The Tree Was Empty

               On the second to last day of Alex Rodriguez's hearing with MLB officials in Kangaroo Court concerning his suspension appeal, the Yankee third baseman/DH slammed his fist onto the table and walked out after it was revealed that Commissioner Bud Selig wouldn't have to testify as to why he's pursuing a 211-game ban on A-Rod when all other tainted names were offered 50-game plea deals.

              After storming out of court, A-Rod took his case to the highest authority: The Mike'd Up Radio Show with Mike Francesa. A clever PR move as it was to give A-Rod a forum to build popular support, overnight the Man on the Street began siding with the aging superstar who has always been viewed as a phony and primadonna. Even the harshest A-Rod critics have come out and stated that he's being unfairly persecuted by MLB officials who have some type of vendetta against him. Now A-Rod has become the rebel standing up to the authorities and fighting for the everyday person living in Sherwood Forest. The reason being that for one of the only times in his baseball career, he finally has a point. Although he's never failed an official PED test and MLB officials are using "evidence" that was stolen and paid for by cash in black bags, for some reason they feel A-Rod is deserving of a 211-game ban in 2014-15 because Selig looks like a jackass for Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa crushing homeruns in 1998.

               Still not knowing if A-Rod will be in uniform by Opening Day 2014, GM Brian Cashman pulled an unexpected move by signing power-hitting catching free agent Brian McCann on a 5-year $85 million deal. The lefty slugger will add power and offense to the lineup which is light-years greater than the constant automatic outs of Chris Stewart and Austin Romine from 2013. Two of Cashman's goals his offseason was to cut down on the strikeout hitters and automatic outs. With all the injuries last season, the bottom of the Yankee lineup was worse than NL teams with their pitchers hitting. McCann's numbers have slightly declined over the past few seasons and he will be 31 soon, but whatever his offense is it will be better than what the Yanks got from the position last season. Plus, as a lefty hitter in Yankee Stadium and with the DH spot in the American League, there's a very good chance he can get back to being a 25-30 homerun guy. Behind the plate he brings an edge and toughness that's been missing since Russell Martin left; although CC Sabathia butted heads with Martin, so its quite possible he may not get along with McCann either. Look for Romine to serve as the backup and CC's caddy, and that ends the Chris Stewart era in pinstripes.

               The longevity of the McCann deal calls into question the catching prospects that Brian Cashman and the Yankee front office seemed to brag about. Last offseason they refused to match the Pirates multi-year deal for Russell Martin because they didn't want anyone blocking the road for all the great catchers that were on their way. Martin may only hit .200, but his 20 homers per season would've helped the Yanks last season and it was the Yankees sitting at home in October while Martin and the Pirates were in the playoffs. Brian McCann may have pop in his bat as a catcher, but he's certainly no 'Mike Piazza' in which you change course in order to obtain a superstar player. The McCann deal is the Yankees admission that they don't think much of Austin Romine at the moment and realistically they won't be able to produce a solid Major Leaguer at that position for the next 3-4 years. All these great fruits from the farm system that were supposedly stacked at the catching position either aren't growing or have turned rotten. There was nothing for Cashman to pluck from the tree at low cost, instead that had to hand over $85 million for McCann while still dealing with the big Cano contract negotiations and trying to get payroll under the $189 million luxury tax line.

               Speaking of which; the Cano saga keeps dragging along, but the negative rhetoric the Yanks' brass has been leaking to the media which paints Cano as a soulless money-grubber has quieted down. Plus, with no other teams showing any signs of interest outside the idiotic Jay-Z (Cano's rep company) meeting with the Mets, both sides seemed to have finally realized they're stuck with eachother, so they'll haggle numbers to make the best of it.

              Carlos Beltran's name keeps being thrown around, which would've made some sense when he wanted to be a Yankee back in 2005, but now he would be another player in his upper 30's on the roster which includes the age of Jeter, Rodriguez, Ichiro, and Soriano. The Yanks will try to get him on a 1-year deal to serve the 'Raul Ibanez' role that Travis Hafner bombed at last season. He can still produce as a hitter and take the field, but he's injury prone and will by 37 in April. The other name the Yanks seem to be in the mix with is the Japanese product Masahiro Tanaka, along with other teams who will likely be bidding for the opportunity to sign him. A more familiar Japanese starting pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, has made it public he wants to come back to the Yanks again for 2014, so look for him to get a 1-year deal in the near future.

               If not Beltran, the Yanks are going to need a right-fielder with some pop (unless Ichiro stops using a wiffleball bat). There's also the need for someone at third in case A-Rod gets hammered with his appeal or has another hangnail in Spring Training that sidelines him till August. The last sprinklings would have to be regarding the bullpen.




               Or at least something to cure a hangnail......

From the Eye of the Hawk

               Despite the official loss of Derek Jeter for 2013, a new set of aches and pains for other players, and a most humbling trashing at home by the Boston Red Sox last weekend that seemed to crush any postseason hopes for the Yankees, there's now only 1 game that separates the Bombers from that final Wild Card spot. Every time the Yankees are left for dead, they pull the fans right back into it!!

