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Anyone else lose a lot of sleep last night praying Wang only has a sprain and will be back after the all-star break?

It would be a huge blow to lose the Wanger all season but it would not mean the end of the Yankees season. Joba is filling into a starting role. Pettitte and Moose look like they still have something left. Rasner hopefully can get back to a good #4 starter and the bats are heating up. Ya never know with baseball but I still think the Yanks are in a good position to win the wild card.

Who will replace Wang? Kennedy is healthy but probably needs a couple rehab starts. Kartsens has experience and is healthy. Giese was a starter at AAA but worries me as a starter in the majors. Then their is Igawa. They also have kids like Horne, McCutchen and Marquez but I do not think any of them are ready for the majors right now.

As crazy as it sounds I think they should give Igawa another chance. Call me crazy but I think he can be a decent #5 starter.

Option #2 would be to move Giese to a starting role and call up a young bullpen guy like Robertson or White.

37-33 and coming up to the midway point. 6 games against a couple teams they really should go 5-1 against. 42-34 in a week would look real good.

Get out and start voting for Yankees for the all-star game. Damon, Matsui, A-rod all deserve votes. And since the game is at the Cathedral of baseball throw votes to Posada, Giambi and Melky.

Enjoy the day off and get ready for some NL teams.

Bet you never thought that would happen did ya. Very good game last night and the Yanks are 2 games over .500. They need to make their move now.

Joba looked very good against a good hitting team. He is starting to learn how to pitch and not just throw. I like a rotation of Wang, Pettite, Joba and Moose. 4 different styles and all capable of going 6 strong innings. Rasner may be losing his magic but Kennedy should be healthy soon and their are some options at AAA.

Veras looked good last night too. All and all a very good game by the Yanks. Mo was able to rest, Farnsworth got a save, Jeter hit a dinger.

Now they need their bats to get going a little. Cano is still struggling and Jeter is at around .280. If everyone hits, the team can score 6 runs a game easily.

Hopefully Moose can make it 3 in a row today. No DH should help him avoid any real bad innings.

I was way off last night with my first predicition of the year so I am going to suspend my presidential campaign, I mean my fearless predictions.

Minute Maid Park looks like a beautiful park. Hopefully one day I can catch a game their.

Anyone looking forward to the new Yankee stadium? I sure am.

Can the Yankees win 2 in a row? Can Joba go 6 strong innings? Or will the Yanks be back at .500 tomorrow morning?

The Yanks have a good chance to get on a roll. They play the Padres and Reds at home next week and can really beat up these 2 teams. They really need to get over that hump and go 8-2 heading to the mid-point of the season.

Old friend Shawn Chacon goes tonight. I always liked his stuff but he was very inconsistant. He is having a pretty good year for the Stros this year.

Minute Maid Park is a hitters park so be prepared for some high scoring games this weekend.

My first prediction of the year is 7-4 Yanks tonight.

Can the Yankees please win 5-6 in a row. I am getting sick of this 1 win here, 2 wins there, 1 loss over there. The mid point of the season is 18 games away and if they hit that at 41-40 it will not be very good.

I had a hunch Rasner was going to get hit last night. Back home, gripping the ball a little tighter. He is a control and feel pitcher so just a little more pressure on the ball will cause him issues. He cannot rear back and blow a guy away with a 98 mph heater whenever he needs to.

Some moves will be coming soon as the Yanks play in a NL park this weekend. Posada looks healthy so I assume Moeller will be let go for another bench player. Shelley Duncan may also be on his way to Scranton. It looks like Betemit is going to get the playing time at 1B when Giambi sits or DH’s. I personally think Betemit has to go too. I rather have Gonzalez and Eric Duncan up in the Bronx.

A lot of people are talking about Melancon helping this year but he has thrown 47 innings already and is coming off TJ surgery. I doubt the Yanks will get much out of him. Robertson is the best choice right now for a young arm in the minors. Cox is on the DL but is also a possibility. A couple of former starters, White and Horne may be coming up too.

Ohlendorf frustrates the crap out of me. I will continue to root for him though, his stuff is too good.

Pettite goes tonight. I got his autograph and shook his hand in 1995 at a baseball card show. Real nice guy. The Yanks need him to have his usual stellar 2nd half.

I cannot see the Yanks winning the East so better start rooting for a wild card spot.

Does anybody read this blog?? At any rate.

Splitting a home series against the lowly Royals (a barely winning one game) is not a great streak. I feel like the team just cannot get it going.

The Yanks had a nice win last night, 3-1 against the A’s. Wang looked good and he is a very important piece of the rotation. Rasner goes today and hopefully will have some better luck. He deserves to be 5-1, not 3-3.

The dusch man goes for the A’s (finally a righty) so hopefully with everyone back in the lineup the Yanks can score some runs.

The team had a good draft last week. I follow the Yankees minor league teams a lot and they have a very good crop of talent. Check out yankeesprospects.com for daily box scores and a subscription site yankeesscout.com for good minor league info. All these good playewrs will not translate into all stars but hopefully a few will. Better to have a lot of talent than hope 2-3 guys magically develop.

On that note, I do not think the Yanks should pick up Abreu’s contract for 2009. What was he doing in the 1st inning last night???? Getting thrown out at 3rd. He cannot play defense in right field and is scared of the wall. He will put up numbers but is not a great clutch hitter. Save the 16 million and put Matsui or Melky in RF next year. Abreu is a good athlete that will put up numbers but is not a great baseball player. I rather have a great baseball player than a great athlete on my team.

99 games to go and the Yanks are 32-21.

