Steinbrenners to Introduce GeorgeCare

A view you may not see again this year.

Yankees' Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner announced earlier today that the team is rolling out new healthcare legislation, "GeorgeCare", due to the rash of injuries the team has suffered this season. The new legislation will allow the Yankees to carry a 50-man active roster and fans will receive rebates every time Matt Thornton pitches or Kelly Johnson bobbles a ball at first base.

All kidding aside, the Yankees are a physical mess right now and there is no hope in sight for a healthy turnaround.

The death knell to the season may have come when it was discovered that Masahiro Tanaka had a slight tear of his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL). Tanaka will be out a minimum of six weeks, and Tommy John surgery has not been ruled out of his future.

The injury leaves Hiroki Kuroda as the only starting pitcher left from the five man rotation the Yankees hoped to trot out to the pitcher's mound.  CC Sabathia has been out since mid-May due to a degenerative knee injury; Michael Pineda was DL'ed on May 6, when he felt pain in the area below his right shoulder, and Ivan Nova, who looked to have returned to his 2011 form in the second half of last season, went down early to Tommy John surgery. And then the big blow to the season came with the loss of Tanaka, who was among the league leaders in all positive pitching categories.

Unless a decision is made prior to that, if Tanaka needs surgery and doesn't have the operation until August or September, there goes the entire 2015 season and probably part of 2016.  For now David Phelps, Shane Greene, and Brandon McCarthy are in the rotation, along with Kuroda. But who will be joining them?

Chase Whitley started out fantastically, but crashed back to Earth in his last three starts (17 earned runs in 10.1 innings pitched). He did pick up the win in relief on Wednesday when the Yankees topped the Indians 4-2 in 14 innings.

Left-hander David Huff has pitched fairly effectively out of the bullpen and is a former starter, though he has only started six games since 2011.  (Two with the Yankees last year and four with the Indians in 2012.)

The Yankees added another left-hander to the mix Friday when they acquired Jeff Francis from the Oakland A's for a player to be named later. Francis had been designated for assignment on July 3 after he had allowed nine earned runs in 13.1 innings pitched. Francis pitched through shoulder pain for the Colorado Rockies in 2008 and missed the entire 2009 season after he underwent shou7lder surgery. He's never regained the effectiveness he had in 2006-2007, when he averaged 15 wins and a 4.19 ERA, with his home games played in hitter-friendly Coors Field.

The Yankees lineup is suffering too. Carlos Beltran has been a walking disaster area. He missed time due to a bone spur in his elbow and a strained hamstring.  Then during batting practice on Wednesday, Beltran fouled a ball into the cage. It ricocheted back into his face, causing two small facial fractures. He was placed on the 7-day disabled list to check for a concussion as well. So far, the three-year deal given to Beltran is a complete bust.

The trade deadline (July 31) will be coming up before you know it. The Yankees always go for the gold, but do they sell instead this year? If their still floundering in three weeks, it might be for the best to try to deal some players. David Robertson will be a free agent after this season. He can always come back, so why not trade him to a team willing to pay a heavy price for one of the better relievers in baseball.

Though his hitting hasn't been tremendous, Brian Roberts has stayed healthy and could be traded for a minor prospect or two. See if Hiroki Kuroda is willing to waive his no-trade clause. Perhaps a reunion with the Los Angeles Dodgers could be in the offing.

Who should build/rebuild this team?

You never know when injuries will strike, but there's a greater chance with older players. Combined with the lack of top prospects at the top tier of the farm system, and you can see why it maybe time for Brian Cashman and the scouting department to be under more scrutiny. Cashman has been creative, at times, in building a team, but the putrid play the last two seasons have shown that maybe it's time someone else was the team's foreman.

Yankees Ordering Bubble Wrap To Protect Players

The Yankees regulars continue to drop flies, with both Francisco Cervelli and Ivan Nova gone from Friday night's game with Toronto by the third inning.

Cervelli took a foul tip off his right hand and the Twitter rumor mill has him suffering a fracture of some type. Michael Kay mentioned that Austin Romine was pulled in the middle of an inning for Scranton this evening, which means he is on his way to New York. Hopefully Chris Stewart stays healthy for the remainder of the evening.

