We Want You as a New Recruit

It may be sung to CC Sabathia in the off-season, but for now it's just because the Yankees rookies went through their hazing on Friday night. Normally this would take place after the last home game, but with all of the festivities and a late night last Sunday, things were put off until Boston. The players were dressed as the Village People, though they didn't have enough uniforms for players such as Phil Coke.

Unfortunately, there was also a lack of photographs. From left to right - Francisco Cervelli as the leather clad biker, Juan Miranda as the cop, Humberto Sanchez is "in the Navy", and Al Aceves as the Indian. Not pictured, Brett Gardner as the construction worker, and David Robertson as the cowboy.

Not their best work, but not bad.

Share

Rivera Records Record Save

The Yankees don't have anything to play for on a team level, and Mariano Rivera will be the first to tell you he doesn't care about individual stats, but last night he moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time saves list when he closed out the Yankees 4-2 win over the White Sox.

In recording his 36th save in 37 attempts, and third in as many days, Rivera moved ahead of Lee Smith with 479 career saves. The victory was the Yankees third straight, the first time they achieved that feat at home since July.

Al Aceves had another impressive start, limiting the White Sox to two runs over six innings. Phil Coke pitched a scoreless inning to pick up his first major league win and has not been scored on in eight innings this season.

Xavier Nady crushed a Mark Buehrle pitch to straight away center to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the second inning. It was Nady's 11th home run since joining the Yankees from Pittsburgh, and his 24th of the season overall. It also gave him 90 RBI between the two teams.

Dewayne Wise tied things up in the fourth with a 2-run shot of his own, his fourth home run of the season, but Aceves and the Yankees pen would be unscored on the rest of the night.

Ehren Wassermann replaced Buerhle to start the seventh inning and immediately walked Nady. Chad Moeller successfully sacrificed Nady into scoring position, so Joe Girardi sent up Wilson Betemit to pinch-hit for Cody Ransom. Ozzie Guillen countered with lefty Horacio Ramirez to force Betemit to switch around to his weaker right side. But Betemit drilled a one hopper over the wall in left-center field for a ground rule double and a go ahead RBI.

Betemit moved to third base on Brett Gardner's fly out and scored on a single to right by Johnny Damon for a 4-2 Yankees lead. The Yankees then went to the power arms out of the pen. Joba Chamberlain struck out two in the eighth inning and Rivera retired the side in order in the ninth, for "just another save".


News and Notes

Derek Jeter went 0-4 in his attempt to pass Lou Gehrig for the most hits in Yankee Stadium. He did catch Gehrig for second place in team history for number of at-bats though with 8,001. Mickey Mantle is the franchise leader with 8,102. Jeter also passed Bernie Williams over the weekend for 5th place in plate appearances.

Robinson Cano was benched as a continued punishment for lack of hustle on Sunday.

Pitcher Humberto Sanchez and catcher Francisco Cervelli were recalled from the minor leagues. Cervelli, as you may recall, suffered a broken wrist during spring training when the Rays' Elliot Johnson steam rolled him at home plate.

Share

Aceves Makes His Pitch

The Yankees have a lot of questions to answer this off-season, and as usual, the starting rotation and bullpen will be among the chief issues. Al Aceves threw his hat in the ring last night to be part of the 2009 pitching staff with a solid, six inning performance, in his first major league start, to lead the Yankees over the Angels, 7-1.

Aceves' stuff is not among the best in baseball, but he's gritty and isn't afraid to throw strikes. Location is key and last night he was masterful in hitting Chad Moeller's mitt. He held the Angels scoreless until the sixth, and even then made effective pitches so LA couldn't open up a big inning. Aceves also had plenty of help on offense where Alex Rodriguez slugged a 3-run home run and Johnny Damon hit a pair of blasts.

The Yankees had a 1-0 lead against Angels starter Ervin Santana when a crucial error helped break things open for the Bombers in the sixth inning. Center fielder Torii Hunter had left the game after fifth inning due to tightness in his left quad and his replacement, Gary Matthews Jr., made an immediate impact.

Derek Jeter hit a lead off drive in the sixth that Matthews ran down on the warning track, but dropped for a three base error (the play was originally ruled a triple). The play changed Santana's demeanor and he immediately walked Bobby Abreu to get into further trouble. A-Rod made Santana feel even more miserable when he crushed a pitch to right-center field for his 33rd home run of the season, and number 551 for his career.

Aceves had allowed just a single through the first three innings when Garret Anderson led off the fourth with a base hit. One out later, Derek Jeter mishandled Vlad Guerrero's potential double play grounder for an error, putting the tying and go ahead runs on base. But Aceves got Hunter to hit a comebacker for an easy 1-4-3 double play.

