View my complete recap at The Yankee Universe
Everyone on the Yankees tonight except for Johnny Damon and Robinson Canó had multi-hit games tonight--and Johnny Damon left in the first inning after getting hit by a pitch.
If, uh, you can remember that far back.
Every one on the Yankees who started except for Johnny Damon had an RBI--and even Damon's replacement, Eric Hinske got in on the act.
Hideki Matsui had seven of them himself.
So forget the fact that Andy Pettitte, Brian Bruney and Sergio Mitre more or less crapped the bed pitching wise--tonight was a night for the offense.
The Yankees came to Boston with only the requirement that they did not get swept.
They didn't.
Life, for Yankee fans, is pretty good.
Via Pete Abraham, and others,
Jesús Montero, the Yankees top prospect, is out for the remainder of the minor league season after sustaining a broken middle finger.
Mike Ashmore is reporting that Montero may play in the AFL.
He had previously been named the third rated prospect in all of baseball--not bad for a 19 year-old and the youngest active player in the league.
I plan on catching a Trenton game next weekend; I'd hoped to see Montero, but alas fate has other things in store.
Still, the silver lining here is that it is a broken finger for a catcher; not something more disturbing or career-altering like a shoulder injury for a pitcher.
Take a look at this list here.
The list ranks pitchers by "abuse points", with the pitchers that are most abused--that is, the most overworked--at the top.
Is it much of a surprise to see CC Sabathia at the top?
When the Yankees signed Sabathia, one of the selling points was that he was a workhorse. His effort with Milwaukee at the end of last season--pitching on multiple occasions on three days' rest--was Herculean.
The problem is, however, that the selling point of Sabathia being a workhorse was also a concern point.
It's perhaps, in some odd and cruel sense, kind of funny that we, as fans, bloggers, analysts, and what have you, put so much stock into the Verducci effect--the idea that too great an increase in innings for a young pitcher is an injury risk--and yet, at the same time seem to decide after a pitcher hits a certain age that being overworked is no longer a concern.
There's no denying that Sabathia has pitched a lot in 2007 and 2008, and that in both of those postseasons he struggled. Of course, we don't know the reason for struggling in those postseasons, but it'd be foolish to ignore the amount that Sabathia pitched during the season.
Could it be, now, that Sabathia is feeling the effects, in-season, of the past two years?
I'm leaving this question open. I'm no pitching expert, and Sabathia's inconsistency could be due to something completley different. I'm just suggesting this as a possibility.
At any rate, whatever's going on, the Yankees should hope they can figure something out--barring injury or rain outs, Sabathia's next two starts would involve facing Buerhle at Chicago and then Boston.
Alfredo Aceves Update: Via Pete Abraham, Alfredo Aceves has admitted to having a sore shoulder, though he doesn't think it's serious. Still, the track record for the Yankees and admitting the severity of injuries isn't exactly stellar.
As you have probably heard by now, Brett Gardner broke his thumb in yesterday's game while sliding into a base. He then, of course, stayed in the game, hit a triple and made two spectacular catches.
Go figure.
At any rate, he'll be in a cast for two weeks, so cue discussions on whether or not the Yankees should promote Austin Jackson.
It's a hard decision because Jackson is seen as the organization's closest-to-ML-ready-legit-prospect, and bringing him up too early might set him back.
Then again, the Yankees also have the miracle of Francisco Cervelli, who wasn't supposed to do anything and ended up holding his own quite nicely...
My money would bet that Jackson ends up getting the call up. After all, the Yankees are replacing Gardner's bat, speed and defense--not A-Rod's or Posada's.
Brian Bruney and Joba Chamberlain have been, well, awful of late.
So, here's the question: Do you think they are injured?
Brian Bruney's spent most of this season on the DL. He has looked awful since coming off of it, and tonight's performance is no different. There's a 1:2 K/BB ratio, and when he does throw strikes they're getting hit hard.
That Bruney, a power pitcher, has already been on the DL twice this season with arm problems, and if that's not a giant red flag, I'm not sure what is.
