Wood In, Park Out, Me A Happy Camper

Got a text alert while at my company's annual summer picnic advising me that the Yankees acquired RP Kerry Wood from the Indians in exchange for a PTBNL. Just found out that to make room for Wood they DFA'd Chan Ho Park. Like the other two deadline deals the Yankees have made, it works for me.

Park was a disaster for the Yankees. It should come as no surprise that they let him go. Now Kerry Wood hasn't exactly been rock solid in recent years. In fact he's been far from it. It's such a low-risk high-reward move that you have to be a fan of it. In the end this is basically going to cost the Yankees very little. Wood is definitely an upgrade to Park. Winner winner chicken dinner.

I'd have to say that the Yankees were definitely one of the trade deadline winners. They grabbed an everyday impact bat, a veteran bat off the bench, and slightly upgrade the bullpen. Not bad for 2 minor leaguers and 2 PTBNLs. Nice job Cashman. The moves make the best team in baseball a little better. Yankee fans should be very pleased. If you're not, I'd love to hear why.

Girardi has Berkman hitting 2nd tonight. I probably would have hit him 6th behind Cano but that's just me. The 2-hole, while not the ideal spot for him in my opinion, works. Let's hope he delivers.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Finish Off The Indians With 11-4 Win, Bring On The Rays

I'd like to thank the Yankees for waiting until I turned the game on tonight to score all of their runs. Last night I missed it all. Tonight I saw it all. Scratch that. I did miss seeing them score their first run. But I did hear that on the radio while I was driving between houses. The 7th inning was a lot of fun to watch. I dig the longball but I like a hit parade a lot better.

Game ball goes to Dustin Moseley. He looked pretty good tonight. I'm nowhere near ready to anoint him the new 5th starter but it was definitely an outing that will earn him some consideration. I will say after seeing this one start I will take Moseley over Sergio Mitre any day of the week. I liked what I saw from him. More please.

Lots of offense tonight. The Yankees sent 12 different hitters to the plate and 10 of them picked up hits. The 2 that didn't were Mark Teixeira and Marcus Thames. I'll give Teixeira a pass because he walked 3 times. The team could have been a little more efficient though. You should score more than 12 runs when you have 12 hits and 12 walks. On the surface the #s with RISP tonight look pretty good. They were 7 for 21. But they started 0-9, maybe 0-10. Not a bad finish.

Nick Swisher should be embarrassed. Striking out against Andy Marte is inexcusable. It was also pretty funny. Marte looked pretty good. Gotta give him credit. Maybe the Yankees should swing a deadline deal for him. Kidding of course.

The A-Rod 600 watch will go on for at least another game. I couldn't help but crack up after every A-Rod AB. I loved when YES would cut to all of the fans pouring out of the left field landing after his AB. Not sure why I found that so funny but I did. I'd like to see Alex hit the HR just to get it over with. If not hitting the HR means 3 RBI, I'd much prefer that.

How ugly/funny was the end of the game? I was all set to write a blurb how the Yankees allowed 7 runs in the 4 game series. Then Joe Girardi and his managing got in the way. I don't really have a problem with the moves Girardi made. They did after all have a 10-run lead entering the 9th. If Joe learns anything from tonight's game I hope it's this: don't let Chan Ho Park pitch unless the Yankees have at least a 10-run lead. Dude is awful. You're up by 10 runs. Throw strikes! Second lesson to learn: don't ever let Marcus Thames play 3rd base again. Something tells me he never will. MT made a pretty sweet stop but totally butchered the throw. Funny stuff.

