Unless there's some big issue with Damon (that is, the club decides he's too expensive to be a fourth OF, say), I can't see them letting Abreu walk. (Appropriately enough!)

His is not a crushing power game--if he's losing his batting eye, it really compromises his value.

Take out May, when he batted .208 with a .267 OBP just a terrible month, and
July when he batted .353 and OBP'd .384 (would you take more pitches when you're locked in like that?) and he's right in line with his career patience-wise.

(Note, for August so far, he's batted .563 with a .650 OBP- 9 for 16 with 4 walks. Not too shabby.

2 3 I think I can explain why Abreu has been seeing a lot more strikes, and walking less - I think the pitchers are being very careful when pitching to Abreu. Something to do with the guy hitting behind him. =)

AL Wildcard
Yanks 48.55189
Indians 13.56776
Tigers 13.16777
Twins 4.52416
M's 6.49261
Jays 5.34386
Red Sox 3.95238
Angels 3.25237

Yanks have gone up 15.34248% since Friday morning. Their overall playoff odds are 52.85621, the first time its been over 50, and their highest of the season. Best of all, the Yanks are now just behind Detroit (58.98911) and the Indians (60.71988) in overall odds.

I really think his lower OBP was due to his prolonged slump. He was not only hitting poorly, but swinging at pitches he doesn't normally swing at. I think he will end up at .380 or better, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Its seems Bobbie is prone to emotional mood swings which greatly effect his game. Hopefully, maybe, like ARod, he can find his 'center' and continue to be very productive.

With Giambi and Joba up, and hopefully a bench of JD, Betemit, Shelly, Molina and maybe Cairo, this is a VERY solid and flexible team. And not that old either. After next year, with Moose, Petttitte and Giambo gone, and maybe more kids to replace them, we will actually be a pretty young team.

Any Kudos for Cashman?
It took a while, but I am thrilled with the current (+ Giambi and Joba) roster!

Detroit or Cleveland will almost certainly win their Division -- maybe 5 or 6% for Minnesota. So that leaves just about 12% each for Detroit or Cleveland to take the WC. (Their total play-off chances sum to about 120% so about 25% of that must be for WC.)
If the Yankees are only getting < 50%, who gets the rest?? Seattle? They seem like a really long shot right now (given up more runs than they've scored, expected wins at about 86, so they'd have to play way above expectations).

Jim Brower? What does Joba need to do in the minors? Strike every batter out on 3 pitches or less?

Myers had better numbers than Farnsy against both RH and LH.

You just now that Duncan is going back to Dunder-Mifflin when Giambi comes back.

17 Wasn't Brower a Giant a couple of years ago?

Eh, what do I know, maybe they don't want to jerk Joba back and forth from AAA to AA.

I didn't get to see all of yesterday's game, how did Betemit look at first?

As awful as the slump was, I always thought he'd come out of it. He's not done. He is, however, entering his decline phase.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Brower

http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/broweji01.shtml

I'm not sure what another righty with a dodgy WHiP is going to do for the Yankees, unless he gets the seat at the end of the bullpen bench that Edwar was in.

Brower SF, yep! Good memory. (Just click one of his links at the right, near the bottom of this page.)

24 Myers has cleared waivers?? I guess I still don't understand how this works. Is it that he can't be designated until he clears?

Thus, Brower! But curious as to why it's not Ramirez.

Question, maybe someone can help me out: Why can't the Yankees DFA Farnsworth?

Now that the Yanks have minor league presence (a, AA, AAA) within shouting distance, will we ever see them do something like this? It would be perfect for next year, or even 2009 in the new park.

http://tinyurl.com/2d2h22

They don't say what the source is.

"Now this is curious, the Yankees have called up RHP Jim Brower instead of Edwar Ramirez or Joba Chamberlain."

Curioser and curioser.