If he's right, he's a crucial piece of the Yankee bullpen, but if he's not, the Yankees might panic and overpay for Huston Street, et al.
Joba Chamberlain fell to the Yankees in the draft because of injury concerns.
He ended up on the DL last summer with a rotator cuff/labrum injury, and while he has a couple of decent starts this season, his mediocre ones far outnumber them.
It's hard to imagine that Chamberlain is suddenly afraid of the strike zone, but the nibbling and inefficiency need to be addressed. The last thing the Yankees want to do is have to find two other starters instead of one, but that may be their only option if Chamberlain can't pick it up.
We have seen Chamberlain's flashes of brilliance, and we know that young pitchers can struggle. The mediocre Joba is not the Joba that will have a lengthy major league career.
What we do know, however, is that the Yankees have to figure out what's causing the problem. It's hard to imagine that they haven't at least considered the possibility that the shoulder isn't right, and remaining mum on it would seem to be the correct PR move. As long as Chamberlain keeps taking the ball every five games, however, one must assume the Yankees think he's healthy.
Right now, I wouldn't be so sure.
*****
The inability to beat the Angels in Anaheim, is what, a decades-old thing now?
It's gotten old. Way old.
The spot is perfect.
Dangerous, sure, but we're humans. We sacrifice safety and comfort for bright lights and big noises, all in the name of celebration.
We are Americans, after all. We always find a way.
****
On the mound, starting for the Yankees today, is not an American but a Taiwanese. Chien Ming Wang.
It's no secret how he's struggled all season.
His first three starts were so horrendous the Yankees placed him on the disabled list, even though there were questions about whether or not he was really hurt.
He came off the disabled list again, but slowly, he has begun to look more and more respectable.
The last time he pitched, last Sunday, nearly halfway into the season and against a depleted Mets line up, Wang finally picked up a win.
It wasn't pretty, but the five-and-a-third innings and only two runs given up were a season best.
We're Americans. We like our progress.
****
It's the top of a hill made up of construction rubble; a block east of the West Side Highway it affords us a perfect view of the Hudson River and the sunset over New Jersey.
It's not safe.
Not even a little.
There is a steep climb, full of loosed rocks and sharp weeds, to get to the top, and then, once there, there is a steep drop off into a construction pit. Put simply: take too big a step forward, and you're dead.
Still, this is the best spot we can find, an hour before it's supposed to start.
The West Side Highway is completely blocked off and everything else is too low.
We marvel at our ingenuity in finding the spots.
We're not all Americans; we speak to each other not just in English but in Spanish and Polish and Hebrew; but we are all in America, and on today, that is all that matters.
****
Wang is not an American, but he plays for an American team.
Today, the Fourth of July, an American team is facing a Toronto team.
The Yankees have to win today, it's tempting to think, because there would be something inherently wrong about a Canadian team beating an American team on Independence Day.
Nothing personal against Canada, but today is America's day. It's not that I'm uppity or anything, but Canada had their celebration three days ago.
Today, it's our turn.
****
There are only a few of us on the hill at first, but then people see us, and they follow.
More and more people climb the hill.
Some climb it too fast; some sit all the way over the edge; one has sushi and a Blue Moon.
****
Before the game starts I tell Brent that I don't expect the Yankees to win, so I'll enjoy the game for the sake of enjoying the game.
Brent nods.
Again, it's nothing personal.
Roy Halladay is that good of a starter.
Chien Ming Wang has, this season, been that bad.
I never stop to consider how the two are on divergent paths.
Wang has been getting better. Stronger. More efficient. Halladay has only just come off the DL and struggled in his first game back.
As John Sterling would say, "You can't predict baseball."
****
While we wait we make friends with the others that have gathered on the hill.
We laugh about the danger, about the illegality of what we are doing.
We act like idiots and then proceed to admit that no, we have not actually been drinking.
Neither, we are somewhat shocked to hear, has anyone else.
It's like my brother told me via AIM two nights ago: Fireworks, then alcohol.
