Pudge Rodriguez To The Yankees for Krazy Kyle

I had thought the Yankees were done dealing during this current MLB Trade Deadline, but when I arrived home from work yesterday and turned on ESPN News, my mouth dropped open.

Kyle Farnsworth had been having his best year as a Yankee, but with the addition of Damaso Marte and the emergence of Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and others, it seemed that Farnsworth was expendable. So he was traded to the Tigers for Ivan "Pudge" Rodrigeuz. The deal gives the Yankees a name-brand catcher to fill in for Jorge Posada, who had his surgery yesterday.

This trade really surprised me. I was expecting any additional deal the Yankees made this week to be for a pitcher. Posada's out for the year but, they need a pitcher more than they need a catcher! They can't possibly expect to get very far with Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson both in the rotation.

Pudge is an upgrade over Jose Molina, but at this point in his career, how big can that upgrade be? I think it's only a slight upgrade offensively, and defensively, it might even be a downgrade. But Brian Cashman didn't give up any prospects for Pudge, so it's not a terrible deal. So, goodbye Kyle, hello Pudge.

The Lady

Posada's Mind Is Changed For Him

It was announced early last night that Jorge Posada will, indeed, undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, thereby ending his attempt at a 15-day DL stint and rehab.

Posada never actually changed his mind. If it was up to him he would have continued trying to rehab the shoulder. What set things in motion toward the surgery was the trade the Yankees made over the weekend: The Yankees acquired OF Xavier Nady and LHP Damaso Marte from the Pirates in exchange for RHPs Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf and OF Jose Tabata. The key piece in this trade, as it relates to Posada, is Xavier Nady. Nady can easily replace Posada's right-handed bat in the line-up. Once Nady was inserted into the line-up, there was nothing more that Posada could do, other than go and have surgery.

Could the Yankees have been thinking of this when they made the deal? Had they been having trouble convincing Posada to go under the knife? The team needed a corner outfielder who is also a strong bat, but perhaps Posada was the reason that actually led to the Yankees pulling the trigger on the deal. In any case, I'm glad Jorge Posada is going to have his surgery now, and I hope he makes a successful comeback in 2009.

The Lady

[Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images]

Jorge Posada Makes A Bad Decision

So Jorge Posada's shoulder has landed him on the DL for the second time, both in his career and in this season. He needs surgery on the shoulder and, the sooner he has it the better. If he has it right away, he'll be able to come back and help the team earlier in the '09 season. If he has it later, there's a chance he won't be on the roster at all in '09.

Well, Posada has opted to put off the surgery, saying he wants to rehab the shoulder and try to come back and help the team this year. Really? Does he really want to help the Yankees? Based on how he behaved a few weeks ago, I'm not so sure.

You know what I'm talking about. The team was in Pittsburgh for that make up game against the Pirates and Posada announed how unhappy he was with the fact that he wasn't catching everyday: "...I am a catcher, not a first baseman or a DH....Everyone knows. I am happy playing but I like to catch.'' Now, Posada is one of the leaders on the Yankee ballclub. In fact, you could say that he is the de facto team captain. From everything we've ever heard about him, he is nothing but a team player. But when he comes out with a statement like this and then reinforces it with a decision to put off surgery, what kind of team player is he being? Not a very good one, in my opinion.

Posada looks stupid right now. First he has a virtual temper tantrum in Pittsburgh, acting like his shoulder was 100% and he had no problems throwing runners out. Now he's admitting that, not only does he have problems throwing runners out, the shoulder is affecting how he swings the bat.

The best thing for Jorge Posada to do is to shut it down completely, right now, and have season-ending surgery. Putting it off will only keep him out of the line-up for a longer period of time, in the long-run. It's that simple.

The Lady

Mike Mussina: League Leader

When this season began, Mike Mussina was expected to do next to nothing as far as contributing to any success the Yankees had this year. While talking about the pitching rotation, Hank Steinbrenner rattled off the names of Wang, Pettitte, Hughes and Kennedy and never even mention Moose's name. Well, now Wang, Hughes and Kennedy are on the DL and rotation includes names like Darrell Rasner and and Sidney Ponson. Mike Mussina is still in the rotation as well, but his name is no longer being left out.

Mussina is now tied for the AL lead in wins with 13. He has a 0.64 ERA over his last two starts with 13 strikeouts. Speaking of strikeouts, with the 81 he has for the year, he'll be sure to surpass his '07 total of 91. Many of his strikeouts are of the "called strike three" variety. But, of course, the biggest key to his succes is the fact that he's pitching inside more this year, something he'd refused to do in recent years. Ever the one to avoid a brawl, he's thrown that to the curb this year in order to help his team win, saving his career in the process.

If Moose can continue to pitch like this, I don't see why he wouldn't get an opportunity to pitch again next season, if he wants to, and why wouldn't he want to? Also, he does have an outside shot at 300 wins and, even if he doesn't get to 300, I can't believe he won't be in many Hall Of Fame discussions for years to come.

The Lady

A Minor League Sunday: SI Yanks @ Brooklyn Cyclones

At the beginning of the decade, minor league baseball came to Brooklyn and Staten Island with the creation of two teams: the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, part of the Mets organization, and the Class A Staten Island Yankees. Ever since then I've been meaning to go to a game and, on Sunday I finally did. My friend Paula and I saw the two teams play each other at Keyspan Park in Brooklyn.

The Baby Bombers lost the game 7-4, but to me, the score wasn't the main story. They could have lost 70-0 and I wouldn't have cared. No one goes (or should go) to a minor league game just for the game itself. You go to a minor league game for the atmosphere. I loved watching all the between-inning festivities, things like kids inside of huge, plastic bowling balls rolling themselves toward giant bowling pins, mascots dancing on top of dugouts, free tee-shirts being thrown into the crowd, condiment races down the left field line and birthday announcements galore. I did take pictures of everything and was planning to include them in this post, but unfortunately my camera had other ideas. So you'll just have to trust me on this one. Anyone who's never been to a minor league game should make it their business to go to one. If you're a Yankee fan and live in the tri-state New York area, you have your choice of the SI Yanks or the Trenton Thunder (double A). If you're a fan of another Major League team, go to your team's website and look for the link to their minor league affiliates. But, do it soon, because the seasons for a lot of these teams end before September gets here.

Have fun and enjoy the game!

The Lady

Red Sox "Occupation" At The Stadium

The 79th All Star Game at Yankee Stadium has to go down as one of the best in ASG History. The starters standing along side their Hall Of Fame counterparts during introductions, George Steinbrenner's surprise appearance, Joe Buck's acknowledgement of Bob Sheppard, and everything else was just great, including the revelation that Ichiro Suzuki gives an annual expletive-laden pep talk to his AL teammates just before the start of every mid-Summer classic.

About the only thing that grated on my nerves during this whole All Star Week, was the media's obsession with the Red Sox "taking over" Yankee Stadium. Way too much was made of Terry Francona occupying Joe Girardi's office, of the all the Red Sox in the starting line-up and about the fact that JD Drew, a Red Sox player, was the game's MVP. I was particularly annoyed with Jeanne Zelasko for talking about all of this garbage during her post-game interview with Drew. She ridiculously tried to tie together the story about the buried Sox jersey at the new stadium construction site with last night's game, bringing that up and then saying that the Red Sox gave the current Stadium a big send-off last night. Uh, hello? The season has another half to go, Jeanne. The Stadium didn't close it's doors last night. If an opposing team is going to give Yankee Stadium a "send-off," it'll be the Baltimore Orioles in September.

All-in-all, though, it was a wonderful night in the Bronx. I don't collect many DVDs, but if the 79th All Star Game makes it onto a disc, it's definitely going in my collection.

The Lady

Memories Of Bobby Murcer

Baseball was still unknown to me in 1965 when Bobby Murcer first donned the Yankee pinstripes, and by the time I discovered the game, he'd been traded to the San Francisco Giants. So when he returned in 1979 I had no fond memories of him. But I remember how happy everyone was to see him back in a Yankee uniform, and I remember feeling jealous, because I hadn't been able to experience the good times that he'd given to Yankee fans in the past.