 

               After the Yankees gained some momentum by having a great start to their homestand which included 2 out of 3 against the pesky Orioles and a revenge clean 3-game sweep against the Chicago White Sox, the other Sox, from Boston, came into town and thoroughly pounded Yankee pitching and left the team busted up and down for the count. Had it not been for a wild pitch to end the 4th game between the Yankees and Red Sox, the Yanks would've been swept themselves. The frustrating part for the Yankees was that their bats also put the hurting on Boston's pitching, but the main strength of the Yankees all season long that's kept them float, their bullpen, picked the worst week to stink and feel soreness. Robertson, Kelley, and Boone Logan complained of pain afterwards and needed to be shut down for a few days, and even the great Mariano Rivera blew two of the save opportunities to Boston. Luckily for Rivera, the wild pitch to end the last game in the Yankees' favor gave him the win. Instead of only having Tampa ahead of them in the Wild Card standings, the painful losses to Boston also allowed Cleveland, Kansas City, and Baltimore to get in their way. The only good news was the Yankees headed to Camden Yards to play one of the teams blocking their Wild Card view, the Baltimore Orioles.

 

              The opening night of the 4-game set had a bizarre start between the early innings when Yankee Manager Joe Girardi used his hawk skills to spot the Orioles third base coach stealing signs from the catcher and starting yelling at him from the dugout. Snivelling Orioles Manager Buck Showalter took exception to Giardi yelling at his coach and the two managers had a heated exchange as tobacco juice flowed from Buck's mouth. The Yanks would go on to lose the first game, but not without showing some of the 'comeback' ability they displayed in the disastrous Red Sox series. The game ended 4-2, but with the tying run on base and Curtis Granderson sending a deep fly that Adam Jones caught on the warning track. The next night the Yanks found themselves in a 4-1 hole later in the game, and with any-any-any hopes of a postseason run just about gone, then the Yanks struck back with 2 homers from Soriano and Reynolds to make it 4-3 O's. Then in the 8th, Alex Rodriguez began a rally with a lead-off double, followed by a Cano hit, another Soriano homer, and later a Reynolds RBI double to make it 7-4 Yankees, and the Yanks would win 7-5. Then the following game, same story, Andy Pettitte grinding through his start and losing 3-1, but homers from Granderson and A-Rod make it 3-3. Then in the top of the 9th Cano homers and Overbay adds and RBI single and the Yanks go on to win that game 5-4. The beauty of it all was that during the two victories, Tampa, Cleveland, and of course Baltimore had losses that put the Yankees above them and amazingly only 1 game out of a postseason spot with 16 more games to go (including 3 verses Tampa).

   

              Amongst that joy there was the official announcement that Derek Jeter wasn't getting healthy and needed to go back on the 15-Day DL, which ends his 2013 campaign.....that never really started in to begin with. Jeter commented that perhaps in his rush to get back onto the field he hurt himself in the long run. A day before the news broke, GM Brian Cashman traded for Seattle shortstop Brendan Ryan - who's not known for his bat, but can sure play the position. The pickup is also a sign the Yankee front office isn't too happy with Nunez's defense lately, one fielding miscue of which opened the door to the big rally the Red Sox put on Phil Hughes to comeback to win that game from the Yanks. Overall Nunez's defense is much improved from last season and he has played the position well beyond expectations, but at this point of the season with 16 games left there's no room for defensive miscues - no matter what potential Nunez has in his bat and legs.



Position:
78-68 (3rd Place AL East - 10.5 games back of 1st Place Boston Red Sox and 1 game back of Second AL Wild Card spot holder Tampa Bay Rays with 2.5 games behind First AL Wild Card spot holder Texas Rangers).

Homeruns:
- Alfonso Soriano continues to tear the cover off the ball and has to be considered the best Yankee one-sided trade ever.
- Alex Rodriguez isn't hitting as many homers as Soriano, but he's swinging the bat great and has been a huge part of the Yankees' late August into September resurgence.
- Robinson Cano reached 100 RBIs with not having much offensive talent around him for most of the season.

Foul Tips:
- Ivan Nova has been struggling with a tight tricep muscle and he was the Yanks best starter since early August when Kuroda showed signs of dead arm.
- Key pieces to the bullpen; David Robertson, Shawn Kelley, and Boone Logan has soreness and tendinitis issues. Although Kelley and Robertson eventually returned, its a scary thought if those two can't be relied upon and Joba has to come into important games.
- With no return of Mariano Rivera for 2014, Girardi has been calling upon Mo for more than 3-out saves and the increased workload on the 43 year-old pitcher might prove costly.
- Girardi admitted that Andy Pettitte is a 85-95 pitch pitcher at this point of his career, and if somehow the Yankees do make the postseason, how are they going to get more than 5 innings against top-level lineups?
- David Huff showed promise as a long reliver, but in his first start for the Yankees he got punished by the Red Sox and he flip-flopped back into the pen with Phil Hughes.

Strikeouts:
- Derek Jeter was shutdown for 2013. At this point he can only serve the Yankees as a cheerleader.
- Both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain use whatever mound time they get to irk Yankee fans even further with their 0-2 counts that end up being walks.

                         

              The last Boston beating certainly took away any hope the Yanks had with getting the AL East crown, but with their beating the Rays they've been the Yankees' best friend this week. The Yanks get another crack at Boston in Fenway and they'll be looking to avenge those brutal losses in New York, the Yanks just have to hope Boston decides to start resting some guys for the postseason.

      

              Whether it takes a 4-out save from Mariano or Alex Rodriguez homering with a tweaked hammy, the Yanks are going at these final 16 games hard on fumes -which gives great credence for Girardi being voted Manager of the Year.

   

              It's all in the Yankees hands to win it.....