The Daily Yankeeland - 11/25

Robinson Cano's season was one of the biggest disappointments of 2007. It came on the heels of a bad 1st half in 2006 and has Yankees management concerned. Apparently it has Cano worried too. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long recently spent time in the Dominican Republic with the inconsistent basemen and came away impressed. Here's what he told the NY Post.

"I was as impressed with what he looks like as I have ever been in my whole life," hitting coach Kevin Long said of Cano yesterday after spending six days last week in the Dominican Republic with the second baseman who led the list of Yankees disappointments last season.

"He hired a personal trainer from New Jersey who is kicking his [butt], and he looks great," Long said. "His body fat is at 11 percent, his stomach is cut."

"He works on hitting and doing agility drills for two hours, rests and goes to the weight room for three hours," Long said of Cano, who enters the second-year of a four-year, $30 million deal. "There isn't a whole lot of heavy lifting. It's more cardio and light weights."

Newsday's Wally Matthews thinks no word from CC Sabathia means he doesn't want to be a Yankee.

It's been a pleasure not having to hear anything about Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee, but they're back in the news. Word is federal agents have collected DNA samples to help determine if Clemens perjured himself in front of Congress. (Isn't that like trying to con a con man?)

Sunday was the last official tour of the current Yankee Stadium. It was bittersweet for those who took part.

The Yankees 2009 Spring Training schedule has been announced.

Going to a Bar-Mitvah or Jewish wedding? Wear a Yankees Yarmulke!

The Trenton Thunder were the first recipients of the Team of the Year award from "This Year in Minor League Baseball".

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The Daily Yankeeland - 9/14

The Yankees split a day-night doubleheader with the Rays yesterday. Unfortunately Mike Mussina was not the winning pitcher for the Yankees. Moose was off his game, allowing 5 runs in five innings, and dropped his ninth game of the season. He'll likely have three starts remaining with no room for error. The Yankees dropped the opener 7-1, with a ninth inning Bobby Abreu home run the only thing that kept them from being shut out. Moose did pass Cy Young for 19th place on the all-time strikeout list.

Xavier Nady's RBI single in the seventh inning snapped a 4-4 tie in the nightcap. Damaso Marte picked up the win, with Mariano Rivera, pitching for only the second time in two weeks, earning his 34th save in 35 tries.

Derek Jeter went 6-7 in the twinbill, putting him within three hits of Lou Gehrig's career hit record at Yankee Stadium. Being that we're going to the game tie, we would love a 3- or 4-hit performance. The last September game we went to was 10 years ago when David Cone beat the then Devil Rays for his 20th win of the season. That was team win number 113.

Lack of amenities doom the old ballparks.

Kevin Kernan says the Yankees need smart moves in the off-season. Of course he's the guy who said last year the Yankees should sign Scot Schoenweis.

Joel Sherman has his 5 critical fixes for '09.

For some reason the LA Times is talking about A-Rod's need for a ring.

Trenton has taken a 2-1 lead on Akron in the Eastern League championship series. George Kontos, Anthony Claggett, Mike Dunn, and Jhonny Nunez combined on a 4-hitter in the Thunder's 4-1 triumph. Claggett picked up the victory after Kontos was removed with two outs in the fifth inning.

Austin Jackson had a big night with a home run and two tremendous catches in centerfield. Mike Ashmore has more on the game.

The Thunder can close things out tonight in a 6:05 start.

The Daily News has another goodbye to Yankee Stadium.


Joe Girardi says Kevin Long shouldn't be a scape goat.

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Aeros Even up the Thunder

Former Yankees prospect Bronson Sardinha gave his old organization some pay back last night as he enjoyed a 4-hit, 4 RBI in Akron's 13-10 win over the Trenton Thunder. The victory tied the Eastern League series at a game apiece.

Sardinha's four hits included a home run as the Aeros built a 13-6 lead. The Thunder rallied with four runs in the ninth, but fell short. Christian Garcia was put on the hot seat, making his first post season start, and he failed miserably. Garcia, who missed a good chunk of the last two seasons, left after four innings and 6-1 deficit.

The Thunder rallied to tie the game at 6-6, but the bullpen imploded in the eighth inning when the Aeros put seven runs on the board. Kevin Whelan was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs in just one-third of an inning.

Austin Jackson, Reegie Corona, and Colin Curtis led the Thunder with two RBI each.

The Times of Trenton has more.

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Minor League Playoff Update - 9/10

Scranton and Trenton both began their championship series last night in their respective leagues. The International League showdown pits the Yankees and the Rays' top farm team, the Durham Bulls. The Yankees built a 6-2 lead behind Chase Wright's strong six innings and a potent offense against stud starter David Price, but the Scranton bullpen coughed up five runs in the seventh inning and suddenly the Bulls had a 7-6 lead.

The Yankees rallied in the ninth though, tying the game when Tim Battle doubled home pinch-runner Chris Basak from second base. Then it was Eric Duncan's turn to play hero, and he came through, lining a single to right to score Battle with the game winner. The victory gave Scranton a 1-0 lead in the Governor's Cup final. Kevin Czerwinski of mlb.com has more.

