Give me Hairston. Either Hairston!

The Yankees are pursuing Andruw Jones. Yes, the 33-year-old longtime Braves outfielder who has not played a full season since 2007 or hit above .250 since 2006. But apparently his glove is still tempting, since the Yankees are looking for a backup outfielder NOT a backup DH.

Jorge Posada IS the DH, according to the Yankees.

I don’t think the Yankees should bother with Jones. His glove may still be gold, but who knows? He’s not healthy enough these days to judge that. The free agent outfield market is very thin, but here are the top alternatives:

Three reasons why Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon will not be Yankees

If you haven’t heard, the Yankees have been linked to both over-the-hill outfielders. Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon just don’t fit with the Yankees.

Yankees sweep Twins, advance to ALCS

The Yankees completed the sweep of the Twins the ALDS last night (like I predicted), as Phil Hughes pitched seven shutout inning en route to a 6-1 win.

Best of All: Hughes made people forget last night was his first postseason start, as he looked like a veteran silencing the Twins. He allowed four hits, one walk and struck out six.

Marcus Thames supplied the big blow in the fourth inning, a two-run homer to right-center field. Nick Swisher homered in the seventh for an extra insurance run.

Worst of All: Brett Gardner was the only Yankee starter without a hit. Kerry Wood allowed a run in relief.

Coming Up: The Yankees await their ALCS opponent, as the Rangers and Twins are still fighting it out. Game 1 isn’t until this Friday.

Another adventure to Yankee Stadium

Yesterday my roommate and I went to the Yankee game. Marcus Thames’ two-run homer propelled the Yankees to a 7-5 win over the Blue Jays, which extended their winning streak to eight. It was a great game, don’t get me wrong, but I think the story of getting to the game from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., was a little more entertaining.

Getting the Tickets:
As you probably know, I interned for a digital marketing agency called EIC in New York City over the summer. Toward the end of the internship, my boss, mentioned the possibility of getting Yankee tickets via a connection at Time Warner Cable. I emailed the person we knew there and told him what games in August I could go to (assuming I’d go with one of my co-workers). He didn’t get back to me until Thursday, but he responded with good news.

He dropped off the tickets with my boss and he told me I had to pick them up before 8 p.m. Friday. Since I was at school, my only option was for one of my sisters living in the city to pick them up. Of course, my older sister helped me out; yes, this one. Little did I know the trouble that lay ahead. But first, there was another conflict.

My Blog’s Meltdown:
At 11:41 a.m., while my roommate and I were just entering Manhattan to pick up the tickets and park the car, my dad called me with some frightening news. “I tried going to your site and it says your blog has been removed.” I thought it was a browser problem or my dad typing in my old blogspot URL. But when I checked on my roommate’s iPhone, I thought I was in for the worst day of my life.

I had checked my site before I left for the game and everything was fine. The last thing I did, however, was add the Twitter gadget so fans could follow me tweets live from the stadium. I’m pretty sure that’s what set off the alarm to Blogger, my site’s host. Still in the car, I tried logging into Blogger and was greeted with a message saying they had picked up suspicious activity on my site.

Thankfully, all I had to do was verify a few personal details and my blog was back.

Deja Vu with my Sister:
My roommate dropped me off next to my sister’s apartment to pick up the tickets while he parked the car. It’s 12:30 at this point; we knew were going to be a little late. I buzzed the room. No response. I buzzed again, and again, and again. Still nothing.

I weaseled my way into the lobby through the tenant, but I needed a key to activate the elevator to access the apartment. So I hit the basement button in hopes it would be accessible to get to the stairs. Luckily, it was. I ran up six flights of stairs and started banging on the apartment door. Five minutes later, my sister’s boyfriend asked, in a tired voice, if I brought up the paper. I screamed, “No! I need my tickets!”

Last year for the World Series parade I had planned to stay over at my sister’s house to get a few hours of sleep. She didn’t answer and I spent the entire night out in New York City. When my sister wasn’t responding to my calls, I thought I was in for an awful day.

The Subway Surprise:
We boarded the 4 train only to find out it was NOT running express to Yankee Stadium. This made us even more late. What more could go wrong? 

For some strange reason, my roommate still hadn’t asked where our seats were. Little did he know, we were sitting in section 110, 13 rows from the field.

I asked him about the tickets and he said, “Are they bleacher seats?” I gave him his ticket and he stared at it for a few seconds. Then his smile lit up the subway car.

Photos and Videos:

We spent the bottom of the eighth inning anticipating Mariano Rivera’s entrance. When he came out, the stadium went berserk.


The famous Freddy makes his way up the aisle giving fans a chance to ring his bell.


Mo got the last out, and my roommate and I saluted him.

For more photos from the game, check out my blog’s Facebook page.

Thanks again, Sanford and Rick, for hooking me up with the great seats!

The Marcus Thames praise thread

With August injuries to Lance Berkman and Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees didn’t figure to have an offensive upgrade. But they have. In the six games Marcus Thames has started since those two injuries, the Bronx Bombers have averaged more than eight runs per game.

Thames is the only Yankee hitting over .300 in August, and he’s sitting at a cool .368 AVG with a .772 SLG.

However, with Berkman rehabbing in Trenton, Thames is likely to lose some playing time. Here’s what Joe Girardi had to say on the matter.

“He’s been big for us, there’s no doubt about it,” Girardi said (of Thames). “The key thing for us is getting people back healthy. That’s really important. I have some decisions to make, but the best thing would be for me to have to make some hard decisions.”

I think when Berkman returns you’ll see him starting strictly against righties while Thames will earn starts against southpaws.

Feel free to express your love for Thames in the comments.

Tex and Cano sound off in 11-5 rout of A’s

The Yankees made a fool of Cy Young candidate Trevor Cahill tonight. He allowed eight earned runs, his highest total all year, and the Athletics fell hard to the Yankees, 11-5.

Best of All: Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher collected three hits apiece: a homer and a double for Teixeira, a homer for Cano and two doubles for Swisher.

Marcus Thames added a three-run bomb in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Javier Vazquez delivered another strong outing out of the bullpen and earned his first win since July 26. He just may have earned his way back into the pen. More details here as they become available.

Worst of All: Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson missed out on the hit parade. Of the team’s 13 hits, none came off Jeter’s or Granderson’s bat.

Coming Up: Game 2 of this four-game series is Tuesday night. It’ll be Vin Mazzaro vs. Phil Hughes.

Poll results: Gardner should stay in lineup

Eighty percent of fans voted to keep Brett Gardner in the lineup despite a small slump that started post-All-Star break. He’s picked it up in the past couple of weeks, but isn’t near the .320 batting average he once held.

I actually voted with the minority on this poll. Austin Kearns and Marcus Thames could provide a solid platoon for left field, and I think putting a little extra  pressure on Gardner to perform might pay off.

We all saw what a little kick in the rear end did for Joba Chamberlain. Why not try something similar with Gardner?

He would still be valuable to the Yankees as a pinch-runner. Plus, it would freshen up his legs, as fatigue has slowed his stolen base rate.

Next poll: Should Cano hit cleanup when A-Rod returns?

Robby’s 6 ribbies boost Yanks to 10-0 win

Robinson Cano drove in six runs, four coming on the Yankees’ 10th grand slam of the year, and CC Sabathia was lights out in a 10-0 win over the Mariners.

Best of All: Austin Kearns and Jorge Posada each added solo shots and Mark Teixeira reached base in all five of his at-bats.

Cano’s six RBIs tie a career high and bring him to 86 on the year. He’s never had a 100-RBI season.

The Yankees are now 12-0 this year without Alex Rodriguez in the lineup.

Worst of All: Every starter had at least one hit except for Brett Gardner, who walked twice and scored once. Marcus Thames was the only starter who didn’t score a run.

Coming Up: The Yankees hit the road this week for three in Toronto and then wrap up the week in Chicago.

Thames hitting third in *special* lineup

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Marcus Thames DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Austin Kearns LF
Lance Berkman 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner CF
Ramiro Pena 2B

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen a lineup this weak from the Yankees in my days of blogging. 

Here are some of my favorite reactions to the lineup on Twitter:

Ledger_Yankees - Off days + Lefties + Babies = Today's Yankees lineup.