****
It's easy enough to tell it's the Fourth at the Stadium: an actual band performing the National Anthem; a reading of Lou Gehrig's farewell address that has lost none of its potency; Ronan Tynan singing "God Bless America"...
...You don't see these things every day.
Another thing you don't see every day: Alex Rodriguez knocking in a two-out base hit with a runner in scoring position to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. It's not a knock on Alex Rodriguez. The entire team has struggled here this year.
The lead is short lived, but that doesn't matter so much.
The Yankees drew first blood.
The Yankees showed, in the very first inning, that they could hit and score off of Roy Halladay.
He would have to be that much better, if he wanted to win.
****
Five minutes before the fireworks are supposed to start, an undercover cop makes himself known.
"This is a Construction Site. Private property. If you don't want to be arrested, get off the hill now."
He is alone.
We move slowly. We drag it out like a 12-pitch at bat or a 22-inning baseball game.
We do not go quietly into that good night.
****
Somehow, some way, the Yankees get to the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead.
Wang is not just pitching well; he's pitching the best we've seen him this season.
It's the sixth inning and he's only thrown 58 pitches. Both Brent and I want to talk about it, but we won't. We're baseball fans, and superstition runs deep in our blood.
On this day, however, even thinking about it seems to be bad luck.
A single. Then a home run. A 3-2 lead is now a 4-3 deficit and it gets worse when Jorge Posada motions to the dugout, sending Dave Eiland back and bringing out Joe Girardi and the trainer.
It doesn't matter how badly Wang is hurt; that he's hurt is bad enough. It disrupts the flow of the team. Already the speculation begins: what about Wang's next start? Do you take Hughes out of the bullpen? Do you dare to disrupt a bullpen that since the 1st of June has a 2.35 ERA and a .179 BAA? You can't.
****
The undercover cop is soon backed up by a squad of uniformed cops.
I feel like I am in a Law and Order episode, in the very beginning, just minding my own business before all hell breaks loose.
It doesn't.
Not tonight.
We walk slowly downhill. Biding our time.
Then the fireworks start.
We stop. We stop, we turn, and we watch.
The police don't bother us any more.
****
The atmosphere that escapes the Stadium once Wang leaves with the injury is slow to build up again.
It will reach a certain point, and then, like clockwork, Robinson Cano comes up to bat and does something to record the final out of the inning.
This is how the game gets to extra innings.
Sure, scoreless innings from Brian Bruney, Mariano Rivera, Phil Coke and Brett Tomko all help, but it's the failure of Cano's bat that keeps the game going, even as the July sun beats down on us, as some decide they've had enough and leave, even as it comes down to one more pitcher left in the bullpen.
****
The fireworks dazzle.
It's a feast of light, of color and of sound.
"You know," Brent says, "This is what we should do with our firepower. Not blow up other people, but put on displays like this."
I wonder if, when the Ancient Chinese developed fireworks, if they had the same effect on those that saw them.
We are humans. We like bright sights and booming sounds.
****
It ends with Jorge Posada.
Jorge Posada, in the 12th inning, when it's gone from being high drama to please-for-the-love-of-America-end-this-game-because-I'm-hungry.
Is it fitting that Posada ends the game?
He doesn't have the mythical status of Derek Jeter, who doesn't come to bat in the evening; nor does it have the clutchy-mc-clutchness that Melky Cabrera's crafted for himself; nor the redemption that a Robinson Cano hit would bring; nor the long-overdue-ness that a walk-off Mark Teixeira blast would have; nor the grittyguttyness of Brett Gardner.
It is, instead, one of the guys just doing his thing.
Doing his job and doing it well.
That's American.
So's the pie that comes afterward--a fake-out from Joba Chamberlain and then BOOM! from AJ Burnett.
Triumph on the Fourth--that's America, too.*
****
"You know," Brent says, as we make our way east from the Hudson, "baseball, fireworks...we really are the luckiest people on the face of the earth."
"Yeah," I say, "We are."
