With Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira on the bench today, the Yankees offense was left with one legitimate hitter in Brett Gardner. Unfortunately, Gardner can't do everything by himself because if he could, three hits, two RBI, and excellent defense could have won this game. It's also too bad Vidal Nuno was pitching because, despite only allowing three earned runs, he just did not like having a lead today. Apparently he's never heard of a shutdown inning.

Gardner got things rolling in the first inning with a solo home run than matched his previous career-high of eight dingers, and it's only July 2! Too bad Nuno gave up the lead in the top of the third when he walked Ryan Hanigan and Ben Zobrist hit a double. With a man on third, Brian McCann completely missed catching a pitch and the passed ball brought a run home to tie the game.

It wasn't all bad for McCann today as he also singled, walked and hit a home run in the third to put the Yankees back on top, 2–1. Nuno didn't like that, though, so he coughed up the lead in the next half-inning when Logan Forsythe doubled and Sean Rodriguez hit a ball out to right field that Alfonso Soriano couldn't track down, and just like that the game was tied again. To make up for it, Soriano threw Rodriguez out at second trying to extend the hit to a double.

Gardner showed up again in the fourth inning with two on after Soriano singled and Ichiro walked. He hit a seeing-eye ground ball single past James Loney at first base to score a run and get the Yankees back on top once again. Because Nuno hates us all, he gave up a hit to Desmond Jennings and a double to Ben Zobrist. Brendan Guyer singled in a run to tie the game yet again, but Gardner, not wanting to lose this game, threw Zobrist out at the plate to save Nuno's skin.

Too bad this fun little scoring exchange didn't last. Nuno gave up a single in the sixth and was pulled, leaving the game after 5.0 IP, surrendering three earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. That sounds like a fairly decent line, but you can't continually give up runs right after your team scores. He wasn't getting killed out there, but he wasn't shutting anyone down; they were simply chipping away at him. He was replaced by the struggling Shawn Kelley, who promptly surrendered a two-run home run to Sean Rodriguez, making it a 5–3 game. But, hey, he struck out two batters!

The game stood there for a bit as Adam Warren kept the Rays to two hits and a walk while striking out a batter in 1.1 inning. David Huff allowed a hit, walked a guy and struck out one in 1.2 inning, but he ultimately ended up surrendering another run thanks to some shoddy defense from Yangervis Solarte and everyone's favorite backup first baseman, Kelly Johnson. There was no way the Yankees were going to come back from a three-run deficit in one inning, come on.

It's just amazing that they lost this one. The struggling Yankees offense didn't even hit that poorly -- Carlos Beltran had two hits, Brian Roberts had a single and a double, McCann had two hits and a walk. They just couldn't get anything going. Vidal Nuno giving up every lead they had also didn't help.

That's five losses in a row now, but rest easy folks, tomorrow is Tanaka Day!

An opportunity to upgrade the Yankees power threat

I know what you're thinking, because I'm thinking it, too.

Another. Old. Overpriced. Veteran.

That's what Adrian Beltre is, but he's more than that, too.

Beltre would be tied with Brian McCann for second on the team in home runs, which is on pace for his lowest output in a decade, but he'd actually lead the team in slugging. His .378 OBP would lead the team by twenty points. His .332 batting average would easily be the highest on the Yankees.

And even as his defense declines from Brooks Robinson/Mike Schmidt levels, he's a significant upgrade over Yangervis Solarte/Kelly Johnson. And when I say "significant" I mean more than that word usually means.

If you think the Yankees' season has been a dumpster fire of injuries and poor performance, take a look at the Rangers' showing after a 91-win 2013 season.

With super prospect Jurickson Profar on the shelf for the rest of 2014, the Rangers may prefer to simply grind out the year and try again next season. With the trio of Beltre, Profar and Elvis Andrus locked up through 2016 (thanks to a vesting option in Beltre's contract), that move holds logic for a team clearly meant to win now.

But with nearly the entire rest of the team locked up, the Rangers may be looking for an opportunity to create space and make a change. Trading Beltre would clear up $18 million of space the Rangers might use instead on the free agent market. It would give the Yankees the obvious leverage to push A-Rod into full-time DH duty, or to cut ties with him completely.

What makes this match potentially appealing is that the Rangers, with a need at catcher (J.P. Arencibia, career bust), are one of the few clubs that match up with the Yankees' top prospects. As with any deal, there would be a lot of moving parts involved, a lot of dollars changing hands, and huge opportunities for regret, but it would certainly be a blockbuster.

He was one of two players granted a therapeutic use exemption.

According to the new book, Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis and the Quest to End Baseball's Steroid Era, and excerpted on SI.com, former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was granted a therapeutic use exemption (TUE)  for testosterone from MLB before the 2007 season.

The exemption is granted by an independent program administrator (IPA), and was one of two TUEs made for "androgen deficiency medications." There's no stated reason for why Rodriguez required the exemption, but it wasn't the only one he requested over the years. He received a TUE for clomiphene citrate and was denied a TUE for human chorionic gonadotrophin, both of which relate to testosterone.

MLB released a statement in response to the news about Rodriguez's TUE, stating

All decisions regarding whether a player shall receive a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) under the Joint Drug Program are made by the Independent Program Administrator (IPA) in consultation with outside medical experts, with no input by either the Office of the Commissioner or the Players Association. The process is confidentially administered by the IPA, and MLB and the MLBPA are not even made aware of which players applied for TUEs.

They reiterated that the granting of TUEs for performance-enhancing substances is extremely strict, and compared the process to that of the World Anti-Doping Code. Since 2008, under a recommendation from the Mitchell Report, MLB and MLBPA have issued an annual report from the IPA stating how many exemptions are granted under each category of medication. This indicates that MLB itself might have been unaware of how many or who received exemptions before 2008, when Rodriguez would have received his TUE.

In 2007, Rodriguez batted .314/.422/.645 with 54 home runs, 156 RBI, 143 runs, and went 24/28 in stolen bases. He won his third MVP award en route to opting out of his contract with the Yankees only to re-sign for 10 years and $275 million.