These last 2 games are a nice way to head to Tampa for a set with the Rays. The team is playing some good baseball. This series with Tampa Bay has the potential to be huge. Here's a chance to put a little distance between them in the standings. A sweep would be nice but is improbable. but hey, you never know. They've got all of the tools to do it. Hughes, Sabathia and Burnett will each get a turn and I like that trio. Hughes gets the ball in the opener and I'm looking for him to be the pace-setter. Again, not expecting a sweep, but 2 of 3 would be nice.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Curtis Granderson & Chan Ho Park Lead Yankees To 3-1 Win Over Red Sox

Awesome win by the Yanks tonight. Taking two out of three in Boston is a pretty damn good way to open up the season. The best part of it was that they sacked Jonathan Papelbon with the L. I never get tired of seeing him get rocked. Someone tell me why I drafted him on my fantasy team. Not on one team, but on two. Yeah, I'm a dummy.

I'm pretty happy that the Yankees took two of three in Boston. If I told you before the series started that the 2-3-4 hitters would combine to go 2-36 and no Yankee starter would earn a decision, you'd think they were swept. Sure they could have played better but winning 2 of 3 is a very good thing.

Granderson's HR was huge but the player of the game is without a doubt Chan Ho Park. Talk about a total 180. Chan Ho Park was a different pitcher tonight. I'm not sure if the Yankees are still passing around a WWE Championship belt but if they are it better go to Park. He was flat out awesome tonight. I totally didn't see it coming. He not only gave the team 1 shutout inning. He not only gave the team 2 shutout innings. He gave them 3 shutout innings. Nicely done CHP. It's too early though to know which Chan Ho Park is the real one. Hopefully it's the one we saw tonight. It's going to be nice having two long men in the bullpen. If the Yankee starter ever gets into trouble, Aceves and Park could easily enter the game and keep the other team down giving the Yankee offense ample time to score some runs. We saw it a lot last year. We'll see it again this year.

Great outing tonight from Andy Pettitte. He struggled a little early on but he settled down and pitched a great game. You think I'd know by now that I shouldn't worry so much that Andy allows so many guys to reach base. He allowed 10 guys to reach base and allowed only 1 run. Vintage Andy. Andy has a career WHIP of 1.36. He lets 'em on but he doesn't let 'em in. You gotta love Andy. So glad he came back this year.

Not a lot of offense tonight. The top of the order, except for Jeter, has been struggling. Johnson, Teixeira, and A-Rod went a combined 0-12 tonight. The trio had a pretty bad series at the plate, combining to go 2-for-36. Johnson and Teixeira are still hitless. I'm not concerned and if you are, you shouldn't be. We all know Mark Teixeira is a slow starter. Nick Johnson is going to have a really high OBP. And A-Rod, is well, A-Rod. If the rest of the lineup stays hot and those guys get going, watch out.

The bottom of the order on the other hand is off to a pretty good start. Curtis Granderson had a damn good series. His HR off Papelbon was a thing of beauty. There's a lot of talk during the game and after it that it was his "Yankee moment." I think it was a great moment, but I'm on the fence about it being his "Yankee moment." I know it came against the Red Sox. I know it was off Papelbon. But it's the 3rd game of the season. It's a little too early for me to call it a "Yankee moment." It's close, real close, but I can't call it a "Yankee moment."

Dick Clark: "Snails. Molasses. Turtles. Paint drying." Me: "Things that are faster than Jorge Posada." Ding ding ding. Holy cow Jorge is slow. The Yankees are lucky that JD Drew made a crappy throw on Swisher's single. He would have had Posada by a mile if that throw was online. And what is up with Posada not sliding? If my memory serves me correctly he pulled the same crap last year. You'd think as a catcher he'd know the drill.

It's always good to win a series. It's always good to win a series in Boston. Not a bad way to open the season. Off day tomorrow. Enjoy it.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Pitching Falters In Opening Night Loss To Red Sox

I woke up this morning in more pain than I was in yesterday. Again, spent the weekend scraping paint and painting my garage. Forearms and shoulders are killing me. I'm so out of shape. After watching last night's loss to the Red Sox, I'd say the Yankees pitching is pretty out of shape too. They were far from being in top form. Thing started out real well and then the wheels fell off.

