Hump Day Rumors - 7/23 Edition

Things are starting to heat up as we get closer to the July 31st trade deadline. Locally the Yankees are taking a look at Seattle's Jarrod Washburn, Pirates' lefties Damaso Marte and John Grabow, the Reds' Bronson Arroyo (yech), and the Rockies' Brian Fuentes. The Denver Post reports that a team source said the Rockies have asked for Rays Double-A starter Wade Hendrickson, the Yankees' Ian Kennedy, the Red Sox's Clay Buchholz or Mets minor-leaguer Jon Niese. The Yankees have even talked about the Jays A.J. Burnett.

The Post's George King reports that the Yankees have also sent a scout to watch the Dodgers' Derek Lowe, who becomes a free agent after this season. The Yankees are also looking at hitters Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and others.

Many of the decisions regarding the Yankees plans will be made this Thursday when the front office meets in Tampa. According to the Daily News' Mark Feinsand, the Yankees will be going for it.

The meeting will include co-chairmen Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, special adviser Gene Michael, pro scouting director Billy Eppler and senior VP Felix Lopez. Manager Joe Girardi isn't expected to be at the meeting, but he is expected to have some input.

A source with knowledge of the situation said that the Steinbrenner brothers have been pleased with the team's recent play, so they want to show the players that they are committed to winning this year by making moves to bolster the roster.

"They're ready to do whatever they need to do at the deadline," the source said. "They want to make a run this year."

A couple of minor trades did go through yesterday. For some reason the Houston Astros acquired left-hander Randy Wolf from the San Diego Padres for minor league Chad Reineke. Perhaps the Astros will look to re-deal Wolf since they aren't coming close to sniffing a playoff spot.

The Diamondbacks strengthened their bullpen by getting setup man/part-time closer Jon Rauch from the Washington Nationals for infielder Emilio Bonifacio. The Dbacks now have two of the tallest players in baseball in Rauch and Randy Johnson.

Okay, enough fact, back to rumor. The Cardinals, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch are looking for a left-hander. They've expressed interest in Orioles All-Star closer George Sherrill, who has 29 saves and a 3.83 ERA, Rangers set up man Eddie Guardado. The Brewers are said to be eyeing Sherrill as well.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Brewers are close to signing former Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons to a minor league contract. The oft-injured outfielder couldn't find a major league job after being named in the Mitchell Report last Fall. He's been playing this season for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League.


UPDATE 3:15 PM EDT

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports is reporting that the Yankees are looking for an offensive upgrade at catcher with Jorge Posada not expected to be able to play the position the remainder of the season. The Yankees have reportedly contacted the Texas Rangers about Gerald Laird and the Kansas City Royals about Miguel Olivo.

The Rangers are looking for young pitching in return for Laird, who is signed through 2010. The Royals are working hard to move Olivo, who would come at a lower asking price.

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Results for Wang Poll

First off, thanks to the 76 respondents of our most recent poll. We asked what the Yankees should do to replace the injured Chien-Ming Wang in the rotation, and unlike past polls, there was no clear cut answer.

What may represent a change in fan attitude, paralleling the front office, is the largest margin (42%) selected to use a pitcher within the organization, rather than trading for a player on another team.

32% of you did want to go for the big gun though- a C.C. Sabathia, Ben Sheets, or A.J. Burnett type.

The final tally was a split between going after free agent Freddy Garcia, and trading for a less stellar pitcher, such as Randy Wolf or Kevin Millwood.

One things for sure, Sidney Ponson is NOT the answer.

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Yankees vs. Padres - June 17

The Yankees begin a 3-game series this evening with the San Diego Padres at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are 3-2 in interleague play thus far, with all the wins coming against the Astros and the two losses against the Mets. The Padres, under second year manager Bud Black are playing better of late after a bad start.

The Padres have been perennial NL West division contenders since the new millennium, but they started this season with an 11-17 April. The dropped 7 of their first 8 games in May and were 23-34 at the end of the month. But after a 3-game losing streak start this month they've won 8-11 to get back to 9 games (31-40) under .500 and 6.5 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

The Padres starting rotation was supposed to be among the best in the NL and all of baseball lead by Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Greg Maddux. But both Peavy and Young, who was hit in the face by an Albert Pujols line drive, have missed significant chunks of time due to injury. Peavy recently returned and picked up a victory. Guys like Randy Wolf and Josh Banks have recently stepped up to help the Padres start to turn things around.

On offense, Adrian Gonzalez is quietly having one of the best seasons in baseball. He's hitting .293-19-62 with 25 walks. His OBP/SLG is .358/.555/.913. Shortstop Khalil Greene hit 27 HRs and drove in 94 runs last year, but has struggled this season, with just 6 home runs and 27 RBI in 69 games. Second year 3rd baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff is putting up numbers similar to his rookie year (.275-18-74). His play has allowed the Padres to move stud prospect Chase Headley to left field. Headley is expected to get his major league call up tonight.

Brian Giles is the biggest name at the plate, but his numbers aren't reflective of his ability. His power continues to decline (4 home runs in 67 games) and there are rumors he could be moved.

