Who is Melky Mesa and why is he on the Yankees’ 40-man roster?

The Yankees added Melky Mesa to the 40-man roster. But why?

Chad Gaudin and Royce Ring were both outrighted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, removing them from the 40-man roster. Gaudin immediately elected free agency.

Filling one of those spots is toolsy outfielder Melky Mesa. Mesa would have been eligible for free agency had he not been added to the 40-man, hence this move being made immediately before other players are protected from the Rule 5.

OK. Now who is this Mesa guy?

Well, he’s a 23-year-old outfielder in the low minor league levels of the Yankees organization. He’s a career .236 hitter, but he’s coming off his best year to date with the Tampa Yankees.

Here are his career minor league statistics (all from the Gulf Coast League and three levels of A-ball).

And below are some links to Mesa’s scouting reports from last winter:

• Scouting the Sally
• Blogging About Baseball

Girardi gave away last night’s game to Rays

I don’t know how you can deny it. After the rain came in the bottom of the third, A.J. Burnett’s start was over and Joe Girardi handed the rest of the game to three pitchers who haven’t seen action in more than a week and Chad Gaudin (5.25 ERA before the game). He gave away the game last night against the Yankees’ top competitor, the Rays.

Should Girardi have done that in order to keep his bullpen fresh for tonight and the rest of the week? Absolutely not.

No player will ever call it quits when they’re at the plate or on the mound. But when a manager brings in backups (meant for blowouts) in tight games, the players don’t have control.

Apparently David Robertson wasn’t available last night due to back spasms, and I’d count Joba Chamberlain out too because he pitched the night before.

OK, so Girardi did have a couple of excuses for bringing in his weaker pitchers in a huge game, but I still think he could have done a lot more to win.

What were Kerry Wood, Boone Logan and Mariano Rivera doing out in the bullpen? Gaudin had no business pitching in a one-run ballgame when three bullpen anchors were fresh and ready to go.

Shame on Girardi. Now let’s see if CC Sabathia can help me forget about this mess with a big, big start against David Price tonight.

What was going through Eric Cooper’s mind when Gonzalez threw behind Jeter?

I’ll be honest, when I was at the game last night it was hard for me to pick up on the altercations that went on between the managers and home plate umpire Eric Cooper. But now that I’ve seen replays and read the stories, I’ve reached a few conclusions.

When Enrique Gonzalez threw behind Derek Jeter in the eighth inning, it was as obvious as it gets. It came right after Jim Leyland was ejected for arguing why Chad Gaudin should’ve been tossed for hitting Miguel Cabrera. So why didn’t Cooper run Gonzalez out of the game? I think because he didn’t throw out Gaudin, he was scared he would’ve been ridiculed for throwing out a Tiger but not a Yankee (to answer the question in the post title).

You’re also probably thinking, why didn’t Joe Girardi come out of the dugout to talk to Cooper about ejecting Gonzalez like Leyland did for Gaudin? Because the Yankees were winning. It wouldn’t have done any good. In my history watching Girardi, he tends to pick fights with umps when his team is behind (rightfully so, in my opinion).

Bean balls are, and always have been, a part of this game. It’s probably my least favorite part of the sport, but it’s not going away. When warnings are issued, both catchers have to factor that into their pitch selections, especially when working with a wild pitcher.

What I dislike most about bean balls are the way umpires deal with them. They’re inconsistent. Some have short leashes, and others are too scared to make the right call (like Cooper last night).

Let me digress quickly. Umpires also have inconsistent strike zones. Some like low pitches, some like high. Some are tight, some give the veterans pitchers off the black. Ask any major leaguer and they’ll agree with me.

I remember when I played on my American Legion team last summer and I was asked by my coach, an ex-pitcher in the majors, to intentionally throw at a player if the other team threw at one of our players.

Thankfully, I never was put in a situation where I was told to throw at a batter, but, it’s real, as my coach would say. And I don’t doubt him for a second.

If it were up to me to revise the current ejection and suspension policies for this, mine would be a lot harsher.

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As I wrote this post, the Yankees dismantled the Tigers in the series finale, 11-5, to take the series.

Montero a hot topic after latest surge

Jesus Montero has made quite a stir on the Yankee blogosphere with his latest hitting tear for the Scranton Yanks. In his last three games, he has two homers, including a walk-off, five RBIs and nine hits.

The idea of a promotion to the bigs is being discussed on four of the biggest Yankees blogs:

• RAB: Posada’s achy shoulder could present a big problem
• IIATMS: Is it Time to Bring Up Montero?
• TYU: Stuck with Cervelli
• Was Watching: ‘Sado’s Shoulder Sore?

