Holiday Shopping Season Continues

            Needing to rebound after getting slam dunked by Robinson Cano and the Seattle Mariners, the Yankees quickly fired back with the nifty free agent signing of Carlos Beltran; a player who can immediately slot into the vacated Number 3 hole in the lineup.



            The former Met centerfielder will be 37 years old in 2014, but coming off a season in which he batted .294 and slugged 24 homeruns, the switch-hitter with power Beltran will serve as the ideal No. 3 hitter as other switch-hitters that roamed centerfield at Yankee Stadium have.



            With his age, and especially with the signing of Jacoby Ellsbury, Beltran will be relegated to play rightfield, which should be no problem for the former Gold Glove winner. The Yankees originally passed on Beltran and his demand for a third year on a new deal, but after the Cano fiasco, the Front Office had to scramble fast to get some power back into the lineup and caved to Beltran. For the next two seasons he should be able to hold is own out in right, then for that final year he could be a 'Raul Ibanez' type DH. He'll bring homeruns and RBIs to the rightfield position which was dreadful last season due to Ichiro's poor production. As for the vacant second base position, in addition to Kelly Johnson who was signed a few weeks ago as a utility backup, Brian Cashman took a flyer on former Oriole Brian Roberts on a one-year deal. Roberts, another switch-hitter with a little pop in his bat, has had a string of bad injuries over the past few seasons, but managed to play in 70 games in 2013, so Cashman hopes he can get lucky with Roberts the way he's done in the past with fragile players such as Eric Chavez and Bartolo Colon.



           The Roberts signing came after a rumored trade fell through that would've send Brett Gardner to the Reds for their second baseman Brandon Phillips, who is one of the top players at second in the game. Cashman didn't want to have to pick up the remaining years on Phillips' deal, so they decided to keep Gardy with his Southern Comfort theme music and go with Roberts. Of course, the rumored deal was a complete reverse from Cashman's original statement that they weren't shopping Gardner around at the annual GM Winter Meetings



            Unless there's any drastic injuries or criminal charges for A-Rod, the 2014 Opening Day Lineup for the New York Yankees should be something as follows:

               1. Jacoby Ellsbury - CF
               2. Derek Jeter - SS
               3. Carlos Beltran - RF
               4. Alex Rodriguez - DH
               5. Mark Teixeira - 1B
               6. Brian McCann - C
               7. Eduardo Nunez - 3B
               8. Brian Roberts - 2B
               9. Brett Gardner - LF

            Even if A-Rod does get hammered, Girardi could also move Beltran into the DH position and have Ichiro in the lineup and playing rightfield for a while. There's been talks of bringing back Mark Reynolds for third base, who was a good pickup last season for Cashman, but so far they've only been rumors. Infielder guru Brendan Ryan is still on the roster. Clearly, the Yankees are unhappy with Eduardo Nunez's inability to field a ground ball without having the entire stadium hold its breath.



           As expected, both Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes officially became ex-Yankees with Joba moving to Detroit and Phil Hughes getting a three-year deal from Minnesota to pitch in their spacious ballpark. Boone Logan also left the Bombers for the Colorado Rockies, a place where pitcher ERAs skyrocket to Venus. To get a lefty option out of the pen back, the Yankees rolled the dice on hard-throwing Matt Thornton who saw limited time with Boston last season before getting injured. Other than that, GM Brian Cashman seems content with the guys who were contributing last season out of the Yankee pen; Preston Claiborne, Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley, David Huff, Cesar Cabral, David Phelps, and naturally David Robertson.



               There's been no new news on Japanese pitching star Masahiro Tanaka, but he would be the ultimate present under the tree.



             That's if Cashman hasn't already maxed out his credit cards at the mall.....
              

Treat him like a baby

             The Minnesota Twins are one of the Yankees favorite baseball teams to see on their schedule with a long list of success going back to 2002, and a trip to the new spacious ballpark out in the Twin Cities in late September to build up some wins against the Orioles was at a perfect time. Though the Yanks, as the road team, stayed on par by taking two out of three games, they'll (specifically Girardi) be kicking themselves for letting the middle game slip away if it indeed causes them to fall out of the 2012 AL East or Wild Card picture.



