Kuzul

Fresh off an unacceptable loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees arrived back home to face the Detroit Tigers for a four-game set.

Instead of keeping the Tampa Bay Rays at bay, the Yankees lost to the Tigers 3-0, but that is just the icing on the cake.

Manic Monday’ is an understatement because it brought on a whole slew of new issues. The Bombers timing for drama could not be worse, as this is the most crucial part of the season. Let’s take a look:

1. The Yankees split a series with the crappy Kansas City Royals and just lost the first of four games against a non-contending Tigers team. Guess the Bombers don’t want any breathing room, considering 25 of 41 regular seasons games left are against AL East teams. 
2. I am in complete denial that A-rod and Swisher made early exits in Monday’s loss to the Tigers. The reasons for both sluggers were ‘tightness’ and according to Joe Girardi are listed day-to-day. This is supposed to be the Yankees ‘Hope Week’, so let’s stick to that plan please. 
3. Starting pitcher Andy Pettitte’s rehab has a setback, causing a delay in his return. Expect to see the Southpaw in about two weeks, which feels like eternity.
4. FORMULA: Tampa Bay Rays winning + New York Yankees slumping = tie for first place atop the AL East, with both teams posting a 72-46 record.
5. The AL East is still a three-team race. I don’t feel like getting taught another lesson by the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox’s get all-star Dustin Pedroia back in 24 hours, around the same time the Phillies will happily remove Chase Utley off the DL.
6. Back to the basics for the Bombers, who need a reminder that hitting is essential for runs to score. Yankees starting pitching has not been perfect, but getting the job done. Giving the team ample opportunity to win is pointless when bats go dead.
7. Finally, the Yankees came to their senses about keeping Phil Hughes in the starting rotation. NOT. When push comes to shove and winning is what’s at stake the innings limit gets eliminated. Joe Girardi preaches about overusing young pitching arms and that innings limit are an essential part of long-term success. It’s about time Girardi broke some damn rules.

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Back in the day, there was a pro wrestler who went by the moniker of The Genius. You may remember him.

As you could guess, The Genius’ entire shtick was centered around his (supposed) immense level of intelligence. He wore a academic cap and graduation gown to the ring and mocked the audience with derogatory poems about the area in which their civic arena was located.

Unfortunately for The Genius, he was regularly defeated by other wrestlers, since, you know, the brain has little defense against the running power slam.

I was thinking of The Genius when Joe Girardi decided to show us how smart he was in the ninth inning against the Royals on Thursday. CC Sabathia was on the mound, in a minor jam thanks to a pair of bloop singles sandwiched around two outs.

He was at 110 pitches, or about 10 pitches less than his standard workload this season. Mariano Rivera was not available, having pitched the two previous evenings. He had a three-run lead.

Surely, this was Sabathia’s game to finish. Right? Right!?!?!?

That’s when Girardi emerged from the dugout. He might as well have been wearing a cap and gown, spewing a stanza into his microphone about how the people of Kansas City had no idea how much fat content was in a standard Midwestern barbecue dinner.

He removed Sabathia from the game, the agitation clear in the big left-hander’s face. When new pitcher Dave Robertson promptly served up a two-run double, I thought Sabathia was going to take a steel chair to Girardi’s back.

The second-tier YES announcing team of Ken Singleton and John Flaherty made you long for Michael Kay—which is pretty incredible in and of itself—playing the company man card to the hilt by not even so much as mentioning that removing the team ace without Rivera available might be the wrong decision.

Luckily, Robertson stranded the tying run on third by striking out Jason Kendall. Sabathia’s win was preserved. The papers wouldn’t get their chance to roast Girardi after all.

If you watch the Yankees regularly, you understand that this type of stuff isn’t new. Girardi has always been the type of manager who changes pitchers enough to make you wonder if there’s some type of escalator built into his contract.

The frustration is that sometimes his love of percentages gets in the way of baseball common sense. Regardless of how it turned out, it was a foolish move to take out your best pitcher—one of baseball’s best pitchers, not to mention a known workhorse—to bring in any pitcher not named Rivera there.

Call me old-fashioned, but if your starter takes you 26 outs into a game and you have the lead, he deserves his shot to finish it off.

