1. Gardner optioned (not Christian)

2. Hawkins DFA'd

3. Kei Igawa had been waived, and just cleared waivers (did I miss this? Did anyone else know about this?)

4. That means, there are only 39 men on the 40-man roster. As I posted on the last thread, I smell another deal in the works.

Whatever one thinks about his upside (or lack thereof), at 23 y.o. he should be playing everyday. If all they need is a PR/5th OF, Christian is more than enough.

Of course, Burnett's "upside" (such as it is) is much higher, and he's in the same divisions.

Nah...you're right. The M's are tanking and the Yankees are picking up the used parts.

On the other hand, Gardner could possibly develop a little bit; Christian won't.

This guy is a runner. I'm not saying ignor other facets of the game, but take advantage of his greatest skill/value and get the most out of it. With his speed, if he takes good routes and gets a good read on the ball off the bat, he could be an above average defender.

This kid almost beat out routine ground balls. If he made a great bunter out of himself, while he will never be a power threat, he certainly could be a high OBP guy who always ends up on 2nd or 3rd base.

Are you guys are willing to bet the PS that 'these 3 amigos' are the real deal, and will continue to pitch well above average?

Didn't Bruney pitch like an absolute stud (0.87 ERA in 19 games) when we first got him? And then, 4.68 ERA in 2007 and walking 5 per 9.

Yes, Edwar 'Little Pedro' Ramirez has made real growth since last year. Veras has actually learned to throw strike 1. Farnsworth has always had talent. But are we just seeing a somewhat random 'good spell' from these guys?

I don't know a lot about Marte other then he is a lefty and has had decent, consistant stats. But are yuz guys ready for Farnsworth in the 8th, in the PS, against MLB's best teams?

I HOPE it's for real and sustainable, but if the wheels come off, will I be surprised?

http://riveraveblues.com/2008/07/26/nadys-improving-numbers-against-righties-3392/#comments

Dan McCutchen is driving to Indianapoilis this afternoon -- roughly 10 hours -- so that he can start for Indy tomorrow at 2 p.m. Quite a way to welcome him to the organization. Ross Ohlendorf is also moving into the Indianapolis rotation. Jeff Karstens, it appears, is going straight to Pittsburgh.

if farnswacker goes tits-up, we'll move marte or veras to the 8th ...

if edwar struggles, robertson gets moved up

if veras struggles, we move another piece around

bruney's close to being back, scott strickland has been great at AAA, jb cox could be in the mix as could scott patterson ... in a situation of great need melancon could come up from AA.

if it springs a leak, we've got plenty of parts to patch it.

grab a beer or a bong hit, but don't sweat the bully, brah.

15 It was something like 23 for 86. Anyway, I did the math at the time, and his bunting average was .262. And again, always having the infield in will result in more grounders getting through. However, Gomez has more hitting ability the Brett, so the announcers thought he could do better then .262. Can Brett?

But a .262 BA for Brett could be a .350+ OBP. With his speed on the basepaths, that gives him real value off the bench.

And now the two idiots behind the mic are trying to argue why it would be a good thing to not have Manny...

is there any way to extort fox?

the guy who regularly demands to be traded.

That said, I wonder how much of this recent pseudo-controversy has been exaggerated by the Sox' FO. Of course, why would they want to do that?
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Hey look...Nady is picking up right where Gardner left off!

I still don't buy that Manny was "faking" anything. Could he play? Obviously, he is. Does his knee really hurt? Probably.

As I have said before, if the Sox really dislike him an he is such a distraction, they can certainly DFA him and I'd be glad for the Yanks to claim him...

He's done this before -- quit on the team, or take mental vacations for stretches. I tend to view him benignly (and so do many of the local fans in Boston) because he really doesn't seem like a malicious guy...just very peculiar and not always in tune with meeting the expectations bestowed upon high profile professional athletes.

But it's pretty clear that fans and the front office alike are pretty done with his act, and many teammates have been pushing for some discipline for a long time. Manny's age and the decline of his bat (along with the expiration of his contract) make it convenient to finally treat him like a child that needs to be disciplined and put in his place.

Great hitter, though, which has obviously excused many sins over the years. I'm sure Jason and Barry Bonds can relate.

He really isn't pitching badly at all. Only one hit, and even that one was just a hard grounder.

Sit down, Papi.

meanwhile, i love robbie cano.

104 damn was that a flashback - everyone looked so small and thin.

my god that cano fella is something when on.
i was mistakenly worried that the knuckleball would thro him off - but he could hit a beach ball right now.

=)

I assume if he Pipps Lugo, Lugo will respond by viciously beating his wife up again.

He scored easily on that play, but looked twice into the outfield. Is there a reason for that?

Crap, I have an early dinner party and have to turn the game off at 6:00 pm.

Two words answer your question: Bobby. Meacham.

