Talking points: Gardner's injury, Jeter's career, A-Rod's resurgence, Soriano's spark and the wild card

There's so much to talk about in Yankeeland right now I just want to jump right in.

Bye Bye, Brett

This just in: The Yankees leadoff hitter Brett Gardner has a Grade 1 left oblique strain and is likely out for the year. Putting the Yankees' 2013 injury epidemic in perspective, the Yankees have used 54 players this season. The most players used in a season by any team ever? 59.

Honestly, he hasn't had as good a season as I'd hoped for (.273 AVG, .344 OBP, 24/32 SB/CS), but it's still a crushing loss because the Yankees don't have a good replacement for him. Ichiro is the next closest thing to Gardner, but Joe Girardi has selected Curtis Granderson to hit leadoff—at least for tonight. 

Knowing When To Quit

Mike Mussina left the game on top with his first 20-win season. Was it too soon? Probably. Rickey Henderson swiped 11 bases in his final two seasons combined, adding to his comfortable all-time lead. Was 1,406 his lucky number growing up or something?

After Derek Jeter was recently declared out for the season, Brian Cashman said that no one has seen his last game. The Captain is 39 years old, and, following a season in which he led the league in hits and plate appearances, he'll end 2013 with just 17 games played.

Baseball’s unusual batting stances [Globe]

Caution: the following gallery presents major league baseball's most unconventional batting stances and pre-at-bat mannerisms that are not recommended for replication by youth baseball players.

Click here to proceed.

Ex-Yankees on the list include Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Albert Pujols and Alfonso Soriano. (I was going to include Bobby Abreu, but frankly I don’t know what his current stance is. I read on the Interwebz that before he had his loose hands grip with the Yankees he had an overlapping golf style grip. Plus, Abreu torched the Yankees last night. No point in featuring him.)

For laughs, look for Dallas Braden and Dae-Sung Koo, too.

Robinson Cano representing Yankees in Home Run Derby

The Yankees have Robinson Cano representing them at tonight’s Home Run Derby. The lefty has 15 jacks this season.

Personally, I have to put my money on Adrian Gonzalez. His smooth swing reminds me of Bobby Abreu’s, and he won it a few years ago.

Who do you like? Follow my tweets during the Derby tonight @lenNYsYankees.

Angels-Yankees series preview

For once, the Angels are not the AL West leaders at this point in the season. The Yankees will see if a gloomy history against the Halos still holds true in a two-game series starting tonight.

ESPN New York’s Mark Simon has a great analysis posted about the Angels dominance of the Yankees since 2004. Ever since that infamous year, the Angels are the only team the Yankees have a sub-.500 record against (26-38, .406).

Head to Head: 
The Yankees faced the Angels twice in April, once in LA and once in the Bronx, and they split the six games evenly. Three of those games were decided by two runs, so expect some close ones in this series too.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Angels starters	Yankees starters
Tues., 7:05 p.m.	Sean O’Sullivan (0-0, 1.29)	Phil Hughes (11-2, 3.65)
Wed., 1:05 p.m.	Joel Pineiro (10-6, 3.95)	J. Vazquez (7-7, 4.45)

Players to Watch:
Angels: Bobby Abreu. The ex-Yankee has crushed his former team in six games this season. He’s slugged two homers and drove in six runs with a .320/.393/.680 line.

Yankees: Jorge Posada. I’m sticking with my pick last series. Posada went 4-for-12 with two homers and four RBIs against the Rays. I don’t expect any more homers, but I think the hits will keep coming.

Prediction:
The Yankees have their rotation lined up for a sweep and I think they’ll get it done at home.

Bobby Abreu honored, Makes you wonder

Remember when I mentioned Bobby Abreu as a top five MVP candidate? If not, it was partially because of his outstanding July, earning him AL Player of the Month for July honors.

He hit .380, led the league in runs (26) and OBP (.467) and drove in 28 runs for the AL West-leading Angels.

When I saw the headline, it got me thinking about why the Yanks didn’t re-sign him last year and if they should start thinking about what to do with Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui.

Damon’s contract expires after this season, and he has said publicly that he wants to stay with the Bronx Bombers. He is having a very strong year as the Yankees No. 2 hitter (.279/.366/.499, 22 2B, 18 HR, 60 RBI, 74 R).

What are the Yankees planning to do with Damon? Will they let another top-of-the-order bat leave and possibly lead another team to the playoffs? These questions will surely be answered in the offseason, but I’d rather see the Yankees re-sign him within the next couple weeks.

As for Matsui, the Yankees have noted publicly that there is a zero percent chance they will re-sign him. With his leg troubles, it’s tough not to agree with the Yankees. On the other hand, Matsui can still hit the ball, and his absence in the lineup will be missed unless an alternate big hitter is acquired.

Morneau and Jeter top MVP candidates; Déjà vu?

Rebecca from This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes guest posted Derek Jeter for MVP on River Avenue Blues this morning, and it got me thinking. It’s a little early to be starting MVP talk, but it’s also a pretty slow news day. If the season ended today, here is my top five for the American League.

1. Justin Morneau
He leads the AL in homers (28) and RBI (86), while sporting a .308/.391/.588 hitting line. As Rebecca said, this is a season where nobody in the AL is having a “Pujols-like” season. However, when one player leads in two of the three major hitting categories, he has to be the favorite. Especially with his lockdown defense at first base and very respectable hitting percentages.

2. Derek Jeter
Just like 2006, Jeter will finish in a close second to Morneau, as sad as that sounds to me. He is posting excellent numbers as a leadoff hitter (11 HR, 44 RBI & 19 SB), and is doing it for the best team in the American League (by record). His defense has also been surprisingly good. Key word there is surprising. I feel like a surprise player should do better in an MVP vote because it’s sort of a denotation for valuable. If you expect mediocre, and you get excellent, doesn’t that make a player more valuable? I’d love to see the voters just give in to Jeter’s long-time success as a Yankee, but it’s unlikely.

3. Joe Mauer
Mauer’s percentages are flat-out ridiculous. He leads in both OBP (.426) and SLG (.592), and is a close second to Ichiro with a .355 BA. However, all of his percentages have declined significantly by month, so I would doubt he ranks as high as he does now at the end of the season. He still has 18 homers and 59 RBI, making him a quality MVP candidate no matter what.

4. Mark Teixeira
Yes, another Yankee is deserving of the MVP this season. He’s very comparable to Morneau, but his numbers are just slightly lower. Twenty-six homers, 77 RBI and .283/.380/.548 for percentages. If Tex has a strong finish to the season and finishes ahead of Morneau, he might just win the MVP!

5. Bobby Abreu
The Angels are hot, and so is Abreu. He has less homers than Jeter (8) but his RBI total is still very high (73). His percentages are also quite good (.322/.417/.455). Add on 22 steals, and he’s a top candidate for the award.

What’s your order?

Bye Bye Bobby

Bobby Abreu has reached an agreement with our AL West rival, the Angels, on a one-year, $5 million deal. The deal is not official until Abreu passes his physical and he finishes working out the incentives of the deal with the Angels.

Abreu will be taking an $11 million pay cut from his last years' salary with the Yankees at $16 million.

The Yanks acquired Abreu at the 2006 trade deadline for C.J. Henry, Matt Smith, Jesus Sanchez, and Carlos Monasterios. Over his two and a half seasons with the Yankees, he batted .295, hit 43 homers, drove in 243 runs, and stole 57 bases.

We will be rooting against him now that he is playing for the hated Angels.

Bye bye Bobby!

Photo from NYTimes.com