I saw a stat that NY is the 2nd longest streak of any team in recent MLB history that has gone without a save to open the season. As much as I love to hate the Yankees, they're only 4 games out and this is only April. I think they’ll be back in the thick of things once they get healthy. But they better get it in gear soon in case someone in their division gets hot. And they need to get the ball in Rivera’s hands; otherwise, they’re currently on pace for a 90 loss season.

Sorry, I'll feel awful bad robbing you.

As much as I'd love to see it, I don't see it happening. I think he'll either resign with Seattle or go to another team (you know boston needs a new leaderoff hitter and centerfield worse than we do). Coco who?

What did I say

The Yankees, after what has transpired with Matsuzaka, probably won't be outbid again. I have an inkling George is tired of it. Lowballing is not Yankee style. I'd be surprised if Ichiro didn't end up in pinstripes.

Who would you rather see between Ichiro and Santana though? Personally, I've love to see both between if I had to pick one, I'd say Johan.

Both. No reason why we can't have both. Trade for Santana. Ichiro doesn't want to go back to Seattle, he's refusing to negotiate. Get him as an FA.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/ivp/index?id=2847631

Giambi has been "texting" Roger Clemens "like crazy," according to this ESPN story.

Good.

Realistically, who do you think Minnesota will want for Johan though? Melky? Hughes?

Hughes is untouchable. Cashman will refuse to trade him. And since the Twins are dealing from a position of weakness (deal him or lose him as a free agent), they will have to take the best offer, which likely will be the Yanks.

It's going to probably take one or two of our premier prospects and possibly Melky.

At this point though, would you really miss Melky's bat...? Good fielding isn't hard to find.

No I wouldn't miss Melky that much but do you think it'll happen this season? I've been hearing rumors about Dontrelle. Between the 2 of them, I'd easily take Johan over the D-Train

Anyone with half a brain would take the best pitcher in baseball over the D-Train.

No, the Santana trade probably won't happen this season, unless the Twins are out of contention for the playoffs sooner rather than later. I'd expect something to happen during the offseason.

Irish, as a Marlins fan.........asking if Johan or D-Train is a better choice is like asking if chicks dig gold or bronze more.

Come on!

Seriously, DJ is right. Johan in Pinstripes would be a coup de tat move.

Yeah, pretty much anybody, including myself would take Santana over D-Train.

Well, the good news about the rainout is that Pettitte is going to pitch against the Red Sox in the weekend series at Yankee Stadium on Friday (meaning Jeff Karstens doesn't get assassinated), and our bullpen finally gets a day off. Big sigh of relief there. Hopefully this means that if the PHuture should he get into trouble against a tough (but injured) Blue Jays lineup, he'll get some, you know, relief.

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For those not familiar with Phil Hughes (The PHuture, as I call him), he has a nice variety of pitches, including 94-98 MPH 4-seam and 2-seam fastballs, a knee-buckling curve (which was improved even further this Spring when Mussina taught Hughes to adapt the knucklecurve grip into his repertoire) that varies from 12-6 or 1-7, and a decent slider. Apparently (from Wiki) he also throws a change, which is a good thing.

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Despite what Torre is saying, there is plenty of reason why he isn't going to pitch Hughes against the Red Sox. He's already seen Chase Wright get shredded by their red-hot lineup (pun intended), and even though I blame much of that on Torre not taking the kid out of the game after the second home run or having the kid brush back the Boston hitters, it just makes more sense to match with the Jays. Their lineup is hurting (Glaus, Johnson, etc.), and their closer is on the 60-day DL. It helps our chances, at least, getting this kid something relatively close to a win.

No need to give the kid a baptism by fire if they don't have to. Plus, pitching Pettitte on Friday against the Sox gives him the chance to get revenge.

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Incidentally, I read it was 84 degrees in Central Park the other day. Whoo. It makes me glad to jog down my street and still see ice on Lake Erie.

Mr. Babe had been invited to the game last night - and they had tickets behind the Yankee dugout. He was totally pissed that the game was canceled, but he believes that Torre did it on purpose to give the pitching staff a day of rest, and be able to mess with the rotation. I hope it works!!

That's why I love my local Buffalo Bisons - if the game is rained out, or even if you can't make the game, you can use your old tickets as general admission and sit anywhere in the stadium (as long as the ticket holders for that day don't bump you out).

