Reports have our old chum Alfonso Soriano traded to the Yankees. He has $24.5 million left of his contract through the end of next year; the Cubs will pick up $17 million.

I always liked watching him hit in a cartoonish way–skinny guy, heavy bat, slugg0, lots of strikeouts–oh, that slider low and away. Remember when he was in New York and people talked about his strong wrists and how he was like Hank Aaron? Well, he never developed past his bad habits and has been more like a svelte Dave Kingman but he should be an improvement over Vernon Wells. Sori could be vexing to watch but he was easy to like.

At the same time, I wish the Yanks would just become sellers and stop picking up veteran scraps, for what? To make a playoff run this year?

As some around here have said all season: Sell, Sell, Sell!

The Yankees’ ace Hiroki Kuroda blanked the Rangers for 7 innings and then David Robertson and The Great Mariano Rivera polished them off in the 8th and 9th as the Yanks beat the Rangers 2-0. Good enough for the Yanks to leave town with a split.

Which, all considering, ain’t bad. Ayo, Austin Romine had 3 hits, man.

And you just gotta love that Hiroki, don’tcha?

Aw, it ain’t that bad. Yanks go for the split this afternoon in Texas.

Never mind the gloom and doom:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Image via This Isn’t Happiness.

The Alex Rodriguez vs. The World Schmuck Watch Drones On…

Andy Pettitte pitched well but last night it was too much Garza and not enough gluten as the Rangers beat the Yanks, 3-1.

Chad Jennings has the notes. 

Moving on.

[Photo Credit: Jim Cowsert/AP; Brad Loper/Dallas Morning News]

You have to marvel at how silly it all is, don’t you? These are reportedly grown men we’re talking about. But when money and ego are in the mix, adults act like children, don’t they?

Meanwhile, Matt Garza makes his first start for the Rangers tonight against Andy Pettitte who is trying to get his act together.

Never mind the hubbub:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Image Via: ]

Typical Phil Hughes performance. His boys stake him to a 3-0 lead, he holds the Rangers scoreless through 5 innings and then in the 6th…poof. Granted, it was Boone Logan, not Hughes that gave up the big home run, but it was Hughes that couldn’t get the final out of the inning. Either way, the Rangers took a 4-3 lead and that looked to be plenty, particularly in the 9th inning with their closer Joe Nathan on the mound.

“Honey, they’re going to win,” said The Wife.

“They’re losing,” says I.

“What will you give me if they win?” she said?

“What will you give me if they lose?”

“Nothing”

“Right,” I said.

Now for the stranger things part. Vernon Welles walked with 1 out, and took second on a wild pitch in the middle of a long, impressive at bat by Eduardo Nunez. That wild pitch was critical because it drew the outfield in which enabled Nunez’s fly ball to center field to get over Craig Gentry’s head, good for a triple. Brent Lillibridge made like the hero next and looped a 1-0 slider into left for the go ahead base hit.

The Rangers went down like lambs against The Great Mariano in the 9th to the tune of a couple of strikeouts and a ground ball to short.

Final Score: Yanks 5, Rangers 4.

The Wife is always right (unless she’s wrong).

It was an unexpected and pleasing win for the Yanks. And despite the lousy outcome, the home crowd was treated to a handful of terrific plays in the filed–diving catches by Nelson Cruz, and Brett Gardner, and two beautiful stops at third base by Jurickson Profar.

My favorite fielding play, however, was when Robinson Cano fielded a ball behind second base and, still moving toward left field, half-turned and side-armed the ball to first. It was as if he flipped it but you can’t flip a ball that far, with that much on it. It was my favorite play because it showed off just how special this Cano is. We watch these guys because they are the best in the world, because they do things we can’t do. That’s what Cano does at second base sometimes–making it look so fluid that it appears easy.

[Photo Credit: Lm Otero/AP]

Lil’ Sori: The Return? Just as Alex is about to get shitcanned? Oh, I can see the columns that will be written (wait–too late).

In the meantime, it’s Phil “Chuck and Duck” Hughes.

Never mind the nonsense:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Richard Beaven via MPD]

Andy Pettitte talks PEDS.

And here’s Joe Pos on Pettitte.

[Illustration by Michael Marsicano]

Late night of travel+Yu Darvish+a Gluten-free offense=3 hits. That’s what the Yanks mustered tonight, spoiling a perfectly nice outing from Ivan Nova–who has really looked good, hasn’t he?

Final Score: Rangers 3, Yanks 0.

So, with the Braun news out of the way, figure for the news cycle to reset and then the inevitable Alex Rodriguez suspension to follow in the coming days, right?

Cause it won’t be pretty. According to T.J. Quinn: “Sources tell @OTLonESPN evidence on A-Rod far beyond evidence v Braun. Charges expected to include accusation he interfered w investigation.”

[Photo Credit: James B. Knight]

Ryan Braun’s suspended for the rest of the season.

(Alex Rodriguez your life is calling.)

Meanwhile, the Yanks are in Texas for four games.

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Eduardo Nunez SS
Chris Stewart C
Luis Cruz 3B

Yu vs. Nova.

Never mind the funny stuff:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Image by Jackson Patterson via This Isn’t Happiness]

For Alex Rodriguez, it ain’t easy.Ever.

[Photo Credit: Bradley C Bower, AP]

So C.C. did in fact pick up where he left off. Staked to a tidy 3-0 lead, he promptly screwed the pooch and gave it away.

“I suck,” he said after the game. “I wish I had an excuse or something. … It’s embarrassing. I’ll just try to get through it. Figure something out and try to stop hurting this team and (start) helping.”

Soon, it was 7-3 and that figured to be that. But the Yanks crawled back in it and tied the score, 7-7. Then, the game stretched on, the Yanks left a ton of runners on base, and when it went into extra innings any thoughts of a good night’s sleep went with it. The Yanks got some impressive bullpen pitching, David Robertson got out of a bases loaded jam, and were jobbed by a bad call in the 11th. The longer it went, the more you knew it wasn’t going to end well.

And it didn’t when Mike Napoli hit his second homer of the game, this one a solo shot, to end it in the 11th.

Final Score: Red Sox 8, Yankees 7.

Kind of felt like this:

Alex Rodriguez was due to join the Yankees in Texas tomorrow but he’s back in New York having an MRI on the current old-man ailment for the Yanks–quad troubles.

Meantime, it’s C.C. who will try to pick it in the second half…dammit. C’mon, C.C., you’re our MAN.

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Vernon Wells LF
Travis Hafner DH
Eduardo Nunez SS
Chris Stewart C
Luis Cruz 3B

Never mind the Game of the Week:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Picture by Quint Buchholz via This Isn’t Happiness]

Last week I was talking to a Red Sox fan about how much I hate Red Sox fans. But then we got around to Angels fans and Blue Jays fans and fans of other teams and I had to amend my thought. I love to hate Red Sox fans but I respect them, too. Remember when Joe Torre came back from cancer in 1999 and the crowd at Fenway gave him a nice hand?

Well, the Sox fans showed their character again today, giving Mariano Rivera a standing ovation when he took the mound in the 9th. Sure, the Red Sox have faired relatively well against Rivera over the years–relative being the key word. But the cheers today were not ironic or sarcastic, they were sincere. Mo was deserving and they gave him his due.

That’s what’s up.

A nice moment in the final act of what turned out to be a satisfying 5-2 win for the Yanks. Hiroki pitched well, as is his custom, five hits in the 7th got him the runs he needed and Robertson and Mo put heads to bed to end it.

[Photo Via: USATSI]

Yanks turn to the ever-reliable Hiroki Kuroda this afternoon. Fox: Buck-McCarver. Gluten-free offense. That hard-on, John Lackey. Could be a long day’s journey into night.

But never mind all that:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

The Yankees returned from the All-Star Break in fourth place in the standings and somewhere around eleventy-th place in our hearts. The first-place Red Sox, palpably better than the Yankees a la 2008 or 1916, took the first game of this three-game series playing it close at 4-2 but without breaking a sweat.

Andy Pettitte pitched into the seventh and put himself in great shape for a win in any other year of his Yankee career, but allowing four runs in front of the 2013 Yankees is a death sentence. And though the bullpen did cough up that last run for Andy, his performance, marred by two early homers, was nothing special.

The Yankee lineup, weak as a kitten under normal circumstances, lost outfielders Zoilo Almonte (hurt ankle) and Brett Gardner (hurt feelings) mid-game to drop them to Threat Level Koala. Let’s put it this way – in the crucial eighth inning, the Yankees had the tying runs in scoring position, two outs, and Luis Cruz, who was released earlier this year by the Dodgers for failing to be a better hitter than any of their pitchers, was allowed to bat for himself.

The season will likely slip away from the Yankees in the next few weeks as they face superior competition on the road. They have one asset that might bring back a meaningful player for their future and that’s Robinson Cano. But will whatever they get back for Cano be better than just signing the best second baseman in baseball to a long term deal? If the Yankees want to keep Cano long term, then they become buyers, but with a long, non-2013, view. And that allows them more flexibility and less urgency at the deadline.

I hate contemplating the end of the season at the break but the team is filled with bad players playing badly. Ichiro, who has been much maligned, is the third best offensive player on the team. Derek Jeter crawled back into his Bacta Tank and I saw Curtis Granderson’s face on a milk carton this morning.

Alex Rodriguez is reported to be coming back though, so the good news is that, finally, we’ll have somebody to blame for all of this.

Yanks vs. Sox at Fenway. Jeter to the DL. Old man Andy on the hill.

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells DH
Zoilo Almonte LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
Brent Lillibridge 3B
Eduardo Nunez SS
Chris Stewart C

Never mind the

[Picture Via: Grażyna Smalej]

Check out Gary Dunaier’s 2006 trip to Yankee Stadium II.

Following the Y ankess changed for the better when Pete Abraham started the Lo Hud Yankees blog. Fortunately for us, Chad Jennings has maintained Pete’s  high standard after Pete left to cover the Red Sox for the Boston Globe.

So head on over and check out Chad’s first half awards, what we can expect moving forward, as well as today’s news and notes.

Meanwhile at SI.com, Jay Jaffe’s got 10 bold predictions for the second half.

Here’s one that doesn’t come as a surprise:

The Yankees will miss the playoffs

They’re 51-44 at this writing, three games back in the wild-card race, but while they’ve hung surprisingly tough without Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira for most of the season, the bet here is that they’ve peaked before the cavalry of returns and deadline acquisitions has arrived. With their offense scoring less than four runs per game, it’s been their pitching that’s kept them afloat, but their run differential is in the red (-2). A closer look shows that at least among their starters, only Hiroki Kuroda and fill-in Ivan Nova have been preventing runs at a better-than-average rate, while CC Sabathia has been maddeningly inconsistent and Andy Pettitte has looked his 41 years. For the first time since 2008, the Yankees will be on the outside looking in come October.