Rotoworld is reporting (via the post, i think) that Kennedy is going to be recalled to start Friday against the Mets. Welcome back kid.

1 That doesn't make sense to me. IPK is supposed to pitch the first game of a double-header tonight for SWB. If he comes back to start on Friday, he'd have only 3 days' rest. I can't see the Yanks doing that just to avoid Igawa, especially when other options are there.

A bunch of posters on Pete Abe's blog are quoting WFAN as saying that Kennedy will pitch only one inning today and will start on Friday.

Very important series for the Rays as one of their biggest threats in regards to wild-card competition comes to town. A series win by the Rays could put some distance between the two teams and help build more confidence for the Rays and possibly help them narrow the gap with the Red Sox.
vr, Xei

2 According to PeteAbe:
The MRI taken today on Alex Rodriguez revealed progress but not enough to start playing in rehab games. Joe Girardi just told the media that Rodriguez will not be activated this week, meaning he's out for the Mets series.

The Yankees have not officially announced a starter for Thursday. But it will be Ian Kennedy. He will throw 1 or 2 innings tonight. Darrell Rasner will get the Mets on Friday.

5 Re: A-Rod, damn.
re: IPK, phew, much better than Igawa.

So what happens to Kei -- back down to AAA or trade him to, say, SD for a bag of used balls?

xei 4 , you know this is a yankees blog, yes? ;) the idea here is that the yanks sweep the series and climb above tampa in the standings - relegating the rays to their normal place near the basement.

Kennedy pitched just one inning. Strickland came in for the 2nd.

Kennedy's line:
1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

The hit was an infield single. The hitter was then caught stealing on a pitchout.

6 So will we then see Jeter batting cleanup against Kazmir on Thursday?

8 Forgot to mention: 12 pitches, 7 strikes

9 Sure. And maybe have Molina lead off.

Hey folks, long time no chat... I sure have missed a lot of baseball the last few weeks, but now I'm back.

Matt Garza: not a good pitcher. So, 7 IP 0 R 3 H 6 K, right?

Need we remind ourselves of Matt Garza's career statistics:

158 IP
184 H
68 BB
116 K
17 HR

13 Tell that to our lineup.

ok, that's all Garza will need...

Pettitte victim of the bloops.
And when did Cano field that ball with his back to the infield when Melky was coming in?

Well, having men on base was fun while it lasted.

Alberto Gonzalez just raised his batting average to .296, which is fourth-highest on the team.

This is a typical Yankee earned run. They get a cheap single, steal second, and drive them home with another blooper. Pathetic.

I've been out mowing the lawn, guess I haven't missed much.

Anyone else want to see Giese pitch a game? I don't care (for exactly one start) if he is 31.

I'm finding it hard to dislike AG. He should suck more than he has. Sure he can't slug a lick, but he's taken a few walks, plays great D; nice little player. Gotta be an asset for the bench or in a trade, no?

Andy's pitching well, and we'll hit Garza, I'm pretty confident. (Some steam came out of my ears when the Rays put together that two-out 'rally', though.)

... and here we go again...

It would help if they umpire would say, call strikes and all. See, over the corner, knee high is what we call a good strikeout pitch.

Was that one called 'low'?

Whew.
He really is pitching well. Now it's time to lay some wood.

26 Or off the corner, who knows.

Derek, its ok to take a strike.

Is that Cy Garza out there?

Here we go, the meltdown inning.

Ty Gomes? Jonny Cobb? Or is Molina throwing left handed tonight?

Maybe I'll go back to listening to the Mudhens game.

Unassisted triple play in the Toronto - Cleveland game.

Shoot me.

Le sigh

Well, this is going well.

Thankfully they bunted Navarro, otherwise we'd have no outs right now.

33 Man, Bob Timmerman is going to go bonkers looking up when the last time an unassisted triple play happened in the same game as a catcher's interference call.

Tonight...may we present "Bad Andy."

