an injury and stint on the disabled list; he is also better and more valued by the Astros. So the high price combined with the injury will probably scare some buyers away from the once top closer.One official said that the Pirates would love to deal Jack Wilson. Wilson has always been a second half hitter and can play multiple positions. I think he might be one of the first name to be dealt as long as the Pirate don?t ask for a king?s ransom, they usually don?t.Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee are not going anywhere, unless someone offers everything they?ve got, but Mark Derosa is almost certainly to be dealt. I wonder if the Indians would field offers for Grady Sizemore. They would be fools if they did but he is one the best players in the league and would fish a hefty package.If the Athletics don?t play well in the upcoming weeks they will almost certainly deal Matt Holliday. Holliday is coveted by many and would fish a decent package in return despite his falloff season thus far.The Red Sox said that they aren?t in a hurry to deal Brad Penny. Penny will almost certainly be dealt though; I don?t see Boston keeping him around for the bullpen.Delmon Young is also available, I wonder if a team would be willing to give up enough to get him. He has great power but strikes out way too much. Not too long ago he was dealt for Matt Garza, Matt Garza obviously turned out to be the better of the two. I think there will be a few teams going after Young, it wouldn?t surprise me anyway.

The Tigers have benched Magglio Ordonez indefinitely. He hasn?t had a terrible season, with something like a .270 average but his power has disappeared. He only has two home runs on the season. Ordonez is due 18 million next year if he makes a certain number of appearances. Ordonez has had a great career; it?s a shame to see him fading. But it was going to happen soon or later. The tigers have been in a funk lately, Ordonez is getting benched, they just got the news that Carlos Guillen might not return this season, and they just placed Dontrelle Willis back on the disabled list with an anxiety disorder. The Guillen loss will be huge because that will leave the Tigers with a power deficit. They may need to make a deal for a bat. They should make a run at Matt Holliday although I?m not sure how well he would hit in that ballpark. Last year they made the deadline deal for Ken Griffey Jr. Dontrelle Willis has just been a mess since that one good year in Florida. We all thought that the Tigers pulled off a steal getting both Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, but it is starting to look like Cabrera was the only part of that deal that worked out. Cabrera is a great hitter and is having a great season. I would take Cabrera on my team any day. He; has great power and is a great hitter. He is definitely an MVP candidate, and he might even be leading if Joe Mauer didn?t have an absurd .425 batting average. Mauer is having a great season as well. He will be a free agent next year and the Red Sox and Yankees will probably both be going after Mauer hard. Mauer is a batting title hitter and a good catcher. Jorge Posada?s contract will be over by then and if he comes back he will probably be back for his bat and have to DH, filling the hole Hideki Matsui will be leaving most likely after this year. Mauer might not be able to catch his whole career and many believe he might make the transition to first base in a few years in order to preserve his bat. The Red Sox could definitely use Mauer. He would absolutely rake in Fenway Park and the Sox will need a catcher to replace Varitek who will most likely leave after this season.Many around the league don?t think that the Philadelphia Phillies will pick up a bat. I think that depends on whether or not the Raul Ibanez injury is serious. He is on the 15 day disabled list. The Phillies have had some bad luck with injuries; Brad Lidge is on the disabled list as well. The Phillies have struggled a little this season, and could be in better shape than they are. They have been terrible at home, and you think they should thrive in that bandbox in Philly. I think they are another Matt Holliday candidate as well. Holliday would hit great in that park.On an XM Satellite Radio show, Jonathan Paplebon said he would play for the Yankees. As good as he is, I don?t think the Yankees would ever consider it even when Rivera is gone. I don?t think that the fans would accept it at all. I would like to see him leave Boston though. Go far away, maybe to the Dodgers, play for Joe Torre.Chris Young will join Jake Peavy on the disabled list. Young has been having a bad year, losing his last six starts or something like that. Peavy is out twelve weeks. The Padres are going to be sellers, but their biggest piece of trade bait was Jake Peavy and he will obviously not be dealt this season. I wonder if they?d be willing to deal Adrian Gonzalez. He?s a great hitter and has a lot of power. Brian Giles will draw some attention as well, he always does in July.Brian Cashman says he doesn?t foresee a major move because he is hoping Jose Molina, Dimaso Marte, and Xavier Nady will return soon. I don?t think we will see Marte for a while though. Mark Derosa?s name has been flying around in conjunction with the Yankees and he would be a great utility addition for the Yankees because he can play pretty much anywhere. Ramiro Pena can serve the same purpose but Derosa can play the outfield and is a better hitter, he has some power as well. He could hit some homers in the new Yankee stadium. I would like to see them make a push for Huston Street or Heath Bell.

