Kuzul

The Yanks enter the 2010 All-Star break with the best record in baseball and are on pace for 103 victories. But the big news in Yankeeland this past week was the non-trade for Cliff Lee. Since that deal fell through, ESPN Insider is reporting that a Yanks deal for Cubs starting pitcher Ted Lilly “has legs.” What I don’t understand is the Yanks’ sudden obsession with starting pitching. Yes, yes, there are those old pitching adages:

Pitching wins championships.
You can never have enough pitching.

But, seriously, is Ted Lilly going to improve this team? I guess you need to grab Cliff Lee if all you’re giving up is a minor league prospect, but even that seemed like an unnecessary addition—like one of those deals I make for my fantasy team that never works out. The Yanks are the best team in baseball because their starting rotation, from top to bottom, is outrageously good right now.

Let’s talk a look at the Opening Day rotation and where the pitchers stand today.

C.C. Sabathia: After a characteristically slow start, C.C. has continued the dominance that earned him $161 million to play on 161st Street. Since June 1, a period of eight starts, Sabathia is 8-0 with an ERA of 1.81. You’re not going to improve on that. Let’s move on.

A.J. Burnett: “Good A.J.” and “Bad A.J.” have both showed up so far in 2010. But perhaps there’s logic behind his horrid stretch. Yankee pitching coach Dave Eiland left the team during the month of June for personal reasons. Here are Burnett’s stats with Eiland on the team and with him gone:

AJ with Eiland (April, May, July): 9-3, 2.96 ERA, 4 HR in 23 IP
AJ without Eiland (June): 0-5, 11.35 ERA, 9 HR in 85 IP

Does a pitching coach make this much of a difference? Does a pitching coach make any difference at all? I have no idea, but the difference in these numbers is ridiculous. How bad was A.J. in June? Hitters hit .357 and slugged .724 against him; he was worse than 2009 Chien-Ming Wang. But the rest of the season has shown that when he’s on, he’s one of the best in the game.

For folks who don’t remember, he single-armedly carried the Yankees for the second half of the 2009 season; he shut down the Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series, giving up one run and four hits in seven innings, to even the series at one game apiece. Despite his struggles, I want this man in my rotation.

Andy Pettitte: Dandy Andy is an All-Star for the first time since 2001, and his performance this season backs up the selection. He’s 11-2, bringing his career win-loss record to an insane 240-137 (making him the only active pitcher 100-plus games over .500). With victories in the clinching games in the 2009 ALDS, ALCS, and World Series, he also has 18 postseason wins.

Here in 2010, his 2.70 ERA and 1.147 WHIP marks what could be his finest AL season yet. Can he keep it up, or will his age (38) and the admitted previous usage of HGH finally break his body down? Either way, find me one Yankee fan that wants him bumped from the rotation right now. I’ll be waiting.

Javier Vazquez: Javy was the most likely pitcher to be bumped from the rotation with the theoretical addition of Cliff Lee to the Yanks. A quick glance at his overall 2010 numbers (7-7, 4.45 ERA) seem to indicate that he’d be the logical guy to trade away or relegate to the pen. But anyone watching the Yanks closely knows that he’s not the same guy who had his turn in the rotation skipped twice earlier in the season.

On May 17, Javy came on in the ninth inning of a Red Sox game, striking out Kevin Youkilis to preserve the Yanks’ two-run deficit. When Marcus Thames won the game with a two-run shot off of BoSox closer Jon Papelbon in the bottom of the frame, Vazquez earned the win for his one-third of an inning.

Since that game, Vazquez is 7-4 with a 2.77 ERA. Hitters are hitting .181 against him in 65 innings. For folks who remember only his painful 2004 stint in pinstripes, recall that Vazquez was fourth in the NL Cy Young voting just last year, behind Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter, and Adam Wainwright. In his last game, Vazquez lost a no-hitter on an infield single with two outs in the sixth inning. Is this a guy you want traded away or dumped to some long relief role? How would that make any sense?

Phil Hughes: Kind of hard to believe that there was once a battle for this fifth spot in the Yankees rotation. Two weeks past his 24th birthday, Phil Hughes will be an All-Star for the first time this evening. Sporting a sparkling 11-2 record, Hughes is the best No. five pitcher in baseball. More hitters have struck out against him this year than have reached base via a hit.

