Lots of excitement in Yankeeland as they appear to have their first bonafide star starting pitcher who was developed from their farm system since Andy Pettitte.  Now, Pettitte was a rookie for the Yankees in 1995.  If you are the GM, and if you are developing stud pitchers every 20 years, you may want to polish up your resume.  But not the case for Brian Cashman who is as secure in his job as anyone around.

SU likes the way Severino just stands on the rubber ready to go to the next pitch.  No nonsense.  But…. I read a report from a scout who says that his motion is pretty violent and for someone throwing high 90s heat, he is not that big.  This scout wonders if his arm can hold up under the stress of that throwing motion.  Tommy John waiting to happen?

Big game tonight for CC Sabathia.  The Yankees play 6 of their next 9 games against Toronto and they really need CC not to be terrible.  SU believes if they can go 3-3 with the Blue Jays, they will be in good shape the rest of the way.  The key is not to give them hope.  Tanaka was serviceable on Tuesday but he is not pitching like last season.  The offense continues to cook without any contribution from Jacoby Ellsbury who has fallen from around .325 when he returned from the DL to about .275 in just a few weeks.  He is very hot and cold.  For $22 million a year, you can do better than that.

The Mets almost let one get away last night in the 9th inning.  SU likes the way that they took care of business in Miami after an emotional sweep of the Nats over the weekend.  They are just 1 week removed from the Carlos Gomez debacle.  Pretty amazing.  Definitely the Minolta Turning Point of the Season for them.

Stumbled across this ESPN Sports Center ad with Yasiel Puig.  Gave me a chuckle.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13356536

SU asks this question: if you are mostly sitting on the bench, how do you get hurt?  The Yankees just announced that their latest utility infielder acquisition, Dustin Ackley from Seattle, has been placed on the DL with a right lumbar strain.  How is that possible?  Out 20-30 days and surgery is a possibility.  It’s not like he was this great pick up but still…

SU will give Brian Cashman a pass as he was smart enough to not trade any of their prospects for some over-priced contract.  As a long-time Yankee fan, I would much rather watch guys like Judge, Refsnyder and Severino for years to come than see a rental pitcher for a few months who will be gone come October – even if it means missing the playoffs this year.

The Yankees need a back-up first baseman.  And if Texeiria goes down with an injury, they are really exposed.  That is the one position where they are extremely vulnerable.

SU tuned in to the Met game last night to see 3 homeruns in about 5 minutes from a team that just a few days ago could not hit.  The fans were on their feet and Citifield was truly rocking.  SU expects the gloom and doom fans who call in to WFAN to be few and far between now as ownership made the moves that needed to be made.  The acquisition of Cespedes as a rental player is just the kind of move that the big boys do year-after-year.  If he can get hot, that adds a lot to the line up.  SU is on record that if the Mets get in the playoff hunt, they will steal the backpage of the tabloids from the Yankees.  I maintain my position and let’s see now what happens.  Of course, they need to play on the road like they play at home (check the splits – really different).  But when you can throw out a stud pitcher every night, the fans get excited.

Meanwhile, the Yankees surprisingly keep chugging along and have no more games outside of the Eastern time zone for the rest of the season.  The offense from the bottom of the order has come alive and even Stephen Drew is showing signs of having a pulse.  SU is excited to see how Severino does this week in his Major League debut.  Long-time subscriber A. Grossman, who seems shy about posting on the blog, sent these comments SU’s way this morning:

“The Yankees don’t get to high or too low in their mind set as they approach each game. No egos…. just business at hand. With our underachieving 2nd baseman batting a crisp 370 BA in the month of July might be the last piece in our lineup which we can almost say is not formidable from top to bottom… almost.  We are not a flashy team and does not rely on one or two players anymore. These past 2 weeks the bottom 3 in our lineup has definitely participated in our wins. To keep this steady karma going should help us not getting into a slump… I hope.  I don’t think we are going to run away with the division. As long as we win more series than losses we may be able to climb to about 17- 19 over 500… which would put us at a surprising 90-72…. 7 games ahead of Las Vegas prediction.  PS   We can’t trade Nova as he is fresh and just getting back in the swing of things. Who else will step up now from our Starters?”

SU is cautiously optimistic now (a big change for me from earlier in the year) but 12 games left with Toronto will likely tell the story.

Met fans: are you legitimately excited?  Or have your hearts been broken one too many times?  Time to stop the moaning and groaning?

For those of you keeping score at home, there has been a flurry of activity this afternoon.  First, David Price goes off the board as the Toronto Blue Jays are all in now.  They moved their top Major League pitching prospect, Norris, to get Price.  Then the Yankees announce that Pineda has a forearm strain and is going on the DL.  Combine that with Nova having a dead arm in his last start and Tanaka being very pedestrian last night and you wonder if Cashman is looking for a do-over with the Tigers.  But not to fear Yankee fans!  In Cashman’s never, ending pursuit of fielding a team of only utility infielders, they have acquired Dustin Ackley from the Seattle Mariners for a couple of minor leaguers.  Ackley hasn’t played 2nd base in 2 years (see Robinson Cano in Seattle) but can play shortstop and the outfield.  He was once a highly touted prospect but is now hitting .211.

