It pains me to post this, since we’re going to a disliked source. But they’ve got the info, so they might as well get the credit. Joel Sherman reports that the Yanks will recall Chris Britton to fill the vacant spot on the 25-man roster. It wasn’t more than a week ago that Britton’s name was absent from the 40-man roster listing on Yankees.com. Looks like that was a glitch — though they still had 40 guys on the roster at the time. Not sure how that worked. In any case, Fats should be in the Bronx this evening.
No, really. Who’s going to pitch the 8th?
While the Yankees improved their team yesterday by shipping out Kyle Farnsworth and landing themselves Ivan Rodriguez in return, the end of the Farnsworth Era provides us with yet another chance to ask our favorite question: Who will pitch the 8th inning?
Farnsworth, hurler in 30 8th innings this year, had emerged recently as the Yanks’ set-up man, to a point. He was yanked in Boston when he nearly coughed up a tight game, and he’s always just one misstep away from completely imploding. But he had his role on the Yankees, and now the team has to fill a bullpen hole.
While the team has yet to announce a corresponding roster move, you have to believe that Chad Moeller will be DFA’d and Brian Bruney will activated from the DL. With that move, the Yanks will have a plethora of candidates to set up for Mariano. Damaso Marte, long the setup man in Pittsburgh, seems likely to inherit the role, but Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras and Bruney should all be considered candidates. None of these players are less reliable than Farnsworth was, and three of them — Marte, Ramirez, Bruney — should be better than Krazy Kyle.
When Brian Cashman pulled the trigger on this deal, he pulled something of a coup. The Yanks instantly improved behind the plate. But he also fully committed himself to his new approach toward building the bullpen. He’s now content to throw young arms out there in an effort to see what sticks. We’ve long endorsed this approach. Why pay $5 million for a Kyle Farnsworth when Edwar Ramirez can be had for the league minimum? Now we’ll get to see how well this works, and how good Joe Girardi is at handling it. Who will emerge to pitch the 8th is a question entirely up for grabs.
Could the Yanks move on Lohse?
Jayson Stark adds another name to the available starting pitchers: Kyle Lohse. Could the Yankees, given the death of the Jarrod Washburn proceedings, refocus their attention with just a few hours remaining before the trade deadline? It wouldn’t be easy, but as we’ve seen from Cashman in the past week, he’s open to the right deal.
Problem is, I don’t see this being the right deal for the Yanks. According to Stark, the Cardinals want a bat and a bullpen arm. We just dished one of our bullpen arms, and it’s not like we’ve got an endless supply. You want to have as many options as possible there, in case one of your guys has a bout of ineffectiveness. We’ve yet to see Veras, Edwar, and Robertson sustain quality performances over an entire season, so holding onto guys like Bruney, Cox, Melancon, etc. will be an important insurance policy.
As far as a bat, don’t we need those ourselves? They could try to flip Abreu, I suppose, though I’m sure that’s not even on Cashman’s mind. It would clearly be contingent upon the return of Hideki Matsui, which is looking more and more in doubt as each day passes. Beyond that, there is little we can offer St. Louis in those terms.
Plus, is Lohse worth it in the first place? Ya gotta remember why Minnesota got rid of him. He’s not a power guy, he doesn’t have the best control, and he’s prone to the longball. Or at least he was in the AL. In 2006, when he got booted from the Twins, he held a 7.07 ERA through 63.2 innings, and didn’t even maintain a 2:1 K/BB ratio. He’s been better with St. Louis this year, pitching to a 3.68 ERA and keeping his homers relatively in check. Still, you never know what’s going to happen when he jumps into the pressure cooker that is the AL East.
Stark mentions the White Sox and the Rockies as other suitors. The White Sox, with the acquisition of Griffey, seemingly have a spare bat. But with Scott Linebrink on the shelf, do they have a reliever to spare?
In any case, count me against acquiring Lohse. The price will be too high, as will the risk. No reason to blow prospects or proven guys on a pitcher who might implode in a return to the superior league.
Much like the Yanks’ offense today, RAB is back online
Sorry for the extended downtime and on-and-off problems these evening. We’ve upgraded RAB to a dedicated server and had some growing pains. But we should be at full strength now. The game recap is a little light, but feel free to comment away.