An Anderson one out single in the sixth was followed by a Mark Teixeira double and the Angels were in business. But Aceves retired Guerrero on an RBI ground out and Matthews on an inning ending grounder to Robinson Cano to escape further trouble.

Damon put the game out of reach with a 2-run home run off of Santana in the seventh and a solo shot against Justin Speier in the ninth.


News and Notes

Al Aceves won his first major league game in front of about 30 friends and family.

Jered Weaver was originally supposed to get the start for the Angels, but was scratched due to a problem with a finger on his pitching hand.

Dave Eiland was feeling better last night after falling in the dugout on Tuesday night. It was apparently caused by a dizzy spell. While he landed hard on his shoulder, Eiland was more embarrassed than anything else.

Share

Starter Number 352

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but Al Aceves joins the likes of Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang, Darrell Rasner, Carl Pavano, Sidney Ponson, Joba Chamberlain, Brian Bruney, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Dan Giese, and Kei Igawa when he gets the nod tonight as the Yankees starter.

Aceves was in the Mexican League last year before being signed by the Yankees. He dominated in eight starts for Tampa in the Florida State League, going 4-11, 2.11 and held opponents to a .188 average. His success continued in Double-A Trenton where he went 2-2, 1.80 in seven starts.

With the Yankees needing starters at the major league level, Aceves was promoted to Triple-A Scranton, where he struggled for the first time, and also spent some time on the DL. Aceves produced mixed results with a 2-3, 4.12 record in 10 starts, eight of which were starts. He was promoted to the Yankees after striking out eight hitters in each of last two starts, both of which lasted six innings.

In two relief appearances with the Yankees, Aceves has allowed just one run in seven innings and has recorded seven strikeouts.

Peter Abraham has more on Aceves, including info on his father who played in the Mexican League, and a brother who was once in the minor leagues.

Share

The Weekend Yankeeland - 9/6

We don't need to rehash last night's near no-hitter by the Mariners' Brandon Morrow. After looking like he was going to get raked over the coals, Andy Pettitte settled down and gave the Yankees a solid seven innings, but the offense was nowhere to be found.

Seattle had been receiving grief for selecting Morrow ahead of Tim Lincecum in the 2006 draft. Maybe those concerns will now be assuaged.

Trailing 3-1 in the ninth inning, the Yankees had the heart of the order set to face closer J.J. Putz. Derek Jeter led the inning off with a single, but Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, and Jason Giambi all went down meekly to end the game. With Boston's win over Texas, the Yankees are now 8.5 games out of the wildcard race. It might as well be 100.

It's official, Al Aceves will take Darrell Rasner's place in the rotation. Hell, why not let let Jason Jones replace Sidney Ponson.

Reggie Jackson said it's very special for him to watch Alex Rodriguez climb the home run leader board.

Bobby Abreu was back in last night's lineup after missing a pair of games with a bruised wrist.

Yankees second pick in this year's draft, Jeremy Bleich made his professional debut for the Staten Island Yankees on Thursday. He allowed two runs in three innings pitched.

Richard Sandomir of the NY Times wonders why Babe Ruth has not yet been honored this season, in the house that he built.

The Yankees have been hit with a fine for not complying with a new state law that states that all food vendors must provide caloric information.

Kevin Romine and Damon Sublett will be heading to Hawaii for winter ball. Not a bad place to be.

Share

Yankees Rally Can't Overcome Rasner

As we batten down the hatches here in the Carolinas for Tropical Storm Hanna, the Yankees continue to be wiped out by their poor starting pitching. It was orginally thought that Al Aceves might take Sidney Ponson's place in the rotation this weekend in Seattle, but now Aceves may be supplanting Rasner, who he relieved last night after Rasner failed to get out of the second inning.

The Yankees only managed one hit off of Rays starter Scott Kazmir and couldn't manage anything against the Rays pen until their final at-bat. The Yankees rallied with two away in the ninth, but came up short. Ivan Rodriguez opened the inning with a double off of Jason Hammel and out later, Cody Ransom got the Yankees on the board with an RBI single to center. Hideki Matsui pinch-hit for Brett Gardner, who had struck out three times looking, but did no better, going down swinging for the second out of the inning.

A Johnny Damon walk put two men aboard and Derek Jeter followed with a 3-run home run to cut the lead to 7-4. Alex Rodriguez, hitting in the number three spot in the order with Bobby Abreu out of the lineup, followed with a solo shot. It was A-Rod's 32nd of the season and number 550 all-time. Joe Maddon brought on Dan Wheeler, who was able to record a save by retiring Xavier Nady on a fly ball to center field.