This is exactly what the Yankees hoped for when they selected him with their first pick in the 2004 draft. This is what Yankee fans dreamed of when Hughes threw 6.1 hitless innings in Texas in his second start, back in 2007. He’s really that good. For folks who were eager to deal him for Johan back in 2007, know this: Phil Hughes is costing the Yankees all of $447,000 this year. Santana is earning $20,144,707 across town.

The only issue in this rotation is Hughes’ reported innings limit. As a reliever for most of the 2009 season, Hughes was limited to 105.1 innings last year. Anywhere near 200 innings this season could be disastrous on his young golden arm. The Yankees skipped one of his turns in the rotation in June to cut back on his workload, but it’s tough to bench a pitcher when your team wins 81 percent of his starts.

Besides, is the intention of trading for Ted Lilly, Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, or any of the other assorted pitchers on the trading block really to give Hughes a break? A spot-starter like Chad Gaudin could always spell the young Jedi, and the Yanks can still hold onto Jesus Montero for the inevitable time when Jorge Posada has to hang ‘em up.

So, as we look at the most important component of any baseball team, its starting rotation, here at the All-Star break, it’s mighty impressive to consider that 60 percent of the Yankees’ rotation will be in uniform for the Mid-Summer Classic. The other two guys have had stretches when they flat-out dominated the league. Take stock and enjoy it, fans. And don’t mess it up, Yanks.

________________

From Mr. Blogtober.

Follow on Twitter: @Mr_Blogtober

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If, as the NY Post is reporting, the Yankees do trade for Cliff Lee, then the Yankees are going to look to deal Javier Vazquez, and the two most likely destinations, according to Buster Olney of ESPN, are the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres.

The Phillies make the most sense because they are looking for a middle-of-the-rotation type starter, and Vazquez fits that bill. At the same time they are said to be looking to move Jayson Werth, whom the Yankees are also interested in acquiring.

The Phillies are said to be expecting prospects for Werth, but the possibility is there because Vazquez could put them over the top in a close National League Eastern division. They would also be getting a Type-A free agent back in Vazquez, and that might be enough to appease them.

It’s unclear what the Yankees would get back for Vazquez in a deal with San Diego. The Yankees are looking for a veteran backup who can play third base to spell Alex Rodriguez. They also may look for prospects to include in a deal with Seattle for Lee or just prospects to replenish their system.

Any trade involving Vazquez would probably only happen if the Yankees land Lee.

Related Stories

• July 9, 2010 — Yankees Trade Rumors: Interested in Jayson Werth (0)
• July 8, 2010 — Trade of Vazquez for Werth Makes Sense; Could Help Land Lee (2)
• July 9, 2010 — NY Post: Yankees Close to Landing Cliff Lee (0)
• July 8, 2010 — Bad News: Nick Johnson Feels Pain in Wrist (2)

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues came up with a crazy idea for a trade that I don’t think is so crazy: Javier Vazquez to the Phillies for Jayson Werth . Furthermore, the trade would open up a spot in the rotation for the Yankees to land Cliff Lee .

It all started with these (two ) tweets from Buster Olney of ESPN:

Heard this: The Phillies are casting a wide net and talking with a lot of teams about possible matches for Jayson Werth. They continue to look for a proven starting pitcher who could be a No. 2 or No. 3 type of guy.

That lead to the idea that the Yankees could trade Vazquez for Werth. The Phillies need a pitcher and Vazquez fits the bill as they are not looking for an ace type. The Yankees don’t necessarily need to give up Vazquez, but they do have four strong starters to fall back on and a need for a bat.

This could also net the Yankees a pair of first round draft picks at the end of the season. Both Werth and Vazquez are Type-A free agents, but the Yankees aren’t likely to offer Vazquez arbitration. On the other hand, the Yankees have three solid outfielders and Werth will likely look for a multi-year deal. That could lead to an arbitration offer rejected and draft picks for the Yankees.

Cliff Lee could tie into this entire thing because with an open rotation spot ,the Yankees might be more motivated to deal for Lee. If they thought they could get a pair of draft picks for Werth it might make the idea of dealing prospects for Lee easier to stomach.