But perhaps the strongest advocator of calling up Montero came from a new blogger, Alex Taffet. He suggested the Yankees DFA Chad Gaudin to make room for Montero so he can be eligible for the postseason roster*. He argued Montero’s offensive upgrade over Francisco Cervelli outweighs Cervelli’s superior (but not by much) defense.

My Take:
Back in preseason, I predicted Montero would start 15 games this season. In order to do that, he’ll need to get called up pretty soon. I’ll stand by my prediction, and I expect he’ll be getting a phone call any day now — but not just because of my prediction.

Post All-Star break Montero is hitting .413/.473/.775 in 23 games. It seems he’s figured out Triple-A pitching and isn’t going to learn anything else there on the offensive end. I know, I know. It’s the defense that’s keeping him back. But I’ve been saying all along I think he’ll learn a ton about catching from the Yankees’ coaching staff (Joe Girardi and Tony Pena).

*To be eligible for the postseason roster, a player must be on the 25-man roster as of midnight on Aug. 31, or be on a MLB disabled list.

Red Sox make Yanks pay for early mistake

The Red Sox ousted the Yankees in the first game of a four-game series, 6-3, behind 7-1/3 strong innings from Clay Buchholz. Javier Vazquez took the loss, his first since June 30.

Best of All: Robinson Cano notched his 12th game with three hits or more this season. Unfortunately, the hitters behind him combined to go 1-for-16.

The bullpen continued to shut down opponents. Joba Chamberlain, Kerry Wood, Boone Logan and Chad Gaudin pitched 3-2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Vazquez.

Mark Teixeira added his 24th homer of the year in the first inning to give the Yankees their only lead of the game.

Worst of All: Francisco Cervelli’s error in the second accounted for three unearned runs charged to Vazquez. Vazquez’s night ended in the sixth when he allowed a two-run homer to Ryan Kalish and then a walk to Jed Lowrie.

Jonathan Papelbon nailed down the save in the ninth despite an awful track record against the Yanks this season. Derek Jeter worked a walk on 12 pitches with two out, but Nick Swisher flied to left to end it.

Coming Up: The Yankees try to even up the series Saturday at 4 p.m. with CC Sabathia on the mound.

Halos thump Hughes, Yanks

The Angels’ bats came alive against Phil Hughes and the Yankees’ pitching staff Tuesday night in a 10-2 slaughter at Yankee Stadium.

Best of All: Alex Rodriguez and Juan Miranda both had two-hit nights, and Nick Swisher stayed hot with a solo shot in the first.

Joe Girardi got ejected. He was wrong on a stupid play on the bases in the sixth inning, but he was right to get ejected. Why not? Down 6-2 with time still left for a comeback, why not try to spark the offense?

Worst of All: Hideki Matsui hit one of three homers against Yankee pitching. Godzilla may be closer to home in Los Angeles, but I bet he liked New York better.

The Yankees allowed 10 unanswered runs, as both Yankee runs were scored in the first inning.

Jonathan Albaladejo, Chan Ho Park and Chad Gaudin each allowed at least one run after Hughes was rocked for six runs over five-plus innings.

With Hughes and A.J. Burnett struggling, and now Andy Pettitte shelved for three to five weeks, the Yankees’ biggest strength may now be one of their most glaring weaknesses.

Coming Up: The Yankees will put the ball in the hands of Javier Vazquez to avoid the short-series sweep.

Yankees pitchers midseason report cards

I wasn’t so nice to the Yankees hitters in their report card, but the pitchers are a whole different story. At least the starters are.

The Yankees sport the second best ERA in the American League at 3.81, only trailing division foe Tampa Bay.

I will give each pitcher a grade based on their expectations. A grade of ‘C’ is meeting expectations, ‘A’ and ‘B’ are above expectations, you get the picture.

Starters:
CC Sabathia: A- 
The first of three Yankees starters named to this year’s All-Star team. Sabathia finished the first half on an eight-game winning streak — all quality starts of seven innings or more — to lower his ERA by a full run to 3.09. His WHIP is at an astounding 1.14.

A.J. Burnett: C 
He’s right where I expect him to be. He got off to a hot start, but followed it up with a cold stretch heading into the break to even out his numbers. He has a 7-7 record and a 4.75 ERA with a 1.47 WHIP. Those stats are a little worse than his career averages, but he seems to be climbing back ever since Dave Eiland returned.

Andy Pettitte: A+ 
I expected him to pitch like a No. 3 starter, not an ace. He’s got 11 wins under his belt with a 2.70 ERA. The second All-Star of the rotation, at age 38, notched 14 quality starts in 17 tries. Not too shabby.