The Padres bullpen has not performed as well it has in the past, though in a typical Trevor Hoffman season, there are plenty of big saves and plenty of blown ones.

* * *

The Yankees last faced San Diego in 2004 when the Yankees took 2 of 3 at the Stadium. The Yankees lost the opener 10-2 after Mike Mussina had to leave after 3 innings with a groin pull. The All-World trio of Felix Heredia, Paul Quantrill, and Gabe White (whose mustache would fit in today) got lit up.

The Yankees took the second game 3-2 behind good ol' Johnny Lieber's 6 innings. The angry old man, Gary Sheffield, drove in 2 runs against one of his many former teams. The Yankees came back not once, but twice to win the finale 6-5 in 12 innings. Hideki Matsui and Kenny Lofton hit back to back 2-out home runs in the 9th off of Trevor Hoffman (remember what we said) to tie it. Then down 3 runs in the 12th the Yankees came back again. A walk by Bernie Williams, a double by Derek Jeter. Alex Rodriguez's ground out drove in one run and it was 5-3. Sheffield's single put men on the corners for Jason Giambi who delivered an RBI single to center to cut it to 5-4.

Then manager Bruce Bochy sent for a guy we all hated in NY, Jay Witasick or Witasuck as he was known. He delivered as usual. Jorge Posada tied things up with a double, and after an intentional walk to Matsui, Ruben Sierra brought home the winning run with a sac fly.

Of course the most famous meeting of the two teams was the 1998 World Series when the Yankees finished off their magnificent season with a series sweep.


Pitching Probables

Tuesday: Randy Wolf (5-3, 3.83) vs. Andy Pettitte (6-5, 4.64)

Wednesday: Jake Peavy (5-3, 2.64) vs. Darrell Rasner (3-4, 3.64)

Thursday: Josh Banks (2-0, 1.29) vs. Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 2.48)


Yankees vs. Wolf

Damon 1-6
Jeter 0-3
Moeller 3-6 1 HR 2 RBI
Joe Girardi may want to grab a bat. He was 3-9 against Wolf.

Padres vs. Pettitte

T.Clark 5-28 1 HR 3 RBI
Gerut 1-3
Giles 3-13 1 RBI
Gonzalez 1-5
Greene 2-10
S. Hairston 3-9 1 HR 2 RBI
Iguchi 0-2

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Giese for Now, Who for Later?

Dan Giese will step into Chien-Ming Wang's cleats (don't hurt yourself) this Saturday (we erroneously reported Sunday yesterday) against the Cincinnati Reds. But the question remains, will it be a long term solution, will the Yankees look inside the organization, or elsewhere. Let's take a look at the option.

Dan Giese: Let's start right with the guy who gets the first crack. Giese was a journeyman who had only appeared in 8 games last season with the Giants. But he blossomed as a starter (4-2, 1.98 in 13 games, 10 starts) this season at Scranton and that earned him the right to be Joba Chamberlain's back up for his first two starts. Now that Joba is ready to go out and throw 90-100 pitches, the plan would have been for Giese to be the long man out of the pen. Wang's injury changed all that.

Internal Options:

That guy incredibly bad import from Japan: We so don't want him back here we won't even mention him by name. But you know who he is and how bad he is. 'nuff said.

Ian Kennedy: Kennedy was tremendous last season, dominating at 3 levels in the minors and getting the notice of fans with an impressive September debut. But this year he has been just plain awful. He already made one very brief trip down to Scranton and then was DL'ed with a Lat injury shortly after his return. This is guy whose confidence has to be shaken right now since he has never had anything other than success prior to this season. At the moment he's a number 5 starter. With Wang out, possibly for the season, the Yankees need better than a number 5.

Dan McCutchen: McCutchen has made just 5 starts at the Triple-A level and from Brian Cashman's comments yesterday, doesn't seem like a viable solution for that precise reason. His numbers at Scranton have been decent (1-4, 3.62 21 K/4 BB) after an outstanding start at Trenton (4-3, 2.55 52 K in 53 IP).

Alan Horne: Horne missed two months of the season with a bicep injury and has thrown only 18.1 innings this season. Cashman won't throw him into the fire.

Jeff Karstens: Karstens is a decent pitcher who can't seem to stay healthy. He looked like he was going to go north with the club out of spring training and got hurt. He was nearly done with his rehab and got hurt. Now he's coming back again, but we already know what he can do and its not fantastic.

Jason Jones: This would be a very long shot. Jones has spent a year and a half at the Double-A level and is having an outstanding season (8-2, 2.30), but Cashman doesn't like to rush the Yankees prospects and is unlikely to pull up a guy who hasn't pitched at Triple-A.

Outside Solutions:

Obviously the biggest name out there is the biggest guy out there, C.C. Sabathia. The left-hander is set to become a free agent after the season and, you would have to think, the Yankees would want a window to negotiate a new contract with him before approving a deal. Indians GM Mark Shapiro is also going to want a bundle for him. Brian Cashman would look foolish if he threw a package of Phil Hughes and others together to get him after turning down a deal for Johan Santana. At worst, the Indians will get 2 draft picks as compensation if Sabathia stays the season and leaves as a free agent.

