The Yankees celebrated their acquisition of Sonny Gray by rolling out the Clay Bellinger line up tonight.  As predicted, Jacoby Ellsbury makes the line up batting lead off as Brett Gardner gets a night off and … wait for it, Tyler Wade is back at 2nd base.  Scary.  SU is sure Joe Girardi has his reasons but not sure why both Didi and Gardner need to sit out the same night.

There is tremendous pressure on Ellsbury to produce tonight.  This is huge for him.  Holliday no doubt is also feeling the heat but the bar is lower apparently for him to earn his playing time.  SU believes 2 strikeouts and a weak grounder to short will guarantee he is in the line up for the next 2 weeks.  SU would have put Cooper in tonight.  At some point, you just have to sit Holliday down and believe me, we have reached that point.

Did you see that the Cubs awarded Steve Bartman a World Series ring?  A nice touch and he sent them a very gracious note in response:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20210036/chicago-cubs-giving-world-series-ring-steve-bartman

The guy has suffered for 14 years.  I think he earned this.

What is up with Aaron Judge?  He has been so patient at the plate all season long – laying off those down and away sliders for the first half of the season.  However, since the All-Star Game, he can’t help himself and is much jumpier and anxious at the plate.  It’s clear that the pitchers are making an adjustment and throwing him all off speed pitches – mostly off the plate.  They are gambling on him figuring that one of those pitches will be a fastball.  Result?  A lot of strikeouts and a significant slump.  The pitchers adjusted; now Judge must return the favor.

Speaking of adjustments, when does Girardi start to limit the at bats of Matt Holliday and give Ellsbury a shot?  At what point does he become an automatic out and incapable of driving anyone in with runners in scoring position?  He is not providing any protection to Judge at this point either.  SU maintains he is not physically right.  SU feels badly for Ellsbury; he has become a 9th inning pinch runner.  A modern day Homer Bush.  For a veteran earning $22 million a year, it’s an embarrassment.  And yet, he has to sit there and watch Holliday ground out or strike out at a record pace.  For the record, Holliday is riding a 9 for 66 streak with 4 rbis in his last 17 games  a .136 average for those of you keeping score at home.  It’s bad enough that Todd Frazier plays every day; Ellsbury deserves a shot now at DH or in the outfield and giving Clint Frazier, Judge or Gardner a blow.

All signs are pointing towards the Yankees making the Sonny Gray deal before 4 pm today.  Apparently, Jordan Montgomery is nearing a career innings pitched number and they are concerned about him hurting his arm.  The bullpen is rock solid now.  The Red Sox picked up Addison Reed from the Mets who are in fire sale mode.  The Astros are all of a sudden not looking like world beaters pitching wise.  SU says if you can avoid giving up any top prospects, may as well make the deal for Gray and go for it.  But they will need to straighten out some of the hitters.  Ellsbury playing and producing would equate to a trade deadline pick up.  SU says give him his shot now.

Mark it down sports fans.  Gary Sanchez’s 2-out, ground ball single to tie the game last night in the 9th inning will be the Yankees’ Minolta Turning Point of the Season.  SU did not see the entire game but this was clearly a frustrating night.  CC got pissed off when he was taken out but hey, 3rd time through the line up and is not throwing 97 mph anymore.  No problem with Girardi making that move.  Tyler Wade is just not ready for prime time yet; poor guy kept coming up in key situations.  Matt Holliday cannot elevate the ball anymore; he is Mr. Gounder to Short and a sure DP all the time now.

You get to the 9th inning, tying run on 3rd base, no one out and Frazier and Judge don’t get it done.  Sanchez’s grounder should have ended the game but no – sneaks through as no one goes for it.  The Yankees win in the 11th on a walk-off home run.  Judge chips a tooth in the celebration.  Big win and write it down.  Momentum starts here.

