A-Rod Talks Surgery, Teammates, Jorge and Bobby V. Comments

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This afternoon, Alex Rodriguez phoned into The Michael Kay Show on 1050 ESPN Radio, and answered questions from Kay on several topics. If you missed it, here are some interesting excerpts from the interview:

On the number of games he should play this season:

"It doesn't really matter what I say here in February or March. It doesn't really make a lot of sense for me to throw out any type of number. I've worked extremely hard [and] I'm preparing myself to go out there and put up a big number as far as games played and be very productive and help this team win."

On making adjustments due to his age:

"I think for me, I'm not lowering my expectations. You know...again, I've worked extremely hard and I think I'm in great shape and ready to go for a great season. I'm not lowering my expectations, that's for sure. The one thing, you wanna go in and put up the big numbers with games played and, you know, let the chips fall where they may."

On the orthokine treatment:

"I feel good. I talked to Kobe [Bryant] [and] he raved about the procedure. You know, I respect Kobe a lot and [when] someone of his stature endorses something like this that can be beneficial to me physically, I felt it was worth taking a look at it. I'm very happy with the outcome so far"

On Bobby Valentine's comments about his "fight" with Jason Varitek:

"I didn't actually read the whole thing. You know...I think it's important to know that the reason why everyone cares so much about this rivalry is because for a long time, both teams have contended for a championship. If both teams were losing games, no one would really care. It's because they have great players, great management and that's why they care. It's not for anything anybody says off the field."

On Varitek not taking his mask off:

"I don't remember that {laughing}."

On Michael Pineda:

"Electric stuff. I remember talking to some of the guys and we just looked at each other and said, 'Wow!' You know, this kid has all the potential in the world. When Cashman makes a move like this...it makes you feel like a little kid again; it reminds you of why it feels great to be a New York Yankee and play for this great organization. I remember calling CC [Sabathia] and [Mark Teixeira] and half a dozen of my teamamtes, and celebrating getting such a great arm."

On Raul Ibanez:

"Raul and I were teammates...in 1994 and I was in Wisconsin in A-ball. I hit third and he hit fourth and, you know, Raul is one of the greatest...classiest human beings you've ever met right there in the line of Mariano Rivera. This guy is...unbelievable. He gets to the stadium at 6:30 in the morning and I think I left [there] an hour ago, and he was still there. And he looked in the mirror and he said, 'Alex, can you believe I'm wearing this uniform? It's surreal, I still can't believe it.' Here's a guy that's played north of twelve years and feels like a rookie."

On AJ Burnett:

"Well, I respect AJ. [He's] a good friend, and I mainly want to thank him for helping us win a championship in 2009. He is a great competitor, he has great stuff and not only me, but all his teammmates...we wish him the best."

On the absence of Jorge Posada:

"You know, what Jorgie brought to this team was very unique. Besides being one of the greatest switch-hitting catchers of all time, he was a fierce leader for us. No one is going to ...replace that. I think other players are going to have to come in and step up their game.

"One thing for me, he belongs up there with the Yankee greats, and that's a tough group to crack."

 On A-Rod seeing the end of his career:

"You can always see the end. It's inevitable. You wish the game can go on forever, but it doesn't; we're sort of on borrowed time. I think all of us who are kind of in the seventh inning or the fourth quarter of our careers, we're cherishing the game more and more each and every day."

On talking Mariano Rivera out of retirement:

"Like I said, no one plays forever. Selfishly, I want Mo to play for a long time. The one thing about Mo, everyone calls him the best reliever of all time, but very easily, he could be the best pitcher of all time.

"What's overshadowed is what he [brings] to the clubhouse. Mariano for me, has been such a rock. I think it's even more impressive what he does in the clubhouse than what he does on the mound."

On Robinson Cano hitting third in the lineup:

"I think Robbie is in a very special place in his career. I think the sky is the limit for him. If he gets in a position where he's comfortable hitting in that third spot, and add probably 50 or 60 at-bats, he can get in a groove where he can do some very special things. And without a question, he's going to be the main ingredient of what we do here in the next three to four years."

On whether the Yankees actually practice the play where Derek Jeter makes the "flip:"

"Absolutely. I can't really explain it because that's the shortstop's responsibility. But when Derek is on [here], he'll explain it to you {laughing}. We probably practiced it eight or ten times today."

(Interview courtesy of The Michael Kay Show, 1050 ESPN Radio)

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Chavez Agrees To Deal With Yankees

Andrew Theodorakis/Daily News

This is what happens when you trade your reporting duties for a night "in" with girlfriends. I've been calling for the Yankees to hurry up and make a deal with Eric Chavez, and when the deal goes down, I miss it. But, the white wine and cheese fondue that I gorged on last night, were well worth it. Anyhoo, here is the report courtesy of Bryan Hoch of yankees.com:

TAMPA, Fla. -- Joe Girardi spoke on Tuesday afternoon as though Eric Chavez was already listed on his roster, and the Yankees' manager had good reason for his confidence.

Chavez and the Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $900,000 contract that includes bonuses for performance incentives, MLB.com has confirmed.

