Kuzul

The Mets and the Yankees are rivals by geography, they have to be, Queens vs. the Bronx. And as the Subway series moves crosstown to Yankee Stadium, it’s time to take a look at the backbone of each of these two teams.

Derek Jeter and David Wright, the faces of the Yankees and Mets, are two outstanding men on the field and off.

Despite the uniforms that they put on each day, Jeter and Wright don’t share a heated rivalry, like Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza had going.

Sure, they want to beat each other, who doesn’t want to win? But these guys do it classy, they don’t show off or complain and whine, they play the game the way it should be played.

They don’t put their personal agendas ahead of the team, and that’s what makes them the great players that they are.

You always see these two play hard, always hustling to make a play or beat out a ground ball to first base.

Jeter was named captain of the Yankees in 2003, joining other Yankee legends such as Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, and Don Mattingly. Such a nomination serves as a testament to the way he plays the game and his dedication to the Yankees.

If the Mets had a captain, I’m sure that it would be David Wright, who deserves to be the captain.

Jeter and Wright also hold a yearly competition between them to see who will get the highest batting average, the winner gets $100,000 donated to their favorite charity from Delta Airlines. So their is a small rivalry here, but it’s for charity.

No other two players could replace Jeter and Wright as the faces of the Yankees and Mets on the field, and they could certainly never replace them off the field either.

Which makes Derek Jeter and David Wright New York’s finest.

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In my last article I took a look back at the old guard of the New York Yankees: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte.

Then I realized that New York might have a new core four of players: Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, and Joba Chamberlain.

All of them won their first World Series together last year and are shaping into quite a nice quartet of players.

Everyone in the world of baseball now knows who Cano is and what he is capable of doing with the bat. As of June 17 he has the highest batting average in MLB at .370 and also leads the Yankees with 14 home runs and 48 RBI.

Cano is off to a great start to his still very young career, being only 27, and will definitely continue to be a force for the Yanks down the road. 

By far the biggest surprise on the Yankees this year has been the 26-year-old out fielder Gardner, who continues to impress even here in mid June so you can’t say he just started hot.

Gardner has hit three home runs and driven in 22 runs, but you can’t simply look at those stats when it comes to him. He has hit .317 for the Bombers, with a .401 on base percentage, and stolen 22 bases so far.

Gardner looks to be coming into his own this season, and is proving to be a tough out at the plate for any pitcher, lefty or righty. If he keeps this up all year, he might just be calling left field in the Bronx home for a long time.

Now to the pitching side, where the Yankees seem to be happy with Chamberlain in the bullpen and in the set up role right now.

Being just 24 years old, Chamberlain has seen time in the rotation and now back again in the bullpen, where I believe he is best suited for. He has struggled at times this season, as evident in his 4.76 ERA, but most of that came from a few bumps in the road and he has settled down some recently.

Chamberlain has also picked up some saves this year when Rivera couldn’t go, and it looks like he might be the heir apparent to the great closer. Who knows what the future holds for Chamberlain, but if he can be half as good as Rivera, then it will be a bright one.

That brings me to Hughes who has firmly planted himself into the starting rotation for years to come this season.

The future ace of the Yankees, has gone 9-1 with a 3.11 ERA this year, after beating out Chamberlain for the fifth starter spot in the rotation.

Many thought that Chamberlain was built more like a starter than Hughes and that he should be in the rotation. Well I think the Yankees made the correct choice, and are extremely pleased with what they are getting out of him right now.

Only time will tell if this new core four will be better than the last, but so far they are off to a great start, and will be the faces of a new Yankee era.

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The past 15 years have seen the Yankees add five World Series titles to their trophy case, and none of them would have been possible without the contributions of four special players.

Those players are Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera, all of whom will go down in Yankee history and one day possibly have their numbers retired.

They have all had outstanding careers in pinstripes, with each of them playing their entire careers in the Bronx, except for Pettitte, who took a three year vacation to his home state,  playing for the Astros.

Once again the Core Four are all having an excellent season for the Bombers, helping them to the best current record in baseball.

