Okay, so now that the 80th All-Star Game is finally over, not only can we as Yankee fans be proud of Tex, Jeter and Mo for showing the Yankee Pride in the AL’s 4-3 win last night, we can hope that it will give the Yankees home field advantage througout the World Series…I’m highly doubting it however, and here is why…

The Good…

Tex’s bat finally woke up after a butt stinking April, though he is still only hitting in the mid-270s and is showing signs of Giambi-like pulling of the ball rather than spraying it all over the field. 21 bombs and 60 ribs is a nice upgrade over Gumbi, not to mention the almost Mattinglyish glove at First Base.

A-Rod had appeared to have woken up…after missing several games due to hip surgery, A-Rod has come on like gang busters over the last week to ten days, hitting almost one home run per game on average over that span…hopefully the first half was used as a spring training session, and the true run producer will be more consistent in the second half of the season.

Mo is Mo…several skeptics thought after a couple of hiccups in April, the Great Sandman had finally gone over the cliff…WRONG! Mo is Mo, and as we celebrate his All-Star record breaking 4th save, along with his 500th career save, when the game is on the line, there is NOBODY ELSE IN BASEBALL I’d rather have on the mound to slam that door than Mariano Rivera.

Jeter is the Captain…After much speculation that Jeter lost a step, and could no longer hit or run, all I have to say is…a .321 average and plenty of gold left in his mitt to do the job. People forget that Jeter played with a severe quad injury most of last year, thus limiting him in the field and on the basepaths, along with tainting his batting average the second half of last season…he never lost it, rather he bucked up like a man and played through it last year.

The Bad…

Don’t let the record fool you…even though the Yankees have the third best record in all of baseball at the break, those of us in the know have plenty to fear as the second half looms. The every series ***-beating at the hands of the Red Sox, resulting in an 0 for 2009 doesn’t make me think the Bombers are any closer to reaching the pinnacle of the sport, nor does their pathetic finish out in Anaheim to an injury-plagued Angels squad whom the Yankees should’ve squashed like bugs under their collective feet. To have leads in the first two games, only to piss them away, and then have the Angels on the ropes in the finale, just to leave town swept means Brian Cashman and the boys have some serious work to do prior to the July 31st trading deadline…And now for the bad portion…

The Ugly…

Joba Chamberlain. The guy stinks of freshly laid dog crap. He is getting worse by the outing, yet Cash and Girardi insist he will be a star. As I and the rest of the baseball world know, that is NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Put his fat f***ing *** in the bullpen as the 8th inning setup guy, give Phil Hughes the chance to shine in the rotation, and get the back end of the bullpen right before it’s too late!

Brian Bruney. Another poop clog in the Yankees bullpen. Since hurting his elbow, the man has been simply putrid. His fastball is so flat one could roll it down a coffee table, and Major League hitters don’t let flat fastballs go by…they deposit them into the stands. Make Bruney a middle innings guy, which is where he has the most success, and move Chamberlain into his role in the 8th inning. After all, it won’t be long, and Rivera will finally retire…and then what? The Yankees have the tools in-house to build a dominant bridge to Mariano, yet they piss it away because Joba and his crippled old man want him to be a starter. When did this become The Dalles Little League, where Dads and kids dictate to coaches where they will play? Absolutely ******* pathetic.

The outfield…what a goddamn joke. The Yankees are stockpiled with a bunch of designated hitters, and none of them can play a lick of defense, led by Mr. Red Sox himself, Johnny “I’m a little bitch” Damon. It’s great that he’s hit 12 of his 16 homers this season at the new stadium, but how many runs has he handed back via his glove or lack thereof? DH Damon and shuffle the roster already…jesus. Yes, that means dealing the once beloved Hideki Matsui or flat out releasing him. Yes, he’s been hot the last couple of weeks, but you know what? So has minor league phenom Austin Jackson and at least he plays the field. Matsui is worthless, and thank goodness that Damon and Matsui are both in the final year’s of their respective contracts.

The Starting Rotation…the Dodgers have the best record in baseball with a bunch of journeymen and throwaways, yet we as Yankee fans are supposed to be proud of the 1st half performances of Burnett and Sabathia? Sabathia is coming ever so close to garnering Ed Whitson comparisons thus far, and Burnett is nothing like the Burnett of 2008. At least he’s staying healthy…so far. I said it before in earlier blog entries and I’m saying it again…Andy Pettitte is a bum and washed up. Yeah, I know he has 8 wins, but an ERA over the moon, and he can’t win at home. A guy like Pettitte in a short series will help get you ousted in the 1st round. He didn’t deserve the $14 mil he was seeking, and I’m not sure he even deserves Major League minimum at the break.

