Time to Catch Up On Some Yankees Business

You know by now that Joe Girardi and his infamous binder will be back for the next 3 years at $3 million a pop. The people have also spoken when I asked if you though GI Joe would be back in 2011. Keeping in mind that the poll was started well before the Cubs named Mike Quade as their permanent manager.

As you can see more than 2/3 of you thought that Girardi would be back. And you were right. Girardi and Brian Cashman will now be looking for a pitching coach to join the staff. Dave Eiland, btw, recently rebuked rumors that he and Girardi did not get along and that is what led to his dismissal.

The Yankees recently asked for permission to talk to former Yankees farmhand and Blue Jays pitching (and Jim Bouton look alike) Gil Patterson, who is currently an employee of the Oakland A's. Patterson was very highly thought of during his time in Toronto.

Free agents - As expected, options for Kerry Wood, Lance Berkman, and Nick Johnson were not exercised, allowing the three to be free agents. Only Wood has a shot at returning.

Derek Jeter - Hal Steinbrenner recently spoke on WFAN and ESPNradio and said he did not expect things to go smoothly. Here's what some others have had to say on the topic.

Dave D'Alessandro (Star Ledger)

Mike Vaccaro (NY Post)

Mark Feinsand (NY Daily News)

Andrew Marchand (ESPN New York)

Sweeny Murti (WFAN)

The Yankees top target on the free agent market is of course Cliff Lee. The lefty dominated the Yankees in both the 2009 and 2010 post-seasons, but wasn't up to his usual game in this year's World Series. His game 5 performance was good, but not good enough. And his game 1 showing was horrendous. It's put some doubt in the minds of fans and pundits, especially since Lee will be 33 next year and as Michael Kay pointed out on his radio show, he's only two years removed from a trip to the minors. Lee will want CC money, but will the Yankees be willing to give it to a player who will 40 when the contract expires.

That's also the subject of the new poll that we ask you to contribute to.

Rumors have it that the Yankees will not be spending money on outfielders Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth, preferring to stick with what they have or go a cheaper route if they want a change.

And if Lee goes elsewhere the Yankees will look into deals for younger pitchers such as Felix Hernandez or Zack Greinke, though the latter questioned his own ability to pitch in the Big Apple.

Brandon Laird (Eastern League) and Melky Mesa (Florida St. League) were named the top players in each of their leagues by Topps (boy do I miss buying packs of baseball cards). Mesa was also added to the 40-man roster to keep him from becoming a free agent.

Chad Gaudin, who never should have been brought back, was shown the door for a second time.

That's it for now...be back with more later...and be sure to check out my Hot Stove column Monday thru Friday on BaseballDigest.com beginning this Monday.

Posada Steals The Spotlight

The Yankee Stadium crowd didn't get to see Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run last night, but Jorge Posada picked up his 1,000th RBI in the Yankees 7-1 thumping of the Kansas City Royals.

The Yankees jumped on Royals' starter Brian Bannister for four runs in the 1st inning to immediately take control of the game. Robinson Cano's gapper with the bases loaded plated three and the second baseman came home when Posada doubled to right. In doing so, Posada became just the third major leaguer to reach the milestone while in the midst of an RBI streak of at least seven games. B.J. Surhoff and Yogi Berra were the others.

The run support would be all that A.J. Burnett would need in his first start since a laceration laced tirade in the Yankees clubhouse on July 17. Burnett needed just 58 pitches to toss five scoreless innings before a hellacious thunder storm hit the Bronx. When the game resumed 85 minutes later Chad Gaudin took over the pitching duties.

A-Rod had two hits in four trips to the plate, but didn't come close to becoming the 7th player to reach the 600 home run plateau.

Notes

Former Yankees farmhand Kanekoa Texeira pitched for KC in the 8th. Texeira had been claimed by Seattle in this year's Rule V draft and was later dealt to Seattle.

Fans used to cringe when Robinson Cano came up with the bases loaded, but this year Cano is 5-10. He's come to the plate (128) with ducks on the pond more than any other player since 2005.