Pettitte doesn't look right this year. Combine that with our weakass lineup, and that's the game. Hopefully we'll get them tomorrow, or maybe next season.

Maybe this really is a .500 team.

this is a real pattern for the last 3-4 starts, no? Andy looks great and then completely loses it without warning...

Robbie just can't get any luck. Another hard LD right at somebody.

Down 5 runs, Molina is tries to bunt!!! And he misses! Pathetic.

41
New York Yankees, May 12, 2007:
17-18
New York Yankees, May 12, 2005:
16-19

All is not lost, even in May.

41 With two starters not here and our best two hitters injured, yes this is likely close to a .500 team. Add back a (good) Hughes and Kennedy, and soon A-Rod and then Posada and we're significantly better.

Think how the Sox would be without Lester, Bucholz, Ortiz and Manny.

May 12 1992: 16-16

The Yankees weren't over .500 for good last year until July 15. Of course, it doesn't make this team any less frustrating to watch. I may switch to watching a winning team, like the Marlins...

45 The last few years when the doom and gloomers came out of the woodwork I always said it was early. This season, I recognize it's far from over, but I'm more worried.

Pettitte injured? Thought he would at least complete 5 innings.

Oh Christ. Igawa

The Bad news:
On ESPN, the Sox score 3 in the top of the first.
The Good news:
Laptops gives up 7 ERs in 4.1 innings, 8 hits and 5 BBs.
Buccholz out. Minn: 7, Sox 3. After 5.

So, Igawa's in the pen now?

the Make A Wish Kids rides again ... evidently, hopeless situations are what he's here for

53 amazing to see the Sox getting knocked around by the Twins, they have no power at all! methinks the BoSox staff really isn't "all that"..

Gonzo hits like a Ray.

56 And Damon pops out like a Yankee (first pitch!)

At this time last year, we were 7 games out. A week later (2007), we were 10.5 out.

We have some real injuries and Posada, Hughes and Albie are out until the ASB. Bruney maybe for the season. Have lost ARod for 3 weeks or so. It will be a tough year. But it's far from over. Cleveland and Detroit off to slow starts also.

Phew! I thought we might score a run or something there. Way to take care of that Bobby.

Well, just got home. That Abreu ab seems about right.

Amazingly bad. Another DP induced from a flyball pitcher.

TB does have a good team, and basically EVERYONE is under 30. They could be a player in the AL East for years to come.

39 I can't completely blame this one on Andy...having so few runs to work with has to make his life more difficult. Also, Maddon did a great job with the running game.

On the other hand, Girardi continue to exhibit a hands off approach (the first Molina double play comes to mind…do the Yankees ever send the runners?), which when juxtaposed against Maddon's aggressive approach, makes it seem as if Joe G. is sitting on his hands. I have to say I am kind of disappointed by Girardi's laid back style.

Another disappointing trend that continues is the Yankees over aggressive approach at the plate. I think the loss of Arod and Posada impacts that as well. Right now, the Yankees don't really have a hitter that opposing pitchers flat our fear.

The news about Arod is a lot more ominous then the progress of this game. The return of the MVP version of Alex could quickly cure a lot of the team's ills, so the possibility that we could be two weeks away from his return is very bad news, especially when you allow for a 1-2 weeks of getting reacclimated.

62 They are and were a FAR better team than the talking heads favorite team Toronto.

How dare Chris Britton use Ron Villone's number! What a chump! BOOOOOOO!

It just sucks that every single year the Yankees only start taking games seriously after they are back 8 to 10 games.

Chris "I AM in a world of shit" Britton.
Full Metal Jacket, anyone.

62 That's what being awful for 10 years will get you. Of course, the Rays now have to resign everyone to really sustain there success.

Ironically, the play of the Yankees this season might actually be making the decision to not trade for Santana look good. It could very well be that patching things up with a Santana might have been a counterproductive strategy when you consider the emergence of the Rays and the dedication to the farm exhibited by the Sox.

