Sorry this is so late. I got suck in major traffic. Anyway, here we are 1 hour and 40 min past the trade deadline, and the team doesn’t look too different. The only deal that the Yankees made to day was to acquire super utility man Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Reds for catcher Chase Weems. Hairston has played every position this season except P, 1B, and C. He’s having a bit of a rough season (.254/.305/.397), but we didn’t give much for him and he is better than Ransom (both in numbers and versatility). It’s a good pickup for the Yanks, because he can fill in for B-Gard for the time being and then replace Cody Ransom when Gardner comes back.

In other news, the Yankees did not acquire a pitcher, which I found a little shocking. Not that we desperately needed one, but it definitely could have been helpful. Maybe the Yanks will pick somebody up off waivers. One thing really frustrated me about the deadline, though. The Mariners asked for Montero or Ajax for Jarrod Washburn, and then took 2 pitchers from the Tigers that weren’t even in their top 10 prospects. That is a load of bogus.

Anyway, the Yankees play the White Sox again tonight. Here are the lineups…

Yankees-

Jeter SS

Damon LF

Teixeira 1B

A-Rod 3B

Matsui DH

Posada C

Cabrera CF

Hinske LF

Sergio Mitre P

White Sox-

Podsednik CF

Beckham 3B

Thome DH

Konerko 1B

Pierzynski C

Quentin LF

Kotsay RF

Nix SS

Getz 2B

D.J Carrasco P

Enjoy the game.

Maybe not. But Tyler Kepner tweets that the Yankees have traded for Jason Hirsh from COL for a PTBNL. According to Kepner, the move is strictly depth related. Via MLBTR, I found out that Hirsh is “27, has pitched 101 innings at AAA and given up 130 hits and 35 walks.” MLBTR also reports that the Yankees have released Brett Tomko.

So as we all know by this point, the Yankees are looking to acquire a SP to add depth to our rather thin rotation. I have news! Ian Snell, who the Yankees were reportedly after, has been traded to the Mariners in a 7 player deal. The Mariners acquired Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, and Nathan Adcock. Boy oh boy, the Pirates are really getting rid of everybody! Anyway, I suppose you can cross Snell off the list, because I don’t really know why the Mariners would just flip him, but I guess anything is possible. As for Roy Halladay, the Yankees are said to be “on the periphery”. Joel Sherman writes that the Yankees may just have a “quiet trade deadline”. MLBTR writes that “the team is showing no inclination to pursue Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee, and has not engaged in extensive talks for Jarrod Washburn. Sherman believes the Yanks might be content to let the Red Sox get Halladay.” I really have a hard time believing that the Yankees will just let the Sox get the best pitcher in baseball, with no response. Just look at what happened with Teixeira! This deadline will certainly be interesting.

UPDATE: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Phillies have reached an agreement with the Indians to get Cliff Lee and Ben Fransisco. The Phils will send Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson. This obviously leads to a huge loss of leverage for the Blue Jays.

The Yankees lost to the Rays tonight (6-2) after an unfortunate outing by ace CC Sabathia. Sabathia went 5.2 innings, gave up 9 hits, 5 ER, and 2 BBs. He, unfortunately, had to deal with sloppy defense. Both Jeter and Rodriguez had throwing errors in the game today. One bright spot about today’s game was Mark Melancon’s relief effort. He went 2.1 innings with 0 ER, 1 hit, and 2 Ks. Solid effort by the young rookie. As for the offense, they stalled against Scott Kazmir. A-Rod and Matsui both went 2-4 (Matsui drove in both runs), but that was really the only positive  for the offense. Luckily for the Yankees, Jonathan Papelbon blew the game in the 9th for the Sox. Papelbon had a 3 run lead to work with in the 9th, and gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and 1 walk. The As went on to score 2 in the 11th, which was enough to win the game. The Yankees still remain 2.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East.

Chien Ming Wang has been diagnosed with a tear in the shoulder capsule ligament. He will have season ending surgery performed on him tomorrow. Via PeteAbe, we find out that “it sounds like this is the sort of shoulder injury that could keep Wang out deep into next season”. Yikes. I would assume that the Yankees will push a little harder to find a starter before Friday’s trade deadline… Never underestimate the power of Brian Cashman.

So here is my idea. Disclaimer: there have been no rumors reporting this is even a possibility, but hey, its just an idea. Why don’t the Yankees ask about Scott Kazmir. According to MLBTR, Kazmir was shopped to the Rangers and the Mets. The Rays would “consider moving Kazmir to free up salary in order to make a blockbuster deal for Martinez and Lee”. Kazmir is having a horrible season, so his value should be lower than usual. His ERA sits at 6.62 and his WHIP at 1.64. Traditionally though, the 25 year old has been a stud. The last 4 seasons (21-24), his ERA and WHIP have been 3.77/1.46, 3.24/1.27, 3.48/1.37, and 3.49/1.27, respectively. I don’t know how keen the Rays would be to trade him to their main competition (besides the Red Sox of course). And by “not too keen”, I mean it’ll probably never ever happen, but if he’s being shopped around, the Yankees may as well ask.