             Veteran Andy Pettitte was on the hill for the opening game as he made his second tune-up start off the DL as he tries to keep building his stamina back up. Opposing him was Liam Hendricks, with only one career win as a starter to his credit, and the Yankee bats made the world see why with three runs in the top of the 1st to give Pettitte some room to work with. After an RBI ground out by Cano, Nick Swisher blasted a 2-run homer way into the second level in right-center. Pettitte wasn't sharp early and found himself in a jam of his own in the bottom of that first inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Pettitte got gritty as usual and struck out Justin Morneau on a called third strike on the outside corner, then got Ryan Doumit for an easy ground out to short. That's about as close as the Twins got all night from doing any damage against Pettitte and the Yankee bats put the game away with more homers; Granderson's 40th in the 4th, Ibanez in the 7th, and Eric Chavez in the 7th as well for a 6-0 Yankees lead. Pettitte was able to go 6 innings this time around and didn't give up any runs. Cory Wade spoiled the shutout by allowing a solo homer in the 8th and the Twins scratched two more runs across in the 9th off of a sloppy Justin Thomas and David Robertson, but Robertson was able to finish them off at a 6-3 final score without having to use Soriano (with his dead arm issue).



            Phil Hughes was on for the second game and looked prime to win his 17th of the year, but a questionable managerial move and poor relief work by Boone Logan turned it into Hughes' 13th loss. The Yankees gave Hughes a 2-run lead in the 4th when Nick Swisher, who hit a 2-run homer the night before, hit another double-score shot to right that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead on Esmerling Vasquez. Although Hughes surrendered a run in the bottom of the 4th, the Yankees righty was looking strong for most entire night and received another run from a Russell Martin solo jack in the top of the 7th. At 3-1 in the bottom of the 7th is where things started to home apart for Hughes. He gave up a single to Doumit to start the inning, followed by a walk, so there were two runners on with no outs. Hughes got the next hitter to pop out for the first out, but Jamey Carroll hit a weak ball to short Jeter couldn't make a play on and the bases were now loaded. Hughes kept his composure to strike the next batter out, but when the lefty-hitting Dernard Span due up next with two outs, manager Joe Girardi decided Hughes' night was done and called for the lefty Boone Logan to go after Span. Despite the fact Hughes was only at 99 pitches with the score 3-1, had pitched well all night, and was getting outs with runners on the bags in that inning, Girardi didn't cut him the slack he probably would with a more veteran pitcher and yanked him off the mound.



               The move totally backfired and Logan first let in a run from a wild pitch, and then from there was cuffed around from a Span RBI double and then a RBI Mauer single, both lefty hitters. Instead of being up 3-1, the Yanks were now down 5-3. Glen Perkins, the Twins closer at the moment, came on in the 9th to close it out and the hard throwing lefty was able to breeze through the first two outs. Girardi made one good call on the night and pitch-hitted Andruw Jones and the mightily-struggling former superstar cracked a solo homer to bring the Yankees within one run at 5-4, but the next hitter Jayson Nix struck out to end the affair and the Yankees had to swallow a tough loss. Had they won, with the Orioles losing that night, the Yanks would've had a huge 2.5 lead in the AL East, but instead had to stay at the 1.5 mark.



              With the final game becoming a must win for the Bombers as they couldn't afford to lose out against a lesser opponent within the crunch time of the division race, (the good) CC Sabathia stepped up for his second straight start to get the team out of Minnesota with the series win. Samuel Deduno started for the Twins, but was lifted in favor of (the joke) Brian Duensing after Deduno experienced an eye irritation issue inthe middle of the 2nd inning. The Twins had a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd, but then after Chris Stewart grounded out, the Yankees went on a 6-run barrage filled with bases loaded doubles, a single, a triple, even a wild pitch. Sabathia locked in from there and would eventually go 8 inning for his 14th win and get 10 strikeouts. The Twins poked another run in the bottom of the 8th off of the Yankees ace, but overall the big man was as dominating as he was last week against the A's. Chris Dickerson added a solo homerun in the top of that inning and later on Brett Gardner finally made an appearance as a outfield replacement when months ago it was said his 2012 was done due to that mysterious elbow/shoulder injury he had that was never healing. The Yanks walked out 8-2 winners and it was the Yanks 90th win of the season.



             The 90-65 Yankees still hold onto the AL Easy by a nose and try to reap the benefits of their late September schedule with a visit up to Toronto for four against the Blue Jays....

The party-poopers

             For scheduling reasons only some MLB head office janitor would know, the Yankees had to face the Atlanta Braves for a second time this season during this interleague phase. Although facing NL teams seems to be a delight to the Yanks, this time the NL struck back and in addition to snapping their fun 10-game win streak, the Yankees were also slapped around at home.