Hopefully, Britton is opening up some eyes. While it took two serious injuries to get him a legitimate chance, I think the Yankees will be the better for giving Britton an extended chance.

I also think A.G. is showing signs that he could be an everyday major league SS. Clearly, any talk about moving Jeter to LF is premature, but if AG continues to show improvement at the plate, at least they have that option.

68 Not to mention Santana's 1.4 HR/9, 2.3 BB/9 (both his highest in five years) and his K/9 (9.1, but the lowest in five years) while facing the weaker hitting league in a pitchers' park. He'd be helping the Yankees for sure, but he wouldn't have them in first place all on his own.

Wow. Pedroia with an opposite field LD to Cuddyer. Cuddyer gloves the ball over his head. The ball bounces out of his glove and hits the top of his head. Cuddyer is not sure where the ball is. It bounces off his head and hits the bill of his cap. Bounces off his cap and Cuddyer manages to grab it.

OUT!
You will be seeing this play many times over on BBTN.

How many hits do the TB OF'ers take away? Man, Robby and Melky drove the ball with nothing to show for it.

70 More importantly, if Santana isn't a super pitcher (Clemens, Johnson, Schilling, Maddux) and he has begun his decline phase, then he would have become yet another albatross contract. When you consider that Giambi, Abreu, Damon, Matsui, Mussina and Pettitte are likely to be gone after this year or next...and guys like Posada and Jeter likely could be starting their inevitable declines, it really would have been a counterproductive move to make that deal.

Gutierrez robs Stairs of a hit with a nice diving catch. Preserves Cliff Lee's shutout. 0-0 going into btm of the 9th.

72 I think Robbie is emerging from his cocoon and Melky is reaching the point where we have to start taking his progress seriously.

Is it me or would any of the Rays outfielders caught that bloop easily. Bullocks.

66 I'll say this again. They are currently missing their best two offensive players, both of which play key positions. The comparables, as I said before for the Sox would be to take away Manny and Ortiz. How would they be doing then? What if Varitek went down? You can mumble all you want about sucking things up, but the dropoff from A-Rod and Posada to Molina and AG/Ensberg is just huge. Also, I never expected this team to dominate this year, especially not early. Its a transition year, if these growing pains are the necessary first step to rebuilding a dynasty, I'm all for it. Have some patience.

Red Sox 3 outs away from a loss. We ARE in competition with the Sox, right?

77 I actually have more patience than usual this year. If the Yankees are going to lose with Hughes an kennedy, I can accept ir.

If we keep throwing out Kei Igawa to try and prove that THIS WASN'T A BAD SINGING! PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND HE CURTAIN! I have significantly less patience.

78 At this point, I am not even interested in the Sox anymore. First, the Yankees need to realize some player-related milestones: the return of Arod and Posada, some signs that Jeter is not in a significant decline, definitive proof that Cano is ready to play like an All-Star, evidence that Kennedy does belong in the majors, etc.

The Yankees really need a lot of questions answered before you can start worrying about this place in the standing this season. As 77 stated, if a rebuild becomes necessary this season, the Yankees should embrace it whole heartedly, even if the team's fans do not.

79 Although, if this does become a rebuild and the Yankees can get something back for Moose or Pettitte, wouldn't it make sense to give Igawa some more starts, if only to re-build his trade value?

Jeter walks...a silver lining!

79 Well Igawa is in the pen (and soon to go down) and IPK is coming back up. So, you're getting your wish. I'm fine with Rasner pitching, he's been very underrated, and while I don't think he's quite as good as he's been, he may become a very strong 4th/5th starter type. If he can eat innings than he's not a bad replacement for Moose after this year. If all things work out (which they are unlikely to do) you could have a rotation of Wang, Joba, Hughes, IPK and Rasner next year. With Cano, A-Rod, Jeter, Posada and Melky locked in you need a serviceable 1B, and then an OF or two, depending on how Ajax, Gardner and Tabata progress. Sounds like a pretty good team to me.

