Ah, another night owl post. Five in a row, hell yes!

Mussina's going today. Yay.

If there's something to look forward to, its the Gil Meche bubble has to burst at some point.

From Tyler (and for all you Cano philosophers):

Most impressive of all, though, was Robinson Canó, who drew three walks in a game for the first time in his career. Canó, who walked just twice in all of May, was given the lineup card as a souvenir.

"That's something I need – be patient, see strikes," Canó said. "That way I can become a better hitter."

The hitting coach Kevin Long now tells Canó to take some pitches during batting practice, to sharpen his eye. It is tough to learn selectivity in the majors, but for now, it seems to be working. Canó is batting .500 (21 for 42) in his last 11 games.

"When you swing at strikes, your numbers go up," Long said. "I can't even remember the last time he swung at a ball blatantly out of the zone."

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/and-the-lineup-card-goes-to-robinson-cano/

3 Knowing that Cano is aware of the problem and is actively working on it with Long is encouraging. Even without further development, Cano is a useful player whose raw talent can lead to flashes of brilliance. Should he develop just a moderate amount of patience, his ceiling with jump to perennial All Star.

Incidentally, Melky Cabrera is also once again showing the same patience that made him very useful in 2006. If that development continues, Cabrera should factor into the teams' future in a significant way.

It might seem silly on a club with so many big names, but Cano and Cabrera have had and will have a lot to say about how good the Yankees can be. Not only do they have potential at the plate, but both are now providing a high level of defense at two skill positions….all for around league minimum.

I still want the division! The WC would be nice, but it's too early to surrender the AL East to the Sox.

5 The Wild Card is the beachhead from which to launch an assualt on the division. It would be nice to come down the stretch with the WC as a safety net. Such a scenario would take a lot of pressure off the Yankees and shift all of the burden to the Red Sox.

I don't think there's much evidence showing free-swingers that learn to walk, but Sammy Sosa, another hitter from DR, kinda did. But, it'd be nice if Robbie can continue to draw more walks.

In any event, Robbie has now surpassed his season BB total from '05 & '06. Even if he gets up into the 40-50 BB a season, that would be great for a guy that doesn't strike out all that much.

A few more doubles & HRs for Melky as he matures and you're looking at an excellent defensive CFer with an .800+ OPS, which would put him in the top 5 for the AL.

I had to watch both kids last night alone, so I go upstairs to put my daughter to bed around 8:40; the top of the second inning was a few batters old. By the time I did that, came back down, and fed the baby, it was 9:15. I was sure my sleep-deprived eyes were tricking me, saying that the second inning had just ended, and Damon was going to lead off the 3rd (after leading off the 1st and 2nd). A Trachsel start in Baltimore would have been less tedious, but I'm glad for the win. Now if only the Sox had lost . . .

7 I don't beleive that Cano needs to learn to be Bobby Abreu. What he needs is enough selection to prevent the bad swing and misses on bad pitches. If he can marginally improve his selection on swings he can possibly explode.

7 Pujols did add a whole lot of walks a few years into his career, so there's precedent.

Hey, click over to Catfish Stew where A's fans are complaining about their team's scoring its runs by a string of walks and singles and an error! Grass is always greener, I guess.

5 I'm with you. There shouldn't be any thought of aiming for the wild card, not yet, because it's still too early for that, and it takes away a little of the urgency. Aim directly at the Sox, win every game with that intention - and at the end, the wild card should still be available.

The idea that the Yankees should be happy to see the Red Sox beat the Indians - in July! - is just wrong.

7 I'm not sure I want to see him explode.

Cliff, I'm with you. I'm very happy that the Yanks won last night but the game was brutal to watch. I confess, I fell asleep in the seventh inning.

11 I don't think the Yankees are worrying too much about anyone but themselves. They need to win games regardless of who is in front of them. I can't imagine Joe, Jeter, or anyone else on the team saying otherwise. Keep winning as many games as possible and sort out the standings at the end of the season.