John Flahert tweeted that he will be playing in his first Old Timer's game in June. I responded that he may have to play tonight if Stewart goes down.

Nova meanwhile was in a 1-1 game when he left for an unknown reason. He allowed a base hit and immediately was joined at the mound by Stewart, the home plate ump, Joe Girardi, and trainer Steve Donahue. He was replaced by David Phelps, who would be a candidate to slide into the rotation if Nova misses any time.

UPDATE - 8:35 PM - Cervelli has a fractured hand that will require surgery and will miss a minimum of six weeks. Meanwhile Nova felt elbow pain and is going for an MRI.

Yankees Shouldn't Sign Pronk

Travis Hafner destroyed American League pitching from 2004-2007, but has been a shell of his former self ever since then. So it was disturbing to learn on Wednesday that the Yankees are reportedly in talks with the free agent to become their designated hitter against right-handed pitching. WEEI in Boston even reported the Yankees are close to a deal with the man nicknamed "Pronk" (Coined by former teammate Bill Selby- part project, part donkey).

Just say no.

Hafner's offensive numbers improved during the first three years of that four year, career-best stretch of time. It topped off in 2006 when he belted 42 home runs, drove in 117 runs, and led the AL in slugging (.659) and OPS(1.097). In 2007, Hafner drove in 100 runs for the fourth straight year,  but other numbers noticeably dipped.

Hafner had hit over .300 from 2004-2006, but he dropped to .266 in 2007. His OPS (.837) dropped 260 points and he hit just 24 home runs, despite playing in a career high 152 games. He's topped 100 games played in a season only once since then.

As you can see in the details that follow, Hafner has been placed on the disabled list seven times since the beginning of the 2008 season, including a stint of over three months in 2008. Hafner had his right shoulder scoped a month after the 2008 season ended and was still feeling its effects in 2009.

2008 - right shoulder strain 5/30
2008 - transferred to 60 day DL 7/26
2008 - activated 9/9
2009 - right shoulder soreness 4/29
2009 - activated 6/5
2010 - right shoulder inflammation 7/29
2010 - activated 8/15
2011 - strained oblique 5/20
2011 - activated 6/17
2011 - strained right foot 8/22
2011 - activated 9/11
2012 - sore right knee 5/24
2012 - activated 7/4
2012 - lower back inflammation  8/6
2012 - activated 9/19

This past season he missed six weeks due to knee surgery. While he may not quite be in the same league as Nick Johnson when it comes to time on the DL, Hafner's body (there have been unproven rumors of steroid use since the injuries began) has been steadily breaking down. His numbers have shown some consistency (over .800 OPS 2009-2011) in the last handful of seasons, but the Yankees do not need another base clogging, one dimensional player. Though he was no outstanding defender, Raul Ibanez could play left field adequately for the Bombers last season. Hafner has only played 72 games at first base in an 11-yr career.

The obvious thinking by Brian Cashman and others in the Yankees organization is that Hafner will wear out less with less play. It's the same type of logic the Yankees used when they signed Eric Chavez in 2011 and 2012. With Alex Rodriguez out until July and maybe for the season due to hip surgery and/or a steroid suspension (more on that tomorrow), Cashman has to feel Hafner can provide some of the punch missing with no Nick Swisher or Rodriguez in the lineup.

Horace Greeley once said "Go West, young man." I'll say to Hafner, go anywhere else rapidly aging baseball player.

Limping to the Finish Line

"Is there a doctor in the house?" You may start hearing this soon at Yankee Stadium. While A-Rod is rehabbing, Tex is hoping to play next weekend, and Andy Pettitte threw off a mound for the first time yesterday, Curtis Granderson left Saturday's game with a tight hamstring.

The Grandy Man struck out in the 2nd inning and never re-appeared.  Instead he was headed for x-rays and  certainly the bench on Sunday.