The Yankees will be taking on the nationals for the second time this series. The Yankees were finally able to pull off the win last night after it looked like they were going to get shut out. They simply could not hit Martis. The Yankees always have trouble hitting those kinds of pitchers. The will go up ageist some guy nobody?s ever heard of and get shut out. You can?t do that, teams should probably just start bringing guys up from the minors to face the Yankees. The Yankees game plan going in to the game was to work the count and get into the bullpen. The starter shut them down, but once Washington went to the bullpen and brought in Ron Villone, the Yankees launched their comeback. Mark Teixeira had the crucial runs batted in. So the Yankees were able to pull out a win in a game they had no excuse for loosing. Chen-Ming Wang will start today?s game. Joe Girardi has already said that Wang needs to start earning his spot in the rotation, and rightly so, but Wang showed some improvement his last time out. He had electric stuff against Boston; he just couldn?t find the plate. Wang still needs to build up arm strength. Putting him in the bullpen will probably ruin him for the season because he will not get enough work and his stuff doesn?t really translate in to bullpen stuff. The Yankees and Yankee fans need to remember that Wang won nineteen games two years in a row and was on pace to break that last year if he didn?t get hurt. He probably would have won the Cy Young award last year if he didn?t get hurt. Hopefully he will have a great start, or at least show improvement. When asked if Joe Girardi was just looking for improvement or was looking for Wang to be lights-out, Girardi said he was just looking for improvement. If Wang could chug out a quality start, I think all of us will be pleased. Especially since the Yankee lineup should be able to win the game in the bullpen innings. He will be pitching on six days rest, which isn?t always good for sinker-ballers. Sinker-ballers usually do better on short rest because it gives their sinker more movement. Wang will also be pitching on an adrenalin rush, his first child, Justin was just born. I guess the Wang family didn?t go with the traditional name, but never the less, congratulations. Wang has a 3.75 ERA in 11 interleague games in his career. He has faced the Washington Nationals once and suffered a bad loss. He lost three to two on June 18, 2006 at RFK Stadium. Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off two-run homerun. The Yankees had the lead two-one going into the ninth inning. After the loss Wang slammed his glove into the dugout and was very upset, showing more emotion than Wang has ever shown. Then manager and pitching coach Joe Girardi and Ron Guidry went over to comfort him. Shockingly, Wang hasn?t won a game since June 15, 2008. He threw five scoreless innings against Houston in Houston until he suffered a season ending foot injury when rounding third and scoring on a base hit.The Yankees will be taking on John Lannan, who is a native New Yorker from Long Beach, N.Y. He attended Siena College after starring for Chaminade High. He has only given up one earned run on nine hits in his last 15 innings. Lannan has been great at home, with an earned run average under two, but has been poor on the road, with an earned run average above six. The Yankees should be able to hit this guy but once again, the Yankees tend not to hit these kinds of pitchers. I will be very disappointed if they don?t beat him.The Yankees have won three of their last four games as well as twenty-two of their last thirty-two. The Yanks have won fifteen of their last twenty games at the New Yankee Stadium. They are four and three in interleague play thus far this season. The Yankees have had an astonishing twenty-two come from behind victories in thirty-seven wins. Some of those wins were amazing too.Alex Rodriguez has been struggling lately. Alex Rodriguez has eight hits in forty-eight at bats in June. That is a batting average of .167 He does however have three RBI in his last nine games. Joe Girardi has acknowledge that Alex Rodriguez has not taken off yet because this is his spring training, remember that he missed about a month due to that hip injury. He also hasn?t had that many days off. Girardi did admit that he may have pushed it starting him nine games in a row against the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the New York Mets, but you have to have him in there because he can change the complexion of a game with one swing of the bat. Rodriguez did have a game off on Monday wit the rest of the team, and there are a lot of built in off days that will prevent him from starting more than six games in a row for a while. I agree with Girardi?s logic, and I am not worried about Alex Rodriguez?s struggles because this is his spring training. He will get on one of his streaks and start being Alex Rodriguez before we know it. He doesn?t get that average up to .270 by the all-star break, maybe then we should worry.Talk about home cooking, Mariano Rivera has successfully converted 32 consecutive save opportunities at home. His last blown save in the Bronx came on Aug. 13, 2007. River also climbed the Yankees all time strikeout list. He is currently sitting on 967, tied for eleventh with Allie Reynolds. He is sitting behind Roger Clemens who has 1,014, and Al Downing who has 1,028. Rivera might be able to move into sole position of eight places, ahead of Downing, if he can pick up enough strikeouts in this year and the next. I think Rivera will retire after next year, when his contract ends.Robinson Cano is having a career season. He is finally getting his batting title stroke back. He got off to a bad start in 2007, but picked it up tremendously in the second half of the season. He had a below average year last year. Last year he had a lot of problems, he swung at everything and barley walked. He was also a head case, especially on defense. This year he is being more patient, working the count, and waiting for a good pitch to hit. This will probably be a career year for Cano. He is also having a spectacular year on defense. He looks really smooth and is not making errors, making a lot of great defensive plays getting to balls he used to give up on. He has nine hits in his last sixteen at bats. During that span he has six runs batted in and five extra-base hits.Phil Coke has been good in a struggling bullpen lately. In Phil Coke?s last six appearances he has pitched five and two-thirds innings giving up two hits, zero runs, zero homeruns and two walks and struck out four. Coke has great stuff and he will play a large role in the bullpen, especially since Dimaso Marte might need surgery to find out what is wrong with his elbow. The Yankees think very highly of Coke. In fact, if it was necessary they were going to slot him into the rotation. Then they went and signed Sabathia and Burnett and brought back Pettitte. But that shows you how good the Yankees think Coke is.The Yankees did not hit a home run last night. That is quit the surprise for a park that averages about four homeruns a game. The only other home game that they did not hit a homerun at home was May 6 against the Tampa Bay Rays. They have hit at least one homerun in the other thirty-one home games.The Yankees are ten and one in games Brian Bruney has pitched in. Bruney can be a great set up guy if he can stay healthy. The Yankees are being extra careful because he has gone on the disabled list twice this season and missed most of last season. When Bruney is on he shortens the game by ensuring the bridge to Mariano Rivera.Derek Jeter was sent for an MRI on his sore ankle today. It came back negative but he was held out of the lineup as a precaution. Jeter needed a day off anyway. Jeter told Girardi that he was playing but Jeter could be in a full body cast and still try to get in the lineup. Ramiro Pena will get the start at short.

