Royal Roster Weekend

You better not shout, you better not cry...Kansas City's coming to town. Need a little snow to cool off a 90+ July day. Maybe old man Clemens has cooled down by now. The Yankees play the Royals for 3 this weekend before heading north to Toronto.

The Yankees will have some decisions to make over the next few days as far as roster moves are concerned. Phil Hughes will be activated to start Saturday's game. Joba Chamberlain is expected to join the team in Toronto. He threw a scoreless inning for Trenton the other night after stopping in NYC to get his passport.

Jason Giambi is finishing up his rehab assignment and will probably re-join the team some time next week. So what does this all mean for the roster?

With the addition of Wilson Betemit, it's possible that Miguel Cairo will be let go. Cairo is a solid player whom Torre trusts so it would be hard to imagine that would be the case, but there's just no room.

With the addition of Hughes and Chamberlain, who goes from the pitching staff? I would love to see Myers cut loose, but that's probably not going to happen. Farnsworth, he should be the 'F' in 'DFA' (designated for assignment). Karstens? Villone?

Johnny Damon is already making noises of, "I'd rather play somewhere else, rather than sit". All right Johnny, shut the hell up. You reported to camp out of shape, you've been hurt all year, and you've killed the team more times than not.

KC's manager Buddy Bell made an emotion resignation, effective at season's end, the other day. Bell wants to spend more time with his family, including a daughter who has Down Syndrome. We all hope Bell is healthy, as he battled cancer a couple of years back.

Probable Pitchers for this weekend

Friday - Odalis Perez (6-9, 5.73) vs. Chien-Ming Wang (12-5, 3.61)
Saturday - Kyle Davies (4-8, 5.76) vs. Phil Hughes (1-1, 3.38)
Sunday - Gil Meche (7-8, 3.70) vs. Mike Mussina (6-7, 4.75)