I liked the Berkman and Kearns acquisitions a whole lot more than this last one:

The New York Yankees acquired pitcher Kerry Wood from the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, the third deal in less than 24 hours for the World Series champions as they beefed up for the stretch run.

Wood, a hard-throwing, 33-year-old righty, gives the Yankees another setup option alongside Joba Chamberlain for closer Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees sent Cleveland a player to be named or $500,000, and the Indians gave New York $2,172,131. New York will pay $1.5 million of the $3,672,131 remaining on Wood’s $10.5 million salary this year. His contract includes an $11 million team option for 2011.

OK, the only true cost was cash and clearly the Yanks have enough free cash to toss $1.5 million at a pitcher who throws hard but carries a poor injury history and a recent spotty performance history. If his name wasn’t Kerry Wood, would we even be remotely excited? This is a guy fresh of the DL with just 20 IP this season. He’s got a nice K rate but a lousy BB rate, which sounds like some of the current Yankee bullpen staff. The team loses essentially nothing if he flops -aside from cash- so for the most part, it’s a riskless transaction. That doesn’t mean it’s a good one.

Maybe Wood will form a three-headed monster with Joba and Robertson to successfully bridge to Mo, or as I fear, he will simply be an expensive accelerant. He still carries a strong reputation from his early Cubs days, but that pitcher is long gone by this point. What we have now is just another reliever with a big, fat (6.30) ERA (5.21 FIP, 5.04 xFIP), who has control problems and a high home run rate. Sounds like the guy the team just DFA’d to make room for Wood.

Meh.

(click “view full post” for some Park vs. Wood comparisons)

Yeah, some of you took exception to my Chan Ho bashing the other day, but I’m laughing last (Twitter link):

Yankees have designated Chan Ho Park for assignment; optioned Colin Curtis & Juan Miranda to AAA

The Curtis and Miranda news is not surprising as I mentioned it earlier today.

There’s something eminently wonderful about the Yanks trading for a star player AND the other team kicking in millions in “salary relief” and taking only marginal prospects back in return:

Houston Astros first baseman Lance Berkman has waived his no-trade clause and a deal is in place to move him to the New York Yankees, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney on Friday.

The Berkman deal likely will be completed before Saturday’s trade deadline. The Astros will pick up $4 million of the $7 million owed to Berkman this year and in his 2011 option, sources said.

The Yankees will send two prospects to the Astros: reliever Mark Melancon and infielder Jimmy Paredes.

The Yanks get the Big Puma to serve as the primary DH the rest of the season, also giving Teixeira a day off (the field) every so often. Berkman is due about $7 million for the rest of 2010 and has a large $15 million option for 2012 or a $2 million parting gift. And, in the Yanks favor, Berkman has asked that that option NOT get picked up, making him just a rental. Even better. The Steinbrenner family purportedly gave approval to expand the payroll (limits, what limits?) to accomodate lodging for the Big Puma.

What’s going to be interesting is if Posada’s knees continue to act up, keeping him from behind the plate. That DH role is going to be a crowded one, but with Berkman another switch hitter, this lineup is all the more imposing. Berkman, Posada, Swisher, Teixeira…all switch hitters. Guessing Berkman or Swisher will be batting second or sixth going forward.

Now it’s true that Berkman has been sliding the last few years and was not very good for the first half of this season, but like his first base counterpart Teixeira, he’s been heating up the last few weeks.

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At the very end of the CLE-NYY laugher last night, we were treated to some things we don’t usually see and some, unfortunately, we have seen too many times.

First, the Indians waived the white flag after a 7-run 7th and a 2-run 8th from the Yanks by tossing thirdbaseman Andy Marte in as a relief pitcher in the top of the ninth inning. Lo and behold, Marte proved to be the best Indians’ reliever last night, going three-up/three-down, including a comical strike out by Nick Swisher.

“I now have a new most embarrassing moment,” Swisher said. “I just have to wear it. I was looking for the breaking ball and he gassed me.”

Trying to out-do Cleveland’s unintentional comedy, Girardi put PH Marcus Thames in at third base. Thames actually made a nice sliding pick-up on a grounder but heaved the ball so far over/wide of first base that even Chuck Knoblauch and Keith Olbermann’s mom would have laughed. Being up by nine runs at that time allowed myself, and others, to enjoy the chuckle. At least for a moment.

That’s when Chan Ho hit his new low.

(click “view full post” to read more)

A game that started as a close pitcher’s duel quickly ended as a blow-out as the Yankee offense put together a huge seventh inning.  Dustin Moseley’s first start in pinstripes went smoothly and everything on the offensive side was clicking as the Yankees picked up the series win with an 11-4 victory.