Rasner had no problem in the first inning, but the second inning ended things for him. Eric Hinske and Dionnar Navarro opened the second inning with singles and a Rasner wild pitch put runners on the corners with no one out. Gabe Gross brought home the first run with a double to right and Jason Bartlett followed with a sac fly. Aki Iwamura then singled home Gross for a 3-0 Rays' lead.

B.J. Upton's single and a Carlos Pena walk loaded the bases and sent Rasner to an early shower. Aceves struck out Cliff Floyd, but Willy Aybar singled through the middle to plate two more for a 5-0 advantage. Eric Hinske finally popped out to end the inning.

The Rays added insurance runs in the fourth, on an Aybar home run, and the eighth for a 7-0 lead.


News and Notes

Derek Jeter is now for four hits within Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time Yankees list.

Bobby Abreu couldn't swing a bat after hurting his wrist stealing second base on Wednesday night. Melky Cabrera will be recalled for tonight's game with Seattle.

Share

The Daily Yankeeland - 8/29

The Yankees open a tough three game series with the Blue Jays tonight at the Stadium. What makes it tough is facing A.J. Burnett and Roy Halladay in two of the games.

Friday - Carl Pavano (1-0, 5.40) vs A.J. Burnett (16-9, 4.58)
Saturday - Darrell Rasner (5-9, 5.03) vs. John Parish (1-0, 4.05)
Sunday - Andy Pettitte (13-10, 4.37) vs. Roy Halladay (16-9)

Veteran outfielder Matt Stairs was dealt earlier today to the Phillies for a player to be named. The Blue Jays are calling up their top hitting prospect Travis Snider, who has played at three different levels in the minor leagues this season.

A Joba Chamberlain update from the Post.

Joel Sherman begs YES not to make yesterday's game a "Yankees Classic".

Hank says don't blame Girardi. He's also monitoring the initial boys- CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

Brian Cashman falls on the sword.

Two Yankees prospects in the Dominican Summer League are going to sit 50 games for PED.

Mike Ashmore has an interview with the newest Yankee, Al Aceves.

The NY Times has a profile on Cody Ransom.

Share

Phil Jackson and Al Aceves Love Dennis Rodman

Phil Jackson, in a possible attempt to motivate Kobe, said the other day that the greatest athlete he has ever coached was not Kobe nor MJ, but that cross-dressing, multi-pierced, multi-tatted, Dennis Rodman.

And Jackson isn't alone. Al Aceves was recalled from Scranton today to replace Dave Robertson, who has been hammered more times than John Daley. In a tribute to Rodman, Aceves has chosen number 91. He did make sure to mention that he's "not nuts though". Good to know.

Share

The Daily Yankeeland - 8/25

Newsday's Kat O'Brien spoke to Ivan Rodriguez about his struggles since coming to New York.

Others may not want to say it, but Mike Mussina knows the wildcard is the Yankees only shot at making the post-season.

Mike Ashmore has a Q & A with up and coming pitcher, Eric Hacker. He also reports that Victor Zambrano could be the guy to replace Darrell Rasner.

Mr. Met is a Moron.

Newsday's Ken Davidoff thinks it's time to stop bashing A-Rod.

Chad Jennings talks about Al Aceves' outstanding start for Scranton on Sunday.

Former bat boy and Yankees advisor Ray Negron dedicates his second children's book to King George.

The Trenton-Yankees alliance has been a profitable one.

Share

Down on the Farm - 8/7

Time to do some catching up at the minor league level. Today we'll start with Scranton and Trenton, taking a look at how the teams and their prospects are doing.

Austin Jackson
He's really put together a solid year and word is that he'll spend the entire season at Trenton. He's batting .290-9-61 in 449 at-bats with an .816 OPS, which escalates to .936 against left-handers. He's also stolen 15 bases in 20 attempts.

Jackson has particularly been red hot with the warm weather, batting .357 since July 1.

Al Aceves
There's been plenty of buzz around the right-hander plucked from the Mexican League. But after being out with a strained groin, he's been struggling at Scranton. Chad Jennings has more.

Jason Jones
With Ian Kennedy being called up, Jones has headed up to Scranton. Jones has put together an 11-5, 3.03 record in 21 starts. His ERA had been 2.28 before being roughed up in a pair of late July games.


