Yankees Update 17/05/09

A Better Week

After going 1-5 in the previous week, the Yankees have gone 5-1 with a 4 game winning streak this week to bring them a couple of games over .500. The week started with closing out the Baltimore series with a win, then taking 2 from 3 in Toronto and winning the first 2 games of the Minnesota series at home. They need to do the same again in the coming week against Baltimore and the rest of the Minnesota series, but also the Philadelphia.

Philadelphia? Yes I guess it's that time of year when inter-league play begins.

Trading Minor League Arms

The Yankees DFA'ed Eric Hacker and ended up having to trade him to the Pirates. It's a bit of a drag because Hacker was showing signs that he could contribute to the big league down the track. The pitcher they got back in return is Romulo Sanchez.

I've been playing 'ML Front Office' on my PS3 lately and I've been 'rebuilding the Pirates'. Rebuilding the Pirates meant basically sweeping out the cupboard and keeping only the players with some ceiling. Sanchez is a guy I've kept; and if it hadn't been for the game, I would have no idea who he was.

Johnny Damon On Fire

Walk-year candidate for a special season Johnny Damon has been on fire. He's leading the Yankees in AVG, Homers, Runs and RBIs thus far. I doubt they'd bring him back, but you never know. It's hard to say just who is going to be out there as a LF candidate this off-season. The smart money is on Matt Holliday, but he's been pretty crap to date with a 250/.316/.403 line.

While just under a quarter of a season doesn't really mean much, I'd want to see more than a .719 OPS playing in the AL West from Holliday before I feel like he's a great investment for multiple years.

Somebody Else's Problem Now

I can't help but notice that Randy Johnson is having some diffculty getting to his 300wins. Once upon a time he looked like he wasn't that far away from it, pitching in Pinstripes, but we know how that went. It's sort of funny to see him trying for San Francisco where they continue to invest in old hands.

As of this writing, Johnson is still on 298 and lost to the Mets. Just for the record, his ERA right now is 6.86. That sure sounds familiar.