7 Jose Reyes?

7 Sure there is. While free swingers may never develop the patience of Barry Bonds, there are lots of cases of hitters who develop enough patience to avoid offsetting their other contributions. Cano doesn't need to walk 100 times, but 50 would be nice. I don't see any reason why he can't reach that level with only minor adjustments to his approach.

10 Pujols isn't a great example because he was never a free swinger. Also, a good portion of his increase in BB can be attributed to intentional walks, much as the case with Vlad.

11 How about just: "Win every game." Why does there need to be a team to "aim for"? I think too much is made of whether or not the Yankees "pick up a game" by happening to win on days that the Red Sox lose. If the Yankees continue to win between 67% and 75% of their games the rest of the way, that's really all you can ask for, and all that the Yankees themselves can control.

For example: Imagine if the Yankees won their next seven games and the Red Sox lost their next seven, giving a tie on August 1. Now imagine that the seven games are made up over the course of the next 30 games, and the division is tied on September 1. Does it really make all that much difference? I don't think so; the only standings that matter are the ones on October 1.

I think Pujols and Vlad just encouraged pitchers to pitch more balls.

How did Hughes do last night?

Man, I really wish we kept this guy. He's so dedicated, and would have definitely helped the Yankees this season. There's no doubt that if they didn't trade him, the Yankees would be 400 games ahead of the Red Sox right now....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19942469/

Most players walks increase as they mature-some drastically. A hard worker like Cano is a lot more likely than a guy like Soriano (for example) since he'll work on it and Alphonso ignored it.

19 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K

Only inning of trouble was the fifth: double, walk, then unsuccessfully tried to throw out the lead runner at third on a bunt. Facing a bases loaded situation for the first time in his professional career (really!), he induced a pop-up and then two strikeouts to get out of the inning. According to Dave Eiland he was fantastic in those at bats, completely dominating one hitter with a knee-buckling changeup followed by an up-the ladder fastball.

He's ready. After tomorrow, Quest better not start for the Yankees the rest of this season.

Jose Reyes learned how to walk. He went from 27 walks and 300 OBP in 2005 to 53 walks and 354 OBP last year.

This year, he already has 51 walks and 382 OBP.

And the way Jose played in the beginning, I was sure he would be useless because he wasn't patient.

18 that's a very level headed, and obviously correct way to look at it. And if you can remove yourself from the day to day, lets pick one up on the /whoever/ race, then you sir, i admire!

Aprops of nothing (okay, maybe Vizcaino's Mo-inspired "resurgence" to league average):

I heart Chris Carter.

2007 (AAA): .333 .394 .532 (402 AB)
2006 (AAA): .303 .395 .483 (509 AB)

24 yo and stuck behind Conor Jackson.

Now if Mark Teixeira requires Ian Kennedy (according to some), what would Chris Carter cost?

22 Bases loaded for the first time in two and a half seasons? Yikes.

16 Oh, I agree, that's basically what I was trying to say.

I don't think Cano will ever approach 80+ BB, but 20 more walks works out to probably 14 less outs. And that is just fine to go with his bat.

Start-good example. Mine is a lefty 2B who had 30 walks in 459 ABs at age 23 and had 5 seasons of over 90 and 2 of over 100. (He also had 1, 4, and 6 HR his first three full seasons, but was in double figures every full season thereafter with a 162 game average 40 2b and 10 3B.)

20 No problem here trading him, but that was quite a package they got in return!

Let's revisit, shall we?:

Vizcaino: 103 ERA+ 52 IP 31 BB 38 K
Dorf: 4.90 ERA 60.2 IP 22 BB 50 K .290 AVG
Jackson: 6.08 ERA 71.0 IP 33 BB 50 K .322 AVG
A-Gon: .259 .309 .358 344 AB

That's quite a haul! Surely the Yanks couldn't have done better than 3 mL scrubs and a league average reliever!

The player to whom Cano is most readily compared also improved his walk totals during his career.