CC Sabathia started out well. He looked real good to me in the first few innings. He had a few rough spots but pretty much came through them unscathed. I'm not sure what happened to him in the 5th, which is when things started to turn. I don't think it had anything to do with his physical condition, meaning I don't think he was running out of gas. His strike-to-ball ratio was just under 56% which to me isn't anything to write home about. He only walked 2. Conclusion: He wasn't attacking the strike zone. CC would have probably made it through 7 innings if he had thrown a few more strikes. At one point, he had a 4-run lead and had only allowed 1 hit. Hope he learns his lesson and attacks the zone next time.

The Yankees bullpen didn't have a banner night either. David Robertson gives up the tying run on his first pitch. The team gets the lead back and Chan Ho Park quickly gives it back up. Damaso Marte was crazy wild. Joba wasn't any better. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things to come. They were pitiful last night. I'm definitely not sold on Chan Ho. Hopefully, it was opening night jitters and nothing more. He has to earn my love. Last night's performance isn't the best way to do that.

I love the Yankees lineup. As I've written before, I think it's perfect. Collectively, the lineup had a great night. Anytime you score 7 runs you should win the game. I'm really liking my Cano-for-MVP prediction. Robbie hit the ball hard all spring and it continued yesterday. He came up with RISP and while he didn't pick up a hit, he at least had a productive out. His groundout scored Teixeira and moved A-Rod to 3rd, which put him in position to score on Posada's AB. Good night for Robbie.

Great night for Jorge Posada at the plate. 3 hits. 2 RBI. 1 HR. Maybe his Dad should call him in the dugout more often. Except next time maybe he should give him some catching tips. He's got to catch that pitch from Marte. If it hits the glove the catcher has to stop it. Period.

Loved the double steal that Jeter and Gardner pulled off. Great call by the coaching staff. It worked perfectly. Gardner had a good night at the plate also but his arm needs a little work. What was up with that throw to 3rd or home? I have no idea where he was going with that. It was ugly.

Derek Jeter had 2 hits. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Nick Johnson went 0-3 with 2 walks. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Nick Swisher killed a rally. Yeah, that sounds about right. I really was hoping Swish would homer in the opener so it would get the fundraiser of to a good start, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. The pledge drive is picking up some love from the Yankee fans on Twitter. I hope to get their "pledges" and track them on the "tracker" which is in the upper left part of the blog. If you want to donate, please let me know. No amount is too small. Someone on Twitter said they'd do $1/HR. You gotta love it.

So the title defense didn't get off to the best start. Keep in mind before you declare the season over that the Yanks lost their first 8 games to the Red Sox last year. Keep in mind that they love to start slow. We've seen this before. No cause for alarm. No reason to be concerned.

For those of you lucky enough to be in front of a TV today, enjoy Opening Day! I'm jealous. Lucky jerks.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

A Little Catching Up

I'm so not a fan of blogging once a week. My schedule is pretty hectic right now though I anticipate it dying down soon. I typically blog during my lunch break at work but that hour has been overrun by meetings and having to spend it catching up on other stuff because of meetings. So not fun. Today's a free day, so here I am. Let her rip.

Chan Ho Park is now officially a Yankee. His arrival should strengthen what I think is already a pretty solid bullpen. The only downside to the move is that to make room for Park on the 40-man roster, the Yankees had to designate Edwar Ramirez for assignment. Depending on your view of Edwar, it may or may not be a bad thing. I've never been a big Edwar fan so for me, it's not a bad thing. Edwar had some promise but by and large he never materialized into much of anything. His 2008 campaign was decent. He pitched to a 3.90 ERA and opponents hit .215 off of him. His 2007 and 2009 season were dismal. In those seasons, he combined to throw 43 innings, allowing 49 hits and 32 walks (1.88 WHIP) and had an ERA just south of 7 at 6.91. Edwar is also turning 29 in a few weeks and I believe that makes him the oldest RP on the staff next to Damaso Marte (35), Sergio Mitre (6 weeks older than Ramirez), Park(36), and the legend Mariano Rivera (40). Marte is a lefty so Edwar loses there. Mitre can start so Edwar loses there. Comparing Edwar to Mariano is like comparing me to Mariano. So that pretty much leaves Park. So it comes down to who would you rather have: Edwar or Park? I'll take Park. He's been around. He's more reliable. He can start in a pinch. I don't think he's by any means a saving grace, but he doesn't have to be. I like the move. Who knows? Maybe Edwar will make it through the process and return to the organization.