Pettitte Likely Headed To DL

The Yankees series win over the Rays was tempered a bit by the news that Andy Pettitte is likely head to the DL with a groin strain.

Pettitte felt something awry in the 3rd inning of today's game and left after consulting with Joe Girardi and trainer Gene Monahan. An MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain and though Girardi is taking a wait-and-see attitude, he also feels Pettitte is likely to be DLed.

The Yankees choices for the rotation include Sergio Mitre, Dustin Moseley, and Chad Gaudin among the current Yankees and Ivan Nova in Scranton. Though he's on the same pitching schedule as Pettitte, it is very unlikely that the Yankees would call up Nova's teammate and prospect David Phelps, who started the season at Double-A Trenton.

Update 9:55 pm - Brian Cashman told the media that Andy Pettitte is expected to miss 4-5 weeks. For now, Sergio Mitre will take Pettitte's spot in the rotation.

Forget LeBron, Felix is King of New York

Today marks the start of the NBA free agent frenzy with LeBron "King" James as the grand prize. But it was "King" Felix Hernandez who was in the spotlight last night, blanking the Yankees on two hits in tossing a 7-0 complete game shutout.

The Mariners have struggled this year, but the Yankees had the misfortune of having to face two of the top pitchers in the game, Cliff Lee and Hernandez, in the first two games of a three game series. While the Yankees managed to put four runs on the board against the soon to be dealt Lee, they couldn't do anything last night.

Yankees starter Javier Vazquez scuffled for much of the night, but limited the M's to three runs over six innings. But Damaso Marte and Chad Gaudin gave up two runs each as Seattle blew the game open.

Michael Saunders entered the game with five home runs in 102 at-bats, but went deep twice to drive in three runs. Russell Branyan and Milton Bradley also homered to help the Mariners improve to 33-44.

Hernandez walked three, including Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez in the 1st inning. But he retired Robinson Cano on a fly out to end Yankees threat. Mark Teixeira led off the fourth with a double, but the King stranded him there. He struck out A-Rod, one of 11 K's on the night, got Cano to fly out again, and retired Jorge Posada on a ground out to keep it a 3-0 Mariners lead.

Notes

Gaudin, who gave up Bradley's 2-run shot in the 8th is the likely candidate to be designated for assignment today when Dustin Moseley is recalled from Scranton. Moseley's contract gave him the ability to opt out of his deal beginning today (7/1).

Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee became just the third teammates in the last 25 years to toss back-to-back complete games against the Yankees.

CC Sabathia faces Ryan Rowland-Smith in the series finale today at 1 p.m..

photo courtesy of NY Daily News

Burnett's Performance No Mirage

Picture if you will A.J. Burnett wandering through the desert. Down on his hands and knees, crawling, gasping for...COMMAND. Burnett couldn't find any last night in the air conditioned confines of Chase Field as the Arizona Diamondbacks pounded him and the Yankees 10-4.

The multi-tattooed right-hander got tattooed in the first inning after retiring the first two batters with ease. Justin Upton started the fireworks with a tape measure solo home run to center field. The next two hitters reached safely and came home on a 3-run blast by Andy LaRoche. Mark Reynolds then went back to back with LaRoche with a solo shot to left off Burnett. Two batters later Burnett finally struck out his counterpart, Rodrigo Lopez, on a 3-2 pitch to end the frame. In a matter of moments, the Yankees found themselves in a 6-0 hole that they wouldn't be able to climb out of.

Burnett gave up another run in the 2nd and has now allowed 23 earned runs in his last 20 innings (0-4, 10-35). He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 5th inning.

The best the Yankees offense could do was the cut the lead to 7-3 in the 6th on RBI from Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. But Upton put the game out of reach when he took Chan Ho Park deep with two aboard in the 8th. It was the sixth home run allowed by Park this season, one more than he surrendered all of last year.