Trevor Crowe started the game for the Indians with a double to right.  Moseley then hit Asdrubal Cabrera with a pitch.  Shin-Soo Choo grounded into a force out at third, but Carlos Santana walked to load the bases.  Austin Kearns hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Cabrera, but Moseley battled back and struck out Matt LaPorta to get out of trouble, with the Indians taking an early 1-0 lead.

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With ARod about to hit #600 and only Manny and Jim Thome in sniffing distance of #600, Roy S. Johnson wonders if Pujols will be our savior, the one who restores our interest in home run milestones:

So far (so far) the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols seems unaffected by anything that’s come before to erode our passion for the home run. He swings with grace and power and seems to have been carved for the sole purpose of making us dig the long ball again.

He has 389 of them in his career; and at just 30 years old, he still yanks them out at a prodigious clip. [...]

Sure, he’ll still be about 200 home runs behind A-Rod and 362 shy of Bonds. But write it down. We just might be ready to care again. Maybe.

As with guys like Junior, or Jeter, or Chipper, or McGriff… we only hope (and pray, if that’s your thing) that these guys are clean. But we don’t know and might never know. We all hope and believe that Albert Pujols is spotless. I believe he is. He’d make a worthy all time HR leader. We just have to hope like heck that he’s spotless. But if not…?

(click “view full post” to read more)

We were discussing this last week and my concise colleague Larry said it best:

So, it means something that A-Rod is going to join the 600 club. It should mean more to me than it does. But it doesn’t.

Waiting for ARod to hit his 600th home run is yet another Fool’s Errand. Yes, the 600 Home Run Club is as exclusive as it comes, but the achievement has become muted and eroded due to the circumstances and amplifiers we experienced over the last two decades. No question, hitting 600 home runs takes extraordinary skill, talent, luck, perserverence and it shouldn’t be ignored. However, I’ve got to admit, the live look-ins and the constant focus on a singular, personal achievement is grating on me.

The Yanks are winning and are being chased like mad by two very talented teams. AJ Burnett has turned his awful June around with a nifty July (I said it then: “if Eiland can fix both AJ Burnett and Javy Vazquez in one season, he’s vastly underpaid“). Jeter’s season has been fits and spurts, three good games followed by many more poor ones. Granderson seems to be finally getting himself into a groove. Joba… I’m sick of the Joba chatter. Pettitte has been out yet team hasn’t missed a beat. The team owns the best record in baseball and the best Run Diff at +134.

Yet, the focus is on one home run, and it’s not a record-breaking home run. Yes, as I said, #600 is huge, no question. The good thing, to me, is that ARod seems to be focused on hitting, rather than hitting a home run. His liner up the middle yesterday to score Teix was perfect. I haven’t seen him take too many at bats that were obvious “I’m going for it here” swings. ARod’s comments sure pleased me:

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A day after being dominated by yet another rookie pitcher, the Yankee offense came to life early and often.  The Bombers crushed Tribe starter Fausto Carmona and A.J. Burnett put together another strong outing to propel New York to an 8-0 victory.

With two outs in the top of the first, Mark Teixeira doubled to right field.  Alex Rodriguez followed with a RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  Trevor Crowe lead off the bottom of the inning with a single.  He tried to steal with one out, but Francisco Cervelli gunned him down at second, which would prove to be a key play as Shin-Soo Choo doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch.  Burnett battled back and struck out Carlos Santana to end the inning.

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The Yankees’ offense continues to be fooled by rookie pitching, as the Cleveland Indians’ Josh Tomlin had almost no problem working through the Bombers during his major league debut.  CC Sabathia had a mediocre start in his old home park, and the apathetic offense did little to help as the Indians tied up the series with a 4-1 win.

Sabathia got into some trouble in the first inning.  With two outs, Shin-Soo Choo singled and stole second.  Austin Kearns followed with a single to left and Brett Gardner gunned down Choo at home.  The second and third innings were relatively uneventful, but the Indians threatened in the fourth.  Asdrubal Cabrera singled to start the inning, moving to third on Choo’s double.  Kearns grounded the ball to Alex Rodriguez who threw home in time to get Cabrera, but Cervelli was unable to hold onto the ball, giving the Tribe its first run of the game.  The bases loaded when Jhonny Peralta grounded to short.  Jeter started the double play attempt, but Robinson Cano came off second early before throwing to first, where the umpire called Peralta safe.  Matt LaPorta followed with a sac fly to score Choo and the Indians had a 2-0 lead.

