Posada will likely need season-ending surgery on his perpetually ailing shoulder. It’s painfully obvious he can’t swing the bat right now and he’s somewhere next to useless behind the plate.

With that said, can someone explain to me how him being taken out of the lineup right now is a big blow to the Yankees? He has contributed nothing behind the plate all season and his offensive production(especially power) is almost as bad as Jose Molina’s. I feel bad for Po, but it’s time for him to sit this season out, get surgery and get healthy.

Jose is a wizard behind the plate, calls a great game and runs into a fastball once in a while when he’s batting. I am oh so glad we have him here. Right now Molina>Posada in almost eevry single facet of the game. Right now even guys like Wislon Betemit>Jorge Posada with the stick.

Ladies and Gentleman, his leadership will still be here. It’s not like he won’t be traveling with the team. Taking Jorge off the field and away from home plate is the best thing the Yankees can do for his longevity and their chances right now. This is not a “big blow”. He simply wasn’t contributing. This isn’t a guy like Gary Sheffield who just stands in the batters box and scares the hell out of opposing pitchers.

This is a good thing for the time being

My best wishes go out to his family, friends and anyone who knew him personally.

As a fan who has never met the man, I don’t feel like I have never met the man. I feel like I was a friend of Bobby’s, I feel like I have eaten meals with Bobby and have had long conversations with him. When you watch and listen to a man as charismatic as he was, since you were a little boy like I did, you can’t help but feel like you’ve lost a grandfather. This is an awful day for Yankee fans and family.

A great career, a great broadcaster and a great man. You will be missed, Bobby. Your spirit will live on.

Bobby Murcer-1946-2008 R.I.P

Yankees.com

Peter Abraham

This is a statement-making series. Plain and simple. We beat Kazmir with Pettittie, which nobody would have picked on paper. And we beat Jackson with Ponson, another game which favored the Rays on paper.

We swept the best team in baseball, holding them to only one run over two games. This is a Rays team which has been killing EVERYONE with pitching, defense and timely hitting. Do you know how we beat them? Well, with pitching, defense and timely hitting. Pretty incredible job by our pitching staff, who has been extremely underrated this season. Especially the pen(3.50ERA).

Great job and a great confidence builder, especially since this sweep comes directly after winning two games against the Red Sox. To add to that, this is a Rays team which swept the Red Sox twice this season. Very promising sign for the Bombers.

Here is another reassuring sign-

Yankees road record: 22-20

Red Sox road record: 21-29

Rays road record: 19-21(The Rays second half is packed with road games)

Being the only team with a winning record on the road shows something about the Yanks’ character

This will be a three-way dog fight in the AL East, clear through September. And, to me, the Yankees seem to be in the best shape to make a dominating run right now-

Matsui coming back from injury

A new, speedy spark-plug in Brett Gardner

A great bullpen

Cano heating up

Jeter heating up

The return of Humberto Sanchez, Brian Bruney, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Chien-Ming Wang. There are a lot of “shots in the arm” for the Yankees still on the way–a Yankee team that is already getting hot.

One more thing, before I wrap this entry up: The Yankees are only 3 behind the Red Sox in the loss column. The Sox have the wild card right now.

162 games ladies and gentleman, 162 games

This is how often some of our batters strike out every 162 games played-

Derek Jeter: 113(This is sad for a “contact hitter”)

Bobby Abreu: 127

Alex Rodriguez: 129

Jason Giambi: 113

Jorge Posada: 129

Wilson Betemit: 104

Let me tell you, as good as these hitters all are, that is a rally just asking to be snuffed out. That is a complete killer. The Yankees need another doubles/gap hitter who puts the ball in play like Gary Sheffield, Paul O’neill or Hideki Matsui. Abreu is a doubles guy, but he strikes out a lot. Robinson Cano bangs doubles into the alleys, but it’s starting to become pretty obvious that he’s a second half hitter. That’s a legitimate problem.

Cashman, you’ve done a good job stockpiling young arms, but where are the bats? Oh, that’s right, we don’t have any impact hitters ready to be called up.

The New York Yankees just dropped an atomic bomb on the Texas Rangers, hammering them 18-7. A win is a win, and a win like this is always amusing to watch. 9 of those runs came in the 7th inning. Giambi drove in 6 of them, four by way of a Grand Salami.

This is weird. Do you understand why this is weird? It’s because our mighty offense had scored a combined 7 runs in the previous FOUR GAMES. Yes, you read that correctly, 9 runs this evening, but 7 runs over the previous 4! It makes me want to rip my forehead off and kick it down the block.

For the love of Piss, can we start spreading these runs out a little more evenly over a series!? Is that too much to ask for? A little consistency? If we had spread those 18 runs out over the 3 game series, we would have swept. Easily. Because you know what? The Yankee pitching has been above average this season with a collective 4.16 ERA, and outstanding as of late–especially the bullpen. Yes, finally, after all these seasons, we have a good pitching staff which continues to grow stronger as the year progresses. Even without Chien-Ming Wang.

Please. Consistency! Please! Maybe Hank should open his mouth more often, it seems to be working miracles.

