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The Yankees have agreed to a deal with free agent Mark Teixeira on a 8-year, $180 million contract. Can I hear World Series 2009? We were already the favorites after the Sabathia and Burnett signings and this move certainly gives us another huge boost. It’s a great day in Yankee land and I for one am ready for that 27th championship and the end to this World Series drought.

Ian Kennedy has been sent down to the minors after another abysmal performance in the bigs. The Yankees used the option they had when they called him up, which will send the young pitcher to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. He is being told to focus more on improving his pitches than winning games in the minors.

And with that the Yankees are left with the same hole in the rotation that we had prior to Chamberlain’s injury. Who will take the spot is still uncertain as there really aren’t any great options left. In place of Kennedy, the Yankees called up Billy Traber to help out the exhausted bullpen, so again the rotation seems to be one short. Darrell Rasner may jump back in after making a few starts earlier this season, but he hasn’t been playing very well lately. If it isn’t Rasner, then it will probably be, gulp, Kei Igawa or Carl Pavano. Sadly, that is the state our pitching staff is currently in.

On the bright side, Chamberlain is scheduled to start a throwing program this Wednesday as he eagerly anticipates returning to the team that needs him so much. Hideki Matsui is also getting better, as he ran the bases today. Let’s just hope we can stay alive before these two can get in and give us the boost we so severly need. Stay tuned to this blog for more information on who the starter for Wednesday will be. Anyone have any suggestions that haven’t already been thrown out?

Just like always, the Yankees aren’t willing to settle for less than a championship this year. Thank god we have management that always wants to win. With the trade deadline approaching, Cashman’s crew was busy once more despite some suggestions not too long ago that it was time to call it quits for 2008. What they came up with will certainly be a nice help for this year and thankfully not too big a hit for the future.

First off I want to say that Cashman hasn’t sold out. He is still sticking by our young prospects and the fact that we still have Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes shows that. This move does send away prospects, but without them the farm system is far from depleted. We still have good depth at their positions and it really shouldn’t be a big hit. Add that with the fact that Nady and Marte are in their prime and not on the downhill just yet, and this move makes a lot of sense for us.

The prospects we will part with are Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Phil Coke, and George Kontos. Kontos and Coke aren’t likely to become anything special, although Tabata and Ohlendorf certainly seem to have a future. Tabata is considered one of the best athletes in the organization, but he is an outfielder, a position that we have a huge abundance at. Add that with the fact that he is struggling this year and that Nady is also an outfielder, and it doesn’t seem that bad to let him go. Nady will be a great addition to the squad, as he will certainly help the struggling lineup. He bats right-handed as well, which is a big plus since most of our bats are lefties at the moment. He will also be some good insurance should we choose to let Abreu walk next year.

Ross Ohlendorf showed some good potential this year, but the Yankees have a lot of good arms in the farm system, but most just aren’t ready yet. Marte gives us someone who can help the team right now, in a bullpen that will welcome him. With a cohort of young pitchers and the extensive resources we have, I am not too worried about our pitching situation in the future.

So, that’s basically what the trade is all about. Of course everyone won’t agree with my views, but I believe that letting go of these prospects was worth it, especially considering what we got in return and what we have left. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about keeping a strong farm system, but sometimes you just have to let some guys go if you want to win in the present (if we did a deal like IPK for Fuentes, as the Rockies are supposedly seeking, then I would be 100% against it, but looking at who we lost and who we got, it certainly isn’t bad.) Although the 2008 Yankees have received a lot of scrutiny this year with predictions that we wouldn’t make it in the ultra-competitive AL East, I think that we do still have a chance and I am glad to know that the organization feels similarly.

Update: Instead of George Kontos and Phil Coke, the Pirates will be receiving Dan McCutchen and Jeff Karstens. Apparently they had a choice of two players out of a pool of several (including Kontos and Coke) and decided to go with Karstens and McCutchen. It really isn’t that big a deal because none of them are anywhere near big prospects and chances are none of them will have a big impact in the future.