Trenton meanwhile got another big start from Eric Hacker in taking the Eastern League final opener, 3-1 over the Akron Aeros. Hacker allowed a run on three hits over six innings and is now 2-0, 1.54 in his two post-season starts. Chris Malec drove in two runs and Ramiro Pena enjoyed a 3-hit night. Jhonny Nunez recorded the final four outs for the save.

Staten Island has been eliminated in two games in their quest for the New York-Penn League title. The Jamestown Jammers jumped out to an 8-1 lead after just two innings in game one and held on for a 10-7 win. Mitch Abeita and Mike Lyon homered in a losing cause.

Game two showcased much better pitching on both sides, but the Baby Bombers came out on the wrong end of a 4-1 score. The Jammers again jumped out to a quick lead, with a three run first inning against Jon Albaladejo. Elih Villanueva dominated the Baby Bombers, limiting them to one unearned run and four hits over six innings, while striking out 10. Jeremy Bleich was a bright spot for S.I. though, throwing four scoreless innings in relief.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 8/22

We woke up this morning and it was still true: Carl Pavano is pitching tomorrow. The Yankees should just run Phil Hughes out there and stop treating him with kid gloves.

"I'm not asking him to make amends," Manager Joe Girardi said. "I'm just asking him to come and compete. I tell every player when they come here, it's a clean slate. I'm just expecting him to do his thing."

That was what Joe Girardi told Tyler Kepner about Pavano's comeback.

Joba Chamberlain is expected to throw 35 pitches in his Saturday bullpen session.

Phil Mushnick takes a dig at some of Michael Kay's hypocrisy.

The Steinbrenner boys are reportedly in negotiations with Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney for a farewell concert at Yankee Stadium. Can't be outdone by the Wilpons, ya know?

Hal Steinbrenner used Derek Jeter as a conduit last week. As several beat writers have pointed out, Hal- and not Hank- is the Steinbrenner son who is really running the show. Hank may be making the headlines, but he never goes to games, wasn't at Bobby Murcer's Memorial service, etc..

Mike Ashmore reports on the Trenton Thunder's playoff-clinching win last night.

The Staten Island Yankees have won 8 straight.

What a difference a year makes. One year ago today, 8/22/07, the Orioles got lambasted by the Rangers, 30-3. The Yankees can't score 30 runs in a month.

Forgot to mention this the other day: Craig Biggio joined Mickey Mantle as the only MLB player to have number 7 retired.

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Rehab Update

Phil Hughes was back on this hill this evening for the Scranton Yankees. He went 4.2 innings, throwing 68 pitches, 40 of them strikes. His fastball was clocked at 93-94 mph. Chad Jennings has more specifics of Hughes' outing.

The question now will be whether Hughes' next outing is for the Scranton or New York Yankees.

Carl Pavano was also back on the mound tonight for the Trenton Thunder. According to Mike Ashmore, Pavano went 3.2 innings, allowing 1 hit, no runs, walked 2, and struck out 4.

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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

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The Daily Yankeeland - 7/24

We're enjoying a day off in the schedule before three big games in Boston this weekend. Here's what's going on.

Things have really begun to heat up in talks with Seattle that would sent pariah #2 Kei Igawa (Pavano is of course #1) to the Mariners for Jarrod Washburn and contract throw in Jose Vidro.

We're not big fans of Washburn, but he battles, gives you innings and has done well in the post-season. He would also give you another left-hander in the rotation in addition to Andy Pettitte, and would be a viable option out of the pen should the Yankees make the playoffs. He's got about $4 million left on his deal this year and has a $10 million contract for next season. Igawa's contract runs through 2011 and is worth about $14 million.

Vidro was once a good 2nd baseman and swung a good bat, but his knees and his skills have eroded and now he's a DH without any pop.

* * *

The media is blasting the Yankees from all sides for their decision not to shut down Jorge Posada immediately so that he'll be ready for the start of next season. There were even rumors that Randy Levine insisted that Posada play because of the big contract he signed in the off-season. It's very believable considering Levine is pretty much a dick.

We, as we stated yesterday, are in agreement that Posada will not be any use to the team this year. His shoulder will not strengthen to the point that he will be able to hit with any kind of authority.

* * *

Today is the 25th anniversary of a game that will in infamy. The Pine Tar game between the Yankees and Royals on July 24, 1983. Brian Heyman of the Journal News looks back, and has thoughts from George Brett and ump Tim McLelland.

* * *

Mark Lelinwalla of the Daily News has a nice piece on rookie outfielder Justin Christian. We repeat, time for Brett Gardner, who couldn't break a pane of glass right now, to go back to Scranton and for Christian to get increased playing time.

* * *

Pitching match ups for this weekend:

Friday: Joba Chamberlain vs. Josh Beckett
Saturday: Andy Pettitte vs. Tim Wakefield
Sunday: Sidney Ponson vs. Jon Lester

Saturday's game is one of those annoying 3:55 starts on Fox and Sunday is an 8:05 "we'll have to listen to Joe Morgan" affair on ESPN.