81 No.

First of all, I think allowing Igawa to pitch will only result in more atrocious Kei Igawa outings, which would not raise his trade value.

More importantly, trading Igawa would be like admitting a mistake, which Yankee management doesn't do.

81 They are not going to trade Andy, no way, no how. He was straight up with them in the offseason, I know its a business, but I just can't seem them shipping him off anywhere else. Doesn't he have a no trade or something anyways?

83 I will not be satisfied until Kei Igawa is out of the organization. He's a horror movie villain. Every time you think he's dead he pops back up.

84 they traded the Fat Toad after a year..Igawa was expensive but should be traded asap. Can't help thinking Cashman blew it on the signings, what on earth were the scouting reports saying?? he's not even close to Dice-K in terms of stuff or pitching prowess..

Don't look know but the Yankees suck.

84 As bad as Igawa has looked, I would definitely use the opportunity of a rebuild to see if Igawa could flash something. As bad as he has been, 70 IP is far from a definitive sample. After all, I think Dice-K had an ERA around 6 in his final 70 innings of last season.

85 That suggestion was made on the assumption that he wanted to go.

81 Re build his trade value by giving him MORE starts. That's a good one! Holy crap that's funny. Rebuild his....more starts. Wooohooo! Stop it yer killin me!

Old friend Sean Henn made his Padres debut today. It went as well as you'd expect.

87 Irabu was on the team for three seasons.

Henn comes in vs Cubs...1st inning gives up a hit, then gets a double play and a K. Next inning, not so much, gives up a 5 spot. Take that to the bank.

93 memory fails me..thanks. I shouldn7t make fun of him anyway, read an article about his childhood here in Japan, he was bullied mercilessly for being "half" and even today still won't talk about his absent "foreign" dad... as for Igawa, why not just eat the money???

93 I also think Brian Cashman is far more likely to trade away a bad signing that wasn;t his idea (Irabu, Wright) than a bad signing he wanted (Pavano, Farnsworth, Igawa)

87 But they got quality back for the Toad...believe it or not, Irabu netted the Yankees Lilly and Westbrook. Also, here was the quote from Loria upon Irabu's acquisition:

"Hideki is a tremendous addition to our rotation and will be one of our top starters," new Expos owner Jeffrey Loria said. "We will continue to strengthen the club in all areas as we head toward spring training."

Read that quote and realize there is a sucker born every minute (like the Yankees were for signing him in the first place). Simply cutting Igawa because you are angry at his ineffectiveness would be counterproductive.

89 Brian?

92 Given the Yankees luck, I'd expect that he stuck out all 27 batters he faced on three pitches each.

97 I was in Montreal when the Expos acquired Irabu and Graeme Lloyd (as a free agent). The local English-language paper put the combined transactions at the top of the sports section.

Just to further illustrate the point, Irabu had an ERA over 7 in his first 50 innings with the Yankees. He then rebounded to have two league averagish seasons before the Yankees dumped him for two pretty good pitching prospects.

Igawa, meanwhile, had a 6 ERA over 67 innings in his first season. Who knows...maybe the Yankees could eke a league average 100 innings from Igawa in the second half, especially if it is during the pressureless environment of a rebuild. If that happened and the Yankees traded him for one decent prospect, then it would be a huge coup.

The alternative is just to cut bait. I don't see the point of that.

It's nice to see Giambi hitting long flyballs to left. Even if they are outs.

In 98 and 99 Irabu looked pretty good. I think it's attributable to the fact that he almost cut his walk rate in half.

Igawa didn't walk anyone on Sat and still got lit up like the 4th of july. Small sample for sure, but I see no flashes of brilliance on that dudes ML resume.

101 william, for once, you and I are in complete agreement.

101 To be honest, I don't even see Irabu potential in Igawa. Even when Irabu was horrendous in the big leagues, he dominated minor leaguers. Igawa can't even do that.

There is something to be said for the ability to admit a mistake.

