An Act of Piracy?

Was it pure piracy?

We won't know for sure for a couple of years, when Jose Tàbata should be major league ready, but for now, it sure looks it.

Who the Yankees got:

Xavier Nady: Corner outfielder with pop in his bat.
Dàmaso Marte: Left-handed relief pitcher who was more or less the most sought-after relief pitcher this season.

Who the Yankees gave up:

Ross Ohlendorf: You've seen him before. Hard throwing pitcher who could turn into a starter or a reliever.
Jose Tàbata: Last year, he hit .305 with a broken bone in his wrist. This year, the youngest player at the AA level, he has had some red flags go up with his attittude when dealing with a tougher level of competition.
Phil Coke: AA pitcher who has looked stronger recently, but is already 26 years old.
George Kontos: Potential servicable #5 starter.


EDIT:

Coke and Kontos have been replaced in the deal with Jeff Karstens and Dan McCutcheon.

Jeff Karstens: Marginal starter.
Dan McCutcheon: Could turn into a very reliable bullpen arm.


So, what does this do for the Yankees?

Well, going into the trade deadline, the Yankees had three needs, viz:

1) A right handed bat, preferably one that could play the outfield corners--left field this year, while Damon's shoulder is still not 100%, and potentially right field next year, if the Yankees decline to bring back Bobby Abreu.

2) A starting pitcher to spell Darrell Rasner or Sidney Ponson.

3) A left-handed reliever.

They have now, pending physicals, filled numbers one and three on their list, and done so without giving up anyone on their twenty-five man roster, without giving up Austin Jackson, Jesus Montero or Mark Melancon, and done so while the combined cost of Nady and Marte is under $11 million.


It's hard to know exactly how everything will play out, but right now, the Yankees could be heading into the latter part of the year with a starting line up of:

Johnny Damon DH
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Robinson Canò 2B
Xavier Nady LF
Melky Cabrera CF
Jose Molina C

Sound a bit longer than the line up currently in place? Thought so.

Now think about what the bullpen might look like:

Mariano Rivera
Kyle Farnsworth
Jose Veras
Edwar Ramirez
David Robertson
Dàmaso Marte
Dan Giese (okay, so Hawkins will probably still be here, but that's not the point).

That is a formiddable bullpen.

For all of the talk of this being a rebuilding year, Brian Cashman and company have made a move that will do that much more to help this team well now.

Moose-ic to the Yankees' Ears (Postgame Notes 14 June 2008)

In the last fourteen innings he has pitched, Mike Mussina has given up runs in just two of them.

While the two home runs total five earned runs, it also means that in his last fourteen innings, over two games, Mussina has pitched twelve shut out innings.

After last season, you would have been hard pressed to find any Yankee fan that expected Mussina to win ten games this season. If you were on the lookout for a fan who thought Mussina would win ten games before Father's Day, you would have probably spent an eternity waiting for Godot.

Yet, here we are, two hours before Father's Day, and Mike Mussina has ten wins--most of them not flukes, either.

If one subtracts the starts against Boston, Mussina's record would sit at 10-2, not that 10-4 is anything to be ashamed of, either. In fact, by having ten wins already, Mussina could theoretically win 20 games this year--something he has never done in his long career.

That the Yankees are averaging over four runs a game when Mussina starts doesn't hurt, either--and tonight they scored double that.

After Carlos Lee hit a three run home run for Houston in the bottom of the first to give Houston a 3-0 lead, things did not look all that encouraging--Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez entered the game with an ERA of 1.99 and no earned runs allowed in his last thirteen innings.

However, Alex Rodriguez, who lead off the top of the second, hit a solo home run (with a little help from a fan knocking Hunter Pence's glove out of the way), which Jason Giambi followed with a double and Melky Cabrera an RBI single.

In the next inning, Alex Rodriguez was intentionally walked for Giambi, who worked a two out walk to load the bases. Cabrera followed Giambi with a four-pitch walk of his own, to bring in the game's tying run and the Yankees never looked back.

Catcher Jose Molina followed with a two run single, and, in the later innings, the Yankees padded their lead with pinch hits from Robinson Canò (who this season is 2-3 as a pinch hitter with 2 RBI) and Wilson Betemit, whose two run double in the top of the ninth missed being a three run home run by inches.

The Yankees made it interesting when Ross Ohlendorf turned the game into a one run affair with the tying run at third base before getting out of the seventh and when they had Kyle Farnsworth pitch the eighth on back to back nights, but for once, the stars seem to be aligned in the Yankees' favor as they are now a season high three games over .500 (alas, since both Boston and Tampa won today, the Yankees did not pick up any ground in the division, but it's a little too early to be worrying about the pennant quite yet--six games in June is hardly out of reach).

It might be worth noting, that last year, the Yankees had their first extended winning streak of the season when they started interleague play--sweeping Pittsburgh and Arizona while on their way to winning nine in a row.