The deal was first reported by MLB Network and CBS Sports analyst Jon Heyman and has not been officially announced by the club because Chavez must first pass a physical

Earlier in the day, Girardi mentioned Chavez as one of his backup first-base options before quickly realizing his error and clarifying that a deal was not yet finalized.

"We don't have him, but there has been talk about him," Girardi said, adding, "I'd like to have him back. I thought he was productive for us and he gives me flexibility."

The Yankees had been negotiating with Chavez, 34, envisioning him as a solid option to back up Alex Rodriguez at third base and Mark Teixeira at first base.

In fact, his locker next to Nick Swisher at George M. Steinbrenner Field had remained vacant, an indication that he was eventually expected to arrive in camp.

Girardi said that he does not view Chavez as one of the Yankees' primary designated hitters. Those roles will be filled by Raul Ibanez against right-handed pitchers and Andruw Jones against lefties.

A six-time Rawlings Gold Glove award winner at third base and an American League All-Star for four consecutive seasons beginning in 2002, when he starred for the Athletics, Chavez will likely be the final addition to the roster before position players report to camp on Friday.

While the Yankees had interest in Chavez dating back to before December's Winter Meetings, the Yankees were most recently waiting to complete the trade of A.J. Burnett to the Pirates before further pursuing Chavez.

I love that the Yankees wasted no time in getting this done. Looking at this now, it was a smart move for them to release AJ Burnett and secure Raul Ibanez, so they could simply look at what money was available for Chavez and make a deal. I also love that Girardi will use Andruw Jones as his DH option against lefties.

Designated hitter(s), check. Loaded rotation, check. Full bullpen, check. Let's play ball!

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Yankees and Pirates Finalize Trade on Burnett

Via Hardball Talk/NBC Sports

The Yankees set a firm deadline to all interested teams that a trade for AJ Burnett had to be finalized by noon tomorrow. The Pirates, who were the frontrunners throughout this saga, responded. According to this tweet from Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, Pittsburgh will eat $13 million of AJ's remaining contract. The trade will become official once MLB approves it, and Burnett passes a physical. Rosenthal mentions that the two sides were working out one final detail. No word yet on what that detail is.

I doubt that MLB will have a problem with this trade and AJ Burnett will more than likely pass his physical. So, we can pretty much call this a done deal. While Yankee pitchers will be headed to Tampa on Sunday, AJ will be having his body examined, and preparing to fly across town to Bradenton. We here at Bomber Boulevard wish him the best, and hope we never have to face him on the wrong side of his curveball.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Yankees Set Deadline for Burnett Trade

Mike Carlson/AP

So the latest on the AJ Burnett trade saga, is that the Yankees have now set a deadline for interested teams to accept an offer: make something happen on Burnett by noon Saturday!

Smart move by the Yankees. Not only does this put pressure on teams that want Burnett to not waste more time haggling over money and players, it also avoids the Yankees having to deal with questions on Burnett during Spring Training. It's a distraction that would irritate Joe Girardi, Larry Rothschild, the players and most importantly, Burnett.

So it will be interesting to see who steps up and whisks him away. According to this article by ESPNNewYork's Wallace Matthews, the Yankees were reportedly in talks with the Angels about trading Burnett for Bobby Abreu, a move that I would have absolutely loved. But, AJ used his no-trade clause to block it. Apparently, he is not a fan of playing on the West coast, and his wife is afraid to fly.

There is also word of a "mystery team" that the Yankees are talking to. Such teams always to seem to appear from nowhere at the 11th hour, and normally walk away the victor. Think the Phillies for Cliff Lee; the Angels for Albert Pujols; the Yankees for Alex Rodriguez (heh, heh!), etc.

But in the midst of getting caiught up in all the craziness surrounding this trade, I also find myself feeling very sympathetic for Burnett. I really like him, and was one of the Yankees biggest cheerleaders when they decided to bring him to New York. He hasn't been everythig that this team has needed, but he has had his moments. Particularly Game 2 of the 2009 World Series where he completely shut down the Phillies. And when his changeup and fastball are on, he's one of the best out there. It must be rough for Burnett to sit back helplessly and watch his team fervently scramble to get rid of him. I personally wish him well; I think that it would be a better situation for him to go to a team where he's guaranteed a starting role, and could probably fit somewhere 3rd or 4th in a rotation.

And please, don't forget to check out Bomber Boulevard's first Fan Poll at the top right. What do you think will be the Yankees biggest story this year? The poll remains open until February 29 at 11pm.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

AJ Burnett Trade No Easy Feat

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If you thought the AJ Burnett trade saga would have been done and over by now, well, you thought wrong. Burnett has become the unlikeliest attention grabber of the Yankees offseason, being the centerpiece of major trade talks between the team and the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was believed just days ago that the two teams were close to finalizing a deal that would send Burnett packing for players from the Pirates minor league system.

But, as is normally the case for a player set to bank as much as the Yankees still owe Burnett, deciding on a ratio of who will pay what has driven talks into a stalemate. The two teams seem unable to agree on how much each should pay of the $33 million left on AJ's contract. And today, another team made things more interesting, momentarily.

