Yankees Have Plenty of Free Agent Questions to Answer

The Yankees have some huge names hitting the free agent market this year. Some will surely be back, some most certainly will not; then there are those who may or may not be back. There are also other free agents hitting the market that could be good fits for the Yankees. Let's take a quick look at where the team stands now.

Giants Readying for Monday Night Showdown in Dallas

The New York Giants roll into Dallas in a comfortable position atop the NFC East with a three game winning streak. They are playing a division rival with only one win and have a bye week afterwards. The Giants have returned to their roots running smash mouth football and knocking quarterbacks out of games at an alarming rate.


Tony Romo is on notice with his injured thumb. He should expect to spend the day running all over the place unless he wants to end up like Matt Moore, Jay Cutler, Todd Collins and Shaun Hill. "Yeah, we don’t like to see quarterbacks get knocked out," Cowboys' offensive line coach Hudson Houck told ESPN Dallas. "We faced some pretty good defenses the last three weeks. Tennessee was really good and last week [Minnesota] a really good pass rush." No disrespect to this teams, but they are not eating quarterbacks for lunch like the Giants have been. Injuries on the offensive line should make it an interesting afternoon for the Cowboys.

Rangers Outpitch, Outhit, Outplay Yankees to World Series

The Yankees took the field last night knowing that a loss meant the end of their season. Sending young Phil Hughes, an 18 game winner this season, to the mound seemed like a no-brainer. Though he was torched in game 2, he would surely come back and pitch his game with the season was on the line.


At time Hughes looked distracted and not into the moment. His eyes were not those of a focused, concentrated, 18 game winner. He didn't finish a few of his pitches, the Rangers made him pay. Starting in the bottom first inning when shortstop Elvis Andrus led off with a double, advanced to third on a single by center fielder Josh Hamilton and scored on a hit and run ground out by DH Vladimir Guerrero; the Rangers took advantage of every chance they had en route to a 6-1 victory.

Yankees vs Rangers ALCS Game 6 Preview

It's the second of 3 game 7s in a row for the Bombers in game 6 this ALCS, win or go home. Phil Hughes takes the mound for New York and Colby lewis takes the mound for Texas in what is a rematch of ALCS game starters. The Yankees lost game 2 7-2 to go down 2 games to 0 heading back to NY.

The first 5 games of this ALCS have been nailbiters or blowouts, it has been very lopsided. While the Yankees have scored a total of 18 runs, the Rangers have scored 32; yet the Yankees have somehow found a way to stay in the series. They pin all of their hopes on righty Phil Hughes tonight with the hope he will force a game 7 matchup between the Rangers Cliff lee and the Yankees Andy Pettitte.

FCC Joins Customers' Anger at Fox, Cablevision

According to published reports, the FCC has stuck it's long nose of inquiry into the ongoing dispute between the broadcaster and provider. In an attempt to not miss any more episodes of Glee, FCC Media Bureau Chief William Lake has inquired as to whether the two are actually trying to make peace or just spending time running attack ads like Cuomo and Paladino.

"I know that you are aware that both broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors have a statutory duty to engage in 'good-faith' negotiations," the Los Angeles Times has reported Lake wrote, also going on to say that if either party is "aware of any conduct by the other side that you believe violates the good faith requirement, please so indicate and provide supporting evidence."

In a clear sign that the two sides are amicable, Fox advised customers unable to access their programming to "switch providers or purchase an over-the-air antenna now," also according to the LA Times.

What both these two fail to realize is that no one who watches Fox on Cablevision actually cares about this game of right and wrong. As far as all affected customers are concerned, both sides are equally wrong and need to resolve this dispute before the world series. Everyone in NY, NJ & CT knows the same family that owns the Knicks and Rangers also owns Cablevision. That bottom line is about to shrink if this problem doesn't disappear faster than Isiah Thomas.

NFL Safety Video Sent to Teams

The NFL sent the above video to all 32 teams illustrating which types of hits are unacceptable and which types of hits are good glean football.