We're 2 days away from the spring opener. I'm so excited. I have to remember to set the DVR. The only drawback of ST games, besides that the scrubs play most of the games, is that they're usually in the afternoon. Can't wait to start watching the highlight shows. I'm just hoping I can fit it in around my kids schedules. Can't miss Handy Manny. Chad Gaudin will start the opener but the real fun starts on Thursday when CC Sabathia squares off against Roy Halladay in a Worl Series rematch. This could very well end up being the same matchup we see for game 1 of the 2010 World Series. I'm looking forward to each tossing their handful of innings.

The last thing I wanted to discuss was the contract status of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Is it me or does it seem like the media is making a big deal out of the Yankees not negotiating with these guys prior to the end of their contracts? It's gotten way too much play if you ask me. It was even mentioned during the news portion of The Howard Stern Show. This is such a non-story. Both of these guys will be back in Pinstripes next year and neither are bothered by the fact that the Yankees are waiting to negotiate the deals with them. There is absolutely zero chance that these guys end up somewhere else. I wouldn't be surprised if their deals are signed within a week of the end of the season. The Yankees basically just need to give these guys whatever they want.

I had plans to write a little more but my lunch is about to end and I'm off to a meeting. Lunch breaks are never truly lunch breaks because people still come up to me and need something. I spent about 45 minutes writing this and I'd say that 25 of those minutes were spent doing work things. Part of the reason I'm waiting for these games to start is because I'll blog after the games and tweet during the games. The activity here will definitely be picking up. My apologies again for the delay in posting.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Damon, Wang v. Park, Hughes v. Joba

It was a pretty uneventful couple of days. I wasn't expecting much since pitchers and catchers just reported 5 days ago. I'm a little bummed because things aren't in full swing yet. I'm jonesing for some games. I'm jonesing for some video. Sure, I could probably dig some up online but hey, I'm lazy. I prefer TV. I wish there was some daily 1/2 hour show about the Yankees. I watch the coverage on MLB Network (when I can) and I hope that I might get a little nugget here and there but i haven't been fortunate enough to run into anything, save for a brief clip of CC on day 1. Games will be here soon enough. I really can't wait for the Yanks ST opener. Hurry up already. Here are a few little tidbits about some things I saw recently.

• Johnny Damon signed with the Tigers. I really wish the Yanks had found a way to bring JD back. I really like JD. I think he's one of the better guys in the game and I wish him all the best.
• The Yankees have apparently signed Chan Ho Park to a 1-year deal, to presumably pitch out of the bullpen. I'm not exactly sure why the Yanks felt the need to bring in Park except that he's another pitching option. You can never have enough pitching. His salary is being reported at $1.2m. So the Yankees sign Chan Ho Park for $1.2 million but let Chien-Ming Wang walk and he signs a deal with the Nats for $2 million? I don't get that. Admittedly, I'm not as up on CMW as i should be, so I'm sure there's something there I'm missing, but my impression is that the Yanks had no interest in the Wanger whatsoever. I get that b/c there's really no room for him in the rotation, but was an effort even made to bring him in as a swingman a la Park? I'll probably write more on that later.
• The biggest story of the spring for my money is the battle for the 5th spot in the rotation between Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. My prediction: Phil Hughes. I've been touting him as a superior pitcher to Joba and I think this season is the season everyone else sees that. Not sure if anyone else saw the picture over at Lohud of the 2 leaving the bullpen. If not, you can find it here. Is it me or does Joba look a little softer than usual? I know those microfleeces aren't the most flattering shirts, but he looks a little bigger than usual. At least to me anyway. Team Hughes all the way. More on this as the spring develops.

Be back later, as time allows.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie