THE STATE OF THE YANKEES PITCHING

First, let me give you alittle Yankee pitching news. 3 names have moved on according to LoHud, read it HERE.

Aaron Laffey was apparently claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals. Scott Proctor elected free agency as did Raul Valdes.

Now, for other important stuff coming out of Yankeeland. The next logical target for the Yankees as far as starting pitching is concerned is the Rangers lefthander CJ Wilson in my opinion. Yes, the 2011 rotation did much better than anyone anticipated, but there is definitely a need for improvement, so why not “Pretty Boy” Wilson, as Casey calls him? CJ Wilson has improved on his 2010 breakout year, proving more than capable as the ace of the Rangers staff. He finished the season with a 2.94 ERA, 206 strikeouts (8.3 K/9), and a career high 223.1 innings pitched.

Adding Wilson behind CC, assuming CC Sabathia returns, would certainly give the Yankees the most dominant pair of lefties in the game, which could prove to be a valuable commodity when facing the lefty laden lineups of Boston (who despite collapsing, is still an excellent offensive team) and the Rangers. That said, I don’t see the Rangers letting CJ get away. Don’t forget, the Rangers lost out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes too and have plenty of money sitting around to make sure he stays. Losing their ace in back to back off-seasons would be a PR nightmare, especially given the current free agent market. Sure, the Rangers could abandon CJ and make a run at Yu Darvish, but should they fail in that pursuit, they’re left with a staff led by… Derek Holland and Colby Lewis. And, could Neftali Feliz truly succeed in a starting role with only two pitches? As much as I’d like to have CJ Wilson, I don’t see him going anywhere. He seems to love playing in Texas and the fans love him back. Additionally, I don’t see how a 31 year old with all of 2 years experience starting in a division with the Athletics, Mariners, and Angels is a sure thing to perform in the AL East. If Yu Darvish doesn’t work out (Read WHY I’LL CONVINCE YOU ON YU), I’d go for CJ.

Clearly, Manny Banuelos is another lefty that could prove reliable and dominant for the Yankees, very possibly in 2012. And speaking of Banuelos, what do we do with those other B’s? If their performance in AAA is any indication of how they’ll look at the beginning of next year, Betances and Banuelos should be given a chance to make the rotation out of Spring Training and boot Phil Hughes to the bullpen, but more than likely they need to be sent back to Scranton Wilkes-Barre (or I guess Rochester seeing as they’ll playing most of their “home” games there next season) and given their chance to dominate.

As for Andrew Brackman, I say he should be in the bullpen on Opening Day 2012, ready to work late innings. He proved last season that he has huge flaws as a starter, but towards the end of the season, he was an utterly dominant setup man for the Yanks’ AAA affiliate. His fastball + power-curve combo works fantastically out of the bullpen, and adding him into a bullpen with Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera would pretty much a guarantee that the Yankees have the best bullpen in baseball for the second year in a row.
If all went according to my plan, we’d have a rotation resembling Sabathia, Darvish, Ivan Nova, Phi Hughes, AJ Burnett for Opening Day, and as the season progresses, I believe Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances could both try their hardest to beat out the latter three. That’s a damn nice 1-2-3, and if Hughes maintains the form he displayed in the end of the season, he’ll be one of the better 4th starters in the game.

Finally, an important part to all of this is an extra lefty in the Yankees bullpen. Casey has been ranting about the need for an extra one in the pen, and he’s right. Boone Logan is a fine relief pitcher, but a lefty specialist he is not. We were all set for Pedro Feliciano to be our hero, but his entire career may be in jeopardy, so forget about depending on him in 2012. Damaso Marte was never any good, except of course the 2009 postseason, but let’s face it, that was 2009. I’m not sure who’s out there, but it has to be done.

Look, at the end of the day, I have a plan, it may not be perfect or realistic to some, but in my opinion, I think it could work. Do you agree, maybe disagree? You can comment… let me know what you would do.

--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer



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WHY I'M NOT UPSET WITH THIS YANKEES LOSS

(Photo: Getty)
Yankee fans, let's admit, this game for the Yankees meant absolutely nothing to us. The Yanks have already clinched the American League East and home field advantage in both rounds of the American League playoffs. So with that in mind, it was OK that the Yankees lost this game to the Tampa Bay Rays. There's very few of these games a year, if any at all, that mean absolutely nothing whether it's a win or loss. So let's recap...Hector Noesi squared off against James Shields for the Rays in this one. Noesi was on a pitch count as he was starting just his second game of the season. He went 2 innings while allowing five hits and three runs on 59 pitches. He allowed all three of his runs in the third inning, so it seemed like he ran out of gas. We very well may have seen Noesi for the final time this season as he finishes the year with a 2-2 record with a 4.47 ERA in 30 games while pitching in quite a variety of roles. It's his rookie season, and we give him kudos for pitching in a number of important games for the Yanks this season. Phil Hughes also made an appearance in relief. He went an 1.2 while allowing two walks on a hit and a strikeout. Andrew Brackman made his second career appearance as he recorded the final two outs in the 8th.

This was a huge game for the Rays. Pretty much a must win for them since they were one game back of the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card race entering play on Monday. He went 8.2 innings for them while allowing six hits on two walks and three K's. Former Yankee Kyle Farnsworth finished off his former team by recording the final out in the 9th.The offense for the Yankees pretty much came from one source, and that was Robinson Cano. Cano went 2 for 4 with a solo homer and and RBI single in the first and third innings, respectively. The rest of the team combined to go 4 for 27 (.148 AVG), which includes Jorge Posada's 0 for 4 in what may have been his last start at first base this season. Although he went 0-for he made a couple of nice plays at first.

Final Score: Rays 5 - Yankees 2
I'm not upset with this loss whatsoever. The Red Sox lost, again, so they're now 6-19 during the month of September, which means the Rays and Red Sox are tied in the Wild Card race with identical 89-71 records. Boston's collapse has been very fun to watch all month long and it'd be awesome if they can complete it. Bartolo Colon (8-9, 4.02 ERA) goes for the Yanks against Jeremy Hellickson (13-10, 2.90 ERA) for the Rays on Tuesday.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY IT WASN'T COLON'S NIGHT...AGAIN

Bartolo Colon was terrible. Not sure what you do with this guy once the Postseason begins. Right now, he's got nothing good and if he did go say 7 innings and held the Rays to 2 runs, it would have been a much different story right now. Since the All-Star break, Bartolo Colon is 2-6 with a 5.09 ERA in 69 innings pitched. He's also allowed 9 home runs. Geez. Anyway, tonight, Colon went 3 innings, allowed 7 hits on 7 runs and he only struck out 1.

Scott Proctor followed Colon and was just terrible tonight as well. He gave up 5 runs and his ERA is now up to 6.81. Look, tonight was an ugly night and sometimes guys have crappy pitching performances. Clearly, it was Colon and Proctor's night. Maybe after the game they'll go get a beer together and forget about this.Matt Moore struck out 11 Yankees tonight. He's a terrific young pitcher and his fastball was clocked at 96. Pretty impressive.

The Rays scored 15 runs tonight. Again, it was ugly for the Yanks, but the good news is, the Yankees are champions of the AL East and ready to move forward to the post season, so all this stuff is just fluff. There were some highlights, like for instance, throughout the whole game, the Yankees scored 8 runs and it looked like maybe, just maybe in the 8th inning, we may come back. But Jorge Posada came up to bat right handed with the bases loaded and he struck out. Hey look, it's not Jorge's fault, it's a long road back when you're down by that many runs. Then again, bases loaded and the momentum was going our way, how do you not even hit a single, you know what I mean?
Jesus Montero was 3 for 3 tonight with 2 RBIs and 2 walks. His stance and power are amazing and he's just a kid. It's going to be very exciting to see this guy shine in pinstripes as the years go on. He is really exciting to watch.

Andruw Jones had 3 RBIs tonight with a home run in the 6th inning. Jones is useful, even at this stage in his career. I like him in pinstripes. He filled the void.

Finally, 2 of the Killer B's were in tonight. Andrew Brackman who is 6'11" and it's clear the dude is tall when he's out there, wow. He pitched 1.1 innings and gave up 1 hit and 1 walk. Then Dellin Betances came in and shit the bed. He walked 4, and allowed 2 runs. He now has a 27.00 ERA. No biggie, the Yankees just wanted to gave the B's alittle taste.

Final Score: Rays 15 - Yankees 8

Yankees Magic Number is 2 for the best record in the American League. Come on Yankees!