But their great numbers can not cover up their age, and with age comes injuries, such is the case with the Core Four, or Sore Four.

The veteran catcher Jorge Posada fractured his foot and had a stint on the 15 day DL, Andy Pettitte missed a start, and Mariano Rivera couldn’t pitch for a week or so with a side strain. Derek Jeter has avoided missing time, but has been hit on the hands a couple of times. Jeter may owe this to the fact that he is the youngest of the old guard.

Such injuries and their given ages, brings up the question, who will be the first to hang it up?

Derek Jeter will turn 36 this month, and has had a sub par year so far. He’s batting .290, which is a big drop form his career average of .316. But, he has also driven in 39 runs, while scoring 42 himself.

Being the youngest, and so far the most durable of the quartet, I don’t believe that he will be the first of them to go. In fact, he’s more likely to be the last.

Andy Pettitte turned 38 on Tuesday and might be on his way to a career year and a possible Cy Young award.

The big lefty is 8-1 with a 2.46 ERA this season, and his last win also was his 200th with the Yankees.

Despite having such a great year, Andy is really only interested in winning a sixth ring. That’s what brought him back here in 2010, and I think he will be back again in 2011.

In August, Jorge Posada will join Pettitte at age 38. We will have to see what his stats are then, but right now they’re pretty good.

Granted that he missed time with the injury and has less plate appearances than others, he is still batting .291 this season, not too bad for a .278 career hitter in his late 30’s. He has also been a threat in the middle of the order, belting eight home runs and driving in 23 runs, which included two grand slams this past weekend.

Jorge is under contract for next year, and I think he might be back after that if he continues to improve as he gets older. Unfortunately, he won’t be the starting catcher down the road.

That leaves the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera, who is 40 years old and without a contract for next season.

Mo has been lights out once again for the Yankees, posting 15 saves and a 1.21 ERA thus far. But as mentioned before, he has been unable to pitch at times this season.

In my opinion, Mo is the most unpredictable of the Core Four. You never hear anything about his future plans or him giving any hint as to when he might retire. But I think this will be Mo’s last season. After all he is the oldest of the lot and has nothing more to prove.

Life after Rivera may be a lot closer than Yankee fans want believe.

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Just when you thought that you would never see him again after being traded to Philly this past offseason, Roy Halladay returns to clash with the Yankees in the Bronx.

Halladay is not the same as he was last year either, he’s better.

Heading into tomorrow’s game, his record stands at 8-4 to the tune of a 1.96 ERA, along with his 85 strikeouts and 14 walks.

And as many Yankee fans know, Halladay has done quite well to holding the Bombers down in the past, with an 18-6 record and 2.84 career ERA against the Yankees.

What makes matters worse is that A-Rod most likely won’t be 100% on Tuesday, and that hurts because he is one of the only players that hits Doc with any measure of success, hitting at a .306 clip against the him.

The good news is that CC will get the call against Halladay tomorrow. CC is coming off of back to back wins, although both of them were against the Orioles.

This season overall has not been as kind to Sabathia as it has been to Halladay, with CC bringing a 6-3 record to the table tomorrow, with a 4.01 ERA and 69 strikeouts.

But he is the ace of the staff, as is Doc for the Phillies, so you have to trust him to come up big, and I know he has the stuff to limit the damage from those thunderous bats of the fightin’ Phils.

What does all this pitching hype mean? Absolutely nothing, because both teams are among the best offensive teams in their respective leagues.

Either way, it is sure to be a memorable game at Yankee Stadium tomorrow no matter what the score, with arguably the two best pitchers of this century locking horns. Not to mention a re-match from this past fall classic, Broadway Vs. Broad Street all over again.

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The Yankees can’t wait to get back to the Stadium tonight, where they are 19-7 on the season.

The road however has been a very different story so far, with the Yanks being only 18-16 away from the big ballpark in the Bronx.

Their most recent road trip made three game stops in Toronto and Baltimore with New York going 3-3 along the way. But it really should have been a 5-1 road trip if you ask me.

