Nady has a setback; season could be over

After playing well 2 days ago in a rehab appearance at AAA, Xavier Nady removed himself from a game yesterday after only five innings because he felt pain after he made a throw. Brian Cashman said this could be a possible "worst case scenario" and Nady would need the season ending surgery that he was trying to avoid.

This could not be worse for the Yankees. You all know how I feel about Nady. I was the biggest "Swisher is the starter" advocate and I believe even if Nady was healthy, we all would have come to the conclusion anyway that Swisher was the better player. Remember, Swisher was slowly winning the spot after the season began and Nady had a .310 OB%, but then Nady got injured.

This affects the Yankees in more ways than one. First off, now going forward the rest of the season, their bench will be much worse. Nady is still a decent enough hitter who can hit lefties really well. Imagine our team right now minus Cody Ransom and plus a lefty smasher who can also play the outfield. The team would look a lot better.

Secondly, now last year’s trade looks like a complete bust. The Yankees gave up four prospects including Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens who has a decent 4.80 era for the Pirates and Ross Ohlendorf who has 6 wins and a 4.75 era. I'm not saying we gave up a lot, but the Yankees lost a potential solid major league outfielder and 2 back of the rotation NL guys as well as another pitching prospect for 2 months of Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte (remember him? didn't think so), not the best return they could have gotten.

Finally, because of his amazing play last year in the first half, Xavier Nady will probably be a Type A free agent after this year. His agent is Scott Boras. If Nady played a full year and stayed healthy, the Yankees could have offered him arbitration and there would be no way in the world that he would have accepted and the Yankees could have gotten 2 draft picks for losing him. (On a side note, I'm not sure if you guys know this, but the reason we have Joba Chamberlain is because the Yankees offered Tom Gordon arbitration and he declined. If not for Tom Gordon, the man who threw up in the bullpen in 2004, Joba Chamberlain would not be a Yankee. Just goes to show you how things work).

So Nady going down makes us lose a bat off the bench, makes a trade look bad and makes us lose two potential draft picks. That's a pretty big affect one man has.

With that said, maybe this just looks bad and he will rest it and he will be OK, but when the GM says it could be the worst case, that usually means it is. So what do you guys think the worst aspect of this is? The trade looking bad really does not matter; I just threw that in there for fun. Bad trades happen all the time. A bat like his would look nice off the bench, but the team has shown that they can play well without him and the Yanks could always make a trade (I am looking at you Mark DeRosa!). The biggest thing for me in all of this is the draft picks. For a team that is always losing their own picks, and may very well lose their first round pick again next year if they sign Matt Holliday, I really think that those extra draft picks could really help the team.

Update:

Well, it was the worst case scenario. Nady will have the 2nd Tommy John Surgery of his career (the first came in 2001). Obviously he is done for the year and his 2010 season is in jeopardy as well.

I don't even know

I know I have not updated in a while, but I have no clue what to say.

Losing 2 out of 3 to the Nationals and the Marlins?

Cashman finally yelling at Girardi for not resting A-Rod.

Nady coming back probably the 1st week of July.

Cody Ransom can come back Wednesday. At least that is a little upgrade over Angel Berroa.

Bruney and Hughes are both pitching well in the bullpen and Wang tries for his first win in over a year tonight. Good Luck.

The bullpen and rotation are only getting better, it is actually the offense that is to blame for the poor team performance.

Nothing getting my interest to write about lately. The Yankees are putting me in a baseball depression. Lets start hitting and start winning some games and maybe I will be back more often.

Tonight's Game

Just a quick note on tonight's game about how baseball is played.

The first two things you learn during your first practice in little league:

(1)Always use two hands when you catch the ball.
(2)Always hustle, no matter what.

Luis Castillo did not use two hands while fielding that routine pop up. Look what happens.

Even though it was almost a sure out, Mark Teixeira hustled from the minute the ball was hit. He scored, Yankees win.

This game shows you that it truly is the simple things that make you win and lose. Girardi, in my opinion, managed a terrible game and lots of mistakes were made on both ends, but when it comes down to it, the game ended because one team didn't use the basic fundamentals of the game and the other did.

Just imagine what would have happened if Cano was on 1st?

Jeter, Wang, and Other fun!

Hey kids, I know it has been a while since I have updated and for that I apologize. Moving in with your girlfriend and taking summer classes take up a lot of time, but now I am back and well rested so lets cover a few topics.

First off, Derek Jeter is a Hall of Famer. First ballot. This is anything anyone doesn't know. He could retire today and be in the Hall of Fame tomorrow (actually he couldn't, but you get my point). He is currently my third favorite Yankee on the team after Mo and Tex (Mo and Tex kinda sounds like a southern burger joint, doesn't it?), and he is one of the greatest Yankees of all time.

With that said, the only criticism I have for him (more for the team really) is giving him a multi-million, multi-year deal after his contract is up in 2010. Jeter is currently having a very solid season, especially after last years disapointing season, while he is hitting .298 w/8 HR's, 26 RBI, .370 OB% and 12 steals (only caught once). His defense has never been superb, and his lack of range is only lacking more and more everyday (even the biggest Jeter supporters have to be honest about that point), but luckily for him, and us, Mark Teixeira is there to pick up any balls thrown in the dirt.

He has 2607 career hits, 1502 runs scored, a shot at 300 career home runs and is one of the most clutch players of all time. After next year though, he will be 36. The only team to ever win a world series with a SS over the age of 35 has been 2 or 3 times with Honus Wagner.

Take away the name.

A 36 year old shortstop who is essentially a singles hitter, whose defense is average and who is only getting older by the minute, how much do you give him? 6 mil? 7 mil? Maybe.

The problem is this man does have a name, Derek Jeter, and he needs to be treated with respect. Also, not to mention, barring any unforeseen injuries or super-human bursts of performance, he will be getting his 3,000th hit in the year 2011, he can't do it in any uniform other than the Yankee pinstripes.

Just like Arnold Schwarzenegger went on Jay Leno to announce his plans to run for Governor, I am using my own blog to announce my change of stance on Derek Jeter. I always said sign him for a 1 year deal after 2010, let him get his 3,000th hit and then say goodbye. That's what the team should do, that is what is best for the team, but the problem is there are certain cases with very special players where that simply cannot be done, and this is one of them.

The whole point in arguing things is because both sides of the argument have a legitimate shot at being right. There is no way the Yankees give Jeter a one year deal and let him walk, it simply will not happen.

I am not changing my stance on what the Yankees should do, I still believe that a 1 year deal would be best and that's it, but I know there is zero percent chance of that happening, so there is no point in arguing it anymore.

With Matsui leaving next year, Jeter will def. see more time at DH and that will be good for him, and for us (Posada and A-Rod should also see extended time there as well, the main reason the Yankees need a real utility guy next year such as Chone Figgins or Mark DeRosa).

Jeter though, whether I like it or not, is going to be around for as long as he wants and I have accepted it. He deserves it, he truly does. Maybe the team doesn't, but he does.

Chicken-Wing Wang

Wow, Chien-Ming Wang is pretty terrible this year. Just a random stat for you guys, in the history of all of baseball, out of all the people who have pitched at least 20 innings and made at least 5 starts, Wang's 14.34 is the worst ERA of all time. Not to mention, his ERA as a STARTER is 21.45.

I am not going to argue that he shouldn't make his next start, he shouldn't, but he is, so what I say doesn't matter. But I don't think he should make another one if his next start is bad.

And don't take the Washington Nationals lightly. Yes, they're the worst team in baseball, but their problem is pitching, not hitting.

They have Nick Johnson, Adam Dunn (in the New Yankee stadium nonetheless), Christian Guzman, Elijah Dukes, Josh Willingham. The Nationals can hit.

Wang's wife is due to give birth any minute and the Taiwainese culture believe that babies will bring good luck. Wang better hope that is true.

Around the Team

Just some quick notes, Brian Brunye threw batting practice to Angel Berroa and Ramiro Pena the other day, so we finally have an answer as to why Berroa is on the team, so thats nice.

But Bruney may be back next week and Nady back the week after that. I know the team has looked good as of late (outside of the Boston Series), but replacing Jose Veras and Angel Berroa with Brian Bruney and Xavier Nady makes this a much better team.