Pettitte vs TOR

1:36pm Today, I need to work on some of my family stuffs, so I will stay up late. Of course, That means I can watch some Yankees games. It's 1:36am in Taiwan.

1:39pm I just watch opening ceremony of 2009 Summer Deaflympics in Taipei. It is great, especially the part presents Taiwan delicious food. It is so cue. If you have the chance to watch it. Do it and tell me how you feel.

1:46pm OK, go back to the Yankees game. Amazing. Our bombers don't waste any more time to get a lead on the top of second inning.

1:52pm I only can say Jeter is a great actor for that ball 4.

1:54pm I thought I could see Swisher work the count to get a ball 4 for a run.

1:57pm Man, that is quick. Pettitte just gives up a run right back.

1:59pm Wait. I don't think it is a homerun. I guess replay agree with me as well.

2:26pm It seems to me Melky pays for his buddy, Cano for that homerun.

2:43pm That is a great play by Cano to get the 3rd in order to avoid Blue Jays scoring that lead run.

2:46pm That is a great job by Teixeira to give Yankees and Pettitte a lead back this soon.

3:34pm This is the breathing room Pettitte and Yankees bullpen needs.

Joba vs A's

9:12pm I wake up at the top of 7th inning when Matsui hit that ground ball to drive in A-Rod. Good ABC baseball

It seems Joba has another good outing.

9:44pm Great job from Coke to save two base runners Joba left on base.

9:45pm It's funny to see Mo's face after Posada hit that home run.

9:52pm It is hard to tell Swisher is safe or out. It looks like A's doesn't tag Swisher. But, I can see why A's manager is angry because throw beats Swisher so much.

9:55pm It looks like a right decision to sit down Mo immediately.

10:12pm Another win in the book for Yankees.

Nady will "only" be out 4-6 weeks

I think they come up with this conclusion because Nady will be a free agent after this season. I am wondering how much Nady can bring on the table if he only is able to play as DH. We already have a lot of DH candidates. However, that is no guarantee Swisher will be able to hit like this the whole season and how healthy the rest of lineup will be. It certainly is good to have some depth.

Joba vs CLE

1:21pm Despite giving up solo homerun, Joba pitches a good first inning.

1:22pm Man, Swisher just misses three run homerun. Hopefully, Yankees is able to score at least one run in this inning. I guess not.

1:51pm Another Yankees starter pitches a great game without offense support. The way Yankees offense goes, one run seems to a big mountain to climb.

1:54pm Hopefully, Gardner gets on base and then steal second in order to ignite Yankees offense.

Post-game analysis

Well, what happened? The new mlb.tv didn't allow me to log in because I logged in too many times for a short period of time, so I decided to go to bed and took some rest. Hello, MLB. Why deny my access because of frequency I log in? I did that because my IE browser gives up on me.

When I waked up, it was top of 9th with one man out for Indians. Of course, Mo does his job to strike out two batters to end the game despite giving us a little bit scare.

Obviously, Joba doesn't pitch well. It seems to me Joba always has troubles against Indians. Many Yankees power pitchers will have troubles against Indians because they are so good at hitting fastball.

That is why tomorrow will be a big test for Wang. Sizemore is the guy Wang really has to pay attention on and keep him off base. If I were Girardi, I would let Molina catch Wang tomorrow. Even though Yankees won't admit it, the way Rays run on Wang/Posada certainly plays a role on Wang's last terrible start against Rays. It will be better to reduce things Wang needs to worry about at this point.

Today is actually a momentum change game. The way opening day goes for Indians certainly provides boost for struggling Inidans for this young season. When you combine that with the way Indians scores 3 runs off Joba at 5th inning, it is a huge bad sign for this opening home series against Indians, especially when you consider Yankees have struggling Wang on the mound tomorrow.

It's good to see Yankees fight back to win this game. One thing I really like about 2009 Yankees is the ability to come from behind. If Yankees ever gets three things going, 2009 Yankees will be unstoppable. First:Wang; Second:bullpen; Third:A-Rod/Teixeira/Matsui.

By the way, Yankees has scored at least 4 runs every game except opening day. Where those runs come from when you consider the state of Yankees position players(A-Rod/Teixeira/Nady/Matsui/Ransom)?

Tomorrow is a big game for this series. Why? If Wang turns in a good game and gets a win, I can see Yankees pounding Pavano behind Burnett to take this four games series against Inidans.

