River Avenue Blues

Heyman: Yankees and Cano remain far apart in contract talks

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Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees and Robinson Cano remain far apart during contract extension talks and are not close to a new deal. Negotiations could pick up after the All-Star break, but right now it’s a “very likely outcome” that the second baseman will hit free agency after the season.

Cano, 30, is hitting .276/.345/.498 (123 wRC+) this year, which is a step down from his 2010-2012 production (142 wRC+). He still has 90-something games to turn that around of course, but Robbie is struggling against lefties for the second straight year. Heyman hears the Yankees have suggested a $138M pact in line with David Wright’s recent extension, though Cano’s camp is obviously seeking every last cent.

World War Zoilo: Almonte leads Yanks to 6-2 win over Rays

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Source: FanGraphs

The Yankees needed a win on Friday night, and that’s exactly what they got thanks to the newest member of the lineup. Outfielder Zoilo Almonte went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in his first career start, contributing to the two-run rally in the fourth and tacking on an insurance run in the sixth. New York hasn’t had a homegrown position player debut and have an immediate impact like this since … well since David Adams a few weeks ago. Gentle reminder to enjoy the great game but not to read much into it.

I only saw bits and pieces of the game on television and caught a few innings on the radio, so I can’t go into too much detail with the recap. I did see David Phelps pitch out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the fourth, a rather big moment in the game. The Yankees are struggling to score runs and he’d already given back two one-run leads, and it seemed like Tampa was getting ready to break things open and put the game to bed. Phelps escaped with two fly balls and offense took the lead for good the next half inning.

Almonte singled twice — including once to load the bases with no outs in the fourth — before hitting that solo homer in the sixth. It wasn’t a no-doubter but it wasn’t a Yankee Stadium cheapie; he hit it into the bullpen beyond the right field wall with a few feet to spare. The hit in the fourth was more important though, as it set the team up for their two-run inning. They needed help from an Evan Longoria throwing error — it was ruled a hit, but lol — but they got the two runs in. The team really isn’t in a position for me to care about how the runs score these days.

Finally, bigs ups to the bullpen for 3.1 scoreless innings in relief of Phelps. Boone Logan struck out the only man he faced to end the sixth with the tying run at the plate, Shawn Kelley struck out two in his perfect seventh inning, David Robertson pitched around a single in his scoreless inning, then Mariano Rivera put a bow on it with a flawless ninth. It wasn’t a save situation, but every win is important right now. The bullpen has had a rough go of it the last few days, so it was good to see the guys get back on track and nail down a much-needed win.

For the box score and video highlights, go to MLB.com. FanGraphs has some other stats, and ESPN is the place to go for the updated standings. The Blue Jays beat the Orioles and the Red Sox won, so the Yankees are two back of Boston, one back of Baltimore, and three up on both Tampa and Toronto in the loss column. These two teams will play game three of this four-game series on Saturday afternoon, when CC Sabathia gets the ball against rookie right-hander Alex Colome. Check out RAB Tickets for last minute ticket deals.

[h/t my pal @GatorLenny for the title]

Katoh, Severino & Torrens have strong debuts in GCL openers

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The Yankees added Mike Zagurski, Yoshinori Tateyama, and Brent Lillibridge to their Triple-A squad today, now here are a bunch more roster moves and notes:

  • The Yankees also signed OF Corey Patterson to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton. As with Lillibridge and OF Fernando Martinez, it’s a move meant to help out an call-up and injury depleted team. That’s all.
  • RHP Chris Bootcheck cleared waivers and has re-signed to a new minor league deal, reports Chris Cotillo. He can opt out on August 15th if he’s not in the big leagues. Bootcheck appeared in one game for the Yankees last weekend before being designated for assignment.
  • Triple-A Scranton: Sent both RHP Jose Ramirez and RHP Caleb Cotham to Double-A Trenton. They are just temporary paper moves, apparently. Both RHP Mark Montgomery and IF Josh Bell have been placed on the DL for unknown reasons. Montgomery recently missed about a week with a tired shoulder.
  • Double-A Trenton: Sent both RHP Zach Nuding and LHP Fred Lewis to Triple-A Scranton. They needed the extra pitchers to manipulate their rotation so RHP Ivan Nova, who was scheduled to start tonight, could be pushed back so he could start for the big league team on Sunday. The Yankees need a starter after Tuesday’s rainout threw the rotation off schedule.
  • Low-A Charleston: C Peter O’Brien and RHP Alex Smith have been promoted to High-A Tampa. Josh Norris hears O’Brien will play third base in Tampa, which is … uh … interesting. Pretty good indication a C Gary Sanchez promotion is not coming anytime soon.

Triple-A Scranton (5-4 loss to Norfolk)

  • LF Corey Patterson & CF Cody Grice: both 2-5 — Patterson scored one run … Grice stole a base, scored twice, and struck out once
  • RF Fernando Martinez: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI
  • 1B Dan Johnson: 1-3, 1 2B, 2 RBI
  • RHP Zach Nuding: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 7/1 GB/FB — 61 of 98 pitches were strikes (62%)
  • LHP Mike Zagurski: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GB/FB — 13 of 20 pitches were strikes

[Read more…]

Yankees acquire Brent Lillibridge

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The Yankees have acquired utility man Brent Lillibridge from the Cubs for a player to be named later, the team announced. The 29-year-old is not on the 40-man roster and will report to Triple-A Scranton, where they need warm (and healthy) bodies in the worst way. Lillibridge had a huge year with the White Sox in 2011 (125 wRC+), but that was a complete fluke. He put up a 96 wRC+ in 173 plate appearances for Chicago Triple-A affiliate this summer. Just another depth player for the minors, that’s all.

Game 73: Need A Win

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(Mike Stobe/Getty)
(Mike Stobe/Getty)

At some point soon, the Yankees need to starting winning some games. There are too many good teams in the division and trying to climb over one for the first place is tough enough. Having to climb two or three in the second half might be impossible. Tonight is as good a night as any to start a winning streak, so let’s get it done. Here’s the lineup that will face right-hander Roberto Hernandez:

  1. CF Brett Gardner
  2. RF Ichiro Suzuki
  3. 2B Robinson Cano
  4. DH Travis Hafner
  5. 1B Lyle Overbay
  6. LF Zoilo Almonte
  7. SS Jayson Nix
  8. 3B David Adams
  9. C Austin Romine

And on the mound is the right-hander David Phelps, who went 6-2 with a 1.56 ERA in 54 innings as a senior at Hazelwood West High School in 2005.

It’s a lovely night in New York, so there won’t be any problems getting the game in. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm ET and can be seen on My9. Enjoy.

Injury Update: Mark Teixeira (wrist) will see a doctor this weekend before the team determines when he can resume swinging a bat and stuff like that … Curtis Granderson (hand) had the pin removed as planned yesterday. He will begin hand strengthening exercises before moving on to regular old baseball activities.

Yankees sign Mike Zagurski, acquire Yoshinori Tateyama

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The Yankees made a pair of minor moves today. First, they signed left-handed reliever Mike Zagurski to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton, according to Chris Cotillo. He can opt-out of the deal on August 15th if he’s not in the big leagues. The Yankees had trade interest in the 30-year-old last month, so it’s no surprise they went after him as a free agent. Zagurski allowed ten runs in six innings for the Pirates after being called up a few weeks ago, and he’s held big league lefties to a .333 wOBA in 32.2 career innings.

The Yankees have also acquired right-handed reliever Yoshinori Tateyama from the Rangers for future considerations, reports John Blake. He isn’t on the 40-man roster and will presumably join Zagurski in Triple-A. The 37-year-old owns a 5.75 ERA and 4.54 FIP in 61 career innings with Texas. He’s a funky low-arm slot guy who has held righties to a .227 wOBA in 36.1 career innings. Lefties tagged him for a .409 wOBA. Tateyama is interesting only because he throws a screwball. Here’s a GIF. New York is just loading up on some minor league bullpen depth for the second half, that’s all. I guess they could deal a reliever for a bat, but how often does that actually happen?

Yankees replace Reid Brignac with Alberto Gonzalez

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4:02pm: Brignac has indeed been designated for assignment with Gonzalez taking both his 25-man and 40-man roster spots. Joe Girardi indicated Gonzalez will be a true backup infielder with Jayson Nix and David Adams playing shortstop and third base on an everyday basis, respectively.

3:30pm: The Yankees have apparently replaced Reid Brignac with Alberto Gonzalez, though there has been no official announcement from the team. Brignac is not listed as an active player on today’s lineup sheet — Gonzalez is — and was seen saying goodbye to teammates in the clubhouse. Pretty good indication the move, which I advocated earlier this week, has been made. Probably just a simple designate for assignment plus call-up, but we’ll find out soon enough.