Today’s news is powered by Nat Bailey Stadium’s “Sushi Race”:
- Jose Veras has been traded to the Indians for the ubiquitous “cash considerations”.
[My take: And you thought the Yankees had question marks in THEIR bullpen?]
- The return of Cody Ransom!:
Cody Ransom, who played 15 games for New York before he suffered a severe right quadriceps injury, was reinstated from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and rejoined the club at Turner Field.
In a corresponding move, Angel Berroa was designated for assignment.
“This was tough, just because I’d never been on the DL,” Ransom said. “I’d never been hurt. This was something new. Once I started playing games, it was better.”
Ransom struggled as he filled in for Rodriguez, who was coming back from right hip surgery performed on March 9 and would not return to the lineup until early May.
Ransom batted .180 (9-for-50) before he was injured running the bases in an April 24 game at Fenway Park, and later, he revealed that the quadriceps had bothered him since Spring Training.
[My take: DFAing Berroa is definitely “addition by subtraction”, regardless of what Ransom can provide.]
- Brian Cashman showed up in Atlanta:
What Cashman is in Atlanta to achieve is getting the Yankees — losers of nine out of their past 13 — back on track. Too early to seriously engage in the trade market, the GM believes that the answers to their offensive woes are all currently within the clubhouse.
“We’re struggling right now, mostly with the bats,” Cashman said. “It’s not going to last, I promise you that. We’re too good for it to last. The last three weeks of poor play is mostly to do with our offense. We’ve got to get our offense going. We’re pitching real well, but unfortunately, we’re letting that good pitching go to waste.”
- Yet ANOTHER way you can watch the B0mbers (not for free of course):
MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) has entered into a partnership with the YES Network and Cablevision to provide live YES Network Yankees telecasts to eligible Cablevision customers throughout the Yankees home broadcasting territory. The offering, which will be implemented through an authentication process managed by Cablevision and MLBAM, will be available to Cablevision customers who subscribe to the Family Cable (expanded basic) level of television service and Optimum Online.
The Yankees on YES package, available for a one-time fee of $49.95 for the remainder of the season, or for $19.95 for any 30-day period, is scheduled to launch at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 8, with the YES Network’s Yankees-Twins broadcast from the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
- Tyler Kepner wonders what is contributing to A-Rod’s subpar performance to this point this year:
I looked at this issue in Tuesday’s analysis, and to me it’s the crux of what the Yankees face with Rodriguez for the last eight and a half years of his contract. How can they know what to expect when they don’t know how much his past was influenced by steroids? Because right now, he sure looks as if he could use the kind of energy boost that steroids once gave him.
Rodriguez has one hit in his last 23 at-bats. He is 9 for 63 (.143) in June. He has one homer away from Yankee Stadium. He is not making standout plays in the field. Is he simply bound to have a bad season?
. . . the Yankees attached their fortunes to Rodriguez when they welcomed him back for another decade after he opted out of his contract in 2007, and as he goes, they go.
Rodriguez won the Most Valuable Player award in ’07, knowing he could opt out of his deal and cash in. His hip was sturdy then, and he was two years younger. Those are very important points.
But given his past – a different kind of history than the one Girardi cited – what do the Yankees really know about how Rodriguez achieved those 2007 numbers? Is something close to that season attainable again, or was that a mirage fueled by chemicals?
- Here are the Minor League Transactions for the past week, including news on Todd Linden:
One of the International League’s most productive batters this season, Linden left the Triple-A Dunder-Mifflin Yankees to pursue a career in the Japanese major leagues. He signed a deal with the Pacific League’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a name almost as unwieldy as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, for whom Linden batted .312/.381/.515 with seven home runs and 17 doubles in 60 games. A 29-year-old, switch-hitting Lousiana State product, Linden has posted a strong .875 OPS in 2,274 at-bats at the Triple-A level, but he’s struggled to transfer that success to the big leagues.
- If you have a few minutes to spare, go check out this really fun “infographic” baseball website.
- Mike Stanley turns 46 today. The power-hitting catcher compiled a .285/.377/.504 line with the Bombers over five seasons. His 26 HR, 84 RBI, .305 campaign in 1993 garnered him some MVP votes.
- Bob Shirley turns 55 today. Shirley was a non-descript swingman for the Yanks between 1983 and 1987.
- On this date in 1967, heavyweight contender Joe Frazier supposedly makes the following statement, in the context of wanting to hold a clinic to teach baseball players how to fight. “All they do is hurt themselves instead of the other guy,” he said from his training camp. “Look at Joe Pepitone. He banged up his hands without getting a punch across. Baseball players should know about combinations as well as double plays.” Frazier said he would hold a clinic on a day when the Yankees are off.