The Yankees will be taking on the Nationals today. There is really no excuse for them not to win at least two games. Winning three is really expected though. The Rays have already swept the Nationals so if the Yankees fall asleep and don?t win at least two, they will fall behind in the American League East. The Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays will certainly take two and the Red Sox could easily take three. The home runs should be flying out of the ballpark with this amateur Nationals pitching.Going into this series, the Yankees are two games out of first place in the American League East. They?ve won twenty-one of their last thirty-one but they are only .500, seven and seven, in their last fourteen. They are also only two and four in their last six. Washington has lost three straight and twelve of their last fifteen. And if that isn?t bad enough, they are six and twenty-three on the road this season. So, maybe they?re due for a good series, but that would be no excuse for the Yankees loosing the series.CC Sabathia will be pitching the first game. We should see a great performance out of him. There aren?t many hitters to navigate around in this lineup, mostly Adam Dunn, Nick Johnson, Ryan Zimmerman, Elijah Dukes and Christian Guzman. We should see a nice seven or eight inning performance out of CC Sabathia, maybe even a complete game. Once again, there is no reason why the Yankees shouldn?t win this game with Sabathia going up against Shairon Martis. Martis has five wins but an earned run average above five.We?ll probably see a bunch of familiar faces this series. Some former Yankees now in Washington would include Nick Johnson, Alberto Gonzalez, Ron Villone and Will Nieves. Ron Villone is actually having a nice year. He has a 0.96 earned run average in twenty-two appearances. He has only allowed thirteen hits in eighteen and two-thirds innings. He has walk ten batters and struck out nine. It seemed like he was finished a couple of years ago when the only good he was to Joe Torre was a couple of left-handed hitters here and there after Mike Myers failed to get the job done anymore.The Yankees have won fourteen of their last nineteen home games. That could be because of the ?home field advantage? that some are stating, giving the Yankees power lineup a significant advantage. Or it could be because its summer time and fans are actually starting to show up to the games. The stadium has seemed a little louder lately, and the seats behind the plate have been filled more often than not, unlike at the start of the season.Over the first eight years of interleague play, the Yankees were ninety-three and sixty-three. Since then they are thirty-three and twenty-seven, failing to take advantage of inferior opponents such as the San Francisco Giants, The Pittsburgh Pirates, the Colorado Rockies, and the Houston Astros. The Red Sox done just the opposite, winning forty-two of their last sixty interleague games. This year the Yankees will face the Washington Nationals. Florida Marlins, Atlanta Braves, and the New York Mets.Derek Jeter is the king of interleague play, just like he is in the playoffs. Derek Jeter has two-hundred-ninety-three hits, eight-hundred-sixty-two at-bats and one-hundred-sixty-two runs scored in interleague play. All of those numbers are the most in interleague play among any player. He has a career .339 averages against the National League in interleague play. Derek Jeter had nine hits in his last eighteen at-bats. In that many at-bats, he has four runs batted in and four runs scored. He has been able to bring his batting average is up to .310 after a below average start.Nick Swisher is a story of ups and downs. He had one of the best starts any player could have, but had a terrible May and beginning of June. It seemed like he couldn?t get a hit, run the bases right, or field. Nick Swisher is 1has fifteen hits in his last forty-six at-bats in sixteen games. In that time he has eleven runs scored, eight runs batted in, fourteen walks, and eight extra-base hits.Hideki Matsui is has six hits in his last sixteen at-bats. He has two homers in that stretch with five runs batted in, five walks, and five runs scored. This is good for Matsui because he was struggling really badly. Matsui has always been a streaky hitter but before he broke his record for consecutive at-bats without a hit, which, granted, wasn?t that high to begin with, but he was struggling badly. Girardi said that Matsui will not play the outfield in a National League Park. This is to protect Matsui from putting extra stress on his knees, which he has worked on every day. Girardi did say that he would use Matsui to play the outfield in a double switch if necessary.Alex Rodriguez has been slumping. He only has eight hits in forty-five at-bats in June so far. He started the season going .260/.412/.584 in his first twenty-two games; he is at .178/.339/.356 in his last nine. Rodriguez hit a homerun against the Mets, so we can hope that that is the beginning of him coming around. He needs to get it going for the team. Maybe the Yankees struggles lately can be attributed to Alex Rodriguez?s struggles. Then again, the team usually struggles when your number four hitter is. But Mark Teixeira has been on a tear.After setting the record for most consecutive games without committing an error, the Yankees have committed at least one error in ten of their last twelve games. Last year the Yankees were thirty-two and thirty-one after sixty-three games. They had the same record in 2007 as well, but this year they have improved to thirty-six and twenty-seven this is great because it shows the Yankees are winning some of the early games they should be winning. Although they should have one a few more games, granted, they should have lost a few more as well.

