As you might remember, Conor and I are in a competitive fantasy league that this site is hosting, so I thought I’d update you guys on the progress of the league. First off, it’s a standard 5×5 head-to-head ten team league. Conor is 6-0-1 and I’m 4-1-1 on the year. Here are the rosters as of today:

Conor’s Team (Team Cashel)

C Geovany Soto

1B Joey Votto

2B Brandon Phillips

3B Pablo Sandoval

SS Miguel Tejada

2B/SS Chase Utley

1B/3B Adrian Gonzalez

OF Justin Upton

OF Matt Kemp

OF Carlos Quentin

OF Adam Jones

OF Matt Holliday

UTIL Hunter Pence

Bench Andre Ethier

SP Roy Halladay

SP Felix Hernandez

SP Chris Carpenter

SP Chad Billingsley

SP Jered Weaver

SP Dan Haren

RP Neftali Feliz

RP Brad Lidge

RP Bobby Jenks

Bench Stephen Strasburg

Bench Brian Matusz

DL Huston Street

DL Jair Jurrjens

Kevin’s Team (Talladega Shake-and-Bake)

C Buster Posey

1B Billy Butley

2B Ben Zobrist

3B Ryan Zimmerman

SS Hanley Ramirez

2B/SS Orlando Hudson

1B/3B Alberto Callaspo

OF Ichiro

OF Carlos Gonzalez

OF Shin-Soo Choo

OF Chris Young

OF Alfonso Soriano

UTIL Brett Gardner

Bench Matt Wieters

DL Jimmy Rollins

SP Cliff Lee

SP Mike Leake

SP Ryan Dempster

SP Johnny Cueto

SP Hisanori Takahashi

SP Carlos Zambrano (I picked him up because he was scheduled to start today, but won’t till Wednesday, now)

RP Jonathan Broxton

RP Mariano Rivera

RP Rafael Soriano

RP Joakim Soria

Bench Livan Hernandez

DL Jorge de la Rosa

Not that Francisco hasn’t been a great fill-in, but I think everyone would prefer a Posada-Cervelli duo than a Cervelli-Moeller one in charge of catching duties. Well, it looks like Jorge might be back tomorrow. I expect Jorge to get some starts at DH, with Cervelli catching, in the next week or so. That we he gets in some at bats, but is still eased in. Jorge will obviously get some starts behind the plate as well, but I bet Girardi will be doing his best to avoid overworking Jorge immediately following that DL stint.

What’s better: 7 innings of one-run ball from veteran workhorse Andy Pettitte or a huge Alex Rodriguez grand slam? Or how about Curtis Granderson’s continuing impact on the lineup, since his return from his peskyinjury (2 for 5 today with a double). All in all, the best part of today was seeing another W in the standings. There was only, really, one negative on the day, Derek Jeter left for a pinch-runner in the 7th. He was hit in the left hamstring in the second inning, and word has it he left the game with tightness in that hammy.

Even though Jeet has underperformed this year (.297/.340/.425) he’s still a pretty damn crucial part of the lineup. Then there’s the whole “captain” thing, face of the franchise, etc. Hopefully, Jeet is fine and will be playing tomorrow. Even if he’s not fine, chances are he’ll tell Girardi he’s playing tomorrow no matter what. There’s a miniscule chance that he has a pulled hammy, or something catastrophic like that which could land him on the 15 day DL, but let’s cross our fingers and hope otherwise.

Back to the cheery stuff, A-Rod and Robby Cano hit back-to-back jacks, which was a nice little demo of that middle of the order power (take note, Mark Teixeira).

The recently-engaged Nick Swisher has continued to hit extraordinarily well, as of late, hitting two doubles on the day.

Chan Ho Park did let in a run, but he also struck out 3 over his two innings. Not bad.

Andy Pettitte hasn’t been everything that could’ve been asked from him. He’s almost been everything that could’ve been asked of CC Sabathia. The guy has a 2.48 ERA and just got his 7th win on the year. Dandy Andy, at least for now, seems as good, if not better, than he was in his late twenties. Absolutely dominant.

Just going to make a prediction here following the news that the Tigers will be designating Dontrelle Willis for assignment tomorrow. He’ll pass through waivers (have you seen his contract) and then as a free agent, looking to regain his old stuff, will sign with the St. Louis Cardinals who just lost Kyle Lohse to injury and have Brad Penny on the DL. Dave Duncan will work his magic, and Dontrelle will be a very good number four starter for that ballclub for the rest of the year. Just a prediction, but I’m pretty confident in this one. (If he signs with another team…well, shoot)

So, I wanted to write about how glad I am that Randy Winn is gone and the Yanks opted to keep Russo and Pena on the roster. Then, a few hours ago, I was going to write about how the Yanks had a huge win today (at that point it was 10-4). Then, the Yanks decided to pitch terribly, terribly, terribly. I mean, for chrissake, Chase Wright would’ve been more productive. So here’s a bullpen rant:

