Random Yankees thoughts: spring training sequel

Despite what Joel Sherman says, I don’t think the New York Yankees are tired of Joba Chamberlain. I think Sherman is tired of Joba Chamberlain. The New York Post columnist launched a bizarre public attack criticizing Joba for acting childlike, which is a silly argument to me considering these guys are playing a game for a living. So what if Joba is loud in the clubhouse or expresses his preference to start or close baseball games? He is well within his right to express his opinions, just like the Yankees are well within their rights to ignore them, just as Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi did.

Sherman is a columnist these days, but it still seems strange that he would take such a personal shot at a baseball player he has to cover. It’s more of an attack on his character, not his pitching, and for no other reason than Sherman doesn’t like want he perceives as Joba’s act. Opposing players have never liked Joba’s antics on the mound, but I haven’t heard any of his teammates or bosses complain so I’m going to disregard Sherman’s criticisms, as should Joba.

·         Alex Rodriguez is a constant magnet for criticism so it was no surprise to see all the coverage of the Boston Globe report that listed him as one of the professional athletes whose charity didn’t give as much money away as it should. These types of stories gain traction simply because people hate ARod, but some things are just unfair. Granted, his charity was not as efficient as it should be, but it’s not like he was pocketing the money for himself. And when he realized it wasn’t working out, he shut down the charity and gave millions directly to good organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club. He should get credit for realizing that running his own charity wasn’t the right path for him and finding other ways to give back to the community.

 
·         Derek Jeter is spending a lot of his time this spring training trying to reassure the world that he is healthy and will be ready for Opening Day. He was a guest on the Mike Francesa show this week and the very first question he got from MF was about his health. The Yankees Captain said he immediately knew the injury was bad and the ankle was broken last October. But he quickly moved on to reassuring all of Yankee land that he will ready to man shortstop come April 1. Jeter has an extreme tolerance for pain and supreme confidence in his own abilities so I’m going to take him at his word that he will be ready to go.

 

Disappointing early setback for Hughes

This is the year Phil Hughes was planning to take control of his own destiny, perhaps even finally becoming the #1 starter the New York Yankees once projected him to be. So I can only imagine how disappointed he must be that he has to sit out the next two weeks with a back injury.

His 2013 campaign got off to a very rocky start when he was diagnosed with a bulging disc, an injury he sustained during a routine training drill. Hughes has a history of injury problems and his manager Joe Girardi admitted that this latest injury is something to worry about. The righty is being counted on to provide youth and stability to a baseball rotation whose top three starters are either older or coming off surgery so the early setback for Hughes is not a good sign.

The timing for Hughes also couldn’t be any worse in the sense that he is one season away from free agency. He is one of the few Yankees that can be counted on for an honest answer so I wasn’t surprised to see him admit that he was watching the free agent market this past offseason and admiring the contracts other pitchers were getting. I’m sure he is looking forward toward a similar payout after the 2013 season (although his $7 million+ salary for this year is nothing to sniff at). Hughes has a solid resume and youth on his side, but his injury history would likely be a major question mark for teams considering long-term bids for his services.

Perhaps Hughes will sit out the next two weeks and fully recover in time to slot into the Yankees rotation as planned. He is definitely helped by the fact that the injury occurred very early in spring training and that he came into camp in pretty good shape. But I can’t help but wonder if Hughes is destined to suffer these strange injuries throughout his career. I hope that’s not the case because he has shown us flashes of brilliance. Hopefully, this is just a disappointing setback for him, one to be quickly overcome.   

Cervelli doesn’t get benefit of the doubt on PEDs

Francisco Cervelli would like us to believe that he did not use performance-enhancing drugs. That would be a lot easier to do if he weren’t contradicting himself.

The candidate for the New York Yankees starting catcher job would have loved to come into spring training only getting questions about whether he would win the job. Instead, he spent most of a press conference yesterday answering inquiries about why he visited a Miami clinic that has now embroiled many baseball players in yet another PED scandal. Cervelli said he went to the clinic in the hopes of finding a cure for a foot injury, but walked away with nothing, not even the supplements he said he received in a previous statement. Talk about a contradiction.   