This is a longshot, both trading Vazquez for Werth and trading for Lee. It will also cost the Yankees a lot of prospects, but with Werth and Lee added to this roster the Bombers would be one mean team when it comes to the playoffs. A 28th World Series might just fall into place.

Related Stories

• July 8, 2010 — Yankees Trade Rumors: Seattle Asking Montero + for Cliff Lee (0)
• July 7, 2010 — Yankees Trade Rumors: In On Cliff Lee if Price is Right (0)
• July 6, 2010 — Yankees Notes: Recap, Aceves, Sanchez, Pettitte, and Braden (2)
• June 13, 2010 — Yankees Notes: Thames, Huffman, Posada, and Vazquez (0)

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Each year, one question rises to the surface following the announcement of the American and National League rosters for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game: who got snubbed by the All-Star managers?

Today, I take a look at the other side of the coin. Since 2000, a number of players have been selected by their own managers as All-Star managers, despite the fact that they were having less-than-spectacular seasons.

Here are 10 All Stars Who Owe their Managers One.

Begin Slideshow

He’s currently the most coveted pitcher out on the trade market.

They are the best team in baseball trying to defend their championship.

The Yankees and Cliff Lee, seems like a trade everyone is expecting or debating about that could, might, or won’t happen.

But here is the big question: will the Yankees pull the trigger and make a deal with the Mariners to get Lee?

As of right now, the Yankees don’t have room or a spot for another starter. CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Javier Vazquez and Phil Hughes are all a combined 43-21 and are one of the league’s best rotations.

So where would Lee fit in?

Most would guess that if the Yankees do gamble and make the deal, they would then turn around and trade Vazquez to a team that could use a pitcher for their second half, probably even a National League team, if he weren’t included in a deal to Seattle for Lee.

Trading Vazquez now would be a lot easier considering he’s been pitching much better as of late. At one point, he was 1-4 with an ERA around 8.14. That was back in May.

Two months later, Vazquez is 7-7 with an ERA of 4.81, which is completely better and much improved. He’s also in the final year of his contract, so that also makes him more expendable to a contender looking to rent out a pitcher for two or three months.

Now, there are a ton of questions that fans have, like for instance, why would the Yankees trade for Lee now when they can wait until free agency?

It’s an excellent point and one I have touched on in past stories before. But, they also have the Red Sox and Rays breathing down their neck in the A.L. East race and it will not get any easier trying to hold onto their grasp of the division.

At one point, Tampa looked like they would never lose. They seemed like they could overtake the division, but then got hit hard last month and were brought back down to Earth.

At one point, Boston looked all but out of it sitting in fourth place, then they came roaring back into second, but injuries have taken their toll on the Sox with a ton of their roster on the disabled list (Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Dustin Pedroia.)

But we know Boston can re-surge at anytime, plus have the prospects to make a deal for themselves, so never count them out of any race.

The possibility of the Red Sox and Rays both giving the Yankees fits in August and September could be enough to make them trade for Lee.

Also, if they do make the trade, they could end up just re-signing Lee at the end of the season anyway.

Most people expected the Yankees to go hard after Lee once the 2010 season ended and many feel that the Yankees will be the highest bidder for him. With an extra 15 days to negotiate with Lee to get a deal done, the Yankees could have a major advantage in locking him up long-term instead of him being a rental like other teams might see if they try to trade for him this month.

Now, another question that people ask, what type of package from the Yankees will it take to get Lee from Seattle?

The Mariners are looking to get a top-prospect catcher in return for Lee. The Yankees have two available.

They have Jesus Montero and Austin Romine in their minor league system and both are projected to be very good players if they ever reach the majors. Either one of those players would be the start to a trade for Lee, but do the Yankees want to trade either of them?

Maybe they could part with Montero, who the Yankees were willing to deal in the winter when Roy Halladay was on the trading block before being dealt to the Phillies.

The possibility of the Rays being interested in Lee might enhance the Yankees interest even more now than before. Rumors were swirling around that B.J. Upton might be part of a trade for Lee.