Hughes could give you exactly the same thing as could lefty Phil Coke, for far less money PLUS they would be getting big league experience! Don’t even get me started on Chamberlain again, we all know how I feel about that piss drunk waste of skin…the one I do feel bad for is Chien Ming Wang. I’ve always argued that Girardi doesn’t know how to handle young pitchers, given his track record in Florida and now in the Bronx, and Wang’s 2009 is a direct result of that. He forced the kid to pitch hurt, then made up excuses as to why he was and is getting banged around. Wang is a winner, and if he is given time to heal and rehab, he’ll be a winner again.

Joe Girardi…Why is this man still employed? I could go game by game, and give handfuls of examples that are clearcut evidence as to why he has no business being in the Yankees’ dugout. To make matters worse, does anyone actually believe that his former teammates (Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Pettitte) respect what he has to say? I mean come on, Posada TOOK Girardi’s job on the field, now they are supposed to listen to what he has to say in the dugout as the field boss? Nope. He burned and misused the young arms in Florida, and will do the same in New York if given enough time. What his love affair with Joba is, I will never understand. But enough is enough. I know we as Yankee fans demand greatness, and with that said, anything short of a title and Giradi, along with Cashman must hit the bricks.

Brian Cashman…Again, why is this man still employed? He took the hard work of Buck Showalter and Gene Michael, and pissed it all away in less than a decade. He was handed a dynasty and he tore it apart. Instead of continuing to build a strong minor league system and sign team guys…he traded away prospects, for has beens, and signed me guys. As much of an anti-Joe Torre guy as I was, the least Cash could’ve done in that final meeting was stand up on Joe’s behalf. What a spineless little **********. When will Cashman be held accountable for the failings on the field? He and he alone has final say over this roster, so when the Yankees fail to win it all again for the 9th consecutive year, he has to be the one along with Girardi who have to go at season’s end.

What the 2nd Half of the Season Will Bring…

If Brian Cashman doesn’t pull the trigger and add the necessary parts down the stretch, another disappointing season in Yankeeland! I do like the Hinske deal to stregthen up the bench and add much needed depth. However, the bullpen is still a problem, and as long as Bruney is the 8th inning guy, and the Yankees’ bozo brass think that Mark Melancon is major league ready, it won’t matter. Somebody like Tampa or Texas will overtake the Bombers for the Wild Card, and a second straight year without the post season will quickly become a reality. Do I think that the Yankees should talk to Toronto about Halladay? Yes, but not at the cost of Austin Jackson and/or Phil Hughes without a contract extension first. Toronto has already said no to an extension agreement negotiating period, so let’s move on. Bullpen depth and a quality defensive outfielder along with a back of the rotation starter fills out the Yankees shopping list…now we must sit back and see if they get what they need…

Unless the Yankees can figure out a way to put the 2004 ALCS collapse against the Red Sox behind them, play aggressive, high level baseball against their rivals, it doesn’t matter who the Yankees get down the stretch. At 8-0, along with a 3 game lead in the AL East, we can call it an 11 game lead. The Yankees should focus on the Wild Card, and hope that Boston gets knocked off prior to an ALCS rematch of 5 years ago.

Which means, the Yankees also need to figure out the long hated Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It appeared the Bombers might have been over the hump during their first meeting in the Bronx in 2009, making the Angels look old and tattered, but this past weekend in SoCal once again put tremendous doubt into the minds of the Bombers as they swept the Yankees in embarrassing and disappointing fashion to end the 1st half of the season. The starting rotation, the bullpen, the lack of timely hitting…these are all things that must be cleaned up in the Yankees are to have a legitimate shot at bringing home World Series crown #27. Do I think it will happen? Absolutely not! If it can be ****** up, Girardi, Cashman and the boys will find a way to do so, and at the end of the season, heads will roll, as well they should!

As always, be good, take care of yourself, and take care of your buddy next to ya!

Hello one and all…I hope each of you have had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend, and that each of you are as excited as I am about the upcoming All-Star Game festivities in St. Louis next week. I can’t believe it is the mid-way point of the 2009 season already. Then again, I can’t believe my wife is already 5 months pregnant either…it seems just like yesterday we found out, and here we are on the cusp of her third and final trimester starting…

I do have something to say before I go into my rant about what is wrong in the Yankees’ Universse…I think it is disgusting that my blog has never been nominated as the spotlight blog nor does it ever finish high enough to be mentioned in the “Latest Leaders” scoreboard. Wanna know why? Simply stated…I curse, I spit venom, and I lay out the literal truth about everything Yankees…people don’t like my level of bluntness and their collective little ******* hurt. I don’t care. I’m not changing my tone, so the spotlight and the leaders can kiss my pinstriped ***!

