Let’s get right to it . . .

• Joe Sheehan weighs in on the never-ending “Joba to the pen” saga:

Joba Chamberlain is a fantastic starting pitcher. He’s the team’s second-best starter right now, and there’s a chance that he’ll be the best starter by 2010. His SNLVAR of 1.3 is just a fraction behind Andy Pettitte‘s mark of 1.4 for second on the team, a gap that would likely not exist had Chamberlain not been knocked out of his May 21 start against the Orioles by a line drive. Used exclusively as a starter this year, Chamberlain has a 3.71 ERA in 53 1/3 innings. Last night was his fifth quality start in ten, with one of the others being that injury-shortened outing. Durability is an issue, but it’s as much a created one-the Yankees continue to be hypercautious with Chamberlain-as it is a weakness in his game.

In his career, Chamberlain now has a 3.19 ERA in 22 starts, averaging a little more than 5 1/3 innings pitched per. He has 125 strikeouts, more than one per inning, and a K/BB of 2.6. There’s never been a team in MLB history that could afford to move that guy to the bullpen. Even if you were to say that Chamberlain is a six-inning pitcher, something that isn’t clear yet, getting 192 innings of 3.19 ERA ball in a season would make him a top 40 starter in baseball every season, a six-win pitcher in line to make tens of millions of dollars a year.

The conversation on whether to move a starter to the bullpen begins with whether the pitcher can be a successful starter in the majors. Chamberlain has proved that he can prevent runs with the best of them, so that’s not a problem. While he’s suffered nagging injuries on occasion, he hasn’t had the kind of durability problems that, say, Rich Harden has. By pitching standards, Chamberlain has a good health record, and the kind of record that doesn’t warrant a role change.

• Tyler Kepner profiles prospect Austin Jackson:

Through Monday, he was hitting .349, third in the International League, with 11 stolen bases in 11 tries.

A 22-year-old center fielder, Jackson is still developing in his first season at Class AAA. As well as he has played, including a .436 average with runners in scoring position, he has not hit a home run all season. . . .

“There’s nothing about Austin — defense, arm, base running, nothing — that gives me any doubts that he’s going to be a good player one day,” said the Class AAA hitting coach Butch Wynegar. “I just hope nothing happens at the big-league level where they yank him out of here premature. I’d love to see him stay here all year, see what kind of year he has and go from there. Because he’s not there yet.”

• Here’s how a Yankee Triple-A player can make it to the show.
• It’s nearly impossible to get a player’s autograph in the new Stadium:

The Yankees’ gleaming new ballpark opened this spring to mixed reviews, with criticism for sky-high ticket prices, obstructed views and the ease with which batters hit home runs there. But the difficulty in getting autographs at the new stadium has particularly chafed many fans, who routinely add three or more hours to their game outings for the chance at personal interaction with a player.

The situation is little better inside the stadium, where visitors continue to be restricted from the prime autograph areas — near the dugouts — during batting practice, unless they have tickets in those sections. The best of those tickets now go for $1,250, which reflects the Yankees’ recent 50 percent discount. The team had an even more restrictive policy, but eased it last month; fans can now watch batting practice from the field-level box seats in the outfield.

The loss of these traditional access points has fans complaining of the further widening of the already huge gulf between those who make millions playing the game and the fans who support the team with their hearts, time and money.

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Today’s news is powered by a trip in the Wayback Machine, to a time when cigarettes were “cool”:

• Matsui’s swansong in pinstripes?:

. . . I was told by several Yankee executives that there is almost zero chance that Hideki Matsui Hideki Ma will be re-signed after the season, even if he were to finish with a strong season and despite the strong presence he affords them in Japan.

The New York Yankees Yanks have long been concerned about the inflexibility of their roster due to having too many DH types, such as exists this year with Matsui, Jorge Posada Jorge Posada and Xavier Nady (if he returns from his elbow injury). Yankee officials envision a 2010 in which Posada takes more at-bats as the DH, and in which Joe Girardi could better rest everyday players such as Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira without losing their bats.

• Kevin Goldstein has some good news on a Yankee prospect NOT named Montero:

Austin Romine, C, Yankees (High-A Tampa)
. . . Once again sharing catching duties (with Jesus Montero DHing when he’s not behind the plate), Romine went 5-for-12 with a pair of doubles and a home run during the weekend, and while his .289/.306/.462 line pales in comparison to Montero, it’s still very good for a 20-year-old in the Florida State League. More importantly, Romine (unlike Montero) actually projects to stay at catcher down the road, and be a damn good one in the end. Montero has a far better chance of turning into a star, but Romine is the guy who should be considered the Yankees’ catcher of the future.

• I poena, you poena, we all poena for subpoena:

New York Yankees officials said Monday that taxpayers would face more than $5 million in document costs if the team is forced to provide internal records sought by lawmakers looking into public financing of the club’s new stadium.

Assemblymen Richard Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat, and James Brennan, a Brooklyn Democrat, are questioning what Brodsky claims is nearly $4 billion in financing and tax breaks over 30 years that was used to build the new ballpark. The legislators say many ticket prices have been hiked beyond the reach of fans.

Yankees’ attorney George Carpinello said the estimated $5 million is for legal review of some 1.4 million relevant e-mails and attachments and doesn’t include reams of other documents.

[My take: $5 million more for a $1.5 billion stadium deal?  It’s a drop in the bucket.]

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First things first . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BANTER MAN HIMSELF . . . OUR OWN ALEX BELTH!

Today’s news is powered by this “literal music video”:

• Fielding all right (uh huh):

New York has grown quite used to seeing a zero in the “E” column each night, completing its 17th consecutive errorless game on Sunday to tie a Major League record. . . .

The Yankees have not committed an error since Ramiro Pena booted a ground ball while playing shortstop on May 13 in Toronto. Since then, New York has handled 617 total chances in 156 1/3 innings of play, recording 469 putouts and completing 148 assists with 12 double plays. The team fielding percentage: a sparkling 1.000.

