While we generally shy away from posting the endless speculation about potential trade requests, this one is too good to pass up. According to Jon Heyman via Twitter, the Yankees asked the Indians about Cliff Lee, and Cleveland expressed its desire for Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain and more. As Chris at iYankees said, a trade involving either of those two would defeat the purpose of acquiring a replacement for Chien-Ming Wang. That Mark Shapiro, he’s quite the joker.
Keri: Qualls-to-Yanks ‘needs to happen’
Over at YESNetwork.com today, friend-of-RAB Jonah Keri checks in with the nine deadline deals he feels need to happen. The major highlights include Cliff Lee to Tampa, Victor Martinez to the Red Sox and Roy Halladay to the Rangers, but the Yankees make the list as well.
Keri believes, as do we, that the Yanks should do their best to acquire current Diamondbacks reliever Chad Qualls. The 30-year-old right-hander has thrown 39.2 innings over 38 appearances this year, and his peripherals — 33 strike outs to just five walks — are impressive. His 2.58 ground out-to-air out ratio make him, in the words of Buster Olney, a perfect fit for new Yankee Stadium. Anyway, this is Keri’s take:
Sure, Halladay or Cliff Lee would be a sexier move. But Qualls would give the Yankees an excellent strikeout-and-groundball machine who can provide a bridge to Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning (and hopefully serve as a stopper in earlier innings, if Joe Girardi will stop being so hung up on roles). But what’s this, you say, Phil Hughes is already a lights-out set-up man? Too true. But Hughes offers more value if he can settle in as a strikeout-throwing starting pitcher to replace DL’d Chien-Ming Wang and complement CC Sabathia and company.
The Yankees wisely have Hughes — like Joba Chamberlain — ticketed for the rotation long-term, knowing it’s much harder to find effective starters than useful relievers. Qualls would ensure the Yankees don’t have to ship out elite prospects like Jesus Montero to upgrade the big-league roster, while also giving Hughes a chance to stretch into a five- or six-inning starter now, and a potential rotation star later.
Needless to say, the Yankees aren’t going to shipping out Jesus Montero for anything short of the second coming of Whitey Ford right now, but Keri’s analysis is still spot on. Qualls would be a perfect addition to the Yankee pen, and his presence would give them some much-needed flexibility as their pitching depth has suddenly dissipated. We’ll have to see what Brian Cashman can do.
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Yanks to face Holliday-less A’s this weekend
The rumors had been circulating for a few hours, and now it finally seems official: Matt Holliday is going to the Cardinals for third baseman Brett Wallace, outfielder Shane Peterson and right-handed pitcher Clayton Mortensen. The Cardinals will also receive $1.5 million from the A’s. So how does this relate to the Yankees? Simple: The Bombers won’t have to face a recently hot Matt Holliday — .330/.402/.536 over his last 26 games — in the remaining contests they have against the A’s this weekend, and that sounds good to me.
Cashman talks, but not much, about plans for Joba
Brian Cashman made one thing clear during his pregame talk yesterday: There is a plan in place for Joba Chamberlain. What exactly that plan entails he wouldn’t say. And why would he? The team’s plans for the 23-year-old righty haven’t changed since Spring Training, and they will not change based on the highs and lows an inexperienced pitcher will inevitably face.
There’s been no shortage of speculation on what the team will do with Joba, now at 95.2 innings, once he nears his limit. Yet no one knows exactly what the Yankees will do. That’s fine. He’ll start until he reaches some predetermined point, and the Yankees will do what they planned to do with him. That won’t stop us from speculating, though.
Before commenting on what they could do, let’s take a look at what Cashman actually said. This comes right from PeteAbe’s pregame audio. Thanks to the sound quality I had to listen three or four times for accuracy. Also, because it sounded like Cashman actually divulged some information.
When asked if the plan is to have Joba in the rotation through the end of the season, Cashman responded “Yes.” He then added, “Well, it depends on how he gets used.” Well, if he’s a starter he’s only going to get used one way. More importantly, when asked if there’s a chance Joba would be shut down at any point, Cashman said no.
From this, I can only infer that Cash misheard the question as, “Will Joba be pitching for the rest of the season?” since he added the “how he gets used” part. Since he won’t be shut down, I can only imagine this means that he’ll return to the bullpen when he hits a certain milestone. While I know some are against this plan and would rather see Joba hit his limit and then shut it down, I have no problem with this plan.
Young pitchers can learn a lot by pitching out of the bullpen. Phil Hughes is a prime example. He struggled as a starter, though we saw flashes of brilliance. Now that he’s in the bullpen he’s attacking hitters and letting loose with his fastball. The hope is that when he returns to the starting rotation, whether that be later this year or in 2010, he takes those lessons with him.
Same with Joba. He clearly has plenty to work on. At times he looks brilliant, and at times he looks lost. He’s learning plenty in the rotation, but it’s best for him to stay with the team throughout the season, work through a whole 162-game schedule, and continue learning his lessons in the bullpen.