Bronxrumors - This may be the worst lineup since 2006...but the best bench since 2000

YankeesGalaxy - I guess this lineup will make winning all that sweeter.

SimplySmoov - #BoldPrediction 12-4 Yankees win with 'D' lineup ... sorry @str8edgeracer

For those who don’t know, @str8edgeracer is C.J. Wilson’s Twitter alias, tonight’s starter for the Rangers.

Here’s what the bench looks like tonight, with the reasons I’m guessing they’re being benched for included.

• Mark Teixeira: We knew he was unavailable. He’s back home with his wife.
• Robinson Cano: Just a random off day, I guess. He hasn’t sat since July 7, but he did play 161 games last year. UPDATE: Cano has a cold.
• Curtis Granderson: This was a scheduled off day. Joe Girardi warned us of this yesterday.
• Jorge Posada: This was also planned. Girardi is adhering to a new catching rotation that gives starts to Francisco Cervelli when A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez start.

FACT: Marcus Thames has 166 career plate appearances hitting third. Tonight will mark the first time with the Yankees (and I hope the last).

Bondy: Girardi sounds like a hockey coach

Do you think the Yankees lost yesterday because Joe Girardi has been messing with the lineup too much and putting the team out of rhythm? Well, Filip Bondy of the Daily News does, and, on an unrelated note, he also thinks Girardi sounds like a hockey coach with all his nicknames.

And I couldn’t disagree more, with both of Bondy’s conjectures.

Bondy’s first mistake was neglecting to mention why Girardi used backups yesterday.
As you can see from the lineup, the only subs used were for the seven-eight hitters, which, in Bondy’s mind, turns the ‘A’ lineup into a B-minus. Let me explain why I think Girardi did what he did:

1. He used Marcus Thames over Lance Berkman because Berkman is terrible vs. lefties and Thames is great vs. lefties. It seems Bondy would’ve preferred the .185 hitter over the .328 hitter.

2. Brett Gardner had played 14 straight days and Girardi really wants to get a good look at Austin Kearns now to judge how much he should be used down the stretch. If anything, a day off for Gardner keeps his legs fresh, which he’s complained about this year.

Another thing Bondy forgot to mention was the Yankees were facing Jon Lester. He hadn’t allowed a hit until the fifth inning — and that hit belonged to one of the subs! Of the six Yankee hits yesterday, two came from the subs.

…he benched Brett Gardner, whose fleetness of foot can't change games while he's sitting until the eighth.

This is true, but when Gardner did get his chance in the eighth, when the Yankees really needed a steal, he couldn’t judge what pitch to go on — against a righty. He should’ve left on the first pitch because no Red Sox catcher is going to catch him stealing.

Sometimes it seems Brian Cashman has brought in half the Western hemisphere to audition for the roles of Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, who might still be here but for several measly million dollars.

That was his lede paragraph. He says this without acknowledging Gardner and Curtis Granderson have played up to, if not better, than last year’s duo thus far.

Girardi manages by the book and does an excellent job of keeping his older players fresh. I guess he, the manager of the team with the best record in baseball, has some things to learn from Bondy, the writer for the Daily News.

I can’t wait to see what arguments Bondy will come up with if Mark Teixeira misses a few games this week.

I think Bondy felt like dissing Girardi because his name is already in Girardi-nickname form. He’s probably upset about that.

---
Apparently, another Daily News reporter wrote an unreasonable column for this morning. Brien of It’s About the Money, Stupid took it down.

CC, Tex fuel victory in final game before All-Star break

CC Sabathia only had one strikeout, but scattered six hits over seven innings and Mark Teixeira had a four-hit day to fuel an 8-2 victory over the Mariners to end the first half with a bang.

Best of All: Teixeira is up to .254!! Let’s hope the break won’t send him back to his early-season bad habits.

Marcus Thames iced the game in the fifth with a two-run shot down the left field line.

With the victory, Sabathia improved to 12-3 with a 3.09 ERA.

Worst of All: Really rough days for Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, who both went hitless in five ABs.

Coming Up: The All-Star break! The Yankees have a handful of players in the All-Star festivities so feel free to pay attention. Or not. Just remember, it does mean something (idiotically).

Chad Huffman gets first call to majors, replaces DL-bound Marcus Thames

Marcus Thames left today’s game in the fifth inning with a strained hamstring and is headed to the DL. He will be replaced by Yankees prospect Chad Huffman.

The Yankees claimed Huffman on waivers from the Padres in April and he is mainly a left fielder but has experience in right and first base. He was hitting .279/.344/.416 with five homers and 22 RBIs in 190 at-bats with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Thoughts: It’s unfortunate to see Thames gone — he was a strong bat off the bench — but I love watching players make their debuts. Some rise to the occasion and have awful careers, while some are slow to get their feet off the ground and become superstars.

Granderson to start minor league rehab, could return next week

Curtis Granderson worked out with the Yankees before last night’s game and is meeting up with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on its road trip to play five games in six days, according to the Journal News. If all goes well, Granderson could be back in the Yankee lineup before the end of the month.

This is great news for the Yankees, as the weakened offense is certainly feeling the effects of losing Granderson, Nick Johnson, Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher full-time.

Johnson was transferred to the 60-day DL and Posada went on the 15-day DL to make room for Chad Moeller and Kevin Russo. Russo, the star on offense in last night’s game, will probably start in left again tonight if Marcus Thames isn’t ready to return from a sprained ankle.

Swisher has played the last two games, hitting left-handed, and is 2-for-8 with two runs scored.

Granderson’s return would give the Yankees seven Opening Day starters in their lineup and also would be a big help to the struggling outfield defense. Steve S. from The Yankee U wonders if he’ll be moved to left field upon his return. Like Steve, I wouldn’t mind it if he moved. As Steve said, Granderson has said publicly he wouldn’t mind it either. Does he really mean that? Who knows. I think with his professionalism he would be fine.

Rays bully Yankees in the Bronx

The best team in baseball showed why they were the best team in baseball in a 10-6 win over the Yankees (it wasn’t as close as the score makes it look).

The Rays pitched great (except Andy Sonnanstine), hit great and ran great. That’s tough to beat, and it seems that’s the way they play every night.

Best of all: Robinson Cano had four hits. And… that’s about it for the good stuff.

Worst of all: The Rays stole six bases off the A.J. Burnett-Francisco Cervelli battery. Six! AND, Ben Zobrist scored from second on a sac fly in the eighth. Granted, it was a diving catch near the wall in center field by Brett Gardner, but still, Zobrist scored standing up.

Even worse: Marcus Thames left in the sixth inning after spraining his ankle by stepping on his own bat after singling. Boy, with the injuries piling up like pancakes, that’s pretty embarrassing.

Line of the night: Cano: 4-for-5, 2B, RBI. He’s back up to .340.

Up Next: My parents and I are meeting up with Andrew Fletcher at Thursday night’s game. Hopefully Andy Pettitte can continue the best start of his career.

Papel-bombed! A-Rod, Thames deliver ninth-inning heroics

After blowing a five-run lead, the Yankees trailed by two going into the bottom of the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon. The day after Mariano Rivera blew a save, the Yankees were the ones who came from behind, as Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer to tie it and Marcus Thames blasted a two-run shot to win it, 11-9, in walk-off fashion for the first time all year.

Best of all: Javier Vazquez, whose last relief appearance against the Red Sox in The Bronx goes without being said, earned the W by striking out Kevin Youkilis in the top half of the ninth.

Worst of all: The Yankees held a 6-1 lead after two innings. They should never have been trailing, especially with the emerging Phil Hughes toeing the rubber.

Line of the Night: A-Rod+Thames: 4-for-9, 3 R, 8 RBI, 2 HR.

Up Next: Game 2 of this two-game series is same place, same time, with CC Sabathia and Josh Beckett starting.

Poll Results: Granderson’s loss won’t stop Yankees from taking first place from Rays

With Curtis Granderson out for at least the month of May, Brett Gardner became the everyday center fielder and left field became a platoon of Randy Winn and Marcus Thames.

Granderson was hitting .225/.311/.375 before getting injured. Gardner has stayed hot in May, and Thames and Winn have combined for .241/.353/.344.

However, now Nick Johnson is most likely out for May too. It looks like the Yankees will continue to use this as a time for giving veterans half days off and Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli work at the major league level.

New Poll: Do you respect Dallas Braden after his perfect game?

Spring training meant nothing for Thames

Remember when everyone was worried about left field with Brett Gardner, Marcus Thames and Randy Winn fighting for the last spot? Well, Gardner has been outstanding, Winn hasn’t even needed to pick up a bat and Thames has been red hot against lefties (16 of his 17 at-bats).

In 52 spring training at-bats, Thames collected seven hits. He already has more hits in a third of the at-bats this season. Against lefties, he’s hitting .625 with three doubles and a homer. That’s insane.

Meanwhile, Gardner is hitting .306/.386/.371. He’s also tied for the league lead in steals with nine. He’s on pace for 70 steals this season.

Cano, Burnett blast Birds

Robinson Cano hit two homers and A.J. Burnett shut the Orioles out for a 4-0 win to take the series.

Quick ‘Cap:
With three hits on the night, Cano became the AL batting leader (.407). Burnett was lights out through eight innings, allowing just four base runners and striking out four en route to his third victory of the year.

Marcus Thames also had a big night as DH in place of Nick Johnson, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Derek Jeter added a two-hit night as well. Jorge Posada sat out and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth to get some work. Yankees-Orioles box score.

Thoughts:
It was a game the Yankees need to win, and they did.

Line of the Night:
Cano: 3-for-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI. What more can you say? He’s easily the MVP of the team for April.

Up Next:
The Yankees finally return home this weekend to face the White Sox and then the Orioles again at home.

Yankees turn triple play, fall to Athletics

The Yankees turned their first triple play (video) since June 1968, but the Yankees fell 4-2 to the Athletics in the series finale.

Quick ‘Cap:
The A’s mounted a 3-0 lead four batters into the game on Kurt Suzuki’s three-run bomb to left. The big hit came one pitch after a mound visit.

After a sac fly in the fourth to make it 4-0, Marcus Thames earned the run back with a solo shot to left in the fifth. Mark Teixeira, who DH’d for the first time this season, slugged his second homer of the season to make it 4-2 in the sixth.

After the first two runners got on in the bottom half, Suzuki hit a hard grounder to Alex Rodriguez, who stepped on the bag, threw to Robinson Cano at second, who fired it to first to nab Suzuki for the 5-4-3 triple play.

But there was no comeback in store for the Yankees, as Brad Ziegler and Andrew Bailey shut the offense down in the final three innings. CC Sabathia completed his second straight game in the loss. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
Choosing to take a nap during the middle of this game was my worst decision of the season. I woke up for the ninth inning, but Bailey made quick work of the Yankees for the save. The Yankees had won six in a row heading in, so I guess you can’t win them all.

Line of the Night:
Dallas Braden: W, 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K. He baffled the Yankees with his changeup, but manager Bob Geren pulled him after just 81 pitches.

Up Next:
The Yankees continue their west coasts wing with a three-game series against the Angels this weekend. Full series preview will be up tomorrow.

Yankees mix up lineup against Kazmir

The Yankees face southpaw Scott Kazmir tonight, which has led Joe Girardi to the first change in the top five of the lineup this season. Nick Johnson and Brett Gardner will start the game on the bench, Randy Winn will start in left and Marcus Thames for DH. Lineups via LoHud:

Angels lineup	Yankees lineup
Erick Aybar SS	Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF	Nick Swisher RF
Torii Hunter CF	Mark Teixeira 1B
Hideki Matsui DH	Alex Rodriguez 3B
Kendry Morales 1B	Robinson Cano 2B
Howie Kendrick 2B	Jorge Posada C
Mike Napoli C	Marcus Thames DH
Brandon Wood 3B	Curtis Granderson CF
Reggie Willits LF	Randy Winn LF

Some notes:

• It’s Jackie Robinson Day! That means every Yankees will wear No. 42. (Mariano Rivera is the last player wearing the sacred number.)
  
• Phil Hughes will make his 2010 debut. He’ll either be a bust, or he’ll shine. Here’s what I think will happen to Hughes if he has a rough start to the year.
  
• River Ave. Blues mentioned a lineup change idea that I agreed with regarding Mark Teixeira’s slow start.