More than any other team, the Giants appear to be victims of both the bad hits (Kevin Boss) and the good clean hits (Ramses Barden). ""I was watching the Sunday night game a little bit and I like what (former safety) Rodney Harrison had to say about how the only time they really got his attention was when they finally suspended him for a game," said Boss in a report on FanHouse.com. Boss has suffered multiple concussions in his career from being "blown up" by defensive players in the past.


One of those players is current teammate Antrelle Rolle, who blew Boss up when he was a member of the Arizona Cardinals last season: "A lot of times it's receivers or offensive guys that maybe are ducking their head or maybe they're running up high. Who's to say what? No one is at fault. Nothing's intentional." Rolle told FanHouse.com in the same report. ""A lot of times it's receivers or offensive guys that maybe are ducking their head or maybe they're running up high. Who's to say what? No one is at fault. Nothing's intentional."


James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers threatened to retire over the new enforcement of these rules after being fined $75,000 of the millions he is to make this season over the hit in the above video, saying "I'm going to sit down and have a serious conversation with my coach tomorrow and see if I can actually play by NFL rules and still be effective. If not, I may have to give up playing football," in a report on NFL.com. 


He should ask Todd Heap, DeSean Jackson and Kevin Boss if they think they can actually play by the rules and be effective if that type of hitting is allowed. The league is doing the right thing, preventing head, neck and spinal cord injuries should be applauded. All one needs to do is follow Ray Lewis example of a good, clean, hard hit. As Sandy Alderson said "a great player making a great play."

Girardi's Future in the Bronx

Joe Girardi will be a Yankee next year, remember I said that today and feel free to quote these words in the not too distant future. How long he will remain a Yankee? That's a better question to ask. Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman wrote the following in an article on SI.com: "The Yankees plan to bring back manager Joe Girardi at a raise, no matter what some fans may say about his reliance on his ever-present binder. He is well-liked by Yankees honchos..."


Regarding the Cubs managerial situation, especially when someone already has the job, it wouldn't be surprising to see Micro Joe sign a 2 year deal with the Yankees to keep his options open. He's young (45), very well respected around the league, a world champion as a player and a manager, has won manager of the year; he can go just about anywhere he wants if he decides the pressure cooker environment in New York isn't for him long term.


Not that one could possibly imagine the pressure he would be under in Chicago would be any different or easier to deal with.

Cablevision-Fox Feud Now 5 Days Old

Each time the Yankees win FOX execs hear dollar signs. Should the Bombers make the World Series, they will be in a position to force Cablevision to take whatever deal they throw on the table because of the serious problems the cable company will have if 30% of the tri-state area misses the pinstripes' chase of a 28th and 2nd championship in a row.

Cablevision's Twitter account, @No_New_Fox_Fees, has gone from being an auto-tweeting propaganda machine to a magnet for anger from Cablevision subscribers. One user wrote: "Unfortunately, this issue is bigger than Fox to us subscribers. We're pretty sick of service issues. Fios looks pretty good." Another wrote: Will you allow Verizon FiOS, ATT U-Verse to carry MSG HD feeds and put MSG back on Dish pending binding arbitration?" Which is a reference to Cablevision not allowing it's proprietary sports channels broadcasting Knicks, Rangers (NHL), Sabres, Liberty and Red Bulls games on the above providers in HD or at all in the case of Dish Network.

Fox's twitter account, @KeepFoxOn, has also become a lightning rod, though it appears more people support Fox than support Cablevision; which might be due to the latter having had this issue with multiple providers recently. Most notably, ABC being blocked until 15 minutes through the most recent Oscars telecast. One user wrote: I really think it is time to bring this to an end one way ore another. Why don't you guys be the adults and break the logjam." Another said: "You know what would be useful? FOX 5 Investigations on why Cablevision really sucks & holds viewers, like me, hostage..."