Maybe a little National League is all the Yankees need to get rolling.

Bronx Bombin' (Postgame Notes 08 May 2008)

In a lot of respects, this game was eerily similar to the first game of the series--a close game where the Yankees' offense was mostly a product of Jason Giambi and Robinson Canò--but, unlike that game, the Yankees won this one.

Mike Mussina started the game great, giving up a lead-off single to Grady Sizemore and then retiring twelve in a row before hitting a wall in the fifth. It was certainly not Mussina's best start of the season, but it was good enough to give the Yankees a chance, and one cannot ask for much more than that from a (supposedly) back end starter.

Ross Ohlendorf, who has not pitched in a while, had an excellent outing and is making a strong case for the eighth inning when Joba makes the transition to a starter.

Joba Chamberlain rebounded from his poor start--this time striking out David Dellucci, and he did not bother to hide the emotion.

On the offensive side of things, Johnny Damon had two crucial hits, Jason Giambi hit at least two balls to the left side (even if they were outs) and a two run home run, and Robinson Canò had (arguably) the best game of his season. Even Wilson Betemit had his first home run of the season.

Hideki Matsui now has a 17 game hitting streak, getting a hit in his first at bat.

OPTIMIST TAKE: The Yankees' offense was able to pick up Mussina after he hit a wall, and they combined for four home runs. Mariano Rivera had a "poor" outing for himself, but his line is still sick. Although the Yankees finish the home stand at 4-5, one can argue that it should have finished at 5-4, had Joba not had the bad outing.

An Open Letter to the 2008 New York Yankees Bullpen (PG Notes)

Dear Bullpen--

I realize it's only April 19 (or 20th, depending on your time zone), but even so, you've been on quite a ride this year. For the most part, you've done what's been asked of you, something that wasn't done a whole lot last year, so, minus that one game in Tampa, thank you.

I realize the starting pitching has not been there. I would like to believe that, like the offense, it will eventually come around. I mean, it has to, right?

So I can't directly apologize for the poor starts from the staff, though growing pains might explain a little of it. However, I can say, that as a fan, I really do appreciate the job you're trying to do--the new and improved Brian Bruney, the 1-2-3's from Kyle Farnsworth (there's been at least one), Ross Ohlendorf and Billy Traber getting it done, LaTroy Hawkins giving it his all...and, of course, Joba and Mo--Really, the effort is not going ignored.

Trust me, I wish there was some magic spell I could do to get the Yankees to score with RISP or to get the staters to go more than five innings in a start. However, I got deferred from Hogwarts, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help other than to offer this encouragement.

Hold fast.

Rebecca

Jesus, Shelley, and Even More Snow

Some notes from today's exhibition game against the Phillies:

1) Shelley had five of the Yankees' nine RBI on two swings, a three run home run and two run double. If there's supposed to be a competition for the first base spot, Shelley looks to be in the clear lead, given what Giambi did yesterday and Ensberg did today (ie, nothing). However, it's only one game, and it'd be an awful mistake to judge who should get the first base job based on one game.

2) So we all know Jesus Montero is supposed to be good--he's eighteen (!) and one of, if not the, Yankees' top offensive prospects. However, that doesn't make him going yard on the, what was it, second pitch he saw (?) any less awesome. When he makes it to the bigs (and if he keeps healthy, it's a when and not an if), I imagine there'll be some pretty funny Jesus-related comments.

3) Pitching wise, Wang was okay--he threw a few too many balls for my liking, but as I said before, you can't judge a player based on game, and even less than two innings, especially given what Wang's done for us the past couple of years. Anyway, he only gave up one hit, so I really can't complain.

--Apparently, according to LoHud, Rasner hit 107 mph on the gun. They didn't show the gun on the screen, but you have to wonder how much control can you have over a pitch like that? I'm not even sure Joba throws that hard.

[EDIT: Rebecca, the word gullible is actually in the dictionary. Under G.]

--Only saw one inning each from Albaladejo and Traber, but I liked what I saw from both, Traber especially. Hope it continues; I feel somewhat more reassured when I hear that it's Traber coming out of the 'pen and not Sean Henn.

--I keep forgetting Ohlendorf is a Princeton guy.

4) MLB.tv has a new player. It doesn't lag as much as the original player, which is awesome, but it's still not better than watching the game on TV when you can. The Phillies announcers gave the game a little bit of an old-time feel, which I really liked.


5) In the past week, we've had ONE day without snow in Syracuse. I'm not talking about one day without flurries, but bona-fide road-covering, traffic-snarling, car-burying snow. Even my Freshman year it had kinda-sorta stopped by the beginning of March...and it really wouldn't be such a big deal except I'm driving home on Friday for Spring Break, and it would be nice to actually be able to get my car out of the driveway.



Anyway. Good game. I will probably miss most of the live broadcast tomorrow, but there's a reason they invented DVR.