Bryan Hoch of yankees.com reported this afternoon that the Cleveland Indians were in talks with the Yankees on a possible trade for Burnett as early as today. However, the discussions fell through. As per Hoch, CBS Sports claimed the Yankees would have acquired slugger Travis Hafner. Makes some sense, as Hafner has a quality the Yankees are looking for in a potential DH: left-handed power.

But the deal was never made and talks have ceased. No word yet on why or on which side pulled out.

Unless another team decides at the last hour that perhaps their lineup could benefit from Burnett's fastball and changeup, it seems that either the Pirates or the Yankees will end up with him on their roster. It's common for teams to jump into trade talks at the last minute, but there may not be many teams left where a trade for Burnett would make sense, I'm assuming, since there has been no talk of the Yankees aggressively looking elsewhere.

Hafner might not have been a great option for the Yankees anyway. He is injury-prone, and hasn't played so much as 120 games in four seasons. His last great season was in 2006, where he managed  42 home runs and 117 RBIs, and slugged to a .659 percentage. Those numbers have dropped dramatically since then.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Best of the Yankees Weekend Blogosphere

Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger

While I took a break from blogging this weekend for family, parties and closet cleaning, many of my friends throughout the Yankee blogosphere kept rolling out posts for all you fanatics that simply can't go a day without some news on our boys in the pinstripes. One of the biggest stories in Yankeeland was the trade talks between the Yankees and Pirates for AJ Burnett and players to be mentioned soon. My fellow bloggers did a great job covering this. Here is the best on that story and others from the weekend:

The Mighty Casey and Co. at Bleeding Yankee Blue give their take on when a possible Burnett trade will go down, and recap news from notable sportswriters who are staying close to this story.

Over at The Greedy Pinstripes, BryanV21 discusses AJ's value and breaks down the drop in his numbers since the 2010 season.

Mike Jaggers-Radolf of The Yankee Analysts (TYA) recalls three memorable Burnett moments while in pinstripes. You should also take a look at this post from TYA's Steve Sciacco, where he inadvertantly discusses Burnett by debating the argument of not trading players when their "stock is low."

Matt over at Bronx Goblin gives his satirical take on the Burnett situation. Gotta love his use of Photoshop on this one!

Brad at An A-Blog for A-Rod does a nice job on his round-up of the Yankees Spring Training invitees. Here he breaks down his predictions on which players he believe will have the best chance of making it onto the regular season roster.

Delia E. of Yankee Fans Unite givers her take on what the Yankees lineup should like in 2012. Love that she is on board with my feeling that Andruw Jones should be the Yankees DH.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

My Thoughts on the Return of Freddy Garcia

I'm a happy camper. Freddy Garcia is returning to the Yankees, and I'm all for it. Following a season where he posted a 12-8 record with a 3.62 ERA, the Yankees made a good move by re-signing a vet who gave them much more than any of us in Yankeeland could have anticipated. It's a good show of faith by the organization, and I'm happy to see them reward a guy who was pretty much a non-factor in baseball following a stellar 2006 season with the the White Sox. My only question is, what does this mean for the Yankees' offseason plans?

According to numerous reports, the Yankees will pay Garcia about $5 million on a 1-year contract for 2012. That much of a payout almost guarantees that Garcia will have a spot on the 5- man rotation. So we can assume right now that the rotation will look like this:

CC Sabathia
Ivan Nova
AJ Burnett
Freddy Garcia
??

So who gets the 5th spot? The Yankees are certainly looking at the free agent market for pitching, and CJ Wilson still seems like their best bet. Mark Beurhle is also picking up some steam in Yankee circles with the memory of his 2009 season and perfect game performance still fresh in the mind of Yankee fans alike. I'm fine with either signing, but, wouldn't this mean forcing Phil Hughes back into the bullpen? Have the Yankees just conceded now that Hughes is far more potent as a reliever than a starter? It's a legitimate question fanatics, and one that I'm sure has Hughes working his butt off in "fat camp" to muzzle down.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Nova Struggles, But Keeps Win Streak Intact

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Last night's start in Kansas City was not what we've seen lately from Ivan Nova. The rookie phenom has been as dominate a pitcher as any in the Yankees rotation for the past few months, well, with the exception of CC Sabathia. He's not quite there, yet. But he had been spectacular in his last few starts until last night when he struggled early on. Yet, he kept the game close enough for his offense to secure his 12th win.

Nova's performance was what I would call "AJ-esque." In the first inning, he struck out his first batter, induced a groundout to Melky Cabrera, who bats second in the Royals lineup, then gave up two singles and a double, putting the Royals up 2-0. How many times have we seen AJ Burnett get two outs with ease, only to implode and give up runs afterward? The Yankees would back up Nova in the 3rd inning, first on a single from Robinson Cano that scored Curtis Granderson who walked on an HBP. Later, a single from Russell Martin would score Cano and Mark Teixeira, who had also been walked by Royals rookie Danny Duffy. The Bombers were up 3-2.