- On this date in 1971, the Expos trade Ron Swoboda back to New York – the Yankees, that is. The Expos receive OF Ron Woods.
- On this date in 1984, at Yankee Stadium, Dave Winfield hits five singles and drives in four runs to lead New York to a 7 – 3 win over Detroit. Winfield has three five-hit games this month, tying a record set by Ty Cobb.
- On this date in 1999, in Baltimore’s 9 – 8 loss to the Yankees, the O’s Jesse Orosco makes his 1,051th relief appearance, to break Kent Tekulve’s major league record.
God bless Mike Stanley, what a big help he was to the 93-95 teams. I always wished the Yanks had hung onto him longer. He was a fantastic hitter, and a fine enough catcher. Particularly at a time when the Yanks consistently got near-zero offensive production out of 2B and SS (and sometimes other spots), having a catcher who mashed like Stanley did made a huge difference.
No offense to Girardi, but I wonder sometimes what the 96-99 teams - especially the '98 juggernaut - would have looked like with a Stanley/Posada combo behind the plate instead of the Girardi/Posada combo we saw instead.
Kepner's musings are deplorable. Besides the fact that in 2007 we know Arod was not on whatever he was taking with the Rangers (he would have definitely failed a drug test if he had been), you'd think Kepner would able to see that Arod is not in need of an "energy boost", but rather rest to help his surgically repaired hip heal. You'd also think Kepner would understand that Arod simply being back is an accomplishment and that having him play everyday would be a challenge to superman.
When "journalists" like Kepner spout such ignorance, it actually makes me root for newspapers to go out of business.
[2]
When “journalists” like Kepner spout such ignorance, it actually makes me root for newspapers to go out of business. . .
=======================
. . . but then we'd be left with guys blogging from the basements of their mother's houses ... :-)
Those flipflopflyball infographics are beautiful, Diane, thanks!
[2] Agreed.
And I'd add: no analysis so far has shown any significant performance gain from steroid use. Why are we supposed to believe that the best hitter in baseball could descend into utter mediocrity by getting off the juice?
wow, that tyler kepner piece is one giant load of dog poo-poo. what a friggin' hack.
[2] The line between reporting and analysis in the modern media is often blurred a bit too much for my liking . . . but here, I think its besides the point.
Kepner's musings are in a post on the Times' Bats blog, and not in his beat column. Kepner is usually one of the really good beat reporters, but as we've seen many times (PeteAbe), those guys sometimes offer poor analysis. Understandably so - analyzing isn't their job, its something they try to do because they have blogs. It doesn't bother me. I don't go to Kepner or PeteAbe for their analysis, any more than I read Cliff or Joe Sheehan to find out what's going on inside the Yankee clubhouse.
With his track record, and particularly because this was in the Bats blog, not his beat column, I'm willing to give Kepner a bit of a pass on what I consider to be silly speculation. No close-minded, righteous-spouting fool is he. Make a logical case to him, and he'll definitely consider it.
no analysis so far has shown any significant performance gain from steroid use. Why are we supposed to believe that the best hitter in baseball could descend into utter mediocrity by getting off the juice?
Because it makes good copy, and it panders to the lowest common denominator?
For every Sammy Sosa, there's an Alex Sanchez, for every Rafael Palmiero, there's a Matt Lawton. And don't forget that according to Tom House, steroids have been in the game since the 60's & 70's...
[2] i think what kepner is saying is that we really don't know what to expect from players like arod once they're presumably off steroids. i'm not exactly sure why you think you know that all arod needs is rest and why you think that that, unlike what kepner suggests, is not just speculation. i'm also not sure why you think that there's no possible way he was on any illegal drugs in 07. because he wasn't caught?
we can all disagree about what effect steroids actually have on baseball players, but i think we can agree that we don't know. that seems to be all kepner is saying, and until arod proves he can perform as well as he used to, those questions will remain, and i certainly think they're legitimate.
[4] Why are we supposed to believe that the best hitter in baseball could descend into utter mediocrity by getting off the juice?
Well, one could make the argument that the juice either contributed to a long-term health condition, or that coming off the juice is somehow related to an injury (maybe A-Rod compensating led to his hip...).
Kepner's arguments are, however, pretty awful. There is no real need to go fishing for a conspiracy-like explanation when the obvious explanation is right before us: A-Rod is slumping because he is hurt.
[9] Well, I don't know about that as an argument. If you mean speculation, okay.
[8] My only comment on this topic, and then I will duck as the shrapnel begins to fly:
My biggest source of anger with the "steroid issue" is that an entire generation of players (and complicit owners, to be sure) created an atmosphere in which such questions will always remain: every time a star begins to fade, every time a new record is set, every time a player has a surprisingly good season, the first thing we will all think is PEDs. A certain trust has been ruptured.