Cervelli doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt, at least not from me, because he can't keep his stories straight, he has been with the Yankees organization for years and because he is friends with Alex Rodriguez, a known cheater. To my great displeasure, the Yankees have become the poster team for PED use and the fact that so many current and former Yankees are on that Miami client list only solidifies that bad rep.

The catcher refused to give many details, including who recommended the clinic to him, although he denied that ARod sent him in that direction. We didn’t get the full story yesterday, not even close to it, so it’s hard to believe Cervelli at this point. And while Joe Girardi said he didn’t feel the need to speak to his catcher about the controversy, the whole mess could continue to be a major distraction for Cervelli and the Yankees.

Pettitte chooses Yankees over Torre

Andy Pettitte has chosen the New York Yankees over Joe Torre in what was likely an excruciating decision for him.

The Yankees lefty has officially taken himself out of consideration for a spot pitching in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA, a squad that will be led by his former manager Torre. Pettitte’s rejection of Torre’s offer to pitch for the team was a foregone conclusion once the Yankees expressed concerns about Pettitte participating, and possibly injuring himself, in an exhibition tournament. Those reservations outweighed any loyalty that Pettitte felt toward the man who protected him when he was a young pitcher from George Steinbrenner’s trade-happy ways, the manager who was at the helm for the first four World Series titles Pettitte helped win.

I’m not one of those baseball fans who hates the World Baseball Classic and I like the idea of seeing Yankee players participate. But I do understand the Yankees expressing concern about a potential injury to their #2 starter, particularly because they know Pettitte is such a competitor that he won’t be able to restrain himself from giving it his all. And Torre doesn’t have the best reputation in terms of not burning out his arms—protecting his pitchers is one area where Joe Girardi definitely is the better manager.
 

As much personal affection as Pettitte has for his former manager, in this situation the lefty simply was not going to go against the wishes of his bosses. Loyalty only goes so far.

Mariano Rivera feeling good just in time

Mariano Rivera is feeling good and that’s the most important news of the day.

I had the pleasure of attending Ed Randall’s Fans for the Cure event honoring Mariano Rivera last night. After an introductory video highlighting Mo’s legendary career, the first question Randall posed to Mo was to ask how he is feeling. The long-time sportswriter and radio host spoke for all New York Yankees fans in and out of that room when he asked Mo to please say he is fine. Luckily, Mo said he is feeling really good.

But I felt so bad for Mo because the next thing he said was that it was torture watching the Yankees play without him after that terrible knee injury last year. As the evening went on, it became clear that Mo is a fierce competitor and was haunted by the fact that he couldn’t be there for his teammates.

“I felt powerless,” he said. “I wanted to do everything, but I couldn’t. It was painful.”

Mo talked about how he desperately tried to rehab in time to help the Yankees last October. I hadn’t realized that Mo was trying so hard to return for the playoffs. Not that he could have helped the nonexistent Yankees offense against Detroit.

But he’s been there for his teammates so many times, as we saw from the career highlights that played throughout the evening. The wonder in the voices of former teammates David Cone and John Flaherty, and even a competitor who beat him in Luis Gonzalez, is obvious when they talk about Mariano. Gonzalez insisted that he got lucky in blooping that base hit over Derek Jeter’s head in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, but praised Mariano’s humility and graciousness in giving Gonzalez and the Arizona Diamondbacks full credit for that victory.

“What you see is what you get,” Cone said. “Whatever you think about this man, you’re thinking right because he is an exceptional person as well as a pitcher.”

"He's kind of the Superman of baseball," Gonzalez said in a taped interview. "I'm sure as soon as his time comes for him to hang up that number 42, he will be the next one to go into the Hall of Fame."

Mariano and his friends regaled us with stories about game situations and manager Joe Girardi’s stress over Mo’s relaxed pace of getting ready to get into the game. Mo never rushes through his routine, not even at the request of his hyperactive manager. It was obvious that the guys love to mess with Girardi.

“You have to have fun,” Rivera said. “The game is too hard not to have fun.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready with my camera when Mo walked right past me on the way to the podium – he is so much taller than I expected – and I was a bit too far from the stage to get a great picture. But I did manage some decent photos of him and his friends: Cone, Flaherty and pitching coach Larry Rothschild.