What to expect?  Here is what will happen:

• First, Judge will now go on a roll.  He needed something to happen.  The chipped tooth will create discomfort and knock him out of his funk.  SU knew the Home Run Derby was a bad idea – this always happens.  But he will now feel differently at the plate and it will help as he is irritated by his tooth.
• Matt Holliday is going to go back on the DL.  I can feel it.  He will take one for the team as opponents start to field 7 infielders on the left side of the infield for his at bats.
• Jacoby Ellsbury is going to get hot.  He just needs the at bats.
• Tyler Wade gets a trip back to Scranton for more seasoning or will be included in the Sonny Gray deal with Oakland.  It seems like that trade will be happening this weekend.  If he goes back to Scranton, he can share a car with Cessi who is also not ready for prime time.
• The bullpen looks really good now.  They can even field the best of the rookies to be the long man and stop with the Scranton shuttle back and forth.
• Aaron Hicks will provide a boost when he returns.  It will be interesting if they keep Clint Frazier up or send him down.  That’s why Ellsbury is key as he needs to be a contributor even though not an SU fave.  Plus they desperately need another left-handed bat in the line-up.  The loss of Bird was a killer just for that reason.

Bottom line: the Division is certainly within reach.  Boston has under-achieved and may start to feel the pressure of falling short with a big payroll.  SU feels the Yankees are still playing with house money this season and should not trade away any top prospects.  Stay with the program.

Finally, college football just around the corner.  Time to start paying attention.

SU just read that long-time SU fave and ex-Yankee, Eduardo Nunez, was traded by the SF Giants to the Red Sox.  Ugh.  As opposed to Todd Frazier who is hovering at .204, Nunez is hitting .308 for the season and .348 since June 1st.  OK, he is not the world’s best fielder but he can play several positions, steal bases and is an exciting player.  SU says this was a missed opportunity by the Yankees for a rental player with speed.

Now, it’s possible that the Yankees were forced to take Todd Frazier in order to get the two relievers – not sure about that.  Both Frazier and Nunez are free agents after the season.  Frazier had an interesting first at bat at Yankee Stadium last night where he hit into a triple play with the bases loaded.  SU had to laugh out loud at that one.  Somewhere Chris Carter is watching and thinking, “Hey, I could have done that.”  Frazier did get a ground ball single and walked so maybe he is starting to get grounded as a Yankee.  Or not.

Meanwhile, Matt Holliday grounded out with the bases loaded to make him 0 for 11 on the season in that situation.  He is close to a lifetime .400 hitter with the bases loaded in his career.  SU still maintains he is not right and Ellsbury needs to be given a shot.  If nothing else, it’s another left-handed bat in an overly right handed line up.

Yankees are 1 game out and actually one up in the all important loss column behind the Red Sox.  Hard to believe that after playing so poorly for so long, they are right there.  Lots of rumors about a trade with Oakland for Sonny Gray and the 1st baseman but SU does not want to give up any more prospects.  On the other hand, if it means Frazier gets DFA’d maybe it’s a net improvement.  Stay tuned…

SU is no Jacoby Ellsbury fan; he could have the worst contract in baseball.  The rise of Clint Frazier has placed him on the bench for days at a time and he has been reduced to being a 9th inning pinch runner.  Not bad for $23 million a year.  Remember to do those stretches before taking the field.

But SU says why does Matt Holliday get a free pass?  Since returning after the All-Star Break, he has gone 5 for 44 hitting 4th or 5th every game and supposedly providing protection for Aaron Judge.  I know Girardi is probably thinking that the law of averages says he will now get hot and return to being productive.  But that assumes the guy is fully healthy and fully recovered from whatever “allergic reaction” put him on the bench for a couple of weeks.  That may very well not be the case and therefore, SU says put Ellsbury into the DH slot for a while and see what happens.  He has been humiliated the last few weeks being benched in favor of Frazier and surely has an inner fire that says if just given the chance to play every day for a few games in a row he will produce.  This is his time and Holliday has earned a spot on the bench until he is back to normal.

