Layups

-The Yankees signed Brian Gordon today and announced he will make the start on Thursday in place of Bartolo Colon. Gordon, who has 4 innings of Major League experience under his belt, was pitching well for the Phillies AAA team, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Gordon owns a 56/7 K/BB ratio in 55.1 innings so far and a 38% groundball rate. Gordon appeared in 4 innings with Texas back in 2008 and fared pretty well in 3 relief appearances. He was born August 16th, 1978 in West Point, New York. He does have 15 minor league seasons under his belt. Personally, I would have started Hector Noesi and signed Gordon as bullpen insurance, just like the Yankees did with Corey Wade and Greg Smith this past week.

-Is it me or is most of the news about the Finals about the Heat losing rather than the Mavericks winning? Seriously, do we really need all this LeBron coverage? What about Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki...don't they deserve some credit here? Don't the Mavericks deserve their time in the sun? Has any losing team ever received this much credit? Enough already. Let the Mavericks enjoy their moment and shelve the LeBron talk until next season.

-Marc Berman wrote in the New York Post today that the Knicks should abandon the 3-star plan taken by Miami this offseason. Wait, what? The Knicks should avoid signing Chris Paul or some other big free agent in 2012 because Miami fell two games short of a championship? That might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard from a sports columnist in years, or ever. What Miami did is not exactly new. Having three stars is not new. Miami just overpaid for Chris Bosh and instead should have signed several role players to fill needs around the court. They didn't. But does that mean Miami will never win a championship? No. It is asinine to assume anything in sports after one season.

-Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey is dominating the Florida State League. It is time for the Mets to bring him up to AA and see how he does. I understand why the Mets are taking it slow with Harvey after watching Jenrry Mejia go down for Tommy John Surgery. However, the Mets should be reservedly aggressive with Harvey. He has the makings of a number 1-3 starter, something the Mets don't really have right now. I don't know where Dillon Gee is going to be in three years but if this year is an early indication Gee could be a decent starter. The Mets could have three decent starters in Mejia, Gee and Harvey. At least one of them should become a good MLB starter.

-Ryan Zimmerman is back after missing 58 games due to an abdominal strain. Zimmerman is the face of an up-and-coming franchise. The Nationals missed his bat and his glove over the past 2 months but have kept their heads near the waterline. They won't compete this year but when Bryce Harper, Tyler Moore, Anthony Rendon, and Stephen Strasburg all come up or come back from their own injuries the Nationals might be a force in the NL East.

-Who comes back first? Johan Santana or Rafael Soriano? Santana might be back by August or September. That's too late for the Mets to try and trade him this year. However, if Santana comes back, does well and stays healthy the Mets might be able to dump him next year for some very good prospects. If I'm the Mets I do that because they aren't winning anything anytime soon and Sanatana isn't getting younger, or healthier for that matter. A team like the Yankees might part with a couple of prospects. If I'm the Yankees I'm staying away though. Not worth the money he is being paid right now.

Pop-Ups and Foul Tips

-The New York Yankees were able to accomplish something that hasn't been done since 1913 on Thursday night, lose 6 straight home games to the Boston Red Sox. Just to put that in perspective, the Yankees didn't even have Yankee Stadium back then. So, congratulations Yankees.

-The New York Yankees have very big, very real problems. First, their bullpen which was supposed to be their biggest strength has turned into a huge potential weakness. First, free agent signee, Pedro Feliciano, their supposed lefty neutralizer, goes on the DL without throwing a pitch. He is followed by the other free agent signee, Rafael Soriano, who, when he did throw a pitch, wasn't very good at it. Now, Joba Chamberlain is on the DL and likely out for the year after hearing he might need Tommy John surgery. Boone Logan remains up and down, and the rest of the bullpen is pieced together by guys fresh from AAA or guys like Luis Ayala who is trying to put his career back on track. This is probably not what Brian Cashman envisioned this offseason.

-So who is available to step up into the bullpen void for the Yankees? Well, at AAA there is Kevin Whelan who has posted some excellent numbers as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's closer. Whelan is 1-1 with 18 saves, a 1.67 ERA, 30 K's, 6 BB's and has allowed only 17 hits in 27 innings. Tim Norton, who just made his AAA debut this past week was also an option before landing on the DL for a reason I am not sure about. He was 1-0 and struck out two batters in 1 inning at SWB but was lights out with Trenton where he posted a 1-0 record and 1.55 ERA with 44 K's in 29 innings. George Kontos is another option. He has posted a 2-0 record with a 2.64 ERA and has struck out 32 batters while walking 11 in 30.2 innings. All the other guys we have seen in the Bronx already this year. Mark Prior is another option but he is still on the DL at SWB after 1 game. The good news is its not an arm issue. Andrew Brackman has been too wild at AAA to earn a call-up and would be a disaster in the pen right now given his inability to stay in the strike zone.

-I am still shocked that the Nationals were able to secure Anthony Rendon at pick #6 in this weeks draft. Could a Nationals-Royals World Series be a possibility down the road?

-Francisco Cervelli, filling in for Russell Martin who is dealing with some back issues, gave his best Chuck Knoblauch/Steve Sax impersonation during this Red Sox series. Three throwing errors on attempted steals at second base have to have Yankees brass scratching their heads. All his throws tail away from second which is probably the result of rushing his throws. Either way, I am surprised the Red Sox didn't try to exploit it more.

-Jeff Marquez made his Yankees debut last night. He was part of the Nick Swisher trade but the White Sox released him and the Yankees claimed him. So, seven years after getting drafted, the kid makes his Yankees debut.

-First it was Eric Hosmer. Now Mike Moustakas has been called up by the Royals. Nice to see the Royals doing what is best for the baseball side of operations by bringing these kids up and not worrying about arbitration years down the road.

-The Sporting News came out with their list of the Top 50 baseball players as voted on by MLB executives. Albert Pujols was number one followed by Troy Tulowitzki, Felix Hernandez, Joey Votto, and Tim Lincecum. Jose Bautista was #23. Joe Mauer was #9! Really? Wow. Robinson Cano was #12. I don't know how you put Mauer that high. Must be the Head and Shoulders commercials. How Bautista is #23 I will never know. Notable Yanks and Mets on the list: Cano #12, CC Sabathia #15, A-Rod #17, Mark Teixeira #26, Mariano Rivera #29, and David Wright tied at #41 with Ubaldo Jimenez. First of all, Wright at #41 and no Jose Reyes on the list. Right now, Wright is not in the top 50 and Reyes is in top #15, period.

-Don't look now bu the Dallas Mavericks are one win away from beating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. The Heat are by no means out of this but I don't think many people expected this. Many hoped for it though.

-After having trouble scoring an goals in the first two games, the Boston Bruins are exploding on Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. That series is tied 2-2.

-Getting back to the NBA...I am thoroughly shocked the Mavs are up 3-2 right now. Dirk got hurt in Game 1 and the Mavs really lack that second superstar. Still, there they are. But, how can you count out any team that has Dwayne Wade and LeBron James as options 1 and 1A?

-Joba Chamberlain is proof positive that no matter how much you coddle and arm it will still break down if that's what its gonna do. The Joba rules didn't protect Joba anymore than letting him throw too many pitches hurt him. Its not what you do to an arm, its what the arm does when throwing. Shoulders and elbows don't know about rules.

And that's all I got. Enjoy the day. Oh, and my fellow Yankee fans, don't worry. The Sox left town, we can resume winning I hope.

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