Meanwhile Lugo has just taken off his belt.

But I would love to see our bullpen nail it down.

130 134 yes, i meant robbie could hit a beach ball out of the park - and he could probably hit an aspirin now too.

149 i don't like that equation oyf. he certainly has a lot to work on and defintely needs more solid baseball fundamentals and smarts - but i still don't think the dopiest characterization is fair.

andy definitely settling down.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/radio/audio/bpr_080725_1.mp3

But why steal at that point? A-Rod on 2B with two outs will score. Now 7-8-9 leads off next inning.

otherwise, spot on kenny, spot on.

what's with fox not showing the replay again?

Hey, why wasn't the shift on? That ball would have been right to Jeter!

Also, welcome to Bronx Banter.

A bit high risk, given an anxious hitter and a tiring pitcher. We bailed them out.

Getting a player from first to second with two outs is a good time to steal, because it means you can score with only one hit. But trying a double steal with two outs is not worth the risk, especially when the trail runner is not a gifted base stealer. A-Rod was already in scoring position and would easily score on a hit. Yes, you could get two runners in scoring position, but in that circumstance I would not risk the CS for the chance of a second run on one hit.

;-)

But I hate Manny. He disgraces baseball. It was funny for me up until a few years ago. Now he makes me sick.

Damn, who's that guy playing CF for the Yankees today??

Meanwhile, this is the correct order! Walk, double, then I'll permit a couple of long fly outs...

Yet.

This kid's good. Better than Wakefield.

Big difference between IF and Melky is the guy.

They can want who they want all they want. To me as long as it's Igawa + A bunch of cash then that's PLENTY.

Washburn will either waive his no-trade right or get compensated by Seattle in some way.

It's a lot of money, but Washburn would be an upgrade on Ponson or Rasner. Having him around also would cushion the blow if Andy Pettitte and/or Mike Mussina retires after this season or go elsewhere.

"EDIT - Apparently even though the deal was finalized this morning, the players involved were still allowed by their receiving teams to play today as both teams had day games and the deal won't be formally announced until this evening. Or so I'm told anyhow."

Besides, I agree with Monkeypants, why send Gardner down if you know you're trading Melky?

so, he's likely to get a better offer than the yankees should make AND he's very likely a type A free agent ... i think i'd rather have the draft picks.

OYF, for the longest time I just found Manny funny, too, and judged him harmless, goofy, even fresh air in some ways. But lately I'm with you: there's a line between idiosyncratic and disrespect for the game and teammates and he's crossing it all the time these days.

I hope to god it ain't Melky for Washburn. I would go off Cashman big time if so. There's been a LOT of dump Leche on the Banter, but I have argued, and still do, that seriously good CF play can carry a mediocre bat, and the man is 23. Say it ain't so, Cash.

Ponson + Snacks = Broom?

Buster Olney is reporting that the oft-talked about deal in which the Mariners would send Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees, will likely be completed in the next 48 hours. Olney suggests that the move is a salary dump with $13-14MM still owed to Washburn ($3-4MM in '08, $10.35MM in '09). If the Yankees take on most or all of the remaining contract, do not look for any big names to be going back in the other direction.

Peter Abraham of the Journal-News reiterated that Brian Cashman is saying that the deal is not done yet.

BTW, I like the fact that in the Yanks 4 run inning, Nady got it started with a walk.

Whoo boy, Ortiz up with two on, 1 out. Not liking this, not at all.

Tim, make sure you don't actually look at Marte's splits!

Though I am not a fan of Girardi taking him out. He is NOT a LOOGY! If Girardi is going to treat him as such its a waste of a BP spot

332 i kinda had the same gut feeling ... we'll see.

Damon, no, no no no no no no. We just replaced Matsui!

Oh crap, now Damon's down again?

Guaranteed if a Yankee hits another Sox today or tomorrow they are tossed and suspended

Did McCarver just say Giambi was glad he didn't walk on 3-0 and score a run???

(He just said that Giambi was glad that the 3-0 pitch was called a strike.)

ugh, arod still in pain.

joba either needs to hit youk in the bat and get that out of his system or stop throwing near him - because the sox pitchers have no fraking trouble throwing at and hitting arod and jeter.

Boy. It's fun to have one of these!

Now, we are TIED with Boston in the loss column!

(No way! No way!)

I think you need a new one...

We can crush your bullpen!

was on the phone and missed what rosenthal said about the washburn deal - can someone fill me in please - thanks.

very nice win after getting off to a blah start.
is it being too greedy to want a sweep at the hands of snacks?

UPDATE, 6:36 p.m.: It would not stun me
if Hansen drills somebody in this inning.

Not bad, Pete.

What a pleasant surprise to come home to this!

How 'bout that Andy Pettitte, huh?

And would it be too risky to start batting Robby third? When he's on, there's no one better.