I definitely miss Sheff. I like what Dave Pinto posted and his recommendation that maybe the Yanks should platoon Matsui and Sheff so their defense isn't hurt w/o Melky.

That was, indeed, a fun game. Fortunately for me, I turned off the TV in the 9th, when I saw Villone coming in. I had a good feeling the Yanks would win, but I figured it would be a while, and decided to stop fighting the drowsiness side-effect of my night time cough syrup, and let my head hit the pillow.

I said this yesterday re: the bullpen, and it bears repeating: Mo, Proctor, Bruney. The rest will drive us looney.

Bring the mash, Sheff! Perfect timing, too. Giambi needs rest. With Halladay going tomorrow, tonight is Yanks best chance to reduce the magic # before Friday.

I've heard this a lot lately, about how much better Melky is than Godzilla in left. I'm not saying that Cabrera isn't a superior fielder, he certainly has a stronger arm, but exactly how much better does everyone think he is than Matsui? The fact that Matsui has been hurt all year helps give an edge to Cabrera. I don't know the answer but is Melky really THAT much better than Godzilla out there? I'm asking...

Also, I didn't mention it, but another nice job by D. Rasner last night, man.

Most reports indicate that Gary Sheffield pavanoed his way through rehab. On more than one occasion this season Sheffield indicated that his health and his next contract were more important to him than helping the Yankees this season. And as my good friend Chris noted, what Sheffield's allegedly generous offer to play first base actually does is undermine Giambi--who can't seem to handle DHing--and Craig Wilson, who can actually play first base, while making Sheffield look like he's been a team player all season.

So I might be alone, but I wish Sheffield would disappear.

3 Better range, too.

Right re: Rasner. The guy has to be on the postseason roster. He's certainly better than Lidle at this point.

That Guiel catch certainly helped his Oct. campaign.

Sheff v. Guidry. Gator better wear some Posada gear on the mound.

Yeah Rasner really impressed me. Rasner BETTER be on the post season roster. Was Torre asked if Rasner was going to be on the post-season roster?

Yo, I just heard about and then watched the highlights of the Dodgers-Padres game last night. Holy f-in Cow. Are you serious?

4 I think that's a matter of perception, Murph. Some portray Sheff as dogging rehab, others have described him as hungry.

I don't think his willingness to play first is a shot at undermining Giambi, he's just fighting to get back on the field. He's been replaced by Abreu, and still wants to play for a few more years. First base is an obvious move for him. I doubt Giambi takes it personally.

Even if Sheff proves he can handle first, you have to wonder if Joe will put him there in the playoffs, with about a week of experience at the position. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

7 The Padres stink, and the Dodgers are getting hot at the right time. Mets fans, who I've been congratulating all morning, should be most worried about the Dodgers, in my opinion.

8 Sorry about that Murray. Inadvertently typed Murphy.

4 Don't worry, you're not alone. I couldn't have said it better, even if I often say it longer.

But I promised not to rant for a while...

4 If Sheff can hit, I'd like him to be here for this season, but I don't see any room for him next year. I don't think he was necessarily dogging rehab; wrists are tricky things and with his swing he needs that to be at 100%. Plus, wasn't it last year when he was playing with a hurt shoulder most of the year?

Octavio Dotel must not be on the post season roster. Let's clinch sooner, so that Villone can get some rest. At least, I hope some rest will help him bounce back into form (this season form, not career form).

12 Dotel's done. He'll just get garbage time for the rest of the month.

Rasner seems to be the only one who's still auditioning for Oct., but who does he replace if Joe goes with 11 pitchers?

I prefer him to Lidle at this point.

Anyone else catch Jeter's baserunning gaff last night? Calls the double steal when A-rod has two balls, they end up walking A-rod to the empty base? It worked out fine, but when the telecast showed Jeter on Third, he seemed to know he made a boo-boo. Not a big deal, I only mention it because I turned to my wife and commented that that was the first baserunning error I can recal Jeter ever making, besides maybe his rookie year. He reminds me of the lore of Joe D. People say they never saw him misplay a ball in the field.

Class.

4 I suppose people will look at a given situation in any way they want, and use "evidence" to back themselves up. I, for one, can't see Mr. Sheffield in his underground lair, quietly plotting to undermine the success of the Yankees by taking their worst fielder off the field. If it were to mean that Giambi got to rest, and he's obviously looking very tired, then by all means put Sheff at first base for the rest of the season. Because right now, Giambi is by far the weak part of the lineup. I don't really think Sheff's going to be a terrible first baseman, but its a baptism by fire to play an infield position for the first time on the turfs of Toronto and Tampa. Eesh.

As for Craig Wilson, I will not cry any tears if he is left off the post season roster. The Chuck Knoblauch-esque non-tag of Crisp in the Boston series shows me that I don't want him playing first base in a meaningful game. His 28 K and just 4 walks in 92 Yankee at bats shows me that I don't want him at the plate either. I'd be happy with a postseason bench of Sheff, Bernie, Cairo, Fasano, and Guiel.

