Baseball’s most hated player ever: A-Rod or Barry Bonds?

Barry Bonds has the most homers. A-Rod has the most haters. And now we know the two reportedly worked out together this offseason. Watching how the A-Rod Saga plays out during spring training and the season will really be something, especially with the majority of fans feeling the exact opposite about A-Rod as they did about Derek Jeter during his farewell tour.

I don't think Yankees fans generally hate Barry Bonds any more than the average fan. It's not like he broke Babe Ruth's record (Hank Aaron already took the hate for that). But since A-Rod plays for the Yankees and has lied over and over again (while Bonds has simply denied), I believe A-Rod is the most hated ballplayer ever. 

Brian Cashman re-signed Chase Headley with full intentions of darting him at third base, thereby shifting A-Rod to full-time DH duties. Still, A-Rod had the gall to publicly undermine Cashman's plans by saying he's vying to play third. What nerve.

Corner Infielders Conundrum: Who stays, Who goes?

Adams and Overbay vs. Youkilis and Teixeira. The great debate.

Two months ago if I told you these four corner infielders would be battling for two spots, I would have been laughed at. Now, it's a serious situation the Yankees soon must resolve. Both Youkilis and Teixeira are expected back around the first week of June. AKA, next week.

The typical Yankees reaction? It's a good problem to have. Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman are right, it is a good problem. Depth is important, especially when it comes to interleague play; however, what are they going to do about it when it comes down to filling up the lineup card each day?

First, let's hear from Twitter:

@lennysyankees wild stab in the dark: the players making $20 million and $12 million this year will get more playing time.
— Andy C (@23_Andy_C) May 27, 2013

There's no question salaries will be on the minds of Girardi and Cashman when making this decision. Then again, it isn't impossible for the Yankees to go with their guts instead of their wallet. We've seen it before.

@lennysyankees Tex at 1B, Youk at 3B, Adams back up both of those guys and play some as DH against LHP, Overbay traded for fringe prospect
— ZS (@zs190) May 27, 2013

This will likely be what happens as soon as both hobbled vets return. But hopefully it doesn't stay this way for long, and hopefully the Yankees take my advice about Overbay. See my cases for both debates below.

Joe Girardi almost fought a heckler during an interview [Video]

This was the second unusual story from last night (here was the first). Watch this:

It's hard to hear exactly what the heckler said, but you can hear Joe Girardi respond to him:

"Hey, hey, hey, hey. Shut up. I'm doing an interview."

Initial reaction: Is this the first time Girardi has ever gotten riled up in an interview, albeit by a heckler, not a reporter?

My reaction moments later: How could Girardi and the reporters shake this incident off so casually? He walked right back to his spot surrounded by reporters and continued answering the question he was asked.

---
In light of the two acts of weirdness last night, I wanted to rekindle this compilation of oddities from the 2010 season. I'll never forget this one.

Nate’s Takes: Rafael Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Girardi, Jesus Montero

Well football is back, which is bad news for baseball. With very few division races even close, baseball may have to take a backseat to football for the next month. The Yankees had an interesting week. They didn’t play particularly well and they suffered a few injuries that may have a long-term affect on their roster.

But after a week where the Yankees suffered some heartbreaking losses, you look at the standings and find that not only are the Yankees up by three and half games, but the Rays are dangerously close to being a real wild card threat. The Rays are only three games behind the Red Sox in the loss column and Yankee fans can only hope that a Red Sox team that has dominated the Yankees all year fails to reach the post season. Here are my takes.

Nate’s Takes: Jesus Montero, A.J. Burnett, Nick Swisher, bullpen

A very solid week for the Yankees as they took two out of three up at Fenway and swept the Blue Jays at home. The Yankees saw some interesting pitching performances, too, including a start from A.J. Burnett that may have saved his spot in the rotation.

And finally, Jesus Montero received the call to the majors and the Yankees continued to stick with a six-man rotation. The Yankees have a one and a half game lead and have a very easy schedule coming up. Here are my takes on the week.

Nate's Takes: Alex Rodriugez, Jorge Posada, September call-ups, Bartolo Colon

Finally the Yankees find themselves alone in first place. After the Red Sox got shut out by the Rangers last night the Yankees sit a full game above Boston. They also have a comfortable 7.5 game lead in the wild card to fall back on. The Yankees rotation is eating up innings like its 2003 and the only question mark seems to be A.J. Burnett. With all the winning the Yankees have done in the past three years it seems like Burnett has not done his part to contribute. It’s nice to hear that Brian Cashman won’t make decisions based on money, but I will believe that when I see it. Here are my takes on the week as the Yankees look to make a push on the best record in baseball.

Joe Girardi’s bullpen call was huge tonight

In a fantastic opener to the series, the Yankees bullpen won. And it all boiled down to a gutsy call by Joe Girardi.

Bartolo Colon threw his 94th pitch but hadn’t completed the fifth inning. With two out, the bases loaded and Adrian Gonzalez stepping in the batter’s box, Girardi walked out to the mound.

Nate’s Takes: Trade deadline, OBP & SLG, Freddy Garcia, Derek Jeter

The trade deadline has come and gone and the Yankees have the exact same roster. Although there might be some uproar from Yankee fans, I really don’t have a problem with Brian Cashman standing pat. The Yankees have the third best record in baseball, they rank second in runs and eighth in ERA.

Would a trade for Wandy Rodriguez, Erik Bedard or Heath Bell really have made them a better team? Would it have been worth giving up one or two top prospects to marginally help the 2011 New York Yankees? In my opinion it does not. However, I do think that Bedard was a great pickup for Boston. With the Yankees about to hit the road, here are my takes.

Nate’s Takes: Jesus Montero, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre, Joe Girardi’s dog

After an anti climatic All-Star Game the Yankees got off to a rough start in Toronto. Before that, Robinson Cano brought the Home Run Derby crown back to New York after his teammate Derek Jeter was bashed for making the first mistake in career full of perfection. In the past couple of days, CC Sabathia showed why he should be the front-runner for the AL Cy Young award and Brett Gardner showed why he should replace Jeter in the leadoff spot.

The Yankees right now find themselves in an interesting spot. With the trade deadline looming it’s hard to find a legitimate trade target that makes sense for them. The signing of Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon have worked out well so far, but who knows if they can keep it up. While the bullpen has suffered injury after injury, they still remain one of the best in baseball. While the lineup has had its ups and downs the Yankees feature one of the best lineups in baseball and have very little room for an acquisition.

One trade target the stands out is Ubaldo Jimenez. While the name sounds good, Jimenez has struggled for almost a year now. The Rockies would want a huge package in return starting with at least Jesus Montero. With the trade deadline approaching here are my takes.

When should Joe Girardi bite the bullet and move Derek Jeter down in the order?

Yes, I have more Derek Jeter commentary from Tyler Kepner’s column I alluded to earlier this morning.

As usual, Kepner penned an excellent piece. He didn’t dance around the tough Jeter lineup question, and he also acknowledged Joe Girardi’s points about keeping him as a leadoff hitter.

“I think people sometimes manage short term,” Girardi said. “When [Brett Gardner] was in the leadoff spot and wasn’t hitting, everyone wanted me to move him out of the leadoff spot.”

As Kepner later mentioned, Jeter isn’t just going through a cold spell; he hasn’t hit like the 3,000-hit Jeter since 2009.

Ivan Nova pitches Yankees past Reds

Ivan Nova pitched brilliantly over eight innings, easily maybe the best start of his career, and the Yankees escaped a ninth-inning Reds’ rally to win their sixth game in seven days.

Scoreboard Says:
Yankees 5, Reds 3
W: Ivan Nova
L: Travis Wood
S: Mariano Rivera

Nate’s Takes: Joe Girardi, Brett Gardner, Eduardo Nunez, Phil Hughes

Happy Father’s Day, Yankee Fans! Just wanted to send a special shout out to my dad Ron. Playing catch with him in the backyard is what got me into baseball years ago. I am sure most of you guys have similar stories. While this week started with an embarrassing 1-0 loss to Cleveland, the Yankees played relatively well and ended the week with a blowout win on Sunday Night Baseball.

The Yankees offense has been magnificent overall so far this year and a big part of that are home runs and walks. They continue to frustrate their fans for two reasons. One, they don’t hit particular well in clutch situations (they leave a lot of runners on base and do not score a lot of runs late in close games). Two, they continue to get shut out randomly by terrible (Doug Davis) pitchers. A lot of this can be drawn up to luck, or weather or maybe a late flight, but great offenses do not randomly get shut out. With that off my chest, here are my takes on the week.