Victor Martinez is off to a great start, hitting above .400. That means the Indians will likely be fielding offers for their 30 year old firstbasemen/ catcher. The Mets and Red Sox will probably and should try to swing a deal for him. The Mets just lost Carlos Delgado for an indefinite amount of time to hp surgery, Martinez would slide in nicely for the Mets catcher and firtbasemen needs. The Red Sox could use a Catcher and designated hitter. Jason Varetek doesn?t hit a lick except for against the Yankees. David Ortiz is doing terrible, further proving that he was nothing until he started juicing (yes I know he was never caught but it?s pretty much a fact). Martinez would no doubt command a premium package of prospects because the Indians could still be in the race in a wide open American league central. Martinez is a great player, all he needs to do is stay healthy. I don?t think his hot hitting will last if he plays too much at catcher, the position is just too exhausting and you break down over the course of the season. You can expect the Indians to take extra care of Martinez by paying him at first base and designated hitter more often. Rickie Weeks will miss the rest of the season with a severe wrist injury. That is a big blow to the Brewers. Weeks is a good player and his absence could cause the Brewers to miss the playoffs.The Mets will need to look for a replacement for Carlos Delgado. He will be out until at least the all-star break. Nick Johnson, Aubrey Huff, and Mark DeRosa are names that have been mentioned. I could see them going after Nick Johnson, who has always been coveted by the Mets organization. I would love for them to get Aubrey Huff away from the AL east, he would be a good player for the Mets, maybe even better than Delgado. He has more power than Delgado. I don?t see the Indians trading Mark Derosa.

The injured are starting to return. Wang made a big step towards returning to the majors as he threw a spectacular game in triple A, recording 12 groundouts. That means that the sinker is sinking and the slider is sliding. If Wang’s pitches regained their motion there is no reason why he can’t be the ace he has been his whole career. Wang’s return would come at just the right moment, with the Yankees finally starting to hit their stride offensively. Wang’s return means that the Yankees will have to make a decision on Phil Hughes. Hughes will make his next start on Tuesday no matter what because there is no way Wang could be ready by then. I could see the Yankees keep him up and put him in a struggling bullpen. They could teach him how to pitch at the major league level the old fashion way, in the bullpen. Sending Hughes down once again could damage his mental makeup and could make him want out of the organization. Most likely, Phil Hughes will take Andy Pettitte’s slot in the rotation next year. Hughes will make one more start and if he pitches well I think the Yankees will keep him up and use him out of the bullpen like they are doing with Alfredo Acevas. If he pitches poorly, the Yankees could use that as an excuse to send him down back to the minors. Brian Cashman was very pleased by what he saw out of Wang.Brian Bruney is almost back as well. He had an outing today in relief of Wang. Brian Cahman said Bruney looked healthy, and that is the important thing. He is coming off of an elbow injury. Bruney was unhittable until he got hurt. His injury was a big loss for the Yankees and they sure wish he was here now with the struggling bullpen.With Wang, Bruney, and eventually Posada all coming back, the Yankees could be an unstoppable force. I say that because if you look at the way they have been playing lately, multiply that by 1.5 and that’s how good they will be. Then once all of the pitchers and bullpen get on the same page, forget about it. Granted, they have been playing the Twins, but they also took two out of three from Baltimore and Toronto. They look great when they win and terrible when they lose.How ridiculous have the Yankees been playing lately? It really is unbelievable. I know they should be waiting until the last minute to win, but it really is amazing what they’ve been doing lately. Not only that, but they’re showing that they can make a comeback, and not just lie down and die when they fall behind early. They are really starting to hit their stride, and they are playing some of the best baseball they’ve played in years. They are getting the starting pitcher out of the game and beating up their opponent’s bullpen, just like Joe Torre’s Yankees used to do. Johnny Damon is doing amazing as well. No doubt it is because he is in a contract year but still, he his having a career year. It would be a shame if he plays like this all year and the Yankees don’t bring him back. He wants to play another five years until he’s 40.