Remember how before the season everyone, myself included, thought this Yankee bullpen was going to be absolutely dominant? Mariano and Joba make a sweet end-game combo, Alf Aceves is captain versatility, Chan Ho Park showed great stuff last year for the World Series runners-up, Sergio Mitre would do his thing, and David Robertson was King of The K. Mark Melancon was supposed to be the heir to Mo, and the Yanks had so much minor league depth we figured they could handle any non-Mo injury. Well, Park got hurt, and has been mediocre at best since returning. Aceves is down and out for a while. Mark Melancon never seems to stick in the bigs. D-Rob has been as disappointing as can be, and now has a back strain.

Sure, Mariano has been lights out aside from one or two appearances. Joba was looking good until his appearance today killed his ERA. That and those two rough outings (one against the Twinkies, the other against the BoSox) have been the only big blemishes for him. Sergio Mitre has been, in the words of Tony the Tiger, grrrrreat. With Chad Gaudin on the roster, now, Serge is going to see some more high-pressure innings, since most of the ‘pen can’t handle ‘em. Damaso Marte has pitched well, but he’s been almost exclusively a LOOGY, rarely facing more than one hitter (see the game in Minnesota where he was brought in AFTER two of the best left-handed hitters in the league had already reached base). Really, though, the failures of Chan Ho Park and David Robertson have been a big deal, since they were supposed to be the two best relievers not named Joba or Mo on the squad. The Aceves injury is tough, seeing as he could do anything, and do it well. Looks to me like the Yanks will explore a mid-season trade for a reliever (I didn’t think so a few days ago, but if the ‘pen doesn’t turn around, they might just have to). Or perhaps an impact call-up, but I don’t know how much they can rely on those young arms. Joba needs to get back to his dominant style, and quickly, because a Joba-Mo combo is a necessity for this ballclub. Okay, there’s the anger at a bullpen that blew a HUGE lead today (CC isn’t off the hook either. He didn’t pitch like a Cy Young winner in the slightest.) Still, let’s hope they figure things out, and quick.

As you can see, Kevin and I are having some major technical difficulties in regard to the appearance of the blog. We realize that it does not look so hot right now, but it was better than the alternative, which was just awful! So please bear with us, we’ll hopefully have the old template back up and running shortly. And if not, we’ll have a new blog look that looks better than it does right now!

Woo Hoo! Curtis Granderson will be back with the ballclub on Friday. He’ll slot back into center, which will force Gardy over to left field. This means we should see much less of Randy Winn. My question: who is sent down? I actually think it might be smart to send down Ramiro Pena (hitting .211/.244/.237) and let Kevin Russo (hitting .294/.333/.412 over 19 ABs) step into the utility role. He might  be a downgrade with the glove, but Russo can play the infield and the outfield and he can handle himself at the plate. So, who knows, but I’d either send down Ramiro or try and get rid of Winn.

Also, in case you missed pitching restrictions, Dave Eiland and Joe G are working on Hughes rules to regulate Phil Phranchise’s innings for the rest of the year.

Haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought we’d get a LiveBlog going for Tonight’s Game. We’re starting here in the bottom of the 1st.

Yanks Lineup

SS Jeter
CF Gardner
1B Teixeira
3B A-Rod
2B Cano
RF Swish
DH Miranda
C Cervelli
LF Russo

Javy’s on the mound trying to continue his return to form.

Twinkies

CF Span
2B Hudson
C Mauer
1B Morneau
DH Thome
RF Cuddyer
LF Kuble
SS Hardy
2B Casilla

Pitching for Minnesota is Nick Blackburn

Well a Justin Morneau sac fly to left makes it 1-0 Twins as Jim Thome comes to the plate with two outs.

Update: On a Thome liner that made Tex look like the Statue of Liberty with a great grab (Michael Kay’s words, not mine). It took Javy 26 pitches to get through the first, but only one run of damage. Javy needs to have a few efficient innings here.

Update: Well Nick Blackburn got Cano, Swish, and Miranda to go down in order. Through two innings he’s thrown 28 pitches; Javy was at 26 through one. In other words, a 1-2-3 inning of less than 15 pitches would be nice for Javy here.

Update: A Cuddyer fly to center just misses Gardner’s diving glove. Swisher was right there to back it up, which kept Cuddyer at a double. Still, not good.

Update: Out in Beantown, Boston and the Royals are tied at 1 in the top of the fifth. The bases are loaded, one out, for Jose Guillen. Dice-K is at 97 pitches, so he could be done if Guillen delivers here.

Update: Back in Minnesota, Jason Kubel crushed one to the warning track in right for a ribbie double. 2-0 Twinkies. Javy needs to do whatever he did the last two times out, because pre-benching Javy is not welcome in this rotation.