Starters ERA: 4.47

That’s not spectacular, but it’s more than solid. Basically, our starting rotation has given us slightly better than a collective “quality start”, which is 3 runs over 6 innings and an ERA of 4.50. A lot of the credit belongs to Mike Mussina’s resurgence, it’s been fun to watch.

————————————————————————————–

Bullpen ERA: 1.29 WHIP, 3.66 ERA

That’s outstanding, completely lights-out. In 283 innings pitched, they have only given up 254 hits, while striking out 255. Spectacular, nothing less. Joba Chamberlain only pitched 23 of those relief innings. Guys like Farnsworth, Giese, Bruney, Edwar Ramirez and particularly Jose Veras have really stepped it up this season. Not to mention, King Mariano is having his best season. Ever.

————————————————————————————–

Relievers and Starters combined: 4.16 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP

Excellent job, Gentlemen. I’m sorry our lazy, lethargic offense hasn’t done better on your behalf. You deserve much more than a 44-40 record. This blame of this season lies mostly on the offenses shoulders, they should be ashamed of themselves. There has been far too many “tough luck” losses thrown in your direction.

I’m sorry to criticize Joe Girardi again, because he seems like a nice man–but in my humble opinion, his in-game management has cost us 5+ games.

What can I say about Melky Cabrera? He is hurting this team. He has to go gather his head in the minors, or needs to be traded. This is getting beyond ridiculous. Everybody knows it, everybody sees it. If the Yankees want to make a push for October, Melky has to be out of this lineup permanently.

Peter “Interested Reader” Abraham reports how awful Melky has been on his blog.

The gentlemen at River Ave. Blues report how ridiculous last night was.

Numerous blogs are ripping Melky to shreds lately, and last night is a prime example why. This guy is almost as automatic an out as a pitcher is.

Melky Cabrera-

BA: .240<—haha

OBP: .305<—haha

SLG: .344<—haha

OPS+: 75(league average is 100!)

Know what that means about Melky Cabrera? He’s God awful, terrible, and does not belong in Center Field or on any big league team as of this time. This is becoming an absolute Joke.

Give Gardner the job full-time. Please. There is not an ice cube’s chance in hell that he’s going to be worse than Melky. He has a better eye, he’s faster, he works the count, he’s better defensively. It’s simple logic at this point. Gardner is pressure on the opposing team. Melky is an automatic out.

Also, can we get Wilson Betemit into the DH spot until Matsui is back full-time? All he does when he’s in the lineup, is produce. He’s a legitimate home run threat at any time. He sure as hell deserves all these at-bats over Melky Cabrera.

Last but certainly not least, Joe Girardi. Why is Melky still here, and why wasn’t he bunting last night? Better yet, why wasn’t Jeter pinch hitting for him? Did you really let a guy who was 0 for his last 19 bang into a double play in the 9th inning of a one-run game? Am I dreaming, or is this just ludicrous? All we get out of you is “Melky is our Center Fielder”. Yes, very reassuring Joe. Thanks a bunch for that. Keep this up and it’s only a matter of time before Yankee fans want your head to roll.

Here’s what I’d do to the line-up.  I’d like to hear your input, or what you would want to do with the line-up if you were manager. In my opinion, I think seniority and egos should get thrown in the garbage by a manager, when the team is not winning. Shake-ups work, and they work well. Here’s my shaken up line-up:

1.) CF-Brett Gardner

2.) LF-Johnny Damon

3.) RF- Jason Giambi

4.) 3B- Alex Rodriguez

5.) RF-Bobby Abreu

6.) DH- Wilson Betemit (Matsui when he returns)

7.) C-Jorge Posada

8.) 2B-Robinson Cano

9.) SS-Derek Jeter

————————————————————————————-

I’m going to explain why I want the top four that I have named.

Brett Gardner is the fastest guy on the Yankee Roster. He lead the international league in stolen bases, and was second in the league with a .412 OBP. He’s an OBP machine who works the count and he’s a run-scoring machine. He hits left-handed pitchers as well as he hits right.

Johnny Damon is the second fastest guy on the team. He works the count very, very well, fouls pitches off, bats for average and has a  decent OBP. He’s also a base-stealing and run-scoring machine. Not to mention, any given season, Johnny is liable to smack 20 home runs. He hits left-handed pitchers as well as he hits right.

Jason Giambi- He has a career OBP of over .400.  He gets on base, he hits home runs, he’s great with men in scoring position. He sees more pitches than anyone else in baseball. He hits left-handed pitchers as well as he hits right. Need I say more? I know he’s not a speed demon, but Giambi doesn’t get enough credit for his smart base running.

Alex Rodriguez- He’s the best baseball player of all time, a perennial MVP and he’s leading the team in OBP. He works the count, he hits home runs, he hits for average, he steals bases. With these three men in front of him, someone will more than likely be on base for him.

————————————————————————————

Do you see where I’m going with this? You need a lot of speed, good contact, worked counts and high OBP in your 1 and 2 hole batters. Those four would combine for a collective OBP of almost .400. Jeter has not been doing that for us this season out of the number two spot. He’s been downright awful and should be dropped in the line-up. Screw seniority. If he doesn’t have an ego, he won’t care, as long as the team is winning– which is something they are not right now.