AJ vs Rays

7:19pm I think Swisher will delivery. Man, strikeout is the worst case scenario for Swisher and Yankees. Great job by Posada.

7:40pm Great first inning from A.J. Let see what Pena can do. I believe he at least can play great defense which Ransom can't do.

7:55pm This acting Ray. That ball doesn't hit your foot. David Cone makes a great point. If ball hit your foot, the ball will change direction. By the way, another nice inning from A.J. At this rate, this certainly is good news for Yankees bullpen.

8:10pm Burnett is dealing which is a good news. The bad news is Yankees only has one run. By the way, we all know what happen now in this game.

8:15pm Swisher can't be hotter which is great news for Yankees, especially when you consider A-Rod is out for injury.

8:24pm I am glad A.J is back up to his teammate. However, the last thing we need is he get threw out of game because we really need to win this game.

8:33pm If Yankees win this game and even their record to 4-4, it is pretty amazing. First of all, CC is terrible for one game while Wang is horrible for two games. Secondly, A-Rod is not in the lineup while Teixeira is out of lineup for few games. Thirdly, the bottom of lineup haven't done much. Fourthly, Jeter, Damon and Matsui also are in the slump. Fifthly, Yankees bullpen is not so great as well. Sixthly, Yankees play all these games on the road.

8:52pm 2 runs is not a big lead. Yankees has to worry about game first. Yankees really need A.J. to step up in order to give bullpen a rest.

9:09pm I hope I am able to watch something I haven't seen before.

9:14pm The real test is coming for A.J in this coming inning. Hopefully, A.J is able to hold down Rays.

9:30pm Ok, I guess every Yankees fan like me who feel disappointed at how 7th inning turns out. Fortunately, we still get a chance to win this game. It is Yankees hitters' turn to pick up A.J.

9:45pm Huge hit by Gardner and Jeter. I feel so nervous about Teixeira's hand. Great, great, great job by Teixeira to hit that sacrifice fly. Yes, here comes Mo.

9:59pm This 4th run will be a huge insurance run for Yankees to pick up. Another huge hit by Gardner. See, you don't have to have all-star at every position as long as you have great starting pitching. Of course, it won't hurt to get A-Rod back to lineup. The more days we can get by with this lineup, the more days we can get for A-Rod to rehab his hip.

10:09pm Another huge hit for Captain.

10:19pm Great 9th inning from Bruney with 3 strikeouts. This is great game to watch.

Joba vs KC

2:16pm Gardner just gets on first base with a single. Now, he is on scoring position. Hopefully, Swisher can drive him in.

2:23pm If Matsui gets hot, it will allow Teixeira to rest more. Wow! Gardner basically scores that run by himself with his amazing speed. If I were Meche, I would be pretty upset about that run.

2:34pm Joba has a nice first inning.

2:44pm It looks like Joba will have a easy second inning with a low pitch count which is a good news when you consider Yankees only score one run so far for him. By the way, I know it's too early to say this. But, If I were Meche and loses this game 1-0, I would be very mad.

2:54pm Please stop raining. I guess one run is not enough.

3:05pm The way Meche pitches Yankees may need to drive his pitch counts up in order to drive him out of ball game.

3:26pm That's why I always say defense is so important for baseball game. The error Swisher makes basically costs Yankees 2 runs.

3:59pm It looks like Matsui start hitting. How it is possible to score Jacobs' play as an error, but Swisher's play as a hit.

4:10pm I will definitely let Joba pitch 7th inning and then let Bruney takes over 8th inning.

4:14pm Obviously, Girardi doesn't agree with me. He has Bruney to pitch 7th inning. Let see whether Yankees bullpen can protect 1 run lead or not. I hope they can because I don't like many "experts" claim bullpen will be a weakness for Yankees.

4:30pm Bruney has done his job in the 7th inning. It's up to Marte now. One more inning, we will see Mo.

4:40pm Come on, One more out. We will see Mo.

4:48pm Well, I guess Joba should be 8th set up man crowd will be out tonight and tomorrow.

CC vs KC

7:06pm I am watching Red Sox vs Angels. Hopefully, Papelbon blows a game for Red Sox. Man, I hate it when Papelbon saves the game successfully. Back to Yankees.

7:16pm Hopefully, Teixeira is fine. Swisher really has good eyes at the plate. If Posada can get on base somehow, I believe hot Cano will drive them in. So, I think Posada will have a good pitch to hit because hot Cano hits behind him.

7:20pm See, I told you. Posada drives them in. Let see what Cano can do.

7:22pm Hopefully, CC makes the adjustment he needs and has a great day.

7:25pm CC strikes out CoCo. It seems CC has great command of his fastball. I think CC will have a good day. That's why CC and Wang are the last things we need to worry about as long as they are healthy.

7:47pm The way CC pitches KC will have a long day. It looks like Jeter is very determined to show people what he can do. I will say this again. When all said and done, Swisher is going to help us a lot.

7:59pm Nady and Matsui are very cold at the plate right now. However, it's fine as long as we can put hits and walks together.

8:15pm CC is in a mini jam. Well, that is strikeout can do to you. CC has pitched 4 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts at 49 pitches. At this rate, CC can pitch 8 innings.

8:26pm Swisher is red hot at the plate. Man, these position battles will keep everyone motivating.

8:42pm CC loses command a little bit, so he is in mini jam. I don't care how much Ransom hits, but his defense has been horrible. CC works out the jam. Hopefully, CC will be able to give us two more innings.

9:03pm What a great at bat by Jeter who works a 10 pitches walk. Jeter really makes conscious effort to be a great lead off man.

9:12pm CC has increasing jams with innings going by. I think 7th inning will be his last inning. Girardi may go to Marte at 8th inning. Swisher just makes a nice play at 1B. Bench is really important. If you don't have a good bench, you are in trouble when some regular players get hurt or in a huge slump.

9:30pm CC misses his spots more the last couple of innings. However, how much runs a pitcher gives up is the most important thing.

9:46pm I am a little bit surprised to see CC pitching in the 8th inning. I guess they want CC to get to 110 pitches. A nice strikeout by Veras as well. If I have to bet who pitches 9th inning for Yankees, it will be Marte.

10:14pm Walks always come back to hurt pitchers. Veras doesn't have a clear outing, but he gets the job done. We certainly need to give Bruney and Mo some rest.

Pettitte vs KC

5:27pm Ha! guys, I join this game. Yankees lead 2-1 now.

5:41pm I really need to complain about new MLB media player. First of all, it breaks and stop playing so many time. Secondly, you can't fast forward or rewind when you listen to audio after the game finishes. Thirdly, why we can't choose to listen to WCBS when we watch YES.

5:48pm Cano and Swisher have been extremely hot. I can't image Swisher doesn't play again tomorrow and may move Cano the batting order.

5:50pm Ransom has played very horrible defensively and offensively. He even makes a base running mistake.

6:00pm If Posada can get on somehow, I believe Cano can drive them in.

6:05pm Well, Ponson doesn't want to pitch to Cano at all. Hopefully, Swisher can come through again.

6:14pm Pettitte is one of those pitchers you believe he can work out of jam. Is it just me to feel a little bit nervous when balls go to Jeter or Ransom's territory.

6:20pm I am just kind of nervous when Yankees don't put on more runs against Ponson.

6:32pm Pettitte has pitched strong 6 innings. Based on his pitch count which is 84 pitches, he should be able to pitch one more inning.

6:44pm That's Farnsworth we know. When the game is not on the line with less pressure, he is going to pitch a great game.

6:51pm Pettitte is at 99 pitches. Butler is first batter up next inning for KC. I think that's it for Pettitte. Girardi will go to Bruney at 8th inning.

6:55pm Cano has been looked unbelievable so far this season, especially the way he takes pitches.

6:59pm Here come 8th inning. 6th,7th and 8th batter of order for KC. Bruney looks good with two strikeouts so far. I am surprised at how many "experts" claim bullpen will be the weakness for Yankees. Mo is going to pick up his first save of the season.

7:19pm New MLB player stops and freezes again. When I finally get the feed back, unbelievable Mo already got 2 outs.

Aceves starts with CC in minor league

1:21pm I just turn on computer and watch Rays announcers praising Price's strikeout to end the first inning. Come on. I know this feed is from Rays announcers for their home team. Even though Price strikes out Nady, it's a high changeup which is a bad pitch.

1:24pm Hopefully, Aceves is fine. It seems to me Aceves turns his ankle or something. I actually think Aceves pitches well in that first inning even though he loads the bases.

1:37pm Swisher just gets on base by a walk after taking some balls and fouling many pitches. The way Swisher hit and play should bring best out of Nady. Nice competition. The same thing goes to Melky and Gardner.

1:54pm Even though I like the way Aceves pitches, he should try to throw more strikes. It seems to me he always pitches behind in the count. He will be in big trouble if he does that in regular season and faces a more patient team like Red Sox and Yankees.

2:01pm After reading the ball well and catching that fly ball, Gardner just gets on base with a walk. At this stage of spring training, the way Gardner plays is very hard to see Melky winning the job over him barring injury.

2:15pm It's a stupid play by Crawford. Crawford just gets tagged out at third for trying to steal third, especially he just steals second base. When you hit before Pena, what is the difference between second and third. You know what? Pena follows up a single. I know he is confident on his speed, but why do that when you just steal second and a left hand hitter(Pena) is on the plate. Even though Rays eventually score one run, Crawford basically causes his team one run.

2:25pm The way Rays hitters run crazily off Cash today. We better not to let Posada catch first series against Rays. It will be better to let Molina catch this series to stop running game. First run of this game is basically from steal. That not only prevents Rays from running but also avoids Posada hurting himself for trying to catch runners at this early of season.

2:37pm I am watching this game on MLB.TV. I know the feed is Rays network, but it has been very hard for me to stand this broadcasting. The way they praise their home team and down on other teams as much as they can is unbearable.

2:55pm I know Swisher didn't throw very well to second base when he tries to start a double play. However, the throw is not horrible. I actually think we get the runner. Swisher just make a terrific play at first when the ball will be down the line for a double.

2:58pm All the throws Cash make to second base are all very terrible. He should not have anything to do with Yankees major league club.

3:12pm Marte has a relatively easy solid first inning of spring training.

3:16pm Igawa's scoreless inning streak is on verge of being broken. Amazing! Igawa just strike out when there are runners on second and third with less than 2 outs. The locations of Igawa's pitches are better.

3:22pm Even though Igawa gives up a walk after a tough at bat by Rays hitter, Igawa loads the bases and gets out of it. Cashman definitely is working on trading Igawa if he can do it now.

3:24pm Rays announcers really use every chance to praise Rays as much as possible.

3:44pm Igawa loads the base again. m.... Igawa just walks the first run he allows in spring training. Ok. I take it back. The way Igawa pitches should have nothing to do with Yankees big league club. His command and control really doesn't look like the most Japanese pitchers I often see. His command and control is better, but it still is not good enough for American league.

Burnett's 3rd Spring Training Outing

8:11pm I wake up one hour late, but I only miss one and half inning? There must be a lot of base runners. The pace of this game is much slower than the game Wang pitches. I know Burnett gives up one run and has allowed quite few base runners. I don't care the result. I am glad Burnett faces some difficulties and can have something to improve on. If Burnett keep having almost perfect spring outing, that will give many Yankees fans unrealistic expectation as well. Hopefully, Burnett's left arm is fine when he was hit by pitch.

8:17pm The way Blue Jay pitching staff constructs and forms, they and Orioles are going to lose many games this season.

8:20pm I am impressed the at bat by Swisher. Actually, he has been done this quite a while. He always can work the count well by making contact with good pitches and not swinging at bad pitches. On the other hand, it seems Nady is not as selective as Swisher. I believe Swisher is going to help us a lot if Girardi can give him enough playing time. I believe Giardi will like Swisher this kind of player. When all said and done, he will beat out Nady for right field job.

8:43pm I think Burnett is fine when you consider he not only can't command his breaking pitches but also can't locate his fastball. However, I am not sure how he will fare if he most major league hitters.

8:46pm Bruney has a fine first inning of work when he takes over Burnett because he can make adjustment on the mound when he can't throw his fastball for strike. However, don't forget to give Posada credit for that.

9:28pm Ok. My computer gives up on me. When I come back, I find out Bruney give up two runs and gets taken out of game. I not only miss this but also miss Mo's quick inning work.

10:04pm We certainly get more chances to look at kids because of the absence of A-Rod, Jeter and Cano, such as Pena and Nunez, etc.

As long as everyone is healthy and they know what they can improve on their game, I am not worrying about spring training number.

Good to hear CC has a nice outing

Because our offense certainly get a huge hit off A-Rod's hip injury, it's nice to hear CC has a pretty good two innings for first game of spring training outing. We certainly need our pitching staff to carry us through this season.

By the way, I am impressed by the ability to walk from Swisher. If I have to choose starting right fielder, he will be my choice.

Nady or Swisher?

I think Yankees really commit to reduce their payroll to certain level which I agree with. Even though I don't think Yankees really need to deal one of outfielders because Swisher can play a lot of positions, I think Yankees will trade one of them if the right deal is out there. Because I think Yankees will and should get another veteran starter by trade or free agency, they probably want to free some payroll for that starter and use rest of budget to get a center fielder.

Based on what I heard from Yankees and what I saw from watching Yankees games, I think Yankees will deal Nady that I agree with.

Cashman already said Damon is not going anywhere because he is our lead off man. Matsui certainly can produce well when he is healthy. Not to mention it's very difficult to trade him based on his situation. Because of Japanese market, I don't think Yankees will be willing to risk the possibility of hurting Japanese market by trading Matsui. It's totally different story to trade him now instead of letting him walk at the end of his contract.

Swisher has a bad 2008 season which may result from luck, new team, new position and new batting order. I think he will be back to his 2006-2007 form. Not to mention Swisher is a patient switch hitter who can play a lot of positions and sign a team friendly contract. If Yankees let Damon and Matsui leave after 2009 season, it will be good to have him for one of spots. For me, I also like his personality. I think he will be good for Yankees.

On the other hand, Nady has a career year which will get paid much more in Arbitration. Don't forget Yankees try to control their payroll now. Of course, no one says Nady can't repeat that performance. Even if Nady's agent Boras let him hit the free agent market and sign with other teams, Yankees certainly can get draft pick for him if he perform well again in 2009 season. Don't forget Yankees still can sign him if he perform well again in 2009 season even if we trade him now. However, you always want to trade players when their values are high and buy players when their values are low. Based on what I saw from him and Swisher last year, I will bet on Swisher to perform better than Nady in 2009.

Of course, this all depends what kind of deals Yankees can get for them on trade market.

Swisher will be a good fit to Yankees

Go check out the interview Swisher did on WFAN. The more I listen to him, the more I like him. I think he will do well and bring a lot to us, especially his personality. He laughs and jokes a lot during interview. Yankees certainly need someone like him to loose up and play 150% every time out.

We need more baseball players, not superstars.

For example, Swisher said his father is a Cubs' fan and goes on to say he quickly changes to a Yankees fan few days ago. HA! Not to mention there are more Yankees fans in his hometown now. He also mentions New Yankees stadium. The most important is he likes to eat. Me too. Welcome to Yankees' family.

P.S I just heard the interviews Michael Kay did on ESPN 1050. If CC doesn't like to play for us, like Peavy. I don't want someone to play for us if he doesn't want to no matter how good he is. However, there are tons of people claiming they are friends of CC now. I will reserve my comments before hearing from CC or his agents.

Welcome to Yankees family, Swisher

Sorry about being late. I am sure you guys already read a lot of analysis from different blogs and media outlets regard of this issue.

The reason I like this trade for three reasons.

First of all, This shows us Brian Cashman and Yankees front office really have a plan on hands. They know what they are going to do. No matter you agree with their plan or not, it seems things always come out with better results when you know what you are doing. Cashman is not going away from his plan because of 2008 season which is get younger. I like this direction which focuses on pitching and defense.

I remember I read a quote from Ichiro regard of the difference between American baseball and Asian baseball. Ichiro says American baseball plays to score more runs than the other team when Asian baseball plays to prevent the other team from scoring. In Asian countries, we are used to play low scoring game all the time. For example, we have a Asian championship series joined by the championship teams of Japanese, Korean, China and Taiwanese pro league to fight for the alternative championship. We play from November 13th to 16th. Scores of first day of tournament is like 2-1 and 4-3.

Secondly, I like the way Swisher play baseball. I got this impression when I watch him playing in A's. He is type of player Yankees need. Yankees don't need 25 superstars on the field. It has been proved that we can't win a championship that way. He is grind and gutty type of player. He not only has a great personality to loose up teammates but also play all out with 110% efforts all the time.

Finally, This puts everyone a doubt whether Yankees will go after Tiexeria or not. I believe most people's reaction to this trade is Yankess are not going to go after Tiexeria. Of course, I don't know what Yankees will do. It is always not a good thing to go into negotiation with Boras without any leverage.

On top of that, it definitely increases the chances we get CC. Think about it. When Dodgers are busy at chasing Manny and Angels probably feel more confidents on getting Tiexeria now, who is that California team that will bid for CC? Giants? I don't think so, they already signed Barry Zito with a huge contract with enough young pitching on hands. They need bats, not pitchers.