It was really cool to be there for such a fun and funny conversation. I’ll post some of the funnier lines from the evening tomorrow. Needless to say, just being there for an event honoring my favorite baseball player was the ultimate thrill.

Sigh of relief as Mo will return to Yankees

I’m breathing a huge sigh of relief now that Mariano Rivera has decided he will return to the New York Yankees for at least one more year.

In my heart, I know that the day will come when Mo decides to hang up his spikes and go home to his family for good. But I’m not quite ready for that so I anxiously awaited word about whether Mariano would call it quits or come back to close games for the only team he has ever played for.

All Brian Cashman was waiting for was Mo’s decision. Now that Mo has made that choice, Cashman has indicated that he and Mariano’s agent will move quickly to finalize a new deal for the Yankees legendary closer. Mo’s return from his devastating injury does not appear to be a major obstacle as Joe Girardi & Co were pleased with the progress Mariano was making in his rehab. Mo’s last contract negotiations also went so smoothly, they were over before you could even blink, namely because Mariano, probably generous to a fault, had no desire to squeeze every last dollar from the Yankees, even though he had so much leverage over his team (including competing interest from the Boston Red Sox).

Mo’s return warms my heart, but Scott Boras probably didn’t have the same feelings of joy when he heard the news. Boras would have had tremendous leverage to negotiate a rich, multi-year deal for his client Rafael Soriano had Mariano decided to retire. But the chances of Soriano staying with the Yankees took a significant hit once Mo decided to come back. Hal Steinbrenner seems determined to get to that $189 million payroll threshold, which means he will not be able to pay both Rivera and Soriano $14-$15 million each. He’s going to have to choose one and Cashman’s public eagerness to work up a new deal for Mo tells me the Yankees have already made their choice.

Not that there’s much of a choice to be made. Soriano filled in nicely and I wish him well, but there is only one Mariano Rivera and he will be back where he belongs next year, on a mound for the New York Yankees. 

ARod gets unfair share of the blame

Alex Rodriguez is taking the brunt of the criticism for the New York Yankees embarrassing collapse this season and while he deserves some of the blame, some things are just unfair.

ARod doesn’t help his cause by being clueless to the consequences of his actions, whether he is trying to hook up with a good-looking woman during a playoff game or waving to his mother on national television (never seen any Yankees bench players do that and they sit a hell of a lot more than ARod does). His obliviousness is part of the reason why silly stories about ARod gain so much traction, like the one about Yankees manager Joe Girardi calling the press box to avoid causing ARod further embarrassment after pinch hitting for him. It furthers the impression of ARod as a self-centered child who needs to be coddled by his bosses, something the Yankees would not even bother to do with any other player.

Don’t get me wrong. I think ARod should waive his no-trade clause and leave New York, not just for the New York Yankees sake, but for his own. But I don’t think everyone’s focus should be on him. How about directing some of that anger and vitriol toward Nick Swisher, who had yet another bad postseason and showed that he too, like ARod, has a pretty thin skin when he complained about the loud boos heaped upon the Yankees by a fan base tired of paying exorbitant prices to see the Yankees underachieve in October? Perhaps it’s because the free agent right fielder probably was destined for a one-way ticket out of New York anyway. So what about Curtis Granderson, who after years of claiming not to be a home run hitter, turned into exactly that, to the detriment of the rest of his game? Why aren’t they getting their fair share of the blame? Because ARod is the easiest, richest target, one that Yankee fans will continue to resent if they feel his diminishing skills and payroll-strangling salary will keep the Yankees from another World Series.

Hopefully ARod will take the extra time he has this offseason to decide he could use with a fresh start. It is time for ARod and the Yankees to part ways, but he’s not the only one the Yankees should bid goodbye.

Yankees absence from World Series depressing

The World Series will start tonight without the New York Yankees, which is pretty depressing.

I will watch some of the World Series and root for the San Francisco Giants to win it all, but I do not harbor much ill will toward the Detroit Tigers. It was not their fault that the Yankee hitters decided to sleep walk through the postseason. I like Detroit’s chances with Justin Verlander leading their rotation and their sluggers Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. But I can’t help but wonder if they are really that good of a team or if the ALCS sweep was mostly the result of the Yankees stinking up the joints in the Bronx and Motown.