SU must give props to Chase Headley for his performance over the past several weeks.  It is truly shocking.  Truly.  Now, he does not have many rbis but remember, he is hitting behind Holliday and Todd Frazier so unless he hits a home run, there is no one on base to knock in.  And Todd Frazier just needs to not play.  Put in Cooper at 1st base.  He’s about to go below the Mendoza Line at .200 and is showing no signs of life.  We are down to a couple of months now and players need to earn their time on the field.  SU has spoken.

What is up with Kyrie Irving?  Seriously.  Life is bad making the finals 3 years in a row?  He is arguably the best 1-on-1 player in the NBA right now.  He has no idea about how to play in a team concept but you don’t see LeBron complaining about him.  You can’t get along playing with LeBron?  Some dudes do not know how good they have it.  He may be banished to Orlando or even the Knicks and never see 30 wins again.  He already shoots about 20 times a game; how much more does he need?  SU says no-one forced you to sign the contract you have.  Honor it and if you are unhappy, then you can move as a free agent when that contract is up.  Enough of the whining.

OK, I know if I don’t say something about Jordan Spieth, some SU subscribers will say, “What?  Nothing about Spieth?”  At 24 years of age, he will threaten some of the untouchable records out there over the next several years unless he backs his SUV up into a tree or starts screwing around with porn stars (or finds himself hanging out with Tiger Woods).  He seems to have his head on straight and surrounds himself with good, supportive people.  Golf needs a guy like this – brings in the fringe fans.

SU tries to keep an open mind when it comes to new players on my teams.  OK, maybe I have a blind spot with Chase Headley but in the end, I will be proven right.  I was a big fan of Greg Bird coming out of spring training and his injury has created a domino effect of moves all year long.  We all knew Chris Carter would be a bad fit.  No surprise there.  So, SU asks: how is Todd Frazier any different from Carter?  He is a low contact, high strikeout, right – handed hitter who will hit the occasional home run.  What am I missing here?

I agree it’s a low risk move for a rent-a-player for 3 months as he will be a free agent and then you get the draft pick by allowing him to leave.  But for SU, he falls into the Chase Headley (sorry, can’t resist) and Brian McCann category where whenever he gets a hit, it is a total surprise.  You just don’t expect it as you are mentally and emotionally prepared for the strikeout or pop up.  Speaking of which, have you been watching Matt Holliday since he came back after the All-Star break?  He is a strikeout or double play waiting to happen.  Relatively new SU subscriber, S. Greenberg, suspects whatever virus he might have is still in his system.  SU agrees: he is not right.  In any event, you cannot have him protecting Judge in the line up.  Castro can hardly run and he is not hitting again yet.  Throw in Slugger Ellsbury and right now it’s hard to score runs.  And yet, and yet, they are in the hunt for the division and the wild card.  But SU still maintains that they are way too right-handed now; need a lefty bat who can actually hit.  Ten days to go before the trade deadline.  SU says Cashman is not done yet.  He can’t be.

SU liked P. Bok’s comments on the rumored trade of Melo to Portland.  That would be a high powered offense with him but at this point, it seems he will only accept a trade to a team where he has friends on the roster.  We are back on the play ground picking sides.  Rajon Rondo has signed with New Orleans which must be a huge relief for Knick fans.  No doubt he would have been a great influence on the Knicks younger players.  In fairness to Melo, Jackson gave him the no trade clause so he can certainly be selective.  But they just have to make that move.

As stated here many times, SU is all in on the youth movement with the Yankees.  They (finally) have a stable of top prospects as the result of last year’s trades and as far as I am concerned, they are playing with house money in 2017.  SU had predicted a record of 80-82 this season so anything better than that is a pleasant surprise.

There is lots of talk about Blake Rutherford who was the top prospect sent to the White Sox in the deal and how he is rated as the #30 top prospect in all of baseball.  That may be true but the reality is that the Yankees have a lot of prospects who are closer to joining the Major League club in the next year or so.  SU is not against moving one of the lower level guys in order to improve the team now.  I have always been a David Robertson fan and he will help no doubt.  Betances is a mess right now and there is something wrong with Chapman although he’s not admitting any physical ailment.  If they actually start winning some games (as in more than 2 games in a row), they will need more of the better relievers pitching more often.  Apparently, the other reliever, Kahnle, is really good and is younger as well.  Those are both good pick-ups.  Todd Frazier?  Look, the dude is hitting .207 although they say he has been better of late (as in .234 for the last several weeks.  (Say what??!!)  Has Chris Carter lowered the bar that much?

There is also addition by subtraction here as Tyler Clippard is gone.  Let me say this about Clippard: he earned it.  He was terrifying.  SU got excited last night (as in very excited) as Joel Sherman started tweeting that Chase Headley could even be part of the deal.  But as many have reminded SU of late, “Headley is hot!”  Hitting .300 for the last several weeks and his rbi total is steadily creeping towards 40 for the season.

I like the kid Cooper at 1st base but he will likely be a casualty in all of this.  Girardi may platoon Headley with Frazier at 3rd base now or else stick him at 1st base and hope for the occasional home run.   Look: he’s gone after this season as a free agent so I suppose it’s worth the risk.  But the Yankees still need a starter.  Thinking here is that they will bring up Chance Adams from Scranton to have a go at that spot in the rotation and SU is all in on that.

SU would also trade Brett Gardner now to open up an everyday spot for Clint Frazier who can play.  If you watch Gardner, he is back to only hitting with his upper body which eliminates the home run swing he had going earlier in the season.  He is a .250 – 260 hitter plain and simple.  He is better than Ellsbury but he is still owed $1.2 billion in salary for a few more years (Ok, I exaggerate).  They really miss Hicks who can put Ellsbury on the bench.

Soooooo, SU is ok with the trade but not jazzed.  Bring up Adams as the starter they need and I will be happier.  There were rumors last night that the Yankees tried to include Carmelo Anthony in the deal but the White Sox balked.

What do you all think?

OK, sports fans, which of these statements is the most scary?

a) “Pitching now for the Yankees: Dellin Betances.”

b) “Pitching now for the Yankees: Aroldis Chapman.”

c) “We have put on hold any further discussions about trading Carmelo Anthony.

d) “Anything with the words “Tyler Clippard” in the sentence.

For Yankee fans, they now lead the League in blown saves with 18 this year coming from what was supposed to be the strongest part of the team.  Something is clearly wrong with Chapman who refuses to throw anything but straight fastballs.  He has a slider.  SU suspects his arm or shoulder is not right and that throwing that pitch is painful.  If that is the case, well there are lots of pitchers these days (for whatever reason you want to cite) that can throw in the high 90s.  Hitters can adapt if they are not worrying about any other pitch (except for Mariano Rivera’s cutter).  SU is actually no longer that distressed by the blown saves; I have come to expect them.  My preseason 80-82 record is in sight.

Betances finally had a good outing last night and Clippard is clearly no long in the mix for anything but mop up duty as he has fallen in the depth chart.  The Pineda injury is huge but also an opportunity for the young guys.  I never had playoff aspirations for this season and would still play the youngsters as much as possible.  So, help me with last night’s line up.  Frazier is coming off a hot weekend and a left-hander is on the mound.  If you are not going to play him, then send him back down.  Instead, Girardi starts Ellsbury in center who shockingly goes 0 for 4.  SU says put Frazier in every day and see what you have there.  Bird is due for some type of rare bone adjustment surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks unless the latest cortisone shot takes hold.  Feel badly for this guy.

Long-time SU subscriber A. Grossman is still optimistic and has been all season.  His recent comment:

“Here we go… right out of the box. Hitting bean town with most of our players back, well rested and hopefully off to the same torrid start we had bck in April/May. We better or this once very exciting and optimistic season will really be a disappointment. Why? Because for 2 solid months we were arguably one of the two or three best teams in baseball for all the reasons that get you to the playoffs. Balance, power, hitting singles, fielding and better than average pitching. It wasn’t for a week or two that made us a team to reckon with. You were looking at 50 games…. a solid quantity to draw solid opinions. Yes, the season is long, but youth should prevail over age in the long run. We just picked up a hot hitter in Triple A from another team. Maybe we should immediately bring him up and see what he has at the big league level. Stop babying all these players for too long. I’ve never seen that nurturing in any of the other leagues like its done at the MLB level.

I’m sticking with 90 wins. Go Yankees.”

Thoughts?  Will we be smiling come Monday morning?

So, Steve Mills is the new Knicks President and they have a new GM.  Is this guy Perry the one who put a hold on Melo trade talks?  Surely at this point Melo is looking forward to a trade.  Why would he want to be part of another 25-win season?

SU is back from Las Vegas this week and took in a couple of NBA Rookie League games.  It was fun seeing these players walking around the hotel and in the restaurants (although one has to wonder if Las Vegas is the best place for 19-year olds with lots of down time between games).  SU observation: these guys cannot shoot.  The half-time score of one game was 26-21.  Stay in School.  Learn how to shoot the ball – it will help you in the NBA.  Everyone can run and jump but you have to be able to make an outside shot.  Otherwise you are destined for a life in the D-League (or G-League as I believe it is called now).

OK, Home Run Derby is not the real thing and is just part of the annual All-Star Game festivities.  All the players are having a grand old time yukking it up with their fellow stars and enjoying the moment.  But the light was shining extra brightly on Aaron Judge yesterday from start to finish and he handled it like a 10-year veteran.

I mean think about it.  All the media interviews to start the day and then going up against Giancarlo Stanton on his home turf.  And then, needing 23 home runs to advance to the next round: no problem.  For SU, it was striking how effortless his swing is.  All of the other sluggers were spending maximum energy out there while Judge really uses his lower body and legs to maximum effect.  SU asks this question: why don’t other players copy his batting stance?  Of course, he’s a big dude but even someone smaller would benefit by hitting that way.  We have watched Brett Gardner hit with only his upper body for years until this season.  It makes a lot of sense.

Bottom line: the moment was not too big for Judge.  He is the new face of baseball.  Mike Trout is up there and there is Bryce Harper but he is always scowling and saying the wrong things.  SU is proud to have him as a Yankee and it also means they do not, and I repeat, do not need to sign a Harper or a Trout.  Note to Brian Cashman: focus on pitching please.

Lucky for Tanaka, he pitched on Sunday and wasn’t available to pitch batting practice for the Home Run Derby.  No doubt he fielded a few calls to do that down in Miami.  Mark Texeiria made his ESPN debut in a major prime time role.  SU says they should not have given him 17 cups of coffee yesterday.  Did he ever stop talking?  SU was uncomfortable having him talk too much to Judge.  We don’t want him giving advice about how to deal with the shift.

The Yankees start the 2nd half with 4 games in Boston followed by 7 more on the road out West.  That is the season right there.  They will get Matt Holliday back as well as Castro which are both huge.  They really need Hicks back in order to put Ellsbury on the bench or at least to platoon with Gardner.  Chase Headley is secure at 3rd base and the over/under for rbis will be 52 for the season.  Impressive.  10 home runs seems out of reach now.  SU says they will be buyers come the trade deadline either way this goes but should not under any circumstances part with any top prospect.  We are aiming for 2018.

Interesting scheduling at Wimbledon yesterday.  Nadal match on Court 1 ran late as they (foolishly) have no tiebreaker in the 5th set.  Federer ended early in Center Court and they could have put Djokovic match on right after as there is a roof and lights (along with the silly 11 pm curfew).  But the officials were afraid of a stampede from fans on the grounds and instead put the Djokovic match off until today.  SU has never seen something like that.  They waited too long to decide and it cost them.  They also put the #1 women’s seed on Court 2 which was odd.  The women’s game right now is not as entertaining but not all of the men’s matches needed to be on a prime time court.

Let me be clear: SU is not talking about the fact that the Milwaukee Brewers are in town this weekend.  No, this relates to the Greg Bird injury.  Check out this column from NBC Sports about some Yankee anonymous “brass” member hinting that Bird just doesn’t want to be out there:

Yankees brass criticizes Greg Bird for being injured

“The New York Yankees season began as a wonderful surprise but, for the past several weeks, it’s been a nightmare. Poor play and injuries to multiple key players have derailed the season and now they sit three and a half back of Boston in the East, trending in the wrong direction.

The poor play — particularly from the bullpen — has been hard to stomach, but injuries just happen, right? No one to blame for injuries. Unless, of course, you’re an anonymous member of the Yankees brass, who believes that there is something wrong with one young injured player for, you know, being injured. This comes from Bill Madden’s latest column at the Daily News:

Much as the Torres and Fowler injuries were downright heartbreaking, the Bird mystery ankle bruise has become merely annoying. Despite numerous tests that have turned up nothing, Bird continues to insist the ankle is still sore — too sore to allow him to play. The Yankee brass has become exasperated with Bird, who’s never been able to stay healthy, and it has gotten to the point where if he doesn’t get back on the field after the All-Star break, they are prepared to move him over the winter.

“You really have to wonder what’s with this guy,” a Yankee insider complained to me earlier this week. “You’d think with Judge and Sanchez, the guys he came up through the system with, doing so well up here he’d want to be a part of this. Apparently not.”

Sure, because a guy spends twenty four years devoting his life to baseball, working his tail off for six years in the minors to transform himself from a fifth round selection to a top prospect and the Yankees first baseman of the future, comes back from serious shoulder surgery and then, suddenly, simply decides that he doesn’t “want to be a part of this.” Clearly he must be lying about his ankle. There’s no WAY he could actually be in pain.

What crap. What utter disdain this cowardly, anonymous Yankees executive has for one of the players expected to be a key part of the Yankees future. How pathetic it is that he so easily dismisses something he likely has no experience with whatsoever, going so far as to question the drive, motivation and character of a 24-year-old athlete.

And how cowardly of the column’s author to not even attempt to push back on this crap narrative. He makes no effort to talk to trainers or coaches or Bird himself to characterize Bird’s injury in anything approaching a balanced way. Rather, he simply allows this Yankees executive to malign Bird with not even a hint of pushback. Maybe he’d be owed a bit of the benefit of the doubt in the normal course, but given how comically and shamelessly wrong he has been in the past by virtue of his work as a mouthpiece for Yankees brass, I suspect it’s too much to ask for him to be even remotely critical.

How about this: when a player says he’s hurt, believe him. And if you don’t believe him, talk to him in private, don’t slander him in the tabloids. That’s low rent garbage.”

SU would have to agree.  Clearly, there is something wrong with his ankle.  SU says stop sending him to the Mets’ doctors and let’s get the top specialists on the case.  No doubt there is a Mark Texeiria-like hairline fracture in there.  It would be great if Bird could return after the All-Star break and provide some stability at 1st base.  But no guarantees.

So, what do you make of the Tim Hardaway Jr. offer sheet by your New York Knicks?  Of course, you had the guy as a rookie and no doubt are now paying premium dollars to get him back.  Par for the course.  While SU loves having an ex-Michigan player on the roster who is fun to watch, let it be said here that he will not thrive unless Carmelo is moved.  If you are not going to either buy him out or trade him, then don’t bother with these moves.  It’s bad enough he stunts the development of KP; do we need to have another victim?  But wait!  Help is potentially on the way with Rajon Rondo to mentor the youngsters.  Surely you jest.  SU says get some players strong on character, who share the basketball and have no record of team imposed suspensions.  Is that too much to ask for?

The Yankees are running on fumes now in their bullpen.  It’s a bad formula when your starters can’t do beyond 6 innings and Betances is totally out of whack with his form.  He needs to not worry about the stolen bases and just get guys out.  He has lost 3 games in a week.  These are Tyler Clippard numbers.  SU believes once the injured players return, they will stabilize but the pitching is a problem both front end and the bullpen.