Rod Carew's Walk %:
67 6.7
68 5.3
69 7.5
70 5.4
71 7.2
72 7.4
73 9.7
74 11.0
75 10.7
76 10.0
77 10.1
78 12.1
79 15.1
80 9.8
81 11.0
82 11.4
83 10.8
84 10.8
85 12.6

Sure, he was never really as bad as the rates for Cano (3.0%, 3.6% and 5.2% this year), but he did improve. Also of note is that Cano walked in 6.7% of his minor league plate appearances.

18 I entirely agree. Someone said the other day that the Yankee win was meaningless because the Red Sox also won, and that's bass-ackwards. The Yankees just have to win, and the rest will (or won't) take care of itself). AS I said o sunday, the Yankees now have a 16-game stretch against bad teams, and they should win 13. So far, so good.

What I really meant above is that, at this point, there shouldn't be any calculations about the wild card race. If you want to watch the scoreboard, look for the Sox to lose.

28 Jim, I'm not going to argue about the trade, but I think your assessment of Vizcaino is deceptive. Sometimes a straight average isn't a useful way to judge someone, and this is one case - because he hasn't been an average reliever at any point this year. He's been an excellent reliever who was abysmal for a month or so, but that doesn't make him an average pitcher.

31 Right - it's bimodal distribution. He was absolutely horrid for the first two months. And he's been wonderful for the last two months.

By the way, his career ERA+?

103 ERA+ in 462 IP.

That's the definition of an "average" pitcher.

28 Jim, given Unit's age and medical history and the fact that the Diamondbacks had to extend him two years, what makes you think Cashman or anyone else could have gotten better players for him?

it's almost inconceivable (Wallace Shawn voice here) that we're arguing the merits or demerits of the Big Unit trade. At this point, the Big Unit is the Big Useless. In a rather predictable development, Johnson has had injury issues that have prevented him from doing the one thing a major league player is paid to do: play. Meanwhile, Vizcaino has actually be useful for the last month, displaying the skill that many Yanks scouts saw in him. It's encouraging that he has adjusted and become useful. Plus, who knows what those scrub propsects will become? There hasn't been a final verdict. The Big Unit? Well, it looks like his career is done, and the D-Backs will be paying him a lot to do nothing.

33 Well, as I said at the time, how about one decent prospect, rather than four scrubs?

And, the D'backs didn't give him an extension - they merely restructured his deal from 1 year at 16 million to essentially two years at 26 mil (salary and signing bonus paid over the next four years). And they got 2 million from the Yanks.

Long story short: If the D'backs were willing to send four scrubs to the Yanks AND give Randy an additional 8 million of their own money, there's no way the Yanks could have gotten one decent player in return?

34 Ohlendorf and Jackson are both 25 yo. The time is very short to show they're worth more than Brett Smith or Jason Jones.

A-Gon is 24 yo and recently demoted to AA so 29 yo Andy Cannizaro could get playing time at The Office.

And Brian Bruney (who the Yanks got for free last year) had a pretty outstanding summer too. It happens with relievers. It also happens that they revert back to who they really are. Problem is, Joe will still depend on them (see Sturtze, Tanyon).

32 Actually, two excellent weeks followed by six horrendous ones, then two superb months. But not once did he enter a game as an average pitcher.

And please, please, PLEASE let's not rehash the RJ deal.

Unit: 10 G, 56 2/3 IP, 119 ERA+
Viz: 51 G, 52 IP, 103 ERA+

The fact that Johnson may be done and Vizcaino is the Yankees second best reliever (after Mo) and the Yanks got three other players in the deal (regardless of how they perform), I'd say that's a fair return.

Turn the tables for a second. If Cashman had traded Vizcaino, two pitching prospects, and a slick-fielding mL shortstop for a broken and likely finished Randy Johnson, then given Johnson a two-year extension. How irrate would you be? Don't you think the D'backs could have gotten something better for that package, like, perhaps, a player that could make it through a full season?