*The Declaration wasn't actually signed on the fourth. It was made on the 2nd and most didn't sign it until the 19th. But, as in most all of history, such trivialities are minor details.
Someone must have sent the Yankees a memo: beating the Nationals (or, as some prefer, Natinals) is a simple affair.
Hang in against the starter, get a few off the bullpen and pitch competently on your own side.
Was it the best game the Yankees have played all year?
No, probably not. The pitching was decent sure, but the offense could have been much better. Still, when one plays a team on pace for as many losses as the Yankees had wins in 1998, one's flaws are more easily hidden.
The offense was able to do just enough--take the lead, and add one more as insurance--to win without making one sweat too much, though, it could be argued, against a starter with an ERA over 5, they should have probably done more.
CC Sabathia pitched two outs into the 8th inning; Brian Bruney faced one batter and retired him, and Mariano Rivera, with some help from the Yankee defense (which, when one keeps the Nats in mind, isn't to be underestimated) retired the side in order in the ninth. Rivera, for the record, is fast approaching his 500th save.
The only real concern of the evening--don't mind the offense, they don't like hitting guys they've never seen--is that Derek Jeter left the game with left ankle stiffness. No word yet on the severity, but losing Jeter's bat for any length of time wouldn't be a good thing, to say the least.
Also, the Yankees might want to consider giving Alex Rodriguez a day off--while they probably don't want to play Angel Berroa and Ramiro Peña in the same game if Jeter is out for any length of time, Rodriguez needs the day off. Really, really, really.
Tomorrow, Chien Ming Wang, the proud new papa, will get what might be his last chance to stay in the rotation. Expect a quick hook if he can't get it going--the games against the Nationals are must wins because, really, do you expect Boston to drop any against the Nats?
So I'm sitting here, trying to do work, and I can't get this one image out of my head.
It is, as my previous post mentioned, the image of a father, panicked, carrying his young daughter in his arms after she has been struck by a foul ball.
I keep thinking: how many times have I been sitting in foul ball territory, momentarily distracted by my brother, my friend, or my food, and ended up not paying any attention to what was going on in the game at that instant?
There are warnings on tickets, on the backs of seats, and announcements every game: beware of foul balls (and, now it would seem, bat shards).
On some level we're all aware of this: we all want to catch a foul ball or a home run, to be in that mad scramble and to come home with, as my brother once called a hockey puck we took home, a free souvenir.
We all know the risk we assume when we accept baseball tickets. It's been part of the game for 150 years. There's no reason to think it will change, and yet, at the same instance, all it takes is one ball hit too hard in the wrong direction, one more broken bat...
I know myself. I know that I have horrible reaction timing and my first reaction is to duck and cover, rather than to try to catch a foul ball.
I figure some day, if I continue to attend as many games as I do, that the duck-and-cover strategy might cause me a broken hand or a broken wrist, but, at the very least, my skull might escape intact.
There doesn't seem to be anything, really, that you can do about this issue. The screen behind home plate certainly helps, though it does impede the view (I've sat behind the screen at both major and minor league games). I don't think you'll find much argument that from a safety standpoint, it's certainly necessary. However, beyond that, I'm not sure if there's anything else that could be done without ruining the experience of viewing the game that we have had for so long.
Still, there is something that is just...wrong...about what I saw this afternoon.
Baseball is, after all, a game enjoyed by kids, as the archtype goes, who dream of standing at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two out as the winning run.
I will a long time wondering about the fate of that girl. Was she okay? Will she be okay, not just physically, but in terms of willing to go to a baseball game again?
I don't know.
Baseball won't change anything because of what happened to one fan, but part of me wishes there was something that could be done. It's one thing when an adult gets hurt. It's entirely another when it's a kid.
Take a look around Yankeeland right now. What do you see?
1: Chien Ming Wang still out with the after-effects of his season-ending foot injury from last year.
2: Jorge Posada, the starting catcher, and José Molina, the back up, both out with strained muscle injuries (hamstring and quad).
5: Alex Rodriguez still not quite in top form after hip surgery--his range of motion thus far looks drastically reduced.