But in the bottom of the 3rd, Nova would give up two more runs on a groundout which scored Alcides Escobar, who hit for a triple on his first at-bat, and then a home run by Cabrera. The Royals would go up 4-2. How many times have we seen Burnett give up a lead immediately following runs scored by the Yankees? Do you get the "AJ-esque" reference now?

AP

Thankfully, the Yankees followed the 3rd with a 5-run outburst in the 4th inning; the big hit coming on a 3-run homer from none other than Cano, who scored Granderson and Teixeira. Before the homer, Derek Jeter scored Brett Gardner with a double to left and Teixeira scored The Captain with a single to right. The Yankees went up 8-3, and it was all Nova would need for the win, as the final score was 9-7. The win marked his 8th straight since early June, and it tied him with Andy Pettitte and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez for the most wins (12) by a rookie in the last 30 years.

Nova was lucky to have kept the Royals as close as he did. The majority of his pitches were fastballs, but too many of them were directly over the plate and high in the zone. In the 1st inning, he seemed determined to rely on his slider, which has been a successful pitch for him during his win streak, but the Royals were all over it so he wisely vacated it. Eventually, his control on the FB clicked, and he was able to pitch through for 5 solid innings.

''A win is a win, no matter the way you get it,'' Nova told the media afterward. Joe Girardi also seemed less concerned about the way Nova won, and more content with the win.

''We won the game. Bottom line is we won the game. He's pitched really well. Great pitchers get hit. It's going to happen.''

I was hoping that Nova would have a more representative outing than he had. The last time he pitched against the Royals in May, they tagged him for 8 runs on 10 hits, including 2 homers. He would only go 3 innings in that outing, making it his worst thus far for the season. Maybe the Royals will be one of those teams that just have his number. The good news is, this is the final series the two teams will meet this season. This is the first year that Nova has faced them, so it will be interesting to see how he fares against them in the future.

Robert Sabo/News

On a more enthusiastic note, Alex Rodriguez continues to move closer toward a return for the next series in Minnesota. In his first game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, A-Rod went 1-for-3 with a single in a 2-0 loss to the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. A-Rod played 6 innings at 3rd base; a great sign that the knee is doing well. Check out A-Rod's start and post-game press conference, here.

In tomorrow night's finale, Bartolo Colon will get the start against Bruce Chen. Chen is coming off of a 5-1 win against the White Sox last Friday, where he went 6 innings and allowed only one hit and 4 SOs. The last time Chen faced the Yankees was August 12, 2010, a 3-4 loss to Sabathia.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

The 3-day Yankee Rewind

My sincere apologies, fanatics, as I have failed to post on the last 3 Yankee games. Apparently my browser, Mozilla Firefox, became cranky for whatever reason and kept blocking me from opening up Bomber Boulevard. Don't really know what happened; I tried to clear cookies and the cache to no avail for 2 days, and now all of a sudden, I'm back in. So, I'm not gonna question it, I'll just be grateful that it's working and hope this never happens again.

So where do I begin? Perhaps I'll start with a quick review of Saturday and Sunday's games. In a nutshell, the Yankees beat up on the Orioles. The birds had no answer for the Yankees brutal offense and dominating pitching of CC Sabathia on Saturday, as they were shelled, 15-3. Two homers by Russell Martin--3-run homer and solo shot--a 2-run homer by Jorge Posada and a grand slam by Alex Rodriguez put the game away. But the sweetest of them all was the 2-run homer by Brett Gardner in the 9th inning to answer an obvious shot to Martin's back by Orioles pitcher, Josh Rupe, who clearly didn't appreciate Martin embarrassing his team. Not only did Gardy back up his catcher, he also got the big hit he needed to hopefully get himself back on track.

Sunday's game was another stellar showing for Freddy Garcia who pitched 6 scoreless innings, showing the same "stuff" he displayed against Texas the week before. Unfortunately, his bullpen collapsed with Joba Chamberlain giving up a 2-run homer in the 7th to Mark Reynolds, and then the invincible Mariano Rivera showing his "human" side as he gave up a walk, single and double to allow one more run to score in the 9th. The game was tied; Garcia lost his chance for a 2nd straight win, but the Yankees scored 3 runs in the 11th and won the game, 6-3.

And now we get to last night's loss at the stadium to the Chicago White Sox. The lowly Chicago White Sox, who, going into last night's game, had lost 10 of their last 11. Why is it that the Yankees always seem to allow a lesser team to sneak one in? While I doubt the Sox will win this series, it just irritates me that they managed to best the Yankees last night. Typical of the Bombers to shut down to a pitcher they've never faced before, but this Phil Humber dude sported an 2-5 record with a 4.42 ERA coming into yesterday's game. With the way the Yankees' offense has been swinging the bats, I thought this game would go down as a win, but, that's baseball. On any given day the best team will fall to one of the worse. It happens.