Okay, now for the real business…let us start with the Yankees’ bullpen. Phil Hughes has been wonderful, allowing next to nothing since he and Chien Ming Wang did the old switcharoo in their respective roles. Unfortunately, Hughes still belongs in the rotation while Wang is hurt, hell, he belonged in the rotation when Wang was healthy. The fat piece of human trash Joba Chamerblain is the one who belongs in the bullpen…or worse, back to AAA-Scranton to figure out how to pitch more than 3.2 innings everytime out. How many goddamn times do I need to repeat myself…Joba is not and never will be a star major league starter. Not now, not ever. Put his fat *** back in the back end of the bullpen, let him set up Rivera until he retires, and make Joba the closer. End of discussion. Jesus already! Instead, Joba remains in the rotation, Hughes continues to dominate in mop up and long relief duty, and Alfredo Aceves, who I long have loved, gets his shot in the rotation Thursday in the Minnesota finale. He pitched well at the end of 2008, and I see him eventually being that Ramiro Mendoza-type swingman. Valuable, yet quiet and professional. Jonathan Albaladejo replaces Aceves in the bullpen for now…

As for the other issues…rumors are swirling that the Yankees are in discussions with the Pirates about trading for lefty John Grabow to support Phil Coke as the second lefty out of the ‘pen. It appears that Damaso Marte is done for the year with elbow and shoulder issues. I like the move, but in addition to that, I would like to see the Yankees sign recently released B.J. Ryan and give him the adequate time to heal and build arm strength at AAA-Scranton. Once he is healty, the Yankees now have a 93-95 mph lefty to plug in-one who also has valuable closing experience and could end up being that bridge to Mo Rivera in August and September…think about it!

I just about threw up in my mouth the other day while watching the 4-game series finale between the Yankees and the Blue Jays at the Cathedral 2.0. Why? I swore for a split second that that Mark Teixiera morphed into the former Yankee, Jason Giambi. According to the scouting reports on Tex, he is supposed to have power to all fields and doesn’t hesitate to use all fields. Instead, with the Yankees mounting a comeback in the 9th Innings, and Tex leading things off…the Blue Jays use the old Giambi Shift, pulling everyone (including the 3B and SS) all the way over to the middle and right sides of the infield…leaving only the pitcher and catcher as would be fielders had a ball been hit to the left side…What should “Mr. Team Player” have done? Stroke a groundball to the left and end up on 1st base easily! What did he do instead? On the third pitch, he yanked (no pun intended) a grounder into the teeth of the right side of the infield, and was retired without much effort. The rally started after he and A-Roid were both retired…had EITHER of them gotten on base, the Yankees tie the game, and take it to extra frames. That is the difference between Tino Martinez and his replacements…with Tino and the boys, it was about doing the little things to WIN BALLGAMES…not padding stats or caring less about a game that appeared over…

Now, for the biggest news as we approach yet another trading deadline…Toronto Blue Jays G.M. J.P. Riccardi has stated that he will listen to offers for his ace, Roy Halladay. I’ve said many times on this blog that Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball, bar none. The Yankees chose not to go after Santana, instead choosing to go the route of youth movement and eventually signing Sabathia and Burnett. If you are the Yankees, this is what you must do…let Riccardi know that you as the Bombers might be interested, and see what the Jays want in terms of a package…ask and find out if Boston or Tampa is involved as well. Once that is done, you offer up a package of say, Hughes, Joba, and perhaps Gardner or Melky. There is one hangup however, I would ask for the opportunity to sign Halladay to a long term deal before the trade was completed…a future rotation of Sabathia, Halladay, Burnett, Wang and (fill in the blank) would dominate baseball…AND weaken the Red Sox and the rest of the division. If there were ever a must do deal for an established star, this is the one. Pitching is a premium, and elite starting pitching doesn’t get offered up everyday. Given, the Jays may be hesitant to deal with teams within their own division. However, who outside of the AL East can #1. afford the remaining $14+ million for the final year of Halladay’s contract in 2010, and #2. if the big boys are out of the running, do the Jays honestly believe that the mid-market teams will offer up nearly the quality of prospects when they know Boston and the New York teams aren’t in the running?

Lots of things going on in the great world of Major League Baseball…the Yankees finish up with Minnesota on Thursday, and head out west to take on their long time rivals, the Angels. I perhaps might catch a game on the left coast this weekend…we shall see!

As always, be good, take care of yourself, and take care of your buddy next to ya!