I posted on this before when the A-Roid story broke.
And yes, I know, we don't how much greenies, etc. affected the game before. Yes, it's hypocritical that this issue and era are singled out, etc. I get it. But the reality is that this particular generation in a particular historical context, is shrouded in doubt and mistrust. The only real question is whether or how long, once all of these players retire, will such doubts and assumptions remain?
[10] Fair enough.
[11]
Well said!
Given the now never-ending quest to find the "next" PED, I doubt the game (or sports in general) will EVER be clean.
By the way, this is a FASCINATING article on Marlon Byrd continuing to use products from Victor Conte's company.
http://tinyurl.com/kp7bjk
[8] The reason I think Arod needs rest is because two leading orthopedic surgeons suggested that he does.
The reason I don’t think Arod was doing anabolic steroids in 2007 is because MLB has had testing in place since 2004.
I have a basis for my claims; Kepner does not.
The fact that we know A-Rod used some sort of substance for an extended period of time (at the minimum 3 years), coupled with this being on Kepner's blog and not in a published column (a very important distinction in my mind) makes it not bother me all that much.
A-Rod is clearly not playing at 100%, we all know that. But it is not entirely unreasonable to observe that there is at least a possibility that his past PED use has contributed to his current health issues.
[15] Even if you wanted to make the argument that steroids led to his hip condition, that isn't what Kepner did. Instead, he writes about needing the "energy boost that steroids once gave him", which implies that this is the first time he has been without that "energy boost". What's more, it seems to suggest as if steroids provide a magic jolt, like pacman gobbling a power pellet.
[14] everyone thinks arod needs rest. that doesn't mean that that's his only problem. i do think we need to evaluate his performance after he gets more rest, but i don't think that means we can say steroids have nothing to do with it, or that it's ridiculous to even bring it up.
and are you seriously contending that only those players who have been caught since 2004 were taking steroids?
arod used to be on steroids. he wasn't caught until this offseason. then he had a somewhat odd hip injury and is now playing like shit. but kepner has no basis for simply wondering whether steroids had anything to do with all this?
[17]
This is the same type of injury suffered by Lowell and Utley, but I haven't heard any 'PED' scuttlebutt about them.
I believe that Will Carroll has shot down any connection between this type of injury and steroid use, but don't hold me to that.
[17] Anabolic steroids? Yes, I am saying it is highly unlikely that any player tested since 2004 has been taking steroids. That doesn't mean they aren't taking HGH, but we do know that the link between HGH and performance enhancement is very weak, at best.
Once again, Kepner isn't wondering if steroids indirectly led to the hip injury. He is wondering if Arod is slumping because he needs his "energy boost". That kind of speculation is pure BS.
[18] Add Delgado to the list as well. This kind of injury is very common for athletes who "swing" for a living, but I guess it's more juicy to attribute it to steroids.
[19] seems to me he's really just wondering whether he'll ever be the same as he used to be. maybe he's focusing on the current slump, but i don't think his main point is that arod is slumping right now just because he doesn't have his steroids.
i do not agree with your belief that only the players who have failed drug tests since 2004 were on steroids in that period (or even that all players who passed tests in that span have been clean throughout). i hope it's true, but i doubt it.
[21] I also don't believe all players tested have been clean since 2004, but considering the strength of MLB's testing, it would be very unlikely that they could have been using anabolic steroids and not test positive (unless you think MLB rigged the tests). Now, they could have been using HGH or some other alleged PED, but I make the distinction because only anabolic steroids have a demonstrated link to performance enhancement.
I come from an industry where the term "ped" refers to a short sock...
They're called "no-shows" now.
: )
I would argue Cashman is in Atlanta to eat with A-Rod at Bone's...
http://www.bonesrestaurant.com/
: )
@22
What evidence of performance enhancement are you referring to? Is it evidence of baseball performance, specifically? Are there any articles published in refereed journals supporting this hypothesis? I'm not arguing with you, just interested.
[23]
But a short sock is apparently all A-Rod is capable of now ...
(ba-dum-bum)
[25] The key word that I used was "link" because studies do show that anabolic steroids enhance muscle building, which some could argue indirectly enhances performance. HGH, on the other hand, shows no such indirect link.
[26] Oh, that's much better than a no-show... unless of course you're trying to upgrade your Yankee Stadium Tickets...
heh heh
: )
[27] I don't think it's indirect. If you're stronger, you're liable to hit the ball harder. The harder you hit it, the more likely you won't make an out.
[29] That's not necessarily true