Sign "O" the times mess with your mind
Hurry before it's 2 late

Let us know what you think of Hughes please DJ. Unfortunately I don't have YES and the game's not being aired on ESPN. I'll try to catch the highlights on ESPNEWS but that's all I'm probably gonna get

Well, top of the 5th, and they're losing 3-0 with a man on first and one out. Hughes looks like he's getting tired.

Hughes got ruffed up in the beginning but seemed to settle down some in the 3rd & 4th

4 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0-1 with a 8.31 ERA

Jeter's doing the Top Ten List on Letterman if anyone's interested.

Did he play tonight or did he sit?

Sat.

Who took over at SS? A-Rod?

Well, Cairo was in last night. To tell you the truth, I forget who was in tonight. Cairo again??

If I were watching the game, I think it would have been cool to move A-Rod to SS and have Cairo fill in at 3B

Sorry, Jeter's the Yankee's SS. I don't want to see anyone else out there aside from him.

He was pretty funny on Letterman.

No I agree that Jeter's the SS but when he's MIA, I'd rather see A-Rod out there keeping his spot warm than Miguel Cairo

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Phil Hughes did well for his first start. His command wasn't quite there, so he left some pitches in spots where good hitters will get them, but the break on his pitches was good, and I was fairly impressed with him for his first major league outing. I still think they need to stick with Plan A, irregardless of how the Yankees fair in the standings, and keep him down in AAA to refine him and get him 100% ready to go when his time comes.

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The Blue Jays shut out the Yankee lineup.

Granted, AJ Burnett pitched with some filthy stuff last night, the first time I've been *impressed* with a start of his lately, but they couldn't put a run on the board.

Where is the fire in our team? I realize Jeter was on the bench, but come on. This lineup is arguably the greatest Yankee lineup in years if the players play to their ability. We have 8 players in the lineup at any given point who can go yard. We have multiple batting title challengers. What the fuck.

Pitching wasn't the problem last night. The Yankees put no pressure on the Jays, who took liberties on offense as the Yankees cried no joy.

Oh, and by the way - you know your in trouble when Doug Mienkeiwicz is your #2 hitter in the lineup...

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Just as a warning to those who weren't watching when the Yankees stunk in the early 90's...there is a distinct possibility that this weekend series with the Red Sox could be another sweep.

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Is it too early to push the panic button? I don't think so. Perhaps if the Yankees had bounced back after the Red Sox series, there would be a bit of sunshine to go with all this rain. However, even with Wang, the Yankees offense now is the problem. They can't put runs on the board.

And I know George isn't as patient as I am...I'm sure he's about to rip off whatever hair he has left.

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Is Joe Girardi the answer? I'd say yes. What our team is lacking is fire, is will (and of course, healthy starting pitching). Girardi brings the Torre patience and class but he also brings a bit of a temper too, which is exactly what we need. I don't know if Mattingly can do that, at this point.

As the days go by, and if the Yankees don't get out of last place by mid May, I would seriously expect heads to roll. Cashman saved Torre's job last year after the Detroit debacle. I don't think George is going to be patient again.

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What does this say for Cashman, if something were to happen? On one hand, he has done a great job in bringing star players from other clubs, and also nurturing great talent from the farm system. The biggest problem is that Cashman took a gamble on our starting pitching this year. I'm grading the pitching to this point.

No one expected Wang to go down, so he gets a pass. Grade: N/A

But Mussina is an old 38, and hasn't impressed me much over the last two years. His crotchety old man "I can't pitch unless my schedule is just so" nitpicky attitude used to give him some personality, but now the Stanford economics graduate just pisses me off. Keeping Moose for another two years, when he already showed signs of decline over the past two, was tough. Cashman couldn't overpay for pitching (Gil Meche at $55 million) but he also should realize that Mussina is now a 4th or 5th starter at his age. Grade: C-

Pettitte has been a rock. He's done everything the Yankees have asked, he's transitioned well in his return to the American League. Hell, he's even come in for relief when the Yankees needed him. I'd take a whole rotation of Andy Pettitte's to war against the AL East if I could. Alas, God only made one Pettitte. Grade: A