Javier Vazquez: B+
After April, this would’ve been a solid F. But if this was only since June 1, it would be a solid A. His hot pitching has helped him even his record at 7-7 and lower his ERA from 9.78 (May 1) to 4.45. If he continues to pitch like he has since June 1, the offseason trade will prove to be a huge success. You saw a couple days ago how poorly Melky Cabrera has been doing.

Phil Hughes: A-
The third All-Star in the rotation was on pace for a Cy Young and a start in the All-Star Game through May 12, but Hughes has stumbled through a rough patch recently. His team has puffed up his record a bit, offering him 7.61 runs per game for an 11-2 record. His ERA is up to 3.65, but his WHIP is still very low at 1.18.

Bullpen:
Mariano Rivera: A
In Mo’s spectacular 16-year career, he’s never posted a sub-1.00 ERA. This year he boasts a 1.05 ERA in 34-1/3 IP. He was selected to his 11th All-Star Game, but wasn’t healthy enough to pitch in it. Hopefully Mo can manage his health honestly and be prepared for another World Series title run in October.

David Robertson: B+
Robertson has been the second best reliever in the pen, but that’s not saying much. He has a 5.46 ERA, but has two outings of four earned runs inflating it. In his last 13 appearances, he’s allowed runs in only two.

Joba Chamberlain: D- 
When the Yankees opted to put him in the bullpen, I was excited that the Yankees would have a lockdown setup man for 2010. Joba has been far from a lock in the eighth inning this year, allowing runs in 10 of his 39 appearances. Most recently, he took the loss against Seattle after allowing a grand slam.

Chad Gaudin: C
Gaudin has been mediocre for the Yankees after getting off to a terrible start to the year with Oakland. In 17-1/3 innings, he’s allowed nine runs with a 1.39 WHIP.

Damaso Marte: C-
A 4.08 ERA is pretty atrocious for a lefty specialist. Against lefties his K/BB ratio is 3.67. Against righties, the ratio is 0.13 (8 walks, 1 strikeout). I don’t like that at all.

Chan Ho Park: D
Diarrhea man’s numbers are as rotten as his nickname. A 6.18 ERA in 27-2/3 IP is just not healthy. It’s only a matter of time before he gets DFA’d, in my opinion.

Sergio Mitre: A-
He’s been great, but only for 12 appearances. He’s been slowly recovering from an injury and is starting for Triple-A tonight. The Yankees really miss the Meat-Tray.

Boone Logan: C+
He’s having his best year in the majors in his fifth year, but he hasn’t been overly impressive. The southpaw has been just as effective against righties as he has been against lefties.

Alfredo Aceves: B+
I’m considering him because he has at least 10 appearances, but he hasn’t pitched since May 8 and isn’t likely to return this year.

Another M’s ace takes down Yanks alone

For the second straight night, the Mariners’ starter went the distance in a victory. Except tonight, Felix Hernandez tossed a shutout, one-upping Cliff Lee’s performance Tuesday night, for a 7-0 victory to clinch the series.

Best of All: Mark Teixeira and Colin Curtis were the only two Yanks to collect hits off King Felix — one apiece.

Javier Vazquez earned a quality start, but he couldn’t match up with Hernandez. He struck out eight while his record sunk below .500, once again, to 6-7.

Worst of All: The bullpen was not effective, but at least it didn’t matter in the end. Damaso Marte and Chad Gaudin allowed two earned runs each.

I don’t blame the Yankees’ offense. Clearly, Felix was on his game tonight and you can’t do anything about that. When he’s going right, he has some of the best stuff in the league.

Coming Up: The Yankees will try to avoid the sweep Thursday afternoon with CC Sabathia on the mound.

Burnett shelled early in loss to D’Backs

The Diamondbacks rocked A.J. Burnett in the first inning for five runs on three homers to put the game away early. They went on to win 10-4, as 22-year-old Justin Upton led the way with a 3-for-3 day including two homers, four RBIs and four runs scored.

Best of All: Brett Gardner had a huge day in the No. 8 spot, going 4-for-4 with a stolen base. He scored twice, but didn’t drive in any runners.

Chad Gaudin had a nice day in relief: 2 IP, H, 0 R, BB, K.

Worst of All: Burnett was atrocious: 4 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Burnett’s 6-6 with a 4.83 ERA.

Chan Ho Park allowed Upton’s second homer dampening his line to 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 K.

Coming Up: The Yankees will look to get out in front early tomorrow at 9:40 p.m.