Tomorrow night, it's Yankees vs. Sox. Get ready! By the way, if you haven't read WHY I BELIEVE IN THE CURSE, try it, you'll like it.

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WHY DELLIN BETANCES IS A YANKEE BRIGHT SPOT

Everyone loves a homegrown player. There's something about the Jeters and Marianos of the world that just endear themselves to their adoring fans. Well for Yankees fans, at least part of it is the feeling of being able to watch them come through in the clutch, say "SEE! SEE! We don't pay for all our good players!" and smile smugly in the face of your Mets fan friend (Who is most likely imaginary, I mean, a Mets fan? Come on.) More generally, it's knowing that the young man has never known another team and that he journeyed all the way from the Rk leagues to make the big leagues.



There's no denying it, homegrown players are the closest to the fans' hearts. But how often do you get a chance to look at a player and say that he's literally playing right at home?Dellin Betances took one huge step towards becoming that guy, the hometown hero, last Thursday when he made his AAA debut. It was no easy task facing the IL 1st place Durham Bulls, and early on it looked like Betances would fold under the pressure. However, he settled down to put together a phenomenal start. As is usual with young pitchers, the numbers don't tell the whole story. Nevertheless, here they are: 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 8 K, 0 BB



Two numbers immediately jump out from that line. The 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. Dellin has had command issues all year long. For a while I suspected he needed to pitch to contact a bit more, but apparently I know nothing. In Dellin's last 3 starts, he's struck out a whopping 20 while walking only 2. Obviously a K/BB ratio of 10 isn't something you'd expect to last, not even with Mariano Rivera, but such a marked improvement over the rest of his season is a huge accomplishment, regardless of longevity. I always say his potential is somewhere between AJ Burnett and Felix Hernandez, but he's making a case for me to move that floor up a good bit.



After those two numbers, you probably noticed that he just managed to put together a quality start. However, as I said, the numbers don't tell the story at all, so here's a quick recap of his outing:



Betances immediately went on cruise control, retiring the side 1-2-3 in his first ever work in AAA. I think he got a bit too comfortable up there because come the 2nd inning he couldn't miss a bat. Dellin allowed 3 hits, scoring 2 runs for the Bulls before escaping further danger. The 3rd inning didn't start off much better, as a he yielded his 3rd run of the game on a Tim Beckham lead off home run. After getting the 1st out of the inning, he gave up a 1 out double to put himself in danger again. I'll be perfectly honest, I started making excuses like "Well, his stuff looks good, it's his first AAA start, Durham's a great team..." Dellin would have none of my BS.Betances quickly struck out 2010 IL MVP Dan Johnson and Russ Canzler to strand Stephen Vogt in scoring position. He would not allow another hit until a 2 out Canzler single in the 6th inning. At one point he retired 7 straight, a streak which would've been extended to 10 if not for Luis Nuñez's fielding error in the 4th.



Dellin got into a mini jam in the 6th, allowing back to back 2 out singles, one of which nailed him in the leg, but he got Daniel Mayora to strike out swinging to end his impressive AAA debut.



What I saw from the 3rd inning on was honestly one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen from a minor league pitcher. Nobody could touch him. His 95-96 fastball was popping Montero's glove, his biting curve ball was making hitters look foolish, and he even appeared to flash the occasional change-up. It was hard to get a detailed view of his pitches because of the absolutely awful lone camera angle displayed throughout the entire broadcast, but it didn't take much to see that after he gave up that early 3rd run, he was in control.



If Dellin can repeat Thursday's performance every 5 days for the rest of the season, I see no reason he won't be a front runner to land a spot in the rotation for 2012. Some scouting reports say he's still a bit of a thrower rather than a pitcher, similar to what Joba Chamberlain was initially like. However his declining walk totals and increasingly economic pitching tell me that he's really starting to harness his potential. With such rapid improvement, we may be getting our very own hometown hero soon. And unlike David Cone, he can't ditch his hometown team and go to the Yankees, he's already here!



On an interesting side note, Andrew Brackman relieved Betances in the 7th inning. Much to my surprise, he looked very, very good. His outing was spoiled by a 2 run homer in the 8th inning, but for the most part he looked completely in control. His season numbers still sit at an unspectacular, to say the least, 6.83, 2-6.