So instead of preparing to represent the American League in baseball’s final showdown, manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman were busy the last few days sharing their thoughts on the state of the Yankees and their season with the media. We didn’t get much in the way of insight, but I suspect there will be some major changes this offseason.

However, despite how badly I and other Yankee fans want to get rid of Alex Rodriguez, I have serious doubts that Cashman can pull off a trade, even if ARod changes his mind about playing in New York, which he should. ARod is a small fraction of the player that he was once and other baseball officials would have to be blind to have missed that. I really believe that the only way the Yankees will be able to trade ARod is if they agree to pay all but a few million dollars a year on his remaining contract, which means that deal will continue to strangle the Yankees for years to come, even if ARod experiences an AJ Burnett-like resurgence somewhere else.  

But Cashman and Girardi will have plenty of time to ponder how to make things work with ARod at third base next year while they watch the Tigers battle for the World Series championship they could have had with a little more effort from the offense. Completely depressing, indeed.  

Girardi deserves kudos for gutsy move

I was lucky enough to be at last night’s game and I still don’t believe what happened.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi looks like a gutsy genius for finally lifting a struggling Alex Rodriguez in favor of Raul Ibanez, who promptly launched a blast into the right field seats, followed by another blast into the same general area three innings later to lift the Yankees to victory. As Derek Jeter joked afterwards, Girardi obviously knew that Ibanez would hit the game tying and game-winning home runs. But in all seriousness, Girardi deserves a lot of credit because it was a daring move to pinch hit for a guy who could be heading to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The situation was ripe for such a bold decision. ARod has looked lost at the plate. Ibanez has come through in the clutch several times for the Yankees this year. And I was grateful to him, particularly for that second home run, because it was freezing at the ballpark in the Bronx last night and even one more inning in those windy conditions would have been brutal. But if I can describe the general sentiment of those lucky enough to be in the stands for such a fantastic ballgame, I would sum it up in one word: Wow!

So the Yankees have a chance to finish off the pesky Baltimore Orioles behind Phil Hughes. Let’s get it done guys. 

Girardi costs Yankees game with Hughes hook

Phil Hughes technically was the loser in last night’s game, but his manager’s obsession with numbers and matchups is what really cost the New York Yankees a victory.

For some reason, Joe Girardi did not see what the rest of us saw: that despite having a bases-loaded situation, Hughes was still dealing. Instead of giving the righty one more batter after a fierce strikeout for the second out of the 7^th inning, Girardi removed Hughes in favor of lefty Boone Logan, who promptly gave up the lead for good in a game the Yankees had in their grasp. What was even more disappointing about the loss is that the New York Yankees missed an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and those pesky Baltimore Orioles.

Hughes, trying to be a diplomat and a good teammate, did not place the blame on his manager or criticize a lousy decision. But his disappointment and frustration were obvious from the moment he took a seat on the bench before Boone’s implosion through his post-game press conference, when he twice said that he didn't make decisions and just pitches to who he is told to. Hughes, I’m sure, believes he earned the right to clean up that 7^th inning mess and he’s absolutely right (this isn't a second guess by the way, I started screaming at my television the minute I saw Girardi walking out toward the mound).

Girardi has a lot of strengths as a manager, but one of his weaknesses is his inability to read his players. He should have given Hughes, who has more victories than any Yankee pitcher this season, the opportunity to work out of the jam. Showing that kind of confidence in your players is a key part of being a good manager. It can’t be all about statistics and I think Girardi too often loses himself in the numbers game instead of trusting his players.

Phil Hughes didn’t cost the Yankees a game last night. Joe Girardi did. 

Older Yankees showing the kids how it's done

Youth is a state of mind, isn’t it?

That’s apparently what the older veterans of the New York Yankees think. Yesterday, it was 40-year-old Raul Ibanez rescuing the Yankees with not one but two home run blasts, the second of which helped make an improbable comeback from four runs down in the 13^th inning a reality. The Yankees would go on to win the game on an error in the 14^th inning, but what everyone will remember most about yesterday’s victory is Ibanez’s heroics, which allowed the Yankees to stay one game ahead of those pesky Baltimore Orioles.

