The Yankees aren’t nearly as fun to watch when Alex Rodriguez isn’t playing. Least for me they’re not. His at bats are Must See TV. I don’t know if the same can be said for anyone else in the lineup. Not that I don’t enjoy watching the other guys hit, but if I didn’t like the Yankees, would I really stop and watch Bobby Abreu or Jason Giambi or Hideki Matsui? Which got me to thinking: What are the Must See AB’s for you? The guys you’ll stop and watch even if you aren’t a fan of the team they play for? Dudes that immediately jump to mind include: Miguel Cabrera, Sheff, Manny, Ortiz, Vlad, David Wright, Ichiro, Pujols, Chipper, Junior and Hanley Ramirez.

Rodriguez is scheduled to rejoin the team in Chicago tonight, but is not expected to play, as the Yanks go for the sweep. Kid Hughes time. And here’s a quick scouting report Cliff sent me:

On the mound for the Sox will be 25-year-old righty Gavin Floyd. Floyd, a member of the Reggie Cleveland All-Stars, was the Phillies’ forth overall pick in the 2001 draft and zipped up to the majors in just his third professional season, but struggled in both triple-A and the majors in 2005 and 2006. He was then flipped to the Sox in the Freddy Garcia deal along with lefty Gio Gonzalez, who has since been sent to the A’s in the Nick Swisher trade. Floyd again struggled in the majors last year, but slipped into the rotation at the end of August in place of rookie John Danks and turned in five quality starts in six tries (though his teammates scored just two runs per game for him, resulting in a 0-3 record and a 1-5 team performance in those six starts). With Jon Garland now an Angel, that performance helped Floyd win the fifth-starters spot out of camp this spring, and he is off to a strong start, with three quality starts in three tries, a 1.40 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and, thanks to 5 2/3 runs per game of support, a 2-0 record thus far.

Floyd has faced the Yanks just once before, that coming in mop-up relief last year (Floyd entered that game with his team trailing 11-3 and left three innings later down 16-3).

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!