Thinking Carl Pavano's injury "bug" (whether it really is twisted coincidence or Carl getting a hangnail and realizing he can just sit on his ass and collect millions of dollars) wouldn't rear its ugly head was stupid. Knowing guys like Jon Lieber were available, and that there were at least two teams (the Cardinals and the Mariners) in hot pursuit of Pavano during the offseason, Pavano should have been shuffled. At this point, I think they need to trade for Lieber, but he just won a game for the Phillies, so I doubt they'd be open to compromise. Grade: F

Kei Igawa was an unknown. He looked to be a pitcher with great control, and decent stuff. However, he has had serious trouble translating that to the American League. He desperately needs some time in the minor leagues, which the Yankees can't afford to do right now, so he is having his baptism by fire. Injuries had at one point relegated him to the Yankees #2 starter this season, but I suspect that by the end of the year, he will probably be in relief, unless he turns his control around. The most damning statistic? If you look at the value of his contract, with the bid to the Japanese league included, his contract is equal to that of Ted Lilly's. Who right now wouldn't rather have Ted Lilly (a known Red Sox killer) over Iggy? Grade: D

Jeff Karstens has been forced into importance by injuries the last two years in a row. We really don't know how he pitches in a "regular" scenario because he's always pulling emergency duty. If he could get some sort of normalcy as the 5th starter in this rotation, and a little more experience, I suspect that he would probably make a solid back-end of the rotation pitcher. Grade: C

Chase Wright was called up in desperation. He pitched well his first game, and he got bombed by the Sox (a decision I blame Torre for 100%...he let that kid get shell shocked and didn't do a damn thing to stop it). This is how you ruin prospects, folks. I realize the Yankees ran out of options, but in retrospect, how naive were we to really support a decision to bring up a AA pitcher when we have Hughes, Clippard, and Ohlendorf in AAA? Wouldn't it make more sense to bring up someone with experience? Grade: D+

Philip Hughes, for all the hype, proved that he can't walk on water. He also proved that saving this team at this moment is something even Roger Clemens probably couldn't have done if he started last night. Send him back to the minors, get him more experience, and by next year, he'll be the Yankees #2 starter. Grade: B+

Luis Vizcaino has looked great in some spots, poor in others. The innings eater is already on pace to throw a record number of innings. Ugh. Until he develops some consistency, and gets some rest, I suspect that his erratic exhibitions will continue. Grade: B-

Scott Proctor is well on his way to becoming the next Ron Villone or Paul Quantrill. Joe Torre ruined both those pitchers by riding them more than Seattle Slew. Well, Proctor was overused last year, and this year is no different. This kid may be shot by next year. Grade: C+

Sean Henn, for all the negativity he received as a prospect a couple of years ago as a crappy starter, has been erased by some stellar relief pitching. He could be a solid mid rotation or setup guy down the line. Grade: A-

Mike Myers is not a LOOGY. Period. The Red Sox dumped him for a reason two years ago, and its because he can't get out better-than-average lefties in clutch situations. Ortiz, Crawford, and the rest of the big lefties eat him up. He didn't pitch badly outside the box - that is, when he wasn't called in as a setup man and faced right handed pitching, he did fairly well. But Myers is not the answer. A LOOGY by definition is a club luxury, something a team has once they already have a secure bullpen. Right now, I'd rather have another solid reliever. Grade: D+

Brian Bruney? If he didn't have such crappy control, he could probably be a decent set-up man. Less gay iron cross/eagle tattoos, more fastball control, thanks. Grade: D+

Mariano Rivera. The eternal spring from which the Yankees draw every year. It's hard to grade Mo this year because he has had little playing time, and its wreaking havoc with his control. "Average" for Mo is like killer stuff for other players too, so his score may be skewed. Sure, perhaps Mo is showing age, but there is still no other pitcher in this Yankee lineup who I would depend upon more. Grade: C+

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Jeff Karstens will throw the rock on Saturday against Boston. Probably a good decision, as I highlighted the control issues Igawa has. Let's hope the Yankees offense gets on the same bus.

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Wang is back. Matsui is back. Now let's pray.

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Here are some "positives" for the Red Sox series - we're facing the back end of their rotation. Matsuzaka was proven to be mortal by the Yankee lineup last week, Wakefield has (undeservedly) earned a reputation as a Yankee killer (it seems to me someone goes yard on him on a somewhat regular basis...), and Tavarez is a jobber.

Let's hope we can at least pull out a win or two from this series. But don't expect much - we're likely facing the hottest lineup with decent pitching in baseball right now.

And we really suck right now.