6: Derek Jeter missed last night with a pulled oblique and now we find out the injury's been bothering him for about the week. In his Jeterian way, he attempted to play through it.
9: Xavier Nady is still unsure of whether or not he'll need a second Tommy John surgery.
DH: Hideki Matsui left last night's game with tightness in his hamstring. He said it was just a cramp, but we'll see.
RHP: Brian Bruney is only beginning to rehab from a bum elbow.
LHP: Dámaso Marte has not been heard from in ages.
LHP: Phil Coke was unavailable last night with a balky back.
That's nine--nine out of twenty-five--players who were unable to either start or finish last night's baseball game.
Of course you could say 'no wonder the Yankees couldn't beat Halladay' since they probably wouldn't even with their A line up, but this is a bigger problem.
Last year, Wang, Posada, Matsui, Joba, A-Rod, Hughes, Kennedy and others all did stints on the DL and we thought that was injury depletion.
So what's going on here?
You can't make the argument it's just age--only Jeter, Posada, A-Rod and Matsui can argue that--but it certainly must be playing a part.
One has to wonder, when the Yankees gave out ten year contracts like Candy, if they even thought of this as maybe being a possible consequence.
Certainly this has to raise eyebrows. It's not just the amount of injuries--which, itself is an issue--but the fact that the injuries are allowed to go either unnoticed or unremarked on for a while, unless they're utterly obvious, like Posada's pull, which occurred during the middle of a game.
It's frustrating to watch a third place team, knowing that the placing may have something to do with the injuries, and that since so many of the older injured are signed for another year or two (or ten), that this is a scenario that could replay itself time and time again.
It's also frustrating to watch when another team, like the Jays, can suffer similar injuries and still put together a first-place team. Will the Jays keep it up? Probably not, but the longer they go, the more you have to wonder.
So why can't the Yanks seem to overcome their injuries? Is it poor roster construction? Is it because of who is injured? Who knows?
All that matters is that the Yankees, with Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash, Ramiro Peña and Angel Berroa, and José Veras and Jonathan Albaladejo have to find a way to win.
The great teams always find a way.
As per the postgame today, Joba Chamberlain has popped a blood vessel in his thumb and is a game time decision for tomorrow.
This would explain why Alfredo Aceves didn't pitch today.
Maybe it's the Stadium.
First the rain, now the injuries...Molina, and maybe Mo.
Somewhere the baseball g-ds are displeased, and the Yankees have lost five straight.
It's not the end of the world, but it isn't doing the Yankees any favors. Granted, when your back up catcher gets hurt and you have to use a guy hitting below the Mendoza line at AA?
Yeah, that's not a recipe for anything good to happen.
Is it too late to move back to the old building?
You can say whatever you want about Phil Hughes last night and Jerry Meals' strike zone or lack thereof, but that is not the biggest issue from last night's game.
As you probably saw (well, if you stayed up), Jorge Posada re-injured his hamstring sliding into second and it's bad enough that he's already going for an MRI today (considering how the Yankees like to delay these things).
If we learned anything last year, it's that the Yankees can't survive without Posada's bat for an extended period of time, and yet this looks exactly like what will happen.
José Molina is a great back up (discounting last night), but he turns into a .200 hitter when playing every day.
The only other catcher on the 40-man is Francisco Cervelli, and he's hitting under the Mendoza line...at AA Trenton.
Cervelli will probably be called up for today's game, but I imagine if Posada's gone for anything longer than a couple of weeks, we'll see the Yankees attempt to make a move.
I have no clue as to who's on the market; they would, I imagine, try to find someone they can sign short term. It's a hard decision to make because, unlike last season, we do not yet know if Posada will miss the rest of the season. I should stress, if it's a similar injury to Hughes in '07, he could be out until August at least quite a while (sorry, forgot about the ankle there)--and given the age difference, probably longer.
The good news, of course, is that the Yankees should get Alex Rodriguez back fairly soon, but there is very big cause for concern here.
Edit, 2.31 PM: Jorge Posada has indeed been placed on the 15 day DL.
A glut of injuries hit the Yankees last night. Some-such as Wang-were expected, others, such as Bruney were blindsides, though results of Bruney's MRI have not yet been announced (probably because it's not even 11 AM and he probably hasn't had it yet) and he might be okay.
The thing to focus here is on Wang.
Through the first couple of weeks there have been numerous suggestions as to why he was having so much trouble; now the obvious answer seems to be that he never completely recovered from his lis franc injury last year.
Last year, when Wang went down, someone I was talking to mentioned that the injury could be career-altering because it was Wang's push off foot. I ignored him, mostly because he always seemed to see the pessimistic side of things, but now I can see that he may be right.
For a pitcher to be effective, every little thing has to be just right. We saw it a bit with Joba last night-his velocity was down and his command way off. Whether it's early season rust or something more sinister, only time will tell.
If Wang did, in fact, alter his delivery because he wasn't putting the same pressure on his foot or using his foot in a different way, even if only slightly, that is already a big problem.
It becomes further compounded when one takes into consideration that Wang seems to have lost all confidence on the mound.
One can fix a mechanical flaw. A confidence flaw can be a career-ender if one can't find a way around it.
It's hard to say that Wang was rushed too soon. He was hurt in June and didn't pitch in a game again until March. If anything-and understand, I'm not a doctor and may be totally off the mark here-I would argue that the offseason probably did more to hurt Wang than to help him.
What strikes me is how Bruney was able to come back in-season, ostensibly with the same injury, and remain just as effective. Maybe it's as simple as Bruney didn't injure his push off foot-I'm not sure.
At any rate, the important thing here is that the Yankees are down a starter.
While Phil Hughes is the most likely candidate to replace him, and perhaps inspires more confidence than Sidney Ponson or Darrell Rasner, it seems like every time the Yankees are serious about keeping him in AAA the plan is thwarted. There really isn't a better option, however-Ian Kennedy and Kei Igawa would have to be considered next on the list.
There's more depth than there was last year, for sure, but depth is always at its best when you don't need it.
As you likely know by now, Xavier Nady will likely need surgery and may miss the rest of the season.
Kevin Russo and Austin Jackson have been pulled from the AAA game; it's worth noting that the Jackson move may not mean anything as he had been HBP in the first.
***
No liveblogging today, I've been feeling under the weather and need to save my strength to do my coursework.
According to Pete Abraham and ESPN , Alex Rodríguez will undergo surgery on his labrum and miss six to nine weeks, which would mean a return sometime in late April or early May.
Rodríguez will still need surgery after the season to repair the bone impingement in his hip, a recovery that will take about four months, but getting the labrum repaired now should allow him to play most of the season.
Given my lack of medical knowledge, I can't actually say if this is the best option or not, but it does seem to be a much better one than trying to play through the injury without any sort of repair.
Of course, now the Yankees have an interesting option: do they go after someone outside the system to play third base for a month, or do they take Cody Ransom's decent Spring Training and say, "hey, go on and hit it, you're in" ?
There's much less incentive for a free agent to sign when he may only play a month, but then again, a month is still better than not playing at all...
What do you think? What would you like to see the Yankees do?
I know. I'm sick of the Alex Rodríguez posts, too, but right now, he's not a story, he IS the story in Yankeeland.
While no surgery has been scheduled yet, courtesy River Ave Blues via Pete Abraham and Brian Cashman,the fact is that surgery will be likely needed at some point in time, and sooner rather than later.
It makes no sense to put the surgery off, even a little bit.
Think about this:
While the human body possesses an incredible ability to heal and cure itself with minor injuries, a torn hip labrum doesn't really fit that label.
A seriously injured hip will only deteriorate if left untreated, much like the teeth of someone that avoids the dentist, or cataracts or glaucoma. Now, Rodríguez might not be in danger of losing his teeth or his sight, but he is in danger of losing his ability to pivot, and, for a hitter, that's no small thing.