Notes

Colin Curtis made his major league debut last night and lined out to center pinch-hitting for Burnett. With Jorge Posada ready to catch a regular or semi-regular rate, Chad Moeller became expendable and Curtis was added to the roster. His family flew in time for the game.

Andy Pettitte returns to Chase Field for the first time as a member of the Yankees since his disastrous 2001 World Series game 6 performance. The Yankees held a 3-2 lead in games, but Pettitte, who later found out he was tipping his pitches, got torched for six runs in two innings. He did face Arizona a number of times while with the Houston Astros.

Help Is On The Way

Zero (n). the arithmetical symbol or 0 or 0, denoting the absence of all magnitude or quantity. The most common figure the Yankees lineup has posted on home and visitor’s scoreboards.

As the rain fell on Target Field last night, one could only hope that the sun would come out tomorrow. Or in this case on Friday. Why wait until then? Well, that’s the day the friendly and exuberant Curtis Granderson is expected to return to the Yankees lineup.

The Yankees centerfielder has been out since May 1 with a groin strain. It’s been one of the numerous injuries that have dented the Yankees run scoring machine this month. Granderson’s return would mean Brett Gardner goes back to left field full time and the anemic bat of Randy Winn gets put back in storage.

Though he was hitting just .225 at the time of the injury, Joe Girardi and company knows just how good a hitter the former Detroit Tiger is, and what a huge asset he is to the lineup. That could be one of the factors that has Girardi mulling a lineup switch that would see Granderson get some time in the number two slot. The first year Yankee has not hitter higher than seventh thus far.

The news is not all good on the injury front though. Al Aceves, out with a back injury, suffered a setback while throwing on flat ground down in Tampa. He’s returned to New York and is expected to undergo some tests.

Update: The NY Daily News has reported that the Yankees have re-signed Chad Gaudin to add to the bullpen mix. Gaudin was recently released by the Oakland A’s.

Edwar, Gaudin Get Rung Up

photo courtesy of Newsday

The Yankees trip to Oakland allowed the team to present World Series rings to Edwar Ramirez and Chad Gaudin.

The team held a little ceremony for the pair before new internet sensation Chan Ho Park broke up the celebration and his teammates by telling the duo (according to NY Daily News beat writer Mark Feinsand), "Okay, beat it. We got stretch".

Who knew the Yankees got both a relief pitcher and Henny Youngman when they signed Park this past off-season.

Ramirez thanked the Yankees by walking four batters in last night's game between the Yankees and A's.

Yankees Start '10 in Walk Off

The temperatures in Tampa, Florida were unusually cold yesterday afternoon, but the New York Yankees were already in mid-Summer form. Prospect Colin Curtis belted a 3-run, walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Yankees a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the teams’ grapefruit league opener.

The walk off win became a staple of last year’s team that captured its 27th title and though it was just an exhibition game, the ironic outcome of yesterday’s game was lost on no one.

Chad Gaudin started for the Bombers and was followed by two of his fellow combatants for the 5th starter spot, Sergio Mitre and Al Aceves. The three combined to allow just one hit over six innings. A rough beginning by Jonathan Albadejo and a Yankees error helped the Pirates tie things up in the 7th after the Yankees had jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

But after lead off singles by fellow minor leaguers Brandon Laird and Jon Weber to start the 9th, Curtis hit a no doubt about (in fairness almost all home runs in the grapefruit league are no doubt about it due to the wind) blast off Virgil Vasquez to right-center for the game winner.

Ramiro Pena opened the scoring for the Yankees in the 6th with a solo home run. Nick Johnson added an RBI double and Weber drove in a third run in the inning with the first of his two singles. Former Yankees prospect was charged with all three runs.

Game Notes

The Yankees traditionally wore their pinstripes for the only time during spring training.

Curtis Granderson played centerfield and was 0-2 in his Yankees’ debut.

Girardi Made Right Decision with A.J.

Burnett Bombs, But Was Right Choice

Written for Baseball Digest Online.

Anyone watching last night’s World Series Game 5, must have thought they were watching a replay of the fifth game of the American League Championship Series. A.J. Burnett on the mound, no command, flat fastballs, opponent taking a quick lead. And like that 5th game, the New York Yankees came out on the wrong end of an 8-6 score to the Philadelphia Phillies last night. The series returns to New York for Wednesday night’s Game 6.

Second guessers came out of everywhere as soon as Burnett started giving up hit/walk/hit batter, one after another. Had a fully rested Andy Pettitte or CC Sabathia been waiting in the wings it would have been one thing. But the second guessing in this case centered on whether or not Chad Gaudin should have started Game 4.

To put it simply, Chad Gaudin has no business having an impact on a World Series game. unless it game goes 12 innings or more. He certainly does not have any career portfolio to warrant getting a World Series start.

But because of a good four innings here or there, members of the media and Yankees fans spent a good part of last night (and I’m sure today) grousing about Gaudin not getting the start. Heck no one can even agree how to pronounce his name and you want him to start a possible World Series clinching game for you? And you know that if Gaudin had started and was bombed, the second guessers would be going in the opposite direction.

A.J. Burnett has driven all Yankees fans, and probably his teammates, crazy with inconsistancy. It’s not just from game to game, but inning to inning as was the case in the ALCS Game 5, when he pitched well after the 1st frame.

Be that as it may, Burnett was 3-0, 1.86 ERA in his prior starts on three days rest and was dominant in his Game 2 start. The decision to start him on three days rest was a no-brainer for Joe Girardi. And while I’ve questioned many of Girardi’s strategies, particularly involving the bullpen, he was on the money in deciding to go with just three starters in both the ALCS and World Series.

Gaudin Makes His Post-Season Pitch

Gaudin Makes His Pitch

Written for Baseball Digest Online

The Yankees‘ post-clinch starting lineup last night looked like a spring training road game. A few regulars were mixed in with reserves, and players that won’t be on the post-season roster, as the Yankees took on the Kansas City Royals. After a nearly two hour rain delay, plan ‘B’ lineup or not, the Yankees rolled over the Royals 8-2 as Chad Gaudin made a pitch to help his post-season cause.

The right-hander limited KC to 2 runs and 4 hits through 6 2-3 innings. Over his last four appearances (23 innings), Gaudin has allowed 9 earned runs (3.13 ERA) and struck out 16. Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman will now weigh the option of starting either Gaudin or Joba Chamberlain should the Yankees advance beyond the division series. At the very least, Gaudin could play a significant part of the post-season bullpen.

Gaudin wasn’t the only one with a good night. Rookie Ramiro Pena hit his first major league home run and then was greeted by the silent treatment in the Yankees dugout. Jorge Posada broke the silence and Pena’s teammates mobbed him with high fives, head rubs, and well wishes.

Mr. “I don’t hit well with the bases loaded” (or for that matter with men on base), Robinson Cano, broke open a 4-2 game in the 7th with his second career grand slam. It was Cano’s 25th home run, joining Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, and Nick Swisher at that plateau. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Cano also became just the third 2nd baseman in the last 70 years (Bret Boone and Alfonso Soriano were the others) to have a 200-hit, 25-HR season. He also became only the 4th Yankees in that same time period to record the feat. Don Mattingly, Bernie Williams, and Soriano were the others.

Game Notes

A.J. Burnett will start tonight for the Yankees against Anthony Lerew. Burnett was originally scheduled to start Monday’s game, but was pushed back a day so that he could be home for his father’s triple bypass surgery.

A-Rod Saves the Day

A-Rod Sac Fly Allows Yankees to Escape With Win

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Alex Rodriguez • chad gaudin • Chone Figgins • Derek Jeter • ervin santana • hideki matsui • Jorge Posada • LA Angels • NY Yankees • Yankees 9/22 recap • Yankees vs. Angels

Written for Baseball Digest Online

Moses parting the Red Sea

Jesus turns water into wine

US hockey beats Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics

The Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim

While that last miracle may not be up to the caliber of the previous ones, the Yankees did indeed finally beat the Angels on their home turf last night, 6-5. Of course the victory wasn’t stress free as the Yankees blew a 5-0 lead before winning it on an Alex Rodriguez sacrifice fly in the 9th inning. The Yankees also clinched a playoff berth last night when the Texas Rangers lost to the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees also increased their lead in the AL East to six games ahead of the Boston Red Sox when the Sox lost to the Kansas City Royals for the second straight night.

The Yankees borrowed from the Angels’ aggressive play book to pull out the triumph. Brett Gardner singled off Matt Palmer and stole 2nd base, his 23rd successful theft in 28 attempts. A walk to Derek Jeter allowed Joe Girardi to play small ball, and it worked effectively when Johnny Damon bunted the runners over. A-Rod, who earlier had his his 580th career homer, hit a fly to center field off lefty Darren Oliver to bring home Gardner with the go ahead run.

Mariano Rivera, whose 36-game consecutive save chance streak ended in Seattle on Friday, walked Kendry Morales to start the 9th. But the Yankees closer then struck out Juan Rivera and Jorge Posada threw out would be base stealer Reggie Willits at 2nd base for a “strike ‘em out/throw ‘em out” double play. Rivera then retired Erick Aybar on a ground out to Robinson Cano for his 41st save.

It appeared that the Yankees might actually be in for cake walk when they jumped out to a 5-0 lead on home runs by Rodriguez, Posada, and Hideki Matsui. Chad Gaudin had relatively breezed through the first four innings in his best performance as a Yankee to date. But in the 5th he surrendered a solo home run to Yankees killer Chone Figgins, and two hits, a walk, and a run later he was out of the game in favor of Al Aceves.

Aceves was on the hill for the first time in eight days and it showed an inning later. Three singles in four at-bats, the last by Gary Matthews Jr., cut the Yankees lead to 5-3. Aceves than walked former teammate Bobby Abreu with the bases loaded to force in a run and Vlad Guerrero appeared to produce the go ahead hit when he ripped a ball down the 3rd base line. But Rodriguez dove to his right, snared the baseball and threw Guerrero out to save two, and possibly three runs.

The Yankees defense saved them in the 6th, but it came back to bite them in the 8th. A Cano error allowed Howie Kendrick to reach 1st base safely and then Jorge Posada threw a one-hopper into center field when Kendrick stole 2nd base. Just like that, the Angels had the tying run on 3rd with nobody out. Hughes retired Figgins on a pop up, but Maecir Izturis singled to right to the game at five apiece.

With the Yankees already 0-5 with runners in scoring position Rodriguez put the Yankees on the board in the 3rd when he followed Mark Teixeira’s single with his 27th home run of the season off of Halos’ starter Ervin Santana. Two batters later, Posada went deep with Hideki Matsui aboard for a 4-0 lead. Then it was Matsui’s turn in the 5th. Godzilla smoked his 28th home run of the season, with the total being evenly split before and after the All-Star break.

Game Notes

Derek Jeter picked up his 200th hit when he singled in the 4th inning. He now has seven 200-hit seasons, one shy of the team record held by, you guessed it, Lou Gehrig.

Alex Rodriguez is now three home runs by Mark McGwire for 8th place on the career home run list.

The Yankees will try to take the series tonight when they send A.J. Burnett to the mound against left-hander Scott Kazmir.

Swinging Like a Rusty Gate

Dedicated to the Yankees who are already 0-5 with RISP thru 2 innings.

Cisco Gets His Pie

Mystique and Aura..and Exuberance

Written for Baseball Digest Online

A certain blowhard pitcher can make fun of mystique and aura all he wants, but it looks like they those two have been joined this season by exuberance in the new Yankee Stadium. There was plenty on display tonight as the Yankees came up with their 14th walk off win of the season, 5-4 over the Toronto Blue Jays. The victory was also the Yankees' 34th come from behind triumph, the most since the 1932 Yankees.