But the worse part of the loss was that AJ Burnett pitched another great game. He gave up only 1 run on 3 hits and he pitched 8 innings. Going into the game he hadn't pitched more than 6.1 innings in any of his starts. He gave the Yankees exactly what they needed, but got no help from his offense. That A-Rod broke up what was turning into a no-hitter by Humber in the 7th, was a relief, but very little consolation. The loss was the first April loss for AJ since becoming a Yankee. His record now stands at 8-1.

Tonight is game 2 of the 4-game series. It's a beautifully warm day in the Bronx and Ivan Nova is on the mound. He won his first career win in a solid performance last year against the White Sox. Let's hope history repeats itself.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Season of the Home Run Continues In Yanks Win

There's a reason why I chose to call this site Bomber Boulevard. The Yankees have always been a team to come up big when they need to via the home run. So far this season, homers have been what's propelled this team to lead the AL East in standings, not to mention break their own franchise record with 27 homers in their first 14 games. Last night, the "Season of the Home Run" continued as the Yankees took the series from the Texas Rangers with a 6-5 comeback win.

With all this talk of home runs, it was a single that actually won the game last night. Eric Chavez, who replaced Alex Rodriguez at 3rd while he continues to nurse his stiff back and oblique, broke a 5-5 tie in the 8th inning with a line-drive single to center that scored Mark Teixeira from second. I have to say that Chavez was a great pick up by the Yankees as he seems able to fill in for A-rod beautifully. Not just with his offense, but his defense is still solid.

But back to the homers. In the 2nd inning, Robinson Cano hit a solo shot to the rightfield second deck, pulling the Yanks with one as Texas' Adrian Beltre had launched a 2-run homer in the first. With the Yanks down 3-1 in the 5th on an RBI single from Beltre in the 4th, Russell Martin slapped a run shot to left on a 1-2 count scoring Chavez, who singled to center. In the 6th with the Yanks down 4-3, Curtis Granderson hit another 2-run shot to right scoring Derek Jeter who singled to right. With the Yankees ahead 5-4, Texas' Michael Young doubled scoring Ian Kinsler, and the game was tied at 5-5 in the 7th. The previous play mentioned by Chavez and Teixeira in the 8th would win the game.

Even with the win though, I am a little thrown by CC Sabathia. He pitched another "shaky" game last night, giving up 8 hits and 4 earned runs in 6.1 innings on 117 pitches. He struggled to locate his fastball last night, and this has been his biggest issue in all of the games he's pitched so far. But, CC somehow still has great numbers. His ball-strike ratio last night was 39-73. His ERA is at 2.52, and he's only allowed 7 runs in his first 4 games. Not bad at all, but my concern is that he's laboring through his starts right now, and doesn't seem comfortable at all. I just hope that his performances and another win opportunity gone don't get into his head and take him out of his game. That missed opportunity came via Joba Chamberlain, who walked Kinsler in the 7th to set-up the RBI double by Young that tied the game.

Next game will be tomorrow in Toronto against the Blue Jays. With the off day today giving him 2 days to treat his back, A-Rod should be available.  AJ Burnett gets the start against Kyle Drabek, who's 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 3 games. Since coming to the Yankees, Burnett hasn't had much success against his former team. He has a 1-4 record combined for both the '09 and '10 seasons. Hopefully, he'll continue to pitch well tomorrow and improve to 2-4.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Burnett Still Good in Yanks Win

AJ Burnett showed some glimpses of the pitcher he was last year in the Yankees' 4-3 win over the Twins this afternoon. A sloppy fourth inning recalled the horror of watching AJ completely fall apart in early innings last year. Fortunately however, he managed to limit the damage and the Yankees pulled away with their fourth win.

AJ actually pitched a good game today. He started with a 1-2-3 first inning, and had only allowed one hit overall to Denard Span heading into the fourth with the Yankees up 1-0. But he gave up consecutive doubles to Jim Thome and Justin Morneau which tied the game at 1-1. Another double in the inning to Jason Kubel, and the Twins would lead 2-1.

And that was really all the trouble that AJ allowed on the afternoon. He had both his fastball and changeup working well, especially the changeup which he threw for outs. The velocity on his fastball reached 94 mph. I was really impressed that with the speed on his fastball, he used his changeup more, which has always been one of his better pitches, yet a pitch that he struggled with mightily last season. Also impressive was that he had good location on all his pitches. He didn't get all the calls he should have, so you know that when he did miss, he didn't miss by much.

The Yankees offense went small today; taking advantage of walks, singles and doubles to put runs on without hitting the long ball. In the third inning, a sac-fly by Nick Swisher scored Brett Gardner, who had walked, stolen second and moved to third on a ground-out from Derek Jeter. In the fourth, Andruw Jones scorched a line drive double to left-field scoring Alex Rodriguez who had walked on a 3-2 pitch. Russell Martin followed Jones with a ground-out to first that scored Robinson Cano, who singled after A-Rod's walk at the top of the inning. Then Gardy hit a bloop single to right, scoring Jones and putting the Yankees ahead for good at 4-2. The Twins would later score another run in the seventh against Joba Chamberlain.

And...