14 Yeah, those are the types of base running mistakes that don't get you in trouble, especially if you're Jeter.

What about Bernie's funky hip check breaking up the DP. He was really just defending himself. That was another strange base running moment that worked out for the Yanks.

14 I have seen Jeter make some baserunning mistakes. Very few, though. Can you believe his SB rate?

Podsednik has 5-6 more steals and has been caught 14 more times than Jeter. In the ChiSox/Oak game the other day, Podsednik got caught stealing. The ChiSox proceeded to load the bases after that(And they lost by 1 run). Why would you steal when you have Konerko/Thome/Dye coming up?

I'd always rather see a runner making a mistake being too aggressive than being caught sleeping.

My guess is Jeter saw an opportunity he wanted to exploit and lost track of A-Rod's at-bat.

You'd think since Jeter got badly hurt at 3rd base in Toronto a few years ago, he'd be more careful approaching that base. But that's another thing that separates Jeter from mere citizens.

4 I really doubt Sheff's been dogging it...he wants the money and the glory in the coming years with his contract up( whether it's the Yanks or someone else), so he's not stupid enough to be eating candy bars in the clubhouse and rehabbing indifferently. Pavano's got the cash coming in...Sheff isn't guaranteed anything, so he's got to be hungrier.

On the other hand, he's been pretty transparent about his "it's all about me" attitude lately, so I view the stint at first base with some suspicion. However, given what Craig Wilson did the other day, I'd be just as happy not to see Wilson on the post season roster.

Oh, and since I started typing this (with a interruption from a phone call....client wants their photographs taken at Fenway...yuk), looks like mehmattski has said the same thing.

If Shef doesn't re-sign with the Yankees, good chance he ends up in Boston to play 1st base. I was listening to Gammons last week (nice to hear him back, by the way), and he mentioned this twice.

I would not like that.

12 Why does everyone think all Villone needs is rest? Didn't Torre recently give him 10 days off? Maybe he is reverting to his normal form of being a mediocre pitcher.

I bursted into the same laughter like last night when I saw the following line in Tyler Kepner's article.

"Rivera they were not."

I think that was a laugh of panic.

20 Mr. Gammons can forget about Sheff going to the Sox.

If Sheff can still hit, he'll be back next year, not only because the Yanks can afford him, but because Giambi, Damon, Matsui, Abreu, any of them could be injured at any time. The season is long. There's plenty of room on the roster for Sheff's bat.

Cashman might try to play hardball with him over the $13 mill, but Sheff is a Steinbrenner guy, and there is always room on the Yanks for a Steinbrenner guy who can mash.

I don't think that Sheffield dogged his rehab, but I do suspect that Abreu's arrival made Sheffield push his recovery faster. Unless he is completely cold, I can't see how having Sheffield's bat in the line up hurts the Yankees. Sheffield at 1st base is a disaster waiting to happen so I have to think that he only plays there in an emergency.

I think a lot of people over-estimate the difficulty of playing 1B. Historically, it's where they put the guys that can't play defense at all (Steve Bilko, Dick Stuart) or move guys who get too fat or slow to play their original position (Thome leaps to mind, but there are many others) or guys go to finish their careers when injuries and age have taken away everything but their bats (Mantle, Musial, etc.)
Sheffield has already played IF at the major league level, and is still a very good athlete. He's probably already better there than Giambi.

21 It's called hope. Yanks are going to need a decent bullpen in the PS and last night was just plain indecent. This is the wrong time of the year for Villone to quit being good.

Best piece I've read today on Sheff to first base is in the NJ Star Ledger:

http://tinyurl.com/k443o

which includes this:

Torre has had a player move from outfield to first base before. In September 1979, as Mets manager, Torre asked Lee Mazzilli to go from center field to first.

"First base is very easy to play," said Mazzilli, now the Yankees bench coach, "but first base is hard to play if you want to be good at it."

I think if Shef shows that he can still rake in the next week+, he has the DH all wrapped up. That would push Giambi back to 1B. With Wilson's play this weekend, it may have opened up a postseason roster spot for Andy Phillips as the late inning 1B defensive replacement.

Shef at DH, you ask? what about Godzilla? If I was a betting man -- and based on Torre's M.O. -- I see Matsui getting at least 5 games at LF for the remainder of the season as a test. I hate to say this, but if Matsui passes the test, then unfortunately it leaves our boy melky as the LF defensive replacement/pinch hitter-runner. We all know that Melky's been great, but Torre's a "trust" man who would rather stick to the "vets" that he has a history with. He may not want to open the postseason with a rookie in LF and would probably prefer a vet like Hideki starting in LF.

So that would mean:

Damon - CF
Jeter - SS
Abreu -- RF
Shef - DH
Arod - 3B
Giambino - 1B
Matsui - LF
Posada - C
Cano - 2B

Melky, Phillips, Bernie, Cairo, Guiel - Bench

WOW!!!