What happens to Joba’s rotation spot once he moves to the bullpen? For all we know, the Yankees could acquire a starter between now and then, but I think Phil Hughes is as obvious an answer as any. Once Joba’s nearing the end of the starter portion of his season, Hughes could shadow him, stretching himself out. Hopefully it would take only two starts (because it’s really a waste of a roster spot), and then the transition is complete. Joba is in the pen, Hughes is in the rotation.
This isn’t necessarily what the Yankees will do, but based on Cashman’s comments yesterday, it sounds like a strong possibility. It would also make sense. The Yankees have two young pitchers whose innings need managing. The Hughes-Joba swap seems to work for both parties.
Wang, fearing surgery, gets an ominous third opinion
While the Yanks behind ace CC Sabathia were busy dispatching the A’s, the Front Office had to face some bad news concerning Chien-Ming Wang. After receiving a second opinion from Dr. David Altchek on Wang’s shoulder, the team will consult with Dr. James Andrews as well. Wang himself fears the worst.
Bryan Hoch summarized the bad news late last night:
Chien-Ming Wang is concerned that his 2009 season may be over, having sought a second opinion as he continues to feel discomfort in his right shoulder, and now Dr. James Andrews will get his chance to take a look.
Wang visited on Wednesday with Dr. David Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York after suffering a setback earlier in the week while playing catch, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad on Thursday to discuss Wang’s situation.
After reviewing Altchek’s findings, the Yankees are next set to confer with Andrews before discussing Wang’s status further. But at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, the 29-year-old Wang said that he is worried that surgery may be necessary. “I don’t know,” Wang said. “The shoulder, the day I played catch, it still feels the same.”
It is worth noting that both Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte have consulted with Dr. Andrews, and neither needed surgery. Wang, however, does not sound like a man confident in his 2009 pitching future, and we all saw this coming.
As Wang struggled early this year after a decent Spring Training, the Yanks tried to blame weak legs and a weak core for Wang’s struggles. Our pitch f/x analysis however — here and here — told a different story. Wang wasn’t releasing the ball where he should have been. When he was a dominant pitcher in 2007, his release point was lower and closer to his body. This year, it was up high and further away. Something was wrong.
Now the Yankees know what it is and the extent of the damage, and soon enough, the rest of us will too. At this point, the Yankees aren’t expecting anything from Wang this year, but they have a larger problem on their hands. With Wang out, Joba nearing his innings and Phil Hughes firmly ensconced in the bullpen, their once-vaunted pitching depth has withered its way down to Sergio Mitre and — I shudder to type it — Kei Igawa.
The Yankees will soon have to get creative, and they will have to acquire a pitcher for the rest of 2009 and into 2010. If Wang’s shoulder is truly as damaged as it sounds, he could be facing surgery and a 10- or 12-month rehab stint. With the trade deadline seven days away, Brian Cashman is probably already on the phone, hunting for that arm the Yanks now need.
Yanks nail down seventh straight with 6-3 win
For the first three innings of this rain-delayed game, the Yankees seemed to be mailing it in. After sitting for over two hours and 40 minutes, the Yanks looked lethargic. Facing Vin Mazzaro – Vinny from New Jersey — the team went 1 for 9 with six strike outs. Meanwhile, the A’s went 6 for 14 and with one out in the top of the fourth, had put together a 3-0 lead.
And then the Yankees turned the tables on the Vinny and the A’s. Mark Teixeira took a 3-0 pitch into the second deck in right field for a two-run home run, and the game would be all Yankees from that point on. They knocked out another two hits and two runs in that inning, and after four innings, they had a 4-3 lead.
Mazzaro, pitching in front of his friends and family from New Jersey for the first time in Yankee Stadium, was dominant the first time around. The second time through, though, the Yankees took the upper hand. He would last just 4.1 innings, giving up six earned runs on eight hits and four walks. Of the final 11 Yankee at-bats against Mazzaro, seven would end with hits. After one look, the Yanks saw all they needed, and the A’s paid.
CC, meanwhile, would cruise through the rest of the game. After Kurt Suzuki’s RBI single in the fourth, Oakland went just 3 for 14 against Sabathia. The Big Man didn’t have his best stuff early, but he lasted seven innings and didn’t walk a hitter. This victory — an easy 6-3 win — would be his tenth of the season.
Sabathia gave way to Phil Hughes in the 8th, and the youngest did not disappoint. With Mariano Rivera out, the rest of the Yankee bullpen had to pick up the slack, and that job fell primarily to Hughes. The righty threw just 28 pitches over two innings, 19 of them for strikes. While he didn’t record a strike out, he tossed up a bunch of zeroes and walked away with his first career save.
For the Yanks, this win was their 30th come-from-behind win of the season. With the Red Sox idle and the Rays on the wrong end of a perfect game earlier on Thursday, the Yankees extended their first place lead to a season-high 2.5 games over Boston. Tampa finds themselves 6.5 games behind the Yankees. That’s seven in a row for the Yanks, a nice lead and Joba going later tonight. I’ll sleep well after this one.
A Rookie Pitcher Note: With this victory tonight, the Yankees are now 18-7 against rookie pitchers. That’s the best mark in the Majors. Hopefully, that should put the idea that the Yankees can’t beat rookie pitches they’ve never seen to rest.