Yanks Making Moves Y'all

According to Pete Abe's blog, the Yankees made some moves today. Melky Cabrera was optioned to the minors and Richie Sexson was released. The Yanks recalled Brett Gardner and also Cody Ransom.

I've made it perfectly clear here that I'm not a big Melky fan. He's nothing more than a 4th OF at best. I never understood why he got as much love from the Yanks as he did. Don't get me wrong, he was good out of the box, but his value has been rapidly declining ever since. It was time to move him out, but I'm not sure that bringing Brett Gardner up does the team any better. They're pretty much the same type of player. I'd almost argue Melky has more value. For one he's a switch hitter whereas Gardner strictly hits from the left. Melky probably also has a leg up on Gardner defensively, definitely having the better arm. I would assume that this means Johnny Damon is the new everyday CF, with Nady taking over the full-time gig in LF. If it's not that way it should be. Like I said, having Gardner in the lineup is almost like playing Melky. Unless they're trying to send a message to Melky, or give him time to figure things out int he minors, I don't quite get it. (edited to add @ 4:45- Gardner is the starting CF tonight. Now I really don't get this move??)

As for Richie Sexson getting released? I'm a little surprised by that too. I thought he's done alright for the Yanks, better than expected. He hit .250 with an OBP of 371 as a Yank. Not superstar numbers, but not bad. He was pretty much there to hit against lefties, which he seemed to be doing a good job of for the Yanks. He was hitting .273 with an OBP of .393 and a SLG of .455 against LHPs. Seems decent to me. Ransom has some OK #s this year for Scranton. Overall, he's hitting .255 with an OBP of .338 and a SLG of .482. Against LHPs, he's .203/.303/.520. Nothing to excited about. So again, this move, like the other one, not making a whole lot of sense. It's not like Sexson was making millions.

These 2 moves aren't going to do much to improve the Yankees chances at making the postseason. It makes me wonder if something else is on the horizon?? Cough, cough, Barry Bonds. Don't forget to vote in the "should the Yanks sign Bonds" poll in the upper left.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

ps- if the "plagiarizer" reads this, that's how you do it. Credit the source and expand on it with your own insight. Not too difficult.

Yanks Get Off On The Good Foot, Good God, Moose Gets Some Run Support

Moooooooooooose! That's my man. Pickin' up win #12. Again tied for the league lead in wins. Lowering his ERA to 3.49. What more could a card carrying member of the Mike Mussina Fan Club ask for? The only thing we've been jonesing for lately when it comes to Moose's starts is some run support. Prior to this start the Yanks have scored 2 runs or less in 5 of Moose's last 6 starts. Tonight, they picked him up getting him 7 runs. Funny though how when they only need 2 runs, they bust out with 7. But when they need 3 runs, they can only muster 2. In his last 9 starts, Moose has pitched to an ERA of 2.64. Who would have thunk it, right? He pitched another solid game tonight. He allowed 9 hits in his 6 innings, but was able to neutralize the hits by not issuing any walks and striking out 6. He struck out the side after allowing a leadoff single in the 2nd. Struck out Mark Ellis to end the 4th with 2 on. Struck out Jack Cust in 5th with 2 on and no out, and followed it up with a double play. That's pitching right there. Moose has totally overshot everybody's expectations this year. It's hard to believe the season he's having when you look back at last year. I really hope the Yanks take a good hard look at bringing him back. They could use his veteran leadership with all the young arms. The starters getting schooled by Moose. The relievers getting schooled by Mariano. Nothing wrong with that. I have a feeling that Moose is going to make a serious run at his 1st 20 win season this year. The offense just needs to give him a little support. He could already have about 15 wins if this offense would perform to its potential. Tonight was a step in the right direction.

The offense did an outstanding job tonight, working 10 hits and 7 walks off A's pitching. They played their game. They saw a lot of pitches, worked a lot of counts, swung at the right pitches, and racked up 7 runs for their effort. Richie Sexson had a pretty good debut in Pinstripes. You definitely want to see him get off on the right foot an a 2-out RBI single in his 1st AB is a great start in my book. 1 for 3 with a walk and a ribbie. I'll take it. Cano slumped a little bit right before the break but got off to a nice start. Robbie in his career has statistically been a better hitter after the All-Star break. I wish I wrote down the stats they flashed on the broadcast tonight that showed his 1st half vs. 2nd half numbers but I wasn't thinking. But take my word for it, his 2nd halves have been better than his firsts. And his first half this year was one to forget. 2 for 4 with a 3-run shot isn't a bad beginning. A-Rod, well, he's just A-Rod. On the field, he's been quietly (in my opinion) having a pretty good year. Off the field, well, that's a different story. But tonight he hit his 20th longball, raised his average to .318, and knocked in his 54th and 55th RBI of the season. I don't think he'll be able to catch Josh Hamilton for the most RBI, but he'll make a run at the batting title and the HR title. Take that to the bank. Johnny Damon, please hurry back. I like Brett Gardner and all, but let's face it, he's a big bust so far. I didn't think he'd do worse than Melky, but I was wrong. I know the sample size is a lot smaller and a few base hits will change things but he looks overmatched right now. It's definitely not his time. Finally, the most encouraging stat of the night is that the Yankees had 6 2-out RBI. Tonight was all about getting off on the good foot, and the offense did that. Let's build on it and roll it into a nice long winning streak.

How great is the Yankee bullpen right now? David Robertson, Edwar Ramirez, and LaTroy Hawkins combined for 3 perfect innings, striking out 6 collectively. In their last 10 games, the Yankees bullpen has thrown 28.1 innings, allowing 11 hits, 6 walks, 6 earned runs, and has struck out 32 hitters. For those of you without a calculator, the ERA works out to 1.91. Not too shabby. Some might even say lights out. I think we can safely say that we're better off with Joba in the rotation. The guys in the pen have kicked it up a notch and it's going to win us some ballgames.

I don't think we could have asked for a better start to the 2nd half tonight. Great pitching from the starter. Great pitching from the pen. Timely hitting. 7 runs. Yeah, that'll do. Let's build on it. There's plenty of baseball left to play. We ain't done yet.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Reach Agreement With Richie Sexson

It's being reported that the Yankees have reached a tentative agreement with recently released slugger Richie Sexson. While I'm not a big Sexson fan, the move makes sense. The Yanks are desperate for a right handed bat with some pop and they get that with Sexson. Sexson is having a good year against LHPs - .344 AVG/.423 OBP/.623 SLG. For his career, Sexson is .265/.369/.510. The Yanks have a league leading 1031 ABs against LHPs this year. Collectively, they're hitting .257 (9th best in AL), with a .338 OBP (4th best in AL), and a slugging percentage of .394 (9th best in AL).

Sexson's bat will only improve the Yanks lineup when they go up against LHPs. He's definitely a better option than Wilson Betemit or Shelley Duncan. This is another low risk, high reward signing by Brian Cashman. The Yanks are looking at a price tag of about $161,000 as Seattle is picking up the rest. Chump change if you think about it.

The real question is what will John Sterling come up with when Sexson goes deep for the 1st time? "It is high. It is far. It is gone. Richie Sexson. Getting sexy with it." Or better yet, Sterling will channel his inner Borat and exclaim, "It is high. It is far. It is gone. Richie Sexson. Sexson time. It's niiice." Now that would be a call I could get behind.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie