Whoa, Dustin who?

MLB.com has already released their list of the top 20 prospects in the Yankees system, but what about the players after that? Jim Callis has announced his list of the team's top 21-25 prospects, and while many of them are expected, there were still some surprises.

No. 21 RHP Bryan Mitchell: While Mitchell has struggled for awhile now, he still has a lot of potential and Callis believes he still has the stuff to be successful. "He's still just 23, he still owns a mid-90s fastball, power curveball and hard cutter." The Yankees have called him up for the third time this year and hopefully this is when he finally gets into a game for them.

No. 22 SS Abiatal Avelino: Likely the organization's top shortstop, Avelino "is a solid defender with a very strong arm at shortstop, and he also shows fine instincts for hitting and stealing a few bases." He missed a good portion of the season to injury, however he's back in Low-A now and will hopefully start hitting like he was back in May.

No. 23 3B Miguel Andujar: While his overall numbers don't look great, he's hit incredibly well since the beginning of July. Callis sees that he "fits the third-base profile with plus power potential and a rocket arm. Andujar controls the strike zone reasonably well and has good agility too."

No. 24 OF Dustin Fowler: Now here's the surprise ranking. Drafted just last year, Fowler hasn't got much attention, but Callis believes "he's quickly establishing himself as one of the toolsiest players in the system. Fowler has plus speed, projects as an above-average defender in center field and also possesses some power potential." While he has been an interesting player to follow so far, it would be nice to see him get on base more often and show his speed on the bases.

No. 25 RHP Ty Hensley: Finally, the big right-hander is healthy and pitching again, but how can he go about restoring his former prospect status? Callis believes that "at his best, Hensley has a mid-90s fastball and a curveball that grades as an even better pitch, but he must show he can stay healthy." He's been feasting on lesser competition so far, but hopefully he'll show solid overall numbers at State Island by the end of the year.

Aside from those five, he also notes that recent international signing, shortstop Dermis Garcia, should be making a name for himself very soon. According to Callis "scouts rave about Garcia's power and arm strength, which have earned him comparisons to the likes of Shawon Dunston, Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Sano."

The Royals are a pretty flawed team, but so is everyone else they're contending against.

The Royals now sit alone in the second Wild Card position, but this thing ain't over yet. We have seven weeks of pennant-contending baseball left to play. Let's take a look at our opposition and our chances down the stretch. Here are the current second Wild Card standings:

Kansas City Royals (60-53)

Pythag Win-Loss (58-55)

Fangraphs Wild Card Odds: 15.3%

Baseball Prospectus Wild Card Odds: 16.7%

The Royals are certainly a flawed team with a pythag win-loss record that has them barely above .500. They have scored the sixth fewest runs per game in the league and they are dead last in the league in walks and home runs by a large margin. Their pitching is expected to regress quite a bit, and no other Wild Card contender is projected to get fewer WAR from its pitching staff the rest of the year than the Royals.

On the other hand, the Royals  have the fourth fewest runs allowed per game in the league, and the most total defensive runs in all of baseball. The hitters should improve from their underwhelming performance in the first half, and Fangraphs projects the Royals hitters to have more WAR the rest of the season than any other Wild Card contender except the Yankees. The Royals will also benefit from an easier schedule than their opponents. Another consideration is that the Royals 15-21 record in one-run games is the third worst in the league. Should that regress to the mean, the Royals could find themselves getting luckier breaks in one-run ballgames.

New York Yankees (60-54)

Pythag Win-Loss (54-60)

Fangraphs Wild Card Odds: 12.8%

Baseball Prospectus Wild Card Odds: 14.0%

The Yankees were a .500 team a few weeks ago, but winning six of seven against the Reds and Rangers catapulted them into the thick of the Wild Card race. The Yankees lineup actually scores fewer runs than the Royals per game, but that could improve with the addition of Chase Headley and better health from Mark Teixiera and Carlos Beltran. Masahiro Tanaka's injury however, remains a huge impediment, and barring a trade, the Yankees will limp along with a rotation that includes Chase Whitley and Esmil Rogers. The Yanks bullpen has been outstanding this year, but their fortunes may depend on whether they add another big starting pitcher down the stretch. The Yankees still have ten games remaining against first place Baltimore, seven against fellow contender Toronto and four games against the Royals including a one-game makeup on August 25.

Threat to the Royals: Low. The Yankees are old, with starting pitching issues. I don't expect them to be in it the last few weeks of September unless they make an impact move in August.

Seattle Mariners (60-54)

Pythag Win-Loss (66-48)

Fangraphs Wild Card Odds: 31.3%

Baseball Prospectus Wild Card Odds: 26.2%

Just before the All-Star Break, it looked like the Mariners might start to pull away with the Wild Card spot. They were 51-43, 2.5 games up on everyone else, and playing good baseball. Since then they've dropped 11 of 19 games, scoring one or fewer runs in seven of those games. They've since added outfielders Austin Jackson and Chris Denorfia to help an offense that is currently scoring the second fewest runs per game in the league. The Mariners have the best pythag win-loss record out of any contenders due to a pitching staff that has topped the league in run prevention, anchored by ace Felix Hernandez. But like the Royals, the Mariners have been awful in one-run games, going just 14-21. The Mariners still have home-and-away series left against the Blue Jays, Athletics and Angels, as well as series against the Nationals and Tigers. Fifteen of their last eighteen games will be against teams gunning for a post-season spot.

Threat to the Royals: High. The Mariners are similar to the Royals, with a better pitching staff and a worse offense, and with a General Manager fighting for his job. Look for Seattle to make a move to continue to bolster their offense, making them a threat to make the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

Toronto Blue Jays (61-55)

Pythag Win-Loss (61-55)

Fangraphs Wild Card Odds: 17.3%

Baseball Prospectus Wild Card Odds: 15.9%

The Jays are a markedly different ballclub than the Mariners and Royals. They get on base and mash the ball out of the ballpark, topping the league in on-base percentage, with the second-most home runs. The pitching is a bit inexperienced, but has been just good enough thus far, just below league average in runs allowed. The Jays have had a lot of injury issues, with three starters (Brett Lawrie, Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion) currently on the disabled list. If their young arms - Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison, Aaron Sanchez - come through, they could be a very formidable foe. They may also decide to bolster their thin pen with an August waiver trade. The Jays have a series with Detroit this weekend, then a road-trip that takes them to Seattle, Chicago (to play the White Sox), and Milwaukee. They end their season with fourteen straight games against potential post-season teams.

Threat to the Royals: High. Teams that can score runs are scary and when the Jays get their starting lineup back, their offense is a high threat. The young pitchers have performed thus far, and General Manager Alex Anthropoulos has been aggressive in the past to improve his club.

Cleveland Indians (57-58)

Pythag Win-Loss (58-57)

Fangraphs Wild Card Odds: 6.4%

Baseball Prospectus Wild Card Odds: 4.5%

The Indians have kind of hovered around .500 most of the year, but as recently as July 19 they were just two games out of a Wild Card spot. At the trade deadline the team dealt starting pitcher Justin Masterson and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, but the team didn't necessarily get much worse as Masterson was struggling this year and Cabrera was having a down season. Outside of ace Corey Kluber, the Indians have struggled with their starting rotation, although nearly everyone has a much better FIP than their ERA (thanks Ryan Raburn!). The Indians have an above-average offense, but not a great one. Any improvement due to regression by Nick Swisher and Jason Kipnis will likely be counteracted by regression by Lonnie Chisenhall and Michael Brantley. With the team in "sell" mode, don't expect the Indians to make a move to improve the club. The Indians get a nice upcoming stretch where 11 of 14 games are against the Diamondbacks, Twins, White Sox, and Astros which could improve their fortunes, and 13 of their last 16 games are against the Astros, Twins, and Rays.

Threat to the Royals: Low. The Indians are pretty much a .500 team with defensive issues who have mostly beaten up on bad teams like the Rangers, Red Sox, and Rockies (14-3 against those teams). They do have an easy schedule the rest of the way, but with them already four games back, it seems like a tough road to overcome for the Indians.

What's this? The Yankees have a presentable infield now and they just took three out of four from the Tigers? Excellent.

The Yankees had a pretty terrific trade deadline, and they celebrated by having a couple great series against the Red Sox and Tigers. More of these Yankees, please.

[0:13] The Yankees took three of four from the Tigers? Wut
[5:15] Trade Deadline wrap-up: Thoughts on Stephen Drew, Martin Prado, and the deals overall
[9:10] Thoughts on evaluating trades in hindsight
[14:41] The value of trading for multiple assets rather than investing too much in one
[16:53] News on the injury front: Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka on the mend?
[20:22] Would it be best to just not even bother trying to pitch Tanaka in 2014 and instead try to get him to rehab slowly for Opening Day 2015?
[24:19] Oh yeah, David Phelps is hurt, too
[26:33] Yankeeography: Rich Hill
[31:04] In defense of Mark Teixeira
[34:30] Matt F. B-Ref: Trivia game with the Yankees players who have batted ninth the most, by position. Some pretty outstanding names showed up.
[45:24] Horror stories from the 2013 Yankees
[50:47] Tweetbag: Tanaka starts in 2014, favorite Ninja Cash pickup, pants, worst playoff rotations, Shane Greene's future, and the difficulty of predicting waiver wire period trades
[1:05:43] Yankee/Mitre of the Week

Podcast link (Length: 1:14:32)

iTunes link

RSS feed

On November 3, 1992 Gene Michael picked up a struggling outfielder who turned into a legend. Bad news for water coolers. Great news for the Yankees.

On Saturday, the Yankees will honor longtime right-fielder and current YES Network color analyst Paul O'Neill with a plaque in Monument Park. No matter what you think of the whole plaque thing - who has one that shouldn't... who doesn't that should - it's a tribute that O'Neill, a top contributor on Yankee teams that won four World Series and five American League pennants, richly deserves. Alongside the rings, the four All-Star appearances, the 1994 batting title, "the one-legged catch," "the walk," and the Seinfeld episode, one of the more regal hallmarks of O'Neill's pinstriped tenure was the absolute steal of a trade that transformed him, at age 30, from a middling National League player into a Yankee legend.

At the end of the 1992 season, the Yankees weren't the Yankees, at least not in the way we know them now. Their 76-86 record in '92 marked their fourth straight losing season, and they were riding an eleven-year playoff drought. Their no-name manager, a 38-year-old Buck Showalter, was the tenth man to hold the job in that span and George Steinbrenner was just returning from a two-plus year suspension for associating with known gambler Howie Spira. That winter's free agent class included the likes of Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux and Kirby Puckett, a cache that would have the club salivating today, but back then, their $37 million payroll was roughly 20 percent below those of the league's top spenders and the roster in place wasn't exactly one that future Hall-of-Famers were itching to join. Don Mattingly was breaking down, the top starter was Melido Perez, and Danny Tartabull, at least in the lens of batting average-home run-RBI evaluations used at the time, was looking like a big-money bust. One of the few bright lights was a toolsy 28-year-old center-fielder named Roberto Kelly.

When he arrived on the scene in the late '80s, Kelly was touted by Yankee brass as their next great superstar - a five-tool, do-everything kind of guy. He wasn't the Panamanian Mickey Mantle that everyone was hoping for, but Kelly did do enough early in his career to keep fans intrigued. He amassed 12.2 fWAR between 1989 and 1992, swiping 137 bases and slugging 54 homers in the process while showing off with a few highlight reel catches in the outfield. It's not surprising that when GM Gene Michael dealt Kelly away for an older, less versatile Cincinnati Red, a career .259 hitter who'd just finished a totally pedestrian .246/.346/.373 '92 campaign, he did so without much public support. Michael was panned pretty much universally for the Kelly-O'Neill swap. Give up on a homegrown talent? Create a logjam with the incumbent Tartabull in right? Leave no one but the unproven Bernie Williams to man center? What was he thinking?

Michael's justification for the deal at the time was the Yankees' need for lefty hitters. "We were looking for left-handed bats because I didn't think we had enough," he told reporters, including Jack Curry, then with the New York Times. "I always said we were too right-handed. I feel this is a quality hitter and Yankee Stadium should be conducive to his hitting."

Michael was careful with his words, but there was more to it than just handedness. O'Neill was the kind of hitter he wanted to build his offense around and Kelly wasn't. The Yankees of that era were among the first front offices to emphasize the importance of getting on base by any means, and patience wasn't one of the tools in Kelly's repertoire - his 6.7 percent career walk rate to that point was well short of O'Neill's 10.3. With the plate discipline already there, Michael believed that putting O'Neill in the Bronx, and somewhat counter-intuitively, urging him to go the opposite way more, would turn him into a much stronger offensive player than the guy he was replacing. Michael ignored popular opinion and gambled, knowing that if the deal backfired and Kelly emerged as a star, it could easily cost him his job. It didn't.

You don't need me to remind you how it all worked out, but I will anyway. In the nine seasons between 1993 and 2001, O'Neill hit .303/.377/.492 with a wRC+ of 125 and collected 26.7 fWAR. He got going right away, posting a career-best .871 OPS in '93 and an even-better 1.064 in '94 that was good enough to place him fifth in the AL MVP race. He managed six straight seasons with wOBAs of .380 or better and during his tenure, the Yankees finished a combined 250 games over .500. Kelly, meanwhile, played on eight different teams in eight seasons, including a short stint back in New York in 2000. His post-Yankee wRC+ was 104 and his fWAR was just 5.5, just 0.1 above O'Neill's number for 1998 alone. He did find a niche as a useful right-handed platoon bat in the late '90s with Seattle and Texas.

Where does the O'Neill deal rank among the top trades in Yankee history? You could put it as high as second, right behind Babe Ruth for No No Nanette, with Roger Maris for Don Larsen and Hank Bauer, Willie Randolph and Dock Ellis for Doc Medich, and A-Rod for Alfonso Soriano forming some stiff competition. No matter where you rank it, the O'Neill trade was a benchmark moment in the construction of one of the great teams of all time and in the transformation of the '90s Yankees from also-ran to dynasty. As we honor O'Neill this weekend, let's also remember Gene Michael as the architect of one of the epic transactions in Yankee history.

The future Hall of Fame shortstop definitely collected his 3,430th hit. Whether or not he tied Honus Wagner by doing it is the question.

In the bottom of the first inning of Friday night's game against the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter hit an infield single that looked something like this:

The hit was the 3,430th of Jeter's career, which according to the MLB Twitter feed, tied Honus Wagner for sixth all-time. Key to that distinction, however, is "according to MLB". Either way, Jeter will likely leave Wagner behind by the end of the weekend, but if the numbers that Baseball Reference has for Honus are correct he actually passed him several days ago.

In a post on Sports Reference entitled "Explaining the Honus Wagner Career Hits Discrepancy," Baseball Reference's Mike Lynch explains that their number for Wagner's career hits -- 3,420 -- is not a typo, as some readers had apparently believed. Instead, it is an intentional discrepancy in the records between Baseball Reference and the official stats kept by Major League Baseball, which has its own complicated back story.

The short version of the story involves a dispute over games counted by the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statisticians of the MLB, that are not counted by Baseball Reference. The latter group uses Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia as its primary source for games before 1903, since the encyclopedia doesn't count stats from games which were replayed after disputed results and has a day-to-day account of each game. Wagner's is just one of many resulting discrepancies.

While there are other reasons for discrepancies -- Lynch cites a massive 400-hit difference for Cap Anson with MLB not considering the National Association a major league  -- this one exclusively falls in the Macmillan-Elias chasm.

Despite the approval of an official MLB committee created to choose what would be included in the encyclopedia in 1969, Elias never accepted the ruling, forever leaving a gap between what actually happened and what the official record says.

Yankees offensive explosions seem to come paired with bullpen implosions, but it mostly was a very good day overall.

It was the start of a shiny new series at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees took on the Cleveland Indians. Starting pitcher number 500 for New York Esmil Rogers faced off against Trevor Bauer. It was smooth sailing for the Yankees until the bullpen got involved, but the offense stepped up to save the day.

The Indians started things off in the first inning. Jason Kipnis led off the game with a double and came around on a Carlos Santana single. The Yankees opted to counter that five times over in the bottom of the inning. After Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury both reached safely, Carlos Beltran tied the game up with a run scoring single. A Brian McCann single followed, which set up a bases loaded walk to Chase Headley to make it 2-1 Yankees. Stephen Drew came next and singled to up the score it to 3-1. The Yankees then caught a break as Jason Kipnis booted a Martin Prado grounder and then flipped it over Jose Ramirez's head, netting the Yankees two more runs in the process. When the dust settled it was 5-1 Yankees with only six outs gone by.

Bauer lasted only 3.1 innings before he got the hook, but Rogers made it all the way through the fifth with nary another scratch. He would be relieved by David Huff who was unable to take the baton without fumbling it. Huff allowed three hits and a run before mercifully getting pulled in the sixth for Shawn Kelley before he could totally wipe out the lead. Kelly got the final out to keep it at 5-2. With things getting a little close for comfort, the Yankees added a whole lot of insurance in the bottom of the sixth. Following the always foreboding  intentional walk to Ellsbury to load the bases, Beltran crushed a John Axford offering into the seats in right for a four run homer. Or, as the kids call it, a grand slam. The Yanks then got the score to double digits courtesy of a Francisco Cervelli double and a throwing error from Ramirez. 10-2 good guys and the rout was on.

Then the rout was quickly called off, as Kelley reverted back to whatever awful entity he was earlier on in the season. He recorded zero outs in the seventh while walking in a run and allowing four batters to reach safely. Then Adam Warren came in to throw some gas on the fire by allowing a two run double to Santana and a sacrifice fly to David Murphy. Warren would eventually retire the side. Cushy lead gone, opportunity to give the best of the bullpen a day off evaporated. 10-6 Yankees. Warren was relieved in the eighth by Rich Hill of all people, who recorded his first two outs as a Yankee with a timely double play.

Another pleasant surprise from a new face called in to replace another starter that died. Rogers was excellent, just as he had been out of the bullpen. You knew he wasn't going to go long, but you figured that by using Kelley early on Joe Girardi would keep the game from getting interesting. But as always, the best laid plans. Kudos to the offense for pummeling a pitcher who just had nothing to offer tonight and adding insurance runs as needed. The only true negative on the night was Brian McCann exiting due to a mild concussion, so he'll be out for a couple of games. Cervelli's certainly capable of holding down the fort, though.

The teams play based ball again tomorrow afternoon. Brandon McCarthy looks to continue the run of magical starting pitching against the awesome Corey Kluber. Game kicks off at 1:05 PM.

Box Score

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... all the hope for 2014 floating away before our eyes.

Game 116: Yankees 10, Indians 6

Box Score

Tribe falls to 57-59

This game was terrible but in a way, it was also liberating. If you're one of the few that could stomach watching the whole thing, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm talking about. I wouldn't blame anyone who tuned out after the 1st inning. I feel fortunate that I had to watch this entire wretched game, though. It was enlightening. Revelatory even. I finally learned to stop caring about the fate of the Indians, fretting about jockeying for a second wild card spot, and concede this as a lost season.

Once again, the Indians failed to get even two aspects of their game to click. Trevor Bauer, with a huge assist from his atrocious defense, imploded in the 1st inning. The bullpen, with help again from the atrocious defense, imploded in the 6th inning. The six-run "outburst" from the Tribe offense wasn't enough to dig them out of the gaping abyss.

---

Despite Terry Francona's joke of a lineup card, things actually got off to a promising start. Esmil Rogers, making his first ML start of the year, gave up a double to Jason Kipnis to lead off the game. Kipnis came around to score on a Carlos Santana single later in the inning,  giving Bauer a lead to work with before he even threw his first pitch. The problem, though, was that Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis also had to play defense tonight.

With one out in the bottom of the 1st, Captain Derek Jeter grounded to short, and Jose Ramirez made a nice play scooping it up and spinning to throw to first. Too bad Carlos just straight up dropped the ball, which beat Jeter by about two steps. It was ruled a hit. To paraphrase Hammy, it was pretty obvious the official scorekeeper was wearing a Jeter jersey tonight. The "hit" seemed to cause Trevor Bauer to lose composure. Here's the sequence that followed:

• Carlos Beltran singles in a run
• Bauer walks Brian McCann to load the bases
• Bauer walks Chase Headley to drive in a run
• Stephen Drew singles in a run

The Yankees were up 3-1 but then, the coup de crap. Martin Prado grounded weakly into a possible double play. Kipnis first botched the pickup, allowing a run to score (ruled a "hit"). In one clumsy motion, he then attempted an asinine glove-only flip which sailed over the head of a covering Jose Ramirez to allow another run to score. That put the Yankees up 5-1, and had me questioning which of these two teams is truly deserving of the name "Jackasses." Bauer stuck around until one out in the 4th, but his line tonight is concerning even when you account for the defense.

Shockingly, the Indians actually looked like they were trying to do something later in the game. Michael Brantley double in the 6th and was driven in by a David Murphy single. Nick Swisher also singled. Jose Ramirez drove a ball to deep right, but Ichiro took a break from punching himself in the face with bags of dirty Yankee money to make nice catch and end the inning. All this was only possible because the Tribe was facing LGFT David Huff, who is the MLB equivalent of one of these.

Just for funsies, John Axford came on and loaded the bases in the Yankee 6th just in time to face the heart of the order. The Ax Man was forced to poop in his bed shamefully. Why? Because Carlos Beltran ruthlessly demolished his bathroom with the force of a towering grand slam. Scrabble came on to relieve a soiled Axford, and what a relief he was! He promptly gave up a double to Francisco Cervelli then plunked Chase Headley. He induced a double-play grounder on the next batter but Jose Ramirez threw the ball away after making the first out. Another run scored, putting the Yankees up 10-2 and eliciting several legit LOLs.

Funny thing about this game is that the Yankees were pretty bad, too. No matter how hard the D and the pitching tried to give the game away, the offense kept getting opportunities. The Indians loaded the bases off Sean Kelly in the 7th, then Kelly walked in a run. Carlos Santana doubled in two runs, and David Murphy added a sac fly to make it 10-6. That would have been enough to give the Indians the lead - and eventually, the win - if it wasn't for that pesky grand slam. The bullpen held the Yankees scoreless in the 7th and 8th, but an attempted Indians rally in the 9th fizzled out and that was that.

I said above that I felt liberated by this loss, and I mean it. It's cynical as hell, but what can I say - I'm a Clevelander. Still, I think it's important to maintain perspective. It's important to remember that despite the smoldering tire fire that is this team, there are some very positives things to take away from the season so far:

• Corey Kluber emerged as an elite starter
• Michael Brantley has had a breakou year, displaying his freshly-blossomed man muscles
• Yan Gomes is who we hoped he'd be
• Carlos Santana can still mash
• Lonnie Chisenhall has a great DH career ahead of him

These are all promising signs that provide hope for a bright future. Unfortunately, it's becoming clearer by the day that we're going to have to wait until at least 2015 to see that hope realized.

Win Expectancy Chart:

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call:

Game Thread

Total comments: 135

Total commenters: 23

A decision on their anti-trust exemption may have MLB -- along with the NHL, Comcast and DirecTV -- on their way to court.

Major League Baseball has enjoyed an anti-trust exemption largely untouched since the 1922 Supreme Court Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National Baseball Clubs decision that established it.

But, according to the Associated Press, a ruling by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin regarding MLB, the NHL and broadcasting partners DirecTV and Comcast may change that. The decision to reject "anti-trust exemption" as legal defense allows two cases which argue that collusion between the organizations creates "anti-competitive blackouts" -- according to Reuters -- to proceed in the court system.

In addition to the judge's explanation that "the U.S. Supreme Court has 'expressly questioned the validity and logic of the baseball exemption and declined to extend it to other sports," her belief that "exceptions to antitrust laws are to be construed narrowly" may have had led to a decision with a slight activist bend to it. As ESPN's Darren Rovell explained in 2001, the 1953 Toolson vs. the New York Yankeesdecision states that the Sherman Anti-Trust act -- from which MLB has an exemption -- was not created with things like them in mind, making it not privy to the accompanying restrictions.

Scheindlin argues, somewhat oddly, that "baseball's contracts for television broadcasting rights" are "a subject that is not central to the business of baseball, and that Congress did not intend to exempt." For a league which generated 700 million dollars last year from their television deal as part of, according to Forbes, roughly eight billion dollars in revenue last year, the argument that slightly less than 10% of annual revenue isn't central to "the business of baseball" is obviously problematic.

The second part, however, makes legal sense even if it ignores the fact that the Supreme Court and not Congress created the exemption. Or the idea that, when given the opportunity -- as they did with the Curt Flood Act in 1998 -- Congress only restricted the teams control over things like salaries and player movement.

This legislative inaction is not stopping Judge Scheindlin or the plaintiffs in the case. As their lawyer Ned Diver said in a phone interview with Reuters, "we don't view it as a surprise that the court simply accepted that the leagues and their media partners are subject to the antitrust laws."

There's no telling what this could mean for Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League or even their broadcast partners such as Comcast and DirecTV -- which Scheindlin called "more than passive participants" in what she referred to as "consciously depriving consumers of out-of-market games they would prefer" -- but it's certainly a decision worth following into the future.

Just A Bit Outside | CJ Nitkowski:Troy Tulowitzki is saying a lot of things that Derek Jeter would never say.

Baseball America | Ben Badler: Yonauris Rodriguez is gaining prospect status based on his surprisingly complete style of play in 2014.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Masahiro Tanaka keeps giving the Yankees good news during his rehabilitation.

SB Nation | Nick Bond: Derek Jeter may or may not have passed Honus Wagner on the all-time hits list.

Fangraphs | Eno Sarris: Is there any possible way that Shane Greene can continue to be successful, considering his lackluster minor league numbers?

It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: Breaking down all 30 pitchers who have pitched for the Yankees in 2014.

ESPN New York | Katie Sharp: A look at Derek Jeter's success against the Cleveland Indians over his career.

The Record | Bob Klapisch: Do the Yankees still have a chance to catch the Orioles and Blue Jays and win the AL East?

MiLB | Tyler Maun: Yankees second base prospect Angelo Gumbs could finally be fixing what has been wrong.

Just A Bit Outside | Rob Neyer: How good of a chance do the Yankees have at winning the second wild card when their run differential is so bad.

YES Network | Jack Curry: Paul O`Neill reflects on his career and how he ended up enshrined in Monument Park.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: The Yankees don't know when Mark Teixeira will return from his hand injury.

The O's unloaded on an unsuspecting Justin Masterson and St. Louis Cardinals Friday night, scoring their most runs since April.

An offense which has been largely dormant for most of the season may have finally awoken as the Orioles opened up for 12 runs on 15 hits -- which included six home runs from five different hitters -- against the St. Louis Cardinals in Baltimore on Friday night.

Led by J.J. Hardy, the only of the quintet to hit two HR, the O's -- who are five games clear of the Yankees for first in the AL East -- scored in the double digits for the first time since April 24, according to the Associated Press. Along with Hardy, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Chris Davis and Ryan Flaherty all drove the ball out of the park, bringing 10 of those dozen runs across the plate. Baltimore's line-up was unrelenting for much of the game and completely indiscriminate in who they hit out of the game.

They ran through new Cards pitcher Justin Masterson, scoring five times in two innings, then roughed up Nick Greenwood for four in only three and bludgeoned poor Sam Freeman for three runs in just a single inning of work. The onslaught was not how Masterson had hoped his second start for the organization would go, a point he would make plainly to the AP: "This is not the best thing you want to do when you come to a new team."

As is so often the case, Masterson may want to take advice from former Red Sox catcher, recent St. Louis acquisition and noted fountain of sage wisdom on how to make new friends, A.J. Pierzynski, on do's and don'ts of joining a new team.

Great moments in #Bro history

The Upton brothers have homered in the same game for the 5th time as teammates, an MLB record for teammates who were brothers

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 9, 2014

Very punny, MLB, very punny

yesssssss RT @JWerthGnome: @Lana Nothing beats this pic.twitter.com/G2cFVWZSAG

— Lana Berry (@Lana) August 9, 2014

Friday's Final Scores

Astros 4, Rangers 3

Royals 4, Giants 2

Brewers 9, Dodgers 3

Braves 7, Nationals 6

Marlins 2, Reds 1

Tigers 5, Blue Jays 4

Orioles 12, Cardinals 2

Pirates 2, Padres 1

Mets 5, Phillies 4

Yankees 10, Indians 6

Rays 4, Cubs 3 (F/10)

Mariners 4, White Sox 1

Athletics 6, Twins 5

Red Sox 4, Angels 2

Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from August 8th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 1-2 vs. Columbus Clippers

DH Jose Pirela 0-4, K
2B Rob Refsnyder 0-3, BB
RF Zoilo Almonte 0-4
3B Zelous Wheeler 0-4, K
1B Kyle Roller 1-4, HR, RBI - third home run over last 10 games
C John Ryan Murphy 2-4
LF Taylor Dugas 0-3, K, HBP
CF Antoan Richardson 1-3, K, SB
SS Carmen Angelini 0-2, BB, 2 K

Michael Pineda 4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 7 K - 52 of 72 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/2 FO
Jeremy Bleich 1.2 IP, 3 H, BB, K - 29 of 39 pitches for strikes, 1 GO/1 FO
Nick Rumbelow 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K, HR - 14 of 21 pitches for strikes
Branden Pinder 1.0 IP, H, 2 K - 12 of 18 pitches for strikes
Diego Moreno 1.0 IP, H - 9 of 14 pitches for strikes, 2 GO/1 FO

Double-A Trenton Thunder: W 9-0 vs. Bowie Baysox

LF Jake Cave 0-4, BB
DH Ben Gamel 1-4
C Gary Sanchez 2-4
RF Tyler Austin 3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI - hitting .314 over last 10 games
1B Greg Bird 1-3, 2B, HBP
2B Dan Fiorito 1-4
3B Dante Bichette 2-4, 2B, RBI
CF Mason Williams 2-4, HR, 4 RBI
SS Ali Castillo 1-4, 2B

Jairo Heredia 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, BB, 6 K, HBP - 49 of 73 pitches for strikes, 6 GO/1 FO
Phil Wetherell 2.0 IP, H, 0 ER, BB, K - 17 of 29 pitches for strikes, 5 GO/0 FO
Nick Goody 1.0 IP, 3 K - 10 of 11 pitches for strikes

High-A Tampa Yankees: off

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 6-3 vs. Rome Braves

SS Abiatal Avelino 0-5, K - hitting .103 over last 10 games
DH Tyler Wade 2-4, BB, K
LF Michael O`Neill 1-4, BB, K
1B Mike Ford 1-4
CF Dustin Fowler 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, K, fielding error (4)
C Jackson Valera 1-4, RBI
RF Yeicok Calderon 0-3, BB
3B Kale Sumner 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K - .429 OBP on the season
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-4, RBI, throwing error (13)

Rookie Davis 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K, WP - 5 GO/5 FO
Giovanny Gallegos 3.0 IP, 2 H, 4 K - 4 GO/1 FO
Stefan Lopez 1.0 IP - 2 GO/0 FO, third save of season

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 4-2 vs. Batavia Muckdogs

SS Vince Conde 2-5, 2B
C Luis Torrens 1-5, RBI, 2 K
2B Ty McFarland 1-4, 3B, RBI, BB, CS
DH Isaias Tejeda 1-3, 2B, BB, K, picked off a runner
1B Connor Spencer 1-4, K - hitting .415 over last 10 games
LF Chris Breen 4-4, 4 2B, RBI
CF Austin Aune 0-4, 4 K
RF Nathan Mikolas 0-3, BB, K
3B Renzo Martini 2-4, RBI - hitting .314 over last 10 games

Jonathan Holder 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, BB, 3 K - 4 GO/1 FO
Ethan Carnes 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, K, balk - 4 GO/2 FO
Andury Acevedo 2.0 IP, H, BB, 3 K - 1 GO/0 FO
Matt Wotherspoon 1.0 IP, H, K - 2 GO/0 FO

GCL Yankees 1:vs. GCL Tigers

Game 1: L 3-4

SS Bryan Cuevas 2-2, 2B, SB
Tyler Palmer 1-2, BB, K, SB
CF Leonardo Molina 2-4, BB
LF Ericson Leonora 1-2, RBI
Billy Fleming 1-2, BB
2B Dalton Smith 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
3B Drew Bridges 0-4, 3 K
C Kyle Higashioka 0-1, BB, throwing error
DH Alvaro Noriega 1-4
1B Roybell Herrera 0-4, K
RF Miguel Mojica 0-3, BB, K

Juan Jimenez 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, HR - 2 GO/2 FO
Christopher Cabrera 1.1 IP, BB, 2 K - 0 GO/2 FO
Luis Cedeno 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K - 6 GO/2 FO

Game 2: L 2-6

SS Tyler Palmer 0-3, SB, throwing error (5)
2B Billy Fleming 0-3
CF Leonardo Molina 1-3
DH Alexander Palma 0-3
3B Drew Bridges 1-3, K
C Alvaro Noriega 1-3, 2 K
RF Dominic Jose 1-3, RBI, SB
LF Griffin Gordon 1-2, RBI, K, SB, HBP
1B Miguel Mojica 0-3, K

Derek Callahan 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K - 7 GO/3 FO
Deshorn Lake 1.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R/4 ER, BB, K, WP, HBP - 2 GO/0 FO
Matt Marsh 0.2 IP, H, K - 1 GO/0 FO

GCL Yankees 2:W 2-1 vs. GCL Tigers

Jose Augusto Figueroa 1-3, BB, K, CS
LF Frank Frias 1-3, BB, 2 K
SS Angel Aguilar 2-4, K
1B Jake Hernandez 2-4, 2B, RBI, fielding error (4)
3B Allen Valerio 0-2
DH Kevin Alexander 0-3, BB, 2 K
C Jesus Aparicio 0-3, BB
2B Jake Anderson 1-2, 2B
RF Wilmer Romero 0-3

Jhon Morban 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, BB, 4 K - 4 GO/2 FO
Jonathan Padilla 3.0 IP, 2 H, 4 K, WP - 2 GO/1 FO
Jose Pena 2.0 IP, 2 BB, 3 K - 1 GO/1 FO

It's Paul O'Neill day today. Also, there's a Yankee game on afterwards.

Comment of the Game

Protip: When you call a home run correctly in the Game Thread, that's usually a good bet for winning COTG. LTL did this and, well here we are.

As is newcomer :)

Best GIF of the Recap

Today's best GIF of the Thread goes to Bryan-24, because dogs slapping humans is always awesome.

Best Comments of the Day

Even though no one wound up being right, this stream right here just shows why we're the best Yankees blog in the universe!

Fun Questions

• How many home runs do the Yankees hit today?
• Favorite Paul O'Neill moment?

Thank you lord for the Colorado Rockies.

Daily D'backs

Diamondbacks hold on to defeat Colorado Rockies at home - azcentral.com

The Diamondbacks rebounded from a disappointing sweep at the hands of the Kansas City Royals to score a series-opening, win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday at Chase Field.

Lamb: Debut 'everything that you dream about'; Paul's 'crazy' week results in joining D-backs - dbacks.com

D-backs third baseman Jake Lamb capped off his first day in the big leagues with a late dinner with his parents and a few close friends who had made the trip to see him play. A week ago, Xavier Paul was worried about finding a Minor League job.

Xavier Paul gets another shot in the big leagues, 'can't wait to help' D-backs - Arizona Sports 620

While he was just starting to get used to seeing his father around on a more regular basis, the phone call Xavier Paul III received was certainly cause for celebration inside his Slidell, La. home.

Jordan Pacheco works against old team in new position - azcentral.com

Jordan Pachecowas all smiles when talking about his former teammates before Friday's game, the first time he faced Colorado since the Diamondbacks picked him up off waivers in June. That smile didn't last long.

Around Baseball

Uptons go deep, set sibling home run record - mlb.com

"Give us Upton back!!"

Derek Jeter ties Honus Wagner for sixth place on all-time hit list - cbssports

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter tied Honus Wagner for sixth place on the all-time hit list with an infield single in the first inning on Friday night. It was his 3,430th career hit.

The New York Yankees promoted right-hander Bryan Mitchell to the major league roster on Friday night. Mitchell was recently involved in a trade rumor: according to George King at the New York Post, the Seattle Mariners and the Yankees were attempting to work out a trade for Dustin Ackley at the deadline, but the Mariners wanted Mitchell and the Yankees said no.

Mitchell was a 16th round pick in 2009 from high school in Hamlet, North Carolina. The draft position was deceptive: he was rated as a second-round talent pre-draft but had a University of North Carolina scholarship and large bonus demands; it took $800,000 to sign him.

Although he's moved through the system steadily, he hasn't fully lived up to his potential. He posted a 4.58 ERA with a 121/72 K/BB in 120 innings for Low-A Charleston in 2012, and a 4.71 ERA with a 120/58 K/BB and 158 hits in 145 innings between High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton in 2013.

He made 13 starts for Trenton this year with similar results (4.84 ERA, 60/29 K/BB in 61 innings, 64 hits) but was promoted to Triple-A Scranton anyway. Interestingly, he's done some of the best pitching of his career in the International League, with a 2.88 ERA and a 21/10 K/BB in 25 innings.

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Although the results have not always been there, Mitchell has plenty of stuff. He's been clocked as high as 96 at times, works consistently at 91-94, and has an outstanding power curveball. He's made progress with his change-up and added a cutter this year. He is listed at 6-3, 205, born April 19, 1991.

Why the disparity between stuff and results? Mitchell loses his release point at times, flattening out his fastball and telegraphing the secondary pitches. Although his stuff can be overpowering, he sometimes gives hitters too much credit and shies away from challenging them, resulting in excess nibbling. That hasn't been a big problem lately and he's performed very well in four of his five Triple-A starts, enough progress that the Yankees didn't want to give him up for Ackley.

Although his arsenal is diverse enough for him to start, Mitchell may ultimately fit best in relief. Shorter outings may keep his mechanics in gear, help the fastball stay at the upper ranges of his velocity band, and sharpen his command.

This video from MLBProspectPortal is a year old but gives a good look at his breaking ball.

Yankees bad.

After a whole ten runs last night, the Yankees' offense decided to take us back to what we're used to today. Brandon McCarthy was good, holding the Indians to just two runs, it's just that the lineup couldn't do anything to help him. The Yankees managed just five hits and no runs as the Indians won 3-0.

The Indians opened the game's scoring in the top of the second. With two outs, Lonnie Chisenhall kept the inning alive with a single. That brought Jose Ramirez to the plate. Ramirez hit a home run just over the short porch in right, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead.

It took the Yankees until the fourth inning to pick up their first hit. While McCarthy had done a good job in limiting the damage to just the second inning, the Yankeees' offense couldn't do anything to pick him up. In the sixth, the Yankees had a good chance to get on the board when Derek Jeter and Jacoby Ellsbury led off with two-straight singles. But Corey Kluber came back and struck out the side leaving the Yankees scoreless still.

After allowing a pair of singles in the top of the seventh, McCarthy's day would come to an end. He went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out eight. Other than the pitch that Ramirez hit the homer on, it was another nice outing for McCarthy. Rich Hill came in and allowed a single to Chris Dickerson to load the bases. Hill then got Jason Kipnis to ground one to first. Chase Headley threw to home to get the force and keep the run from scoring. After that, Girardi went back to the bullpen and brought in Chase Whitley to face Mike Aviles. Whitley got the strikeout to escape the jam.

After coming close in the seventh, the Indians got their insurance run in the eighth. Michael Brantley led off the inning with a home run off the foul pole in right to make in 3-0.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees again stranded two runners, because why not.

After a scoreless inning by Whitley, the Yankees would face Cody Allen in the bottom of the ninth. Stephen Drew, Martin Prado and Ichiro Suzuki would go down in order as a cherry a top the scoreless sundae. The Indians came away with an easy 3-0 win.

The Yankees and Indians will finish up their series tomorrow at 1:05 eastern. Hiroki Kuroda and Carlos Carrasco will be the starters.

Box score.

It took offense from the unlikeliest of sources and stellar pitching from The Unfair One, but the Indians got it done today.

Game 117: Indians 3, Yankees 0

Box Score

Tribe improves to 58-59

You had the feeling that even with Corey Kluber on the mound, the Indians might still try to find a way to lose. But they didn't! Rejoice!

Kluber wasn't quite as efficient, only lasting 6 innings, but he struck out 10 in the process. The only real solid contact made all day was Jacoby Ellsbury's double with one out in the 4th, which also happened to be the first hit of the game for the Yankees. Kluber gave up only 4 hits on the day, 2 of the others being infield singles and the remaining coming from a bloop into left. When the balls started finding holes (not because of poor defense!) Kluber just reached back and got the strikeout instead. Don't worry guys, he's got this.

The offense did all of their damage via the long ball. Lonnie Chisenhall singled in the 2nd and was brought home a ball off the bat of Jose Ramirez that just snuck over the right field wall to give the Indians a 2-0 advantage. Throughout the next few innings there was some brokering going on to get Ramirez the ball, as it was his field MLB home run. In the end, the kid and his dad coughed up the ball in exchange for one signed by Jason Giambi. Good guy, that Giambi.

Michael Brantley capped the scoring when he led off the 8th with a monster blast off the foul pole in right, giving him 17 on the year and back into 2nd on the team behind Carlos Santana. Brantley and Ramirez both went 3 for 4 on the day and you have to feel good for Ramirez. Not only does he get his first home run in the big leagues, but this might kickstart his play at the plate, which has been struggling since his callup.

On the day, the Yankees struck out 15 times - 10 to Kluber, 3 to Bryan Shaw and 2 to Cody Allen. I know things have looked bleak at time for this team, but as gte619n noted in the Game Thread, Allen really needs mentioned as a bright spot on this year's team and I think Bryan Shaw deserves it as well. We'd be in much much worse condition without those two guys pulling the heavy load this year.

The Indians will try to take the series and crawl back to .500 tomorrow as Carlos Carrasco makes his return to starting pitching against Hiroki Kuroda. Strap in, folks!

Win Expectancy Chart:

Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call:

Game Thread

Total comments: 221

Total commenters: 23

Instead of making one big splash, Brian Cashman opted to avoid the risk of having one asset failing.

Building a roster is very similar to creating an investment portfolio. I wouldn't take my life savings and bet it on oil futures, much like I wouldn't take my entire front office payroll and invest it all on one free agent. This simple concept is asset diversification, one that can be evidenced in mutual funds that are so common in today's financial market. The benefits of said diversification are illustrated here:

"Diversification involves the mixing of investments within a portfolio and is used to manage risk. For example, by choosing to buy stocks in the retail sector and offsetting them with stocks in the industrial sector, you can reduce the impact of the performance of any one security on your entire portfolio."

This concept can be applied to roster construction. If I spread my assets across an entire roster, the bust of one single player will not jeopardize the whole of my team. In this way the concept of a "top-heavy" roster is a completely legitimate concern--if the Angels were to lose Mike Trout for a whole season, they would likely lose their place as a contender (a legitimate one, at least) overnight. But if I had five players that summed up to the same value as Mike Trout, then the loss or bust of one would only result in a 20% loss. Granted, dealing with a larger number of assets can create a larger variance--there's definitely less volatility in Mike Trout's performance--but you get the idea. Brian Cashman understands this and understands it well.

There were certainly big ticket options on the trading block this July--Jon Lester, David Price, Jeff Samardzija, and even John Lackey to an extent. All of these would obviously be a boon to any team, but would also carry a considerable amount of risk for just one asset. The approximate value added for a Jon Lester, for example, would have the following framework:

Value_Added = (RoS_WAR - Replaced_Pitcher_WAR) * (1 - Prob(DL_stint))

For the sake of this exercise, let's assume that a DL stint will last one 15-day DL stint, or approximately 3 starts. We can also assume that the replaced pitcher is replacement level. If we find the probability of a DL stint using Jeff Zimmerman's formula, then we would find it to be 10.48% over a 12 start rest of season. If Jon Lester's Rest of Season projection was 1.3 fWAR and the probability of a three-start DL stint is 10.48%, then his actual value is about 1.16. That's not extreme, but about 10% is a large degradation of such a short-term and expensive asset.

What does this have to do with the Yankees' situation? Well, they didn't make that bet. In acquiring Brandon McCarthy, Martin Prado, Chase Headley, and Stephen Drew, one does not need to hope that that 10% chance does not come to fruition. Because each individual upgrade is relatively small, the discount rate of injury or bust rate affects a smaller portion of the investment.

These acquisitions added about two wins of value, according to Eno Sarris of Sports on Earth. What makes this investment even smarter is not just the gain, but that the probability at which this investment could be lost is much lower than a team like the Athletics where a freak injury or bust would essentially sink the whole asset. Because Brian Cashman treated trade deadline acquisitions much like one would treat a mutual fund, the odds that the whole of his deals are a bust are incredibly low.

Everything is ruined.

pre game

Today's Lineups

game

In my twenty-one years of life never have I seen anything like what I have seen the past few days. Not Wrigley, not Coors, not even Great American Ballpark can match the torture and pain Camden Yards has caused me. This place isn't a ballpark - this place isn't of this world.

It is Hell. An orange and brown Hell.

Time and gravity cease to exist. Rivers flow backwards. At one point I expected the sun to turn black and the ground to open up and swallow the entire stadium, devouring all miserable inhabitants in its path.

The Cardinals needed a hero. Only one man was brave and strong enough to stop the abuse and attack of the Orioles. His name is Seth Maness. Maness was by far the Cardinals best player today, going two innings, striking out three, allowing no hits. He and Choate have been the only two Cardinal pitchers to not surrender runs this series.

Believe it or not, there was a point in this game where it looked like the Cardinals were going to win. Ubaldo Jimenez was not sharp and the Cardinals were able to work a run off him in the first on a Jhonny Peralta double. Matt Carpenter would score from second, while Matt Holliday would be thrown out at the plate trying to score from first. That Cardinals would add on two more on a Jon Jay home run and later sacrifice fly. The Birdos would clog the bases the rest of the day, mustering nine hits total, but with the starting pitcher, John Lackey, giving up three long balls, the offensive just wasn't enough

Have you ever seen the movie Space Jam? Do you remember the part where the aliens take all the NBA players' talent? Yesterday and today the Cardinals have looked a lot like the Looney Tunes. The Orioles have been monstars, and unfortunately, I do not think Michael Jordan will be able to help this time.

And, just to troll us all, Daniel Descalso went 3-3 with a walk today.

post game

LIL SCOOTER'S PAIN IN THE ASS OF THE GAME:

This honor gets split among three players today, the 6, 7, 8 hitters in the line-up, J.J. Hardy, Delmon Young, and Caleb Joseph. Their WPA was .086, .194, and .194, respectively. Collectively they went 6-12 with two home runs, six RBI, and five runs scored.

Source: FanGraphs

TWEET/GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE GAME:

@stlCupofJoe This https://t.co/8ZYsgjq96B

— The Continental (@TheContinental4) August 9, 2014

never should have let the browns leave st louis

— alex fritz (@boxcar_fritz) August 9, 2014

Tomorrow, Lance Lynn must save us from the dastardly Orioles, who have somehow stolen the talent of the 1927 Yankees Murders' Row . In Lynn we trust.

Now I am off to watch more Vikings. The last episode I watched featured nine human sacrifices. So it was pretty similar to this game, actually.

Brett Gardner's journey to underrated Yankees star wasn't easy; the Yankees will support Rob Manfred as MLB's next commissioner; Michael Pineda feels ready to rejoin the team.

Wall Street Journal | Dan Barbarisi:Brett Gardner was cut from his college baseball team for not being fast enough before graduating as College of Charleston's best player. Now he's one of the best players on the Yankees.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: The Yankees and Mets will both likely support Rob Manfred as MLB's next commissioner, but it'll be for different reasons. New York thinks Manfred's opposition would increase penalties on teams with high payrolls and dislike his connection to the Red Sox.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch:Michael Pineda is feeling good after a couple of rehab starts and thinks he is ready to re-join the team. Joe Girardi will have to decide whether Pineda or Esmil Rogers will start against the Orioles this week.

Times-Tribune | Donnie Collins: The RailRiders became the Trolley Frogs for one night on Friday as they celebrated "What If?" night in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees' Triple-A affiliate will feature games over the next few seasons featuring the names that didn't win when the team re-branded themselves two years ago.

ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand:Mark Teixeira could be available to come off the bench today after requiring stitches in his finger due to a collision at home plate. He will go through batting practice and see how he feels.

Minor League Ball | John Sickels: The Yankees called Bryan Mitchell up to serve as another option out of the bullpen. Mitchell has pitched well in Triple-A as of late, and the Yankees obviously think highly enough of him and his future that they turned down a trade for Dustin Ackley to keep him.

The Indians have an outfield problem.

Yesterday's Game

Jose Ramirez hits his first career home run and Corey Kluber dominates the Yankees - Let's Go Tribe

Cleveland Indians beat New York Yankees, 3-0, behind Corey Kluber's 10 strikeouts | cleveland.com

Cleveland Indians at New York Yankees - August 9, 2014 | MLB.com CLE Recap

Kluber threw six shutout innings, though that felt like a disappointment compared with the gems his thrown of late. But thanks to home runs from Jose Ramirez (his first MLB clout) and Michael Brantley and three shutout innings from the three back-end relievers (Atchison/Shaw/Allen), the Indians looked like a good team yesterday. Unfortunately, of late they'll looking like a good team once every five days.

Indians News

Cleveland Indians David Murphy, Nick Swisher exit with injuries | indians.com: News

To this point, the Indians have gone through the season with just a couple injured players at a time. But now it seems like they're getting hit with multiple injuries at once, especially if you include the nagging types of injuries like Yan Gomes' neck and Michael Brantley's legs. Yesterday the Indians, who were already thin in the outfield, lost both David Murphy and Nick Swisher. Murphy had been battling a sore side for a while now, but he left after it flared up more than usual. Swisher, who has been playing the outfield of late because of the series in Cincinnati (no DH) and allowing Francona to give a nicked up player a semi-day off. But it has become very apparent that Swisher cannot play the outfield for more than a day or two at a time. This time Swisher was removed because of a sore knee.

With an off-day on Monday (and another one on Thursday), the Indians could try to get by tomorrow to see if either Murphy or Swisher can avoid the Disabled List. There are three off-days over the next nine days, which should help the nagging injuries. But Murphy's injury could mean that he has a dreaded oblique strain, and that would definitely mean a trip to the DL. Tyler Holt would likely be the player recalled in case either (or both) required more than a couple days to recover.

Latest 25-man/40-man roster

(note: this was prepared Saturday evening, so it wouldn't reflect any moves the Indians make before Sunday afternoon's game)

AL Central News

Blue Jays 3, Tigers 2 (10): Joe Nathan blows save opportunity after Max Scherzer's dominant performance - Bless You Boys

The Tigers just haven't been hitting as of late. They lost 3 of 4 in New York, and after today's bullpen meltdown are just 1.5 games ahead of the....

James Shields and the Royals squash the Giants 5 - 0 - Royals Review

...Royals, who now would be the second Wild Card team should the season end today.

GUEST COLUMN: Saturday's Starter Will Be Revealed As Soon As You Find the Jade Idol, by Terry Ryan - Twinkie Town

No, Terry Ryan didn't write this column, but it's enjoyable just the same.

Right on Q: That time when the White Sox wore shorts - South Side Sox

Yes, it's exactly as bad as you would think.