The Yankees Report Brought To You By Band-Aids

The Yankees' muscles, bones, and ligaments are getting more hits than the Yankees these days. The Yankees got another great effort from Bartolo Colon Saturday in helping to win their second straight game, 4-0 over Cleveland, but lost Colon in the process due to a hamstring strain. A trip to the DL is inevitable. This could prove to be the biggest injury the Yankees have been hit with season, since aside from CC Sabathia, Colon has been the Yankees best starter.

Let's take stock now. Feliciano and Soriano may never be seen again this season. Chamberlain is done with Tommy John surgery coming up this week. Chavez has been out a month with a broken bone (he might be able to resume baseball activities soon). Martin has missed a bunch of games with a bad back, which has exposed Cervelli's bad throwing ability. Apparently, Sanit joined the walking wounded after his last outing with elbow problems (that's what happens when you throw 500 pitches in an inning).

Phil Hughes is expected to do a rehab stint at Trenton this week and then the Yankees will have to determine if one is enough before he replaces Colon in the rotation (Nova with a big sigh of relief). If Hughes needs more time, Joe Girardi could plug in Hector Noesi, who will be recalled for today's game or the Yankees could give Carlos Silva a shot (I shudder at the thought).

Sore hips and tempers flared up in yesterday's game as well. After Alex Rodriguez homered earlier in the game, Curtis Granderson took Indians starter Mitch Talbot deep in the 6th inning. The next hitter Mark Teixeira nearly missed making it back to back blasts with a deep fly to right-center. That brought up A-Rod again, who promptly got plunked in the left hip for the second time this week. Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna immediately tossed Talbot, who claimed he slipped. Replays didn't really verify that claim though. Whether he did or not Iassogna did a better job than Dale Scott on Friday, who should have immediately tossed Fausto Carmona after he nailed Teixeira in the back following a Granderson home run.

The Yankees need to do something either today or tomorrow to retaliate for A-Rod. The Yankees are being hit by opposing pitchers disproportionately to hitting opposing batters (except maybe when Burnett has one of his "Bad A.J." days).

Notes

With just five games left on the homestand, it's going to be very hard for Derek Jeter to get the nine hits to reach 3,000 while at Yankees Stadium. For sure, he needs a couple of multi-hit games, like now. Jeter's OPS (.656) is even worse in the five games he's DH'ed (.546).

Since asking out of the lineup May 14 with a mysterious back ailment, Jorge Posada has gone 17-52 (.327) and is 9-15 (.600) on the current homestand. He's also had multi-hit games in four of his last five games and has gone 3-4 from the right side after an 0-27 slide to start the season. Of course, he's still making base running mistakes and was picked off second yesterday on a failed bunt attempt.

Curtis Granderson enters Sunday's play tied with Jose Bautista for the AL lead with 20 home runs. Bautista has gone 13 games without a home run, his longest stretch of the season.

BD Spring Training Report: Play Ball | Baseball Digest

BD Spring Training Report: Play Ball | Baseball Digest

Sunshine, palm trees or cacti, the smell of freshly cut grass, beer and hot dog vendors peddling their wares. Yes, baseball is back. Catchers and pitchers, as well as some positional players getting an early start, have reported to Florida and Arizona to begin spring training. Arguably, THIS, is the most wonderful time of the year. Especially if you’re like me, living in a colder, northern climate, it means there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

So many questions during this spring training…Will Albert Pujols sign a new deal before his self imposed deadline/scheduled day to report? Will Jesus Montero make the Yankees 25 man squad? Is Josh Beckett healthy? Can Don Mattingly manage a Major League club? Can anyone stop the Phillies starting rotation?

And of course spring training means that while teams may look much better than others on paper, everyone has a clean slate. Everyone can dream of the post-season, of hitting .300, and throwing a perfect game. Of popping champagne corks and hoisting the World Series trophy. There are some that will place too much emphasis on the games themselves- George Steinbrenner was infamous for that- but the most important thing in spring training is to come out of it healthy. The miles per hour on the fastball will come as will the bat speed. But keeping the hamstrings and shoulders and elbows healthy is much better than having the best record in the Grapefruit or Cactus League. That’s why the focus of today’s spring training report is those players we shall dub…

The Comeback Kids

Soon we’ll be getting a chance to see if players that were injured last year or in prior years have what it takes to get back to playing Major League Baseball. Here are some of the stories to follow this spring.