I was away for the last 3 days at a wedding so I have a lot of catching up to do.

A couple of very nice comebacks recently but a tough 2-1 loss Friday night. I still do not think the team is hitting on all cylinders yet.

Some good signs. Giese may be the long man out of the pen we need. That would help a lot and allow the Dorf man to move to a 1 inning guy which he is much better suited for.

Chamberlain is gearing up to go 6-7 innings. He is not going to throw a shutout every night but his stuff looks good. I think he will be a great addition to the rotation.

The bats are starting to consistently (besides Friday night) come around. With Posada healthy it definitely helps the lineup. Hopefully he will prove healthy soon and Moeller will be sent away and a good bat for the bench is added.

Bad signs. Having to come back twice last week and losing 2-1 to the bad Royals. I am still not sure this team is a very good team yet.

The schedule is very favorable for the Yanks the next couple weeks so a nice 12-4, 11-5 run would be great.

Moose is going for #10 today. The Yanks usually struggle against a young starting pitcher they have never seen before so it will be interesting to see how they handle Hochevor.

Enjoy the heat today.

Who would of thunk a 9-4 record after 1/3 of the season the Moose. I am glad he is having a very good year so far and hopes he finally eclipses that magic number of 20 wins this year. It would be a great story.

He was really painting the corners and mixing things up. When he is on he is a model for how to pitch. Location, location, location. Look at all the walks Joba, Hughes and Kennedy have. That has been a major issue for all 3 this year. Moose throws 87-88 but gets guys out. Maybe he will be back for another year next year?

Big game today. Day game after a night game. Veteran team. Lets see how much energy they have. Moose cock is back so no more excuses.

Ohlendorf has looked good the last 2 appearances and I am really rooting for him to become a great setup guy.

The Joba transition has failed miserably, the season is over. Settle down people!!!! I know I have been cynical on this board and a 28-30 record does not look good but keep up the faith.

Hindsight is 20/20 and the Yanks probably should have used Joba as a starter out of spring training but who would have ever thought Hughes and Kennedy would be as bad as they have been and on the DL? I still support the move. It is a process. New York always wants instant gratification. The first few games of the transition things seemed to be going well an now people are saying the Yanks PROBABLY could have won 2-3 of the last few games if Joba was in the bullpen. Who would be starting these games? Igawa? What is the point of having Joba in the pen if the score is 7-2 after 5 innings?

When decisions go well everyone looks like genuises, when they do not go well, even for a week, everyone is an idiot. The Yankees have a PLAN. A rotation of Wang, Pettite, Joba, Moose and Rasner is a good rotation. Yes, the Yanks have a whole in the 7th and 8th innings but I still like Ohlendorf’s stuff and am rooting for Ramirez to do well. The Yanks also have some kids at AA (Melancon) and AAA (White, Cox, Robertson) who could help. Geise looked like a decent long man last night. Trust me, the bullpen you see now will not be the same bullpen in 2 weeks.

Give this team and decision a chance. Posada will be back soon which will be a huge boost and Joba’s stuff last night looked amazing. He hit 101 MPH on his 59th pitch.

My one concern is the gelling of this team. I am not sure they have gelled. I have heard the Joba move has not been popular and I am sure Girardi is still trying to establish that he is the boss. Winning always cures chemistry so hopefully the Yanks can get on a winning streak. Their schedule is favorable for the next few weeks so now is the time to make their move.

Another tough loss last night. Is it me or have the Yanks blown a lot of leads this year? Blew a 2-0, 4-2, 5-4 lead last night. Blew a 4-0 and 8-4 lead to the O’s recently. The team, for the most paret, has shown no life in late innings. Is this a lack of effort issue? A older team issue?
One thing I do know is things will have to change performance wise and soon. The clock is ticking. I know there are 105 games left but pretty soon it will be July and half the season will be in the books.

What I do know. The Yanks need an 8th inning stopper. Krazzy Kyle cannot get it done. I could see Ohlendorf or Ramirez grow into it. There is some potential in the minors but you have no idea what the kids can offer you plus Girardi (like Torre) will not hand the 8th inning to a kid anytime soon. Melancon is the only maybe in that scenario. With more paridy and the wild card I am not sure the Yanks will be able to steal a great bullpen guy from another team.

What I don’t know. How many inning Joba will go tonight. Best case scenario. 5 strong innings. Can the Yanks get a nice winning streak going. They really need a nice 5-6 game winning streak and some consistency. They had a very good chance of taking 3 out of 4 on the road against a good twinkies team and they blew it last night.

I will be at the stadium tonight and it should be electric. My expectations are tempered because starting is a lot different than relieving at the major league level.

I saw Austin Jackson play this past Saturday night. One thing worried about me is his pitch selection. He struck out in the first and missed by A LOT. Pitch selection is huge for a hitter as you progress to the majors and pitchers have very good stuff. You cannot argue with the numbers ( two 7 RBI games) but I think he needs a couple more years in the minors. People calling him the next superstar need to realize he is 21 and still needs a lot of polishing.

Who are some of your favorite Yankee prospects?

I hope Eric Duncan gets a shot soon. He has worked so hard as deserves a chance. He was rushed to AAA, has battled some injuries but is only 23 and could be a pretty good first baseman.

I really like McCutchen as a pitcher. Real good stuff and a go get em attitude. He could be a very good reliever or #2-3 starter.

The Yankees have a very full minor league system so it should be interesting the next few years. Who fades away, who suprises, who gets traded who gets a chance. Lots of options in the farm for the Yankees. I hope they continue to develop guys and not simply buy players.