The Yankees flexed their financial muscle, inking as many as 21 players for around $12 million

The New York Yankees wasted no time in announcing their presence in the 2014-15 international market, signing as many as 21 players for somewhere near $12 million in bonuses on the opening day. While details are still trickling out, we do know a lot so far.

Rumors had been brewing about the Yankees' plan to blow past their allotted international spending cap as far back as February, when Scout.com's Kiley McDaniel broke the story. Different sources have reported different numbers of players signed and money spent, so let's break it down as clearly as possible.

Per multiple sources (Baseball America, Jesse Sanchez (MLB.com), Kiley McDaniel (Scout.com), the Yankees have signed

• Frederick Cuevas, OF, Dominican Republic
• Diego Castillo, SS, Venezuela
• WIlkerman Garcia, SS, Venezuela
• Nelson Gomez, 3B, Dominican Republic
• Miguel Flames, C, Venezuela
• Juan De Leon, OF, Dominican Republic
• Hyo-Joon Park, SS, South Korea
• Servando Hernandez, RHP, Venezuela
• Dermis Garcia, SS, Dominican Republic (widely speculated)
• Jonathan Amundaray, OF, Venezuela
• Antonio Arias, OF, Dominican Republic

It's worth noting that Dermis Garcia, ranked by some as the top talent on the international market, has been rumored to sign with New York for six months or so, and some are reporting they've agreed on a deal while others are waiting to confirm. This is something that's expected to get done shortly, but is not included in the 21-player/$12 million totals.

Per Kiley McDaniel, Scout.com

• Leobaldo Cabrera, OF, Venezuela
• Jason Lopez, C, Venezuela
• Lisando Blanco, OF, Dominican Republic
• Wander Hernandez, IF, Dominican Republic
• Raymundo Moreno, OF, Venezuela
• Adolfo Morillo, OF, Dominican Republic
• Pablo Olivares, OF, Venezuela
• Bismar Nunez, C, Dominican Republic
• Luis Pache, LHP, Dominican Republic
• Danienger Perez, SS, Venezuela
• Gilmael Troya, RHP, Venezuela

Players with rumored bonuses of $1M+

• Jonathan Amundaray ($1.5M)
• Antonio Arias ($800,000 - $1M)
• Nelson Gomez ($2.25M)
• Wilkerman Garcia ($1.35M)
• Dermis Garcia ($3M)
• Hyo-Jun Park ($1.1M)
• Juan De Leon ($2M)
• Miguel Flames ($1M)

Keep in mind that the final figures on these bonuses may be tweaked a bit. These are all rumored amounts and even when they're confirmed, they can change based on physicals, as well as in the course of standard negotiations. There are still others that the Yankees are rumored to be interested in, so it appears they're not done spending just yet.

Regarding their spending, the $12 million figure is what they've given out in bonuses today, but with the penalties ascribed for exceeding their spending pool of $2.1931 million, they will be paying an additional 100 percent on each dollar spent over that bonus. So their $12 million (not including Dermis Garcia's $3 million) investment turns into something around $22 million. Additionally, from this point forward, any reported bonus will actually cost the Yankees double, in total dollars spent. The team will also be limited to signings of $300,000 or less for the next two international signing periods.

In terms of how the Yankees did, talent wise, there is always going to be some disagreement when dealing with 16- to 17-year-old players. However, I reached out to Chris Crawford of ESPN Insider/Executive Editor of Draft To The Show to ask how the Yankees did with their haul and what he thought of the overall strategy.

I think it's fantastic. The punishment is less than a slap on a wrist. They took advantage of other teams fear and ran with it. Would I spend $30 million on guys that might not help this decade? Probably not, but there are worse ways to spend the money. They picked up five of the best eight talents in Dermis Garcia, Juan De Leon, Jonathan Amundaray, Nelson Gomez and Wilkerman Garcia. It's hard to look on that in a negative light.

While it's an expensive strategy in both dollars and future value, if the Yankees can pull four or five major leaguers out of this group, it'll be a coup in terms of overall value. If even one becomes a star, it's well worth it.

SB Nation | Craig Goldstein: According to a new book, MLB allowed Alex Rodriguez to take steroids back in 2007.

CBS Sports | Dayn Perry: Masahiro Tanaka is the midseason Rookie of the Year.

Examiner | Daniel Pfeiffer: CC Sabathia struggled again during his latest rehab outing.

New York Daily News | Teri Thompson: Alex Rodriguez's former lawyer David Cornwell is planning to sue his former client because he hasn't been paid yet.

Newsday | David Lennon: It's time for the Yankees to call up Rob Refsnyder.

It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: The Yankees can also invent time travel to get April Yangervis Solarte or give Brian McCann four strikes to improve the team.

Yahoo Sports | Jeff Passan: No one wins in a scenario where MLB allowed Alex Rodriguez to use PEDs.

Bombers Beat | Bryan Hoch: Kevin Long talks about the Yankees struggles and how they can get back on track.

Our Games | John Thorn: Remembering Lou Gehrig 75 years after his famous speech.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Ian Kennedy, Cole Hamels, Zach McAllister, and Wade Miley are four pitchers the Yankees could look to acquire at the deadline.

Solarte Hype Train is headed to Pennsylvania for now.

Yangervis Solarte started the 2014 season as one of the Yankees' hottest hitters and one of the best stories to come out of spring training, but struggles since mid-May have caused the team to option the third baseman to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Solarte has managed to still work his fair share of walks during his struggles at the plate, but a sub-.200 batting average since he started to tail off after a hot month and a half left a bit to be desired. He could, of course, find his way out of this prolonged slump at the minor league level. It's just a matter of the team needing to try something else when the big league club is starved for offense.

To replace him on the roster will be Zelous Wheeler, who was recalled from Triple-A. In 66 games with the RailRiders this season the 27-year-old Wheeler has batted .299/.367/.467 with seven home runs and twenty doubles. A 40-man move will have to be made to get Wheeler onto the roster, which is a little disappointing for fans who may have wanted to see Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder get the call instead. It may be a matter of the Yankees not feeling comfortable with Kelly Johnson manning third base full time that gave Wheeler the nod over either of the other two who are outperforming him in Triple-A. Hopefully this is just the first step of a few to be made.