Johnny Damon is in a contract year and is off to one of the best starts of his career. However, he does not expect to be back with the Yankees. If he keeps this up he will be due a big payday. Earlier this week, Damon said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees don’t bring him back, but he would like to say with the Yankees because it would be the best place for him and he believes he can be a winner, but at the same time, he says he understands how the free agent game works. With Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui coming off the books, it would make sense for the Yankees to bring back one f not both of them. The most logical one seems to be Damon because Matsui most likely has less time left due to his knees. Depending on how much money each want, I say bring back both of them. Matsui is a great hitter and might be looking for an above average deal, but I believe he would take a reduced deal because he really wants to be a Yankee and doesn’t really want to play anywhere else. He might be looking for something similar to what the Angels gave Bobby Abreu last winter. However, the Yankees could only bring back one because we know how much they love Matt Holliday and how much Holliday wants to be in New York. However Holliday is off to a slow start in Oakland, after leaving the hitter friendly confines of Coors Field in Colorado. There was a lot of speculation about whether or not Matt Holliday was the real deal or not, and it is starting to look like he’s not. Holliday's swing is perfect for the new Yankee Stadium. People have started to jokingly call it Coors Field East because of all the homeruns it has given up I believe it was 55 by the time yesterday’s game was over. Matt Holliday could thrive in the New Yankee Stadium. The fate of Damon and Matsui also rely on whether or not Xavier Nady makes a full recovery and can play well enough. I’m not sure, but I believe that Nady is a free agent as well. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner could affect the decision. Both players are playing great right now; a platoon situation with those two in center isn’t bad at all. The minor league stud prospect Austin Jackson will also have some say. It is projected that Jackson could be a starting outfielder by next year, if the Yankees fee completely comfortable with him playing every day, they will have more wiggle room in making there decision.The Yankees are looking for some long relief help, along with the Dodger, Twin, and Indians. Some names include Jose Valverde, Huston Street, Danys Baez, Russ Springer, and John Grabow. Valverde is an interesting name, he was a prime time closer a few years ago and is still a pretty good pitcher who could provide some relief and even close games when needed. Huston Street I another name like that. Street was on top of the world of relief not too long ago with the Athletics, and is still pretty young. He would be an interesting acquisition for the Yankees. He also could close games. He got off to a very poor start but has since had some great outings. His earned run average is starting to neutralize. Danys Baez is a journey man and I don’t believe he would be worth trading for. The same goes for Russ Springer and John Grawbow. Each one is an okay pitcher but not much better than what the Yankees have with Phil Coke and Jonathan Albaladejo. The Yankees bullpen should recover once Brian Bruney and Dimaso Marte come back. The bullpen is undoubtedly the weakest part of the Yankees right now. Some f the guys just can’t get it done.

May 16th: Yankees vs. TwinsJoba Chamberlain decided to change the way he was going to warm up for today’s game. He would warm up, sit down, and then throw to three simulated hitters in order to mentally prepare him, as if he was coming in as a reliever. Joba struck out the first batter quickly; the second batter worked the count, and then struck out, and the third batter grounded out to second. Chamberlain only threw 14 pitches and got a one two three inning. That was a vast improvement over his last two starts in which he gave up four and three runs in the first inning respectively. Chamberlain has struggled with keeping his pitch count down in previous starts.Derek Jeter worked a walk in his first at-bat in the first inning. Damon made out and then Jeter tried to steal second base. He got a nice jump but slid too early and was slowed down and thrown out. Jeter was seven for seven going into that attempt. The caught stealing proved costly because Mark Teixeira ended u ripping one that one-hopped of the right center field wall. Jeter might have been able to score on that hit had he not been thrown out stealing. He would have at least gotten to third base to give Alex Rodriguez a chance to drive him in on a sac fly. Instead, Alex grounded back to the pitcher and ended the inning.Joba Chamberlain walked the first batter of the second inning. The next batter worked the count and fouled off a few pitches and then lined a two out hit to right field. The next batter grounded to third base, Rodriguez made a nice play to his back hand side but the Yankees failed to turn the double play, leaving runners on first and second with one out. The next batter was up and flew out to center while the runner was trying to steal second. They had the double play set up but Brett Gardner threw it home instead of to first to get the force. However, Jeter with a heads up play called for the ball because the runner did not retouch second base after rounding. The Yankees got the out and ended the inning but the run counted. There was some controversy to the play as it appeared the runner had his foot on second base before he left to go back to first.Nick Swisher struck out to begin t bottom of the second. Swisher has been striking out way too much lately, after his hot start to the season. Robbie Cano flew out to shallow center for the second out. Melky Cabrera laced one to left field but Kubel made a good lay and the Yankees went down one two three.Chamberlain struck out the first batter of the third looking. Then Nick Punto looped one into shallow center. The next batter grounded one straight back, after Joba Chamberlain didn’t get it, it looked ke it would be a hit but Derek Jeter made it all the way to behind second base and got the runner at second. The next batter flew out to right field and ended the inning.Brett Garner led off the bottom of the third by hitting a slow roller that was fielded by Blackburn who threw Gardner out at first. Cervelli got called out on a check swing, he started walking down to first to sell the walk but the umpire didn’t bite. Jeter walked for the second time of the game on four pitches. Johnny Damon worked a walk, moving Jeter into scoring position and raising Blackburn’s pitch count to 50. Teixeira was up next and he hit a bomb to right center into the Yankee bullpen. Alex Rodriguez struck out looking on a full count to end the third inning. Joba Chamberlain gave up a leadoff homer to Joe Mauer, it was a bomb to monument park, the