My ultimate concern is that one of these days Girardi won’t get covered by his players, and one of these, “Look how smart I am” moves will blow up in the team’s face in a big spot.

The Genius, no matter how smart he was, almost always lost. Somebody may want to send Girardi some Wrestlemania DVDs before it’s too late.

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

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Game Notes

The odds were stacked up against the New York Yankees before Texas Rangers Cliff Lee even threw his first pitch.

By the top of the sixth inning, Lee was schooling the Yankees again, with a 6-1 lead, posting 11 strikeouts, no walks, and a stacked bullpen just waiting.

Yankees Javier Vazquez pitched just shy of six innings. Vazquez is fighting a pitcher’s “dead arm,” which is fatigue from throwing, but regardless Vazquez didn’t skip his start and that is a sign of a true ballplayer.

Mark Teixeira was on a mini-paternity leave, but is back today and his hot bat is always appreciated.

Replacing Tex at the plate and at first base was Marcus Thames, who was the player of the game by a landslide. Thames hit a homer and the ninth inning single that drove in the needed runs for the win.

I really like Thames because he has preformed since joining the Yankees this season. Thames is like a subdued Swisher, just happy to be a Yankee and fans are happy to have him too.

Manager Notes:

I am not even going to try and dissect Skipper Joe Girardi’s decision making because it gets me too upset.

Still, I can’t help but point out that Jorge Posada was in the lineup for the win last night. Ironically 24 hours prior, Jorge was scratched form the lineup due to a bad shoulder.

Another Girardi move in question is why Curtis Granderson is not starting everyday.

Grandy is used to playing everyday and my guess would be that might get his hitting back on track. Grandy is a talented outfielder, if not the best on the Yankees.

Please don’t tell me that Girardi can’t chance Grandy against lefty pitchers. Girardi is the king of giving too many chances (i.e. Mitre), but obviously he can’t seem to figure out who, what, when it makes sense.

Team Notes:

Just 24 hours earlier, Tuesday night’s loss at Rangers Ballpark was awful, gross, and becoming a Yankees trend.

The bats were dead and Mariano Rivera lost the game 4-1 in the 10th inning.

It was grim because the Yankees looked old. Questions about playing October baseball were becoming doubts, but for good reason.

Then came Wednesday night and all of a sudden it felt like 2009 all over again. The Yankees were down multiple runs deep in the game, but that wasn’t going to stop them from winning.

It was dramatic, old school baseball at its best—weekly occurrence last season that was essential in this team’s success.

Nothing but positives can come from beating Cliff Lee, as the aurora of the Yankee players’ attitudes seemed to resurface. That never-giving-up attitude has been dormant this season.

Never-giving-up attitude was the fundamental theme of the 2009 World Series Champions. If the Yankees want to repeat as champs in 2010, it needs to be again.

Last night proved that this team could do it all over again.

Mark my words, beating the AL West-leading Texas Rangers, in 100-plus degree weather and against the best pitcher in baseball will be remembered as the turning point for the 2010 Yankees.

It’s about time the Bombers started acting like champs and last night that swagger came back.

The improbable and impossible victory also gave Yankees fans some needed comfort and a good night’s sleep.

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The New York Yankees lost a heart-breaker to the Texas Rangers in the 10th inning, final score 4-3.

It’s no big secret that the Yankees are losing, winning only 4 of last 11 games and falling fast.

The Bombers first place lead is dwindling down, now just a half-a-game over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox are playing catch-up sitting at five games back and also making the AL East a three-team event again.

Yankees starting pitcher AJ Burnett looked really good… again. For how long is a total crap-shoot. The Yankees need Burnett to perform more than ever because he could make or break whether October baseball happens.

The below list could be either interpreted as a fan’s cry for help, or a Yankees what NOT to do rant. Hey, my Yankees are slumping and at times a fan need to vent.

Let’s call it one fan’s observations:

1. If the Yankees MVP is sick with the flu and running a fever… why is he even at the ballpark? Especially when it is 120 degrees? Definitely a bad idea to pinch-hit Robinson Cano in the 6th inning.

