Boston Dominates Bombers

Wang pitched a decent game last night. He got hurt by falling behind 3-0 to Ortiz, who subsequently cashed in two runs with a sharp single to left field, and by throwing a fastball belt-high to Manny, which crushed it to dead center for a two-run home run.

Johnny Damon said it best yesterday: you can't expect to stop Ortiz and Manny. The key is to prevent runners from getting on base before they come to the plate.

Right now, the Yankees are a broken team. They are missing two of their best clutch and power hitters - Matsui and Sheffield - and they are playing with the pressure of knowing that they only have one pitcher - Mussina - who can consistently keep them in a ball game.

Damon is playing with a broken toe, Chacon had a hematoma (blood-filled bruise) drained from his leg last night, and Matsui is most likely out until next April.

And with Jaret Wright and Randy Johnson due up for the final two games at Fenway, there is little hope on the horizon for a turnaround. Actually, Jaret Wright has pitched better as of late, so if the Yankees are going to shift their momentum, it has to happen tonight. We all know that things are going to be ugly when Randy takes the mound on Wednesday. Too much decline, too much pressure.

Let's hope that Sheffield wakes up today without any pain in his wrist. Coming off a good rehab stint in Conneticut last night, he hopes to be in the Bombers' lineup tonight.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Trading A-Rod is The Best Move

The only satisfaction that came from last night's game was seeing A-Rod get benched in the bottom of the eigth inning.

Sure, Joe Torre will tell you that it was a strategic move that is very common in National League games to preserve the bullpen. But do you really believe that Derek Jeter would have been riding the pine had he been the final out in the top of the eighth?

The bottom line is this: A-Rod has been permanently tagged by Yankees fans as an arrogant guy who does not produce in the clutch.

This tag is due in part to his $252 million contract. But it is also partly due to his demeanor.

Many of the young stars on the Texas Rangers, most notably Hank Blaylock and Mark Teixeira, have expressed that the chemistry and mood of the entire Rangers organization improved considerably with the departure of A-Rod.

Even Michael Young, the star Rangers shortstop who was somewhat close to A-Rod back when A-Rod played short and Young played second base has admitted that the team seemed more comfortable once A-Rod left.

According to Rangers players, A-Rod was known for condescendingly yelling out instructions to his teammates that you would hear at Little League games, things like "take a larger secondary lead!"

Unlike Don Mattingly, who inspired upcoming stars like Paul O'Neill, Bernie Williams, and Derek Jeter with his work ethic and day to day behaviour, A-Rod grated on some Rangers players with his condescending and humiliating remarks.

Yankees fans will never forget the time when A-Rod was quoted as saying that Derek Jeter probably woudn't get a contract as lucrative as his own since he didn't hit for power. A-Rod went on to say that Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams were the ones that he worried about when he faced the Yankees, not Derek Jeter.

There was no need to be angry with A-Rod for insulting Derek. We could only be grateful that he didn't have the mental strength to hide his own feelings of jealousy and insecurity. It's good to know how someone really feels, because then you know what you're dealing with.

I'll be the first to admit that most Yankees fans are looking to vilify A-Rod because of his past and current behaviour, not because of his talents as a baseball player. He has a lot of skills, we can all agree on this. And based on numbers alone, it's hard to say that he is less of a clutch player than most other Yankees players.

The bottom line is that he is walking around with a dark cloud above his head. He doesn't appear to be emotionally strong enough to overcome his image of being a jealous, egotistical and disingenuous person. It's not as bad for A-Rod as it is for Isiah Thomas, but he's right up there in Zeke's league.

Yankees fans want Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Hideki Matsui, and Bernie Williams to succeed. Sadly, many Yankees fans want A-Rod to fail.

It may not be possible to find a taker for A-Rod. He might be harder to trade than any other player in this league.

But if Brian Cashman can find a way to part ways with A-Rod, this would be the best move for the Yankees.

The Plight of Carl Pavano

Carl Pavano's right triceps muscle was so sore yesteday that he couldn't fully straighten out his arm.

There's no question that Carl is working hard to becoming the horse for Joe Torre that Yankees brass thought he would when they penned him to 39.95 milion a year and a half ago.

First the shoulder stiffness, then the lower back stiffness, then the sore butt, and now a bad triceps muscle.

How much of Pavano's plight has been induced by the mounting sentiment among the New York media and Yankees fans that he just doesn't have the heart of a Matsui, Jeter, Mariano, or O'Neill?

Carl would like to stay with the team while his latest arm injury heals, but it appears that Cashman et al. are leaning towards sending him back down to Tampa, the most likely reason being that Florida is a safe retreat away from the glare of the New York papers.

At this point, the Yankees really don't have much choice but to hope that he pulls a Giambi and turns it all around. The problem is that Giambi was one of the most feared hitters in the game before his tailspin in 2004 and 2005. At the height of his young career, Pavano was known to most casual baseball fans as the guy who went out with Tony Danza's daughter from "Who's the Boss," not as a guy who could dominate on a consistent basis.