Moyer becomes oldest pitcher to beat Yankees in 6-3 win

The Yankees had no answer for the ageless Jamie Moyer tonight, as he only went into the stretch twice through eight innings in a 6-3 win. The Yankees rallied off Brad Lidge in the ninth, but he struck out Jorge Posada, the tying run, to end the game.

Best of All: The bullpen. How about 5 2/3 innings of near perfect pitching from Boone Logan and Chad Gaudin? After Logan intentionally walked Jayson Werth in the fourth, the Yankees retired 16 straight Phillies.

Posada and Robinson Cano had solo homers off Moyer.

Worst of All: A.J. Burnett. He didn’t have it. And he hasn’t had it in his last three starts now. He only lasted 3 1/3 innings tonight, allowing all six runs on six hits and four walks. He allowed 10 runs over his two prior starts.

Coming Up: The decisive Game 3 is Thursday night. Same time, same place.

Swish, Tex and Grandy go bananas in win

Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson combined to go 8-for-15 with three homers, 11 RBIs and six runs scored in a 12-7 win over the Orioles.

Best of all: Teixeira. He got on base five times with a two-run shot. He needed that. Granderson hit a grand slam. Swisher hit a two-run homer and a bases-clearing double. Phil Hughes earned his eighth win, but in one of his worst outings of the year (still, a quality start).

Worst of all: Chad Gaudin. He allowed four runs on five hits in the final two innings. That’s not ideal for the last guy in the bullpen.

Coming up: Game 2 of the series is Wednesday night.

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Special shout-out to Stephen Strasburg. Fourteen strikeouts in his debut! That’s sending a message to Ubaldo Jimenez saying: You’ve got company!

Kubel, Twins rock Vazquez to avoid sweep

Javier Vazquez allowed five runs, eight hits and a lot of hard-hit outs against the Twins, and Jason Kubel drove in five runs on two long homers to propel the Twins to an 8-2 win over the Yankees.

Best of all: Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano had two hits apiece. Cano drove in both of the Yankees’ runs.

Worst of all: Vazquez. I guess two good starts in a row is his max.

Also, the bullpen is in trouble. Chan Ho Park and Chad Gaudin looked awful and were awful tonight. Damaso Marte, the lefty specialist, was brought in after lefties Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau hit in the seventh. With Alfredo Aceves possibly out for the year, the bullpen is going to need some help.

Coming up: The return of Curtis Granderson! He’ll be in the lineup — we don’t know where yet — to start a series against the Indians in The Bronx.

Post: Aceves could be out for the year

George A. King III of the New York Post reported last night Alfredo Aceves could miss the rest of the season if he needs surgery to repair a bulging disc.

Chad Jennings reported this morning that the Yankees are still waiting on a team doctor’s examination from Wednesday.

Aceves suffered a setback on Tuesday and was eligible to return from the disabled list this week.

If he is out for the year, the Yankees will rely on Chan Ho Park, Sergio Mitre and the recently acquired Chad Gaudin for long relief help. Boone Logan was sent back down to Triple-A to make room for Gaudin.

The return of ‘The Chad’

Chad Gaudin has rejoined the Yankees in Minnesota today to help complete the one-and-a-half header, according to Mark Feinsand.

Gaudin had a rough spring training with the Yankees, allowing 10 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings. But he was even worse for the Athletics this season, allowing 17 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings.

This addition may be directly correlated with Alfredo Aceves, who suffered a setback in his rehab yesterday, and perhaps Chan Ho Park too, who has been awful since returning from injury.

Lately, the only stable forces in the bullpen have been David Robertson and Sergio Mitre. We’ll see today if Gaudin can eat up some innings without completely blowing a game.

Gaudin reaches deal with Athletics

Chad Gaudin has already reached an agreement with the Athletics after being released by the Yankees on Monday, according to Ken Rosenthal.

Rosenthal said Gaudin will likely be used out of the bullpen to start the season.

So now ex-Yanks Gaudin and Edwar Ramirez will be in Oakland uniforms this season. Hideki Matsui is also in California with the Angels. Who will be the next Yankee to move to the west coast?

Yankees roster, position battle notes

In light of a few recent roster moves, the Yankees Opening Day roster is nearly set. Here’s a quick recap of the moves and a look at the latest projected roster.

• Rule 5 pick Jamie Hoffmann cleared waivers and returned to the LA Dodgers. This opens the door for Marcus Thames as one of the backup outfielders.
  
• According to Ed Price, the Yankees placed Chad Gaudin on waivers early this morning. Gaudin had an awful spring, but he was more of a proven major league pitcher than Sergio Mitre, who now looks like the favorite for a long relief role.
  