2. Skipper Joe Girardi decides to NOT start Jorge Posada, when Mark Teixeira is in NYC as his wife had a baby boy and Cano is “out” with the flu… great idea. Girardi then claims that Posada’s shoulder hurt in the post-game, but he looked like he was fibbing and it was obvious.

3. Nick Swisher cannot be the only player that hits, with flashes of A-Rod on occasion. Hope Tex jumped on a plane to Texas because the team needs him NOW, more than ever.

4. Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns have been Yankees for two weeks. GM Brian Cashman gave the impression that the two were to give the Yankees bench-depth down the stretch, so why is Girardi playing them so much? Since the day these two showed-up have things started to collapse. Kind-of ironic timing, don’t you think? Playing Granderson and Gardner everyday worked better and the proof is the team was winning.

5. In 2009, the Yankees were the kings of the walk-off wins. The Yankees had more fight in their eyes, which the Rangers and Red Sox seem to have stolen.

6. Girardi has acquired a smirk on his face and I don’t know what to think of it. It started in Tampa in the third game of the series, which was on the line as both teams had taken a game. Girardi look liked he was testing things out. Why the hell else would Lance Berkman be playing first base in a spilt series with the Rays? I presumed the Yankees would put their best players out there to get a win and that was not the case. It was thoroughly disappointing, shocking and cocky of Girardi.

7. This is short and sweet. Don’t leave runners stranded on-base. It is unacceptable going 0-9 and ditching 11 teammates on the pads against the Red Sox; in a game the Bombers should have won.

Am I turning into a hater-fan?

Not at all, just a frustrated one.

One team in the AL East will not make the post-season. Whoever it may be, their fans will be heartbroken.

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Remember this season, when Mark Teixeira looked like he “couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat?” (stealing a quote from “Dodgeball”).  Everyone was ready to jump down Teixeira’s throat, I one of those people.

The general consensus around the Yankees community was that Teixeira was going to have a horrific year.

Who could blame the consensus?  The numbers backed it up.  Known as a slow starter, he was hitting a dismal .136 in April with only 11 hits in 81 at bats during the month.  And it didn’t get any better for Teixeira as the year progressed.

As April transitioned into May, and May into early June, it was no longer that he was a career slow starter.  He was simply not hitting.

Teixeira was pressing.  He seemed to be trying to make up for lost stats.  It was clearly getting to him.  

Although his struggles, Joe Girardi believed in his slugger.  Kevin Long kept the faith.  

And, just as we knew and hoped that he would, Teixeira has seemed to rediscover his stroke.  In the last 29 days, Teixeira is hitting .321 with seven home runs and 24 RBI’s.  And, he has reached base in 50 of the last 52 games.

It is safe for one to say that Teixeira is back at it.  During yesterday’s tough loss to the Red Sox, where the Yankees played a very sloppy game, Teixeira continued his good play.  He became the first player in the league to score 80 runs and knock in 80 runs.

Keep in mind that this is the same Teixeira who could not buy an RBI earlier this season.

Oh yeah, he leads the team in home runs with 24.  He has more than Robinson Cano (21) who is putting together quite the season this year.

And on top of all that, Teixeira has continued to play gold glove first base all season.  He has made only two errors in 101 games played at first base this season.

Mark is on his way, putting together a decent season after his absolutely terrible start.  We were all quick to point out the fact that Teixeira was struggling and not getting it done.  But, it seems we haven’t been as mindful about the complete 360 degree turn Mark has made this season.

Will it be a typical Teixeira season, where he averages a .287 average, 39 home runs and 122 RBI’s?  At this point, no.  Will it end up that way, probably not, but, as John Sterling likes to remind us: “You just can’t predict baseball.”

Mark Teixeira deserves some credit for his hard work this season, getting to where he is now offensively from where he was.  He has been a big part of the consistent Yankee success the Yankees have had this season.  Teixeira will continue to have success all throughout August, and into the Yankees best month: September.

“The cream rises to the top.”  Teixeira has started to swing the bat at exactly the right time for the Yankees.

Want more?  Follow me on Twitter at steve_henn

Also check out my baseball blog: The Steve Henn Experience

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The second place New York Yankees were on the brink of getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays.  This would have been the second series loss in a row for the reigning champs and the timing could not be worse for a slump to begin.