Update: Great snag by Tex. Steps on the bag, then with the help of Jeet gets Hardy in a rundown. Kuble scores though (making one wonder if Tex should’ve just thrown home after tagging the base, because he could’ve caught Kubel easily). But still, double play. One more out and the damage will be done at a 3-0 Twins lead.

Update: Well, shoot. Span crushes one to right for a double. Javy needs an out. Now.

Update: Phewf. Liner to Javy to end the inning. Pitch count is up to 48, though. Hopefully, the offense can get started here, not just to put some runs on the board, but to give Javy a little rest and time to clear his mind before trekking back out to the middle of the diamond.

Update Fruitless inning there. The heart of the lineup should deliver in the 4th though. As Michael Kay noted, Blackburn’s much easier to hit the second time through the lineup. With the likes of Gardy, Tex, and Clutch-Rod due up, the Yanks could put Javy in position for a win, or at least try to erase the prospects of a loss. That’ll, of course, require Javy getting through this inning cleanly. A Justin Morneau double off the wall in right isn’t helping him.

Update: Now a four pitch walk to Thome? C’mon Javy. A grounder to short would be good here; a double play seems like all Javy can wish for right now.

Update: Javy’s pitches have definitely been moving. You can see the movement. It’s all about location and tricking the hitter, because his pitches look good right now. He just struck out Cuddyer, so at least that’s a good sign.

You might recall, way back when, Conor and I wrote a guest post for the LoHud Yankees Blog about possible deadline deals for the Yanks. We predicted that if the Yanks were to make any moves, pending a catastrophic injury, they’d be hunting for starting pitching or an outfielder. I think it’s safe to say the Yanks are set with their starters and won’t be making any changes in that department until the winter. The outfield has been an interesting, to say the least, situation so far this season. Curtis Granderson performed below expectations, but strong in the clutch, and then hit the DL. Brett Gardner has looked like Ichiro out there with the bat and with the glove. Nick Swisher has played as well as anyone would expect, and despite being really bad at defense, Marcus Thames has been useful with his powerful batting prowess.

So in two months, when the trade deadline hits, will the Yanks have made any moves?  Jayson Stark reports that the Yanks might look for a versatile outfielder, naming David Dejesus as a guy Cashman’s looked at in the past. Honestly, if Swisher and Gardy maintain pace, they own their starting jobs. Curtis will bring back speed and pop once he’s done with the whole DL thing. What needs to be remembered, is that Nick Johnson is done, likely until August, and he was supposed to be that key on-base machine in the number two slot. While Juan Miranda (slugging .556) and Marcus Thames (slugging .508) have filled in decently and Kevin Russo has hit well in his first few appearances, there has to be some question as to whether the Yanks will look into acquiring another hitter. To be honest, I don’t think it needs to be a top priority, and they certainly shouldn’t give up any A-Grade prospects, because the need for another outfielder/DH isn’t huge. Yes, Randy Winn has been as disappointing as we all expected, but the efforts of the other insurance players (Thames, Miranda, etc.) seem to have made up for that.

Also, remember that after this season both Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford will be free agents, and the Yanks are widely expected to sign one of ‘em. So, any mid-season pickup would pretty much have to be a free agent at the end of the year, since the Yanks have Curtis, Gardy, and Swish under contract (or in Gardy’s case, team control) for 2011, and if they also had Werth or Crawford, well this alleged mid-season acquisition would be the odd-man out. The real question is, how big of an upgrade from a Miranda/Thames platoon could any pick-up be? There’s obviously still a boatload of time until the deadline, but it doesn’t seem like the Yanks will be able to find anyone that is that big of an improvement over the current duo.

For you transaction junkies aching to see roster changes, have patience. This winter will see Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Javy Vazquez, Chan Ho Park, Randy Winn, Marcus Thames, and Nick Johnson reach free agency. While Mo and Jeets will re-sign (duh), there will still be lots of holes to fill, and the off-season will be a busy one. If Andy retires (going out strong a la Mussina) and Javy walks away, the Yanks will have to fill two rotation slots. They’ll need a new DH to replace Johnson (My prediction is a Crawford/Werth signing with Nick Swisher moving into the DH role). The Yanks might want to re-stock the bench with the departures of Winn and Thames, either with free agents or players from the farm. Regardless, the winter will be active, and that’s when we’ll see Brian Cashman at his finest, but pending something extraordinarily unforeseen, this year’s deadline should be quiet.

Well Chad Gaudin didn’t win the number 5 spot in spring training; he couldn’t even keep a roster spot, so he went to Oakland. They decided they didn’t want him anymore either, so he’s back in pinstripes. Chad will head to the bullpen for the nightcap of today’s game. Chad was a valuable asset at the end of last year, so its nice to see him back in the Bronx. Let’s hope he pitches like he did last year.