Until Ibanez’s fantastic day, most of the attention and marvel around Yankeeland was directed at 38-year-old Ichiro Suzuki, who had another home run yesterday that helped the Yankees start to climb out of the hole that Ivan Nova put them in. Ichiro has an unbelievable.700 batting average in the last five games and has been a key contributor to the current Yankees 7-game winning streak. I had my doubts about the Ichiro trade, not about him as a player, but about whether he was a necessary addition to the Yankees roster. A rejuvenated Ichiro is proving that he is.

Until Ichiro got hot, the only offense being provided by the Yankees vaunted lineup came from their hobbling Captain Derek Jeter. The 38-year-old Yankees Captain has returned to shortstop where he belongs, but is still bothered by that unfortunate ankle injury. You wouldn’t know it from his 16-game hitting streak, even though he had a rare 1 for 7 day yesterday.

Of course, no discussion of ace performances by veteran Yankees would be complete without mention of 40-year-old Andy Pettitte coming off a nearly 3-month stint on the disabled list this week to give the Yankees five shutout innings in the opening game of a doubleheader. Pettitte schooled the younger Yankees about how to win a game when you are a bit rusty or don’t have your best stuff. What was interesting about Pettitte’s performance is that manager Joe Girardi, who is usually very protective against overusing his pitchers to prevent injuries, allowed Pettitte to go out for that 5^th inning even though he was very close to his pitch limit. Girardi has that much confidence in his veteran lefty and wanted to squeeze one more inning out of Pettitte in a game the Yankees had to win.

I hope the Yankee kids are paying attention to what the older Yankees are doing this month. They could learn a few things. 

Joe Girardi shows some fire

I’ve never seen Joe Girardi as angry as he was yesterday. It was truly awesome.

If you haven’t seen Girardi’s post-game interview, I insist that you immediately stop reading this blog and check out this link to the YES Network website. Not only did the New York Yankees manager rip third-base umpire Tim Welke a new one on the field, he continued his verbal assault in an epic tirade after the game.

We normally don’t see the Yankees manager that worked up, unless he is fighting with a reporter who dares to question him, particularly when it comes to AJ Burnett (come to think of it, with Burnett gone, I can’t remember seeing Girardi fight with any reporters). I know Girardi was still angry about Welke’s stubbornness, but I couldn’t help cracking up as he took shot after shot at him.

But Girardi’s central point is a fair one: that the umpire made a mistake that could have easily cost the Yankees the game, especially with the rain that may have forced an early end. After admitting that he initially called a fair ball foul, Welke should have been more understanding of Girardi’s argument that the runner should be sent back to third base rather than letting the go-ahead run score (he then made the situation worse by refusing to let the Yankees manager protest the game). That’s clearly why Girardi was so angry. With the Yankees struggling in recent weeks, it was an important game for them to win.

Girardi’s outburst on the field may have awakened his slumbering ballclub. Mark Teixeira and Eric Chavez hit back-to-back home runs that gave the Yankees a lead that they did not relinquish. You can’t say for sure those homers were related to Girardi’s angry display, but it can only help motivate baseball players who know that their manager completely has their back.

Girardi is clearly going to pay for his post-game tirade, but I’m sure he couldn’t care less about the fine coming his way. I can only hope his fire is contagious and sparks a Yankee winning streak. 

Crisis averted for New York Yankees

Balance is restored to the Yankees Universe, at least temporarily.

Some fans of the New York Yankees were on the verge of nervous breakdowns before the Yankees took the final two games from the Detroit Tigers. Granted, the Yankees have given them a lot of reason for their fears, playing terribly during a recent three-week stretch and watching their seemingly insurmountable 10-game lead dwindle in half. The Yankees themselves were starting to become concerned with their poor play, with Eric Chavez bravely voicing what others in the Yankees clubhouse were probably worrying about, but didn’t dare say publicly.