There is no word if Tampa really wants to deal Upton or not and Upton has made it clear through reporters that he doesn’t want to be traded away, so that could hold up things for Tampa.

Right now, teams are evaluating to see if they are buyers and sellers this season. The Mariners are definitely sellers and Lee is the top prize this summer.

The Yankees are definitely interested, even if they say they aren’t, they most certainly are. But so are others like the Mets, Twins, Rays, Tigers, Reds and Phillies. It all depends on who can put together the best package that will make Seattle part with Lee.

At 51-31 right now, the Yankees aren’t desperate for Lee’s services, but by the end of the month, they have to figure out if they will want his services for the second half and a playoff run.

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How are the Seattle Mariners in last place?

The Mariners have the best one-two punch on the mound with Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez. Add players like Ichiro Suzuki, Milton Bradley, Chrome Figgins, Jose Lopez, and that makes a valid, post-season contending ball-club.

The group the New York Yankees have faced the last two nights is not the Mariners who are 13.5 games out in the AL West.

Not only did Lee pitch a complete game in Tuesday’s win, his teammate King Felix followed his lead by going all nine innings to defeat the reigning World Champions, again.

The King ruled more like a dictator against such a tough Yankees line-up. Allowing only two hits, walked three and fanned 11 Yankee bats, who each resembled a deer in headlights. The Yankees did not score a single run.

The Mariners bats certainly did not slack-off because of who was on the mound. They complimented the pitching. Scoring seven runs on both nights against starters Phil Hughes, Javier Vazquez and the Yankees weakest link (aka. the bullpen) is a tremendous deal.

Tuesday night, the Mariners had 12 hits off Hughes. Ichiro and Johnson had two RBIs a piece and Gutierrez hit one home-run. Mariners over Yankees 7-4.

The Mariners continued on their hitting spree on Wednesday night, as Michael Saunders hit two home-runs, while Milton Bradley and Russell Branyan each had one bomb. Mariners over Yankees 7-0.

This leaves me altogether perturbed.

Why are the Mariners already throwing in the towel this season? Offering up Cliff Lee for the taking is sure evidence it is over in Seattle.

It is not over for the Mariners, unless they are quitters. Giving this team a chance to shine is not going to make things any worse in Seattle, but the potential upside could be fantastic.

Just in case any reader is wondering why a lifelong New York Yankees fan is writing this, I had not choice, but the Mariners still do.

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I think a lot of us owe Javier Vazquez a big time apology. Especially me.

In April and early May, I basically had all but packed his bags and tried to ship him back to the National League.

I did a popular feature story on how Vazquez would easily fit in with the Mets. A lot of you agreed with the story and some disagreed with it.

Some who disagreed thought I needed to give Vazquez a chance to find his rhythm and I thought at the time, you all needed your head examined because at the time, Vazquez sucked.

Now, it’s a complete 180 degrees and I was wrong.

I don’t know if it was a lack of confidence or just a feel for the town, whatever the case may be, Vazquez seems to have found something.

Following his May 1 disaster at home against the White Sox, Vazquez turned it around.

After May 1, he was 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA. Awful.

Since then, he has gone 4-2, which puts his record at 6-5 with a 5.63 ERA. The ERA is nothing special, but the wins are. Now Javy is winning games for the Yankees instead of burying them early on.

Before May 1, Vazquez was getting knocked out of games in the third or fourth inning and it taxed the already struggling bullpen. 

Now, he’s finding ways to go deeper into games.

In his last six starts, he’s pitched seven innings four times. Only one of those games was a loss because the Yankees were shutout in a 2-0 game against the Tigers.

His last three starts have been phenomenal.

Against the Orioles on June 1, he got out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh inning with the game tied at 1-1 picking up a 3-1 victory.

Against the Blue Jays on June 6, Vazquez prevented the Yankees from being swept, struck out nine hitters and got a 4-3 win.

In Saturdays game against the Astros, Vazquez had total control of this game and the offense backed him up in a 9-3 win.

In a month, Vazquez went from a 1-4 record, a 9-plus ERA and being thrown out of town to a 6-5 record, a 5-plus ERA and on a roll. How a month can change things.

Vazquez’s pitching only strengthens an already good rotation.