Yankees were wasting Jorge Posada’s resurgence, finally make lineup swap

In the first 17 games of the season, Jorge Posada had six home runs and 11 RBIs. Forty-seven games later, even after a blazing .469 start to June, Posada hasn’t added any homers and just nine RBIs. Meanwhile, the Yankees have dropped out of first in the AL East.

Yes, he finally broke the Mendoza Line with two hits against Boston last Thursday, but hitting seventh behind a struggling Nick Swisher has limited Posada’s ability to help the Yankees win ballgames. Today, somebody with sense in the organization finally pushed hard enough for the switch.

Joba Chamberlain likely out for the season

Just when things couldn’t get any worse.

Joba Chamberlain has a torn ligament in his throwing arm and will likely require Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season, Joe Girardi just announced.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have beaten the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in their last five meetings — the first time that’s happened to start a season since 1912.

On the bright side, there’s good news out of Phil Hughes camp.

Phil Hughes was consistently hitting 92 on the gun and will start next Tuesday in the GCL

What seems to have been the Yankees’ strength at the beginning the year is now likely another weakness.

Andruw Jones Featured Card of the Week

After his two home runs against lefties yesterday, Andruw Jones upped his career averages against lefties to .261 BA/.360 OBP/.503. SLG. Joe Girardi is using Jones’ strength to his advantage this year, as 42 of his 53 plate appearances have come against southpaws.

He won’t be an All-Star this year (as he was in 2006), but he’s been a key cog off the bench and Girardi’s left-hand man, if you will.

Last night’s burning question: Bartolo Colon or the great Mo in the 9th? [Storify]

Bartolo Colon had thrown just 87 pitches through eight innings last against the Orioles. Joe Girardi opted to go to his closer, Mariano Rivera, instead of letting his veteran try and complete a shutout. It might be a tough call for some, but I stay with my vet every time at that pitch count — at least let him start the inning.

Here are the responses, via my new favorite online tool, Storify.

Robinson Cano’s heroics end marathon in 15th, Hector Noesi dazzles in debut

I napped through four innings, but still got to see 11. The Yankees led 1-0 in the ninth, but Mariano Rivera blew it and it took six extra innings for a team to deliver with runners in scoring position. Believe me, both teams had their chances, but the Yankees prevailed. 

Scoreboard Says:
Yankees 4, Orioles 1
Win: Hector Noesi
Loss: Jeremy Accardo

Questionable Call:
Bartolo Colon threw eight sensational innings, but Joe Girardi removed him after just 87 pitches in favor of Mo.

Guest Blogger Nathan Hirsch makes his debut on lenNY’s Yankees

Hey readers, my name is Nathan Hirsch and Lenny has given me an opportunity to do some guest blogging. The idea is for me to make a weekly post every Monday morning. Hopefully I can help Lenny expand and improve on what has already been a successful blog. Every week I would like to do a summary of the week that was, along with a look ahead at the upcoming schedule. For this post, I would like to introduce myself and hopefully get to know some of the readers.

Rounding out the roster: 2011 Yankees bench projection

Nine in the lineup, seven in the pen and five in the rotation leaves four spots for the bench. Three of which are made up of a backup catcher, infielder and outfielder, while the last spot is typically for a speedster or a slugger.

• Backup catcher: Gustavo Molina
• Backup infielder: Eric Chavez
• Backup outfielder: Andruw Jones
• Speedster: Eduardo Nunez

Molina has just 45 major league plate appearances, but he’s the favorite because the Yankees are showing concern for the development of both Jesus Montero and Austin Romine.

Chavez and Jones both provide a ton of experience as backups, and Nunez definitely fits the roll of speedster. Joe Girardi has used Nunez in the outfield this spring, so don’t be surprised to see him playing anywhere on the field this season.

Here’s how the rest of the team shapes up:

Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia make rotation

Joe Girardi made a few roster announcements this morning (via LoHud):

• Ivan Nova will be the fourth starter.
• Freddy Garcia will be the fifth starter.
• Bartolo Colon will be the long man.
• Pedro Feliciano will “likely” open the season on the DL.

The Yankees must have a really good feeling about Garcia’s background because Colon has done everything in his power to win the fifth spot in the rotation. At least he made the team.

My bench projection comes up next along with a complete roster projection.