A-Rod and Mark Teixeira went hit-less for the first time this season, both going 0 for 3. Rafael Soriano got redemption today following his abysmal 8th inning in game 2 on Tuesday. He allowed just one hit and no runs. Mariano Rivera picked up his fourth save of the season.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

It's Time for Baseball!!

My seemingly long "vacation" from blogging is now officially over. Fanatics, it is time for Yankees baseball. I took the liberty of taking a break so that I could just enjoy watching Spring Training games and allow myself to get back into the "feel" of baseball. Record-wise, the Yankees did not fare very well this Spring, posting a 13-15 record. But there are other reasons for Bombers fans to be excited about the Yankees chances of securing a World Series run again this year.

Rotation fears quelled: Whew. The drama that played out this offseason over the starting rotation was dizzying. No Cliff Lee; no Andy Pettitte; no "outstanding" starting pitchers available on the market. The Yankees were dubbed the "losers" of free agency. Add Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia to the mix and fanatics were ready to stage a Yankee boycott.

Surprisingly, however, both guys showed up big time during ST and both secured themselves a spot on the 25-man roster. As I predicted as ST got underway, Freddy Garcia will be the 5th starter behind Ivan Nova, and Colon will be in the bullpen. originally, the Yankees plan was to release Colon if he didn't make the rotation, but he gave them more than they expected; he certainly surprised me and other fanatics who thought the Yankees were crazy for bringing him on board.

So how well did both Yankee "newbies" fare? Garcia posted a 1-1 record with a not-so-fabulous 4.91 ERA in 5 games, striking out 15 in 18 innings. Colon went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 5 games, striking out 17 in 16 innings. Clearly Colon fared better this Spring, but he hasn't pitched in the majors in 2 years, whereas Garcia pitched well for the White Sox last year and has innings under his belt. Putting Colon in the pen adds another, hopefully tight arm to an already solid pen and, he's an insurance policy in case Garcia falls flat.

Ivan Nova and AJ Burnett also shed any weariness by fans who were rightfully concerned if either pitcher would hold up in a rotation left compromised by the retirement of Andy Pettitte. Burnett went 1-1, and for the first time in a long time, kept his ERA under 3 with a 2.77 showing. He regained control of his fastball, which most will agree is the key to his success. Nova was stellar, posting a 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 9 strikeouts. The numbers are fantastic, but when you add that he posted the second-most innings this Spring behind Hughes' 22 with 20, and went strong beyond 5 innings, you can't argue that he earned that 4th spot in the rotation.

"The Man" is back: I'm just gonna say it: if Alex Rodriguez' season turns out to be a reflection of his ST, he will be the AL MVP for the 4th time in his career. Period. He absolutely raked this Spring after getting the green light from team doctor Marc Phillipon to train at 100%. His hip is an afterthought; he's lost weight and is in the best shape he's been in since 2007. And if you weren't keeping up with Alex this Spring, here are his stats:

.344 AVG
.898 SLG
.444 OBP
49 ABs
9 runs
19 hits (team leader)
6 HRs (team leader)
7 2Bs
15 RBIs (team leader)

The numbers are crazy. His approach and focus have been tight since day 1. Yeah, we know that one man can't win a season, but when Alex plays at this level with a switch-hitting threat in Teixeira in front, and a lefty threat in Robbie behind him, American League pitchers are going to have a hard time getting through the middle of that lineup.

And speaking of Mark Teixeira, we can only hope that the extra at-bats in ST worked for his campaign to rid himself of the April blues. He ends the Spring with a .294 AVG, 15 hits, 1 homer and SLG of .569. These numbers are actually markedly worse than his previous ST numbers with the Yankees, so maybe things are moving in reverse for Tex which would be a good thing.

Yankees baseball begins today at 1pm. It's a rainy, stark and cold day in the Bronx; the forecast calls for light rain all day with the possibility of heavy rain and some snow showers later on. Hopefully, today's game will be played and the Yankees can secure their first win of the 2011 season.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Yanks Sign Freddy Garcia

The Yankees signed RHP Freddy Garcia to a minor-league deal yesterday, thus adding him to a roster of pitchers who will be competing for the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation.

We took a look here at Bomber Boulevard on Freddy Garcia's stats and illustrated his effectiveness with some graphs back in December, when word first came that the Yankees had interest in him. So, I'm not going to bother giving you the rundown on Garcia again; you can look here for the earlier post. What I will do is provide you with the press release of the signing from The Associated Press via boston.com:

Free agent pitcher Freddy Garcia and the New York Yankees have reached agreement on a minor league deal, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press last night.


The contract could be worth up to $5.1 million, the person said, and it also lets Garcia opt out by March 29.


Garcia, 35, went 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA in 28 starts last season for the White Sox. The righthander is a two-time All-Star and has a career record of 133-87 in 12 seasons with Seattle, Philadelphia, Detroit, and the White Sox.


Two weeks before spring training begins, the Yankees’ rotation remains unsettled.


New York is still waiting to hear whether 38-year-old Andy Pettitte will return for another season. CC Sabathia remains the Yankees’ ace and Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett are assured spots, with Sergio Mitre and young Ivan Nova as possibilities to start. Former Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon and the Yankees agreed on a minor league contract last week.


