Phil Hughes Pitching for Final Spot in Yankees Rotation

Now that New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman didn't acquire any new arms before the trade deadline and we can finally put those Andy Pettitte un-retiring rumors to rest, manager Joe Girardi has to figure out what to do with the six starting pitchers he has left.  His dilemma, who is the odd man out after he whittles his rotation down to five--the dead arm of Phil Hughes or the hot hand of Ivan Nova?

"We just talked about tweaking our rotation a little bit.  Do you give guys an extra days rest?" was Girardi's rhetorical question.

Girardi hasn't made any decisions, but it is a sure bet he won't be going with a six-man rotation.  That scenario wouldn't bode well with CC Sabathia or A.J. Burnett-- who both prefer to pitch on normal rest and what the ace CC wants, he's going to get.

On the other hand, Hughes has to pitch a near perfect game against the Chicago White Sox this Tuesday night to keep a slot.  The righthander's sparkling 2010 season can only carry him so far.

Girardi seemed defensive when asked about Hughes' 1-3, 8.14 ERA this season since returning from the DL for an inflammation of his right shoulder.  Hughes fastball has hovered around the 92-93 mph since coming back.

"You're evaluating [Hughes] on his last three or four starts," Girardi said.  "We believe this guy still has a huge upside; he won 18 games last year, and we want to see him continue to progress.  How many guys won 18 games last year?  Not too many.  We have to continue to evaluate him, if we think he's going in the right direction."

There's a lot wrong with that statement.  Maybe Girardi is waiting for Doc Brown to pull up with the "Back to the Future" DeLorean.

First, Girardi can't live in the past and,  has to put a lot of consideration on who stays in the current rotation on a pitcher's last few starts.  Secondly, Nova still has the slight chance of winning 18 games this season, even with time spent on the DL.  Hmm...let's see, 18 W's last year or 18 this season?

Nova pitched well in the night-cap of Saturday's double-header-- his first start since being called up from the Yankees Triple-A club in Scranton. Staked to a comfy 12-run first-inning, Nova held the Baltimore Orioles to six hits and two earned runs over seven innings. He is 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA including going 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA over his last five starts.  Nova knows how the business works.

"That's a decision I don't make," he said.  "Of course, I want to be here."

If Hughes pitches lights-out on Tuesday, Nova could be going back down to the minors.  Girardi indicated it would be "a natural move" to send down but would weigh other options.

Now if Hughes gets rocked, it would leave Girardi no choice but to demote Hughes to work things out.  The only rationale for keeping a struggling Hughes in the rotation is if either Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia gets injured or falter badly and that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

For now, Girardi is standing by Hughes.

"We'll talk about this after Sunday," said Girardi.  "His stuff in his last [start] was closer to where it was last year.  I'm not ready just to throw away what he did last year."

It looks like we should have some answers after the road trip to Chicago.

Joba Chamberlain's Dad Claims "Rules" Didn't Help Prevent Son's Injury

In 2007, three young pitchers represented the future of the New York Yankees starting rotation and dominance over the American League for years to come.  Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy were the building blocks to a new dynasty after the Core Four were gone.  Now, only four years later, all three may have seen their better days with the Yankees prematurely slip away for one reason or another.

Chamberlain and Hughes were considered so indispensable, Kennedy was the one traded to Arizona in the Curtis Granderson mix before the 2010 season.  He is now enjoying an All-Star season with a 6-2 record and 3.14 ERA with the Diamondbacks.

The other two fastballers stayed behind and the Yankees tried to figure out what to do with them.

Both pitchers were shuttled to-and-from the bullpen to the starting rotation and the team set limitations on the hard-throwing pitchers' innings.  They became known as the "Joba Rules."

The Joba Rules were put in place to limit pitcher's time on the mound and protect the young hurlers' arms.

Now, even with all the coddling, it looks like Chamberlain's season is over, with Tommy John surgery is on the horizon, for an elbow injury--which could keep the 25 year-old Chamberlain out until the 2013 season-- nobody saw coming.  Nobody except one person.



"I just knew.  It's something I can't explain," said Joba's dad, Harlan.  "But as a father, I knew."

