Post All Star ReLaunch

Okay. I'm back in the game. There's gonna be a lot to talk about in the second half, including my move back to New York after 3.5 year in Japan. Please keep coming back for more at COH and check in often. I plan to be writing here a lot more going forward.

Some lighting notes to start off today:

Alex Rodriguez' Contract
I think the Yankees are right to play things this way. A-Rod cares a lot about his image. If he stiffs the Yankees now after we offered him in-season negotiations and leaves the most storied franchise in pro sports for big money, he'll forever be seen as a guy who only cares about the dough. The perception, which already saturates many of baseball's markets, will prove ubiquitous and there won't be any way for him to hide that the history of the sport means zilch to him. Personally, I don't care one way or the other what happens in the end. If he walks, it hurts for sure. We'll never replace him at 3B. Period. The thing is, if Oakland can let Giambi and Tejada walk and find their numbers in other combinations of guys for less money, we can do so to. If the Billy Beane way has taught us anything, it's that mega stars aren't a prerequisite to success. The difference here is that we have infinitely more resources to use in replacing A-Rod than the A's and therefore should be able to do so effectively. Smart baseball.

The Trade Deadline
Sell. I don't think the Yankees are going to find a miracle guy like Abreu to propel us to victory this season. We have the horses. They need to play or we die. If anything, I'd just as soon take a hard look at the record come the final week of this month and decide whether we can improve our team for the next 5-10 years by cashing in on this one. It's already been a lost season to this point. That's my thinking anyway. I wish my hometown Knicks had done this when Ewing was on his way out. We just kept inflating our budget with ill-fitting players until we found the mess we're in now. The Yankees can shed some salary, continue to fortify the minors, and come back swinging next year. I'm just crazy enough to send Abreu to the Mets for Lastings Milledge or something. Send along Moose. Whatever.

Melky Cabrera/Robinson Cano
Our two young everyday guys aren't very good this year. Both have picked it up in June and July, with Melky generally outplaying Cano so far. Both guys play tough defensive positions fairly well for the most part. If you had to trade away one of these guys today, which would it be? Cano has showed the ability to be a Major League star. He looked like Donny Baseball and Rod Carew last season. Melky has shown something in flashes, but has never had a tear like Robby.

The Record
If we play .600 ball the rest of the way we get 88 wins. That won't be enough for the wild card or the division. .700 ball would get us 96 wins and I think we'd be in business. That kind of pace seems silly though. Somewhere in between will make it awfully close. In 2003 and 2004, the Yankees went .623 on the year. That was a 101 win pace and the best any Yankees team managed since the 1980 Yankees (not including the 1998 boys, of course). If we match that the rest of the way, we win 90 games. Hmmmmm......