CC Sabathia (6-3), A.J. Burnett (6-4), Andy Pettitte (8-1) and Phil Hughes (8-1) were already good enough to carry the load for the Yankees, but now add a consistent and good Vazquez into the pitching mix, and this rotation is flat-out scary.

Between the five of them, their record is 34-14. As of Saturday, the Yankees have won 39 games, so the starters are taking care of business and winning for the team, which is crucial.

Can Javy keep this pace up? A lot of us Yankee fans sure hope so. His next start will be Friday night against the Mets, a team he dominated back on May 21, holding them to one hit over seven innings and getting the decision in a 2-1 contest.

For all of us nay-sayers who wanted to pack Vazquez’s bags, I’ll speak for us here: we are sorry.

We’re sorry for jumping on Vasquez so soon because we didn’t think he would figure his stuff out, and so soon too. Because now, Vazquez looks like the 2009 pitcher who won 15 games, struck out over 200 batters and pitched over 200 innings.

That’s the Javier Vazquez Yankees Universe all expected when they traded Melky Cabrera away for him back in the winter.

Keep up the good work Javy and continue to win games, the Yankees need your arm every five days out there, especially in the pennant race with the Rays.

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By Larry Barnes | Yankees ‘n More and The New York Yankees Daily-Press
It is past time for the New York Yankees to have a fulltime pitching coach on staff – a benefit the Yankees haven’t enjoyed for a week and counting. That’s because Dave Eiland has some unnamed personal issue that has kept him away from the team.

Call it cold-hearted if you must, but the world doesn’t stop because Eiland can’t show up to work and doing his job. The Yankees have to keep playing, and many of their starting pitchers are suddenly struggling.

In fact, only two starters in the last six games (the time missed thus far by Eiland) have not experienced mechanical/command issues. Those would be Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez in their respective most recent starts.

Everybody else – A.J. Burnett (twice), Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia – has struggled mightily to command, among other things, their fastballs.

Such problems are almost always a sign of something a little off in the mechanics and noticing such things is one of the primary responsibilities of the pitching coach.

In fact, Sabathia struggled with mechanics a few starts back. It happened while Eiland was away to “attend his daughter’s graduation.”
SIDEBAR ISSUE: In light of recent events, it seems reasonable to question whether or not that was actually the reason for Eiland’s absence.

After Sabathia struggled through that previously mentioned game, there was no mention of anybody having spotted anything off with his mechanics. That is to say, nobody until the pitching coach returned and watched the tape.

Eiland said he “immediately noticed” a small flaw in Sabathia’s mechanics that was “easily correctible.”

One can only wonder how things might have been different were Eiland on the job to “immediately notice” this “easily correctible” flaw DURING the game.

Perhaps there were also little “easily correctible” things that went unnoticed during the Yankees road trip, which saw 67% of their starting pitchers used struggle with the same types of issues.

If only there were a real pitching coach around who might notice such things. Instead, the Yankees are trying to, in their words, “get by as best (they) can” with a bullpen coach serving as their pitching coach while Eiland’s absence continues with no end in sight.

General manager Brian Cashman, in fact, was specifically asked if Eiland might miss the rest of the season. His answer made it clear that the GM has no idea when or if Eiland might be ready to return.

“(Eiland) is taking some personal time and is expected to return as soon as practical,” Cashman said.

It is past time for the New York Yankees to once again have a fulltime and fully-invested pitching coach on staff. If Dave Eiland isn’t capable of showing up for work and/or doing his job, replace him with somebody who can.

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The Yankees were happy to leave Toronto after their first visit with the Blue Jays over the weekend.

This series provided a lot to think about in regards to what the Yankees are dealing with regarding strengths and issues.

Losing the first two games was making the Yankees look like has-beens. Thanks to Javier Vazquez’s impressive performance the Yankees avoided getting swept on Sunday.

Watching Saturday’s 14 innings proved that the Yankee pitching is pretty sturdy and continued to add more worries about the Yankee bats.

Here is what was learned up in Canada.

Pitching

Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez both pitched gems. Pettitte just continues to dominate, while Vazquez is proving his arm worthy again.