Brandon Webb is being counted on to help replace Cliff Lee in the Texas Rangers starting rotation. Webb averaged 17.5 wins per season from 2005-2008 and 231.2 innings. Apparently the latter took it’s toll. Webb went on the DL in April, 2009 with what was originally diagnosed as bursitis. After rehabbing it for several months, Webb had to undergo surgery and missed all of the 2010 season.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Webb recently told the Ben and Skin radio show in Dallas that he’s excited about the upcoming season. “I’ve made some dramatic strides. If anybody had been around me for the past month or so since I’ve been throwing, it’s been awesome. I don’t think they have to be too patient. I think I should be totally ready to go in spring training, jumping right in with the guys and just carrying on like a normal spring training for myself.”

In case Webb doesn’t recapture his 2007 NL CY Young form, he does have something to fall back on; he’s begun selling used cars with his brother in-law.

Carlos Santana can play a mean guitar, but baseball’s Carlos Santana can swing a mean bat and call a pretty good game. The Cleveland Indians catcher is hoping to be at full strength for the start of the season as he continues his way back from a torn LCL and surgery. Santana was knocked out for the remainder of the 2010 season when his knee lost a collision with the Red Sox’ Ryan Kalish in early August.

Santana, who hit .300 over his first 20 big league games, recently got word from his doctor that he can resume full baseball activities. That’s good news for the Indians who are in a rebuilding stage and need all the help they can get.

Indians fans are also hoping for a big comeback from Santana’s teammate Grady Sizemore. The one time five tool prospect has suddenly become injury prone and is trying to make his way back from the microfracture knee surgery he had last June. Sizemore was a budding superstar, who from 2005-2008 averaged 27 HR, 29 SB, and 116 runs while playing Gold Glove defense. He once played in 382 consecutive games. But Sizemore played in groin and elbow pain for all of the 2009 season and it showed in his lackluster offensive production. Finally the Indians shut him down in September and he underwent surgery on both areas.

Last season Sizemore injured his left knee during spring training and then aggravated it in a game against Baltimore in mid-May. When doctors went in they found extensive cartilage damage and opted for the more complex microfracture surgery based on Sizemore’s desires to “…play another 10 years” and “…only have one knee surgery”. Indians GM Chris Antonetti told MLB.com Jordan Bastian that he’s hoping that Sizemore will be ready at the start of the season or “shortly thereafter”.

Chien-Ming Wang was a two time 19-game winner and unlikely ace for the New York Yankees in 2006-2007. But a Lisfranc injury prematurely ended his 2008 season and then shoulder trouble limited him to just 12 games in 2009. Surgery followed, causing Wang to miss all of the 2010 season after signing as a free agent with the Washington Nationals. GM Mike Rizzo told MLB.com’s Bill Ladson back in January that he was confident that the Taiwanese native would be ready to go when camp broke.

With the retirement of Andy Pettitte and the inability to land Cliff Lee via free agency, the Yankees have brought in a number of pitchers to compete for the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation. One of them is former AL CY Young winner Bartolo Colon, who did not pitch in the Major Leagues in 2010. Colon found some success and some life on his fastball (91 mph) in winter ball recently, so he decided to give “The Show” another shot. Colon has reportedly lost a substantial amount of weight and hopes that his arm and shoulder issues are behind him. He has not been able to reach 100 innings since his 21-win, CY Young season in 2005.

Colon won’t have to look far to see another reclamation case. Suiting up near him will be former top Cubs prospect Mark Prior. The right-hander hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2006 due to an assortment of arm issues. After selecting Prior with the 2nd overall pick in the 2001 draft, the Cubs were salivating at the thought of a 1-2 punch of Kerry Wood and Prior for many years to come. Sometimes life just doesn’t work out the way you planned, in particular for Mark Prior and his pitching career.