Hughes, meanwhile, has been on the DL since April 15 with right shoulder inflammation--or dead arm as the Yankees have cryptically called it.  The Yankee starter, who had an All-Star season last year, threw 30 pitches over two innings yesterday in a simulated game in Tampa.  His bread-and-butter fastball reached 92 mph--slowly approaching a shadow of his old self.  Hughes will give it a go and start Tuesday for the Gulf Coast Yankees.

Even with all of the reasons behind the Yankees implementation of the Rules, it seems they did nothing to prevent injuries to Chamberlain or Hughes.

In 2007, then manager Joe Torre wouldn't use Chamberlain on consecutive days, and for every inning he threw, the young righthander would get a day off.

The following year new manager, Joe Girardi, lifted the Rules but sent Chamberlain to the bullpen.

Last season, Hughes finally earned a position in  the starting rotation but was restricted to 175 innings over the regular season.  He slumped down the stretch after an All-Star appearance and lost two big games in the playoffs.

Girardi said, up to now,  Chamberlain was consistently throwing in the mid-90's and during the recent road trip and showed no signs of pain.

While Chamberlain's new elbow injury caught the Yankees off guard, his father could tell his son was hurting.

Chamberlain's dad thought it was only a matter of time before his son injured his arm, and didn't blame the Yankees for babying their his son or causing the damage to Chamberlain's elbow, but did have regrets about the Joba Rules.

"Looking back on it now, well...there's some reservations," he said.  "But I entrust these people, this organization with one of the two most precious things I have, my children.  I don't think any where along the line that they intentionally wanted to hurt my son.  Had I thought that, I would have intervened.  In summary, they did what they felt was best and I respect that."

The elder Chamberlain said his son knew about the possibility of injury before he was a Yankee.

"He throws the ball with such velocity, such power, that the torque the body goes through --any pitcher-- and compound that with a power pitcher, something eventually is going to break," he explained.

Chamberlain was having a fine season with a 2-0 record and 2.83 ERA in 27 games.

GM Brian Cashman expects the Tommy John surgery to keep Chamberlain out of action for "10 to 14 months."

Chamberlain's dad is more optimistic.  "With relievers, it's a shorter time.  You're talking eight, nine, ten months," he said.

"He's still pitching 96 mph and gets people out," Harlan Chamberlain exclaimed.  "Look what he's doing now; imagine what's going to happen when he gets back."

A-Rod's Banned Drug Mule Spotted On Yankees Road Trip

Major league baseball is looking into New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez's relationship with his steroid-supplying cousin Yuri Sucart after the admitted drug mule was spotted at the team's San Francisco hotel during the Yankees series against the Oakland A's.

Like bedbugs and Katie Couric, Sucart isn't easy to get rid of.

According to a team source, Sucart was seen at the St. Regis Hotel Tuesday night during the Yankees two-game series across the bay.  Sucart has been banned by the Yankees from any team-related activities after Rodriguez admitted that his cousin supplied and injected him with performance-enhancing drugs while he was with the Texas Rangers in 2001-3.

The source said Sucart, Rodriguez's mysterious "trainer" and "personal manager,"  has accompanied the Yankee third-baseman on numerous road trips over the past two seasons and the Yankees and MLB aren't too happy about the donkey's alleged resurrection.

Sucart was Rodriguez's constant companion during A-Rod's playing days with the Rangers, the Seattle Mariners and the Yankees.  He was banished, by the Yankees in 2009, from any Yankees team flights, stadiums or training facilities where the team was located.  Unofficially, Sucart's banishment does not apply to team hotels or sitting in the stands as a spectator.

After a 2009 Sports Illustrated story reported that Rodriguez tested positive during a 2003 drug test, he confessed how Sucart would pick up the steroids (or "boli" as it is sometimes called) in the Dominican Republic and inject the drug into both him and his cousin when he played for the Rangers in 2001-3.

Since 2003, Major League Baseball has had it's own ban on personal trainers and managers who are not affiliated with the teams and is once again looking into A-Rod's questionable relationship with Sucart.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman had no comment on the allegations, but can't be too happy about his star player bringing another distraction to the team.  MLB is already interested in the miraculous "stem-cell procedure" that has revived Yankees starting pitcher Bartolo Colon's arm.

The 48 year-old Sucart has seen better times since his Yankee banishment.  He is in foreclosure on several real estate properties according to his lawyer and feels he took the rap for A-Rod's misdeeds.

"Everybody wants a scapegoat," the dejected Sucart once said.

Maybe that's a step up from being a mule.

Yankees Bartolo Colon: The Round Mound on the Rebound

Out of all of the New York Yankees off-season scrap-heap pick-ups, was there a more questionable signing than pitcher Bartolo Colon?  The righthander  had not pitched since injuring his arm in 2009 and showed up at camp with a body that made Rosie O'Donnell look svelte than the 2005 Cy Young winner he once was.  The sight of Colon in a major league camp, never mind pinstripes, must have appeared to be some kind of joke.

Signing the rotund Colon may one of the best moves in an off-season of questionable moves by Yankees GM Brian Cashman.  Maybe Yankees bench coach, Tony Pena, should get the credit.  After all, it was Pena who phoned Cashman, after seeing Colon in the Dominican Winter League, and recommended bringing the fastballer to spring training and giving him a look-see.

Now, with Phil Hughes dead arm and Ivan Nova looking at a hitch in the minors, signing Colon may be the best move by Cashman so far this year.

The Yankees signed Colon for the bargain basement price of $900,000 and, while he won't make anyone forget the non-signing of Cliff Lee, he's taken out a little of the sting.

After throwing a masterful complete-game, 4-hit shutout victory over the Oakland A's on Monday, the 38 year-old seems to have found the fountain of youth.  And that makes people talk.



How is it a pitcher who's 2009 elbow MRI resembled a pile of pick-up sticks and sat out a full season come back and rebound like that?

Colon has been steady so far this season.  He is 4-4 with a 3.14 ERA and has 62 strikeouts with only 15 walks.  His fastball is consistently in the mid-90's and even his final throw against the A's was clocked at 95 mph. 

The fountain of youth is in Florida and resides in Boca Raton.  Dr. Joseph Purita is the orthopedic surgeon who may hold the future of sports medicine in his skillful hands--stem-cell procedures.   It could be the new Tommy John surgery and it now has tongues wagging.

Dr. Purita performed the controversial stem-cell procedure on Colon's tattered elbow and shoulder in the Dominican Republic eighteen months ago.

Colon went to Dr. Purita as a last resort for a partially-torn rotator cuff and elbow which constantly sent pain stinging up and down his arm.

The stem-cell operation, headed by Dr. Purita, was a procedure which drew fat (no Colon jokes) and healthy cells from Colon's bone marrow and inserted them into his bum shoulder and elbow.

The doctors claim they did the procedure without Human Growth Hormone--which can be used to hasten the healing.

MLB said Colon is part of an investigation into Dr. Purita's past practice of administering HGH to his patients.  Since other major league hurlers are looking into the doctor's procedure, expect more inquiries.

Dr. Purita swears that his team did not use HGH and said he is willing to take a lie-detector test to prove it.  He claims Colon wanted to avoid the scrutiny of the MLB substance abuse cops and went through the whole procedure HGH-free. 

The Yankees are no strangers to the scandal of HGH.  There's a virtual All-Star line-up of Yankees wearing or about to adorn those damaging scarlet letters.  Beginning with Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez and ending with Roger Clemens.  Having the procedure done in the Dominican Republic didn't due anything to silence the truth-seekers

While Cashman said he wasn't aware of the scope of Colon's off-season stem-cell procedure, don't expect the Yankees to open up a can of worms with any investigation regarding Colon's resurgence.  They'll take the doctor's words--and supply the polygraph machine.

For now, Colon may be the steal of the season.  With Hughes and Nova hurting and A.J. Burnett reverting to his old inconsistent self, Colon finds himself as the #2 starter behind CC Sabathia.

The Yankees know a healthy fastball from a hefty 38 year-old is a valuable, but fragile, commodity and manager Joe Girardi (the heat-miser) will monitor Colon's innings, throws or any other stat he can muster to prolong Colon's health.  Girardi will begin by giving Colon an extra day of rest in this rotation.

"You have to be careful, but we have not seen his stuff drop off,' said Girardi.

Whether or not Colon is a freak of nature or a the new Frankenstein of modern medicine is yet to be seen.  The re-animated Colon has given the Yankees life for the first two months of the season and, combined with the team's other junk-pile bargain Garcia, have kept the Yankees in the thick of the AL East.

Could Soriano Save Brian Cashman's Off Off-Season?

It hasn't been the best of times for New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman in recent months.  It started after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs by the Texas Rangers. Since then,  Cashman has been rejected, accused, jerked around, questioned and now, overruled.

At Christmas, Cashman rappelled down the Landmark Building in Stamford, Connecticut.  He must have the same dangling feeling right now in the Yankees front office.

The signing of set-up man Rafael Soriano was the first significant addition to the team after a winter of rejections.  It may be the only saving grace for the Yankees dismal off-season acquisitions--but it did not come without controversy.

The battered GM admitted he recommended the Yankees pass on signing the 31 year-old Soriano, but said he was overruled by ownership.  Soriano has 88 career saves over eight seasons.  45 of them last year.

Cashman, who was given full control of baseball operations in 2005, said the signing will help the team but was against it because of the financial commitment and draft pick considerations.  Cashman insisted all winter that these factors would be deal breakers.  The Steinbrenners thought otherwise.

 "It's not my team.  I don't own it. They [Hal and Hank Steinbrenner] do," said the GM at Soriano's press conference.  "I'm a big boy.  In any job you better be prepared for every decision to not go your way."

Cashman continued by saying there were "internal debates and discussions" on how to proceed.  "Ultimately, Hal's in charge of making the final call in what he feels is the best direction at that time frame.  He made that call.  This is Hal Steinbrenner's and his family's franchise.  It's not mine and it's never been, obviously," he said.  "But this is not something that was done without me being aware of it.  I had my say," he made clear.

Being overruled by the boss (or Boss' sons) is not so bad as compared to the other career lows of Cashman's miserable recent winter.  It has been rough.

First, the whole Cliff Lee fiasco ended with the highly desired pitcher spurning Cashman's front-runner status and refusing the Yankees record-breaking contract to return to the Philadelphia Phillies.  For millions of dollars less!  It was a supernova implosion in the Yankee Universe.

Then, there was the drawn out he-said/they-said squabble over Derek Jeter's contract talks, culminating with the face of the Yankees calling out the team brass for leaking details of the negotiations to the press.  The future Hall of Famer was not so happy with Cashman and made it public.

Combine those ulcer-inducing episodes with the pressure to replace Lee with another top-notch starter and playing pattycake with 'will he or won't he return' Andy Pettitte.  Pettitte is still flapping in the wind.

The GM meekly admitted he even had discussions with Carl Pavano's agent about bringing back the loathed Yankee castaway and the PR nightmare it would cause.  Yankee fans could only hope the Steinbrenner boys would have overruled that move too.

Yesterday,  Cashman was thrust into the awkward position of introducing to the press a player he didn't even want.  If Soriano's press conference was any indication, Cashman probably told the party planner to use a Mets budget  The event was franks and beans compared to the festive soirees given to CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira or even Curtis Granderson at their intros.  You would think the Yankees would give the give their new 3-year, $35 million possible successor to Mariano Rivera a better coming out bash. 

The modest fete had none of the Steinbrenners or star players present and, instead of the Legends Room, it was held in the less opulent conference room.  Oh yeah, there was an interpreter and a table of coffee and donuts on the side.

Now, the only thing left for Cashman to do now is convincingly promote his new relief pitcher who makes "closer's money."

Cashman began by acknowledging that Soriano led the AL in saves last season for the Tampa Bay Rays and the righthander gives the Yankees a "dynamic punch" in the later innings.  Wow.

"Let me put it this way, I think 29 GMs would love their owner to force Rafael Soriano down their throat," said Cashman.  "It doesn't mean that I was right, or that it's the best approach, but it's who I am and still am.  But we are better in 2011 for this, there's no doubt about it."

Cashman, whose contract runs out this year,  made it clear he doesn't think the Steinbrenners have started a trend by overruling his input.  " If I have 10 recommendations, nine or ten get followed, but not every one of them," he reasoned.

