http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/1042 Recent articles about Darrell Rasner en-us Joba Chamberlain is heading to the DL, but he actually received some good news as well. Ian Kennedy will get another shot in the rotation in the meantime while a former Yankee is enjoying his short time with his new team in the NL. Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:28:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302313 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302313 As the long baseball season winds down to its final month, there is nothing more beneficial to a team in the pennant race than being able to call up impact players from the minors. And, the Yankees may have more than a few players who can help in their pursuit of a post-season berth in 2008 such as Scott Strickland, Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson, Phil Hughes and, yes, Carl Pavano. With Darrell Rasner not pitching well of late and Joba Chamberlain on his way to see Dr. James Andrews, the Yankees need help in their rotation. While many teams would be in a great deal of trouble in trying to replace 2/5 of their rotation, the Yankees have formidable options. Out of the group of starters previously listed, Kennedy is the most ready, as he has posted a 4-2 record with a 2.14 ERA in 46 1/3 innings recording 38 strikeouts while sporting a 0.91 WHIP. Based on Kennedy not having any injuries like the other starters and pitching very well at AAA, expect him to get the call first. Not too far behind Kennedy, and depending on the diagnosis of Chamberlain, lies Hughes and the inept Pavano. While both are just beginning their rehab assignments, I expect them both to be on the fast track to helping the Yankees either as a starter or as a long man out of the pen with Hughes receiving the call before Pavano. In the bullpen, every team can always use a quality arm to record critical outs in their final month of play. The Yankees might have that in the 32 year old journeyman Strickland. Strickland has been spectacular at AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre with a 3-0 record. In 56 innings, Strickland has a 2.57 ERA while recording a very impressive 61 strikeouts in addition to a 1.04 WHIP with 9 saves. Finally, the OF and bench can use a young and talented jolt in Jackson. Jackson, the AA CF of the Trenton Thunder, may be in a little over his head at the big league level making the two level jump and only being 21. However, bringing him up could serve a great deal of value to his development. Currently at AA, Jackson has a solid .297 average in 110 games with 9 HR, 61 RBI, 14 SB and a .372 OBP. While these options may not seem like much to Yankee fans, these players would be viable choices for any contending team. The only difference would be the varying over/under assumptions in days of how long it would take for Pavano to hurt himself on the way to the ballpark. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:14:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302179 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/302179 I will admit up front I did not see Sunday's thrilling 14-9 come-from-behind victory by the Yankees over the Angels. The golf course was calling my name, and I listened. Anyway, there is one thing about Sunday's game I can comment on. It absolutely has to be Darrell Rasner's last start. It's time for Ian Kennedy [...] Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:23:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300477 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300477 I will admit up front I did not see Sunday's thrilling 14-9 come-from-behind victory by the Yankees over the Angels. The golf course was calling my name, and I listened. Anyway, there is one thing about Sunday's game I can comment on. It absolutely has to be Darrell Rasner's last start. It's time for Ian Kennedy [...] Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:23:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300477 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300477 The following is commentary from today's (8/3) Sunday MLB on TBS broadcast between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the New York Yankees with announcers Chip Caray and Ron Darling. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** LA of Anaheim Angels (9) @ NY Yankees (14) Announcers: Chip Caray (play-by-play) and Ron Darling (analyst) Studio: Marc Fein Darling on NY Yankees starting pitcher Darrell Rasner's first inning struggles: He is a sinker/slider type pitcher. It's almost like he is too strong at the beginning of the game. His pitches tend to be out of the strike zone or flatten out a bit...It looks like he is trying to aim his pitches. You can never do that, you have to let them go. Darling on the Angels aggressive approach to running the bases: What makes it so unusual is that this Angels team has a lot of power, but they still play kind of smallish baseball. Darling on Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick, who has batted .500 against them in his career: (Howie) Kendrick, whom they (the Angels) believe is a future batting champion, that's how they feel about him. Caray: I think the Yankees feel the same way. Darling on the Yankees addition of outfielder Xavier Nady and left-handed reliever Demaso Marte: (Xavier) Nady could be the (former Yankees third baseman) Scott Brosius of this team; just the study guy, doesn't say much just gets the job done...but Demaso Marte, they really needed that addition, they haven't had a left-handed in their bullpen really all season long. Darling Angels third baseman Chone Figgins: In my opinion Chone Figgins is one of the most valuable players in this league, (he) does everything for this Angels, and they are arguably the best team in baseball going from first to third. they always are pushing the envelope. Darling on team's not protecting their farm system and trading for 'name' players: I think you suffer a lot more from stries - histories and salaries. You're always going to pay off of what people have done, not what they are going to do in the future. Darling on the Milwaukee Brewers: Of course (starting pitchers) Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia, when those two don't win in Milwaukee they look very ordinary as a team. Darling on Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu getting thrown out at third in the fourth inning before shortstop Derek Jeter scored at home: Bad play by Abreu...Just amazing to me when you see a guy (like Bobby Abreu) that has that much experience in the game; has seen it all, done it all, and occasionally has that bonehead kind of play, no other way to describe it. Darling on the NY Mets pitching woes: John Maine, their sturdy right-hander who's had a solid season, now is going to be put on the DL with shoulder stiffness/soldier strain, and Billy Wagner is going to have another MRI, his second in the last couple of weeks. Caray: That's not a good category to lead Closers in. Darling on NY Yankees outfielder Xavier Nady, who's three-run HR in the seventh inning gave the Yankees an 8-5 lead: When you look at Xavier Nady, he was a very popular player when he was with the Mets a few seasons ago. I think for (NY Yankees GM) Brain Cashman when he goes to trade for players, especially every day players, it is always nice to know that they have played in New York, had success in New York and was a popular player in New York, even though it was for just a short time with the Mets. Caray on the high-scoring seesaw battle between the Yankees and Angels: If this is a playoff preview, Ron Darling, boy have we had a great game to watch today. Darling: What a great game, almost like a boxing match; toe-to-toe, these teams going back and forth. Caray on the third error by the Angels in the eighth inning, fourth overall, giving the Yankees a 10-9 lead: A nightmarish inning for Chone Figgins at third. It should have been two (a double play), they got none, Yankees back in front. Caray on the Angels blowing leads of 5-0, and 9-8: They've had a Halo of a time finishing off the Yankees today. Source: TBS Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29). Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:13:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300353 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/300353 Screaming Sports' Andrew Thibodeau breaks out the MLB Waiver Wire and runs downs a list of five potential fantasy studs. If you're looking for that extra edge this week and beyond, then this gem is for you. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:26:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294229 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/294229 So far, the Red Sox have beaten the Yankees by a combined score of 13-4. The Yankees were so beaten so badly, that you could have heard "Let's Go Red Sox" chants at the Stadium. The starts by Andy Pettitte and Darrell Rasner were awful. Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez left the bases loaded and not driving key runs in. Derek Jeter is having his worst season, hitting around .280, grounding into multiple double plays and showing bad range at shortstop. This bad stretch by the Yankees makes you want to start thinking about the 2009 season. The Yankees have to make several moves to stay alive this season. The "genious" Brian Cashman has cost the Yankees so many times by signing bad players and sometimes overpaying for them. It's time to get rid of Cashman, to save this organization from more failure. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:37:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285851 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285851 With Chien-Ming Wang out until September, do you think the Yankees will go out and trade some players for a big-time starter like C.C Sabathia, or will they possibly bring someone up from the Minors, not including Kei Igawa? Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:21:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284372 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284372 Screaming Sports' Andrew Thibodeau breaks out the MLB Waiver Wire and runs downs a list of five potential fantasy studs. If you're looking for that extra edge this week and beyond, then this gem is for you. Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:00:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278771 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278771 The Indians have won five of their last seven, finally discovering that if they put injured guys who can't swing a bat on the DL instead of in the 3 and 4 holes in their batting order they might be able to score a few runs. The Tribe has cut an 8 1/2 game deficit with the White Sox to 5 1/2 and things are beginning to look as if they are moving in the right direction (as long as the bullpen doesn't have to play too big a role in any particular game). The Sox, meanwhile, have lost 5 of their last 6 games and look to be about to put Paul Konerko on the DL. So now does not appear to be the right time to pull the trigger on any trade involving CC Sabathia. But you can bet Mark Shapiro is getting plenty of phone calls from the 212 area code trying to convince him otherwise. The Yankees, who have won 17 of their last 25 and have moved to 4 games over .500 and 6 game out of first in the A.L. East, have put together a decent starting staff of late, with the addition of Joba Chamberlain and Darrell Rasner (is he doing it with mirrors?) and the resurrection of Mike Mussina. But all that may get flushed down the pinstriped pot if, as expected once MRI results are in, staff ace Chien-Ming Wang is put on the shelf for most, if not all, of the rest of the season with what is believed to be a broken bone in the foot. The New York Times is already speculating that the Yanks' GM Brian Cashmen has the speed dial to Mark Shapiro fired up. "The Yankees' season changed irreversibly on Sunday. Chien-Ming Wang's season is in jeopardy with a serious injury to his right foot, and C. C. Sabathia instantly became a very important name in the Yankees' universe." -- lead of today's New York Times story. The Times story seems like nothing more than a logical conclusion - no names of any kind are mentioned and no quotes from anyone are included. The New York Post - also apparently speculating - doesn't seem to think the Yankees have the goods to get it done. "The Yankees' options to replace Wang are limited. The Indians aren't about to deal C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees don't have the major league-ready arms Cleveland would want. Dan Giese is in the Yanks' bullpen, and Daniel McCutchen, Alan Horne, Jeffrey Marquez and Kei Igawa are at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre." That is assuming the Tribe is only interested in pitching in return - which may not be a great assumption. Meanwhile, the Yankee blog published by the Journal News, my local paper, is already speculating about who the Yanks might have to sacrificed to get CC to replace Wang. "LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS: C.C. Sabathia (Indians): He knows how to pitch in the AL, he's a lefty (always a plus at the Stadium) and you'll have a few months to try and sign him. But if the Yankees are desperate, Mark Shapiro will seek the world for his ace, especially if he's going to an AL team. Start with Robinson Cano." Robbie Cano would seem like a good place to start, at least if you look at his career numbers. But check out these numbers from NJ.com for the Yanks lost and bewildered 2B this year. "Going into Saturday night's game, Cano had the lowest on-base percentage (.260) and third-lowest slugging percentage (.316) of major-league players with at least 250 plate appearances." If the Yanks were to put Cano in as a centerpiece of a package for Sabathia the Tribe would be getting - for now - yet another player who is underperforming miserably this season. Shapiro would have to try to determine if this year is an aberration or the start of a trend. As has already been established in the linked articles, the Yanks don't have much in the way of MLB-ready pitching (not counting the injured Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy) and they themselves are trying to fill 1B with the likes of Jason Giambi and Shelley Duncan and Wilson Betemit. They also have nothing to offer at 3B (Betemit is their backup there too) and the corner outfield spots are taken by veterans who the Indians wouldn't necessarily want if they end up punting on this season and trading CC. So while the pressure will be brought to bear on Shapiro by the Yanks' front office, it's not clear what the Yankees have to offer in the way of young, healthy major leaguers who are playing up to their potential. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:20:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278496 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/278496 New York Yankees pitcher Philip Hughes will be out at least another eight weeks. The youngster underwent X-Rays on his fractured rib yesterday to see how the healing process was going. The rib has been healing but not to the point yet, where the Yankees would let him begin to throw. The team has decided he can't start a throwing program for at least two more weeks. Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:23:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277788 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277788 A-Rod, meet the Duke; feel free to strike out now. Justin Duchscherer felt that giving up one run at home was enough for the night after Jason Giambi blasted a shot just over the right field out-of-town scoreboard. Sitting in the ballpark, that home run gave A's fans that uneasy, here we go again feeling. Even though it was early in the game, our guys have struggled on offense and any run given to the opposing team could spell doom. Giambi trotting around the bases at the Mac should have felt more like nostalgic, but it didn't. The pseudo Yankees fans were out in force and standing when the long shot went out. They were screaming like they were in a porn film opposite Giambi with his newly grown swinging seventies 'stash. Man crushes all around as grown men wailed with each Yankee to come to the plate early in the game. That all stopped in the bottom of the third. Giambi put too much facial hair on an easy toss to Rasner hustling to cover first and that put Travis Buck on first. Suzuki popped up, but then the bats came alive in the town. Hanahan bunted for a single. Crosby doubled. Cust shot a two-run single. Chavez singled and CarGo doubled in two. A six run inning and the Yankee faithful fell silent. The third inning, and the game, was over. Duke went on to a line in which he gave up just the one solo shot over seven innings. The A's put up another coulple runs in the following innings and the Yanks put up three in the ninth to make the score respectable. In the fith the score was 8-1 and this game was over. The A's media team should have pressed play and let "Celebration" blast through the Mac as everyone, including the few Yankees fans that stayed past the third, knew the game was done. Series tied 1-1, on to the rubber match. Stay tuned for a Game 3 preview. ***Thanks for reading. Please drop a quick comment.*** Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:08:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277222 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277222 My vaunted vacation theory - that an object's velocity is derivative of the object's position in respect to the object's fantasy team going nuts when the object is on vacation - is officially retired. It may work like a charm for some of you. Hell, a few of you might have disappeared into the Caribbean permanently. But when the theorist himself - me - can no longer get behind the idea, it's over. Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:08:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277149 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/277149 Game one of the series is in the books. The game left a lot to be desired regardless of your rooting interests. Wang was solid but unspectacular. The Yankees line-up certainly was not a murder's row comparison. Eveland pitched well, but continued to be a bit wild and the walks hurt him. The A's couldn't put much wood on the ball and hit into four DPs. It was a game, but not a good one from start to finish. On to Game 2. Here's the official pitching matchup preview: A's: Duchscherer survived a scary hit to his left wrist and bounced back to toss another solid pitching performance in his last start against Detroit. He allowed just two runs on three hits despite a career-high five walks. It was the fifth time this season he tossed at least six innings and the seventh time he allowed two runs or fewer. Duchscherer faced the Yankees for just one inning last year, giving up two hits and no runs. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA lifetime against New York, all in relief. Yankees: Rasner suffered a tough-luck 2-1 loss against the Royals Friday. It marked his third straight loss, despite giving up just two runs in eight innings. The righty threw a career-high 118 pitches, scattering nine hits and striking out four. Rasner said he won't change how he's pitching and against Oakland, he'll look for some run support from the Yankees offense, which has scored just three combined runs in Rasner's last three starts. Rasner is sort of the Matt Cain of the Yankee's rotation. His stuff is pretty good, but the Yankees don't seem to give him much help. Good luck with that tonight as the Duke takes the mound for the A's. His stuff has not been electric this year, but it certainly has been effective. Duke's control and location have been key in controlling the game. His ability to stay away from "the big inning" has kept his ball club in each game he has pitched this year. Rasner has been a savior for the Yankees starting rotation as Hughes and Kennedy have not shown the promise that most have expected. It's too bad he gets so little press in the shadow of Joba; especially when he is the better pitcher! Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:44:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276852 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276852 Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon goes over a week of upcoming matchups and determines who you should sit, who you should start and why. Surprisingly, there are three pretty big names that should be riding the pine this coming week. Tue, 27 May 2008 07:44:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271299 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/271299