Scranton

The Triple-A Yankees are 73-47 leading the Pawtucket Red Sox by one-half game in the International League's North Division. With promotions (Justin Christian, .309) and injuries, several players have stepped up. Juan Miranda is wreaking havoc on left-handed pitching, batting .352. Veteran first baseman Ben Broussard has belted 10 home runs and Brett Gardner has 37 steals to go with a .405 OBP.

As for pitching, the club has seen a rash of injuries and call ups, and the departure of Dan McCutchen and Jeff Karstens via trade. Kei Igawa has stepped up as the ace of the staff. Yes, we really said that. The overpaid left-hander is 12-5, 3.39 with 100 strikeouts in 132.2 innings pitched. He's 8-1 since June 1.

Trenton

The Thunder have had a number of players, especially key pitchers, promoted to Triple-A, but those who have taken their place have really done the job. Trenton leads the Eastern League's Northern division by 8 games over the Portland SeaDogs (again a Red Sox farm team), and has compiled a 70-45 mark.

As we mentioned earlier, Jason Jones has put together a terrific season, but he's not alone. Phil Coke (9-4, 2.51), Chase Wright (8-2, 2.96), who recently got bumped up to Scranton, McCutchen, Aceves, and Erick Hacker (6-2, 2.82) have all contributed to the club's success. The bullpen has been solid too with Anthony Claggett (3-2, 1.76, 8 saves) and Mark Melancon (6-0, 1.81, 2 saves) being the big names.

Offensively, the team lost Matt Carson and Edwar Gonzalez to promotion, but Chris Malec is hitting .304, and catchers P.J. Pilliterre and Joe Muich have added a lot offensively. And of course there's Action Jackson.

Tomorrow - Tampa and Charleston

Share

2 Months to Go

The Yankees sit 4.5 games back of the Rays in the AL East and 1.5 games behind the Red Sox for the Wild Card (the Twins are in between, one-half game back of Boston). One of our favorite sportswriter's, Dan Graziano, thinks Boston just said good-bye to their season and the AL East will be between the Rays and Yankees. We strongly disagree.

Last night's Yankees game epitomized how the season has gone for this team. You have two starters in Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner, who pretty much stink (though we keep hoping Rasner can make some grand adjustment), which means the rotation can't afford to have a hiccup such as the one Andy Pettitte had last night, or Mike Mussina had against Baltimore.

The Red Sox are certainly not the same team without Manny. He and David Ortiz formed the most fearsome 1-2 punch in baseball. When Manny went so did Ortiz's protection in the order. Mike Lowell and Jason Bay are very good hitters, but they don't strike fear in opponent's hearts.

All that being said, the Red Sox still have a very good lineup, and solid pitching. Theo Epstein's mistake this deadline was not upgrading his bullpen. But the team is not inferior to the Yankees. They are still the reigning World Series champions and they know how to win.

Currently this is what the AL East looks like

Rays 63-44
Red Sox 61-48
Yankees 59-49

There are 54 games left in the Yankees schedule, against the following opponents:

Angels 9
Blue Jays 9
Mariners 3
Orioles 6
Rangers 4
Rays 6
Red Sox 6
Royals 3
Tigers 1
Twins 3
White Sox 4

12 games with the two teams in front of the Yankees in the East and 3 games, next week, with the Twins, who are ahead in the Wild Card. Plus 13 more games with teams in 1st place (the White Sox and Angels).

So let's try to figure out how the Yankees will do in those games.

Angels 9 games...the Yankees stink against the Angels 3-6
Blue Jays 9 games...depends if they have to face Halladay and Burnett, but we'll go 6-3
Mariners 3 games..should sweep this one 3-0
Orioles 6 games..they've been a nemesis 3-3
Rangers 4 games.....their pitching is still bad 3-1
Rays 6 games....tough pitching, but we think experience will out 4-2
Red Sox 6 games...Beckett can only go so many times 4-2
Royals 3 games...getting worse as the year goes on 2-1
Tigers 1 game...a make up...coin flip 1-0
Twins 3 games...on the road...tough 1-2
White Sox 4 games...at home 2-2 or 3-1...difficult, well go out on a limb 3-1

So that means the Yankees would go 33-21 and finish 92-70. Ironically, we predict 93 wins before the season started. Will 92 wins mean enough for a playoff spot though? Just for the AL East, the Rays would have to go, at the most, 28-27 and the Red Sox would have to finish no better than 30-23 for the Yankees to capture the division. That would also leave the Yankees ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card race, meaning the Twins would have to finish no better than 31-23.

12 games over .500 could get the Yankees to the playoffs. They're capable of it, but we're not sure they can do it unless Ian Kennedy, Al Aceves, Phil Hughes, or whomever can step it up in the rotation. It should make for interesting dog days of Summer.