* * *

The YES Network continues to a great job covering the life and death of our man Bobby Murcer. Yankees Magazine included some new interviews from the likes of Reggie Jackson, Michael Kay, and others are the All-Star game. It's still shocking when Reggie acts humbly.

* * *

The Trenton Thunder have signed a 10-year extension with Mercer County that will keep the Yankees Double-A affiliate in Trenton through 2023. The new deal gives the Thunder more control over operations at Waterfront Park.

* * *

And finally, in case you missed it Tuesday, here's the video (we found the connection to be a bit troublesome) of Melky Cabrera making an error because he was paying attention to the Bleacher Creatures instead of the game.

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Austin Jackson Bringing the Thunder

Big afternoon for Austin Jackson today. The Trenton Thunder are pummeling the Reading Phillies 15-3 in the 8th. Jackson has a grand slam and 7 RBI. Jose Tabata has also hit his 1st home run of the season and driven in 4 runs.

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Tabata Quietly Suspended

The Yankees front office won't talk about it and neither will the Trenton Thunder management. Mike Ashmore, who covers the Thunder, says that Jose Tabata was apparently suspended for one game after an incident that occurred on April 27. Having struck out, Tabata slammed his bat, went into the clubhouse, and apparently left.

Though it was a one game suspension, manager Tony Franklin sat the 19-yr old prized prospect until last night's game. His return was less than triumphant as he went 0-3.

There's also been speculation that Tabata has still not fully recovered from past wrist injuries and it has sapped him of some of his power.

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The Golden Child

No, not that really bad movie with Eddie Murphy (though Charlotte Lewis looked really hot). Chase, the Golden Retriever/batdog for the Trenton Thunder is going to be a puppy pappy. Chase got it on with Cyndarella, female Golden, and pups are on the way.

You can own one of the pups too. If interested, contract Cynazar Golden Retrievers at cynazar@aol.com or call (732) 846-4949.

Way to go Chase!

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Yankee Auction for Good Cause

I received this email this morning from Tom Kackley, an employee of the Trenton Thunder.

Hi blogger people.....pardon the intrusion.

If you can help in any way.....perhaps a link on your blog to my charity auction.

I work as a minor league equipment manager in the Yankees system. This season I collected whatever goodies I could to hold an auction to benefit The Domestic Violence Project. It's all legit...100% of the profit goes to the DVP.

http://www.domesticviolenceproj.org/

My hope is that I can encourage bloggers to pass along a little info about the auction to their readers so that we can raise as much money as possible for the women and kids affected by domestic violence.

Everything is on Ebay here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZclubsoulcity

or you can link through the Trenton Thunder website here: http://www.trentonthunder.com/

We have a nice collection of autographed balls, game used equipment from some high profile prospects, and some Yankee clothing that isn't available elsewhere.

I've been working in baseball 20 years, all at the minor league levels. Ten years ago, about a week before opening day, my wife's sister was murdered by her husband. I was angry for some time over the fact that I didn't get the chance to do something to save her. So, since then what I do is raise her son, and now this auction.

Hope you can help. Thanks.

Tom in Ohio

Sounds like an excellent cause indeed

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Trenton Grabs 'AA' Title

From Trenton Thunder.com

(Akron, OH)- Matt Carson had four hits, including a home run, and three RBI to lead the Trenton Thunder to an 10-5 win on Saturday to win the Eastern League Title. Trenton wins clinches their first championship in the 14-year history of the franchise.

The Thunder, who finished the post-season with an 6-2 record, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st Inning off Akron's Bobby Brownlie. With two outs, DH Juan Miranda doubled home SS Reegie Corona from 1st Base for the lead. Carson followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead. 1B Cody Ehlers capped the inning with an RBI double. Akron came back with four runs off Dan McCutchen in the 3rd Inning to take the lead. McCutchen got the win allowing those four runs over five innings.

The Thunder came right back to re-take the lead with three runs in the 4th Inning. A sacrifice fly from Gabe Lopez along with a two-run double from Corona gave Trenton a 6-4 lead. Brownlie took the loss allowing six runs in 3 1/3 innings. Trenton added two more runs in the 5th Inning and one more in the 6th Inning for a 9-5 lead. Carson capped the night with a solo homer for a 10-5 lead.

Trenton finished the night with a scoreless 8th Inning from Scott Patterson and a scoreless 9th Inning from Justin Pope to clinch the title.

The Thunder finish the season with an overall record of 89-61, the second most wins in franchise history.

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Hughes Solid in Rehab Start

Phil Hughes continued his rehab work at Double-A Trenton today, throwing 4 solid innings in the process. The right-hander allowed 1 run on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 5.

Hughes set down 10 men in a row after Binghamton scored in the 1st inning. Hughes' next rehab start is expected to be for Scanton.

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Days of Thunder

Nice article in today's Star Ledger on the up and coming pitchers at the Yankee's Double-A level. The Trenton Thunder have been shutting down hitters with ease this season and have the 2nd best ERA of all minor league teams.

For daily coverage of the Thunder, check out Joshua Brett's The Thunder Report.

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