Let's hope that Pavano does indeed, turn it all around in the next few weeks. With Randy Johnson going through a painful tailspin of his own, the Yankees are in desperate need of a quality arm.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

P.S. Many thanks to deadspin.com for linking to yesterday's post.

Let's Give Posada His 12 Million

The way Jorge Posada is playing these days, he definitely deserves another year in pinstripes at 12 million in 2007.

Posada is the Yankees hottest hitter right now, supplying some much needed RBI power with the absence of two perennial 100 RBI men: Sheffield and Matsui.

He is also providing strong leadership to the troops. Last night, he told Cano that the young sophomore was standing too upright when he tried to turn his double plays. Drawing upon his own experiences as a second baseman in the minor leagues before switching to catcher, Posada explained that Cano had to bend his knees and get his feet more settled before he tried to throw the ball to first.

We've all noticed how sharp Mussina is this season. But few people know that Posada is one of the primary reasons for Mussina's resurgence as a top pitcher.

During spring training, Posada noticed that he could see Mussina's fingers wrapped over the ball in a unique way whenever he threw his changeup. When Posada went to bat against Mussina, he used this tell tale sign to crush a Mussina changeup into center field.

Later, Mussina asked Posada in the dugout how Jorge was able to time that changeup so well. Jorge explained what he was seeing with Mussina's fingers. With this feedback, Mussina changed the grip on his changeup in a way that the batter has virtually no chance of guessing that it's coming.

And that's why Mussina has had batters swinging early on his changeup over and over again so far this season.

Like I said, let's give Posada his 12 million for 2007.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Yankees Win a Thriller in the Bronx

Now that was an amazing game. Two of the longest tenured, home grown Yankees - Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada - leading the charge to overcome a nine run deficit to win the game, 14 to 13? It doesn't get better than that!

Jorge Posada has never been one to block the plate, as he has bad memories of an ugly collision that he was involved in at the plate when he was in the minors. But last night, he was determined to block Texeira from scoring in the 6th. His gutsy defensive play and walk-off home run showed his teammates, especially the younger ones, what the Yankees of old were all about.

Somewhere out there, you know that Paul O'Neill had to be watching last night's game with a huge shot of adrenaline and pride.

After the game, Jorge stuck up for Chacon, explaining that a deep bruise on Chacon's leg wouldn't allow him to land properly after every pitch, which is what allowed Texas to build such a big lead in the first two innnings. Chacon didn't bring up his bruise as an excuse, which tells you that he is a stand up guy.

***

Talking about injuries, Johnny Damon is playing with an extremely painful chip in a bone in his foot. You wouldn't know it by watching him sprint around the base paths and in center field. Damon is one tough guy with a lot of heart. I'm starting to believe that the Yankees made a good investment with his 52 million dollar contract. I admit, I thought it was a huge mistake at the time of his signing.

***

Hideki Matsui will rest with his wrist in a cast for the next six weeks, which is how long the doctors think it will take for his wrist to heal. He will then begin rehabilitation. He reported yesterday in a press conference that he will be back to the field as soon as he feels that he can do everything that he is capable of.

The feeling is that he will be back before the end of this season.

***

Jason Giambi shouldn't be out for much longer. His sprained neck was feeling a lot better with a day of rest and some physiotherapy. It's still sore, but should be 100 percent soon. Because of his age and the amount of strain that he places on his body with his workouts, I think that he needs to really make it a point to stretch his muscles, especially his neck, throughout each game. There's a lot of down time in between pitches, and he should take advantage of these times to keep his muscles loose.

***

Gary Sheffield's wife is expecting to deliver a baby any day now. Sheffield comes off the disabled list on Sunday, but Joe Torre says that he doesn't expect Sheffield to be ready to play that day. Maybe a short time thereafter.

***

And that's all the news that's fit to print in Yankees world today.

- Joshua
InsidetheYankees.com

Successful Surgery For Hideki Matsui

According to an official press release by the New York Yankees, Hideki Matsui underwent successful surgery on his wrist this morning in New York City.

At this time, the Yankees have no idea how long it will be before Hideki Matsui makes a full recovery.

The end of his consecutive-games-played streak is huge news in Japan, where a legion of Hideki fans had hoped that he could break Cal Ripken's international record.

Following his surgery, Hideki issued the following statement:

"Due to this injury, I feel very sorry and, at the same time, very disappointed to have let my teammates down. I will do my best to fully recover and return to the field to help my team once again. I would like to thank Joe Torre from the bottom of my heart for having been considerate of my consecutive games played streak these past several years and for placing me in the lineup every day."

Hideki Matsui is one stand up guy. Let's hope that he experiences a quick and full recovery.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Hideki Matsui Breaks Wrist

Just a few pitches into last night's game, Hideki Matsui broke his left wrist diving for a ball hit by Mark Loretta.

According to Damon, who rushed over when he saw Hideki in pain, his broken wrist swelled up immediately.

Jason Giambi was in the clubhouse when Hideki was brought inside by the trainer, and remarked that he couldn't find any words to comfort Hideki because of the amount of pain that the Yankees left fielder was in. Ditto for Brian Cashman.