The Dolan family, which owns Cablevision, also owns MSG, the Knicks and the Rangers. Having recently run the Knicks into the ground like a wagon train in Oregon Trail at breakneck speed on barebones rations, they don't have too many friends in the NYC area. This problem is just adding feul to what had become a smoldering fire. Should the Yankees make the world series and there not yet be a resolution to this issue I would not want to be Charles Dolan. If he doesn't yet have a personal security detail he might want to start considering one.

Giants Injury News

According to Big Blue's website, Keith Bullock's injured toe has healed sufficiently enough to allow him to practice today. He has missed the last 3 games.

Mathias Kiwanuka, who's bulging cervical disk has kept him out the last three games, does not appear he will be available this week. He had an MRI earlier this week and did not hear the answer he was looking for.

Finally, Keith Boothe will attend his first practice for the Giants this year. He has been on the PUP since the season began with a torn pectoral muscle from lifting weights. The Giants have 3 weeks to activate him.

(Giants.com)

Apparently the ALCS is on FOX, according to CNN

CNN=Politics but it sure doesn't = research. Anchor Tony Harris went on the air to mock Lance Berkman for his spill during yesterday's game. Nothing wrong with a good chuckle at someone falling down, we all do it. Where he loses us is when he goes on to laugh at New Yorkers for being unable to watch the Yanks' games versus the Rangers because Cablevision is in a dispute with FOX, despite a CNN-made on screen graphic crediting TBS for the footage and the TBS score bug being on the screen.

The funniest part about all this is that TBS is owned by Time Warner. Yes, Tony Harris works for the same company as Ernie Johnson. Remarkable.

Swisher, Cano, Granderson Power Bombers to Game 5 Win vs Rangers

With Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent throwing out the first pitch, one would think the Yankees were down 3 games to 1 to the Red Sox. They weren't though, the team currently tormenting them is the up until now woeful Texas Rangers. Up until this season the Rangers had not one a single playoff series in their entire existence, going back to their days as the Washington Senators. After dispatching the Tampa Bay Rays they set their sights on and have dominated the Yankees in every aspect of the game.

With clouds hanging over the Stadium as if to remind the Yankees of the potentially dark day ahead of them they took the field just before 4pm to half empty Stadium. C.C. Sabathia rewarded the fans who did show up by firing a first pitch strike over the plate. The Rangers leadoff hitter would single into center field before being out in a double play of Rangers' third baseman Michael Young's bat. Josh Hamilton, the Rangers' Paul Bunyan-like center fielder, reached first but was stranded by Guerrero to end the inning.

Aaron "$%&!ing" Boone and Bucky Dent to Throw First Pitches

In a move that makes you wonder if the Yankees forgot who they are playing against this afternoon, Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent are throwing out the first pitches before the game.

Instead of bringing back two guys who beat a team that didn't even make the playoffs this season, maybe they should bring back Shane Spencer or Mariano Duncan, guys ont he team when they owned the Rangers.

Bringing back Ronan Tynan to sing God Bless America wouldn't be a bad idea either, if Eliot Spitzer can make a come back why can't Tynan?

ALCS Game 5 Preview: Rangers vs Yankees

This afternoon is it for the Yankees, win or go home. They have no margin for error. It's a good thing their ace CC Sabathia is taking the mound against the Rangers. The team mantra has been to worry about tomorrow after today, from Yankees manager Joe Girardi all the way to their closer Mariano Rivera.

"We haven't lost yet, we just have to play one game at a time. We cannot win three games at a time," said Mariano Rivera before the game "Just play hard today and forget about tomorrow...if we do that, we will have enough to win tonight."

On the season, Sabathia had a major league leading 21 and only 7 losses with a 3.18 ERA. For their careers against him, the Rangers are hitting only .175 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI. The team's best hitter against Sabathia is 3rd baseman Michael Young, who has 12 hits in 38 at bats for a .316 average. "For us as a team, we haven't really put too much stock into our post season past, because that's what it was, the past," said Young. "We're very confident with the guys in this room that we can do some good things."