(In Photo: Andrew Brackman)

However, since being moved from long relief to short relief, Brackman's found much more success. In his last 10 games he has not had a decision, but has maintained a 4.13 ERA and perhaps most importantly held batters to a measly .152 average. Those numbers are even better excluding some long relief appearances, such as when he walked 9 batters in 3.1 innings on July 29th. Since the beginning of August, his ERA is 2.89. Look for a more in depth analysis in a retrospective Killer Bs update article coming later this week.







--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer

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BANUELOS: FERNANDO VALENZUELA PART 2?

When I was a kid, I remember a Mexican pitcher coming out of Los Angeles that pitched for the Dodgers. He had the craziest delivery where he’d look at the sky before he chucked the ball into home plate. Usually, he’d always come out on the winning end of the duel between pitcher and hitter. Fernando Valenzuela was the pitcher that everyone latched onto from the moment he pitched in his rookie season and through the 1980’s. He was chubby, had this odd delivery, a lefty and lights out.

I still remember his rookie card. It was the 1981 Topps card that I remember best partly because Valenzuela just had this look on his face like he wasn't ready for his picture to be taken and partly because Mike Scioscia was also on the card.

Anyway, not to get off track, but recently, one of my buddy’s tweeted me about Manny Banuelos…. "Fernando Valenzuela Part II" he wrote. It got me thinking, “Maybe Carlos is right.” I mean, not since Fernando was I this excited about a Mexican pitcher like I am about Manny Banuelos. So much so that I would have given away Dellin Betances, Andrew Brackman, and Jesus Montero but still would have held onto Manny at the trade deadline.

Now look, Manny hasn’t exactly been lights out this year, but he is a lefty and he has some really good stuff as a young arm in the minor leagues. In 2 games right now with Scranton Wilkes Barres, he has a 2.45 ERA, 0-1 with 16.2 innings pitched. He's given up 20 hits, 6 earned runs, struck out 16 and walked 7. It's still early for this kid, and again, those number don't seem great, but I have faith. I see him making an appearance in the big show before the end of the season, but coming out of the pen...and it's exciting.

Then I got curious, what were Fernando Valenzuela's minor league numbers. Well, for San Antonio AA ball, he had a season of 13-9, with a 3.10 ERA, 27 games, 174 innings pitched. He gave up 60 earned runs on 156 hits, but he also struck out 162.

Compare that to Manny's AA numbers, Manny had the following: a 4-6 record, a 3.58 ERA in 23 games. In 110.2 Innings pitched he game up only 44 earned runs and 109 hits. he also struck out 111.

So, is there just too much hype when it comes to Manny? I'm not sure, but I still like what I see and if there is any way he can come up so we can get a glance and he can work against big league hitters, something may click. I can’t help but wonder when Manny comes up to the big show, will he take the world by storm the way Fernando Valenzuela did?

It’s tough to put this much pressure on these kids. Clearly they all want to pitch in the pros, but in a world of pitch counts and training, when is the right time for a call up? Brian Cashman made it clear early on that he didn’t want to rush these kids. Bleeding Yankee Blue is rooting for a promotion though and hopefully a call out of the pen as a lefty specialist this fall is truly in the works. But like we’ve seen with Stephen Strasburg, rushing these guys could do more damage than good. Strasburg should bounce back, but to be that young and to be hurt as quickly as he was, you need to worry. Read about Strasburg HERE.

Could Manny be the next Fernando Valenzuela? Who knows, Valenzuela had some great years and Manny early on in the farm system has proven he could handle batters, and hopefully he'll improve. One thing is for sure, I can't help but think about all the chatter about him in Spring Training. Time will tell, but there’s no question, it’s getting exciting in Yankeeland.

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WHY YU COULD BE THE ANSWER

As I’ve said countless times, the Yankees have been skating by with a hodge podge rotation and frankly we’re lucky that it has held together to this point. The other day Bartolo Colon reminded us again why he’s more than a serviceable #2 pitcher with a dominant 7.0 IP, 2 ER outing against the Athletics. Freddy Garcia has posted some unexpected great numbers, despite his peripherals and FIP being almost identical to those he had last year.However, the fact that either of the two have made it to this point can be considered nothing short of a miracle, and if they can make it all the way through the season and perform well in the post-season it will be even more of a miracle. With the fact that we have been lucky, let me ask you this: What are we going to do next year? Maybe Colon continues throwing darts and maybe Freddy keeps getting lucky. But who’s to say they even stay with the Yankees if they’re still healthy? I’m not going to even get started on the question marks. I think I’ve made my point. Next year’s rotation is going to need a big addition. So who?Well C.J. Wilson is an option, but we can’t place all of our hopes in a converted reliever with 1.5 successful seasons under his belt, especially since we can’t guarantee we will sign him. There are the Killer B’s, Banuelos and Betances (sorry Brackman, get your ERA under 7 and we’ll talk…), but both have had troublesome command issues this season. There’s no reason to panic and give up on them, it’s just part of their development, but it shows that they are not ready to carry a rotation and there is no guarantee that both can perform exceptionally at the Major League level.