No details have been released on the nature of Hideki's fracture. Was it just one of the eight small bones in his wrist? Were multiple bones fractured? Were parts of his distal forearm fractured?

All we know is that Hideki Matsui is getting surgery done on the wrist this morning, and that he will probably be out for a minimum of 3 months, possibly for the entire season.

If there is a positive to this unfortunate accident, it's that he hurt his left wrist. It's a lot harder to deal with a broken wrist on your throwing side. And his right wrist undergoes more stress with his swing.

In the short term, the Yankees are going to miss Hideki's patient and powerful bat, as well as his relatively steady fielding. But in the long term, this may turn out well for Hideki and the Yankees. Having played so many consecutive games in Japan and here in the U.S., this upcoming rest may be just what Hideki needs to rejuvenate his body and have another 3 productive seasons for the Yankees.

Let's all hope that Hideki doesn't experience too much pain in the coming days, and that his wrist is just fine after surgery and a period of rehabilitation.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Yankees Leading League in Pitch Count

A statistic that many baseball scouts are putting a lot of weight on these days is pitch count. That is, the number of pitches that a player sees each time he steps up to the plate.

The higher the pitch count, the better, as it contributes to wear and tear on the opposing team's pitching staff, particularly their starters.

As of today, the Yankees are tied with the Boston Red Sox in leading the league in pitch count. Here is how each of the starting members of the Yankees lineup are faring with pitch count:

Johnny Damon 4.06

Derek Jeter 4.14

Gary Sheffield 3.88

Alex Rodriguez 3.89

Jason Giambi 4.68

Hideki Matsui 3.85

Jorge Posada 3.77

Robinson Cano 3.40

Bernie Williams 3.81

Not surprisingly, Jason Giambi is the league leader at 4.68. He has demonstrated a wickedly accurate eye at the plate all season long, and on the rare occasion that he strikes out, you can't help but think that it was a bad call by the umpire.

***

Johnny Damon is turning out to be a good investment so far. When he played for the Red Sox, I thought that he was over rated. I thought that his swing looked awkward and that he didn't have much baseball talent.

Watching him play for the Yankees, I have to admit that he is a fine ball player. His swing still looks awkward, but he has a good combination of power and contact hitting skills. And of course, he has great speed while running the bases and playing center field.

His swing looks awkward because when he actually makes contact with the ball, he holds the bat with his left hand only. Unorthodox, but it works for him.

***

Randy Johnson looks washed up. If he continues at his current pace, the Yankees may get silly with Roger Clemens. Let me be the first to predict it: if the Yankees end up giving Roger Clemens a blank check, he will end up starting about 15-20 games during the regular season, win about 10 of them, post an ERA of 3.00 to 3.50, and then proceed to pull a hamstring in the first round of the playoffs.

Memo to the Yankees: even if Randy is a disappointment for the rest of the season, don't make another mistake and sign Clemens. Same for Maddux, Glavine, and every other aging pitcher in the majors.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Yankees Lose To Red Sox Nation

I bet most Yankees fans knew that Ortiz was going to hit that home run off of Myers when the count reached 2 and 0. David Ortiz is a true Yankee killer. And for some reason, us Yankees fans have never been given good reason to hope that one of our relievers other than maybe Mo will contain David Ortiz.

David Ortiz looks overweight and out of shape, but let's give credit where credit is due. He's a damn fine hitter. He hits with power, hits for average, and unlike A-Rod, comes through time and time again in the clutch.

Personally, I think that the fans in Fenway who booed Johnny Damon last night are big losers. Every single one of them that doesn't already have more than 50 million dollars in their savings accounts would have done the same thing that Johnny did in going to the Yankees as a free agent.

Boston thought that no one would give Damon more than 40 million for 4 years. They clearly underestimated the Yankees. The Yankees came through and gave Damon slightly more than he might be worth.

Bottom line: Johnny Damon did what 99.9999999% of the people on this earth would have done under the same circumstances. And that includes those in Red Sox Nation.

Judas Damon? No loyalty? People who take the time to make signs like this are pitiful. Like you would give up 12 million dollars to be loyal to a corporation that has shown nothing but disloyalty to several players from the 2004 World Series team?

Where is Bill Mueller? How about Pedro? And what about Bronson Arroya?

Red Sox Nation would like to think that Jason Varitek is a true Red Sox, loyal to Boston and its fans. But do you really think that Varitek would have stayed in Boston had the Yankees offered him 52 million over 4 years when the Red Sox offered him 40 million for 4?

We'll never know the answer to that question, but we all know what the likely answer is.

In the same light, if Derek Jeter's contract was to expire at the end of this season and the Red Sox offered him 20 percent more than the Yankees did, I would completely expect Derek Jeter to go to the Red Sox. And you know what? I would hope that he performs just as well as he has. Because I am a fan of Derek Jeter. Not of Steinbrenner.

If anything, Boston fans who booed Johnny Damon last night and who will boo him again tonight are showing by their actions that they are the ones who are disloyal.

Johnny did his part in saluting the crowd last night. He is a true stand up guy.

Those who booed him are the real idiots.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com