But the Yankees managed to escape Detroit with a split thanks to a turn-back-the-clock performance this week from Chavez, filling in nicely for the injured Alex Rodriguez, decent starts from CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda following poor outings by Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes, and a frustrated and angry Joe Girardi forcing the umpires to eject him and firing up his team in the process.  

Does that mean the Yankees are over the hump? Not in the least. They got lucky that the Tigers fell short in their comeback attempts these last two games. And they have to seriously hope that moving him down in the order is exactly the tonic Curtis Granderson needed to get over his slump.

Despite his recent struggles, I’m incredulous at the notion that Yankee fans would turn the ire they normally direct at ARod to the affable Granderson, but that’s what the New York Post said is happening (and, of course,  everything in that newspaper is gospel, according to my friend Scott). Sure, I was frustrated by Granderson’s weak pop up to end Tuesday night’s game and his numerous strikeouts, but the man does have 30 home runs, 66 ribbies and 78 runs scored so it’s not like he’s been a bust this year. And I seriously doubt he’ll ever take steroids or kiss his reflection in the mirror so I don’t think he deserves the level of scorn usually reserved for ARod.

I’m happy the Yankees took these last two games, but I’d feel a lot better about them if I see them sweep the Toronto Blue Jays up north before they come back to New York for a brutal 7-game home stand. They have four games against the defending American League champion Texas Rangers and three against the Boston Red Sox, who can always put up a good fight against the Yankees despite their dysfunction. It’s going to be a tough week for them and I’d like to see some signs that they can handle it. 

Hughes comes through for Yankees again

Despite all the haters out there, nobody is harder on Phil Hughes than Hughes himself.

If I hadn’t seen Wednesday’s game, I would have thought that he had gotten smacked around Yankee Stadium from the way he evaluated his performance in his post-game interview. The old Hughes might have been in for a rough day if, as Phil said, he didn’t have his best stuff. But the new and vastly improved Hughes managed to get out of several jams en route to pitching six-innings of one-run ball in a game that the New York Yankees desperately needed to win to preserve their sanity and that of their fans.

Hughes got a more positive review from his manager Joe Girardi, who thought his pitcher did a good job of managing innings and minimizing the threat with runners on base. Girardi is obviously willing to criticize one of his players, as he chastised Ivan Nova for his dreadful performance and loss of focus on Tuesday evening. The Yankees manager seem thrilled that Hughes did what Nova could not, get past the feeling that his stuff was not up to par and pitch a good game when his team staked him to a sizeable lead.

How ironic is it that Hughes, despite all his struggles and the calls to trade him away, is the one keeping the Yankees afloat during this rough stretch? The Yankees have won two games during the current home stand, both of which Hughes started. He lost a tough luck game to a hot Oakland A’s team despite a strong outing the week before. But this week he managed to do what the Yankees’ top starters CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda could not: beat a division rival, two times no less. Hughes should give himself a little credit for that. But he won’t.

Hughes’ performance against the Baltimore Orioles was overshadowed in the news by the offensive outburst of the Yankees and the long-awaited return of Joba Chamberlain. But I’m sure his teammates appreciated his effort. 

Joba Chamberlain a sight for sore Yankee eyes

Joba Chamberlain was a sight for sore eyes.

Watching Joba standing on the Yankee Stadium mound yesterday warmed my heart. He didn’t pitch particularly well, which was to be expected given his long pitching layoff and the jumble of emotions he must have been feeling. Not that it really mattered how he pitched. Just seeing him on the mound was a testament to his perseverance.

His manager Joe Girardi talked about how he never had any doubt that Joba, a famously quick healer who didn’t even feel his elbow coming apart before his Tommy John surgery, would pitch again this year, even after the grotesque ankle injury. I genuinely believed Girardi when he said that, not always the case to be honest. I had been following Joba’s recovery as closely as possible and his determination to return to the pitching mound and prove all the doubters who said his career was over wrong was evident. Not only did he heal more quickly than expected, he was lighting up the radar gun during his rehab assignments and I have no doubt that he will be lighting up the Yankee Stadium gun once he gets comfortable again.