Meanwhile, on the "learning to walk" discussion: Chili Davis. He was never as indescriminate as Robby either, but he improved considerably at the major league level.

37 Actually, his career amounts to an average relief pitcher. So, at the very least, his first game he would have "entered" as an average pitcher.

38 Oops, sorry. You're 100% right. I've been away from comments so long I forgot the rules.

39 Good to have you join in the fun!

1) Let's see what happens the rest of the year.

2) I was fine with trading him. But I would have much preferred one decent prospect to three crappy ones and an average relief pitcher.

3) Tables turned - Andy Cannizaro, Brian Bruney, and maybe Brett Smith and Jason Jones. I'm not sure I'd be too upset. It was a risk for a organization that needed pitching.

4) They didn't give him a two year extension. They restructured his 1 year/16 million deal to essentially 2 years at 26 million (bonus paid over 4 years) with 2 million from the Yankees.

38 Exactly...no knew ground has been broken in this thread, so it's not likely anyone's mind will be changed on the subject.

25 Don't lose sight of the fact that the D-Backs AAA team is in the PCL. I think everyone in that league has at least a .800 OPS.

38 41 The problem is people coming out of the closet now with "the news" 20 and that it coincides with Vizcaino's Brian Bruney tour. None of that changes that it was an awful deal by a guy who just wanted to cut bait with players he didn't acquire (see also Wright, Jaret and Sheffield, Gary).

Too bad he never been willing to cut bait with the scrubs he has acquired (see Pavano, Carl, Farnsworth, Flame, and Damon, Jesus).

45 The news is very relevant though. I think it adds to what I thought was already a good deal. The point is, however, that with nothing new to discuss, it isn't worth rehashing this debate.

43 Well, we are seeing how crappy the three prospects actually are. That was very much in doubt by many in December.

Vizcaino's average performance could be predicted by his average career numbers.

44 Easy to say, much harder to prove. Regardless, he's one of the youngest players across the top of leaderboard in that league. And if we use your lame Grade A "standard", he was hitting better than Daric Barton (#67 in 2007) in that league.

The big rumor down here in Braves country is that Atlanta could be trading Salty for Teixeira. An alternate deal would be Jo-Jo Reyes and Elvis Andrus for Teixeira.

There goes my plan for moving Posada to first and getting Salty as our catcher of the future...
:-(

40 Jim, as I recall, just over a month ago you weren't describing him as an average relief pitcher. You were dismissing a couple of good weeks and calling him the worst pitcher on the Yankee staff. Now that he's been lights out for two months, you're willing to concede that he's average.

Frankly, this is a good argument against the pure objectivity of statistics - the stats themselves mey be objective, but they can be presented in distorted ways for polemic (or sophistic) purposes.

46 Again, let's look up at the end of the year. It's too easy to jump out of the closet now.

The three crappy prospects are going to have a hard time turning it around, but maybe against inferior competition since two just got demoted.

Vizcaino has been an average pitcher his whole career. Maybe he's discovered his inner Mo or maybe he'll rediscover his crappy self.

And Unit pitched with the same problem last year. Let's see if he can return to his best approximation of a LAIM.

To change the subject... I would like to comment on what Cliff wrote about Jeter getting 4 hits and only scoring once. Does anyone find it weird that the last couple years Jeter's OBP has been quite high coupled with hitting in front of A-Rod and his run totals haven't spike or even went down slightly? It would seem like a lock having a good OBP, being a good baserunner and hitting in front of some good run-producers would lead to really high run totals. Any thoughts?

45 Also, it is a tad bit ironic that you think a 27 year old first baseman only rates a handful of low level prospects, but a 42-year old pitcher, coming off of back surgery and a poor season as well as having a price tag of $24mn/2 years merits a good prospect.

I can't come close to figuring out that logic. I am just gald the Yankees were able to dump the salary and get anything back in return.

51 Jeter isn't that far off his pace. Perhaps those weeks when Abreu was an automatic out has caused him to drop slightly from his pace.

48 If they can get Salty they should jump. But I have a hard time