The first game in Toronto was all Blue Jays, but the second game was much more winnable for the Yankees, but the offense continued to come up with zeros.

Toronto won that game 3-2 with a walk off single by Aaron Hill in the bottom of the 14th, but the Yanks wasted many opportunities to score throughout the extra innings.

Mark Teixeira went 0-6 with five strikeouts, which highlighted the Yankee struggles at the plate that day. And the pitching was great to, with Andy Pettitte going seven and striking out 10, but it was all for not as the offense struggles continued on the road.

After winning the finale of the series in Toronto, and winning the first two against the Orioles the Yanks couldn’t finish the job.

Baltimore won the finale of that series 4-3, as the Bomberless Bombers couldn’t do much against a rookie pitcher making his debut and a terrible Oriole bullpen.

AJ Burnett had a bad road trip as well, losing both in Toronto and Baltimore, though I can’t fault him for last night, that was all offense.

Those one run games can come back to haunt you in September, and possibly cost you home field advantage in the playoffs. Which obviously spells doom for the Yankees if their regular season road record is any indication of how well they will do away from the stadium in October.

In the mean time, the Yankees get a breather this weekend againt the hapless Astros, before taking on Philly and those pesky Mets in this nine-game home stand. Then they will get their next chance to get over their road woes with series against the D-backs and Dodgers, as the Yanks lock horns with their former skipper, Joe Torre.

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The New York Yankees are playing great right now, thanks to their stellar pitching and slugging offense.

Yet they are still two games out of first, behind the Rays who own the best record in the Majors heading into tonight, and appear to be the real deal.

Now there is no reason for concern right now with the majority of the season yet to be played and the Yankees leading the Wild Card standings.

But problems could be on the horizon for the Yanks very soon.

The Yankees best pitcher this season has been Phil Hughes and unfortunately, he has an inning limit this season which will possibly force him to miss some starts down the stretch in August and September.

And if the Bombers make the post season, then who knows what their rotation will look like? Javier Vazquez might be the fourth guy in the rotation if the Yankees don’t feel that Pettitte, Sabathia, and Burnett can carry them again.

In the long term, the Yanks are probably going to lose two of their current starters after this season ends. Javier Vazquez’s contract is up after this year and he will likely not be back in pinstripes in 2011. Andy Pettitte is also a free agent after the season, and might be walking off into the sunset this off season, but you never can tell for sure with Andy.

What is the solution to these potential problems?

Cliff Lee, who is a dominant left-handed starter with ace-like stuff almost every time out. He also happens to be a free agent this coming off season, but with the Mariners eight games out of first and currently sitting in last place, Lee is more than likely to be traded this season.

The Yankees fit the equation of having elite prospects and money to spare. Right now the Yanks have an overflowing amount of catching talent on the farm with Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez, and J.R. Murphy leading the way.

If Cliff Lee were to be traded to the Yankees right now, they would have the best rotation in all of baseball, and quite possibly baseball history. Lee would make up for the lost starts from Phil Hughes, and Javy could be moved into an effective long relief role and spot start form time to time.

And as all Yankee fans know, Lee has proven his greatness in the post season, dominating the Yankees in last year’s World Series by going 2-0 against them and getting the Phillies their only two wins in the Fall Classic.

As mentioned before, Lee will be a free agent, so the Yankees would have to either extend his current deal during the season, or risk letting him walk into free agency. But if they could strike up a deal with him, then he would replace one of the two starters we are possibly losing this offseason.

Lee makes perfect sense for the Yankees right now and could be headed to New York at this year’s trade deadline.

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Lets face it, this season, Mark Teixeira has clearly not been the same hitter he was last season.

With his staggering batting average now down to .215, and his on base percentage at a lowly .328, he might be best suited for a couple of days on the bench.

His struggles were brought back into the spotlight today after an atrocious game against the Blue Jays, where he put up a goose egg in six at bats, which included five strikeouts and four men left on base.

I’m not saying he cost the Yankees the game, but he did come up in a crucial situation with Jeter and Gardner on base, and all that was needed was a base hit and the Yankees would have had the lead in the 12th. But once again, mighty Tex went down swingin’.