The Yanks are in a tricky situation with Brett Gardner’s injury that has landed him on the DL. Gardy will be in a cast for 2 or 2.5 weeks according to Peter Abraham. At that point he’ll be able to rehab. So in a best case scenario we still wouldn’t see Gardy until the end of August. The Yanks plan on promoting Austin Jackson, their stud CF prospect who has a  .313/.376/.432 line in triple A, to the bigs NEXT year to take over duties in centerfield. He might not be the centerfielder on Opening Day, but expect him to be roaming the outfield by June. With AJax in the wings, the Yanks are hesitant to commit to a centerfielder who is a big financial commitment or who would need to be a starting centerfielder in 2010. The Yanks are also searching for a back-of-the-rotation starter with the same contractual type of situation.

Now you may say, why not promote Jackson now? Well AJax, who is just 22, has a few flaws in his game that shouldn’t be dealt with at the big league level. On top of that, the Yanks want AJax to be playing every day so that he continues with his development as their centerfielder of the future. The flaws I mentioned earlier include his high strikeout rate (89 K’s in 352 AB) and his undeveloped power (only 4 homers on the year…although Gardy’s power wasn’t much better, if at all). Jackson is projected to grow into a 20 home run type of hitter. The strikeout rate indicates that Jackson may not be able to handle major league pitching quite yet, meaning he could very well end up as a black hole at the bottom of the lineup. I’ve heard people say that on days that Molina played, if that was coupled with Jackson in center, the Yankee offense would take a serious hit. I say, play Melky on those days. I personally think a Jackson promotion would give him a nice taste of the bigs, and while he might not be a .300 hitter he would be a great presence in centerfield and on the basepaths. We brought up Gardner last year, and he didn’t hit, but he gave a little energy to the team in a similar way. Now, the Yanks don’t necessarily need energy, but they could use some speed. I like a Jackson promotion, but word around the web is that it is unlikely.

So, if Jackson won’t be manning center, who will? Melky Cabrera is slated to be the everyday centerfielder right now, but the Yanks would like to at least have a backup for him that can handle centerfield. Joe Girardi also likes to use Melky in left to give Johnny Damon a rest every once in a while, and he wouldn’t want to use Eric Hinske in left. A Hinske-Melky-Swisher outfield wouldn’t impress anyone defensively. Ramiro Pena has played 5 games in center at triple A, but Girardi can’t trust him to step up right now and be comfortable with a new position all of a sudden. Shelley Duncan and John Rodriguez aren’t exactly Torii Hunter down at triple A. So, with the non waiver trading deadline just 3 days away the Yanks may explore a trade.

The easiest option for the Yanks would be to acquire an impending free agent. That way they could have the player for Gardy’s absence, and the rest of the year since rosters will expand soon after Gardy returns, but not worry about fitting them on to the payroll next year. The player that best fits that profile is the speedy Scott Podsendnik. Pods seems to be his old self now that he is back on the South Side of Chicago. He has a .305/.361/.397 line through 302 at bats this season. He’s also got 15 steals (although he has been caught 9 times). Just for kicks let’s see how he compares to B-Gard.  Gardner’s line: .275/.354/.400. Pretty similar eh? Pods is actually playing better than Gardy was. Gardner’s got 20 stolen bases (caught 5 times). So they’re pretty similar players. Gardner is a superior fielder, but Pods is still above average. Would the ChiSox give Podsednik up though? Chicago is only 2 games out in the Central, so they definitely aren’t sellers. Pods isn’t a crucial part of their team though, so if he could be moved for someone that could help them reach the postseason, they might be receptive to a trade offer. Outside of Pods, the White Sox have Mark Buerhle’s new best friend, Dewayne Wise, capable of centerfield. The 31 year old Wise hasn’t been an offensive force this year with his .192/.236/.317 line, but sure can handle his glove. The Yanks and ChiSox don’t seem to match up too well for a trade. Chicago’s biggest hole is 2nd base, and the Yanks aren’t about to give up Cano (despite his RISP troubles) without getting a suitable replacement (anyone else thinking 3 way trade with Pittsburgh?). Chicago also likely will be nervous about putting DeWayne Wish in the lineup every day. Chicago has a deep pitching staff, so offering a reliever most likely wouldn’t do much. To make a trade happen the Yanks would have to pull in a third team, which is definitely a possibility, although it would be a lot of hassle just to acquire Scott Podsednik.