Yankees fans were worried, because Alex Rodriguez’s struggles at the plate were affecting the whole team.

A-Rod was struggling to hit a milestone 600th home run, which puts him on an elite list and the youngest of the seven players on it.

Now the Yankee Universe can finally breathed, because this afternoon in the first inning A-rod hit his 600th career home-run at the age of 35. The team won and avoided the sweep, beating the Blue Jays 5-1.  Phil Hughes got the win and Mariano Rivera dominated in the ninth inning.

Things are looking up in the Bronx, but the Yankees now are looking up in the standings at the Tampa Bay Rays. It is just a one game lead, but the Rays keep winning.

The problem is that what may seem like not a big deal today, could be an issue a week from now.  Just imagine if the Yankees were the team to miss the playoffs?

It makes me sick to think about, but why I am is because I felt that Joe Girardi gave the Rays the series win last weekend. It was as if the Yankees were having a exhibition game, trying their new players out for practice.

New Yankee Lance Berkman was acquired to fill the designated hitter position that was Nick Johnson, which should have been Hideki Matsui’s job in the first place.

So when I saw Berkman playing first-base, I thought it was ludicrous.  If anything (god-forbid) happened to Mark Teixeira wouldn’t Nick Swisher be the better option?  I fully understand that Tex needs a day off, but against the Rays?

The series was on the line and so taking Brett Gardner and A-Rod out made the Yankees look arrogant.

Next up is the Boston Red Sox, who are coming for a four-game visit. Any series against the Red Sox, injured or not, is always tough for both ballclubs.  The Red Sox need the wins to stay in the playoff discussion, but so do the Yankees.

If the Yankees lose three of four games, within the division it will be a bigger problem them it might seem. It would cut the Yankees lead to just 3.5 over Boston and opens up a three game race again.

Not to mention the wild-card is just as easy to lose, as the Red Sox have a much harder schedule then the Yankees do down the stretch. When teams who aren’t in contention are playing teams that are, the former always seems to screw things up by winning.

The basic point here is that the Yankees are guaranteed nothing yet, except that A-rod’s 600th home-run is in the past and the team tends to follow A-rod’s lead at the plate.

Whatever the answer is regarding changing Phil Hughes innings limit is; Hughes is pitching dynamite again and it would be a shame to have to pull him from the rotation.

I like what I see out of the bullpen, other than Mo. Kerry Wood will be a great presence for Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan, because David Robertson cannot be the only reliable middle-reliever.

So what needs to go on from here on out is….WIN, WIN AND KEEP ON WINNING!

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Even after an early Mark Teixeira home run (23), Ricky Romero and the Toronto Blue Jays were too much for the New York Yankees.

As of today, the Yankees have lost three consecutive games, four of their last five.  But yesterday, they lost something more.

The division lead.

With an 8-2 Yankee loss to the Blue Jays, and a Tampa bay 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, the Rays have taken the division lead from the Yankees, a spot the Yankees have held since June 12.

And, seeing this team lose three games in a row has been a rarity this season with the level of consistency this team has played with all year long.

The Yankees still hold a 5.5 game lead over the third place Boston Red Sox, so if the season were to end today, the Yankees would be in the playoffs.

But, there is still a lot of season left.  That is why teams have to play all 162 games.

“No one ever said this was going to be easy—we’re in a tough division,” manager Joe Girardi said. “There are going to be bumps in the road for every team in the division. You try to keep it as short as possible.” (Tim Britton MLB.com seen on Yankees.com).

Our trusted manager could not have put it any better.  This little cold stretch the Yankees have entered happens throughout the course of the long season.  Let’s hope that the Yankees can stop the bleeding from this small cut before the cut turns into a gash.

It’s Phil Hughes (12-4, 4.07 ERA) vs Shaun Marcum (10-4, 3.24) this afternoon at 1:05pm in Yankee Stadium.

Players To Watch

Jorge Posada is batting .476 with four home runs and seven RBI in 17 plate appearances in his career against Shaun Marcum.  Hopefully today Jorge can continue his success against the Blue Jays right hander.

Derek Jeter, in his career against Marcum, is batting .353 with zero home runs and one RBI.  He does have three walks and an OBP of .476, so hopefully Jeter can continue to get on base against Marcum.