To his credit, Mark has played stellar defense this season with no errors to his name. He has also driven in 34 RBI for the Yanks, but still has a .230 average with runners in scoring position, which is higher than his overall batting average, but still is sub par considering his career numbers.

If the Yankees bench him, then he could have more time to work with hitting coach Kevin Long and possibly iron out or even identify his problems at the plate.

Even if they don’t bench him, then I think that he needs to be moved out of the three hole, any team that wants to go far can not have a guy hitting .215 plugged into the three spot in the order. Robinson Cano would fill that hole a lot better right now.

Either way, there is something definitely wrong with Teixeira this season, and you can’t use that excuse that he starts slow, because the season is a third of the way gone, it’s no longer early anymore folks. Tex needs to get his act together if the Yankees want to have a shot at number 28.

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“School’s out for the summer.” Not so fast, Alice Cooper—the Yankees are just getting their first report card of the year.

This list will be how I have graded the Yankee hitters to this point in the season, strictly based on their performance at the plate.

While some Yankees have hit some bombs, others have bombed their first test, and their grades will reflect that.

Here they are: the Yankee Class of 2010.

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Tonight, the New York Yankees will send their beleaguered starter Javy Vazquez to the mound against the hapless Baltimore Orioles.

This is a game the Yankees should win easily, considering the Orioles have been the bottom feeders of the AL East for the past decade and are the owners of baseball’s worst record.

But for Javier Vazquez, this is not only a game he should pitch well in—it’s also a must win.

After two encouraging starts against the Tigers and Mets, in which he only allowed a total of two runs, he hit another speed bump in his second tenure with the Yanks.

That came last Thursday in Minnesota, where he was shelled for five runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings pitched. Javy had a chance to step up and deliver the Yankees a sweep, but he failed the Yankees again.

After last Thursday’s game, Javy now stands at 3-5 with a monstrous ERA of 6.86. He has only 36 strikeouts, which is not sufficient for him to pitch at a high level, because they have always been a major part of his game. He is known for consistently being in the top 10 in strikeouts every year, no matter what the league.

He will again be under a lot of pressure tonight as he takes center stage back home at Yankee Stadium, where he has been booed by the home faithful. I have a feeling that the boo birds will strike again tonight if Javy gets off to a rocky start.

A loss tonight might be all that Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi can stand. Sergio Mitre, who has been pitching well this year, could replace him in the rotation. The Yanks could shop Vazquez around or release him. Either way, a lot of money will be changing hands, with Vazquez being owed $11.5 million coming into the season.

Tonight’s game is of extreme importance for Javy to try to re-establish himself on the mound and with the fans. A loss could spell his end in pinstripes.

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Andy Pettitte has indeed been dandy for the Yankees this season and continues to defy father time.

The same 24-year-old kid who went 21-8 and finished second in Cy Young voting in 1996 is still dominating here in 2010. The only difference is that he is now 38 years old, in his 16th season, and on the brink of retirement.

Andy has gone 7-1 with a 2.48 ERA this season, making him the best pitcher in the AL through the first two months of the season thus far.

His last two outings have been brilliant. He gave up two runs over eight innings against Minnesota last Wednesday and gave up just one run over seven innings today.

He has also demonstrated his great control over his pitches in his last two starts, striking out nine while walking none.

The secret to his success: relying more on his breaking pitches instead of trying to blow people away with his fastball, which tops out at 91 or 92. He has realized how to pitch like, for lack of a better term, an old man.

Andy’s season so far reminds me a lot of his former teammate Mike Mussina’s final year back in 2008, when he won 20 games for the first time in his career at age 39—a so-called Renaissance of pitching.

Though Mussina did not win the Cy Young in 2008 and never did in his career, Pettitte this season might be able to win the Cy Young that has so far eluded him over his great career.

If he stays healthy and continues to pitch as well as he has, which are two really big “ifs,” he could walk off into the sunset with the Cy Young Award in one hand and hopefully a sixth World Series trophy in the other.

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