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Last week, Jason wrote a post here titled “Does Jeter’s 2010 performance *really* matter?” In this post, Jason considered how much Yankees’ shortstop Derek Jeter should be paid after his current contract expires at the end of this year. Jason is my buddy, and as far as this blogging thing is concerned, Jason is my boss. But Jason suggested that it is possible for the Yankees to pay Jeter more than he is worth.

That’s crazy talk.

To be more specific, Jason said that Jeter might be worth less than $15 million a year, or more precisely, that it would be “above market” to pay Jeter $60 million for a 4-year contract. Jason even quoted ESPN’s Buster Olney, who said that “in a vacuum” a shortstop with Jeter’s current production is worth something like $5 million a year. In other words, Derek Jeter <= Marco Scutaro (Marco Scutaro is making $5.5 million this year).

To give Buster Olney the benefit of the doubt, I will step into a vacuum for a moment and see if I can see things his way.

[cough cough. Can’t breathe! Damn vacuum, let me out of here! DEEP BREATH. Much better!]

Personally, I find that I don’t do my best thinking in a vacuum. So I’m left wondering which planet it is where Buster Olney is currently resident, where Marco Scutaro is more valuable than Derek Jeter, even in a vacuum. For his valuation of Jeter, Olney wins this year’s Picard-Riker Double Face Palm Award (pictured above).

To be fair, I think even Buster Olney gets that Jeter is worth more than $5 million a year. And there were plenty of comments on Jason’s piece by folks who appreciate the value of Jeter’s contributions (both historic and current) to the Yankees.

But if someone questions Jeter’s value, there’s something that needs to be said in response. As no one else has said it, I’ll say it.

Derek Jeter is the biggest bargain in baseball.

(click “view full post” to read more)

Joe Girardi has unofficially put Joba Chamberlain on notice, apparently, giving 8^th inning duties to Nate David Robertson and Boone Logan last night in place of Joba the Hut. Girardi said after the game, “I’m not saying that I’m handing it over to Joba every time we go into the eighth. I’m going to look at things. I mean, that’s my job.” So Girardi is talking about playing matchups more often, which is not a bad strategy in isolation. And given the run of rough outings that Joba’s been going through for the past week, it’s probably a good idea to give him a night in Time Out to think about what he’s done, particularly since he’s given up four walks and two homers in his last six innings (across five appearances).

The trouble is, it’s not apparent that Joba’s been doing anything different from what he’s done in the past. See below.

(Click “Read More” to continue reading…)

While the Yankees have put up quite a few runs since the All-Star Break, they found themselves in a bit of a pitcher’s duel last night.  Kicking off a series in Cleveland, both Javier Vazquez and Jake Westbrook went deep into the game, limiting the opposing offenses to a handful of hits.  A couple key long balls by Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson, however, propelled the Yankees to another victory, as they beat the Indians 3-2.

Travis Hafner gave Tribe fans some hope early in the game, connecting with a big solo homer in the second inning, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead.  Meanwhile, Westbrook was dealing, sitting down the first ten Yankee hitters down in order.  In the top of the fourth inning, the first Yankee batter connected with a hit – and it was a big one.  Nick Swisher drove a fly ball to right field for a solo homer, tying the game 1-1.  The Yankees had a chance to extend the rally when Mark Teixeira walked.  Alex Rodriguez drove the ball into the outfield, but the umpires determined that Trevor Crowe had caught the ball, despite replays showing he had trapped it, and the Tribe doubled up Teixeira who had gone to second, ending the inning.

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Even a rather lengthy rain delay couldn’t slow down the Yankees’ hot bats yesterday afternoon as New York finished a four game series against the Kansas City Royals.  Alex Rodriguez is still searching for his 600th homer, but Robinson Cano picked up his 1000th hit as the Yankees finished their homestand with a big 12-6 victory over the Royals.

The first couple innings were scoreless, but the Royals broke through in the top of the third.  Chris Getz singled after his liner was deflected by Phil Hughes towards first base.  Getz stole second and then Scott Podsednik drove a two-run homer to left, putting the Royals on the board.

The Yankees answered back in the bottom of the inning, starting with a solo homer by Curtis Granderson to lead off the inning.  Ramiro Pena singled to right and scored on Derek Jeter’s double to center.  Jeter moved to third on the throw home.  Mark Teixeira singled Jeter in and the Yankees took the lead.  A double by Rodriguez finished the Yankees damage for the inning, putting them up 4-2.

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