• Tex draws raves from A-Rod and a pep talk from Tino:

“Mark’s phenomenal,” Rodriguez said after Saturday’s 10-5 victory over the Indians. “To me, Mark is a combination of Tino Martinez and Paul O’Neill. He just brings so much to this team, so much to this clubhouse. His makeup is one that’s very impressive.”. . .

“He (Tino Martinez) told me just to be yourself, have fun,” Teixeira said. “Tino is just a great guy and was a great player. We hit it off right away. He knows the kind of player I am, and I think he just wanted me to get back to being me.”

It may have been coincidence, or directly attributable to Alex Rodriguez’s return to the lineup earlier in the month. Whatever the reason, Teixeira put a 4-for-4, four-RBI game on the Twins the next day and has hit .413 (26-for-63) with eight home runs and 21 RBIs in his 15 games entering play Sunday since Martinez’s pep talk.

• Homer-happy new stadium stats:

Through 23 games at the new park, the Yankees’ 45 homers led the majors in home runs hit at home. Texas was second at 38 through Thursday. The Yankees are averaging 1.96 home runs per game at home and are on pace to hit 158 for the season. That would be good enough to break a pair of records.

In 2000, Toronto hit 134 home runs at home (an average of 1.65 per game) to set the American League record. The 1996 Colorado Rockies set the major league record with 149 home runs (an average of 1.84 a game).

But Yankees pitchers are learning that the home run barrage is a two-way street. They have given up 42 home runs at home, which also led the league through Thursday. Philadelphia and Arizona were second with 38. The staff is on pace to give up 148 home runs, which would break the A.L. record of 132, which is held by the 1964 Kansas City Athletics. That team went 57-105 and finished last.

[My take: The wind currents in the stadium are juiced.]

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Today’s news is powered by . . . Cliff’s new bundle of joy!  Off we go!

• Good news on Posada and Cabrera:

Jorge Posada is on his way back to the Yankees lineup, playing six innings in an extended spring game on Thursday and then flying to meet the team.

Posada has been sidelined since suffering a strained right hamstring on May 4 in New York. The Yankees have an off-day on Thursday and will open a four-game series at Cleveland’s Progressive Field on Friday.

“The hamstring is feeling good,” Posada told The Associated Press in Dunedin, Fla. “I’m happy with everything. The most important thing was just running, seeing some pitches and getting the timing down.”. . .

Additionally, outfielder Melky Cabrera will rejoin the Yankees on Friday. Cabrera was examined by Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad in New York and supported the diagnosis by head trainer Gene Monahan of a bruised right shoulder.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that Cabrera — who crashed into a fence chasing a fly ball in the first inning on Tuesday — would be sidelined five to seven days.

• Buster Olney has the Yankees pondering Mark DeRosa:

Imagine Mark DeRosa as a big hunk of tuna, bait on a hook. One of the looming shadows circling below is that of the New York Yankees, who are weighing options and haven’t decided whether to take a shot at the versatile veteran.

[My take: Another corner outfielder?  Would he supplant Cano at 2B?  Otherwise he’s a pretty expensive (but versatile) bench player.]

• Bruney’s elbow . . . the on-going saga:

Brian Bruney’s visit to Dr. James Andrews went as well as the Yankees could have hoped, as the famed orthopedist found no structural damage in the reliever’s injured right elbow.

Bruney was diagnosed with a right flexor muscle strain, the same injury that landed him on the disabled list from April 25 to May19. Bruney will rejoin the team in Cleveland before tomorrow’s game and will undergo a throwing program.

“We’re happy the diagnosis isn’t a surgical situation,” GM Brian Cashman said. “It’s just how long it will take for him to heal.”

[My take: Give him some truth serum along with that rehab . . .]

• Coke adds life . . . to the Yankees’ pen:

He is Phil Coke, who is tied with Veras for the staff lead in appearances, with 21. It is no wonder Coke was chatting before Wednesday’s game with a Texas Rangers reliever, Eddie Guardado, whose nickname is Everyday. Despite Coke’s mixed results — 1-2 with a 4.43 earned run average — Girardi has found him indispensable.

“He has three quality pitches,” Girardi said. “He’s able to locate his fastball on both sides of the plate, he has an equalizer in his changeup to get right-handers, and he’s got a good slider to get left-handers. Really, what he does is he just pitches. He locates, he changes speeds and he works both sides of the plate.”

• SWB Yanks add a Bush:

It seems the Yankees have signed 29-year-old Paul Bush out of the independent Atlantic League and assigned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Bush is a right-handed pitcher with pretty good numbers — 1.62 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 16.2 innings — and logic would dictate that he’s going to fill the hole in the Triple-A rotation.

But Bush is a reliever.

Those 16.2 innings have come in nine games with the Somerset Patriots. Bush spent the previous seven seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization, including 22 games in Triple-A. Of his 175 minor league games, only 29 were starts, and each of those starts came in seasons when the vast majority of his outings came out of the bullpen. Seems to me that the last thing the Yankees need is another Triple-A reliever, but I’m sure they have a plan.

• Does Cashman have his head in the clouds, and not on the field?:

Remember those wind tests the Yankees were said to be doing on their new stadium? Well, whatever is going on with them, no news has crossed General Manager Brian Cashman’s desk. And since he puts together the roster, he would probably be in the loop.

“I don’t have any answers about wind studies,” Cashman said. When I asked if he still believed the dimensions were the same as before, as some folks have disputed with visual evidence, Cashman said, “I’ve been told they’re the same. I know they’re supposed to be the same.”

Supposed to be the same doesn’t mean “the same.” It’s a bandbox. Take the number of home runs the old Yankee Stadium allowed and double it. That’s basically what has happened. But Cashman insists he doesn’t see it that way.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with the dimensions,” he said, explaining that most of the homers he’s seen have been legitimate shots.

[My take: So if its NOT the dimensions, then it must be the wind patterns, right?]

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Today’s news is powered by a couple of gals out-doing that famous scene from “Big”:

• Posada edging closer:

New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada may be able to rejoin the team for a weekend series in Cleveland after missing more than three weeks because of a strained right hamstring.

“It’s possible as early as Friday, yeah,” New York manager Joe Girardi said before Wednesday night’s game at Texas. “He’s a big bat we’ve been missing. He’s another big bat to add to the middle of that order. We’ll wait to see how he feels and go from there. If he feels fine, there’s a good chance we’ll activate him Friday.”

Posada caught for five innings in an extended spring training intrasquad game on Wednesday.  . . .

Posada ran from first to third on a single and threw out a runner trying to steal second base in the intrasquad game.

• Melky fought the wall and the wall won:

New York Yankees center fielder Melky Cabrera missed Wednesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers with a strained right shoulder, and could be out through the weekend.

Cabrera exited Tuesday night’s game against Texas after running into the wall while trying to make a catch in the first inning. . . .

Cabrera had an MRI exam Wednesday that was negative. Girardi said Cabrera wouldn’t be in Wednesday night’s lineup, with Gardner starting in center.

Girardi said Cabrera could be out until Monday night’s series finale against the Indians.

“We’re going to call it day to day. but it’s probably going to be more than a day or two,” Girardi said. “I don’t necessarily think it will be a DL thing — getting to the end of the weekend in Cleveland or Monday, that would be really good.”

• When will Girardi deploy his CMW?:

Still in the unfamiliar role of a long reliever, Wang said Tuesday that manager Joe Girardi told him there are still no plans to insert him into the rotation and that he will continue with the Yankees as a reliever for now.

“He talked to me yesterday and said he doesn’t know when,” Wang said.. . .

. . . Wang has spoken in a team-first manner, but the two-time 19-game winner would clearly prefer to be starting.

As of this moment, though, there are no clear-cut opportunities with which to give him that chance. Girardi said that Hughes will make his next scheduled start on Sunday against the Indians in Cleveland, which leaves Wang as a reliever for now.

“I think he’s somewhat frustrated by it,” Girardi said. “It’s the way you’d expect anyone to be if you’d been through what he’s been through the last couple of months. I believe he understands that he’s here to help us, and we feel really strongly that he can be a big part of this club. We need to get him back to where he needs to be.”

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Today’s news is powered by the closest connection I could make between “Star Trek” and baseball:

• Step-by-step with Jorge:

New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada played three innings of defense during a simulated game Tuesday.

Sidelined since straining his right hamstring while sliding in a game against Boston May 4, also batted in the simulated game. The five-time AL All-Star threw to second from behind the plate and ran the bases after the game.

• How about $1,500 for two seats . . . (game not included):

[My take: The Mets sold pairs of Shea seats for $869.00.  So it only seems reasonable the Yanks would blow that price out of the water when it came time to sell their old seats.]

• CC already planning for the future . . . in NY?:

As I was talking to Sabathia a few days ago about why he decided to live in Bergen County, N.J., he asked some questions that indicated he plans to be with the Yankees for the long haul. Carsten Charles III, C.C.’s son, turns 6 in September, but C.C. quizzed me about which county high schools have the best athletic programs. Little C.C. is only in kindergarten, but his father was already thinking about possible high schools.

If Sabathia was planning to bolt the Yankees in three seasons, would he even be aware of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.? Probably not, but Sabathia cited the school’s sports pedigree. Sabathia had done some homework, too, because Don Bosco’s baseball team was undefeated last year.

• Mazzilli and Tino not dodging this draft:

Tino Martinez and Lee Mazzilli will serve as club representatives for the New York Yankees at the First-Year Player Draft, to be held at the MLB Network studio next month. The Yankees’ first pick will come at No. 29 overall.

MLB.com will offer live coverage and analysis of the entire First-Year Player Draft on June 9-11. MLB Network will broadcast the first round beginning at 6 p.m. ET on June 9 from its Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J., and those 32 selections will also be simulcast live on MLB.com.

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Today’s news is powered by birthday boy Lenny Kravitz, who turns 45 today:

• Bruney back on the DL:

Yankees reliever Brian Bruney again experienced discomfort in his right elbow on Monday and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list.

Bruney, who was activated on May 19 after being on the DL since April 25 because of a strained flexor muscle in the elbow, played catch on Monday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, one day after a 35- to 45-pitch session in New York during which the right-hander experienced elbow pain.

“I’m pretty disappointed,” Bruney said. “Nobody likes to go on the DL. It is what it is. I’ve got to find out what the problem is and at least get it diagnosed. I think there is something that we’re missing. Maybe some different tests will show what I’ve got going on.”

• The manager isn’t quite pleased with the lack of communication from Bruney:

“I just think he wasn’t totally forthright in how he was feeling,” Girardi said. “We’ve had many talks with him over the last couple of weeks about how you have to tell us exactly what’s going on. It could be that by rushing himself back, he’s never given himself the amount of time he’s needed.”

Bruney felt some discomfort in spring training. Then he started the season brilliantly, retiring 22 consecutive hitters in one stretch. On April 21, he felt uncomfortable in a game against Oakland and told Girardi – with whom he has a very good relationship – that he needed a day off.

That day turned into almost a month. Bruney went on the disabled list and continued to feel something in his elbow when he played catch. Gradually, he said, the feeling went away, and he worked a rehab game, then pitched May 19 against the Orioles. Now he is hurting again.

Bruney said he had no regrets about coming back last week. He felt fine in the bullpen and fine in the game, he said, and his first round of tests showed no damage.

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Today’s news is powered by a classic scene from “A League of Their Own”

• Bench coach Tony Pena, on his stable of catchers, especially the new kid Francisco Cervelli:

“Sometimes, for one person to shine, something has to happen to someone else,” said Pena, who has four Gold Gloves to his name. “Defensively, Francisco Cervelli is as good as any other catcher. There are very few catchers who can move behind the plate the way Francisco Cervelli moves.”

“He has not allowed a passed ball yet, and that is something we catchers take pride in — the command of the game,” added Pena. “The energy he brings is an extraordinary energy.”

Pena also highlighted his strong working relationship with the team’s veteran catchers.

“I am honored that [Jose] Molina and Jorge Posada have the confidence to come to me and talk to me and listen to the advice that I can give them,” said Pena. “It’s not easy finding a catcher who has played 10 years in the big leagues and still wants to learn.”

• Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long, on Melky Cabrera:

“He’s hitting the ball hard and seeing a lot of pitches, taking great at-bats,” Long said.

Long said he based that on both personal observation and statistics not quantified in box scores. After every game, Long evaluates each at-bat, like a hitting-coach version of Roger Ebert: thumbs up or thumbs down.

Cabrera, he said, has had 61 percent “good at-bats” this season, the highest percentage of any player on the Yankees. To Long, a good at-bat is defined as any hit, walk or hit-by-pitch, or any at-bat that consumes a lot of pitches or ends in an especially hard-hit ball.

As for those hard-hit balls, Long keeps track of those, too. He said Cabrera has hit the ball hard in 51 percent of his at-bats, also tops on the team. Fifty-one percent is an extremely high figure, he said. By Long’s calculations, a very good hitter will hit the ball on the sweet spot only about 40 percent of the time.

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Today’s news is powered by . . . The Gas Face . . .:

• Hughes (in)corporation:

For now, Hughes is scheduled to pitch Monday at Texas. But if he is back in the minors instead, he will take lessons with him.

“Just be aggressive,” Hughes said. “Sometimes, because of the stage you’re on, you try to do too much or you’re afraid to make a mistake. That’s not the way I pitch. That’s not my plan going in. Really, there’s no difference at this level. You’ve still got to go off your strengths.”

For Hughes on Wednesday, that was a lively 94-mile-an-hour fastball he used to strike out Adam Jones and Nick Markakis in the first inning. Seven of his strikeouts came against those two hitters — both batting well over .300— or Aubrey Huff.

“He can be successful at this level with the stuff that he’s got,” Girardi said. “It’s attacking the strike zone and wiggling your way out of some innings like other pitchers are able to do.”

• Scenes from a looser clubhouse:

Togetherness was what Girardi made a point of in spring training when he arranged that surprise “Day at the Pool Parlor.” Say this for Girardi, he recognized what guys like Damon are only now willing to talk openly about: The Yankee clubhouse was a joyless place in the latter years of the Joe Torre regime. Part of it was the personnel – how could anyone find any fun being around Kevin Brown? – but a big part of it was the generation gap that existed between Torre and his players. Aside from his small coterie of veterans from the championship years, Torre kept his distance from his players and when each new high profile free agent came over from another organization, like Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui or Damon, they were never able to blend in with the championship core as it gradually diminished. It was apparently the consummate “25 players, 25 taxi cabs” team.

“Rarely in the last three years I’ve been here would there be four-five guys hanging out playing video games in the hotel room,” Brian Bruney said. “Now, guys are having fun and they want to hang out together. The shaving cream, the music, people need to realize you can do those things and still win. You can’t win with just All-Stars all around. We’ve done that the past three years and we haven’t done anything.”

“The rules here are much more family oriented now,” said Damon,”and that’s why you have free agents wanting to come to New York instead of a low-key place.”

Funny, I thought it was the money. But there is no question that CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, for all the moolah it took to get them to come here, have had a major influence in changing both the personality of the team and the atmosphere in the clubhouse. Same with Nick Swisher, who was grateful to escape Ozzie Guillen’s dog house in Chicago and get traded to the Yankees.

• Tyler Kepner doesn’t know what to make of Melky Cabrera:

I’ll admit it: I’ve seen his whole career and I don’t know what to make of Melky Cabrera. I see him on a roll like this, and I think he’s a legitimate major league outfielder. He homered on Wednesday and went 2 for 4, raising his average to .321 and helping the Yankees to their eighth victory in a row, 11-4 over Baltimore. And he’s a reliable defender.

But it’s weird. Do you know he’s gone 43 plate appearances since his last walk? That’s kind of startling, since he’s hitting in front of the third- or fourth-string catcher. But what does it really matter? The Yankees are winning and his on-base percentage is .374.

History says this won’t last. Remember, Cabrera was hot at the start of last season, too. Through the games of last May 4, Cabrera was batting .291 with six homers. . . .

“He’s a different player is the way I see it,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s consistent from both sides of the plate, he’s having good at-bats all the time, he’s not trying to do too much, he’s hitting a lot of line drives, some of his line drives have gone out of the ballpark. He’s been aggressive. We’re very pleased with what we’re getting from him.”

• Wang to make one more start in minors:

Wang has thrown 13 scoreless innings over his previous two starts in the Minors, though the Yankees have been looking to see more consistency from his sinker. He showed flashes of regaining that command in a bullpen session on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

“We want to see what we saw in the bullpen,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “We want to see him take that into the game. That will tell us a lot.”. . .

“We all know that he wants to be here, and we want him to,” Girardi said. “But he understood where we’re coming from. We want to see that stuff he had in the bullpen in the game.”

[My take: Will Chamberlain taking a liner off his knee last night change the plan for CMW?]

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Hi there gang!  I’m back, and thus … today’s news is powered by the return of someone a bit more (in)famous:

• Cervelli with a smile:

With veteran backstops Jorge Posada and Jose Molina both on the disabled list, the Yankees wanted to see (Frankie) Cervelli save runs behind the plate with his strong throwing arm. Whatever else he could provide would be wonderful, but not necessary.

The 23-year-old may be exceeding all expectations. He raised his average to .370 entering Wednesday’s play and his voice has become a trusted one on the bench. It’s becoming a reliable recipe: Cervelli calls the pitches he wants, and the Yankees’ starters succeed.

“I feel very lucky right now to be the everyday catcher with these guys,” Cervelli said. “They give me confidence and let me do the same things I was doing in the Minor Leagues. When I feel something and I want to call one pitch, they let me do that. That’s exciting for me.”. . .

“I like what I see just when you talk to him,” (Andy) Pettitte said. “The look in his eyes is very confident. If he’s confident in what he’s doing, no matter how much experience I have out there or any of these other guys, it helps you. It’s what you want to do. I’ll ask his advice. He’s really paying a lot of attention and doing a great job, that’s for sure.”

Yankees manager Joe Girardi, a former big league backstop himself, has raved about Cervelli’s abilities.

“This young man can catch, throw and block and do a lot of things, and offensively he’s been a big contributor for us,” Girardi said. “He’s played very, very well.”

• Head like a dome:

The whipped cream pie to the face is not the only current fad among the Yankees. The shaved head is also becoming popular, particularly in the bullpen. The most recently shorn dome belongs to Phil Coke.

He showed up bald and proud of it on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. “I’ve shaved my head before, it’s not a big deal,” Coke said. “But nobody around here has seen me with a shaved head. It’s just hair. It grows back. It’s fun, man. We’re having a good time.” . . .

Until Tuesday, Coke had sandy blond hair of moderate length and full sideburns. His locker is next Brian Bruney’s, another reliever with a recently shaved head. The computer monitor in Bruney’s locker shows a skull and crossbones. . . .

When Reggie Jackson, the Hall of Fame slugger, strolled over, Coke hugged him and took off his cap to show his head. Jackson, wearing a beret, kept it on his clean scalp.

“So far, it’s me, Veras, Bruney and Alfredo Aceves,” Coke said of the bullpen baldies. Coke said Jonathan Albaladejo “is thinking about it; he’s on the fence now. He’s not sure.”

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Today would have been Bobby Murcer’s 63rd birthday.

We lost Bobby last July to a brain tumor, so I’d like to take this opportunity to remember a pretty good ballplayer, and an even better person.

Here’s some Banter coverage regarding his passing.

Bruce Markusen had a nice piece on him.

. . . and some more coverage  (via YES).

We miss you Bobby!

My thanks to Alex for allowing me to post this . . . and “News of the Day” will be back tomorrow.

The past 10 days have seen an immense range of stories leapfrog to the forefront of New York sports fans’ collective consciousness. In no particular order, with some analysis and commentary mixed in…

• The Yankees slashed prices for the primo seats, an altruistic move that still leaves many of us thinking, “You know, you have your own network, and it’s on my cable system. I’ll contribute to your bottom line that way and I won’t feel like I got stabbed in the wallet.”

• Alex Rodriguez did everything necessary in extended spring training and returned to the lineup Friday. He punctuated the return with a home run on the first pitch he saw, thus fulfilling his job as the media-anointed savior of the team’s season. He proceeded to go 1-for-10 with two strikeouts in the remainder of the series, and perhaps fearing aggravating the hip injury, didn’t hustle down the line to run out a ground ball, thus reclaiming his role as the team’s most prominent punching bag.

• The Yankees lost two straight to the Red Sox at home and have lost the first five meetings of the season. (Sound the alarms! Head for the hills! There’s no way the Yankees can win the division without beating the Red Sox! Except that they can, and they have. In 2004, the Yankees went 1-6 in their first seven games against the BoSox, ended up losing the season series 8-11 and still finished 101-61 to win the American League East by three games.)

• Joba Chamberlain 1: His mother was arrested for allegedly selling crystal meth to an undercover officer. Following Chamberlain’s own brushes with the law during the offseason, it stood to reason that the tabloids attacked this story like starving coyotes. It’s remarkable that he was able to pitch at all given the negative attention he received.

• Joba Chamberlain 2: Flash back to Aug. 13, 2007. Chamberlain struck out Orioles first baseman Aubrey Huff in a crucial late-inning at-bat to end the inning and in the heat of the moment pumped his fist in exultation. Yesterday, following a three-run home run in the first inning that gave the O’s a 3-1 lead, Huff mocked Chamberlain’s emotional outburst with his own fist pump, first while rounding first base, and again when crossing home plate. Apparently, Mr. Huff holds grudges. Thanks to the New York Daily News’s headline, “MOCKING BIRD” with a photo of the home-plate celebration, this story will have wings when Baltimore comes to the Bronx next week. Even better, as it currently stands, Chamberlain is due to start in the series finale on Thursday the 21st. Get ready for a rash of redux stories leading up to that game.

• Mariano Rivera surrendered back-to-back home runs for the first time in his career last Wednesday night, a clear signal that something is wrong. Maybe.

• The team as a whole. The Yankees are 15-16 through 31 games, and some rabid fans (the “Spoiled Set,” as Michael Kay likes to call them; the group of fans between ages 18-30 that only knows first-place finishes for the Yankees) are calling for Joe Girardi’s head. As in the above note on the Red Sox, some context is required. The Yankees’ records through 31 games this decade:

2000: 22-9 (finished 87-74, won AL East)
2001: 18-13 (finished 95-65, won AL East)
2002: 18-13 (finished 103-58, won AL East)
2003: 23-8 (finished 101-61, won AL East)
2004: 18-13 (finished 101-61, won AL East)
2005: 12-19 (finished 95-67, won AL East)
2006: 19-12 (finished 97-65, won AL East)
2007: 15-16 (finished 94-68, won AL Wild Card)
2008: 15-16 (finished 89-73, missed playoffs)
2009: 15-16 (finish TBD)

No one is going to make excuses for the team with the billion dollar stadium and the highest payroll, least of all your trusted scribes here at the Banter. Looking at the last three years — including 2009 — it should be noted that similar issues of injury, age, and woes throughout the pitching staff have befallen the Yankees.

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Today’s news is powered by “The City of New Orleans” (reason for this found at the end of this post)

• Chien-Ming Wang is getting closer to making a return:

Chien-Ming Wang will start Tuesday for Triple-A Scranton against Charlotte. He is cleared for 100 pitches.

If he pitches well, Wang could earn his return to the majors. Joe Girardi indicated that he is close.

• Xavier Nady is also making progress (albeit slowly) towards a return:

Guarding a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, Nady has been limited to light exercises in his activity as he attempts to avoid season-ending Tommy John surgery. He is looking forward to being cleared to resume hitting off a tee and soft toss when the Yankees return home. . . .

Nady said that he believes he could begin a rehabilitation assignment as soon as May 25 and hopes to rejoin the Yankees as at least a designated hitter in early June. The fact that the Yankees have thus far declined to put Nady on the 60-day disabled list speaks to their optimism.

“There’s progress here,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “You have to wait and see how he feels once the right arm gets involved. The time has passed where we feel that he’s safe to do it, and that’s a good thing.”

• Bill Madden writes an open letter to Boss George regarding the new Stadium:

Sadly, Boss, your ballpark is a monument to the rich and is the epitome of wretched excess. Take the scoreboard, or rather should we call it the “ad-board” engulfed by the $14.3 million jumbotron? Never has there been a bigger waste of space than the 59-x-101 foot TV screen that’ll show A-Rod’s new nipples in High Def but barely a glimpse of something as relevant as the batter’s count: God forbid, should you try to find that piece of information anywhere (hint: it’s at the very bottom of the tiny auxiliary scoreboards underneath the huge ad billboards in right and left field).

And once again, there is no out-of-town scoreboard in your new palace, Boss. Just those mostly-useless flashboards with confusing team logos instead of team names that stay up for a couple of seconds, then move on to another set of scores, all the while giving you the baserunner diagram that also disappears in a flash. In between innings, there are no scores anywhere – just more ads. But then, only the fans care about what the count is, Boss, or what the Red Sox or Mets are doing. The rich folks in the suites, Trost’s revenue generators, are too busy socializing over their martinis and $54 steaks to bother about such trivial pursuits.

And speaking of food, Boss. It’s strictly pedestrian short-order stuff for the common fan in the upper deck. No restaurants for them. Not a place anywhere upstairs where the common fan can take the family for a moderately priced sit-down meal before the game. Trost will tell you this is what the Mohegan Sun restaurant in center field is for, but that would be the restaurant that costs $100 a seat – or $400 for a family of four before you order any food (it also juts out and obstructs the view of the Bleacher Creatures). Just another brilliant stroke on Trost’s part.

At least the fans in the upper deck can see Monument Park, supposedly the most beautiful visual feature of the new Stadium. Sadly, however, nobody else can.

In Trost’s wisdom, Monument Park was moved to center field without any consideration given to the fact that it would now be an impediment to the batters’ eyes. As a result, a blue wall had to be constructed in front of it that obscures the monuments from the view of three-quarters of the ballpark, making it look like a giant dumping ground. People now call it “Monument Cave.”

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Today’s news is powered by Mariano Rivera giving us a tour of his restaurant:

• Have you heard? Alex Rodriguez is back . . .
• William Rhoden of the Times notes the jolt A-Rod’s return gives the Yanks, but offers a bit of caution due to the aging roster:

Before Friday’s game, Damon and Jeter spoke about age, baseball and performance, although the conversation segued into an individual’s ability to play despite age.

Jeter said he hadn’t even thought about retirement. “I’m 35 years old,” he said. “That’s something that hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

Damon said his goal was to play for another four or five years, get 3,000 hits and maybe reach the top 10 in runs scored.

“I definitely don’t want to struggle in this game, so I think once struggle starts happening on an every-day basis, and I can’t get out of it, that’s the time,” Damon said. “I would love to play until I’m 39. I’ll go into the off-season, have my big 40th birthday and be done with it.”

Individual performance is one thing. Individually, Damon, Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and perhaps even Rivera can play effectively for several more seasons. That’s not the Yankees’ issue and it hasn’t been the issue since they won their last World Series title.

The Yankees’ problem is that, while many of the teams around them — most notably the Rays — have gotten younger, the heart and soul of the Yankees is aging. That’s something that even Rodriguez’s return cannot cure.

• Also at the Times, Tyler Kepner examines the Yankees team-building ways:

It’s really incredible to think about the makeup of the Yankees’ roster right now. Over and over, the Yankees meet the salary demands of older players, tossing extra years and dollars on the pile. It hamstrings them constantly.

Was anyone else going to sign Rodriguez through 2017? Or Jorge Posada through 2011? Maybe the Mets would have done that for Posada. But considering his age — he turns 38 in August — maybe the Yankees should have let them. And what do they do when Derek Jeter needs a new deal after 2010, when he’ll be 36?

Then there’s Teixeira, who was 0 for 5 on Thursday and will swap home boos for road boos on Friday at Camden Yards. Asked about Teixeira’s struggles on Thursday, Manager Joe Girardi said: “I think it’s probably magnified because we’re losing. If we were winning, I don’t think there would be as much focus on what he’s done.”

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Today’s news is powered by the return of A-Rod:

• Alex Rodriguez should be making his 2009 debut tonight.
• Jayson Stark takes another look at those HR milestones in A-Rod’s contract:

Every time his home run total hit one of those “historic” numbers — Willie Mays’ 660 homers, Babe Ruth’s 714, Hank Aaron’s 755, and then the 762nd and 763rd homers that would pull Rodriguez even with and then beyond Barry Bonds — A-Rod’s cash register was supposed to ring.

But now here’s the key question:

Suppose, given his admission of steroid use and the other furor that has swirled around this man, the Yankees were to argue that he’s no longer a “historic” figure?

Wouldn’t that mean that those milestones were no longer “historic” accomplishments?

And wouldn’t that then mean that they no longer would have to pay him his 30 million “historic” bucks — or any portion thereof?

These are not questions the Yankees are asking — yet. But they’re questions we have heard asked around baseball lately, as A-Rod’s reputation, approval rating and marketability have plunged to somewhere south of Rio de Janeiro.

“If I’m the Yankees,” said an official of one team, “I think I’d be doing everything I could not to pay that money, and let him sue me for it.”

“I think the Yankees ought to challenge it and baseball ought to challenge it,” said an executive of another club. “And then it’s up to A-Rod and the union to determine how much they want to fight it. Does this guy really want to continue to go through this stuff? Does he really want to continue to explain himself?”

• Murray Chass . . . disses Selena Roberts . . . and stands up for A-Rod?:

Roberts has written a book about Alex Rodriguez, and it is a journalistic abomination. That phrase probably won’t appear in any advertisement for the book, but it should to alert prospective readers what they would be getting.

I use the word journalistic rather than literary for two reasons: 1, the book grew out of a Sports Illustrated project; 2, Roberts has been a newspaper and magazine reporter and columnist and as such has practiced the craft of journalism. Based on the book, however, she needs a lot more practice.

In general, Roberts makes far too many serious allegations about Rodriguez to hide them behind anonymous quotes. Rodriguez deserves more, but more importantly readers deserve more. There is far too much in this attack book for Roberts to expect readers to take it on faith that her anonymous sources are real and they can be trusted.

The use of anonymous sources has come under increasing criticism from readers of all types of publications. Having used them frequently in my decades as a reporter and columnist, I am aware of the problems they pose. Reporters have to establish their credibility with their use of unidentified sources for readers to accept them.

Roberts and I were once colleagues at The New York Times, and I can’t say she established that credibility. She also didn’t strike me as being a top-flight reporter. As a result, I don’t feel I can trust her book full of anonymous sources. Even if every single A-Rod transgression she reports is accurate, it’s too easy for her to write one former teammate said this and another player said that.

Had she written these same reports for the Times, very little would have made it into the paper. I’m not familiar with Sports Illustrated’s standards, but I hope they’re higher than the Roberts book offers. Actually, if you remove the quotes and other information that Roberts attributes to anonymous sources in the 246-page book, it might be left with 46 pages.

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According to the LA Times, Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games today by Major League Baseball for a positive PED test.

Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers informed triple-A outfielder Xavier Paul this morning that he was being promoted to Los Angeles.

With the suspension taking effect with tonight’s game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium, Ramirez will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3.

Update: Will Carroll has more details:

Two sources confirm for me that Ramirez did not test positive for an anabolic steroid.  What the substance was remains unclear. The press release from MLB indicates that it was not a “drug of abuse” or a “stimulant,” the other two classes of banned substances. Ramirez’s positive test came during Spring Training, which follows his story that he received the substance from a doctor this January.

2nd Update: from Yahoo! Sports:

A source close to Manny Ramirez said Thursday that the illegal substance for which the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger tested positive was not “an agent customarily used for performance enhancing.”

At least not on the baseball diamond. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive. It is not Viagra, but a substance that treats the cause rather providing a temporary boost in sexual performance, the source said.

“The substance is not a steroid and it is not human-growth hormone,” the source said.

Ramirez, the source said, acquired the substance through a prescription from a doctor in Miami for his medical condition. The source intimated that Ramirez might bring legal action against the physician.

Drugs or hormones that increase testosterone production often show up on banned lists.

“Testosterone and similar drugs are effective for erectile dysfunction in that they jazz up your sex drive,” said Charles Yesalis, a professor at Penn State who has testified before Congress on issues of performance-enhancing drugs. “But far more clinicians accept that affect with Viagra and Cialis. It’s hard for me to understand if it was erectile dysfunction why they would use [something else].”

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Let’s get right to it:

• FOX Sports’ Jason Whitlock isn’t too happy with SI’s Selena Roberts:

According to Roberts’ new book and her interview blitzkrieg, Rodriguez used steroids in high school, tipped pitches to opposing batters, tipped Hooters waitresses a paltry 15 percent, was nicknamed “Bitch Tits” in the locker room and is caught up in being perfect because his father abandoned him as a child.

Her sourcing for the most damaging allegations, by her own admission, is either anonymous or non-existent. She wants us to trust her, and her New York Times– and Sports Illustrated-highlighted résumé.

Unlike Bob Costas, the producers at ESPN and the steroids-obsessed baseball journalists, I don’t trust Roberts or her book, and I expressed some of my reasons in a Kansas City Star column that ran on Sunday.

. . . Never trust a publication. Hell, the more prestigious the publication, the more pressure there is for the writers to cut corners in pursuit of a good story.

Place your trust in the writer. And Roberts’ reaction to the exoneration of the Duke lacrosse players calls into question her credibility. By refusing to acknowledge her mistakes in the Duke case, she creates the impression that her agenda trumps the truth.

• Doug Glanville examines the latest alleged controversy surrounding A-Rod:

So, according to the latest story, Alex is connected to some pitch-tipping scheme in which he relayed signs to the opposing hitter (if he was a friend) or for someone who would return the favor when he was hitting. This was supposedly done in one-sided games where, in theory, one team had no chance of catching up. Alex was said to be in cahoots with a lot of middle infielders. Allegedly, there was some sign he would relay to the hitter — a movement with his glove or his feet — to let the hitter know what type of pitch was coming and where.

Although I have never heard such a rumor about Alex, this may be one of the most egregious charges one can make against a player, and a rare one at that. Should a player know that someone in his own dugout is helping the opposing team, I would venture to say that all-out Armageddon would ensue. Imagine if a pitcher knew that his pitches were being given away to the opposing hitter by his own teammate no less. This spy would have to watch his back.

How would this scheme have been missed for Alex’s entire career? We all know that every time he plays, the camera zooms in on him. Opposing teams watch him obsessively, studying film endlessly. The “A-Rod cam” is on full tilt all the time. So, over a period of years, did the best in the business, the brightest analysts and teammates, miss that he was doing this for his roommate from the year before, or maybe for his cousin’s favorite player? Or did they know it but were afraid to come forward? Is it possible that all of these experts had their heads in the sand?

A more likely scenario for how he may have been tipping pitches: he was sending signals to his own team, something that could easily be stolen by a sage opponent. Just as we knew when certain pitchers were throwing a curveball (based on their glove habits, or the way the catcher crouched), or throwing home instead of picking off to first (the pitcher may have turned his front foot inward, or widened his base).

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Today’s news is powered by a big Happy 78th birthday wish to Willie Mays:

• Alex Rodriguez’s daily rehab update (soon to be a major motion picture!):

New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez homered twice and played seven innings in the field for the second straight day in an extended spring training game on Tuesday.

Sidelined since undergoing right hip surgery on March 9, the third baseman could rejoin the Yankees for Friday night’s game at Baltimore. A-Rod said a return date has not been finalized.

“I have no idea about Friday,” said Rodriguez, scheduled to play in another extended spring training game Wednesday. “I’m feeling good.”

Rodriguez went 3-for-6 with two homers to center — including one that cleared a 40-foot-high batter’s eye — and also lined a single. He had two plays at third, fielding a grounder and making a spin move to throw out Philadelphia minor leaguer Nerio Rios at first.

• Jorge Posada takes his strained hamstring to the 15-day DL.  Here’s a little info on just what a hamstring strain is.
• Rainy days and Mondays (when it rains incessantly to the point that some fans think the game has been called, only to find it hasn’t been called . . . and that aren’t allowed back in the Stadium . . .) always get me down:

Hundreds of irate fans – some who claim Yankee employees told them the game had been rained out – stormed away from Yankee Stadium before Monday night’s game against the Red Sox even got underway and couldn’t get back in, resulting in a an ugly scene at one of the ticket gates.

With rain falling for hours and no start time announced until shortly before 9 p.m., hordes of fans began leaving the Stadium and heading home – some who said they had been advised that the game had been called by Yankee employees who walked the concourse holding pinstriped “How may I help you?” signs.

When a 9:20 p.m. start time was eventually announced over the public address system, a crowd on the sidewalk outside Gate 6 tried to get back into the Stadium, only to have the employees working the turnstiles promptly close the doors in their faces. Panicked fans began racing up and down the sidewalk, trying to find a way back into the ballpark, while others remained at Gate 6 either pleading or demanding to be let back in.

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Here’s the soggy stories:

• Alex Rodriguez could be back as early as Friday:

“So much of it just depends on how he feels and when he believes he’s ready to go,” Girardi said. “I have not really put a date on it, because I want to see how he bounces back. It’s up to him. When he feels that he’s ready, we’re probably going to take him back.”

Rodriguez is scheduled to play another extended spring game on Tuesday, serving seven innings in the field as he makes his way back from March 9 right hip surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Rodriguez ran the bases on Monday but did not slide on dirt, and Girardi said that Rodriguez would not necessarily need to do so before being activated, since he has slid on a pad.

• There’s been a long reliever sighted in Yankee Stadium:

With inclement weather in the forecast for this week’s series against the Red Sox, the Yankees moved to recall right-hander Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday, optioning right-hander Anthony Claggett in a corresponding move.

The Yankees spent most of Spring Training considering whether to select a long reliever from the group of Aceves, Dan Giese and Brett Tomko. In the end, New York took none of the three, choosing Jonathan Albaladejo instead.

Girardi said that Aceves, who was 2-0 with a 3.80 ERA at Triple-A, could stick with the Yankees, who could have used a long reliever in April on several occasions when they were forced to dip into their bullpen early in games.

“So much of it depends on who’s throwing the ball well,” Girardi said. “Ace was very successful when we called him up last year. We threw him a little bit out of the bullpen, and then he made some pretty good starts for us.

• Joba Chamberlain’s mother was arrested:

The mother of New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has been arrested on charges of selling methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in February.

Jacqueline Standley was arrested at her apartment Saturday night, Lincoln Police Capt. David Beggs said Monday. . . .

Last month, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to drunken driving and was given nine months probation and a $400 fine for his October arrest.

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Today’s news is powered by an interesting video montage of Marilyn Monroe and Joe D:

• Joe Girardi has a fever, and the only prescription is . . . fewer stories/books about Alex Rodriguez:

“I have some issues with it,” Girardi said. “It’s interesting that the book date got moved up now. And I get tired of answering these questions. I don’t understand why someone would write a book like this anyway.”

The book, “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,” was written by Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated. It asserts that Rodriguez, the Yankees’ third baseman, used steroids at various times during his career and had human growth hormone in his possession when he played for the Yankees in 2004.

“From the excerpts I have read, I have heard that there are other negative things about his lifestyle,” Girardi said. “I’m a firm believer that what we do off the field is our personal life.”

• A-Rod is going to be under an MLB-authorized microscope:

Major League Baseball is investigating Alex Rodriguez’s statements about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, increasing the pressure on the New York Yankees star ahead of an unflattering biography due out on Monday.

Rodriguez admitted in February to using steroids while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but insisted he stopped before he was traded to the Yankees in February 2004. But the Daily News reported on Thursday that Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts’ upcoming book “A-Rod” says he may have used steroids as early as high school and even after he was acquired by New York.

Roberts was contacted by one of MLB’s investigators on Friday but she told him she couldn’t cooperate with its inquiry, according to The New York Times report.

“I said that as a journalist, I cover MLB, and cooperating with them on this would be a conflict of interest, and he said that he understood the position that I am in,” Roberts told the newspaper.

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