In only four plate appearances against Marcum, Curtis Granderson is batting .400 with one home run and four RBI.  A small sample, but who isn’t rooting for Granderson?  Let’s see if Curtis can continue to have some success against Marcum.

A-Rod Watch

Alex Rodriguez is continuing his struggles at the plate, continuing his hit less streak to 17 at bats.  Since hitting No. 599, it has been 12 games and 51 plate appearances.

From what we see and observe as fans, the pressures of 600 may be getting to him.  It’s easy for us to say.  With the eyes of the nation watching his every at bat, it is only human for him to feel a tremendous amount of pressure.  Who wouldn’t?

Alex is a great hitter, one of the best ever.  He will snap out of his funk, and he will get 600.  Many cannot wait until he does.  The monkey of 600 will be off of his back.  One may predict a “laser show” after he does it, to steal a term from rival second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

In the meantime, let’s enjoy another game of Yankees baseball.

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With last night’s 8-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rays win over the Twins, the Yankees dropped into a tie with Tampa Bay for first place in the American League East. Today marks the first time since June 20 that the Yankees have not been in sole possession of first place in the East Division. Despite all this, it’s not time to panic in the Bronx.

Yes, the Yankees missed out on a major opportunity to distance themselves from the Rays last weekend by dropping two of a three game series in Tampa. But the fact remains that the Yankees are still in an excellent situation to win the Division as the dog days of August get underway.

Andy Pettitte will be coming off the disabled list soon, giving them a consistent, innings-eating lefty back in the rotation. Pettitte, provided he’s 100%, should ease the workload on the bullpen considerably.

The “Arod 600 Home Run Circus” is bound to end at some point. What has turned into a major distraction for everyone will end with one swing of the bat, hopefully sooner rather than later. In the meantime, Arod is still driving in runs for the Yankee offense.

The addition of Kerry Wood should alleviate some of the stress on Joba Chamberlain, hopefully helping him return to the form he’s capable of.

Nick Swisher continues to impress. The All Star RF had two more home runs last night and appears to be getting hot. In a lineup full of sluggers like Arod, Teixeira and Cano, getting major offensive numbers from players like Swisher is a nice bonus.

The Yankees schedule is relatively tame in August, which should assist them in at least holding a share of first place into the September stretch run. Their talent and experience will allow them to place some distance between themselves and the Rays in the last month of the season.

They’ll be ok, count on it.

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Saturday, July 31 at 4:30 pm marked the official end of MLB’s trade deadline—well, technically at least.

New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman was hard at work trying to fix the mess the organization has made of Joba Chamberlain.

It is no secret that the Yankees don’t know what else to do with Joba Chamberlain, but looking at his historically short career the answer is pretty evident.

Back in 2007, Joba was Cashman’s prize pupil. The problem was no one wanted to take the time to teach the 24-year-old because of one infamous bug game.

Then in 2008, Joba had the weight of an entire city on his shoulders. Failure didn’t seem to be an option and whenever things looked bleak for Joba, he got yanked from the mound.

Fast-forward to 2010. Joba lost the coveted fifth spot in the Yankees rotation to Phil Hughes.

Joba didn’t deserve it; Hughes pitched better and he continues to exceed expectations. Hughes went to the All-Star game and that must have taken a toll on Joba’s confidence level.

Skipper Joe Girardi’s solution is pretty simple. “We want him to pitch at the level he’s capable of pitching at. Until we get Joba right, I might look at matchups a little more.” (NY Daily News)

The Yankees bullpen needed help and Cashman’s answer was Cleveland Indians pitcher Kerry Wood. He claims it had nothing to do with Joba and every thing to do with Chan Ho Park, who was designated for assignment.

This has everything to do with Joba, but in one sense Wood is a veteran who once dazzled the city of Chicago with his fastball. Wood was Chicago’s pride after striking out 20 batters in his sixth career start.

Wood’s career didn’t pan out like it should have, as he saw the DL 14 times in his 13 seasons, his latest just days before he landed in New York.

Wood has 62 saves over the last three seasons, with 165 strikeouts, while appearing in 146 games out of the bullpen.