second one he hit there in the last two games. Joba walked the next batter. Kubel popped one up to foul territory in left but Johnny Damon over shot it and hit the wall hard. No damage was done because Chamberlain picked up the strikeout. He struck out the second batter as well and the third out was made in center field. So after it looked like things were going to fall apart for Chamberlain, after he gave up the homer and walk, he retired the next three in order.Swisher flew out to left on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth. Robbie Cano followed up with a ground out to the short stop, and Melky grounded one back to Blackburn to end the inning.The first batter of the fifth flew out to Johnny Damon and the second flew out to Gardner in center. Span elevated Joba’s pitch count and eventually worked a walk. Joba struck out the next batter for the final out but left the inning with his pitch count up to 87.Gardner grounded out to begin the bottom of the fifth. Cervelli hit one deep to the wall but it was caught as the left and center fielders collided. Jeter grounded out to end the inning.Joba Chamberlin walked the first batter of the sixth inning and fell behind 3-0 with the next batter. Joba battled back to 3-2 and got a fly out to center field. The next batter hit a weak ground ball to second base, Robbie Cano was only able to get one so he decided to take the runner out of scoring position by going to second. Chamberlain got a quick 0-2 count on the next hitter. After a few foul balls he go a fly out to right. Chamberlain left the inning having thrown his season high 108th pitch.Johnny Damon led off the bottom of the sixth by beating out an infield single. Mark Teixeira followed up with his third hit of the game. There were runners on first and second for Alex Rodriguez, but Alex struck out. Nick Swisher worked a 3-0 count but rounded into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning and the threat. I can barely watch Nick Swisher fail with runners in scoring position anymore. It was a nice story, his hot start and all, but I can’t wait for Xavier Nady to come back, if he does this season. Let’s hope so. Jose Veras came in to pitch the seventh inning. He walked the first batter. That’s been Veras’s problem the last two years, when he s off, he is off and cannot throw strikes. The next batter punched one to right field to make it first and second with no one out. At that point, Joe Girardi got the bullpen up. Nick Punto laid down a sacrifice bunt and was barely thrown out at first. Joe Girardi went to the bullpen to bring in Phil Coke. Coke got Span to pop up to Robbie Cano, not deep enough to score a run. Coke got the next batter to fly out to center, he got the job done by cleaning up Jose Veras’s mess.Robbie Cano grounded out to start the bottom of the seventh. Melky Cabrera followed up with a ground out of his own. Then Brett Gardner flew out in front of the track to end the inning. Phil Coke stayed in to pitch the eight inning. He got Mauer to ground back to him but then gave up the game tying home run to Justin Morneau, his second of the series. Coke got the next batter on strikes. Coke walked the next batter but the next batter lined one into right, scoring the run from first. Melky would have had him by a few steps but he overthrew the cut-off man, and the Twins took the lead. After that Girardi pulled Coke and went to Edwar Ramirez. Ramirez waked the first batter that he faced to make it runners on first and second. Ramirez got the third and final out by inducing a pop up to Robbie Cano. The inning was over but not before the damage was done. Hideki Matsui pinch hit for Francisco Cervelli to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Matsui came up with another clutch hit by hit a shot that just missed leaving the park and instead ended up a ground rule double. Girardi pinch ran Matsui with Ramiro Pena. Derek Jeter laid down a sacrifice bunt and was barely thrown out at first but he got Pena over to third. That brought up the hot Johnny Damon who had his hit streak broken last night. Damon did not get the job done as he grounded right back to Blackburn. That brought up the three-for-three Mark Teixeira who was responsible for the Yankees ‘ only three runs. He came through with a line drive to right, driving in the fourth run of the game and tying the game. Alex Rodriguez came up next. Teixeira got over to second on a wild pitch and Rodriguez worked a walk. Nick Swisher was up next and worked the count full but to no one’s surprise, flew out to right field to end the inning and the threat. Why was he batting fifth? I know Matsui wasn’t playing but Robbie Cano might have been the better play in the number five hole. Kevin Cash had to come in to play catcher because Cervelli was pinch hit for. Rivera came in to pitch the ninth. He struck out the first batter and got the second to ground out to second. Rivera got Joe Mauer to strike out looking. It was an impressive ninth inning for Rivera.Robbie Cano led off the bottom f the ninth with a ground out. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner followed up with ground outs of their own to send it into extras.Rivera only threw eleven pitches in the ninth so he stayed in to pitch the tenth. Morneau grounded one up the middle, Rivera took a stab at it but didn’t come up with it, he slowed it down too much and Jeter couldn’t get it. It was a bad play by Rivera. Then Kubel dunked one in-between Jeter and Gardner to make it first and second, nobody out. Rivera got the next batter to pop up. The next batter looped one into shallow right center but Gardner’s great speed allowed him to make a great play and save a run. Rivera got the next one to hit a slow-roller, Mo fielded and threw to first to end the inning.Kevin Cash led off the bottom of the tenth by striking out. Derek Jeter came up next and flew out to left. It was Johnny Damon’s turn but he popped up to end the tenth.Alfredo Acevas came in to pitch the eleventh. He got the first batter to fly out and got the second batter to ground out. Jeter made a nice play making a 360 and throwing out the runner.Mark Teixeira came up to lead off the bottom of the eleventh. He worked the count to 3-0 and walked. Alex Rodriguez came up next and hit a game winning home run.Alex Rodriguez had been struggling and Michael Kay was event questioning whether Alex Rodriguez should bunt. Cone and O’Neal both said that this could be chance for Alex to turn things around like Mark Teixeira did last night. Well he certainly did that. What has stood out to me about Alex is that he has taken a lot of pitches. I guess he is still getting his timing down; this is like spring training for him.There was a funny moment in the booth when Michael Kay sort of took a shot at John Sterling. Here’s how it went : (paraphrasing)O’NEAL: “He’s got a nickname now.”KAY: “Huh?”O’NEAL: “Well you just called him ‘The Gardner’”KAY: “No I said then Gardner”O’NEAL: “Oh” KAY: “No, we’ll listen over on the radio side for the nicknames.”