It didn’t start out that way though. Prior finished third in the 2003 NL CY Young voting after finishing with an 18-6, 2.43 mark in 30 starts. Then things started to turn- a line drive off his pitching elbow created a fracture in 2005. An MRI during spring training the following season showed a moderate shoulder strain. Something was clearly still wrong when he returned- teams rocked him to the tune of better than seven earned runs a game. When shoulder tendinitis put him on the DL in August, little did Prior know it would be the last time he would pitch on a major league mound.

After initially ruling it out, Prior had to go under the knife in April, 2007 to have the shoulder cleaned up. Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrew was confident Prior would pitch in ’08 following the procedure. But a year later a tear in Prior’s shoulder led to another surgery and another missed season. Prior tried to come back with the Padres in ’09. but was released in August. Part of 2010 was spent in an independent league and for a short time in the Rangers organization. Which leads us to where Prior is today, having signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in December. One more shot, one more time hoping to recapture something, to come back as a reliever.

Yes, spring training is a time for new hopes, redemption, and a lot of daydreaming.

Things That Make You Go Ouch

In the midst of their first two game losing streak of the season, the Yankees Mark Teixeira left his mark on the Los Angeles catcher Bobby Wilson.

Teixeira was attempting to score from second base on a Robinson Cano base hit to right field. Bobby Abreu's throw home was to the first base side of home plate. Wilson attempted to catch the ball on a hop and, in one move, bring the tag over to Teixeira. But Wilson lost twice.

The ball ricocheted off Wilson's mask and Teixeira blasted through the catcher as he moved towards home plate. While the play was considered clean (that includes the opinion of Halos' skipper Mike Scioscia), my opinon remains that it should not be part of the game.

Nowhere else on the field can you steamroll a player like you do at home plate. Shin guards and a chest protector don't make you ready to play running back in the NFL. Catchers are often in a prone position as a collision occurs, setting them up for an assortment of injuries.

Wilson suffered an ankle injury and a concussion, and it could have been a lot worse. Fortunately for the Yankees, Teixeira came away unscathed, but the runner is at risk as well.

It may be a play that goes back to the beginning of time, but that doesn't mean it's a play that should remain in play.

Why I Hate the WBC

This is a piece I did for Baseball Digest. You can read it there too.

Okay, so maybe hate is too strong of a word. But I expressed my distaste for the World Baseball Classic back in '06 and didn't watch or discuss it on My Pinstripes. This year I decided to watch all or parts of games, and keep updates on the blog.

But my biggest issue with the WBC came to light when Robinson Cano and Damaso Marte returned to Yankees camp after the Dominican Republic was eliminated from the tourney.

We knew yesterday (Friday) that Robinson Cano experiencing tightness behind his right shoulder. I was under the assumption that the Yankees knew about the issue that Cano said he had since the start of spring training. Well guess what? The Yankees didn't know, because Cano kept his mouth shut. In all likelihood it was because he knew the Yankees wouldn't permit him to play in the tournament if he had told them. Meantime, Cano played all nine innings in three games.

Marte came back with soreness in a pec muscle. He said it happened after he lifted 25 pound weights prior to going out and throwing one inning in the tournament. He claims it doesn't hurt when he pitches, only when he moves. Huh???

These two incidences prove how wrong ESPN's Steve Phillips is when he says these are just like spring training games. Guys can get the same injuries in spring training games too, is Phillips' theory. Well he is wrong.

Had they known about the injury, the Yankees would have had Cano examined and would have shut him down until they were convinced he was feeling all right. And Cano put his country above his team. While they may sound noble, his country isn't paying him millions of dollars to play baseball.

Had Marte hurt himself lifting in Yankees camp, he would have been shut down until the muscle felt better. He wouldn't have gone out and thrown in a game right after injuring himself, as he did in the tournament.

The WBC is not a "classic" and has no purpose, other than giving players the opportunity to play for their country, and in some cases, even that is distorted. (A-Rod playing for two different teams; an American playing for Italy because that's where their grandfather was from.)

MLB doesn't need to market baseball to China or Cuba, or the Netherlands. The world series doesn't truly encompass the world, and it never will.