In game 1 against the Rangers this ALCS Sabathia surrendered 5 runs on 6 hits over only 4 innings. He is looking for a better outing this time around. "We're down and we need everyone to pitch well. Of course I feel like I need to pitch that way every time out," said Sabathia. "I wasn't able to get it done in game 1, but I'll be ready to go...they're good, they can hit, they got a lot of power up and down." He is 8-3 after Yankee losses this season, there's no better man to have on the mound for this pivotal game.

The Rangers starter CJ Wilson was 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA during the 2010 regular season. In game 1 against the Yankees he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits over 7 innings. For their careers, the Yankees are hitting a collective .248 with 2 home runs and 18 RBI.  Nick Swisher has 6 hits in 20 at bats for .300 average to lead his teammates efforts against the former closer. Marcus Thames has 5 hits in his 11 at bats against him. The only real weak spot in the Bombers' line up would be Berkman, having no career at bata against Wilson and struggling mightily against lefties this season. He appears to be swinging the bat better as of late, hopefully it translates into something positive.

Mariano Rivera has pitched only one inning this entire ALCS, he hopes to be active later tonight and help the Yankees punch their tickets back to Arlington.

Rangers ALCS Game 5 Lineup

The Rangers have made a few adjustments to their lineup versus the Yankees CC Sabathia this afternoon. Most notable is the absence of Yankee killer Bengie Molina:

1. Elvis Andrus SS
2. Michael Young 3B
3. Josh Hamilton CF
4. Vladimir Guerrero DH
5. Nelson Cruz LF
6. Ian Kinsler 2B
7. Jeff Francoeur RF
8. Matt Treanor C
9. Mitch Moreland 1B

Pitcher C.J. Wilson

Yankees ALCS Game 5 Lineup

Without Teixeira on the roster, Berkman slides into his position and Eduardo Nunez assumes Berkman's spot on the bench. Here is the Bombers lineup versus the Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson:

1. Derek Jeter SS
2. Nick Swisher RF
3. Robinson Cano 2B
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Marcus Thames DH
6. Lance Berkman 1B
7. Jorge Posada C
8. Curtis Granderson CF
9. Brett Gardner LF

Pitching: CC Sabathia

Berkman to Start at First Base for Yanks

With Mark Teixeira's season over even if the Yankees somehow make it to the World Series, Lance Berkman will be playing first base for the Bombers tonight. 

At first it appeared that Teixeira was inexplicably sliding feet first into first base to try to beat Rangers pitcher Tommy Hunter to the bag, but it soon became clear that he was injured as replays showed him grabbing the back of his right leg while running up the line. After an MRI it was diagnosed as a Grade II strain of his right hamstring, an injury that takes 6-8 weeks to recover from in the best of circumstances.

"Disappointed, angry. You play all year and you battle all year to get a chance to help your team out in the world series and it's just not gonna happen for me this year" Teixeira told reporters in the clubhouse after the game.

With the Yankees on the verge of elimination and the World Series scheduled to begin on October 27, there is no chance for Teixeira to join his club should they make it that far. Replacing him on the roster is infielder Eduardo Nunez.

Molina, Hamilton, Cruz Propel Rangers to 3-1 Lead Over Yankees in ALCS

With the uncertainity surrounding A.J. Burnett's ability to pitch in tonight's game and the admitted drop in offense from the potential hall of famer Jorge Posada sitting on the bench in favor of the backup Francisco Cervelli, the Yankees manager Joe Girardi was confident in his decision to play the two. On what turned out to be a historic night for one of his former teammates, Bernie Williams could not have picked a better night to throw out the first pitch.

"I think I still would've went the same way. Being a catcher for years and understanding for years what is what like when you caught the same guy all the time, I believe in that catcher pitcher relationship, that people are able to form," said Girardi before the game. "It really had nothing to do with offense, its just those two have been together most of the time...we have a 39 year old catcher who doesn't play 7, 8 , 9 games in a row...its easier if the backup guy catches the same guy all the time...I believe in continuity."