So the question here is, what do the Yankees and Alex Rodríguez gain by delaying surgery? Potentially some playing time in April and maybe May? While Rodríguez's Spring Training numbers have been all right, there's no telling how good they could be if he was healthy. Rodríguez's production will likely decline as the injury worsens, and it will reach a point where it is more detrimental to play him than to sit him; it's only a matter of when that happens.
If the Yankees lose Rodríguez for four months, is it not better to lose him now? There still is the entire month of March; if Rodríguez was to have the surgery tomorrow he could theoretically be back before the All Star break, healthy and right in time for a pennant race. What's more, there are still free agents on the market--the Yankees could sign someone like Mark Grudzielanek to a one year deal with relatively little harm done, and it's not as though the Yankees have issues with signing players with impossible-to-spell names (Doug Mientkiewicz, anyone?)...just sayin'.
If it's a situation about getting the most value out of your asset, would not the Yankees get more value from a healthy Rodríguez than an injured one that deteriorates as the season goes on?
Or have the Yankees/Rodríguez/anyone with any possible say in the matter completley forgotten what happened to Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui last year?
According to Pete Abraham, quoting Brian Cashman, Alex Rodríguez has a torn hip labrum and cyst, the cyst was drained, and the team is trying rest and rehab.
Before you get all excited that Rodríguez won't be going under the knife, remember that the Yankees originally tried rest and rehab with Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui last year, and, well, we know how that went, as both went under season-ending surgery.
I don't know much about hip surgery; Stephania Bell of ESPN.com thinks that recovery from that surgery could take as long as 19 weeks
Hips are different things than knees or shoulders, and it's hard to believe the Yankees, after last season, wouldn't mandate Rodríguez getting the surgery if they thought it the most prudent option.
Then again, we are talking about the team that thought Kei Igawa was a good idea...
In the meantime, while the Yankees have some in house options for third base, none is much higher than a replacement-level value, but you can't exactly replace Rodríguez's numbers, especially with someone that's only been signed or traded for to play until Rodríguez is healthy again.
Oh shit.
I did this in a bit of a haste; the few phrases I am unsure of are left in parentheses-but they don't take from the article.
Translated from here
ORLANDO - Alex Rodríguez no solamente se perderá jugar con República Dominicana en el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol, sino que se perdería el primer mes de la temporada con los Yanquis de Nueva York después que un examen médico revelara que debe ser operado inmediatamente de un quiste en la cadera, dijo un hermano del pelotero a ESPNdeportes.com.
Alex Rodriguez will not only lose his ability to play with the Dominican Republic in the WBC, but he could miss the first month of the regular season with the New York Yankees after a medical examination revealed that he should have an immediate operation on a cyst on the hip, said a brother of the player to ESPNdeportes.com
A-Rod podría estar inactivo hasta mayo
A-Rod could be inactive until May
Joe Rodríguez informó que A-Rod será operado el lunes en Colorado y necesitaría cerca de 10 semanas para rehabilitarse.
Joe Rodrígues told that A-Rod will have surgery this Monday in Colorado and will need about 10 weeks for rehab.
"Para toda la familia es un golpe muy fuerte, Alex está destrozado", dijo Joe Rodríguez. "Todos estábamos muy enstusiasmado de verlo jugando con Republica Dominicana en el Clásico Mundial", agregó.
"For the entire family, it's a strong blow, Alex is devastated," said Joe Rodríguez. "All of us were very enthusiastic to see him play with the Dominican Rebulic in the World Classic," he (said?).
"Pero lo más importante es que la operación sea exitosa para que Alex pueda continuar con su carrera", dijo el hermano del pelotero.
"But the most important thing is that the operation will be successful so that Alex can continue with his career," said the brother of the player
La noticia tomó fuera de base a Stan Javier, gerente general del equipo de República Dominicana. "Aún no ha recibido ninguna información de los resultados del chequeo médico que realizaron a A-Rod", dijo Javier.
The news took Stan Javier, GM for the Dominican team, (off base?) "we still have not recieved any information about the results of A-Rod's medical exam," said Javier.