Soriano, arguably,  does give the Yankees one of the best bullpens in the league.   Cashman can also take comfort in the fact that even though the team didn't get Lee or outfielder Carl Crawford, the Steinbrenners have a little George in them and will spend whatever it takes to help the team and save face.  Even overspend.

A Kardashian Could Do Brian Cashman's Job

The New York Yankees insist they are not in any sort of panic mode after finishing out of the money in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes.  After coming up with zilch at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, the Yankees GM, Brian Cashman, immediately went out and made a couple of moves;  signing two players with a history of injuries--catcher Russell Martin and pitcher Mark Prior.

While the Yankees claim they are looking past Lee's back-door move to the Philadelphia Phillies, they do seem to be a little desperate.  Cashman has gone from waving a blank check at Lee to Plan B.  "Plan B is patience," Cashman said yesterday.  Everyone assumed Plan B was acquiring outfielder Carl Crawford.  Didn't he end up in Boston?

Cashman spent a couple of weeks waving a wad of cash in the face of his desired off-season pick-up, Lee, who couldn't be bought.  One of the Kardashian brats could have done the same thing--only they usually get the bling they want.

The Yankees and Cashman have become so accustomed to whipping out the checkbook and getting who they want, wheeling-and-dealing are never an option.  Cashman just wrote a check and pulled A-Rod, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia off the rack.  Being spurned is never in the equation.  Just like the K girls.

Cashman, the Steve Carrel lookalike, sometimes looked like he was playing some sort of bumbling Michael Scott in the Yankees "Front Office" this off-season.  Cashman's sit-commish negotiations with Derek Jeter made it look the relationship between Michael and Dwight look healthy.  It caused the face of the Yankees to actually question the allegiance of his beloved Yankees.

Then in the next off-season episode, Cashman had a business dinner with Carl Crawford.  He must have had corn in his teeth because the outfielder signed with the Red Sox two days later.

The GM's last off-season storyline continued with Michael... I mean Cashman watching Lee flee back to the Phillies while all the baseball pundits all but had the lefthander posing for a Monument Park plaque.

Now Cashman has to get his hands dirty by making a big-time trade--something it seems like he's done once in the past decade--the Curtis Granderson swap last year--then go to Plan P.

Plan P is getting Andy Pettitte to stop pulling his annual Brett Favre imitation and come back for one more year.  Cashman keeps speaking of patience and it could end up being a profitable virtue for Pettitte.  If the Yankee free-agent had signed a couple of weeks ago, when Lee looked like a slam dunk for the Yankees, he would have had to fight for every penny in his contract.  Now he knows Cashman has Lee's offer of $148 million still in hand and an ineffective A.J. Burnett as the number 3 starter.  Can any one say leverage?

"The one thing the Boss taught me is you have to get in the arena and fight, " said the Yankee GM.  "We will engage the remaining free agents and trade market and pursue what interests us at the level that we feel  appropriate," he continued. 

What is appropriate is another reliable starter and the only way to get one now is by wheeling and dealing.  After Sabathia and Phil Hughes, his rotation is fragile--even if it is bolstered with the 39 year-old Pettitte. Rounding out the rotation with Sergio Mitre and Ivan Nova is risky at best.  Prior, who was signed to a minor league deal and hasn't pitched since 2006, will go straight to the bullpen.

After  wooing Pettitte, Cashman will realistically target former Cy Young winner, Zach Greinke.  The Kansas City Royal, who has admitted to past anxiety problems may come at a high cost and there is speculation he could be a bad fit in the Bronx.  Yankee fans have seen stronger players wilt under the New York media glare before.

There is talk about jumping in on the Tampa Bay fire sale and trading for Matt Garza as well as making an offer to the Florida Marlins for Josh Johnson and the possibility of a face-saving shot at Seattle Mariners Cy Young winner, Felix Hernandez.  Beyond that, the pickings are slim--an injured Brandon Webb and ex-Yankee flame-out, Carl Pavano. Webb hasn't thrown since 2008 and Pavano already knows what it's like to be run out of the city.