103 If you really break down Irabu's splits, he really only had 3 good months over those two years. I think that illustrates that even a small flash at the major league level could get one GM thinking he could mine gold.

105 I am not sure if you remember 1997, but I didn't see any potential in Irabu that year. He was awful...worse than Igawa.

Also, Irabu was not much better than Igawa in the minors. Both struck out 1 per inning and had low WHIPs. Igawa's ERA was a 1 run higher, but that could be attributable to park effects, era or simply small sample.

In other words, there is no reason Igawa can't be another Irabu.

107 In fact, Irabu had only 46 minor league innings while a Yankee, so I don't think you can look at that record for any meaningful conclusion. The other 45 minor league innings were while with Montreal.

Girardi just said Garza threw one breaking ball for a strike and simply came after the Yankees with fastballs with all strikes. I stopped paying attention, but if true, that's pretty scary.

I keep hearing about how much Girardi hates losing and how "fiery" he is..how about a Leyland style eruption in the locker-room? do these work anymore? would the "veterans" resent it?? The team just seems so listless..or do I just still have a man-crush on Sweet Lou?

107 Irabu's minor league ERA in 1997 was over a run and a half lower than Igawa's and his WHIP was .25 points lower than Igawa's minor league WHIP.

He didn't start pitching to Igawa levels of minor league mediocrity until 2001, long after anyone saw any hope in him. Montreal cut bait after that year.

I think Kei Igawa matches up far better with Hideki Irabu 2001-2002 than he does Hideki Irabu 1997

111 That should be 2000-2001

I'm not quite clear on what "admitting" a mistake on Igawa means. The posting fee is a sunk cost, we're not getting that back. That leaves his salary, which is under $5 mil a year. For the Yankees, that's almost chump change. Trust me, next offseason the decision to sign Texeira will not hinge on Igawa's salary. I see nothing wrong with keeping him around (in the minors) and seeing if you can get some value for him. Cutting bait seems counterproductive since you're on the hook for the contract no matter what. William, I couldn't agree with you more. Also, I do not want to see him anywhere near the mound in the Yankee Stadium again, so Matt, I agree with you. Can't we all just get along?

110 Who says he hasn't? Just because he doesn't yell in public doesn't mean he's not chewing them out from time to time. I think Joe learned from Torre to keep things in house. Call out a player or throw a tantrum in public and it'll be a story for months, becoming counterproductive.

113 If he's still in the organization, I don't trust them to not bring him back.

Getting rid of him is like taking a sharp object away from a child. For their own good.

115 Also, if the Pavano and Farnsworth debacles are any indication, if they can't fleece another team, they;ll just hold on to him until the end of time.

115 If the Yankees remain in contention, your point is valid, but if they enter a rebuild, why not see if you can squeeze blood out of the Igawa stone

116 What's wrong with holding out for a good deal. The only tangible deals I can remember with Fransworth or Pavano were eating the contract and taking a Wickman-type back. If you can't get lucky and pull off an Irabu-like deal, I see nothing wrong with holding.

117 If the Yankees fall out of contention, I'd want to see Kei Igawa sucking it up even less. I think Kei igawa is as bad as he appears to be, and all we would accomplish is making the second half of the season even more unpleasant.

I think there's a difference between waiting for a good deal and waiting for someone to offer well above equal value for a player. The philosophy seems to be that unless we can trick someone into matching our stupidity, we should hold on to the player an allow them to continue to hurt the franchise.

You guys do realize that Farnsworth has an ERA+ of 123 this season right?

Sorry, I meant 137. His ERA+ in 2006 was 104. He was lousy last year, but I wouldn't call him a debacle.

I'd say a league average season from your primary set-up man is a debacle. If the eighth inning guy is giving up around a run every two innings, that's no damned good.

On May 13 2006, Farnsworth had a 3.07 ERA. His semi-annual hot streak does not make me any more confident in his abilities as a late inning reliever.