Awesome.  I was expecting house money, Tex DHing or something at the very least.  Mighta been nice to see Hinske get some licks against a righty with 7 ERA.

If AJ walks Andino…

Pittsburgh Post Gazette has Adam LaRoche to BOS

When AJ walks Andino…

Earlier in the season, the bottom third of the Yankee lineup always made me cringe.  Today, not so much.  However, the cringe most likely pales in comparison to the cringe Os fans feel when looking at Zaun, Pie and Andino.  Ooof.

Is it just me, or does AJ like getting people with pie?

They could do much worse than Zaun as a backup C, but Pie and Andino are incredibly awful at hitting.

Is it just me, or does AJ like getting people with pie?

Better than hitting people with bricks.

There goes my productivity for this afternoon.

The Nick Swisher nose dive is most distressing.

Better than hitting people with bricks.

Depends on the people.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette has Adam LaRoche to BOS

Still no word on who’s going to the Pirates?

Assuming that this is saying something about Lowell’s expected health going forward, Youkilis 3B + LaRoche 1B is a downgrade from Lowell 3B + Youkilis 1B on both offense and defense, isn’t it?

Remember when Felix Pie was going to be a star?

Yes, it’s a downgrade from Lowell+Youk but probably an upgrade over whoever was playing first/on their bench (Bailey?).

As a Pittsburgher, I can say that LaRoche to Boston is actually a good thing from the Yanks’ perspective. Expect many GIDPs with men in scoring position.

Baseball!

According to multiple baseball sources, the Pirates will receive shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland when the deal is finalized. Diaz is known as a gifted defensive player, but there are questions about his bat. The 22-year-old Diaz is hitting .253/.309/.310 with Double-A Portland this year.

So it looks like the Sox gave up nothing.

That can’t be right; my screen says Roberts struck out.  I thought we were required to set the ball on a tee for him?

Super quick inning there, I like it.

Who is this efficient strike thrower and what has he done with AJ?

I like one pitch outs!

Gameday is saying AJ threw nothing but fastballs this inning.  I like the aggression.  Let’s see if he keeps it that way against the bottom 1/3.

So it looks like the Sox gave up nothing.

Did you really expect otherwise?

Take a good look at Adam LaRoche.  This is the last time you will be seeing him without a goofy goatee…

Well, they gave up nothing except a couple million owed to a fringey player. It make sense for both teams. Pirates save a few bucks and Sox get some flexibility with the Lowell situation.

Is it too soon to start the Jeter for MVP talk?

Jeterian!

Did you really expect otherwise?

Nope. I was still hoping they might somehow.

I think the Yankees brought their hitting shoes.

[17] For nothing

Whoa, whoa whoa…. did they really just score first?

Today our Pythag increases exponentially and Coke, Aceves, Hughes and Mo get to bask in the sun.

Reportedly Boston is giving up shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland.  IOW, not much.  Not that LaRoche is worth much, mind you.  Diaz is apparently a 22 year old generic all glove no stick infielder in AA and Strickland is a 20 year old former 18th round pick who’s been at low A this year.

That 2-0 pitch was very not a strike.

A-Rod is so worthless. No HR?

Did Matsui beat that out?

No throw to first on the Matsui FC.

This guy is a bad pitcher. I like this version of the Orioles.

Uh oh, Robbie with the bases loaded. *Gulp*

I’m fully expecting a HR or a walk.  Honestly.

Don’t let him off the hook!

My guess is the mound visit went something like this - “This guy will swing way out of the zone in this situation.  Keep it off the plate.”

Based on memory, Cano’s hit an awful lot of line drives in these situations that have been caught.  It’s time for some to find the gap.

Luck!

HA! That’ll work.

Laroche has lifetime OPS+ 113.  That’s not bad considering what they give up.

Haha, I guess with Robby I’ll take that result.

I don’t think this Berken fellow is any good.

I’m fully expecting a HR or a walk.  Honestly.

So you don’t want his BABIP to be affected?

Is that going to look like a line drive in the box score?

I think the Fangraphs take on Laroche to Boston is right: this is downside insurance.  It doesn’t make them better, really, but it insures them against becoming significantly worse (if Lowell can’t play).

I remember Robby hitting some soft liners with RISP at best

And the rout is on.

Come on, Swish!  Blow this open.

Why does it seem like 100 years since Swisher hit a ball hard?

woohoo! blowout here we come?

I remember Robby hitting some soft liners with RISP at best

Memory is a tricksey thing, eh?  My memory includes numerous slicing liners to left that looked pretty good off the bat, but were right at the left fielder.  I also seem to recall a few hard hit balls to the right side that were caught by, or fielded by, the 2nd baseman.  I’m not saying Robbie is a good situational hitter: he’s quite clearly not.  But I also think he’s had some awful luck.  And the baseball gods decided to smile upon him today.

Why can’t Kevin Long get Gardner to stop uppercutting?

Only two righties in the line up right now.  It certainly is nice to have so many quality switch hitters.

Reportedly Boston is giving up shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland.  IOW, not much.  Not that LaRoche is worth much, mind you.  Diaz is apparently a 22 year old generic all glove no stick infielder in AA and Strickland is a 20 year old former 18th round pick who’s been at low A this year.

So Pirates are dumping salaries whenever/wherever they can? I guess, makes sense.

Well, apparently the Yankees have decided they CAN hit bad pitchers they’ve never seen before.  Old dogs learning new tricks!  Sweet.

When a team gives 10 starts to Jason Berken, you know that team made some bad decisions.

Why can’t Kevin Long get Gardner to stop uppercutting?

Probably because that would require a fundamental rebuild of his swing?

Gardner’s chance of inside the park HRs is increased if he can soft serve a slicer past a corner outfielder.

When a team can’t even get Manny Delcarmen for their starting first baseman, that team has made some bad decisions.

Looks like Good AJ today.

Strike throwing Burnett is good Burnett.

Nevermind.

For all the Melky hating here and elsewhere he had the same OPS+ of 97 going into todays game as Gardner and a much higher lifetime OPS+ then Gardner at a younger age.  Neither of them are much and neither of them should be playing every day so I’m not looking to give away Melky.  And I hate Gardner’s swing he looks like a guy hitting a backhand slam in a ping pong match.

I can’t see the game, but the Orioles have come up swinging.

Probably because that would require a fundamental rebuild of his swing?

When he came up last season, Long did attempt to get him to use his legs more. Anyway, it’s something that needs to be looked at in the offseason.

Gardner’s swing reminds me a lot of Damon’s.

Anyone else at the mercy of Sterling? He was itching to call the ball out on the Scott single.

When a team gives 10 starts to Jason Berken, you know that team made some bad decisions.

The Orioles certainly have been badly run for a very long time, but part of the reason that they’re giving all these starts to the likes of Berken is the decision to not rush the talented young pitchers they do have in their system, and that decision may eventually prove to be a good one.

[71] I’ve noticed that as well, but it works well for Damon. For Gardner, not so much.

Will he ever throw a straight change again?

So Pirates are dumping salaries whenever/wherever they can? I guess, makes sense.

Freddy Sanchez might look good as our UIF.  IIRC he played plenty of 3B a few years back.

Y’all see Tomko’s bellyaching at being DFA’d?

I’m reasonably sure at this point that Gardner > Melky.  He’s nothing special (and yeah, his swing just looks all sorts of wrong for his type of player), but he’s decent because he gets on base more than Melky, he’s a better baserunner and he’s a better centerfielder.  I like Melky and all, but Gardner is the superior player and should get most of the playing time.

When a team can’t even get Manny Delcarmen for their starting first baseman, that team has made some bad decisions.

That was my initial reaction as well. Looking at LaRoche’s numbers, I now see why they won’t get a Delcarmen. It is a straight salary dump.

Man, throwing over to first when you have Andino up and Roberts next?  Can’t Joe Girardi just give the “I’ll fine you $50 if you do that again” sign?

If I’m AJ, I just keep pumping fast balls to the bottom half until shown otherwise. No need to get cute here.

Way to battle…even though Pie may have been safe/

Wow, that was close, looks like they got him though. Jeter sure has looked good in the field since the break.

In this particular scenario, I love that umpires basically just give it to the fielder if the force is even reasonably close at second.

I’m reasonably sure at this point that Gardner > Melky.  He’s nothing special (and yeah, his swing just looks all sorts of wrong for his type of player), but he’s decent because he gets on base more than Melky, he’s a better baserunner and he’s a better centerfielder.  I like Melky and all, but Gardner is the superior player and should get most of the playing time.

I think the sample size on Gardner is not enough to make that conclusion. In addition, Gardner has been platooned severely, which essentially means sometimes Melky has to act as a RH hitter against lefties. Which kind of biases Melky’s numbers in the negative direction.

he had the same OPS+ of 97 going into todays game as Gardner and a much higher lifetime OPS+ then Gardner at a younger age

These observations belie the fact that Melky has sucked for the past two months while Gardner has improved significantly after a horrible start, as well as the fact that Melky has regressed in every year of his major league career to date.  That last trend will probably be reversed this season, but only because of how utterly atrocious he was in 2008.

Burnett throwing 75% strikes is good. Seriously, he has to climb down that walk leaderboard in AL.

Y’all see Tomko’s bellyaching at being DFA’d?

No, what did he say?

Right now Minaya looks pretty bad.  Now I don’t believe that trade was real- it was probably a plant from that slime JP Riccardi- but they could easily have acquired Hinske and LaRoche- maybe even Mclouth- and put a semi-respectable NL lineup on the field.

How’s Laroche’s defense?  Obviously not on the Youkilis level, but he looks like the rangy lefty type that can pick it.  As opposed to Giambi oafishness.

Melky has to act as a RH hitter against lefties. Which kind of biases Melky’s numbers in the negative direction.

Surprisingly, Melky’s OPS is high as a RH hitter than as a LH hitter: .790 v. .734

I think the sample size on Gardner is not enough to make that conclusion. In addition, Gardner has been platooned severely, which essentially means sometimes Melky has to act as a RH hitter against lefties. Which kind of biases Melky’s numbers in the negative direction.

The SSS point is why I’m “reasonably sure” instead of just plain sure.  I’ll certainly concede that Gardner has been protected against LHP.  Even so, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me that he brings more to the table, offensively and defensively.

When a team can’t even get Manny Delcarmen for their starting first baseman, that team has made some bad decisions.

Well, if you wanted to be a glass-half-full kind of guy, you might say that the decision to dump a starting first baseman who isn’t even worth Manny Delcarmen is a pretty good one.

Tomko:

“I don’t think I got a fair shot,” he said. “I pitched great in spring training and didn’t make the team. I pitched great in the minors, got called up and didn’t get much of a chance. I understand other guys are pitching great. But it could have been different. I can’t see the point in coming back.”

Wow, Tomko.  Go Farns yourself.  I regret defending you a few times.

but he’s decent because he gets on base more than Melky, he’s a better baserunner and he’s a better centerfielder.

Gardner does not get on more than Melky. Gardner has a .324 career OBP, Melky has a .330 OBP.

Gardner has also cooled off since his hot May/June which incidentally covers about as much time as Melky’s hot streak. Neither of these guys is a real hitter.

How’s Laroche’s defense?

Pretty bad from what I’ve read.

back to Tomko:

if you didn’t give up approximately 80 bajillion home runs…

Tomko also blamed his shitty numbres on intermittent use.  Won’t accept Scranton-WB assignment if he clears waivers.

I’d like the offense to get 2-3 more before they completely pack it in.

“I don’t think I got a fair shot,” he said. “I pitched great in spring training and didn’t make the team. I pitched great in the minors, got called up and didn’t get much of a chance. I understand other guys are pitching great. But it could have been different. I can’t see the point in coming back.”

Yikes, that’s definitely a myopic view of what went down.