Yankee Notes: June 1st, 2006

Yankee notes, quick fast....in a hurry:

1. Aaron Small shall be known henceforth as "Cinderfella" at Canyon of Heroes. He has enough juice to get through a couple of innings, but the clock seems to strike twelve on him and he reverts to form. Plus, there's something very Jerry Lewis about the way he looks.

2. Melky Cabrera is great. Happy to see the kid get a fair shake this year. He's probably here to stay, given Damon's bad foot and Sheffield's likely return to the DL. I don't imagine the Yankees are going to stick with Melky and Long/Hidalgo/Crosby/Bernie if Sheff is out for any significant period of time, but I think he will be a fixture in the lineup with Damon and whoever else they bring in to thump.

3. Let's look at Bernie Williams' numbers pre-Matsui injury and post.

27 games "Pre-Matsui" (.261/.295/.318 with 2 2Bs, 13 runs, 12 RBIs, 5 BBs, and16 Ks)
17 games "Post-Matsui" (.295/.358/.443 with 6 2Bs, 10 runs, 10 RBIs, 6 BBs, and 5 Ks)

With an .801 OPS after Matsui went down, Bernie has actually transformed himself into a fair 8th or 9th hitter on this team. He's still a butcher in the outfield, but way to go Bernie.

4. I read an interesting article at ESPN's Page 2 about Alex Rodriguez. It's called "The Worst Player in Baseball", but it's not what you think. Read it.

5. Finally, the bridge to Mo has been shaky at best recently. Call it overuse. Call it mediocre talent. Call it bad luck. Whatever it is, we sure can give back a lead in a hurry. Mostly it has been Proctor and Farnsworth of late, but the problem may not go away soon. I was okay with letting Tom Gordon go, as much as I liked him. There were signs that he had outlasted his stay in Yankeeland, and it seems he is suited to the closer's role. Congrats Philly. None of the guys we have on the team right now, are the classic set up guy that you feel comfortable slamming the door closed in the 7th and 8th innings of an important game, but just wait. I think we're in for something special once Octavio Dotel comes back. He may need some time to get his rhythm, and to shake out the cobwebs of a long layoff, but sporting a career .213 BAA I think he should lock things down. Time will tell, but he sports the same "STUFF" rating as the elite closers in the game and is about even with the Pedro Martinez we've seen in his later years.

See you tomorrow. Go Yanks.