Despite a solid outing from spot starter Chad Gaudin, the Yankees slept their way through seven innings of dull baseball and trailed 4-2 in the 8th. Phil Hughes started things out with a dynamite top of the inning and then the bats came to life. Alex Rodriguez dunked n a 1-out single off lefty Scott Downs and then it was time for Godzilla to destroy another city. Hideki Matsui entered the game with nearly half his 24 home runs coming against southpaws. Number 25 landed in the right field stands and tied the game at four apiece.

"Pie Anticipation" set in after Mariano Rivera tossed a scoreless 9th and Brett Gardner kept the momentum going with a lead off single against Jays' closer Jason Frasor in the home half of the inning. The speedster swiped his 22nd base in 27 attempts and moved to third on Derek Jeter's ground out up the middle. With no third catcher available due to Jorge Posada's suspension, Joe Girardi had no choice but to let Francisco Cervelli bat for himself. The "Cisco Kid" didn't let his manager down, singling through the left side for yet another last at-bat win for the Pinstripes.

Cervelli also showed the exuberance that has affected both the youngsters and the veterans. He joyously rounded first and headed towards right field in an attempt to out run his teammates/mob scene. But a smiling Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera caught him, setting up another raucous Bronx celebration that culminated when A.J. Burnett gave the rookie catcher his first taste of victory pie.

The Yankees were in the game because Gaudin, starting in place of Andy Pettitte, was solid through five plus innings. He allowed a solo home run by Jose Bautista, but got out of other jams with run producing ground outs. The Blue Jays tacked one on against Brian Bruney in the 7th, but mystique, aura, and exuberance were waiting in the wings.

Game Notes

Mariano Rivera won his 3rd game of the season and the 71st of his career.

The Yankees have Thursday off and will travel to the west coast for games at Seattle and LA (Ana).

Pettitte to Skip a Start

Andy Pettitte is suffering from a tired arm, so he'll miss his scheduled start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. Chad Gaudin will fill in.

Nothing to worry about right now as Pettitte will go Monday against the Angels when the Yankees head west.

Mitre vs. Halladay

Probably a good night to watch last season's finale of NCIS.

Okay we originally had this as Gaudin vs. Halladay, but the paper was wrong. However, the sentiment remains.

Swisher Keeps Summer of Fun Going

Swishhhh...nothing but seats
Written for Baseball Digest

The Summer of Fun continued in the Bronx last night as Nick Swisher provided the first and last runs in the Yankees 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. After a rare "bad" outing by Phil Hughes, Swisher's second home run home run of the game provided the Yankees 13th walk off win of the season. The 9th inning victory put the Pinstripes 40 games over .500 (90-50) and raised their winning pct. to .750 since the All-Star break.

Hughes came on in the 8th to protect a 2-1 lead, but Jason Bartlett smacked his 13th home run of the season to tie things up. It was the first earned run allowed by Hughes since August 4 and the first home run given up since June 10. But Swisher, who had smacked his 25th home run of the season in the 1st inning off starter David Price, turned around to the left side against Dan Wheeler and hit a laser into the first row in right field.

A wild celebration ensued, the culmination of course being an A.J. Burnett delivered pie to the face. Swisher, whose personality has helped turned the ball club from a corporate, button down philosophy to a more relaxed business casual, enjoyed every moment of it.

Alex Rodriguez' RBI single in the 6th had given the Yankees a 2-0 lead behind Chad Gaudin (6 IP 6 H 1 ER 2 BB 6 K), who was clearly having his best outing as a Yankee. Through six scoreless innings he had thrown just 65 pitches and scattered four hits. But Evan Longoria greeted him in the 7th with a lead off home run, his 30th, and Gaudin was pulled after a walk and single followed. Joe Girardi fully utilized his bullpen, bringing in Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney, and Phil Coke to strand both runners.

Game Notes

Derek Jeter's hitless string continued as he only put the ball in play once. His third straight 0-4 left him 0-12 in his last three games.

Mariano Rivera (2-2) earned the win after pitching a scoreless 9th inning.

From the Elias Sports Bureau - Nick Swisher tied his own AL record (2007), shared with Tony Clark, for most games (3) in which he has homered from both sides of the plate in one season.