He does have nice numbers in AAA, but his ML numbers aren't as appealing and he's 34, not like he's a young kid and discovered control and a new pitch. He's a journeyman RH relief pitcher, he's probably useful in someway, but it doesn't make sense to DFA Myers yesterday and bring up Browers today only because Joba pitched yesterday and they'll bring him up when, Wednesday? Tuesday? Why not just wait to DFA Myers (or Farnsworth). It's not like Myers was so horrible that keeping him on the team for another 2-3 days would wreck the late season surge.

On Sept. 1st, rosters expand to 40, right? Can any 40 be put on this roster? What happens when the postseason starts - does it contract to 25? Are there limitations on which players can be put on the playoff roster?

Thanks!

The Angels in 2002 found a loophole in this, by having a guy who was on the roster in August, but then got hurt in early September, be replaced by young Fransisco Rodriguez - and then getting him on the playoff roster because they claimed he was an "injury replacement". Its technically against the rules but Bud looked the other way (of course).

34 It seems certain Joba is going to Toronto to join the team at some point - why else would they go through all that passport trouble? - so they needed a space sometime before Thursday. I bet the Yanks didn't want to drop Myers in the middle of an international trip - he's been a good teammate and all that - so they did it now. Makes his life a little easier.

Brower gets the call instead of Edwar because he's a "veteran", so Torre might actually use him, and the organization doesn't feel like it owes him anything, so no big deal if he has to go back to SWB on Wednesday. Besides, he has a job waiting for him - Myers does not.

33 Being DFA'd doesn't really enter that equation; it's what the disposition is. If Myers is traded, the new team picks up his salary. If the Yankees can't work out a trade, though, Myers will be released and the Yankees will still pay his salary. Another team can sign him for the major league minimum, and the Yankees have to pay the rest.

Hey, you were at the Stadium for #500, right?

Still, he may be more valuable that other options next year - but (agreed, 25) not at the superstar salary figure. I think the Yanks would be well advised to keep their options open.

Can he play 1B? We may need that next year. Teixeira was the only decent 1B that was/will be available.

Makes sense to me to keep the guy who goes yard. I think that having three outfielders that have large contracts and weak arms/defense is problem with no real easy solution. Interesting to see how it works out.

You are allowed to replace injured players with others on the 40-man.

I believe that the Yankees have done that in prior post seasons as well.

That bench, compared to Cairo, Melky and Nieves as we started the season is a huge, huge updgrade. You can actually PH, PR and not completely lose everything. I'd be much happier seeing Damon PR for Giambi late in a game.

But if his power drops and his walk rate drop, then uh-oh. It may also mean that his OBP (which is still pretty good) is increasingly dependent on BA, and this season suggests that he might be turning into an even streakier play in that regard.

I was just raising the question, that's all. When a player turns 34 or 35, I think you have to start looking for signs of the inevitable decline, rather than focusing too exclusively on career continuities.

As for calling up Brower--I don't read too much into it. Joba is gonna be called up; they didn't move him to the pen just for gags, and he has responded well so far. As others have pointed out, he cannot pitch today (and maybe tomorrow) since he went two innings yesterday. We also don't know his passport situation.

The curious thing about about adding Brower is that he is not on the 40-man roster, so to move him up to the big club means someone has to get bumped. For now, that's Myers. But when Giambi and Joba show up, that means two more slots have to open up. More DFAing is on the horizon, therefore, and it may include Brower himself.

Later in the game - I think it was in the fifth - there was a play that troubled me so much it's hard to believe I saw it correctly. It was a line drive that went about a foot to Jeter's left, belt-high - seriously, it looked to me like all he had to do was lift his glove up a little and it would go right in. But he didn't even make his characteristic wave, he just looked at it as it went by. Did I imagine that?

The fact that they placed Green on their postseason roster even though he had been injured all season just so they could replace him with K-Rod surely seems to violate the spirit of the rule.

Also, the fact that a team has to petition the commissioner to make the change should prevent teams from taking advantage of the loophole by adding "hot" late season call-ups to their playoff roster. For example, the commish could only allow replacement for players who were injured after Sept. 1st. But, as Shuan pointed out Selig just looked the other way and allowed them to do it.