• The projected Opening Day roster (via LoHud):
  
  Pitchers
  Alfredo Aceves
  A.J. Burnett
  Joba Chamberlain
  Phil Hughes
  Damaso Marte
  Sergio Mitre
  Chan Ho Park
  Andy Pettitte
  Mariano Rivera
  Dave Robertson
  CC Sabathia
  Javier Vazquez
  
  Catchers
  Francisco Cervelli
  Jorge Posada
  
  Infielders
  Robinson Cano
  Derek Jeter
  Nick Johnson
  Ramiro Pena
  Alex Rodriguez
  Mark Teixeira
  
  Outfielders
  Brett Gardner
  Curtis Granderson
  Nick Swisher
  Marcus Thames
  Randy Winn

Not bad at all.

Touching on the two major position decisions: Hughes is the odds-on favorite to be the No. 5 starter and Gardner will likely be the starting left fielder.

As for the batting order: Johnson should hit second, Cano fifth, Posada sixth and Granderson seventh. The rest should be obvious.

There’s your update! It looks like this team has resolved its spring training debates and is ready to repeat as champions.

Please, send along any questions you have about this season in the comments or my inbox.

Yanks should deal Mitre, not Gaudin

Joel Sherman reiterated the Yankees’ plans to deal Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre before Opening Day.

So which one will Brian Cashman part with? Which one do the Yankees want to keep? Let’s look at their numbers from last year with the Yankees.

Player	W	L	G	IP	ERA	K	WHIP
Gaudin	2	0	11	42	3.43	34	1.452
Mitre	3	3	12	51.2	6.79	32	1.626

Not a big sample size, but the pressure was on and both were healthy. Gaudin clearly was better during the season, earning him the spot on the postseason roster. But Mitre has been better this spring and has the cheaper contract to make things more complicated.

On the other hand, Gaudin is two years younger and Mitre hasn’t proven anything in season play. I’m also really tired of hearing about “meat-tray” during games. Get rid of Mitre, for anyone or anything.

Today’s game previews

The Yankees are splitting up today for two games. Below is where you’ll find each player today (all from LoHud).

Home vs. Baltimore
Gardner CF
Johnson DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Granderson LF
Winn RF
Miranda 1B
Laird 3B
Pena SS

RHP Javier Vazquez

Scheduled to play off the bench: C Jesus Montero, 1B P.J. Pilittere, 2B Reegie Corona, LF Colin Curtis, RF Jon Weber, DH Kyle Higashioka
Extra players: C Mitch Abeita, INF Justin Snyder, OF Austin Krum
Available out of the bullpen: Royce Ring, Kei Igawa, Alfredo Aceves, Dave Robertson, Wilkins Arias, Jeremy Bleich

Road vs. Detroit
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Thames LF
Cervelli C
Hoffmann CF
Winfree DH
Nunez 2B

RHP Chad Gaudin

Scheduled to play off the bench: C Austin Romine, 1B Mike Rivera, SS Kevin Russo, 3B Jorge Vazquez, LF Edwar Gonzalez, RF Reid Gorecki, DH Jose Gil
Extra players: C Ryan Baker, INF Luis Nunez, OF Dan Brewer
Available out of the bullpen: Sergio Mitre, Boone Logan, Grant Duff, Amaury Sanit, Zach Segovia

Spring training notes

After winning the spring training opener, the Yankees have been outscored 35-10 in four straight losses. Only the Angels are worse by percentage in the American League thus far (0-2).

• Andy Pettitte tossed a simulated game yesterday and said he felt good. He’s scheduled to make his first real start against the Nationals on Friday.
• Sergio Mitre added to his scoreless innings total yesterday, giving him five for the spring.
• Mitre’s relievers, Chad Gaudin and Kei Igawa, didn’t have a very good time in today’s 11-0 drubbing.
• Francisco Cervelli is feeling better a day after getting beaned.
• Yanks scheduled for two games today. Notably, Nick Johnson is back in the lineup after a “tweaked back.”

Poll Results: Aceves deserves spot in pen

Of the four right-handed long relievers vying for a spot in the bullpen, Alfredo Aceves earned the vast majority of the votes.

Aceves won the hearts of fans when he first joined the team at the end of 2008. He didn’t slow down in 2009, going 10-1 with a 3.54 ERA in 84 innings.

I agree with the fans here. Sergio  Mitre is off to a good start this spring, Chad Gaudin might have the best background and you don’t know what to expect with Chan Ho Park.

Next poll: Rate the Red Sox offseason