Rays 1st Baseman Carlos Pena will miss the rest of the season after suffering two broken fingers on his throwing (left) hand. CC Sabathia hit him with a pitch in Monday's day part of the day-night doubleheader. Pena currently leads the AL with 39 home runs.

David Robertson has been experiencing discomfort in his elbow and will be visiting Dr. James Andrews for further evaluation.

Joba Chamberlain will get his 3 inning stint tonight when he faces Jeff Niemann in the series finale (7:05 P.M. ET TV-ESPN).

Waiting for Gaudin

Let's be clear, Chad Gaudin is NOT Roy Halladay. That being said, it's time for Gaudin to replace Sergio Mitre in the Yankees' starting rotation.

I am quite familiar with Gaudin's ability, and inability, from his days with the Oakland A's. His habit of "walking the park" didn't help my fantasy team's WHIP one bit. Repeat with me, that being said, it's time for Gaudin to replace Sergio Mitre in the Yankees' starting rotation.


The only good thing that came out of last night's 5-4 loss, that snapped the Yankees' 7-game winning streak, to the Toronto Blue Jays was not having to hear Joe Girardi and/or Brian Cashman say, "Well, we have won 4 of 5 with Mitre (Girardi would probably refer to him as Sergy or Meaty) starting."

Mitre has decent stuff, he has shown it in the past with the Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs, but as Girardi and Cashman are quick to point out, Mitre is not that far removed from Tommy John surgery. But I will be quick to point out that the #5 starter in the AL East pennant race is not the place to strengthen one's arm. It's not like Mitre has a winning pedigree or the reputation of a Jon Lieber, who has followed the same path.

The Yankees don't have any other options right now. Al Aceves would make a good starter- don't let that spot start against the Twins sway your opinion- but he's too valuable out of the pen (as evidenced once again last night).

The Yankees don't have anything, and that includes you Kei Igawa, at Scranton. Perhaps if George Kontos had been healthy he would have gotten a shot, but he's not. I would love to see Trenton's Zach McAllister called up, but that's not going to happen either. So that leaves it down to the "Meat Tray" and Gaudin, and we are definitely going with the latter. Mitre can be the long man out of the pen.

"Have you seen Harrison Ford?"

One thing is for certain. All of baseball should be glad that Gaudin is now a Yankee so they no longer have to look at the worst set of goatees this side of Ryan Franklin.

Some Pre-Game Thoughts - 8/7

Actually these are mostly some post-game thoughts from last night.

Expect Derek Jeter or Robinson Cano, most likely the former, to get thrown at by Josh Beckett tonight. Whether or not Mark Melancon threw intentionally at Dustin Pedroia last night, Beckett will make someone pay today.

I still can't get over Jorge Posada's base running last night. Seriously, what the hell was that? A simple slide, which Jorgie has trouble doing, would have meant a run. Perhaps barreling over Victor Martinez might have produced a run. But going in standing up and soft slapping at Martinez' catcher's mask will most definitely NOT produce a run.

Muhammad Ali presented food service awards to Hal Steinbrenner and Legends Hospitality, LLC. Why exactly was Ali presenting food awards? Jim Perdue maybe, but Ali? It may be just me, but I've never understood the fascination with Ali anyway.

Bryan Hoch of mlb.com has a piece on Brett Gardner's recovery.

Alex Rodriguez has the longest home run drought of his career, now 66 at-bats. Earlier this season Mark Teixeira set his own personal worst.

I thought Chad Gaudin would bump Sergio Mitre back to Scranton, but instead it's Ramiro Pena. That's two 1-game call ups for Claggett.

Yankees Acquire Chad Gaudin

The Yankees just announced they have acquired right-hander Chad Gaudin from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later. Considering Gaudin's 5+ ERA it better not be a very good player.

I'm not happy. Though he's an upgrade over Sergio Mitre, he's still very much a number 5 starter. Hopefully Brian Cashman is still looking around.