Despite his rough first outing, the New York Yankees are confident that he can solidify the bullpen, much as he had done last year before his unexpected and unfortunate elbow injury. They are so confident in Joba that Brian Cashman felt comfortable trading away Chad Qualls for some bench help before Tuesday’s deadline. The Yankees, overly cautious in their handling of Joba at times, were so sure that he was healthy that they called him back up to the big club rather than sending him to Trenton for a scheduled rehab assignment, no doubt disappointing a lot of New Jersey-based Yankee fans hoping for a glimpse of Joba.

But it was a thrill watching him pitch in a big-league game again, something a lot of people suspected he would never do, even if Joba himself never doubted it for a second. 

Yankees will survive tough break for Gardner

Brett Gardner is probably crushed by the news that he will have to undergo surgery that will likely end his 2012 season before it really got started. But the New York Yankees will survive without him.

That’s not to say Gardner won’t be missed. As Yankees manager Joe Girardi has often stated, the Yankees are a completely different team without Gardner. He is the one player who can consistently create runs just by using his legs. No other member of the Yankees has that ability, including Derek Jeter, who is running very well for a baseball player of his age, but is not a stolen base threat anymore.

Ironically, Alex Rodriguez has 10 stolen bases, the most on the Yankees, leading the team in one category he really shouldn’t be leading. He gets paid the big bucks to hit monster home runs and drive in runners on base, not that he is doing a particularly good job of that these days.  

The Yankees are merely a team of sluggers without Gardner, which has worked pretty well for them and should continue to work as they cement their lead in the American League East division over the second half of the season. Part of the reason for the Yankees success in surviving Gardner’s injury so far is that they are getting significant contributions from Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones, who have hit a combined 24 home runs and knocked in 66 ribbies.

Girardi will have to be careful about getting both veterans enough rest over the last three months of the regular season to keep them fresh for October. But in that regard, I have nothing but confidence in Girardi because he has done a fantastic job of not burning out his bullpen guys and giving his older fielders days off when needed.

As disappointed as Gardner and the Yankees are about the injury, the Bronx Bombers will continue to bash their way into October. And once they get there, I believe their good starting pitching and superior bullpen will lead the way to another title. 

Yankees leave Red Sox in the dust

The New York Yankees could not feel better about themselves heading into the All-Star break, with a commanding lead in the American League East standings after another Boston beat-down.

Granted, the Yankees’ play was pretty sloppy at times this weekend, with Hiroki Kuroda giving up the 5-run lead his offense staked him to on Friday night and Phil Hughes unable to pitch out of the mess his defense put him in during Saturday’s double-header nightcap. But they took three out of four games against the Boston Red Sox after getting strong performances by Freddy Garcia and Ivan Nova and a resurgent Mark Teixeira, who wisely decided not to further escalate his feud with a nut like Vicente Padilla.

More surprisingly, they got a turn-back-the-clock performance by Andruw Jones, who has been terrific subbing for the injured Brett Gardner all year, but really stepped up his game against the Red Sox this weekend. He hit four Monster home runs, constantly breaking the hearts of Saux fans anytime they thought their team might finally have a leg up on the hated Yankees. But even more impressive to me was his outstanding defense, including slamming against the Green Monster to make a terrific, rally-killing catch, which immediately conjured up images of a young Jones patrolling centerfield for the Atlanta Braves.

So despite all their injuries and lackluster play during the first six weeks of the season, the Yankees find themselves comfortably in first place with a 7-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles, nearly 10 games up over the Saux (which, let’s face it, is the only team that all Yankee fans truly care about regardless of their problems) and the best record in baseball.  

I hope Joe Girardi and his squad enjoy their All-Star break vacation. After their first-half performance, they’ve definitely earned it. 

Joba Chamberlain closing in on a comeback

Tomorrow is a big day for Joba Chamberlain. No, it’s not his birthday, but if it was, his birthday wish would probably be to come through tomorrow’s simulated game pain free.

It’s a big step on Joba’s way back to rejoining the New York Yankees after last year’s devastating, unexpected elbow injury and the fluke trampoline accident that dislocated his ankle. So far, Chamberlain has passed all the tests and reported no lingering pain from either injury (although he has an incredibly high pain tolerance, throwing gas with a torn ligament in that elbow right up until the injury was discovered).