Maybe a Cano to Chicago, Podsednik, Matt Thornton, and Pittsburgh’s Freddy Sanchez to the Yanks, with John Ely and Johnny Nunez headed to Pittsburgh? Just an idea…

The Yanks would also due well to look at some speedy athletic players like Washington’s Nyjer Morgan and Oakland’s Rajai Davis. I’d love to see Seattle’s Franklin Guttierez in the Bronx for years to come, but I’m sure the asking price will be too steep.

So we’ll wait and see what the Yanks decide. I’d love to see AJax in the Bronx, but I understand not wanting to rush players to the bigs (sure ended Mark Prior’s career).

Hey all,

I’m gonna have a busy week of traveling, conferences, lectures, seminars, and classes. This is just a baby step as I pursue my career aspirations to land a job in a big league front office. Conor will be covering the Site until I’m available on August 6th. I’m not sure what the internet situation will be like while I’m studying at Stanford for the next 10 days, but I might not have access at all. Even with internet, I’ll be booked solid, but I’ll try to write if I get a chance. Enjoy the deadline and hopefully the Yanks will bring in a decent 5th starter (Jarrod Washburn sure would be nice). Con will do his best to keep the site up to date with the games, trades, and other news, but with only half the man-power be prepared for a lesser frequency of posting than you have been accustomed to. I’l be back August 6th as we head into the final stretch of the pennant race.

Joba Bless,

Kevin

“If You Ain’t First, You’re Last”

Sorry, another Arroyo post. PeteAbe says the Yanks shot down the rumor. Jon Heyman says it”s not realistic. Didn’t think so. There was no reason for the Yanks to be interested in Arroyo, so I think the original article was just purely speculative. Don’t know where he got the quote from an “official,” but notice that the quote doesn’t say names or teams….

Here’s my speculation: Yanks will look at Aaron Harang (if Reds pick up majority of $ and ask for very little in terms of prospects), Jarrod Washburn (if asking price is reasonable), Ian Snell (if they think his rediscovery of his “stuff” at triple A can translate to the bigs) and the rehabbing Justin Duchscherer (if he is deemed healthy). Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay just don’t seem to be in the cards. Not if they’d cost some combination of Montero, Jackson, Hughes, Joba, and Romine.

So…maybe the Yanks aren’t getting Arroyo. He is apparently still scheduled to pitch for the Reds Tuesday. So hopefully the Reds aren’t deep in conversations to send him away (specifically to the Yanks).

Really? According to Jeff Fletcher, the Yankees are in “serious discussions with the Reds”. Why? He has had only 1 year with a sub-4 ERA (’06)  in the past 5 seasons. This season is arguably the worst of his career. Arroyo’s ERA sits at 5.21, his WHIP at 1.472, and opposing hitters are batting .282 against him. UGLY. He has been effective in two recent starts, throwing 7 shutout innings against Milwaulkee on the 17th, and before that a shutout at CitiField. However, in his last start he allowed 5 earned runs in less than 6 innings. He has only gone past the 6th 4 times in his past 10 starts. Don’t forget, he’s pitching this poorly in the NATIONAL LEAGUE. Imagine throwing him into the best division in baseball. Would you really want Arroyo pitching if we’re up against the Rays or Sox? His only saving grace is that he has pitched over 200 innings for the last 4 seasons, so some might call him a workhorse, but remember he’s throwing over 200 mediocre innings. Kei Igawa could pitch 200 innings too, doesn’t mean it would be good for the team. In Fletcher’s article, he quotes a source saying that the deal “will get done”. It is now only a matter of how much the Reds will pay of Arroyo’s remaining 4mm. He is owed 11mm next year. In houseplayers  Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and George Kontos and free agents Justin Duchscherer and Erik Bedard will all make less than that, and will most likely be more effective. Trading for Arroyo does nothing for the Yanks. Unless we’re getting Jay Bruce, or Homer Bailey, or Edinson Volquez, or Johnny Cueto in this deal and THAT somehow got passed on by the press then there is no reason to make a deal like this. This might be a crazy idea, but could it be that we’re sending Scranton All Star Kei Igawa for him? Just speculation on my part, but might make sense (if Cincy is picking up a lot of Arroyo’s contrac, a LO T a LOT of it).

The Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:08 pm ET today.

The lineup is as follows…

SS Jeet

LF Damon

1B Teixeira

3B Birthday-rod

DH Godzilla

C Hip Hip Jorge

2B Robby Cano

RF SuperSwish

CF The Melkman

AJ Burnett will get the start against righty James Shields