Brett and Damon give us everything we could possibly dream of out of the top two positions in the batting order. Between the worked counts, speed and OBP, those two would be complete frustration to the opposing pitcher.  With them on base and Giambi behind them, you’d have two choices: Throw him strikes, or walk him. He hits strikes out of the ball park, and if you’re not around the plate, he’s NOT going to help you out. He’ll take his walk and let Alex drive him in.

And then you have Alex Rodriguez batting cleanup. When you have OBP and pitch count working machines like Gardner, Damon and Giambi ahead of him, and Abreu–our top RBI guy–behind him, he’s going to do so much damage that you wouldn’t be able to fathom it. You’d see pitch counts of 50 by the second inning regularly.

If Abreu regains his OBP tendencies, then pitchers are going to have one hell of a troublesome time navigating that top 5. You’d see pitch counts as high as 60 by the second inning in a lot of games.

The rest of the guys in the lineup–they’re  where they normally are, with the exception of Jeter, who needs a wake-up call in the worst possible way.

If you’re worried about me stacking lefties, I’d suggest you look at their splits. All of our left-handed batters hit left-handed pitching either nearly as good as they hit right-handed pitching, or relatively close,

Thanks for reading.

With Seattle not contending, plus having almost no shot of winning the bidding war for Bedard next season, I think we should try to pry Erik away from the Mariners, right now.

I would offer them a package of Melky Cabrera, Ian Kennedy, Alan Horne and Justin Christian. I think they would bite. If they want more, give in. Seriously. You cannot put too much stock in prospects, as hard as it is not to. Getting Erik Bedard here would be bigger than you can imagine.

After acquiring Erik Bedard from the Mariners, sign him. Immediately. Offer him 5 years at about 17.5M per(slightly more than Santana is getting paid), with a club option and buy out. This way, he can be happy he’s being paid more than Santana and we can be happy we didn’t give him a ridiculous 7 or 8-year contract.

The thought of Joba Chamberlain and Erik Bedard at the top of the Yankee rotation makes me drool. Two dominant, power, strike out guys–one from the left, one from the right–leading our rotation. It reminds me of the early 2000’s Diamondback duo of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Not to mention, we’d have some pretty good pitchers following them up.

Imagine this:

Joba Chamberlian

Erik Bedard

Mike Mussina

Andy Pettitte

Darrel Rasner

That is a rotation no opposing ball club wants to see. That would breathe fear into our opponents and it would give us a huge boost the second half of the season. I’d include Chien-Ming Wang with that rotation of insanity, but I think his injury is severe enough that he will not be making an impact on this team for the remainder of the 2008 season.

That sets us up for 2008, and hopefully gets us our next ring.

————————————————————————-

2009: Sign Mark Teixeira to a 5-year deal. Overpay him for those 5 years, but DO NOT give him a 7-10-year contract. He loves the Yankees, he grew up idolizing Don Mattingly, and he obviously would love to play for a winning, championship team. I strongly believe he would sign with the Yankees, if the money was right.

*Try to sign Bobby Abreu to a one-year contract

*Try to sign Andy Pettitte to a one-year contract

(Yes, I know they’re both a big maybe)

2009 Yankee Lineup-

Johnny Damon-LF

Derek Jeter-SS

Mark Teixeira-1B

Alex Rodriguez-3B

Bobby Abreu-RF

Hideki Matsui-DH

Jorge Posada-C

Robinson Cano-2B

Brett Gardner-CF

(Free to juggle Damon and Gardner, or any of the other members of the line-up. The one I posted makes the most sense to me)

2009 Yankee Rotation-

Erik Bedard

Joba Chamberlian

Andy Pettitte

Chien-Ming Wang

Darrel Rasner/Phil Hughes/Alfredo Aceves/Dan Giese/anyone internally who steps up and proves themselves to be the best option for the number 5 slot

That is a scary-looking ball club. Very scary.

—————————————————————————

Oh, and payroll. I know, people harp over the insane payroll the Yankees have. Well, I have good news: Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Jason Giambi, Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins are all coming off the books the end of the 2008 season. That is a whopping $55,166,266 off the books. Therefore, the Yankees can afford to trade for and sign these two men. The payroll would still drop. Amazing.

Here’s what I would do, if I was running the team:

Send Melky down/try to trade him/put him on the bench

Put Gardner in CF full time

Put Wilson BETEMEAT at DH full-time, until Matsui comes off the DL. That would still leave him open to spell an infield position. Seriously, this guy[Wilson Betemit], last season, hit 14 home runs and drove in 50 RBI in only 240 at-bats. It wasn’t a consistent 240 at bats, either; he did this  pinch hitting and filling in at various positions. Do you understand how insane it is for a bench guy to post those numbers?

It’s a shame that Betemit’s not a full-time player, because that’s a 40 home run and 100 RBI guy waiting to happen–if he had 550 at bats and consistent playing time. And really, who’s more perfect for the DH spot than a guy who’s used to pinch hitting?

Anyway, that would really make our offense much more dynamic. Gardner adds a lot of OBP and speed, while Betemit gives us a significant amount of extra pop.