Yankees Acquire Petit For Shortstop Shortage

The Yankees were supposed to rely on youngster Didi Gregorius and veteran Brendan Ryan to replace  play shortstop in the wake of Derek Jeter's retirement. But as the team gets ready to head north to start the season on Monday, Gregorius is recovering from a sprained left wrist and Ryan is likely headed to the DL with a Grade-2 calf strain.

To add some depth, the Yankees have acquired 30-year old shortstop Gregorio Petit from the Houston Astros for a player to be named and/or cash. Petit played in 37 games for the Astros last season with a .278/.300/.423 slash line at the plate. 10 of his 27 hits were for extra bases, hence the decent slugging percentage. The Venezuelan native can also play second base and third base as wekk, giving the Yankees another utility player option.

Petite played a combined 25 games for Oakland in 2008-2009, but spent the next four seasons in the minor leagues before Houston gave him another shot in the show. The Yankees are his sixth organization.

Infielders, Come One, Come All

Run, don't walk, to the Yankees today!

With Tuesday's announcement that Brian Roberts is now officially a New York Yankee, the front office continues to be on the look out for any player who can wear an infield glove, maintain their balance, throw a ball fairly straight and maybe hit it too.

With Robinson Cano gone, Alex Rodriguez in suspension-limbo land, and Derek Jeter coming back from a myriad of ankle and quad issues, general manager Brian Cashman seems hell bent on grabbing every possible infielder that is or isn't available.

In case you missed it the other day, the Yankees signed former Detroit Tiger and Oakland Athletic Scott Sizemore to a minor league deal. Sizmore missed all but two games over the last two seasons due to the misfortune of tearing his left ACL not once, but twice. The Tigers were pretty high on him after they selected him in the 5th round of the 2006 MLB amateur draft.

Four years later he was in the Major Leagues after he tore up Double- and Triple-A the prior year. Sizemore's talent didn't translate to the big league level - he posted a .631 OPS in 43 games. A year later he was dealt to Oakland for pitcher David Purcey after he managed a meager .567 OPS in 17 Major League games. Apparently the change of scenery paid off for the then 26-year old as he hit 11 home runs, drove in 52 runs and sported a .778 OPS in 93 games.

His versatility also got a boost as the A's moved him from second base, where he played in Detroit, to the hot corner over at third. Poised to build off his 2011 season, Sizemore ripped up his left knee in Spring Training and 14 months later did it again. His signing falls into the "we have nothing to lose" category.

The rumor mill got a new name Tuesday when it was reported that San Diego Padres infielder Logan Forsythe had drawn the Yankees interest. There have been rumors about Chase Headley since his 2012 season, but he stunk in 2013 and the Padres are still asking for too much in any trade banter.

Forsythe has primarily been a second baseman, but also has experience at third base, shortstop and in the outfield. The 27-year old (Jan. 14) had a decent 2012 season - .733 OPS, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 8 steals in 10 attempts in 350 plate appearances - but suffered from plantar fasciitis last season. In more than a 100 less plate appearances Forsythe had similar home run and RBI totals, but only put up a .613 OPS.

If you are older, broken down, trying to make a comeback, etc. just call Brian Cashman today! You could be the next Yankees infielder!

Yankees Re-sign Defender of the Infield

It's minor news in the world of the Yankees, but it's good news nonetheless. The Yankees have re-signed Brendan Ryan as Derek Jeter's back up at shortstop as well as to fill a utility role.

I've discussed it before, Ryan cannot hit. It's not that he refuses to, but it's close. But there are few in the game that display his glovework at shortstop. He's got great footwork and a cannon for an arm.

The Yankees are going to be negotiating with free agents like mad men in the next month, so it's nice that a small, but vital move got taken care of early.

Salty Slams Yankees to the Mat

One might think the game was over Friday night after the Red Sox scored four runs in the 1st inning off of Hiroki Kuroda. But just as they had last week in New York, the Yankees rallied to tie the game at four apiece. Unfortunately, just like three of last week's games with Boston, the Yankees lost anyway.

The Red Sox have hit eight grand slams on the year, with Jarrod Saltalamacchia being the latest batter to go deep with the bases loaded. The catcher's slam came off of Preston Claiborne and turned the aforementioned 4-4 tie into an 8-4 Red Sox lead. That turned out to be the final score as the Red Sox won their 90th game and the Yankees fell two games behind Tampa Bay for the number two wild card spot.

Kuroda has been the Yankees ace since last year, but he's been extremely fatigued of late. Since he tossed eight innings of shutout ball against the Los Angeles Angels on August 12, Kuroda has not gone past 6.1 innings in any start. In fact, he recorded an out in the 7th inning only once and hasn't won since the game against the Angels. (In fairness, he was the pitcher of record in last Sunday's game against Boston, but Mariano Rivera blew the lead. The Yankees won in the bototom of the 9th on a wild pitch.)

Kuroda got into immediate trouble Friday night with a 33 pitch 1st inning. He gave up a lead off single to Dustin Pedroia, a 1-out double to David Ortiz, and an RBI ground out to Mike Carp that gave Boston a 1-0 lead. Given the opportunity to escape with a single run allowed, Kuroda got touched up for three more runs on a Daniel Nava single and a 2-run double by Stephen Drew.

The Yankees slowly chipped away against Sox starter John Lackey with an unexpected solo home run from Brendan Ryan in the 3rd inning. Lyle Overbay cut the lead in half in the 6th with a sacrifice fly as Kuroda hung tough and shut down the Red Sox red hot lineup.