Round 1Matt Stafford went number one to the lions. That was expected and the deal went down late Saturday night to make it official. Stafford is boom or bust he has a gun for an arm but might not be able to handle the NFL. we will seeThe Rams went with Jason smith. there were a lot of smokescreens going on with them and Mark Sanchez. this guy is good and definitely a safe pick for the Rams. They needed to fill Orlando Paces shoes.Kansas City took Tyson Jackson way too early, they could have traded down. They think he will be Jason Seymor, this pick changed the draftSeattle must have been thrilled that Curry dropped to them. Curry was hands down the best player in the draft. Him and Lofa Tatupu will create an elite linebacking core.My Jets traded up to number 5 (thank you Eric Mangini!) and they took Mark Sanchez. Crabtree was available but i guess they thought Sanchez is the real deal.The Bengals selected Andre Smith. this guy was very out of shape at the combine but could be a great offensive linemen.Oakland took Heyward-Bey way to early. He's fast and tall but Crabtree was still available. Classic Al Davis move. Bey has some trouble catching the ball down field.Jacksonville went with Eugene Monroe. I'm surprised they didn't trade out of this spot to a team that wanted Crabtree.The Packers took B.J. Raji. He fits there scheme well.The 49s finally took Micheal Crabtree number ten. He was the best wide reciever in the draft. The Niner got a steal here, they probably weren't even expecting to have a shot at him.The Bills took Aaron Maybin with there pick, i dont have much to say on that one.The Broncos took Knowshon Moreno with their first pick of the 1st round. A lot of people think this was a reach but it makes sense, the Broncos haven't had a runningback since Terrel Davis.The Redskins took Brian Orakpo with their pick. They were denied Mark Sanchez, but Orakpo isn't exactly a bad consolation prize. Orakpo wanted to be a Redskin.The Saints took Malcom Jenkins. This guy was a great corner in college but lacked some speed. He could play safety in the NFL.The Texans took Brian Cushing. He has a good work ethic and plays hard. He will pair well with Ryans, WIlliams, Okoye, and Robinson on defense.San Diego took Larry English over Ray Mauluga. English is a big game line backer but a lot of people think they should have gone with Mauluga.Tampa Bay Traded up to draft Josh Freeman. A lot of people think he could be a bust and not do well in the NFL. Others say this draft could be remembered as "The Josh Freeman Draft". They traded up to get him so they better be right here.The Broncos took Robert Ayers with their second pick of the first round. He's a good fit for the scheme and has a good feel for the position.The Browns traded their pick once again to the Eagles who took Jeremy Maclin. I don't know why they needed to trade up two spots to gt him, unless they felt someone else would jump them. Maclin is a great reciever with a clean record. Some people say he isn't as good as he seems because he is coming out of a spread offense in Missouri.The Lions used their second pick of the first round to select Brandon Pettigrew. Interesting pick, he is a great blocker but isnt a game-breaking catcher.When the Cleveland Browns finally picked, they took Alex Mack. Mack Is an Eric Mangini guy and the best center in the draft. Mangini likes building around an offensive line and they already have a huge piece in place with Joe Thomas. Mack will be another piece to that puzzle.The Vikings took Percy Harvin. This was a bold move. He is an explosive, game-breaking wide receiver but has some durability, attitude, and medical problems. He has a hole in his foot and just got busted for failing a Marijuana test. He has great hands and this was a pick Minnesota needed with Adrian Peterson and newly acquired Sage Rosenfeld. Barring Harvin takes a couple of steps backward, the Vikings just took a step towards playoff advancement.The Ravins traded with the Patriots to get Michael Oher. Oher is the feel good stiry of the draft and even had a book written about him by Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball. There is a movie being made about him as well. This was a value pick, and i was surprised he went this late. There have been some knocks on his consistency though.The Falcons took Peria Jerry. Not much to say about him, he's a good player and a good pass rusher. He lacks on run defense.The Dolphins used their pick to fill a glaring need at cornerback. They took Vontae Davis. Davis was the best cornerback in the draft and a physical specimen. He has some attitude issues and effort issues. He is the brother of San Fransisco Tight End Vernon Davis who has had some issues there.The Packers used the Patriots to trade back into the first round and select Clay Matthews. He needs to be coached up, but an okay pick.They gave up a second round pick, two third round picks and next years fifth, That's a little much in my opinion. The Patriots made a good move here, knowing that there was not much depth where they wanted it.The Colts chose Donald Brown. I'm surprised he was taken before Chris Wells. Some have compared Brown to this years version of Matt Forte.The Bills used their second pick of the first round to select Eric Wood. This kid can play, he was the Bills second o-line pick of the first round.The Giants selected Hakeem Nicks. He's short and doesn't run well but has great hands.The Titans took Kenny Britt. He fills a need a wide receiver, nothing more to say.The Cardinals selected Chris Wells. People thought Arizona would not take him because he is very similar to Tim Hightower, but they couldn't pass on this physical specimen. Wells has has some injury problems, but he is a great back. He can catch the rock as well. I think the Lions were hoping Wells would drop to them at the 33rd pick.The Super Bowl Champion Steelers used the last pick in the fist round to draft Evander Hood. Not a bad pick, i think they really wanted a center though.