Garcia bounced back from three injury-interrupted seasons to pitch well for the White Sox last season. The Yankees got a close-up look at him when he threw seven impressive innings to beat them in Chicago Aug. 27. Garcia also lost at Yankee Stadium in late April.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Winter Meetings Begin Today

The Winter Meetings begin today in Orlando, FL. For Yankees GM Brian Cashman, it stands to be an eventful next three days as 1-of-2 things can happen: the Yankees either will or will not walk away with a contract agreement for "The Assassin" aka Cliff Lee.

Let's face it, the Yankees are in a do-or-die situation on the Lee front. If they fail to snag the southpaw, they'll be resting their hopes of a 28th Championship on a pitching rotation with a weak back-end. Without Lee, the rotation would probably look like this:

CC Sabathia
Phil Hughes
Andy Pettitte (if he returns)
AJ Burnett
Ivan Nova

or...

CC Sabathia
Phil Hughes
AJ Burnett
Ivan Nova
Dustin Moseley

The second scenario is my own "guesstimation" as I believe the Yankees could re-sign Moseley as a free agent if a deal for Lee falls through and Andy decides to retire. It's clear from both lists how having "The Assassin" in the 2-spot behind CC radically improves either lineup.

Getting Lee may not be as easy for the Yankees as many believe. According to this tweet by Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, Lee may be conforming to the comforts of staying with the team that he's familiar with and that is closer to his home in Arkansas.

I think that the Yankees will have to give Lee the 6th year he wants at about $23-$24 million if they want to win the Lee Sweepstakes. With both the Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter deals done at somewhat of a bargain for the Yankees, they have enough availability to throw the kitchen sink at Lee. If the Yankees are unwilling to give that much up, it could mean that they are in serious pursuit of Carl Crawford, who is thought to walk away with the biggest overall contract of all the free agents, and are not willing to break the bank. That wouldn't make any sense to me though, as the Yankees can more than survive with their present outfieled; they have more of a dire need for Lee.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

Sat It Ain't So, Joe

In my Enter Sandman? post, I stated that this year's ALCS would be remembered for the absent bats of the Yankees. I would like to take this moment to detract that statement.

As the thoughts of this ALCS and the Yankees humbling loss to the Rangers in game 6 continue to swirl in the mind of the Bomber faithful, what will be remembered, and discussed, and recounted to the point of nausea will be the "questionable" management of Joe Girardi.

For a second, critical game in this series, Girardi opted to overuse a struggling, starting pitcher and both times, it cost the Yankees the game. Phil Hughes, who to his credit pitched far better last night in game 6 than his efforts in game 2, gave up a game-ending, series-ending 2-run double to Vladimir Guerrero in the fifth inning after walking Josh Hamilton with a man on for the second time. The move worked in the second inning, as Guerrero popped out. But the second go-round, he made the Yankees pay.

If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

No one can argue that Hamilton continuously burned the Yankees in this series. But what will baffle fanatics from now until the fresh excitement of Spring training, is why Hughes was left in to face Guerrero with CC Sabathia available in the bullpen.

Again, Hughes really pitched a decent game, but it was obvious that he was winding down. As a manager, isn't it your job to know when your pitcher has had enough? Aren't you suppose to make critical decisions based on the present situation? Wouldn't you want your absolute best pitcher on the mound at this point?

And why did it even have to get to the point of walking Hamilton? Sabathia was available in the bullpen. Girardi said himself that if they used CC it would probably be to face two batters. And yet when the opportunity came for him to do so, he opted to stick with Hughes.

"Hughesy has had success off Vlad Guerrero and got him out twice, and that's why he stayed there," Girardi explained.

No. No. No. No. No.

Sabathia was brought over to the Yankees for moments like this. He was the ONLY pitcher at that moment who was supposed to face Hamilton and shut down Guerrero. If he couldn't, at least you knew that your best was out there. But Girardi never gave himself or his team their best chance to stay in the game.

So went the game, so went the series.

"You have to give some credit to their pitchers," Girardi said. "They obviously made some good pitches when they had to."

You have to also give credit to Ron Washington, who out-managed Girardi and optimized his pitch staff because he had to.

Take A Breath Fanatics, The Bombers Are Still In This

Okay, if you're a Yankees fan, you're probably ready to push the panic button after last night's baffling 6-run 9th inning, 8-0 loss to the Texas Rangers in game 3 of the ALCS. You might be thinking that maybe the baseball Gods have decreed that the Yankees domination of the Rangers in the postseason has finally come to an end; that maybe it's the Bombers' turn this time to walk away acknowledging--for the first time in a long while--that they were not the better team.

Let's face it, in this ALCS the Yankees have been completely over matched by the Rangers starting rotation; in all 3 games they've had to play from behind, and in their only win in game 1, the Yankees were only able to get to the Rangers' bullpen. Their offense seems to be asleep, having hit for a .194 AVG. with only 2 homers and 8 runs in the first 27 innings of this series. In last night's game, the Yankees could only muster 2 hits and work 1 walk off of "The Assassin", aka Cliff Lee.