Ben Sheets: Sheets will turn just 30 this summer, but has spent significant time on the DL. He hasn't made more than 24 starts since 2004. He's missed some time this season already with triceps stiffness. Sheets is off to a great start this season (7-1, 2.42), but the Brewers are scuffling after being in contention all of last season. Sheets will also be a free agent after the season.

Randy Wolf: Another pending free agent who will be starting tonight against the Yankees when the San Diego Padres come to town. The up side is that he's left-handed, the down side is that he's not fantastic. He's got a career ERA of 4.23 (5-4, 3.83 in '08) with all 10 years of major league service in the National League. We've seen how average NL pitchers do in the AL and so it doesn't make sense to us unless you can get him cheap. He also had Tommy John Surgery and missed significant chunks of 2005 and 2006. He also suffered from shoulder soreness last season.

Rich Harden and Joe Blanton: A pair of talented right-handers from Oakland. Harden is a free agent after the season while Blanton can't be a free agent until 2011. He is arbitration eligible. GM Billy Beane would surely command a king's ransom for either pitcher just as he has when he dealt Dan Haren, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson in the past. Harden, when healthy is fantastic (4-0, 2.53 67 K in 53.1 IP in '08), but that's a big if. He threw 72.2 innings combined in '06 and '07 and has spent time on the DL this year as well. Blanton has control trouble at times, but is still a very good pitcher. The biggest down side as we mentioned earlier is that Beane would want too many prospects back.

Freddy Garcia: Garcia is sitting at home right now, getting in shape for when the phone rings. He had 7 seasons of 200 or more innings and it seemed to catch up to him last year when he threw just 58 innings due to a shoulder injury. Whether he's got enough left in the tank remains to be seen.

A.J. Burnett: The much embattled, much injured right-hander has worn out his welcome in Toronto. GM J.P. Ricciardi publicly questioned his heart and guts and Burnett recently made comments that he wouldn't mind playing for the Cubs. He then threw grease on the fire by saying he didn't care what the fans reaction to his comments would be. The guy's got talent, no doubt, but his physical problems and mental toughness probably will make Cashman shy away (we already have Carl Pavano). He still has 2 years remaining on a 5-year, $55 million deal, but he can opt out of it after this season, which makes his departure from Toronto even more likely.

Gil Meche: He's in the 2nd year of a 5-year, $55 million deal with the Royals. After having an outstanding season in '07, he's been pretty mediocre this year and the Royals are floundering. His contract really isn't that bad by today's standards and the Royals need someone to put in the seats, so its not likely he would be available.

Erik Bedard: Would seem to be odd for him tobe on the market already, but the Mariners stink and there's a question of just how focused Bedard is on baseball. The Blue Jays were thought to be very interested in him, but have backed off.

There are other names (Jarrod Washburn, Livan Hernandez, Kevin Millwood, etc.) that we are sure will be bandied about, but none really intrigue us. We would give Giese the job for now, but would definitely take a look at how Garcia is progressing, and start making the rounds calling up about guys like Sabathia. With so many teams still in division and wild card hunts though, it's not likely that a major deal would get done too soon.


So what would you do? Please participate in our poll at the top of My Pinstripes.

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Hot Stove Update

And we could use that hot stove. 22 degrees and a storm on its way. Dreaming of Tampa, mid-February.

So all day long we've read how the Twins have gone back and forth on who has made the better offer, the Yankees or Red Sox. We don't even know what other teams, such as the Mariners could be offering. There was even one reporter- we'll call him Dick- who reported that the Twins wanted both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy from the Yankees. Then he later admitted he was merely speculating.

Tonight we get word from SI's Jon Heyman that the Twins want either Alan Horne or Austin Jackson, in addition to Hughes and Melky Cabrera.

Earlier this evening, Buster Olney said the Red Sox and Twins were re-working an offer, thought to maybe include Jacoby Ellsbury or Clay Bucholz.

On and on it goes, and it won't stop until Santana is actually traded. In the meantime, it's creating a heated debated amongst Yankees fans who do or don't want to see Hughes included.

* * *

The Yankees offered salary arbitration to Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Luis Vizcaino. The Yankees did not offer arbitration to Roger Clemens, Ron Villone, Jose Molina, and Doug Mientkiewicz. For A-Rod, Molina, and Mariano, this is merely a formality until their deals get formalized.

* **

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Padres have snared free agent pitcher Randy Wolf, pending physical. There had been a lot of speculation that Wolf was going to return to the Phillies. The Padres have also reportedly talked to the Cubs about Mark Prior.

The Red Sox offered arbitration to Eric Gagne and Mike Timlin. The didn't offer it to Bobby Kielty, Eric Hinske, Doug Mirabelli, Royce Clayton and Matt Clement. Gagne is almost a certainty to sign elsewhere, while Timlin is close to returning to the Sox.

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