Los Yankees aún no han informado nada respecto a su estelar antesalista.
The Yankees had not informed anyone in respect to their (departing?) star.
Rodríguez, de 33 años, jugó con molestias en su cadera la temporada pasada, pero los Yankees nunca pensaron que el asunto fuera realmente serio hasta que un examen de resonancia magnética reveló el quiste el sábado.
Rodríguez, 33 years old, played with pain in his hip the past season, but the Yankees never thought that the matter was in reality serious until an MRI revealed the cyst on Saturday
Los Yankees enviaron al pelotero al especialista Marc Phillipon, de la clínica Steadman-Hawkins de Vail, Colorado. Los exámenes realizados por Phillipon determinaron que A-Rod debía ser operado inmediatamente.
The Yankees sent the player to the specialist Marc Phillipon, of the Steadman-Hawkins clinic in Vail, Colorado. The exams from Phillips determined that A-Rod should have the operation immediately
El 2009 no comenzó bien para Rodríguez, quien en febrero admitió que usó esteroides durante tres años mientras jugaba con los Rangers de Texas. Las Grandes Ligas interrogaron al pelotero por dos horas el domingo.
2009 did not begin well for Rodríguez, who in February admitted that he used steroids during the three years while playing with the Texas Rangers. MLB questioned the player for two hours last Sunday.
El lunes se integró a los entrenamientos de República Dominicana para el Clásico Mundial, en Jupiter, Florida, y el martes bateó un doble en tres turnos en una victoria 10-1 de los quisqueyanos ante los Marlins de Florida en un partido de exhibición.
Monday he joined his teammates for the Dominican Team for the World Classic in Jupiter, Floriday, and Tuesday batted with a double in three tries in a 10-1 victory against the Florida Marlins in an exhibition game.
"Un sueño hecho realidad poder usar la camiseta dominicana. Mi mamá debió sentirse muy emocionada", dijo Rodríguez.
"A dream had been realized to wear the Dominican uniform. My mother mother had been very emotional," said Rodríguez.
A-Rod ha ganado ha ganado tres premios de Jugador Más Valioso de la Liga Americana y ha pegado 553 jonrones en 15 temporadas en las Grandes Ligas. En el 2009 juugará la segunda temporada del contrato por 275 millones de dólares y 10 años que firmó con los Yankees hace dos inviernos.
A-Rod has won three MVP awards in the American league and has hit 553 home runs in 15 seasons in the major leagues. In 2009, he will play the second seasons of his contract for $275 million and ten seasons that he signed with the Yankees two winters ago
So first off, I apologize for being so sporadic recently. I've been dealing with some personal issues which will hopefully sort themselves out, but it looks like I haven't been missing much.
This was, after all, a make-or-break road trip for the Yankees, and, well, when you only win three games out of ten, things don't look very good.
It's hard to pinpoint where it all went wrong.
It's easy enough to blame the injury to Joba as a death knell or contend that the Angels are simply unbeatable, but the fact is, the Yankees had a legitimate chance to win every game they played on the road trip.
In at least one of the Texas games, all of the Anaheim games and two of the Minnesota games, the Yankees had a physical lead. They only won three of those games, and in only two of the games, if memory serves, did they not relinquish a lead.
Teams that play baseball in October, it should be noted, know how to keep leads once they have them.
There wasn't any one part of the Yankees that has been more at fault than the other--when they hit, they didn't pitch, when they pitched, they didn't hit, when the starters couldn't go deep, the bullpen was overworked and prone to giving up even more runs.
The ERA of the pitching staff, once one of the best in the majors, has skyrocketed since the eight game win streak.
To add injury to insult---err, reverse that---it now looks like Derek Jeter and Dan Giese are hurt as well.
It's not time to write 2008 off just yet--speaking as an optimist, I won't until the Yankees are mathematically eliminated--but the team is fighting for its life right now, and the fight is not going in their favor, at all.
Miracles can happen, but the Yankees shouldn't have to rely on that for October baseball.