And as everyone, including myself, has suggested we could put together a package for Ubaldo Jimenez who would help for a few years, but the price is even higher than I predicted (they’re asking for Montero, Banuelos, Betances, and Nova) and it would ultimately be a deal we’d regret.

And then there’s Yu Darvish: 2x NPB MVP, 2x NPB ERA leader, 2x strikeout leader, and indisputable best pitcher in all of Japan.

Yu Darvish will be a hot commodity if he is auctioned off to the highest bidder, which is very likely for the 6’5” right hander. Through just over 5 years in the NPB, he has compiled a 75-32 to go with a 2.12 ERA. Since 2007, he has not recorded an ERA over 2.00 (2007-2010 ERA is 1.81), his WHIP has been under 1 in all but one season (2010), his BB/9 has been at worst an excellent 2.2, and his K/9 is consistently over or just under 9. He has pitched over 200 innings in every one of those seasons except 2009, and has pitched an absurd 40 complete games from 2007-2010. Mind you the Japanese season is shorter, so he’s had only 98 starts…and 9 of those were shutouts…. Wow.

If you need any more convincing, he’s having a career year with a 1.44 ERA and a 13-2 record (stats subject to inaccuracy, they’re difficult to find). He’s only 24 years old, and about to enter the 27-31 year age prime that is typical of ball players. He’s the Felix Hernandez of Japan.

Numbers only mean so much, so here’s a video to show you just what he can do:



Now to explain what he’s doing: Darvish has a mind blowing arsenal of 7 pitches, all of them nasty. He has a 4 seam fastball that sits from 91-94 and tops out at 97 (hit 100 once), a 2-seam/shuuto with heavy movement, a changeup, a splitter, a slurve, a curveball, and a cutter. Unlike many Japanese pitchers he does not have a particularly violent pitching motion, so health isn’t a huge concern.

Needless to say, if Darvish is available to MLB teams, every team in the league with any room on their payroll is going to be all over him. However at the risk of sounding entitled: we’re the New York Yankees, when it’s a bidding war, we get it if we want it. One could point out how we failed to sign Cliff Lee last offseason, but that wasn’t a bidding war, it was the man’s preference. Trying to get a player from Japan is essentially nothing more than a rich man’s auction, everyone interested gives their highest bid and if they win, they win. Kei Igawa’s horrific contract expires after this season ($4 million), Jorge will likely retire ($13 million), and we failed to sign Cliff Lee ($23 million-$14 million for Soriano=$9 million). That’s $26 million open on the payroll, not to mention the Steinbrenner’s can always dig deeper in their pockets. The Yanks have a lot of money clearing off the payroll next offseason, and they will undoubtedly have the money to win the bidding war for Yu Darvish and sign him to a big contract.

The Yankees are the clear frontrunners in the Darvish sweepstakes, but there are a few reasons we could fail to even get him. First off, the failure of Kei Igawa may leave a bad taste in the organization’s mouth. It’s safe to say that Igawa is no Darvish though, even before coming to the U.S. he was clearly declining and the Yankees signed him as nothing more than a response to the Red Sox winning the Matsuzaka bidding war. Second, there’s never a guarantee that a Japanese player will sign with us, even if we win the “auction.” Personally, I think we have a better chance of getting him than not getting him if he becomes available prior to the 2012 season. In yet another off-season which lacks big name free agent starting pitchers, Yu Darvish could be just the deadly arm the Yankees are looking for.