Those next few years, which proved to be the last of his career, were not terrible ones, but they certainly were not all-star caliber. Being a relatively new baseball fan, I was unimpressed. I didn't understand why he was so beloved. I didn't understand that he had earned that love back in those glory years of the late '60s and early '70s.

Then he retired and moved into the broadcast booth. To me, he seemed in over his head. He was a fish out of water. He'll never make it, I thought. I was alone in my thoughts, it seemed. Even in the broadcast booth, he was the Beloved Bobby Murcer.

Yesterday, after the YES Network announced his passing, Joe Girardi and several players talked about Bobby. The common thread running through all their thoughts about him was that he was always positive and always smiling. YES Network commentators echoed those sentiments and it was difficult for them to maintain their composure as they did so. YES played clips of his playing days and his days in the booth. I was particularly taken with a clip of what was probably his last Old Timers Day appearance. He played left field and wore a mic, sharing the experience with all the viewers. I smiled as I watched, because it was then that I finally began to understand. I could finally see what a great human being he was. I was no longer alone in my thoughts. He was, indeed, the Beloved Bobby Murcer.

The Lady

The 'Stache Lives

Congratulations to Evan Longoria and Corey Hart winners of the 2008 All Star Game Final Vote. Alas, the Big G came in third in the AL voting. However, fret not Giambino fans. You can still support the 'stache. A company down in North Carolina is selling a tee-shirt with this cool picture on it:Buy it and you'll also be supporting a New York City charity.

Long live the 'stache!

The Lady

Support The 'Stache!

The Final Vote balloting closes tomorrow at 5 PM Eastern. If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for? Jason Giambi needs a rally to win this thing. So get out the vote!

To help things along, the Yankees will be giving out fake mustaches to the first 20,000 fans attending this afternoon's game against the Rays at The Stadium. Also, Giambi's candidacy has been endorsed by the American Mustache Institute.

Support the power of the 'stache!

The Lady

It's Final Vote Time

The starters have been announced for this year's All Star Game at Yankee Stadium and the reserves have been chosen. Well, all except one (in each league). The Final Vote is now underway and ends on Thursday, July 10th at 5 PM Eastern. I'm voting for Jason Giambi, and if you're smart, you will, too!

The Lady

Girardi's Faith In Melky Comes Back To Bite Him

I've declared my undying support for Melky Cabrera about a dozen times here on Lady At The Bat. My anger at those who have wanted to rip the pinstripes off his back and send him off to Minnesota for Johan Santana or, now, to Cleveland for CC Sabathia, is well-documented here. But, sometimes support means taking things away from someone.

Last night, with the Yankees trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth and nobody out, Rangers closer CJ Wilson walked Wilson Betamit on four pitches. Alberto Gonzalez came in to run for Betamit. The next batter was Melky Cabrera. As much as I love the guy, I know that he's in the midst of a terrible slump. I assumed that Joe Girardi would either pinch hit for Melky or would have him bunt. I'm sure I wasn't alone in my thoughts. Everyone and his uncle was thinking the same thing.

But no, everyone wasn't thinking the same thing. One very important person wasn't thinking it: Joe Girardi. With Derek Jeter on the bench last night, Girardi sent a slumping Melky Cabrera up to the plate. There was no bunt. Melky took the first two pitches for strikes and then hit into a double play.

Girardi later explained his reasoning: he had lefty hitters coming up after Melky and they hadn't done well against the Rangers closer in the past.

Well okay, but why not send Derek Jeter up to bat for Melky? Besides, two of those lefties were Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu. Right now, I'd rather see Damon or Abreu up in the bottom of the ninth inning (even if they're 0-50 against a left-handed closer) instead of Melky Cabrera.

Girardi has said, "Melky is our centerfielder." But that faith in his centerfielder came back and bit him in the ass last night.

The Lady