             Things got off to a good start with a rematch of last week's lefty match-up of CC Sabathia and Mike Minor. Previously in Atlanta, Minor had been cruising to the 7th inning with a 4-0 lead, when the walls crumbled on the Braves bullpen and the Yankees reversed it to a 6-4 win. Parallel in this game, Minor had been doing fine with a 2-0 by the 5th inning, when things slipped away again as soon as he reached near the 100-pitch mark. The Yankees in the bottom of the 5th had cut the score 2-1 and had the bases loaded with Derek Jeter at the plate. The Yankee Captain delivered with a 2-RBI single to give the Yankees the lead 3-2. That was more than enough for CC Sabathia who went the distance for his 9th win with a complete game performance that included 10 strikeouts. More runs were tacked on later by the Yanks thanks to longballs from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano which ran the score up to its 6-2 final.



             The next rematch from last week featured Hiroki Kuroda, who has been on a pitching tear lately, against Tim Hudson. The Yankees had to have been feeling good in the 2nd inning when Nick Swisher hit a double which scored 2 runs, but the Braves answered back in the 3rd with an RBI groundout, and then scored 2 more runs to take the 3-2 leads. Thanks to some sloppy Braves defense, the Yanks were able to tie the score 3-3 on Russell Martin grounder misplayed by Chipper Jones in the bottom of the 4th. Tim Hudson was squeezed on the mound by the homeplate umpire which allowed Derek Jeter to walk to load the bases. On the ropes and about to get knocked out by Curtis Granderson, Hudson got out of the jam with a 3-pitch strikeout.



           The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the 5th when Nick Swisher doubled with Mark Teixeira standing on second base, but the ball was hit hard enough to reach right fielder Jayson Wayward, who gunned the slow-footed Teixeira at home to end the inning. The big out must have energized the Braves, because Brian McCann lead off the 6th with a double off of Kuroda and would eventually come around to score and give the Braves the 4-3 lead. The Yankees had one final shot to get a run and it looked promising when Granderson and Rodriguez reached to put 2 runners on first and second with no outs. Cano moved them over with a sacrifice ground out, then next hitter Teixeira hit a sharp grounder to Chipper Jones who was able to throw out Granderson trying to score at home, and last hitter Ibanez struckout, as he continues to wear down from overuse due to Gardner's injury. In the 9th, the Braves sent out their superman unnecessary hunched-over closer Craig Kimbrel with his 99mph fastball mixed in with 89mph breaking stuff and he made the Yankees first three hitters look childish as he saved the 4-3 game without problems.



             For the rubber match it came down to a pair of pitchers who did not face eachother last week; Phil Hughes and Tommy Hanson. With a heatwave hovering over New York and temperatures at Yankee Stadium reaching 95 degrees, Phil Hughes must have had his brain fried because he simply didn't have it. Already down 1-0 in the first inning, Hughes gave up a 2-run shot to Francisco Freeman to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. Derek Jeter struck back immediately by depositing the first pitch from Tommy Hanson over the right field wall to get one back for the Yankees, but Hughes gave it back in the 4th inning with a solo homer from Martin Prado. Just for good measure Hughes gave up two more homers to Jayson Heyward and even 9th-place hitter David Ross that increased the Braves lead to 6-1. Hughes couldn't even finish the 5th and Girardi had to come and get him out of the sun.



             The hot air helped the Yankee hitters as well as they started to mount their comeback with homeruns from Eric Chavez in the 5th inning, then Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano back-to-back in the 6th to cut the lead 6-4. In the bottom of the 7th, the Yanks had a golden opportunity to tie the score. The Yankees had cut the Braves lead to 6-5 and had runners on first and third with one out and A-Rod at the plate. A sacrifice fly or groundout would tie the score, but instead he did the absolute worst thing he could in that situation, he grounded into a double-play that ended the inning. In the top of the 8th, Boone Logan was on the mound with one out and a runner at first and third for the Braves this time. A ball was hit hard to Chavez (filling in for Teixeira who didn't start) and what would've been a double-play ball to end the threat, the ball was booted by Chavez and the runner scored from third to make it 7-5 Braves. Afterwards, Jayson Heyward ended it essentially with a 2-run bomb to right field that made it 9-5, and the game ended at 10-5 in a homer happy heat drenched afternoon.



             With the 10-game winning streak seemingly like a long distant memory after two frustrating losses, the 41-27 Yankees go for one final NL match-up, this time a rematch against the Mets, hoping the don''t turn things around like the Braves did....

