The Bullpen, B.J. Ryan, Tex is Giambi, and the Halladay Sweepstakes

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!