Share

Minor League Recap - 7/23

Games of 7/23

With Brian Cashman in attendance, Scranton starter Al Aceves had a chance to make an impression. A solid or stellar start could have meant a start at the major league level, but things didn't work out too well for the 25-yr old native of Mexico.

Aceves threw 65 pitches (he's still rehabbing from a groin injury) in a 3 inning stint in which he allowed 2 runs, 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 6. The Yankees won the game 4-3 over the Richmond Braves behind Cody Ransom's 2-run home run, his 18th of the season. J.B. Cox picked up the win after 3 scoreless innings from Steven White. Brian Bruney also tossed one shutout inning and insisted he's ready to re-join the big club.

Chad Jennings spoke to Cashman about Aceves' performance. Jennings also reported that Jason Lane was put on the DL with a rib cage injury.

	July 22, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Richmond 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 5 0 Scranton/WB 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 X 4 4 1 Recap | Box | W: J. Cox (4-3, 3.76); L: D. Moss (3-9, 4.99); SV: S. Strickland (7) HR: RIC: B. Canizares (12). SWB: C. Ransom (18).

Tough night for Trenton Thunder pitcher Jason Jones. He got hammered for 6 runs on 10 hits in just 4 innings of work against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He also walked 4 batters. New Hampshire won the game 7-2. Edwar Gonzalez hit his 8th home run for the Thunder and Austin Jackson stayed hot with a pair of hits in 4 at-bats.

Mike Ashmore reported that the Yankees traded reliever Bo Hall to the Astros for a player to be named later. Don't expect that player to have much value.

	July 22, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Trenton 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 8 1 New Hampshire 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 X 7 12 1 Recap | Box | W: B. Cecil (5-2, 2.76); L: J. Jones (10-4, 2.67) HR: TRE: E. Gonzalez (8). NHM: D. Smith (6).

The Tampa Yankees split a 7-inning twinbill with the Brevard County Manatees. The Yankees won the opener 4-2 behind a 3-run home run from Andres Perez and strong pitching by Mike Dunn, Phil Bartleski (2-0), and Jon Hovis.

The Manatees took the nightcap in a 16-2 blow out. Jason Stephens, who had been an All-Star at Charleston and and had started out well at Tampa, got lit up for 7 runs in 2 innings pitched as he continued recent struggles. Eduardo Nunez and Mitch Hilligoss each hit solo home runs to account for the Yankees runs.

	July 22, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Brevard County 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 7 0 Tampa 0 3 0 0 1 0 X 4 6 1 Recap | Box | W: P. Bartleski (2-0, 1.45); L: A. Rivas (0-1, 9.00); SV: J. Hovis (10) HR: TAM: A. Perez (7).

	July 22, 2008 Game 2
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Brevard County 1 6 3 5 0 1 0 16 16 0 Tampa 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 4 1 Recap | Box | W: M. Ramlow (2-0, 0.00); L: J. Stephens (2-4, 6.08) HR: TAM: E. Nunez (5), M. Hilligoss (1).

Lance Pendleton allowed 5 runs in 5 innings in the Charleston River Dogs 7-5 loss to the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Brandon Laird had a big night, going 4-5 with a home run and 3 RBI. Jesus Montero continued his hot streak with a 2-5 night.

	July 22, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Charleston 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 5 15 1 Greensboro 0 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 X 7 14 2 Recap | Box | W: B. Evans (1-1, 4.61); L: L. Pendleton (6-6, 3.60); SV: C. Madden (4) HR: CHA: B. Laird (12). GBO: R. Curry (10), T. Belcher (1).

The Staten Island Yankees came out on top of the Jamestown Jammers (sounds like a Roller Derby team) in a pitcher's duel, 1-0. Addison Maruszak drove in the game's only run in the 7th inning to make a winner of starter David Phelps, who went 6 innings. Pat Venditte struck out 2 of 3 in the 9th for his 9th save.

	July 22, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Staten Island 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 Jamestown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 Recap | Box W: D. Phelps (3-2, 3.27); L: T. Koehler (1-3, 2.12); SV: P. Venditte (9) HR: None.

The GCL Yankees were edged out by their Braves countparts 5-4. Humberto Sanchez threw one inning, allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, as he continues his rehab from Tommy John surgery. Spencer Lucian drove in 2 runs for the Yankees.

	July 22, 2008
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E GCL Yankees 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 3 GCL Braves 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 X 5 8 2 Recap | Box W: D. Delgado (3-0, 2.49); L: K. Perez (0-2, 4.63); SV: S. Rodriguez (3) HR: None.

Share