"Bottom line, we just need to swing the bats better," said Alex Rodriguez after the game. "We had...chances to come up with some big hits and good at-bats. Bottom line, two hits and one walk is just not good enough for our offense."

Clearly. But it's not time to push the panic button just yet.

"Yeah, we're down 2 games to 1," Girardi said during the postgame interview. "But we're a very good club. We've been resilient all year. You don't win 95 games in our division without being resilient."

Exactly.

I will be the first to admit that I sat through last night's game feeling every emotion a fan feels when their team is being completely shut down by its opposition: anger, anxiety, sadness, fear, shock, etc., etc. But after awhile, I began to breathe again, and try to remind myself of the "Yogi-ism" the Rangers were forced to learn after game 1: It ain't over 'til it's over.

We've seen the Yankees lose back-to-back games before, only to come out in full force thereafter. Albeit three of the Yankees' all-stars--Jeter, Teixeira and Rodriguez--have not swung the bats well at all in this series, having combined for 3 runs on 5 hits with 12 strikeouts thus far, there's still something to be said for the Yankees only being down 2-1. Add to this sentiment the fact that with the exception of Andy Pettitte, who really pitched an excellent, gritty game 3, the Yankees' starting pitching has been lackluster to say the least. One can argue that this should be a 3-0 series and the Yankees should be preparing for an early exit. But fans know that you can never count the Yankees out in situations like this; that these Yankees are like a cornered gutter rat in New York City: they attack.

Of course, trying to show great face and stay optimistic will be a challenge for fanatics in tonight's game 4, with the unpredictable AJ Burnett getting the start against the Rangers' Tommy Hunter. AJ's "problems" this season have been well-documented, so we don't need to list them here. But, AJ does sport a 2.50 ERA in 3 starts against the Rangers in 2010, so we know that he can certainly come up big tonight.

"If you put [Burnett] out there, his stuff could get nasty," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "One guy who you don't think is going to do anything might be the guy who steps up and has everything fall into place. I'm concerned about him."

Hunter on the other hand has an 0-1 record with a 4.50 ERA this postseason. Another postseason rookie, he boasts a 4.45 ERA for his career, with batters hitting .265 against him. Hunter is a far better pitcher at home with a 3.06 ERA as opposed to .448 on the road. You figure that even if AJ sputters tonight, Yankees batters could fare well against Hunter and get this series tied at 2-2.

"I don't think we're in trouble," Girardi said. 'As I said we're a good club. We're down two to one; we're not down three to nothing losing in the bottom of the 9th."

It is clearly not over for the Bombers. Again, we've seen them in this situation before. Remember the 1996 World Series against the Atlanta Braves?

Game Notes:

• Andy Pettitte pitched 7 innings on 110 pitches, allowing 2 runs off 5 hits with 5 strikeouts; walked 0.
• Yankees had 2 hits and 0 runs with 15 strikeouts in 29 ABs; 0-3 RISP
• Cliff Lee pitched 12 innings on 122 pitches, allowing 0 runs off 2 hits with 13 strikeouts; walked 1

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

It's On To Texas. And???

The Texas Rangers advanced to the ALCS for the first time in their history last night by defeating the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays, behind what could only be described as an all-out assault by pitcher Cliff Lee.

Lee pitched a complete game, striking out eleven without allowing a walk. He befuddled Rays batters with an array of fastballs, cutters and an unbelievable curveball. When it was all said done, Lee had pitched a complete game on 120 pitches; lifting his postseason record to 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA. Impressive.

Too bad for Texas, he won't be their savior in game 1 against the Yankees and CC Sabathia.

The fact that Texas allowed the series against Tampa to get to game 5 was assurance that Cliff Lee would not be available for game 1 in the ALCS. A plus for the Yankees, who could be dealing with another not-so "CC-like" start from Sabathia--if history repeats itself--due to the extra days of rest. The Yankees will face CJ Wilson who in their last meeting, gave up 6 hits, allowed 4 runs and walked 3 batters in only 3 innings pitched. In his last 3 starts for the regular season, he posted a 1-1 record with a 7.20 ERA. And he's only pitched 1 postseason game in his career.

The odds are certainly in favor of the Yankees.

You have to believe that if the Rangers allow the Bombers to take one game of the first two in Texas, they're playoff run might well be over. Without throwing Lee into the mix for the first 2 games, the Yankees are certainly the better team, offensively and defensively. And as far as pitching goes, you'll have Wilson vs. Sabathia and either veteran Andy "Dandy" Pettitte or Phil Hughes facing Colby Lewis, another postseason rookie. AJ Burnett will pitch game 4.

And the Yankees win streak against the Rangers in the postseason is 10.

Sure, Texas goes into the series with more momentum with only two days between games, but the Yankees enter this series well rested both mentally and physically, and with a lineup that has played on the big stage before. The fact that this will be the first time the majority of the Rangers players have ever been in an ALCS could be a huge factor in who takes this series.

And the Yankees not having to face Lee in the first 2 games ain't too bad a deal, either.