I decided to go a little more in depth on what i mentioned earlier about Wang feeling great after throwing live batting practice. Starting pitchers throw at least once between starts, sometimes twice. But those session are in the bullpen early in the day with only a catcher and the pitching coach there. However, on Wednesday Chien-Ming Wang took the mound at Tropicana Field to throw 21 pitches to Cody Ransom and Melky Cabrera. Pitching Coach Dave Eiland stood behind him. Joe Girardi was behind the cage, getting a close look at Wang?s pitches with bullpen coach Mike Harkey. David Cone, who knows quite a lot about pitching, was there as well. Catcher Kyle Higashioka came over from Tampa to catch the session. He was a seventh-round draft pick last June. It was Eiland?s idea to do this. After two terrible outings, Wang needed to take his adjustments out of the bullpen and onto the field. Granted, this wasn?t a game but it was a good simulation. We?ll find out Saturday whether it helped. But Wang thinks it will. Wang said he felt better after this. Wang?s left leg appears to be the issue as it?s getting ahead of the rest of his body and leaving his arm trailing behind. It?s a fairly easy thing to fix but Wang has not taken those adjustments out into the game. It looks like this could have helped get Wang's confidence up, he looked terrible on the bench after being pulled from his last start.

Today?s game got real ugly later on in the game, but it wasn?t exactly pretty in the early going. The Yanks put eight men on base in the first four innings without scoring a run, and left a total of 15 men on base during their too-long affair. It wasn?t the home opener that most Yanks fans had envisioned. Good thing they?ll play 152 more of these things, and two of their major weaknesses in the game were the bullpen and the ability to drive in men on base, despite being fairly good for most of the season. Sabathia wasn?t exactly as economical as AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte were the previous two games, he used 122 pitches to get 17 outs. The top of the 5th was bad, he used 30 pitches to retire three Indians, though he didn?t allow a run. It all added up, though, the five hits, the five walks, the four strikeouts, and CC had to exit early. It wasn?t terrible in terms of results, but as we?d learn later the Yanks could have used another inning and a third from their ace.A quick note on CC?s walks. That number might seem high right now. CC walked 59 batters last year and has 10 already this year. That, however, is misleading. CC racked up nine walks over his first three starts last year, in which he pitched just 14 innings. His 10 walks come after 17.2 innings this year. Furthermore, CC allowed 14 walks through his first four starts last year, spanning 18 innings. From that point on, he tossed 235 innings with a 1.74 ERA, walking just 45. CC?s going to be just fine.Damaso Marte and Jose Veras generated plenty of complaints, and with good reason. But to make sweeping statements about them based on one appearance is a bit much. We know what Veras is at this point: a guy with an electric fastball and a devastating curveball. There are going to be days when he can?t hit the strike zone with the fastball, rendering the curveball moot. Does that mean he sucks? No. He has his flaws, just as pretty much every reliever in the bigs has flaws. That?s why they?re relievers and not starters. Marte had a tough outing, too, reminiscent of his stinker in Texas last August. Yet to make proclamations about how he stinks is to ignore years of quality work, not to mention the quality work he?s done for the Yanks outside of a few appearances which stand out in fans? minds. What do you get when you cross an inefficient starting pitcher with a lack of hitting with runners on base, and then cross that with a bullpen having a bad day? A loss for sure, though one would hope not as bad as today?s. Those are the breaks in baseball, though. Some days you just can?t knock the guy in from second. Some days you call on the wrong reliever. We?ve seen this, the latter at least, a few too many times in a young season, which is the leading cause of fan overreaction. Games in April count just as much as games in September; each game is 1/162 of the season. The difference, of course, is that the team has time to address their issues and correct them in April. I have all the confidence in the world that the Yankees will do just that.Another day game tomorrow, again at 1:00. Joba Chamberlain goes up against Cardinals-castoff Anthony Reyes. Today was first time the Yanks have lost a home opener since 1997 when Oakland prevailed 3-1 in 12 innings. The bullpen blew that game too, except it was Mariano Rivera who gave up the tying run on a Mark McGwire homer.

The NFL Draft is quickly approaching, this will surely be an interesting ne as many teams could go un multiple directions.Recently there were reports that the Lions will draft Matt Stafford if they are able to get a deal done before the draft, they are allowed to do that. The only way that Stafford doesn't go first overall is if there is an impasse in the negotiations. Considering how far Stafford could drop if the Lions don't take him, the Georgia quarterback might realize that he needs to accommodate to Detroit's front office just a bit here. Detroit needs Stafford, he can be their franchise quarterback, we all know they haven?t had one in a while. Just look at how Matt Ryan put the Falcons back on the map last year.Aaron Curry is a lock to go to the Chiefs. The guy is the best defensive player in the draft and maybe the best aside from Crabtree. He smart and a great character, he did great on all of hiss interviews and tests. This guy will be a star in the national football league.Michael Crabtree should be a lock to go to Seattle, if they don?t take him it would just be a flat out mistake, the guy will be a top receiver in a few years, undoubtedly the most talented player in the draft.I also can't really see them going Freeman because general manager Mike Tannenbaum drafted Kellen Clemens and also acquired Brett Ratliff. If the Jets had a new general manager like the Chiefs, 49ers, Buccaneers, etc., they would definitely go with a quarterback. But the Jets don't have a new regime in place. Tannenbaum is not going to sit on the hot seat while a young quarterback develops