Some say he could be packaged in another move or else provide insurance to move Refsnyder so the Yankees can avoid lowering the average age of the team.  Surely Stephen Drew will be part of the next move.  Right?  But SU has its doubts now.  He’s a keeper!  SU says let’s begin the Luis Severino Era now and get him up here and put him in the rotation.  Adam Warren should be slotted in as well.  CC going tonight – the Rangers are putting up special outfield netting so no-one gets hurt by the long homeruns this evening.

Meanwhile, everyone is having a lot of fun at the Mets’ expense today after their screw-up with the Carlos Gomez trade last night.  Terry Collins was very funny in his post-game comments as he apparently had no clue that there was a trade in the works during the game.  The Mets still have one more day to find that hitter.  SU says more to come by both hometown teams in the next 24 hours.

SU liked the Mets’ pick-up of Tyler Clippard.  He is a good bridge type guy to get to their closer and has a lot of experience.  He will blow a couple of games along the way but he’s solid and it doesn’t look like the Mets gave up too much to get him.  They still need that big bat but time is running out and it’s not obvious who that might be.  But hey, management has made some moves so the fan base needs to get on board.

Meanwhile, Tulowitzki is on his way to the Blue Jays who really need pitching, not more offense.  But what do I know?  Reyes moves to Colorado and Twitter is active with calls for the Mets to get Reyes back in NY.  Ben Zobrist was just traded from the A’s to the Royals who have now made two big moves (they got Johnny Cueto from the Reds).  There are still stories out there about the Yankees looking at other utility infielders like Martin Prado.  SU says just bring up Refsnyder and let’s start the youth movement now.  Why is every other team able to incorporate rookies into their line up but not the Yankees?

The NFL just upheld Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension and apparently is upset that he destroyed his cell phone.  This story will not die.  I know many of you hate the Pats and believe in the sanctity of the game and all that.  SU says this gotten so blown out of proportion and will now hang over training camp right up til the start of the season.  I guess it’s good for the NFL as it just keeps it front and center all the time.  4 games still sounds overly harsh to me.

Optimism abounds in New York today as the NY baseball teams both had successful weekends.  The Mets rebounded from the depths of non-offensive baseball Friday night by winning 2 huge games against the Dodgers over the weekend.  They also got early dividends from their rookie call-up and the acquisition of two veterans from the Atlanta Braves.  Relatively new SU subscriber and frequent commenter, Mark N., wrote this morning:

“Met’s trade for some offense, promote another hitter and are making a run. I’m looking forward to a subway series.”  Sure, why not get excited?

Meanwhile, SU believes that the Yankees had their “Minolta Turning Point of the Season” moment on Saturday night when they rallied from a 5-0 deficit behind Alex (“Don’t call me A-Rod”) Rodriguez’s 3 homeruns and John Ryan Murphy’s unexpected 3-run dinger in the 9th inning.  They followed that up with a strong pitching performance yesterday by Evoldi and another Stephen Drew homerun which guarantees him another 3 weeks on the roster (unfortunately).  SU is starting to believe now as they are getting more offensive contributions up and down the line-up.  Even Chase Headley did something over the weekend which is huge as he is in there every day and just cannot be that mediocre all the time.

A-Rod was interviewed last week and had this revelation.  SU is paraphrasing but it’s basically this: “I went from being Alex in Seattle to A-Rod in Texas.  Now this year I’m back to being Alex again and just having fun playing baseball.”  SU says hey, whatever floats your boat and keeps you playing well.  Many suspect he is still using PEDs but SU does not.  While the chemists are usually ahead of the testers, he has too much to lose both financially and in the court of public opinion if he is caught again.  SU enjoys watching him hit and he is starting to look like the 2009 version now.

Is Mark N. right?  Subway series?  SU says the National are definitely not world beaters and that is the Mets’ path to the playoffs.  Supposedly they are heavily scouting Bruce on the Reds.  Makes a lot of sense – big bat.  Time to believe?

Many subscribers are demanding that SU finally come clean that the Yankees are a legitimate playoff team and are better than SU has said all year long.  They lead the division by 5.5 games and are hot coming out of the All-Star break.  The AL East, while close in ability, is pretty mediocre and there are no world beaters in the AL or MLB in general.  Is it time to say the Yankees are actually good?

A. Grossman has been emailing SU directly but a few snippets here: “I can’t see the Yankees falling apart as their entire roster has chipped in during keys times of a game. No one is really carrying this team besides Betonces. Yes, Arod and Texeria have been surprises but we haven’t even seen the real upside yet of Beltran and Ellsbury yet as they are just getting back into shape. With McCan solid and Gardner, admittedly having a really good year….. everyone seems to be fairly balanced… with no one really HOT for a noticeable length of time now-a-days.  Right now they are on track to win 90 games. This is only 7 games more than what Las Vegas predicted. Only 60% of the season is over.  How many more games will it take for you to reassess them currently being a 500 team. They have faced many ACES and have come up victorious so far.”

OK, I agree that they have over-achieved but they have also been hot and cold all year.  The reason I believe that they will still finish with a wins total in the mid-80s is that they are very exposed if there are any type of injuries to either Teixeira or A-Rod or both of them.  Garrett Jones is a below average sub at 1st base and A-Rod is your #3 hitter.  Their full season projected numbers are just too inflated in this era of hitting.  When you combine that with how many 1-run games they play and a bullpen that has been almost flawless to date, I don’t believe it’s sustainable at this rate.  Too many things have to fall into place.

I think the pitching is actually good enough.  You only need 5-6 innings out of your starters with a strong bullpen.  Their need is more offense, more speed and Refsnyder at 2nd base.  I am pleased with the recent success but just do not have the confidence in this roster that I have had in past Yankee teams.  But SU will be more than happy to admit I was wrong if they win the division by 10 games.

Anyone want to disagree?  Feel free to respond.  The floor is open.

Under the category of “No-one Cares Other Than SU”, I just read that long-time SU fave Richard Jefferson will sign a 1-year deal to play with LeBron.  I like it and will add Cleveland to teams that I will follow next season on the NBA Season Pass along with Charlotte (Jeremy Lin).

Long-time SU subscriber T. Potter sent along this tidbit late yesterday about Omar Minaya from the New York Times:

“…his legacy with the Mets looks better and better. Minaya, who was fired in 2010, oversaw some costly major league contracts, but he also left the Mets with a foundation of players he drafted, including Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Jon Niese, Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda, as well as players he signed on the international market, like Juan Lagares.  Minaya also acquired Carlos Beltran and R. A. Dickey, who were used in trades for Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud.”  Met fans got all excited when Sandy Alderson came to town but in hindsight, it appears that they had a good thing with Omar.

Met fans: do you agree?

SU is taking some level of satisfaction that the Red Sox were swept out in LA over the weekend and are now 9 games back.  They will now become sellers at the trade deadline.  Sometimes the big ticket free agents just don’t get it done.

The Yankees now have a chance to create some separation with the Orioles but SU just does not see that happening.  Their margin for winning is so small.  Over the weekend against a bad Seattle team, they won 2 out of 3 games but all 3 games were decided by one run.  Baltimore was great at this 2 years ago but the odds say that you will end up closer to .500 in the end if you keep playing games this close.

Stephen Drew is officially on the clock for SU.  No way he is here past July 31st.

When we last spoke, Rob Refsnyder had enjoyed his first Big League hit, first Big League homerun and first error of his young career.  All the talk was that he was here to stay and SU was among the Yankee faithful that saw allowing him to play everyday at 2nd base as a no-brainer.  But alas, it was not to be.  After playing Friday and Saturday, he was demoted yesterday.  Joe Girardi said that he needs to continue working on getting better.

SU asks: is this just another bad move by Brian Cashman who was upset that the team average age might dip below 29.5 if Refsnyder stayed on the roster?  Or is he being clever here?  SU actually believes the plan, now, is to get Refsnyder back to the Major League roster within the next 2 weeks.  Cashman wants the other teams to believe that he is comfortable finishing out the year with Stephen Drew and Brendan Ryan, and leaving Refsnyder in the minors.  But in reality, this is a head fake.  Cashman doesn’t want to appear desperate but he is going to move Drew now to some team that needs a shortstop for the rest of the year.  The sportswriters are all missing this.  They think that Refsnyder was sent down for “seasoning.”  Not so: he is ready now and showed nothing in his audition that he isn’t ready.  Drew will be dealt in the next week or so and Brendan Ryan, who they probably want to keep but just is another injury waiting to happen, will go back on the DL.  Refsnyder will return and give SU a 2nd player on the team other than A-Rod to get excited about.

Yankee pitching is actually fine.  The American League is truly mediocre.  There is no team that you would be scared on in the playoffs.  SU says do not give up any of your top prospects to rent a pitcher for the 2nd half as you will then be stuck with CC in the bullpen.

SU caught the end of the Met game yesterday (as in the 14th – 18th innings.  Man, they are bad offensively.  But… the pitching continues to hold up and they remain only 2.5 games back.  If ownership makes a couple of moves and the Mets stay in the race, SU predicts the City will rally behind the Mets more than the Yankees because they are younger.  They are poised to take over the town but it’s not clear if ownership will seize the moment.  Clearly, Met fans need to buy more hot dogs and beer at the game to make it happen.