The Yankees pulled even in the 7th with Ryan and Chris Stewart reaching on back-to-back singles to start the rally. With Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Cano due up, John Farrell sent for left-hander Craig Breslow. Breslow K'ed Granderson, but walked A-Rod to load the bases for Cano. The second baseman came through with a game tying 2-run double. Alfonso Soriano had a chance to put the Bombers ahead, but Brandon Workman induced an inning ending ground out.

The good times didn't last long- Joe Girardi sent Kuroda back out to start the 7th, but he gave up a single to Shane Victorino and departed. Lefty Cesar Cabral came on, but hit Ortiz. Claiborne, this year's Cody Eppley, wore down quicker than his predecessor after a surprisingly effective first half of the season. He was next to enter the fray Friday night and walked pinch-hitter Jonny Gomes to load the bases.

Claiborne struck out Nava, but Saltalamacchia deposited grand slam number eight over the right field fence to essentially end the Yankees night.

Derek Jeter DL Trip Ends Season

I had hoped Derek Jeter would have been shut down weeks ago, but unfortunately he kept playing. A short time ago he was placed on the 15-day disabled list to, in effect, end his 2013 season.

Jeter tried to come back on time for opening day this year after he broke his ankle last October. But a second fracture occurred and he was placed on the DL. He returned for one game before he had to be DL'ed with a quad injury. A calf problem followed and then his ankle acted up again.

Jeter played in just 17 games this season and had 73 plate appearances. He hit just .190/.288/.254 with a home run and 7 RBI. He's currently 10th on the all-time hit list, three behind Paul Molitor, with 3,316 hits.

The 13-time All-Star has an $8MM player option for 2014, which right now I would say there is no doubt he will pick up and try to comeback. Just like Mariano Rivera, I do not see Jeter ending his career in this manner unless he's physically unable to.

Brian Cashman told the media the game has not seen the last of Derek Jeter. For now, Eduardo Nunez and Brendan Ryan will hold down shortstop.

Yankees Win and Lose Nightly

The Yankees had a huge 7-5 win Tuesday night over the Baltimore Orioles after stumbling over themselves in a loss on Monday. This is 2013 though and anything good or bad that the Yankees do seems to come at a price.

Three different Yankees had to leave the game with varying degrees of injury. The one that will have the biggest impact on the pennant race is the sore right triceps of Ivan Nova. The August pitcher of the month was as hot as any pitcher in baseball until he lasted just four innings against Boston nearly a week ago and left after six innings and a low pitch count last night due to the discomfort that visits his right arm now and then.

With a pitching staff already reeling due to a combination of ineffectiveness, injury, and fatigue, the Yankees cannot afford to lose Nova. His next scheduled start is against the Red Sox in Fenway Park Sunday night. He told reporters he wants to pitch, but his status will be unknown for the next two or three days.

The Yankees will most certainly need to add another catcher to the roster after Austin Romine left the game with an apparent concussion. The rookie took a foul ball off his mask and stayed in the game momentarily despite being dazed. Fellow rookie J.R. Murphy took his place in the game since Chris Stewart was removed earlier in the evening.

A logical choice for addition to the roster would be veteran Bobby Wilson, formerly of the Angeles organization, who played in 66 games for the Scranton RailRiders this season. (Scranton also has Jose Gil on their roster, but he has no Major League experience.) The Yankees would have to make room on their 40-man roster for any catcher, which could mean Romine gets put on the 60-day DL. They could also designate one of their lesser relievers for assignment.

Alex Rodriguez, whose been swinging a hot bat, ripped a double in the 8th and scored on Robinson Cano's single, but felt his left hamstring grab as he chugged home. Joe Girardi took him out as a precaution and the third baseman didn't think it was anything major.

With Boone Logan out indefinitely due to an achy elbow, the Yankees added journeyman Mike Zagurski before the game. The 30-year old left-hander had signed with the Yankees back in August, was granted free agency and signed with Oakland, and was granted free agency again on September 2nd. He threw six games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in May and June.

Zagurski threw 45 of his 88 big league games as a member of the Diamondbacks last season and has averaged a strikeout per inning. However, his career WHIP is in excess of 1.7.

After the game, the Yankees bolstered the shortstop position by picking up Brendan Ryan from Seattle for a player to be named later. Outfielder Zoilo Almonte was activated from the DL on Monday.

The current roster shows the Yankees carrying 18 pitchers, though the status of Nova, Logan, and David Robertson are currently up in the air. There are three catchers with Romine's status on hold, and eight infielders with Derek Jeter and A-Rod banged up.

Somehow the Yankees enter Wednesday's play two games behind Tampa Bay in the AL wild card race.

Yankees Bring in Ryan As Nunez Continues to Play Goalie With the Baseball

He didn't save money on his car insurance. He found out he's now in a pennant race.

With Derek Jeter out indefinitely with ankle soreness, the Yankees knew they had to do something to strengthen their defense at shortstop. Eduardo Nunez continues to be unreliable defensively so expect to see Brendan Ryan replace him in the late innings.

Ryan was acquired from the Seattle Mariners after Tuesday night's game for a player to be named later. Though he won't be eligible for the post-season (you have to get there first) his defense will be a big boost up from both Nunez and Jeter at this point.

He's not likely to get many starts, however, since his bat is lacking. Just a .238 career hitter, Ryan hit just .198 for the M's this season. The '70s porn 'stache will have to go though. Everyone has to sacrifice in tough times.