On Saturday, the bullpen looked better than I expected in through 14 innings. Chan Ho Park, Dave Robertson, Damaso Marte and Joba Chamberlain were outstanding in doing their jobs. It made it difficult to believe Pettitte not getting a win because the pitching could not have done more.

Chad Gaudin gave up the winning runs on Saturday in the 14th inning, but this is no surprise. What else would happen against the uncompromising Blue Jays?

Sunday’s hero was Javier Vazquez. Vazquez had a no hitter through six innings when he gave up a two-run homer to Vernon Wells. He came back in the seventh and struck out the side before the bullpen came in to finish off the Blue Jays.

His change-up was sick, and the Yankees could not have asked for a better day on the mound from Vazquez, once again. Now with four of five solid starts, Javy’s been the saving grace for the Yankees.

Hitting

Derek Jeter came through all weekend. Jeter was responsible for a two-run homer on Saturday which gave the Yankees five more innings to win.

Cano and Garner provided Sunday’s hits in the eighth inning. Garner is an on-base machine this season with the bat. Garner also stole his 20th base in Toronto.

Nick Swisher had some BS calls on Sunday, eventually leading to Girardi getting tossed. When does the home plate umpire make the check swing calls that are that close? The view from behind the plate does not provide the same angel as from first and third bases, which is a fact. Just add it to the list of idiotic judgment calls from umpires in 2010.

Problem

How embarrassing for Mark Teixeira, who struck out five times. Tex is becoming unreliable, and something has to be done now.

This is no slump, because Tex has majorly struggled since the 2009 post season.

I hate to say it, but it is time to move Tex down in the batting order. Then he can prove his worth by earning his way back up.

The Yankees power has been the biggest drop since 2009 season. Cano has been a saving grace, but Arod and Tex can not hit home runs. Tex can not his at all, but Arod is getting on base and providing a lot more than Tex.

Arod left on Sunday’s game in the eighth inning with the same groin injury, but has said to be fine to play on Tuesday against the Orioles. Girardi knows that if there is a time to relax Arod, Baltimore is the place.

The Yankees have the two worst teams up next, Orioles then Astros, which is the time to fix the hitting problems.

Oh wait, they should win these pretty easily as well because they are close to taking the Rays and first place.

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Sometimes your name can take you a long way.

Take Miguel Tejada, for instance. For all intents and purposes, Tejada’s career is in a irreversible nosedive. The man has no business being the starting third baseman for any Major League team, no matter how awful that team may be.

But Tejada is a former MVP, a six-time All-Star, and has enough residual HGH matter in his bloodstream to revive Gary Coleman, so the Orioles continue to run the 36-year-old to the hot corner despite his atrocious defense and .296 on-base percentage.

Trust me, I’m not complaining. Tejada’s throwing error was the decisive play in the Yankees’ 3-1 win over the O’s on Tuesday night, New York’s sixth win in eight games. It also served as a probable snapshot of Baltimore rookie Brian Matusz’s first seven years in the big leagues—hold Yankees offense in check then watch the bullpen, or defense, or bullpen and defense saddle him with the loss or no-decision. Welcome to The Show, Brian!

Give credit to the Yankees…you don’t see many Tejada-types pop up on the roster anymore. Jason Giambi was certainly about to reach that point, but Brian Cashman wisely jettisoned the affable slugger following the 2008 season.

Facing the likes of Tejada and the rest of his Birds teammates certainly was a nice way for Javier Vazquez to get back on track. The right-hander finally gave Yankee Stadium fans a reason to cheer, allowing one run over seven innings of work for his fourth win. Escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh was especially encouraging—he displayed an ability to dodge trouble that you didn’t see in his last start in Minnesota.

Who knows if this will finally be the turning point that sends Vazquez in the right direction for good this season, but it’s certainly a promising development. His fastball consistently touched 90 and occasionally hit 91, up from the 88 mph meatballs he was chucking in April and most of May.

Most importantly, he may have shed that, “Hey, did Bobby Cox call while I was in the bathroom?” look on his face. Vazquez is starting to look like he may actually want to be here, and that can only mean good things for the Yankees going forward.

Dan Hanzus writes the Yankees blog River & Sunset and can be reached via e-mail at dhanzus@gmail.com. Follow Dan on Twitter at danhanzus.

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