For now, Wood is a walking liability, but with an upside that might be worth the risk. Wood’s experience could be just what the doctor ordered for changing Joba back into the phenomenon everyone witnessed in 2007.

Wood has been in Joba’s shoes, as he has yo-yoed from starter to reliever like musical chairs.

The other hope for Wood is to help down the stretch out of the bullpen in getting to Mariano Rivera. The fact is, Wood is an upgrade from Chan-Ho Park.

So, Cashman covered his ass there. Maybe the Yankees secretly banned Wood from the DL list. Who really cares, because this could work.

It also leaves many questions unanswered. For example, could Brian Cashman have killed two birds with one stone?

My bet is yes and Cashman will be deemed a genius because the concept is just shy of being too good to be true.

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Well, that was unexpected.

For weeks leading up to MLB’s trade deadline, the Yanks were mostly quiet. Once the Cliff Lee deal fell through, the only names being thrown around were bats off the bench and middle relief help.

Well, the Yanks got their bench bat in Austin Kearns. And they paid the Indians $1.4 million to rent Kerry Wood for the rest of the season. But the one guy who came completely out of nowhere–and has the most potential to improve the team–was Lance Berkman.

Even before the 2009 World Series, I’m sure the Yankees Brass knew that they weren’t going to resign Hideki Matsui. Once the Japanese Iron Man, Matsui’s body began to fail. His knees couldn’t handle the outfield, and he underwent extended slumps at the plate as a result of those wonky knees. He ended up having six RBI in Game Six of the World Series, winning him WS MVP honors, but that performance didn’t change the fact that Matsui was in the decline.

The Yanks cold-heartedly let Matsui go and replaced him with the former Yankee and OBP Machine Nick Johnson. I admit it freely: I loved the signing. I appreciated Matsui for everything he brought to the Yanks—class, pride, a World Series title—but the idea of Johnson’s .426 2009 OBP plugged into the No. 2 spot in the lineup was thrilling. He was an injury risk, sure, but the Yanks would protect Nick by keeping him off the field and making him a True DH. Alas, even that didn’t help. After only 24 games–a-period, in which he batted a paltry .167 but still OBP’d at a .388 clip, Johnson went down with yet another injury and is likely done for the year.

Removing the Johnson left a gaping hole from the Yankee lineup. That void has not been properly filled all year. Check out the different DHs the Yankees have used in 2010, with the number of games at that “position” listed in parentheses:

1. Jorge Posada (24)
2. Nick Johnson (19)
3. Juan Miranda (10)
4. Marcus Thames (10)
5. Alex Rodriguez (9)
6. Nick Swisher (8)
7. Mark Teixeira (6)
8. Derek Jeter (5)
9. Robinson Cano (1)
10. Colin Curtis (1)

The addition of a full-time DH creates allows the 38-year-old Jorge Posada to get a full day off when he takes a break from catching. And it allows the Yanks to avoid those less ineffective DH options in Miranda, Thames, and, yes, even Colin Curtis.

The Yankees hope Lance Berkman will be the Nick Johnson they never had. Berkman will slide right into that No. 2 hole in the lineup and be the team’s everyday DH. Berkman, like Johnson, is also known for his ability to take pitches and work walks. Despite his less-than-stellar 2010 season so far, he had ranked fourth in the National League in bases on balls .

But of course the question remains: Which Lance Berkman will show up? Will it be the feared and respected slugger that carried the Houston offense over the last decade or will it be the washed-up shell of an All Star that Berkman presented in 2010? (The Yanks have experienced that “shell of a former All Star” before ). Berkman swears that the move to the Bronx will reinvigorate him. We will see. But as an owner of Berkman in my fantasy keeper league, I still remember when Berkman was great.

Heck, he finished 5th in MVP voting as recently as 2008. And he had solid stretches in 2009—hitting .300 with 7 HR during the season’s final 23 games. He’s only 34 and will see good pitches with the protection of Tex and A-Rod behind him. I’ll be rooting for him—and not just because I’m still stupidly counting on him in my fantasy league. He alone has the opportunity to make this Yankee team significantly better. Given that they’re already the best team in baseball, that’s a scary-good thought.

___________________

From the FanTake Blog: Mr. Blogtober

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