--Grant Cederquist, BYB Staff Writer



--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Associate Editor



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WHY MY GUT SAYS FELIX IS BRONX BOUND

There is a gut feeling telling me that somethings going to happen with the King and the Yankees. I know I know, I've read what you've read, but with the Seattle Mariners falling apart, it would make sense. Now, I can only go by gut and the way things have been written, and by the way, that gives me hope. The headline in the Seattle Times reads "Mariners aren't in any hurry to make trades at the deadline". Well, that isn't exactly a "NO". Now, if you read future it goes on to say that pitchers like Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda are in the "untouchable" category, I don't believe that. Why? Because a things have developed in what I've been reading and that allows me to think otherwise.

• Jesus Montero: His name is attached to a ton of trade talk and while Brian Cashman insists that Montero is going nowhere, one would tell you that talk is cheap, especially with the Yankees craving a top starter. Every blog and paper is analyzing this and while all of us don't have the inside scoop, all of us know how Brian Cashman works. It would make sense the unload Montero if a top starter, and my gut says it's going to happen. Plus, read the analysis of Montero and how different it was from Spring training when Montero was larger than life and "untouchable":

Sliding Into Home: If the price is right, trade Montero
The Yankees Analysts title: Jesus Montero's declining Stock
Pinstripe Alley: states "Montero is trade bait"
Gack Sports headline: Cash, Jesus has to go

I remember March of this year when Jesus Montero was the young stud everyone wanted to see behind the plate, including me and suddenly, Yankee fans are edgy and antsy for some solid starting pitching behind CC and now, and only now, are we starting to see an outcry.

Personally, I like the idea of trading Montero. Look we have some great catchers with great futures behind him, Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez. Bleeding Yankee Blue even wrote WHY ROMINE MAY BE THE FUTURE, NOT MONTERO. To me, while I love Montero, it is clear that he should be the guy that should be moved, especially if teams that are willing to unload solid starters want him. Now, it won't just be Montero, these teams will be looking at other guys like Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos and even Andrew Brackman. Clearly Cashman is smart enough to not give up the farm, those 3 guys are our future pitching staff, but if he were to unload 2 guys, say Montero and Betances, and some major league ready guys, like Hector Noesi or a Ivan Nova, I'd say we have something there.

Everyone knows Cashman's a liar, that's what makes him a great GM, he never shows his hand and we wake up the next morning with something bigger and better than what we had the day before. At that point, Yankee fans are sad for what we gave up, but over excited for what we got.Every team has a price and no player is untouchable. Remember that. The Mariners are coming into town and if you think that Cashman is going too just blow off any type of "sit down" with the Mariners for the possibility of a Pineda or King Felix, you're misinformed. I'm not saying this is going to happen by July 31st, but it's going to happen, I feel it in my gut.

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WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE YANKEES?

Now that the All-Star break is over, what should the Yankees do to bring them to the next level?
Our Crosstown Rival, The Mets just traded away their closer Francisco Rodriguez for prospects to make the first deadline deal. The Mets are clearly in a rebuilding stage, and are trying to dump salary, but our Yankees are trying to figure out what it will take to bring them to the next championship.Let's take a look at which areas we need help with, and which possible candidates could be used to fill these voids:

• RELIEF: We are missing a solid 6th inning reliever. Joba Chamberlain went down with an injury earlier in the year, and David Robertson stepped up to take the 8th inning spot until RaSo comes back. Then, I think DRob will probably be moved back to the 7th inning spot, but who will be used to pitch in the 6th inning? I say call up someone from AAA or AA such as, Andrew Brackman, Lance Pendleton, or maybe even Mark Prior among others.

• TOP FLIGHT PITCHER: We are it and it could carry us through the playoffs if we had one. I say trade for someone such as Mark Buehrle or "Pretty Boy" CJ Wilson.

• EXTRA HITTING: Any team could always need another bat. I think having another person for some power or average is a threat in the lineup could really spice things up. I say trade for a 3 month rental and see how it pays out. My few candidates to trade for are Lance Berkman, Prince Fielder, Carlos Pena, or if a miracle were to happen, Albert Pujols.
  

IMAGINE this lineup:

1. Jeter SS
2. Granderson CF
3. Pujols/ Prince Fielder DH
4. A-Rod 3B
5. Cano 2B
6. Teixeira 1B
7. Swisher RF
8. Martin C
9. Gardner LF

seems like Murderers Row 2.0, right?

Let me know what you think by commenting on this post or hitting me on Facebook. Or, if you have a blackberry you can add the Bleeding Yankee Blue group on BBM and we can converse in there. Thanks.



--Will Cohen, BYB Staff Writer

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