Are you disappointed with the Yankees' decision to give Wheeler the call over Pirela or Refsnyder? Do you think Solarte can turn it around in the minors and find his way back to the big league club?

UPDATE: The Yankees have designated Dean Anna for assignment to make room for Zelous Wheeler.

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from July 2nd

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:

Game 1: L 0-1 vs. Buffalo Bisons

2B Jose Pirela 3-4, 2B - hitting .293 over last 10 games
DH Rob Refsnyder 1-4, K - hitting .387 over last 10 games
LF Zoilo Almonte 1-4, K
3B Zelous Wheeler 0-1 - promoted to NYY
1B Kyle Roller 0-3, BB, K
C John Ryan Murphy 0-4, K, threw out potential base stealer
SS Dean Anna 1-3
RF Taylor Dugas 2-2, BB, CS - hitting .323 over last 10 games
CF Antoan Richardson - 0-3, 2 K

Shane Greene 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K - 4 GO/5 AO, 63 of 93 pitches for strikes
Matt Daley 1.1 IP, H, ER, K, HR - 3 GO/0 AO, 15 of 22 pitches for strikes

Game 2:L 1-3 vs. Buffalo Bisons

RF Jose Pirela 0-3, 2 K, fielding error (7)
2B Rob Refsnyder 1-3, K 
LF Zoilo Almonte 0-3
3B Scott Sizemore 2-3 - hitting .297 over last 10 games 
1B Kyle Roller 0-3, 2 K
C Austin Romine 1-3, K, passed ball (8)
SS Dean Anna 0-3, 2 K
DH Corban Joseph 0-2, BB - hitting .241 over last 10 games
CF Taylor Dugas 1-3, 3B, RBI

Nik Turley 3.1 IP, H, 2 R/1 ER, 6 BB (!), 2 K - 4 GO/2 AO, 42 of 81 pitches for strikes
Edgmer Escalona 2.2 IP 3 H, 1 R/0 ER, BB, 2 K - minor league free agent signing

Double-A Trenton Thunder:L 6-8 vs. Portland SeaDogs

CF Mason Williams 0-4, BB, outfield assist
LF Ben Gamel 1-3, RBI, BB
C Gary Sanchez 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, PB (8) - hitting .324 over last 10 games
1B Peter O'Brien 1-3, BB, K - hitting .195 over last 10 games
RF Tyler Austin 1-3, CS, HBP
3B Rob Segedin 0-4, 2 K, fielding error (6) - hitting .297 over last 10 games
DH Zach Wilson 0-4, 2 K
2B Dan Fiorito 2-3, 2B, BB, throwing error (7)
SS Carmen Angelini 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, K

CC Sabathia 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K, HBP - 3 GO/5 AO, 33 of 55 pitches for strikes
Fred Lewis 0.0 IP, H, throwing error (2)
Bryan Mitchell 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ 2 ER, BB, 3 K, HR, WP - 8 GO/2 AO, 51 of 92 pitches for strikes

High-A Tampa Yankees: Postponed for rain

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:L 4-7 vs. Savannah Sand Gnats

RF Michael O`Neill 1-5, 2B, 3 K
CF Dustin Fowler - 1-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
3B Miguel Andujar - 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, K, throwing error (21) - hitting .414 over last 10 games
1B Mike Ford - 0-4, 2 K - hitting .184 over last 10 games
C Eduardo de Oleo 1-4, K
SS John Murphy 2-4, K
DH Jackson Valera 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-4, 3 K - hitting .389 over last 10 games
LF Brandon Thomas 0-4, K

Brady Lail 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, BB, 5 K, HR - 9 GO/0 AO (!), 55 of 86 pitches for strikes
Angel Rincon 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K - 5 GO/0 AO, 26 of 42 pitches for strikes 
Jacob Lindgren 1.0 IP, B, 3 K, 2 WP, HBP - first appearance at Low-A Charleston

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 9-5 vs. Aberdeen IronBirds

SS Thairo Estrada 1-5, RBI, 2 K - hitting .361 over last 10 games
CF Austin Aune - 0-4, BB, 4 K
LF Chris Breen - 1-5, RBI
DH Ty McFarland - 1-5, 2 K
C Luis Torrens - 1-4, BB, 2 K, PB (5), threw out potential base stealer
RF Nathan Mikolas 0-1, 2 BB, K, SB, HBP
1B Connor Spencer 2-4, RBI
3B Renzo Martini 1-4, 3B, RBI, 2 K - hitting .086 over last 10 games
2B Jose Javier 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K, HBP, fielding error (2)

Jordan Cote 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, BB, 4 K - 2 GO/3 AO
Conor Mullee 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/0 ER, 3 K - 2 GO/1 AO
Andury Acevado 1.0 IP, H, K, HBP, WP
Rony Bautista 2.0 IP, H, BB, 5 K - 2 GO/0 AO

GCL Yankees 1: W 8-0 vs. GCL Astros

SS Bryan Cuevas 2-4, HR, RBI, BB
DH Drew Bridges 1-5, 2 RBI, 3 K
3B Eric Jagielo 2-2, HR, RBI, BB - rehab assignment
RF Alexander Palma 2-5, RBI
CF Leonardo Molina 0-3, K
1B Dalton Smith 2-4, K
C Alvaro Noriega 1-4
2B Ryan Lindemuth 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB
LF Dominic Jose 0-3, RBI, BB

Ty Hensley 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 K, WP, HBP - 2 GO, 2 AO
Austin DeCarr 2.0 IP, 2 K - 3 GO/0 AO
Francis Joseph 2.0 IP, 4 K, throwing error (1) - 1 GO/2 AO
Reynaldo Polanco 2.0 IP, 2 H, K - 2 GO/1 AO

GCL Yankees 2: W 9-6 vs. GCL Blue Jays

2B Junior Valera 0-4, 2 BB
CF Jose Figueroa 2-5, 2B, 2 K
SS Angel Anguilar 1-5, 2 K
1B Jake Hernandez 2-4, RBI, K
LF Frank Frias 4-4, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, SB
3B Tyler Palmer 1-4, BB, 2 K
DH Adam Kirsch 2-5, HR, 5 RBI, K
RF Wilmer Romero 0-4, BB, K
C Rainiero Coa 1-5, K

Domingo Acevedo 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R/3 ER, BB, 8 K, WP - 2 GO/1 AO
David Rodriguez 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB - 3 GO/2 AO
Jonathan Padilla 2.2 IP, H, BB, 4 K, WP - 3 GO/0 AO
Hector Martinez 1.0 IP, K - 2 GO/0 AO

Goods things don't always last forever, but you'll always have the memories.

We open in a simple room in the basement of a local church. There is a small group of relatively large, athletic-looking men gathered in assembly in a series of folding chairs. At the podium stands a notable face of Yankees past.

Shane Spencer: Welcome back everyone. As always I'd like to thank Shawn Chacon for keeping minutes for the meeting today. Let me start off by saying we're very pleased to have a new member in our support group today. He was a little hesitant at first, saying he was going to turn things around with the Yankees. Then again, that's what we all said at one point or another, right Vernon!?

Group chuckles in unison at the expense of Vernon Wells. He takes a swing at a return zinger and pops it straight up.

Spencer: Anyways, welcome the early breakout star of the 2014 Yankees, Yangervis Solarte!

Solarte sheepishly walks to the front of the room.

Solarte: Hello, my name is Yangervis Solarte, and I had unsustainable success with the New York Yankees.

Group: Hi, Yangervis!

Solarte: Hey guys. Man, everything was just so magical. I never thought I would even make the team, but there I was: starting third baseman for the New York Yankees. Then, I just started feeling it. The ball was the size of a canteloupe and I charged every ball at third like a bull covered with fire ants. The crowd loved me. I was proving all those loser bloggers wrong.

Crowd murmurs at the mention of icky bloggers

Solarte: Then, it all went away in a flash. I was off balance at the plate and when I made contact the ball wasn't going anywhere. Suddenly I was hitting like the rest of my teammates. I couldn't understand it. Then it hit me: it was all just a brief, magical run. I was devastated to realize I wasn't the second coming of Graig Nettles. So right as I was about to hire a witch doctor to infuse my bat with mojo, I found about this group. With time, I hope to accept that being awesome for a brief period is nothing to be sad about. I was the best player on the New York Yankees for a over a month, and nobody can take that away from me. Thank you.

Crowd stands and applauds. Aaron Small wipes a tear from his eye.

Spencer: Thank you for sharing. Young Mr. Solarte is just the most recent in the long line of us and he certainly won't be the last. Some of us were rookies, some were last chance vets. But even though we fell on hard times as the seasons and years went on, we did our best and never surrendered to the inevitable. Now lets say the group motto:

Though the time was short,

We ruled over the sport.

Despite the inevitable fall

We will always stand tall.

Spencer: Alright, we meet again next Thursday. I don't think the current team is good enough to get us any new members. so maybe we'll just play Scrabble.

Ray offers some starting pitcher options that you should consider streaming on Friday, including Kyle Gibson and Jon Niese.

The Streamer Report provides you with daily startng pitcher streaming selections for owners who prefer to stream starting pitchers on a daily basis. This report identifies starting pitchers who are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues, and who either has a decent track record vs their opponent, has pitched well of late, or has a decent matchup.

Friday's Streamers

Kyle Gibson, Twins vs Yankees

Jon Niese, Mets vs Rangers

Weekly Streamer Performance

I will be providing a status of how my picks have performed over the course of the season, and below you can find how my picks fared this week.

Fantasy Rundown

If you are looking for more fantasy advice, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown for all your fantasy baseball and football needs.

The Yankees are on the road, which for the first time in a long time might be a good thing. Masahiro Tanaka gets the start against former Yankee pitcher Phil Hughes. That's right, it's Tanaka vs. Hughes tonight in Target Field.

The Yankees are on the road again, and this might actually be a good thing. They are not playing well at the stadium thus far. Well, they're not really playing well at all thus far. Especially the offense. The dreary, lifeless, almost early 90's like offense.

7/2/14 Daily Prediction Answers

While the Yankees are losing, the PSAers are winning. Perhaps that's a small comfort, but it's something. Regardless, qacm is our winner with 4,000 points. Glory unto him, and good fortunes in today's prestidigitation.

7/3/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

What was your favorite "street" or "playground" game to play when you were a child? (hopscotch, hide & go seek, double dutch, etc.)

Weddings: Out of these options, which would you prefer; Big Wedding, Small Wedding, Vegas Wedding, Quick Stop At The Courthouse?

Name a movie you're looking forward to seeing later this year

Favorite ribs? (Baby Back, St. Louis, Short, etc)

Masahiro Tanaka takes the mound for the Yankees tonight in Target Field. Opposing him will be former Yankee pitcher Phil Hughes, who has seemingly found himself with the Twins. Whether this makes you happy or angry is up to you, but on a personal note I'm happy for him. However, he does owe us some meatballs. A shame the Yankees don't seem hungry lately.

A couple quick notes. First of all, a quick shout out to Pinstripe Alley news hound Jason Cohen for the incredible job he did yesterday keeping us updated on the Yankees' international signings. A job well done. Praise him!

Second, as the All Star Break approaches, I just wanted to see if people are getting tired of the Daily Predictions, so to speak. Participation seems to be getting lower every week. If everyone is getting tired of it and would like to see or try something new, we can always try something else after the All Star Break. Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?

Let's Go Yankees

The Yankees are under .500 and we're kind of dying. Also: Chase Headley rumors.

The Yankees only won once since we last recorded, and that was on Friday! So they're on a five-game losing streak, the offense is basically dead, and that's just swell. Join us to commiserate.

[0:14] Five-game losing streak and under .500: Baseball is cruel.
[2:44] Even in a bad division, the Yankees cannot afford another awful stretch like the past 11 games (2-9)--thoughts on the piling on of the losses
[10:03] On CC Sabathia's rehab start, the red-hot Rob Refsnyder, the badly slumping Yangervis Solarte, and Jose Pirela (note: this was recorded before news of Solarte's demotion hit)
[18:00] The Yankees are connected to Chase Headley again, but this time it actually makes sense to get him if he's being sold for a low cost
[24:14] Tweetbag: Is the 2013 or 2014 team more frustrating, Travis Ishikawa Face, Jacoby Ellsbury's defensive metrics, excuses for not calling up Refsnyder & Pirela, Masahiro Tanaka superlatives, best liquor to drink when watching the offense, front office talking-down, and John Sterling home run calls for our favorite international free agents (my Internet connection was shaky during this segment, so I might sound a little choppy, but it should still be mostly fine)
[40:18] Yankee/Mitre of the Week

Podcast link (Length: 51:53)

iTunes link

RSS feed

Jenny Cavnar should be calling Colorado Rockies games from the ROOT Sports broadcast booth because she is the best person for the job.

How can something be so painfully obvious and yet so demonstrably counter-intuitive at the same time? The answer is something President Bush called "the soft bigotry of low expectations."

The irony in this case is that our subject at hand -- Jenny Cavnar -- is not the one for whom we hold these low expectations. It is for MLB -- and ourselves.

Jenny Cavnar should be calling Colorado Rockies games from the ROOT Sports broadcast booth because she is the best person for the job.

Cavnar has a more thorough command of the English language and is a far more effective communicator than any of Drew Goodman, George Frazier, and Jeff Huson. It is telling that ROOT seems to be interested in auditioning Ryan Spilborghs, Corey Sullivan, and Jason Hirsh for more time in the booth when none of them is even close to being as good at their jobs yet as Jenny has proven over and over again to be at hers.

Each of those new guys has potential for the future but the fact that they are getting this shot and she is not tells us emphatically one of two things: either she doesn't want to be in the booth (does anyone really think she'd turn down Huson's job if offered it?) or she isn't getting the chance because no one expects her to.

Because she is a woman.

There are two facets of this dynamic compounding on each other here. First is the inherent nature of the "boys club" of sports. I consume a ton of pro sports on TV and could only think of one in-game female analyst; Doris Burke. Not coincidentally, she is twice as good as any of her contemporaries (lagging behind only a few old-timers who have been doing it forever) probably because she had to overcome twice as many obstacles to get there.

The second complication at work here is the submissiveness to the idea that former players, however marginal (look at the list of names above), are inherently "experts" or automatically more worthy of a chance at a "color" man position. And former players are men.

There has been a massive backlash to this idea when it comes to sports analysis in general. In the new age of SABR baseball, we collectively scoff at the idea that people who have never played the game can't change it or understand it and the deepest levels because we all know Bill James exists.

So why hasn't this been extended to the next logical step: if you can provide excellent analysis without having played the game professionally, then you can do so even if your gender prevented you from even having a chance to play.

I would say historically speaking -- but it would be more accurate to say presently speaking -- women in sports are expected to do the side jobs (quite literally sideline reporting etc) to such an extent that I could find only one woman doing play-to-play analysis regularly for a baseball team.

Suzyn Waldman is the color commentator for the New York Yankees radio broadcast alongside John Sterling. There are no women on TV covering baseball games while they happen. None.

However, my eye test research shows me that roughly 1,000 percent of all MLB broadcasts have a "girl" reporter for moments when they think the audience needs to distracted either by eye candy or sideshow nonsense. Usually both.

Luckily, Jenny Cavnar's intelligence and awareness have led her to a much more meaningful role but still not the one of which she is most deserving.

This is where our soft bigotry comes in. We don't expect Cavnar to get a shot at the booth because it feels so natural. Women aren't in the booth. Anywhere. So she isn't getting any kind of specific mistreatment. We, and MLB, and the Rockies, and ROOT Sports don't expect baseball to be a place where glass ceilings are shattered.

So we say to ourselves and to each other, "Geeze, Jenny is way better than these guys," but do nothing about it because we expect no change.

We should expect change.

And it should be an easy sell. The Rockies and ROOT Sports have a unique opportunity to be revolutionary trend-setters, but for pragmatic reasons. Being the first team to have a woman in the broadcast booth could explode your potential audience both in terms of gender and youth.

Baseball has been losing its audience recently and what better way to show that it isn't all boring old guys sitting around scratching and talking about fishing trips and nachos? Having a young and attractive, yet remarkably knowledgeable person in the booth every day who can speak from a perspective that literally no one else in all of baseball could speak from can only mean good things for your broadcast.

Furthermore, the Rockies could finally be praised for being forward thinking, and for being on the cutting edge of how their fans consume baseball games.

Ultimately though, she shouldn't get the job because she would appeal more to women and younger people, she shouldn't get the job to prove some revolutionary point, and she shouldn't even get the job just so we don't have to listen to George Frazier and Jeff Huson all the time.

She should get the job because she is smart, articulate, funny, engaging, and a legitimate Rockies and baseball "expert" who is the perfect mosaic of the smart business choice, a revolutionary social choice, and -- most importantly -- the choice that produces the best product.

You don't have to get rid of anyone else, but Jenny Cavnar should be calling Colorado Rockies games from the ROOT Sports booth.

Hiroki Kuroda fell apart down the stretch last year. Many blamed it on age, but the underlying numbers suggest it may have been nothing more than bad luck.

Hiroki Kuroda's been a godsend for the Yankees over the last month or so. While the rest of the rotation's been in turmoil, Kuroda's pitched to a 3.26 ERA in his last eight starts and has lasted at least six innings in all but one of them. Such stamina has gone a long way towards helping the Yankees rest their bullpen -- namely Dellin Betances and Adam Warren -- who have been overworked of late thanks to the ineffectiveness and lack of stamina from Vidal Nuno and Chase Whitley.

Overall, Kuroda's pitched pretty well this year. He holds a 4.08 ERA on the year, making him one of the better pitchers in baseball. But many are concerned that Kuroda's performance may soon hit a wall, similar to what happened last season when he spun a dismal 6.58 ERA from mid-August on. His breakdown was largely attributed to the fact that -- at 38 years old -- he was unable to hold up over 30+ starts. Well, this time around he's 39, so if that was the case, we have little reason not to expect more of the same last year. But taking a deeper dive into his stat line, I'm not so sure that's what actually happened last year.

In terms of strikeouts, walks, and batted ball tendencies, not a heck of a lot changed for Kuroda between the first and the second halves. In fact, his SIERA -- an estimate of what his ERA should have been -- barely even budged.

His velocity didn't drop off either:

Basically, the things Kuroda had the most control over remained unchanged. Most of his struggles were driven by an inflated BABIP and home run to fly ball rate -- things that a pitcher has little control over and tend to be fluke in small samples. Flukey or not, these stats can certainly be influenced by how a pitcher pitches. If he's missing his spots and throwing the ball right down the middle, any given batted ball is likely to be hit harder, making it more likely to drop in or leave the park. That doesn't seem to be what happened with Kuroda -- at least not to any extreme degree. His pitch locations in his final eight starts were more or less on par with what they were in his first 24.

First 24 Starts (2.33 ERA) Final 8 Starts (6.56 ERA)

There's not a ton of evidence that Kuroda's late-season performance was the result of anything more than bad luck. That's not to say the Yankees shouldn't tread lightly with his workload. He's 39 years old after all, and has thrown over 100 pitches in each of his last three starts -- something he's not normally asked to do -- so it may be wise to ease up a little. Kuroda's old, which puts him at a greater-than-normal risk to succumb to injury or ineffectiveness; but I'm not putting much weight on his 6+ ERA from last fall: It looks more like a statistical outlier than something that will happen again.

Here it goes again.

CC Sabathia is likely headed for an MRI on his knee after experiencing another bout of fluid buildup in his injured leg. The Yankees' left-handed pitcher woke up this morning after pitching in a rehab outing with the Double-A Trenton Thunder on Wednesday with more fluid in his knee, which sent him to the disabled list in the first place. It was then that the team discovered the degenerative issue with Sabathia's knee that can't bode well for his future production. Manager Joe Girardi said Sabathia and the team are awaiting results of the MRI before figuring out how they should proceed, but it sounds like he will be shut down for a while to come after this latest aggravation.

The team hoped that Sabathia would be able to return to the rotation shortly after the All-Star break to give a hopeful boost to a back end of the rotation that could certainly use it. Vidal Nuno has been pretty terrible as a starter and Chase Whitley is rapidly racking up more innings than he has ever pitched before as a newly-converted starter. With Michael Pineda further away than Sabathia was, he may find a way to make it back to the mound before the former ace does at this point. Would anyone really be surprised if neither did at this point?

Brian Cashman has been focused on bringing in a pitcher via trade before this month's deadline if at all possible, but no one has taken him up on any offers to this point. Sabathia's latest setback just puts the Yankees in a more desperate situation that other teams can take advantage of. At one game under .500 heading into tonight, the help on both sides of offense and pitching need to come pretty soon. Unfortunately for the Yankees, there is absolutely no help to be found in the form of pitchers on the farm. That cupboard is bare.

Jesse and Neil are back at it again, exchanging questions in advance of 2014's second Twins-Yankees tilt.

About four and a half weeks ago, I exchanged questions and answers on the Twins and Yankees with Neil Keefe of Keefe and the City. He's also written for WFAN and CBS New York. Now that the teams are facing off once again, this time at Target Field in Minneapolis, it was time that we caught up with our familiar foes. Thanks to Neil for his time!

Masahiro Tanaka walked through the Twins the first time these two teams played each other this year. Can this guy take home not just the AL Rookie of the Year award, but the Cy Young as well?

Chase Whitley pitched well against the Twins last time, but his effort was ruined by a David Robertson implosion. Looking at Whitley, he's posting a better-than-average swinging strike rate but that's not translating into very many strikeouts. The slider looks good though. Are those strikeouts going to come?

David Phelps is also an interesting character as far as strikeouts are concerned. His swinging strike rate is way below average, but he's managing quite a few strikeouts by catching guys looking at strike three. What is it that's catching batters so off-guard that they're stuck with the bat on their shoulders?

Do the Yankees already regret signing Brian McCann of the Fun Police? Or are you hoping, like I am with Ricky Nolasco, that he finds a way to provide more value down the line?

Following on from that question a little bit, the Yankees gave up their first round pick and a pair of comp picks to sign McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran. It feels like mortgaging the future to stay relevant in the here and now, but is that a situation into which the Yankees have forced themselves? Can the Bombers really afford to ever go into a rebuild?

The Yankees are 18-23 at home but 23-19 on the road, which bodes well for you in this series, but does it also give you hope for the rest of the season since teams typically perform better at home anyway? Or what is it that you could take away from your reverse home/road splits?

Winning is fun. They should do it more often.

Masahiro Tanaka turned in the worst start of his big league career so far, failing to pick up a quality start for the first time in 17 tries. He only struck out three Twins on the night while allowing nine hits. If this was Tanaka at his worst, he's still proving just how good he is. The way things have gone lately, allowing four runs to any team has seemed insurmountable for New York's struggling offense. Tonight they found a way to pick up Tanaka, who did not have his best stuff, as he has managed to do for them on numerous occasions this season.

Big blows came in the fifth inning when Carlos Beltran drove in Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann with a three-run homer to put the Yankees ahead 3-2. Zelous Wheeler added to the scoring with his first big league hit that also found the seats to extend the lead to 4-2. It was the first of his two hits in his big league debut. The Yankees tacked on three more runs off old friend Phil Hughes in the seventh inning when Brendan Ryan doubled to drive in Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner singled to score Wheeler, and Derek Jeter picked up an RBI fielder's choice that plated Ryan. When it was all said and done, the Yankees' seven runs tonight was a season-high in allowed runs for the former Yankee turned Twin.

Tanaka's seven innings allowed Joe Girardi to hand the ball directly over to the two strikeout powerhouses in the bullpen in Dellin Betances and David Robertson. Betances added to his strikeout numbers by whiffing two Twins to bring his season total to 78 strikeouts in 49 innings. Robertson, who somehow has an even better K/9 than Betances, struck out three more batters and walked one to nail down the save for the Yankees. The team needed this win after dropping five straight coming into tonight. The win brought the team back to an even .500 record on the season at 42-42 with the All-Star break looming.

Tomorrow's game is at a very unique 3:10 pm for Fourth of July festivities. Chase Whitley will be squaring off with Kyle Gibson of the Twins. Brian McCann seemed to hurt himself on a single prior to Beltran's home run which brought Girardi and the training staff out of the dugout. He stayed in the game, but Girardi expects him to miss at least tomorrow's game before trying to give it a go on Saturday. No matter how far we move away from the injury disaster that was 2013 it seems like it's always a little too close for comfort.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Mark Teixeira recently has his knee drained and he could have it drained again at some point.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: The Yankees are taking advantage of MLB's international free agency system by spending as much money as possible on players.

Times-Tribune | Donnie Collins: Jose Pirela is the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' sole representative at the International League All-Star Game.

ESPN New York | Mark Simon: Rob Refsnyder has been amazing and everybody agrees.

NJ.com | James Kleimann: Here's what you need to know about the Yankees' latest callup, Zelous Wheeler.

Rotographs | Mike Podhorzer: A look at where Masahiro Tanaka, Chase Whitley, and Hiroki Kuroda rank among AL starters heading into the month of July.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Derek Jeter will eventually get a day off, but not just yet.

It's About the Money | Brad Veitrogoski: How do the Yankees plan to use Zelous Wheeler now that he's on the team?

Examiner | Daniel Pfeiffer: Working with a big league pitcher like CC Sabathia has helped Gary Sanchez in his development as a catcher.

ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand: The Yankees are in the same situation now that they were in back in 2007, but can they right the ship?

Pinstriped Pundits | Chris Mitchell: A midseason look at how some of the Yankees' best prospects are doing.

Newsday | David Lennon: Derek Jeter isn't worried about the team's struggles because he's confident they'll figure it out.

Hardball Talk | Craig Calcaterra: People need to stop referring to what "The Boss" would do if he was here.

Fox Sports | Ken Rosenthal: Masahiro Tanaka, Derek Jeter, and Dellin Betances could be the Yankees' All-Stars this season.

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from July 3rd.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W 4-1 vs. Buffalo Bisons

LF Jose Pirela 3-5, K - batting .333 over his last 10 games
2B Rob Refsnyder 0-3, 2 BB, K
DH Zoilo Almonte 1-3, double, RBI, 2 BB - batting .274 this season
RF Adonis Garcia 1-5, 2 K
1B Kyle Roller 1-4, BB, 2 K, E3(3rd) - batting .281 w/ SWB
3B Scott Sizemore 1-4, double, 2 RBI, E5(7th) - .826 OPS over his last 10 games
C Francisco Arcia 1-4, passed ball
SS Carmen Angelini 0-3, BB
CF Antoan Richardson 2-4

Chris Leroux 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R/0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K - 59 of 94 pitches for strikes
Francisco Rondon 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Diego Moreno 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 8-0 vs. Portland Sea Dogs

CF Mason Williams 2-5, K
DH Ben Gamel 2-5, double, 2 RBI, K - batting .286 this season
RF Tyler Austin 1-4
C Peter O'Brien 3-4 - batting .231 w/ Trenton
1B Rob Segedin 3-4, double, HR, 4 RBI, K - seventh homer of the season
LF Zach Wilson 2-4, triple, 2 RBI, 2 K
2B Casey Stevenson 0-4, 2 K
3B Dan Fiorito 1-4, double, K
SS Ali Castillo 1-4, E6 - throwing error, 11th of the season

Matt Tracy 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP, hit batsman - 41 of 66 pitches for strikes
Cesar Cabral 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Tyler Webb 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
James Pazos 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Taylor Garrison 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 4-3 vs. Lakeland Flying Tigers

CF Jake Cave 0-5, 2 K
SS Cito Culver 0-3, BB, K
1B Greg Bird 1-4, 2 K - batting .371/.442/.457 over his last 10 games
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-3, BB
RF Aaron Judge 1-2, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, K - third straight game w/ HR
2B Angelo Gumbs 1-4, K, E4 - missed catch, fifth error of the season
DH Matt Snyder 2-4, double, RBI, K - batting .269 this season
LF Danny Oh 0-4, K
C Wes Wilson 1-4, K

Luis Severino 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K - 8 GO/2 AO
Chris Smith 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Cesar Vargas 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R/0 ER, 2 BB
Alex Smith 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, WP

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:L 5-10 vs. Savannah Sand Gnats

CF Michael O'Neill 1-5, HR, 3 RBI - eighth homer of the season
DH Kale Sumner 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K
RF Dustin Fowler 2-5, OF assist
3B Miguel Andujar 1-4
SS Tyler Wade 0-4
C Jackson Valera 2-4
1B  Reymond Nunez 2-3, double, K, HBP
2B John Murphy 2-4, RBI - batting .273 this season
LF Brandon Thomas 0-4, 3 K

Caleb Smith 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K - 31 of 59 pitches for strikes
Eric Ruth 3.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, WP
Cale Coshow 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees: Postponed for rain

Gulf Coast Yankees 1:W 8-2 vs. GCL Astros

SS Jorge Mateo 3-4, double, RBI, BB, K, SB - batting .372 this season
3B Drew Bridges 0-3, RBI, K, HBP
2B Bryan Cuevas 2-5, 2 RBI, SB, CS
RF Alexander Palma 1-5, double, 2 RBI, 2 K, OF assist - batting .340 this season
1B Dalton Smith 1-4, K, HBP
CF Kendall Coleman 0-4, BB, K
DH Griffin Gordon 1-4, RBI, K
C Roybell Herrera 0-2, 2 BB
LF Miguel Mojica 2-4, RBI, K - batting .318

Luis Niebla 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K - 3 GO/0 AO
Jose Mesa 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, WP
Gean Batista 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP
Luis Cedeno 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Gulf Coast Yankees 2: Postponed for rain

The Pirates have been on a tear lately, but there might a fundamental flaw in the way the team is built.

Baseball is a sport that is so focused on isolated events and individual players that it is easy to forget how important it is to not only collect talent, but find players that fit your team. Before you panic this is not an article on the value of intangibles and grittiness. While Beyond the Box Score has an undeniable Arizona Diamondbacks feel at times, it has not been hijacked by the D-Backs front office.

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What I'm referring to is the way players mesh together to form an effective unit on the field. The most obvious example of the way this is done in the game today is the manner in which teams match their players to their ballparks.

The Yankees are notorious for loading their lineup with left-handed hitters in order to take advantage of the laughably short right field porch. The Rockies are known to try and use ground ball pitchers to try and prevent runs at Coors field. These tactics help teams take advantage of their ballparks' quirks.

Another way teams can make their pieces fit together efficiently is fitting their pitchers to their defenses. This is probably discussed less often than trying to mesh teams with ballparks, but it is equally important. A Justin Masterson-type ground ball specialist is definitely best served by having an infield that can pick the ball. Alternatively, Jered Weaver is awfully thankful that he has Mike Trout behind him.

Some entire staffs are very ground ball or fly ball heavy and as a result it would be smart to match them with a defense that could best suit their needs. The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the pitching staffs with the most extreme batted ball profiles, as shown in the table below.

It is hard to be critical of pitchers getting ground balls, but given the Pirates play in a park where they can afford to give up balls in the air the focus on grounders is a bit odd.

Significantly more odd is the way these numbers fit with the makeup of Pittsburgh defense. The Pirates have been rather ordinary at best as infield defenders, something that is not encouraging for a team with that gives up some many balls on the ground. The following table shows how their infield measures up in UZR and DRS with their league ranks in brackets.

To be entirely fair the Pirates have not graded well in outfield defense either, but that has been driven a -9.9 UZR from Andrew McCutchen which is very much out of character. With Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte and McCutchen Pittsburgh has put together an athletic outfield that is likely to be a plus defensively going forward.

That being said, by filling their staff with ground-ballers they have highlighted a sub-par infield that includes the mediocre gloves of guys like Pedro Alvarez and Ike Davis. By and large that is not a great strategy.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are not a team without their faults.  The pitching staff has been disappointing, producing only 3.8 WAR on the season, and while the offense has been competent it's far from stellar.

One of the most basic flaws of this team might well be one that is rarely discussed: its basic roster construction.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs.

Nick Ashbourne is an Editor for Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @Nick_Ashbourne.

Four years and $52 million for Brett Gardner suddenly seems very reasonable. Should the Yankees even think about selling high?

After the Yankees spent their offseason bringing aboard names like Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran there weren't many who predicted that Brett Gardner would be their most productive position player by early July, or that there wouldn't be much of an argument about it. Just over half way through the season, Gardner's just about the only Yankee hitter who's outperforming expectations. His 2.7 fWAR is second on the club only to Masahiro Tanaka, his 121 wRC+ and .793 OPS are also second, and he's leading his teammates in batting average (.288), OBP (.359) and UZR (6.8).

In February, when Brian Cashman signed Gardner to a four-year, $52 million extension that runs from 2015 through 2018, plenty of onlookers were skeptical, myself included. After giving Ellsbury his own seven-year pact, the Yankees were locked in for over $200 million for two players with pretty similar skills - speed, strong defense and minimal power. Gardner was coming off a season that showed a bump in power stats, but also a decline in some of his traditionally strong areas. In 2013, he put up full-season career worsts in walks per plate appearance (8.5%), stolen bases (24) and swing-and-miss rate (5.3%). All that, along with his first negative UZR gave us ample cause to wonder whether guaranteeing eight figures through the age of 35 was really such a good idea.

This year, though, Gardner seems to be proving the naysayers wrong. He's found a good middle ground between his classic speedster skill set and his burgeoning power stroke. He's already matched his career high in home runs with eight, and his .146 ISO and .434 slugging percentage are also personal bests. In left field once again, he's back to the high defensive standard that he set for himself and, despite continuing to be more aggressive at the plate than in his early days, he's managing to get on base at his highest clip since 2010. From a value standpoint, Gardner's extension is looking very sweet for the Yankees. Given his current pace, he'd have gotten a whole lot more than $52 million if he'd been allowed to reach free agency this winter.

Gardner's been brought up a lot in Yankee trade rumors over the years, especially this past offseason as the team approached spring training with what looked like a glut of outfielders and gaping holes at second and third base. Some suggested swapping Gardner for young MLB-ready talent (Nick Franklin was the popular target) and others would have been happy dealing him for a declining and disgruntled vet in Brandon Phillips. The Yankees have to be thrilled right now that they didn't make either of those deals or any that may have been available to them. Though, as one of the few players on the team that actually has positive value, Gardner probably hasn't heard the last of the perpetual trade banter, especially from the growing "sell and rebuild" faction of Yankee fans.

Should the Yankees really think about selling high on Gardner in the midst of a career year? Less than two months shy of his 31st birthday, this may be as good as it gets for him. In the offseason, his value was limited as a guy in his final year of arbitration eligibility, but now he's got as many as five and a half years of team control left (that's if his 2019 club option is exercised) on what looks right now like a team-friendly deal. That's longer than what Curtis Granderson had left on his contract when the Tigers turned him into Max Scherzer, Austin Jackson and others. If the Yankees do fall out of the race over the next few weeks and decide to be sellers at the deadline, Gardner's their only asset with the potential to bring back multiple top-100-type prospects. What they'd get for Hiroki Kuroda and David Robertson would be capped by their impending free agencies.

The Yankees aren't out of it, and given the ineptitude of their AL East rivals, they probably won't be on July 31st. Cashman and the front office are absolutely in love with Gardner's game and he's one of only a few homegrown players they can point to as successes from a much-beleaguered farm system. They aren't going to try and trade him - odds are they won't even discuss it, not on the 31st and not next offseason either, since the coming outfield free agent class is weak and the team already has a hole it needs to fill in right. Still, it's worth considering that while Gardner's been highly valuable in keeping the Yankees afloat this year, he's been simultaneously positioning himself as a sought-after commodity.