The Yankees bullpen could use a fresh arm. The relievers, with the notable exception of Rafael Soriano, have really struggled of late. I suspect the struggles can be traced back to them being forced to throw too many innings earlier in the baseball season when the Yankees starters were struggling to get past the 5^th and 6^th innings. If a healthy Joba can help lessen the workload, Joe Girardi can give some of those arms some much needed rest.   

I’m rooting to see Joba back in pinstripes as soon as possible, as long as he doesn’t rush through his rehab and reinjure himself. He would make a strength of the Yankees team even stronger. But for me, it’s about more than just making the Yankees a better team. I always root hardest for the homegrown Yankees and Joba is definitely one of those so I would love to see him back on the mound, throwing gas like the Joba of old. 

Yankees play it safe with ace CC Sabathia

I knew things were going too well for the New York Yankees.

The good vibes from a terrific performance by Phil Hughes extending the Yankees winning ways and the controversy over the catch that wasn’t a catch have been quickly cast aside by news that CC Sabathia is heading to the disabled list. It appears to be a relatively minor injury, but the Yankees, cautious by nature, are nottaking any chances with their ace, putting him on the DL instead of just skipping his turn in the rotation in the hope of a quick recovery. Can’t say I blame them.

CC being injured explains a lot about his inability to hold a four-run lead against the New York Mets last weekend. Yes, his defense failed him miserably, but he usually pitches around errors. And perhaps my expectations for CC are unfairly high (though he has mostly lived up to and surpassed them in his Yankee years). But the fact that he allowed that game to be tied by the Mets really took me by surprise. It’s not like the CC we know and love to blow that kind of a lead and the injury may explain why (although Sabathia would never use it as an excuse because he is a no excuses kind of guy).

Joe Girardi didn’t seem too pleased by Sabathia’s failure to inform the team of the injury he first felt on Sunday night. But he can’t really be surprised either. His ace is a bulldog who always wants the ball. He wanted to only miss a start rather than go on the DL with what he probably sees as a nuisance injury rather than a serious one. But CC lost that argument to Brian Cashman and Girardi, who know it’s more important to have their ace on the mound in September than late June, particularly with the Yankees on such a winning streak.

With the Yankees going so well, they can afford to be without their ace for two weeks, particularly with the All-Star break coming up. But it can’t be for much longer than that or the Yankees could find themselves in trouble. 

Hughes silences Santana talk with dominant start

Johan Santana’s no-hitter has some people openly talking about the New York Yankees making a play for the Mets lefthander. But the Yankees would have to sacrifice one of their young starters in return and the name that has popped up, of course, is Phil Hughes. Today, Hughes once again showed the Yankees and their fans why they should not give up on him.

The Yankees almost traded for Santana once, but balked at giving up the young Hughes as part of the package. I think it was the right call for Brian Cashman back then and I hope he makes the same choice if the Mets make their ace available. I don’t think anyone would knock Cashman if he traded Hughes for Santana, but it seems like the Yankees general manager would prefer to stick with the younger, less expensive pitcher. And I don’t think the Mets would really consider trading Santana to the Yankees, not unless they want to start a mutiny in Queens. They certainly can’t do so right now while they are overachieving, but if they were to lose momentum and consider giving up their ace, they would demand a king’s ransom in return.

Not that I wouldn’t love to have Santana in the Yankees starting rotation. No question CC Sabathia and Santana would make a fearsome 1-2 punch. Hughes hasn’t yet fully reclaimed his first half 2010 dominance that had him being mentioned as a possible #2 to Sabathia. But this afternoon, Hughes brushed off a terrible start in his hometown to put forth a dominant performance against a Detroit Tigers lineup with two very dangerous hitters. Again staked to an early lead, he didn’t falter this time, even after giving up a solo home run to Prince Fielder. In fact, he got better as the game went along, so much so that Joe Girardi showed tremendous faith in sending Hughes out to finish what he started, a brilliant, confidence-boosting move by the Yankees manager.

I know some Yankee fans are frustrated by the inconsistency of Phil Hughes, but they shouldn’t be so eager to sacrifice him for Santana. Today, Hughes once again proved what he is capable of.