The final Yankees option is waiting for the July 31 trading deadline because most of the pitchers named are in the middle of their contracts and teams would be asking too much right now.  Their prices might come down in mid-season.

For now, if Cashman wants to prove he's more than a Chloe or Kim with a checkbook jiggling through an off-season designer sale, he would make a move for Hernandez--even if it means parting with his prize catching prospect Jesus Montero.  Yankee fans have been hearing about Montero for years and well...where is he?!  Reality check.  The Yankees have three regular starting players they have brought up since 2005--four if you count Joba.

Cashman keeps harping about his young pitchers, Manuel Banuelos and Dellin Betances, down in Single-A and how the Yankees must nurture them to be championship players.  Sounds like trade bait to me.  It's Cashman's version of the Joba Rules and looked what that pitcher has produced.

Seeing Hernandez in pinstripes would be a bigger deal than getting the 32 year-old Lee and make Cashman look like John Wayne and George Steinbrenner combined.  The only question remains is if the Mariners are willing to trade their current ace for future stars?

Cashman should make an offer to the Mariners.  He has trade bait and $148 million.  I wonder what the Kardashian girls could do with that kind of cash?

Red Sox Guarantee Cliff Lee Will Become A Yankee

If anything can light a fire under Brian Cashman, it's the Boston Red Sox.  The New York Yankee GM has upped the Cliff Lee ante in his game of Texas Hold 'em with his Texas Rangers opponent by offering the prized pitcher a seven-year deal worth $161 million.   Cashman's flop sweat is dripping onto the poker chips.

The Red Sox just snapped up outfielder Carl Crawford--the Yankees Plan B if they lost Lee--after signing first baseman Adrian Gonzalez last week.  Both players--in the prime of their careers--have each agreed to  seven-year deals worth nearly $300 million.  Everything looks good up in the land of white clam chowder.

While the Boston GM Theo Epstein awoke from his two-year off-season slumber with a roar, Cashman is now faced with one face-saving option for this off-season--signing Cliff Lee.

Cashman's two-year deal with Mariano Rivera and his four-year contract with Derek Jeter were almost no-brainers--if you discount Jeter's contentious negotiations--they weren't going anywhere else.  Both signings of past-their-prime players were important, but the deals haven't upgraded the team.  Now with veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte seriously talking retirement and the Core Four looking like it might be whittled down to the "Key Three," Cashman has to go all in for Lee.

The Texas Rangers won't go away quietly, but their bark is louder than their bank account.  The team filed for bankruptcy and the Lee numbers would take up between 25-30% of their entire payroll.  The ace up Cashman's sleeve is the seventh year.  The Rangers originally offered the lefthander a four or five deal and got real quiet after the Yankees threw a sixth year on the table.  Seven could be too rich for their blood.  Sure the new Texas regime has two major investors who are Texas oil barons and could pump out a few extra barrels to land Lee, but it seems unlikely they will go for the extra year. 

Cashman isn't bluffing, even if he knows the sixth and seventh years could be throw-ins for the 32 year-old Lee.  He recognizes the limitations of pitchers approaching the big Four-Oh.  The GM also knows getting the lefty is an immediate antidote to the plague of a predominately left-hitting Red Sox line-up.  The sight of Lee signing a Yankee contract could possibly entice Pettitte to give it another shot at a championship too.  A starting line-up of CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes makes the Yankee Universe salivate.  Sorry Kristen Lee, that's not fan's spit raining down from the mezzanine it is their drool.

As Cashman makes mild overtures at catcher Russell Martin, if only to keep him available and away from the Sox, and has Zach Greinke simmering on the stove--just in case Lee fails to sign--he realizes everything boils down to Lee.

The newly signed Gonzalez donned his new Red Sox jersey and proclaimed he was "ready to beat the Yanks," but it is Epstein who has made the loudest noise at the Winter Meetings.

The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry goes beyond the diamond and into the front office.  Cashman has made the biggest off-season strides between the teams for the past two years and now the Boston GM has turned the tables.

It has now become a matter of pride to Cashman and the Yankees.  If he can land Lee, and only Lee,  the Yankees have beaten the Red Sox once again. Nothing else will do.