Coming into this game with a 2 games to 1 lead, the Rangers have all the confidence in the world. They know that no matter what, they will will fly back to Arlington for at least one game. Should the Yankees push it to a game 7, Texas has pitcher Cliff Lee lurking in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to beat the Bombers again.

"Anything is possible...when you're in the playoffs usually that's what gives you the opportunity to be successful, pitching. The only thing we are really concerned about is Tommy Hunter today. We certainly expect him to go out there and pitch his type of game," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "The type of lineup the Yankees have, you don't know what's going to happen until the game is over."

"I'm just goin' at it as my turn to pitch in game 4...I'm not happy with my season," said Burnett before the game.

Teixeira Exits Early

Mark Teixeira strained his right hamstring running up the first base line in the 5th inning. He was replaced by Nick Swisher at first and Marcus Thames in the field and the third spot in the batting order.

More after the game...

Rangers at Yankees: ALCS Game 4 Preview

With the Yankees game 4 lineup changes previously documented in this publication and the discussion surrounding how long its been since Yankee pitcher A.J. Burnett and catcher Francisco Cervelli also already out of the way, the focus now is on the pitching match up itself.

The Yankees are sending Burnett to the mound to face the Texas Rangers tonight not out of luxury, but out of necessity. They can't pitch their entire rotation again on three days rest before possibly pitching in the world series. However, in not pitching their rotation again on three days rest they are stacking the deck in favor of the Rangers making their first world series appearance in franchise history.

For the 2010 season, Burnett compiled a 10-15 record with a 5.26 ERA. In 186 2/3 innings he allowed 204 hits, 25 home runs, 78 walks and hit 19 batters while striking out 145 batters. The Yankees to basically need to score 6 runs to win the game if he pitches to his season averages, considering they couldn't even put together 6 hits last night it might be a tall order.

Against the Rangers Burnett was 1-2 this season with an ERA of 7.00. For their careers, the Rangers are collectively hitting .209 with 9 home runs off of Burnett in their careers. If the Yankees want to win the game they will need the Burnett that showed up in Game 2 of the '09 world series to show up. For the record he pitched 7 innings allowing one run on four hits and striking out nine with only two walks.

The Rangers have the edge in sending Tommy Hunter and his 13-4 record sporting a 3.73 ERA to the mound at first glance. Looking deeper into the statistics only further bolsters this claim. Against the bombers this year, Hunter won his only start going 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits with 8 strike outs. Scratch the surface a little more and one will find a chink in Hunter's armor. For their careers against him, the Yankees starting line up is hitting a collective .364 with one home run (by Granderson) and 5 RBI. Curtis Granderson practically owns Hunter in their relatively limited action with 4 hits in 6 at bats.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi probably is aware of these numbers and might be more of an evil genius than Yankee fans realize. Being "on rotation," as he put it and responding "nope" when asked if he was reconsidering after last night's loss might be the best decisions he makes the whole ALCS.

"It's tough not to play, period. But it is what it is...I'm ok. Get a win, that's it." Said Jorge Posada before tonight's game in response to Cervelli starting behind the plate.

(stats from ELIAS via ESPN.com)

Burnett, Cervelli and October 2nd

Why is October 2nd relevant to both A.J. Burnett and Francisco Cervelli? It's the last time either of those two appeared in a game for the Yankees of course! Unless you count the simulated game Burnett threw in which he hit two of his teammates.

The Yankees season comes down to two players who haven't played in weeks. Should Burnett falter early and be replaced, expect Cervelli to go with him. The Yankees can't afford to lose Posada's bat when the only players on the team that are hitting are Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson.

For the record, Cervelli hit .271 with zero home runs and 38 RBI for the 2010 season. Cervelli has one career home run, Jorge Posada has exactly 260 more.