The big red scare of mediocrity

             Despite a magical night from Andy Pettitte, a stark reality is hitting the Yankees that they might be no better than a mediocre team this season. After throwing their three best starters at the Cincinnati Reds; Andy Pettitte, Ivan Nova, and CC Sabathia, the Yanks had a whimpering weekend of one win next to two losses against the visiting club. Before a pitch was even thrown, Mark Teixeira was assigned to sit on the bench all weekend as the team is bewildered by his mysterious respiratory illness which hasn't left him all season.



             Teixeira, who has been struggling at the plate this season, joins Brett Gardner as yet another key figure out of the lineup. Superstar Dewayne Wise saw more playing time as he was slotted into left field, Ibanez to right, and Swisher played first in the opening game. Andy Pettitte made his second start of his third Yankee comeback trail and the 39 year-old looked better than he has in any point in his career. An early error by catcher Chris Stewart helped put Reds shortstop Zack Cozart on third base with only one out. Pettitte dung his heels in to strikeout former NL MVL Joey Votto, followed by Brandon Phillips to escape the jam.



             From that point on, not another Reds hitter even reached second base throughout Pettitte's 8-innings of work. In fact, Stewart made up for his gaffe later on by throwing out Drew Stubbs trying to steal second. Facing the Yankees was former Red Sox foe Bronson Arroyo and his high leg-kick.



             The Yankees offense went ahead 1-0 in the 4th on an RBI groundout by A-Rod, but ruined a huge opportunity to blow the game wide open in the 6th with a bases loaded situation and no out. In true Yankees fashion, they managed to do absolutely nothing with it and continue to be rancid hitters with runners in scoring position. This is how they flushed it down the toilet: A-Rod hit a hard grounder to third (which is a surprise he actually hit the ball hard) and Jeter came home to score, but the throw to home beat Jeter for an out, although replay showed the catcher's foot off home plate. The next hitter, Raul Ibanez, grounded to first baseman Joey Votto, who threw home as well for the second out. Then the last out was achieved by Nick Swisher popping out to the shortstop. Luckily, Andy Pettitte didn't buckle and continued to sit down Reds hitters one after another in a cap-tipping performance. Pettitte finished with 9 strikeouts and only surrenders 4 hits and 1 walk in this 8 innings. Finally, the Yanks bats showed some thumb in the bottom of the 8th as Robinson Cano unleashed a solo bomb deep into the bleachers and Raul Ibanez chipped a 2-run shot over the right field wall. Boone Logan came on in the 9th to close out the 4-0 opening set victory.



             After getting nicked up in his last start in Baltimore, there was question whether Ivan Nova would be able to make his next scheduled start. Nova wanted to pitch, but maybe he shouldn't have because he was slapped around for 5 runs in 6-innings, including a homerun given up to Joey Votto. The Yankees, with Teixeira still on the bench, weren't able to get much going against Reds starters Homer Bailey, and things didn't get interesting until the bottom of the 9th when the Yanks started to stage a comeback. A few doubles and singles from Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher, and Jayson Nix cut the Cincinnati lead to 6-5, but with the tying and winning runs on base, the usually reliable Curtis Granderson grounded out to first to end the game.



             Both teams sent their aces to the hill in the final game of the set as CC Sabathia toed the rubber with Johnny Cueto and his dreadlocks.



               It was pitching all the way in this one and the Yankees had an early opportunity to put some runs on the board in the bottom of the 3rd with Granderson and Cano reaching on consecutive two-out walks, but then Alex Rodriguez hit a weak fly ball on the first pitch he saw. A-Rod and his miserable statistics this season have him at only 5 homers and 15 RBIs for a player who once used to be one of the most feared hitters in the game. A Yankee player who is actually hitting homers, Raul Ibanez, got a two-run shot in the 6th for his 9th of the season to break the tie at 2-0. With the lead, the reliable Sabathia let it wither away as he served up two solo homers, and even walked in a runner with a bases loaded situation. The Yankees bullpen allowed two more Reds to score in the 9th and the Yanks lost the rubber game 5-2. The offense continues to lag behind the pitching and Alex Rodriguez looks like he lost whatever pop he had left in his bat (with 500 years left on that contract). Now with Tex down with this never-ending bronchial infection, Gardner still out with his continuous hand injury, Robertson on the DL, Rivera out for the season, and the aged offense, the Yanks might be looking at a tough 2012 in the dumps.



               At a mediocre 21-20, the Yankees will welcome in the Kansas City Royals for three games, which used to mean three easy wins, but with the way this team is playing who knows.....