Good Night in Tampa

The New York Yankees injured players or I guess you would say rehab players now had a great night. Jorge Posada caught 5 innings went 1-3 and also got to throw to third and his shoulder felt fine. Hideki Matsui playing in his 4th straight game was 2-2 with a 2 run hr and a 2 run double. MO came in to pitch the 5th inning and had a 1-2-3 inning on 11 pitches. If these guys are healthy this team will be tough to beat as they have the pitching and their lineup will be lengthened and very good. CC Sabathia started and threw 4 great innings, giving up 1 run on 1 hit, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts, Edwar Ramirez threw a perfect inning with a strikeout. Alfredo Aceves competing for the long relief job pitched 3 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 1k. The rest of the offense had Damon and Teixera have a hit each. Robbie Cano was 1-3 with a rbi, Xavier Nady was 2-3, Melky was 1-3 with a rbi. Brett Gardner went 1-2. In a thrilling ending to the WBC matchup of Team USA vs Team Puerto Rico, Team USA won on a walkoff hit by David Wright and Derek Jeter won't be back yet. Did anyone see Arod in Details magazine?? I can't believe he would take pictures like that, and does anyone really believe he rides the subway to games on friday nights usually??

Baseball News

It looks like Pudge Rodriguez is going to sign with the Houston Astros. 1 yr and 1.5 million is what I hear, boy have these prices on players dropped. I wonder what Roy Oswalt is thinking after criticizing so many steroid guys. Manny Ramirez is sidelined for at least one week, i wouldn't worry to much if your a Dodgers fan but his comments are a little strange saying maybe he is just getting too old and it might not be a good investment meaning his signing. Cole Hamels is going to get his elbow examined which im sure is just making the people of Philly go nuts. Randy Johnson of the Giants is nursing a sore arm and Ryan Braun is out with tightness on his right side. I am sure most of these GM's aren't too happy about the WBC and the injuries cropping up. If Cuba loses tonight they will be out, they haven't finished worse then third in any international competition in a long time, I wonder what will happen to them when they return home?

Yankee Updates

The Yes network and MLB network are playing the point fingers game as to why the game will not be carried in the NY area tonight. The bottom line is no matter whos fault it is the game will not be on in this area. Francisco Cervelli returned from the WBC today, Jason Johnson is scheduled to pitch in his first game tomorrow and Joe Girardi says he still has enough time to make the roster, which im suprised at. I don't know if Joe Girardi was just saying that to be nice or if he means it though. Jorge Posada will DH tomorrow and catch Sunday so that will be a big day for the Yankees Edwar Ramirez will pitch tomorrow in his first game MO will throw BP tomorrow and should get in a game on Tuesday Humberto Sanchez who always seems to be hurt had a dead arm at the beginning of camp and threw a BP today, he will need a few more of that and bullpens before he appears in a game. The Yankees will be on YES tomorrow and Team USA plays Puerto Rico tomorrow in the WBC so we will get to see Bernie who is with the team after getting accused of hitting a woman in a Puerto Rican nightclub. I don't believe this story at all and it seems like it will go away as they let him go to Miami with the team. Everyone enjoy the game tonight who can see it and the rest of us will follow online. Thanks to Peter Abraham for having this information on his blog at http://yankees.lhblogs.com

New York Yankees Recap

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Atlanta Braves by a score of 3-1 today in Tampa. Chien-Ming Wang got the start his second of the spring and pitched well, he pitched 3 innings giving up 1 run on a solo hr, 3 hits, 0 walks and 2 strikeouts. He threw 33 pitches 27 of them were for strikes. Brett Tomko pitched behind him going 3 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run with 0 walks and 3 strikeouts. Phil Coke pitched an inning giving up 1 run on 2 hits. On the offensive side of things Hideki Matsui had 1 hit but was hitting the ball hard. Big Tex had a hit and Cody Ransom also had a hit. The Yankees will travel to Lakeland to face the Tigers tomorrow with AJ Burnett making his first start. Hideki Matsui will make the trip and play in back to back games for the first time this year. Jorge Posada threw today before the game and came out of it fine, he may throw to the bases Monday and could catch in a game by next weekend. Damaso Marte threw a scoreless inning today for the Dominicans in the WBC who by the way were upset by the Netherlands, yeah I can't believe it either and Sidney Ponson pitched well for the Netherlands. Robbie Cano dont ya know was 1 for 5. Derek Jeter of course was 2 for 3 for Team USA who defeated Canada 6-5 in a nailbiter.

Alex Rodriguez Off To Dominican Team

Alex Rodriguez met with MLB investigators last night in Tampa for two hours. He was cooperative according to a MLB press release. He was expected in Jupiter last night and will work out with the Dominican team today in preparation for the start of the WBC. The WBC is starting on thursday and will be covered on the MLB network.

Yanks at Reds

The New York Yankees travel to Sarasota today to face the Cincinatti Reds. I am going to post the lineups and the pitchers but first I want to get to a few notes from yesterday. Hideki Matsui was running the bases yesterday and it is believed that he will get into a game as DH next week at some point. Joba wasn't too worried about giving up two rockets yesterday in his 1 inning. He threw 21 pitches and only three were not 4 seam fastballs. He was just working on his arm strength, you have to remember that spring training is longer this year and the pitchers don't have to go all out just yet. CC will throw a simulated game today, he already may have and make his first start on Friday. Arod was supposed to meet with the MLB investigators but that is being delayed. He will play today then head off to be with the Dominican team, maybe he will meet with them Monday or Tuesday. Jeter,Cano and Marte will also be leaving for the WBC after the game today. You have to feel bad for Big Tex who is losing his whole infield for what can be up to 3 weeks. Joe Girardi im sure will be crossing his fingers that everyone comes back in one piece. The lineups and pitchers for today are: 1. Gardner(CF) 2. Jeter(SS) 3. Tex(1b) 4. Arod(3b) 5. Cano(2b) 6. Nady(Rf) 7. J. Rodriguez(Lf) 8. Ransom(DH) 9. Cash(C) Alfredo Aceves gets the start followed by Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney, Jon Albaladejo, Christian Garcia, Mark Melancon and J.B. Cox. The game is not on TV or radio today, you can check out the Yankees lohud blog for updates or mlb.com for the boxscores. I will have updates after the game. This is the last game that the big boys will be together for a while, so after today you will see more of the Ransom,Berroa, etc in the lineup daily.

Baseball News

Manny Ramirez rejected the Dodgers latest offer yesterday which was for 2 yrs 45 million and a player option in the second year. Today Scott Boras is saying he will accept that offer but only if it is a real offer, it is thought that the Dodgers are trying to get sneaky and not really pay him that but spread it out over a few years. It will be interesting to see what happens here but they need him and he apparently needs them as he has had no other offers. The Mets got a bit of a scare yesterday when their Ace Johan Santana was scratched from a start with elbow stiffness, he will take the weekend off and try again on Tuesday. Hopefully it is nothing serious but you always worry when a pitcher has an elbow or shoulder issue. The WBC starts next week and players will start leaving their teams this weekend.

Notes from Day 2 of Full Squad

Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras will not be participating in the WBC, they didn't even know they were on the provisional rosters. Damaso Marte won't be running for at least the rest of the week due to his stiff hamstrings, this probably means he too will be out of the WBC. Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi, Bernie Williams, Mark Teixera, CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Arod all met with George Steinbrenner who was in his house today. They all said they had pleasant conversations with him, I wish we could find out what was said. He was transferred from a golf cart to a wheelchair and then wheeled up to his office. Alex Rodriguez commented on his first two days saying the fans have been welcoming and that he is enjoying himself on the field. Bernie Williams immediate goal is to not embarass himself in the WBC but if it goes well he may try to come back to the majors. He is taking part in all of the regular drills with the team. CC Sabathia was pleased with how he was throwing today. Nick Swisher has a nice range of music he likes to put on in the clubhouse. I thank Peter Abraham of the Journal News and http://yankees.lhblogs.com for having this information available on his great blog.