Yankees Set ALCS Roster

25-man ALCS Roster

Eric Hinske is out, Freddy Guzman is in. That's the only change in the 25-man roster between the ALDS and ALCS.

The Yankees apparently feel that a guy with additional speed and limited other abilitiesis more important than a guy with some pop and limited other abilities.

Damaso Marte remains on the roster and Brian Bruney remains on the outside looking in. I thought Marte would be dropped with Bobby Abreu being the only lefty on the Angels roster. However, with seven switch-hitters on the roster, Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman must have felt they wanted to have the option of flipping a guy around to the right side. That would be especially true in lefty-friendly Yankee Stadium.

Pitching Probables

Game 1 - John Lackey vs. CC Sabathia
Game 2 - Joe Saunders vs. A.J. Burnett
Game 3 - Jered Weaver vs. Andy Pettitte

No truth to the rumor that every pitcher on the Angels has to have a first name beginning with the letter 'J'.

The Yankees are seriously tossing around the idea of a 3-man rotation with CC Sabathia getting three turns- games 1, 4, and 7. If not, Chad Gaudin would like start Game 4. Most likely it will be the 3-man, with Sabathia going on three days, and then full, rest before his subsequent starts.


Yankees Current Playoff Roster:

Position players (14)
Derek Jeter
Johnny Damon
Mark Teixeira
Alex Rodriguez
Jorge Posada
Hideki Matsui
Robinson Cano
Nick Swisher
Melky Cabrera
Brett Gardner
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Jose Molina
Freddy Guzman*
Francisco Cervelli

Pitchers (11)
CC Sabathia
A.J. Burnett
Andy Pettitte
Mariano Rivera
Phil Hughes
David Robertson
Damaso Marte
Phil Coke
Alfredo Aceves
Joba Chamberlain
Chad Gaudin

Deja Lose

Friday and Saturday blended together as the Yankees blew another game to the Angels.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	2	0		8	9	1
LA Angels	0	0	0	1	7	1	1	4	X		14	16	1

WP - Weaver (10-3) LP - Pettitte (8-5)

Take a decent sized early lead, have your starting pitcher give it away, and then have your bullpen put the game out of reach. Such has been the recipe for disaster that the Yankees have put together the last 2 days.

Less than 24 hours after an ineffective Joba Chamberlain and his reinforcements turned a 5-1 lead into a 10-6 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, Andy Pettitte and company saw a 4-0 lead become a 14-8 defeat. The latter happened despite five home runs by the Yankees, including a pair by Alex Rodriguez, who passed Rafael Palmeiero for sole possession of 10th place on the all-time home run list.

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.

Yankees Rally Falls Short

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Alex Rios • andy pettitte • Brian bruney • Derek Jeter • Eric Hinske • Jason Frasor • Joe Girardi ejected • John McDonald • nick swisher • Rickey Romero • Yankees 7/6 recap • Yankees vs. Blue Jays

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Toronto	0	1	3	0	0	0	3	0	0		7	8	0
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	2		6	12	0

WP - Romero (7-3) SV - Frasor (3) LP - Pettitte (8-4)

Late Rally Falls Short

No lead is safe at Yankee Stadium this season and the Yankees are confident they can come back from any deficit. So trailing 7-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon, they knew they could mount a rally. But, unfortunately, they came up short. The Jays took advantage of poor showings from Andy Pettitte and Brian Bruney to beat the Yankees 7-6.

Pettitte continued his home struggles (4-3, 5.72 in 10 starts), surrending home runs to Alex Rios and John McDonald to put his team in a 5-1 hole. Pettitte was charged with another run when Bruney allowed a 2-run double to Scott Rolen. (The Blue Jays’ third baseman extended his hitting streak to 23 games.)

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.

Yankees Acquire Hinske

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Eric Hinske • xavier nady • Yankees Acquire Hinske • Yankees and Pirates Trade Again

In apparent attempt to strengthen their bench, and possibly a sign of other moves to come, the Yankees have acquired utility man Eric Hinske from the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, the Pirates received minor leaguers Eric Fryer and Casey Erickson.

Hinske was hitting .255 with 1 HR and 11 RBI in 54 games this season. The soon to be 32-yr old was rookie of the year with the Blue Jays in 2002, but his career has been in decline since. He’s also spent time with the Red Sox and Rays. Originally a 3rd baseman, Hinske has been used at 1st base and right field since.

It’s a curious acquisition, considering Xavier Nady gave the Yankees a solid right-handed bat and a pretty good defensive player. Hinske is neither of those. The Yankees didn’t really need another left-handed bat.

Joel Sherman has much more on the deal and the potential ramifications.

Yankees vs. Rays - May 13

The Yankees really need a win tonight and they've got the right guy on the hill to do it. Chien-Ming Wang is coming off his only loss of the season, but it was a tough one as he threw a quality start only to be out done by the Indians' Cliff Lee.

Tonight The Wanger goes against the Rays and fellow right-hander Edwin Jackson, who made the Yankees look silly in a 6-3 loss back on April 5. But the Yankees avenged that loss, tagging Jackson for 5 runs in 5 innings in a 5-3 Yankees win on April 15 at the Trop.

Jackson had a 2-1 lead in that tax day game, but the Bombers came up with a pair of runs in the 4th and 5th to take the lead for good. Hideki Matsui homered in the game and drove in the tying run in the 4th.

This is Wang's second appearance against the Rays this season. He picked up the win on April 6 after going 6 innings in a 2-0 Yankees victory. For his career Wang is 7-4, 3.53 in 12 career starts against the Rays.

Eric Hinske will be in the lineup tonight for sure. He's 12-27 (.444) with 2 HR and 3 RBI against Wang. On the other hand, one of last night's heros, Jonny Gomes, is 4-25 and is not likely to be in the starting lineup.

Derek Jeter and Matsui are a combined 10-27 with 2 HR and 6 RBI against Jackson, while Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu have gone a combined 1-24.

Damon DH
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui LF
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Gonzalez 3B
Molina C

Yankees vs. Rays - May 13

The Yankees really need a win tonight and they've got the right guy on the hill to do it. Chien-Ming Wang is coming off his only loss of the season, but it was a tough one as he threw a quality start only to be out done by the Indians' Cliff Lee.

Tonight The Wanger goes against the Rays and fellow right-hander Edwin Jackson, who made the Yankees look silly in a 6-3 loss back on April 5. But the Yankees avenged that loss, tagging Jackson for 5 runs in 5 innings in a 5-3 Yankees win on April 15 at the Trop.

Jackson had a 2-1 lead in that tax day game, but the Bombers came up with a pair of runs in the 4th and 5th to take the lead for good. Hideki Matsui homered in the game and drove in the tying run in the 4th.

This is Wang's second appearance against the Rays this season. He picked up the win on April 6 after going 6 innings in a 2-0 Yankees victory. For his career Wang is 7-4, 3.53 in 12 career starts against the Rays.

Eric Hinske will be in the lineup tonight for sure. He's 12-27 (.444) with 2 HR and 3 RBI against Wang. On the other hand, one of last night's heros, Jonny Gomes, is 4-25 and is not likely to be in the starting lineup.

Derek Jeter and Matsui are a combined 10-27 with 2 HR and 6 RBI against Jackson, while Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu have gone a combined 1-24.

Damon DH
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui LF
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Gonzalez 3B
Molina C