The Sommer Frieze

Yanks lose to the Pirates in S.T. action today, 10-5. CC went 4 2/3, 3 R, 3 H,  2 walks, 2 K but he and Girardi were happy with his progress. You look for things other than stats in S.T., especially from trusted veterans.

However Albaladejo was awful again. Girardi took Alby north at the end of camp both in 2008 and 2009, but I can’t see it happening this year. Girardi says the sink isn’t there. Joe apparently likes Albaladejo, but his spring has been brutal. For example, CC’s numbers, although not great, are inflated because Albaladejo couldn’t seal the deal. Come in with 2 out, get that last out. Instead, the inherited runners scored, adding 2 runs to CC’s stats. Then Alby gave up 3 more. So instead of 1 run charged to CC, it was 3. Alby gave up 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning. 3 hits. One walk. ERA for S.T. of 45.00 so far. Stats don’t matter too much, but 45.00?

When the Yanks signed Chan Ho Park, room had to be made on the 40 man roster. Edwar Ramirez was DFA’d and eventually dealt to Texas. I know that Bronx Baseball Daily had a poll, Edwar or Albaladejo. Did the Yanks keep the wrong guy?

Melancon pitched a scoreless inning. 1 hit, 2 K. Surely a midseason callup if there is an injury in the bullpen. Dustin Moseley gave up 3 in 1 inning, Ivan Nova 1 in 1 IP.   

Nick Johnson HR’d in that 10-5 loss. Good stick so far. Will he turn on some power? He seems to have won the #2 slot. It appears that the lineup will look like this:

Jeter SS, Nick Johnson DH, Teixeira 1B, Alex 3B, Cano 2B, Posada C, Granderson CF or LF, Swisher RF and Gardner LF. Winn could be in the mix for LF, as could be Thames. If Thames plays, you could have a guy hitting 9th capable of 20 HR a year if he gets regular playing time.

The key is Cano in the 5 spot. He hit .320-25-85 last year, but imagine what those stats could have been like if he hit with RISP. With 2 outs and RISP, he only hit .204. It was .207 overall with RISP.

So it would be R/L/S/R/L/S/L/S/then L (Gardner) or R (Winn or Thames). Of course if Granderson continues to struggle vs. Lefties, Thames and his power could hit 7th and Granderson could be dropped to 9th, which wouldn’t be so bad…his speed in front of Jeter.

The Yanks sent Zach McAllister down. Expected. He’ll start at AAA and could be a callup if he does well and someone is injured.  

Check Bronx Baseball Daily for a nice piece by regular reader Jason who writes about Jesus Montero.

Looks like Boston has trouble with Dice-K. A stiff neck means he probably isn’t good to go north with the club. Meanwhile Baltimore as 2B trouble as Brian Roberts’ back is acting up.

NBA News: More trouble for Boston. Beat by Cleveland. 17-18 in the last 35. They seem to have gotten old and mediocre overnight.   

NFL news: NY gets a new LT. The Giants had Lawrence Taylor. Today, LaDainian Tomlinson signs a deal with the Jets.

Meanwhile, days after signing Jake Delhomme to a deal, the Browns deal Brady Quinn to Denver. 

March Madness begins as Kansas, Ky, Syracuse and Duke are the #1 seeds. Lehigh, not far from where I live, has the unenviable task of taking on the Jayhawks. Temple has Cornell, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cornell pull off an upset. Villanova is seeded #2 in the South (Duke #1) with ND #6. Let the “Madness” begin.