Lost in the brouhaha over the Pudge-for-Farnsworth deal was a stellar Yankee win. Prior to a very tough series against the Angels, the Yanks delivered a Bronx Beatdown of the Orioles. A-Rod hit a meaningless home run late in the game; Bobby Abreu picked up a pair of jacks; Xavier Nady knocked in a few runs; and Joba threw another very strong start. The Yanks walked away 13-3 winners, and they now sit just one game behind the Boston Red Sox — all on the win side — for the AL Wild Card.
Meanwhile, with that win, Joba is now 3-1 as a starter with a 2.23 ERA. He’s thrown 60.2 innings and has allowed 52 hits and 23 walks — most of those early on in his starting career — while striking out 69. He’s issued a grand total of two walks over his last four starts. While Joba will take his lumps, this transition to the starting rotation has been seamless.
And, oh yeah, Manny may be on the way out of Boston. Thursday’s bound to be interesting, and we’ll have plenty of coverage leading up to the trade deadline at 4 p.m. followed by the start of a key series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. So stay tuned.
Melancon makes his AAA debut
Triple-A Scranton (6-0 win over Syracuse)
Brett Gardner: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 SB
Bernie Castro & Cody Ransom: both 0 for 4, 1 BB, 1 K
Matt Carson: 3 for 5, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Juan Miranda: 1 for 3, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB – second steal of his career, the first came early last year with Tampa
Ben Broussard & Eric Duncan: both 1 for 4, 1 BB, 1 K – E-Dunc scored a run & committed a fielding error
Alberto Gonzalez: 1 for 5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K
Chris Stewart: 1 for 2 – he and manager Dave Miley were ejected in the bottom of the 4th for arguing balls and strikes
JD Closser: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K – nice job after taking over for Stewart
Chase Wright: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 11-3 GB/FB – 42 of 70 pitches were strikes (60%)
Mark Melancon: 2 IP, zeroes, 3-3 GB/FB – 15 of 19 pitches were strikes (78.9%) … so I guess all that talk about him pitching multiple innings per outing because he was throwing so few pitches per inning had some truth to it
Scott Strickland: 1 IP, zeroes, 2-1 GB/FB – took him a grand total of 6 pitches to end this one
Hawkins traded to Houston
After picking up Xavier Nady, Damaso Marte and Pudge Rodriguez in the past few days, Brian Cashman may have turned his greatest trick this afternoon by trading LaTroy Hawkins to Houston. The compensation is unkown, but speculation is that it could be second base prospect Matt Cusick. Incredible.
Update (8:37pm): It’s Cusick.
Open Thread: Is The Boss a HOFer?
Site Note: We’re upgrading to a dedicated server, so the site may act a little squirrelly as the switch is made over the next few hours. Please be patient if the site acts up a little tonight, everything will be much better by tomorrow. Thanks.
George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees for a mere $10M back in 1973, and has watched the team grow into a $1.2 billion dollar mega-franchise. The most recognizable owner in sports has had his share of highlights, low lights, and all sorts of in-between lights, and remains as recognizable as ever despite handing the reins over to sons Hank & Hal. He’s been suspended from baseball for paying people to dig up dirt on one of his players, he revolutionized a new income stream by being the first owner to sell his team’s television rights to a cable network, he was indicted on 14 criminal counts for improper contributions to Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign, and he’s donated millions of dollars to charities of all shapes and sizes, most of which was done outside of the public eye.
During last weekend’s HOF induction ceremony, both Goose Gossage and Dick Williams shared their thoughts on Big Stein’s HOF candidacy, and that candidacy is what we’re here to discuss tonight. Does Steinbrenner belong to be immortalized in the Hall of Fame?
Many claim that he’s ruined baseball by exploiting his team’s financial advantages, others claim that he’s helped increase the game’s popularity to record highs. He may best be known for his firey temper and a revolving door of managers, but his contributions, particularly to the Tampa community, will leave the longest lasting impression of Mr. Steinbrenner.
What do you think, does The Boss belong in the HOF? Discuss it here, and play nice.