24 Abreu and the fact that the Yankees are this much closer to a ring this year?

I am sorry for bringing this up again. But Giambi's season is really being played out in a pattern, isn't it? you know, that hot April, cold May, hot June thing...Someone mentioned this months prior, I never thought this pattern thing would actually come true.

25 There's a certain MVP-caliber DH (you know...lots of HRs and RBIs), who, when he can be bothered to put on a glove, plays first base. I certainly think Sheffield could do it if Mr. God of Clutchiness can...though it may not always be pretty.

14 That wasn't a gaff. It was a great choice, I think.

It's easy to think that runners on first and second with A-Rod batting is better than bases loaded with Andy Phillips batting, but if that were really true, then the Jays would just walk Alex even if Jeter and Abreu didn't steal. Bases loaded is better -- and the actual result shows one big reason why.

23 It will be an interesting test, because while Sheffield may be a Steinbrenner guy, he's not a Cashman guy. Cashman didn't want to sign Sheff, wanted to go aggressively after Guerrero.

I'd be very careful about signing Sheffield in the situation you envision - having him be one of 6 or 7 guys for 5 positions. If he thinks he's not being given enough at-bats, or if he doesn't like someone else starting ahead of him - if he feels he's not being treated with sufficient respect in any way - he won't be happy. And if he's not happy, you don't want him on your team.

Alex, by the way, is the title to this post from De La Soul?

32 Worst case scenario, which you present, he'll be in last year of his deal with the Yanks, and he can go to the Red Sox, or wherever when he's 39.
It's a 1 year, $13 million dollar deal for the Yanks to retain his bat, a bargain in Yankees currency.

28 oops, I forgot Fasano. So, I guess that means that Guiel will be left off the roster.

28 If Matsui can do it, then like Torre said, LF is his job. As much as I love Melky, the Yankees didn't pay him 52 million for 4 years to play LF. The issue is whether Sheff can come back like Matsui or not. If not, problem solved. If he can (that can only be a huge plus for the Yankees), who else besides Melky can they shift from the lineup?

33 Even better: http://tinyurl.com/4l955

Thank goodness for Google.

3 The Yankees have improved their Defensive Efficiency from .698 in 2005 to .708 to date this year. Melky over Godzilla has been their only major replacement (of course, Cano over Cano helps too).

38 Damon over Bernie, too.

This is unrelated, but thinking about the last night's wild Dodgers/Padres game, it's somewhat relevant. I just read a great article in the Wall Street Journal about the shot heard around the world--Bobby Thompson's game winner of Ralph Branca in 1951. This event was before my time, but I became very interested in it after reading Underworld, by Don Delillo (great book, by the way). The journal article is an excerpt from a recent book and talks about the fact that the Giants were stealing signs and that Thompson knew Branca was going to throw him a fastball. It's interesting to see how these two players, whow were bound after their playing careers ended, coped with this knowledge (Branca heard about the sign stealing a few years after).

There's also some great anectdotes about how different well-known figures reacted to Thopmson's home run.

Good stuff. Here is the link, but you need a WSJ subscription.

http://tinyurl.com/pd99v

34 Without ranting: the worst-case scenario, an unhappy Sheffield, can make a year seems like a very long time. And the more you plan on having him share time, the more likely that scenario is.

7 You should have heard the Steiner call on the radio - heard it on the XM show this morning. He was absolutely frothing.

3 I was reading an article the other day that stated that not only was Melky better than Matsui, but his range actually raises Damon from average to above average.

With all these discussions about Sheff, Matsui, and Melky, I can't help but think, are we witnessing the last two months of Bernie's career? And to be more precise, the last games of Bernie's career?

33 It's no Conjunction Junction, but you've gotten it stuck in my head nonetheless. Which is no better than the "Anamaniacs" theme that had been stuck in my head previously. Crap.

Um, baseball... I look forward to a lot of Andy Cannizaro and Kevin Thompson in the upcoming days. Only 14 days till the playoffs start!

With appologies to unpopster (#27 yesterday), I need to retract my assertion (in #35) that Detroit talk show hosts are not concerned about postseason opponents.

Yesterday, I heard a talk show host state that he was rooting for the White Sox to overtake the Twins, since they would have the best chance at beating the Yankees in the Divisional Series, thus protecting the Tigers from the Yankee jugernaut in the ALCS.

3 6 9, 12 15 18, 21 24 27, 30
It's the magic number.

41 Without forcing your rant, Joe and Cashman get paid a lot of money to handle such situations. I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure if they decide to retain Sheffield, (without your blessings) the platoon picture (not the Oliver Stone Viet War flick) will be presented to Sheffield, and he'll make promises to stifle himself. Joe and Cashman can handle any such problem that might arise.

45 Oh, great. I googled the "Three" song, but I don't really know it well. I was a little old for Schoolhouse Rock, but I did turn on Saturday morning TV from time to time, which made "Conjunction Junction" unavoidable. Thanks to you, it's taken over my brain now...

The Yanks shouldn't mess with the defense this year. I think their best shot at winning the World Series is with Melky playing the majority of the innings in left and Matsui and Sheffield DHing and pinch hitting.