After another victory tonight, the Yankees have extended their win streak to 5 (and the home streak to 9.) With a Tampa loss, we sit only 3.5gb with a 55-45 record. Tomorrow is the last game of the series against the Twins and after that the Yanks have a day off before starting a series with Boston (who are only 2.5 games ahead of us [likely to go to three later tonight as the BoSox are winning right now] at this point for the wildcard.) The Yankees are far from out of it and if we can keep the momentum going we could see ourselves in second or maybe even first place in less than a week. So, who said that the Yankees are done for this year?

Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the Yankees have agreed to a tentative deal with Richie Sexson. With the offense doing not-so-well, Cashman seems to think that Sexson may be able to help us. The Yanks are going to be paying him the minimum, so if it doesn’t work out then oh well. The main reason that he is appealing is because he bats right-handed, which can certainly be useful for the lineup. We have struggled against left-handed pitchers all year and Sexson may be able to help out that cause a bit. I know Sexson isn’t nearly what he used to be, but I think we should give him a shot (atleast until he starts to play poorly) because there is a [slight] chance that he might help out the team a bit, just look at how the Ponson signing is working out so far.

Last night’s home run derby was certainly one for the ages as it was the first and last at Yankee Stadium and Josh Hamilton continued his inspirational comeback with an amazing night. He ended up coming in second since the last round resets the home run count, but I think in the minds of most he was the true winner. Even Justin Mourneu, who officially won, admitted that Hamilton was the big show of the night.

The 27-year-old Ranger hit home run after home run in the first round, breaking Bobby Abreu’s record of 24 by 4. Not only that, but most of those blasts were far and high, going to the back of the stands on a regular basis. The crowd was going crazy and chanting “Ha-mil-ton, Ha-mil-ton, Ha-mil-ton.” The star of the night later said that the sights and sounds of the fans at Yankee Stadium chanting his name like that sent chills through his body. Who would have seen this coming just one year ago?

It was a truly spectacular event and for those who haven’t seen footage from it, you really must. It was a great derby, one that will be remembered for years and one that is certainly very fitting for the last year at Yankee.

A sad day it is in the Yankee universe as one of the most memorable figures passed away today. Bobby Murcer, Yankees player and broadcaster passed away today at the age of 62. Our condolences to his family. This is a terrible lose for baseball in general. More on Murcer and his life coming soon…

Update: Here is the official statement by the Yankees, which includes more about the great personality and his life.

C.C. Sabathia is on his way out of Cleveland as the team traded the ace. But wait. I didn’t say it was to the Yankees. Instead, the Indians went to the other league and reached an agreement with the Brewers. In exchange Milwaukee is giving up (you guessed it) prospects including Matt LaPorta. The Indians, who are in last place, have a slim chance of making the playoffs this year and they knew that, which is why they dealt the Cy Young winner. Sabathia’s contract is up at the end of the season and this way the Indians get atleast something in return (it is very unlikely that they would be able to sign him for the type of money he is seeking.)

The Brewers on the other hand are not legit competitors in the NL Central, where they are currently 3.5 games behind the Cubs. If the playoffs were to start today the Brew Crew would get the wildcard and they are hoping that the addition of C.C. will keep them in the race for the playoffs and perhaps even help them rocket past the Cubs.

As for the Yankees, this will end all speculation about trading for Sabathia. It was very unlikely anyway due to how much Cashman doesn’t want to trade prospects. I for one am glad that this ended like this so that we don’t have to repeat everything we went through with the Johan Santana situation last year.

Due to rain tonight’s game has been postponed to July 10th at 7:05EST. The game went to the top of third (Yankees batting) with two outs and no one on base before the rain started to come down. Current score is 3-1, Yanks, thanks to two doubles and a triple in the 1st. One of those doubles is by Derek Jeter, who now has a hit in 14 straight games. Moose is looking good so far, with 2 Ks and only three hits allowed in the first two innings. That’s about it for the action tonight, we will have to wait a couple of weeks to see how it all unfolds.

Let’s see if we can start another win streak today after our last one was snapped yesterday. Dan Giese is the man we are all looking to as he makes his first career start, due to the injured Chien-Ming Wang. From what we have seen of him thus far in relief he has been consistent and good. The Reds are starting an inexperienced pitcher too (Daryl Thompson), so that should help too.

Here is the lineup for the New York Yankees:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Giese P

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