On the Yankees beat

By ERIK BOLAND
Joe Girardi said both Joba Chamberlain and Jason Giambi could play tonight if needed. Giambi (groin), Girardi said, was being held out because of the chilly temperature, which by mid-game could dip into the high 30's. He said he expected Giambi to be ready for tomorrow afternoon's game in Kansas City.

As for Chamberlain, Girardi said he would not hesitate to use the reliever tonight.

"Even though he threw two innings yesterday, he only threw 16 pitches," Girardi said. "We could go back to him tonight."

As for Jose Molina replacing Jorge Posada, Girardi said that was more a product of having the quick night/day turnaround [the Yankees will fly to Kansas City following tonight's game] than Posada's stiff right shoulder.

"I'm fine," Posada said a few minutes ago in the clubhouse. "It's healing. It's still not 100 percent but we're good enough to play."

Barring any more pregame news, Adam Ronis will take it from here as your live in-game blogger for tonight. Enjoy. Oh, and be sure to check out Anthony Rieber and Jim Baumbach's Final Score blog on newsday.com, where Rieber captivates with his description of what he did on a rare day off during baseball season. My guess is he caves and at the very least checks the score of tonight's NCAA title game.

By ERIK BOLAND
Some tinkering with the lineup from Joe Girardi, but not much. Jose Molina starts at catcher while Jorge Posada sits. Girardi hasn't met with the media as yet when he'll probably be asked about that, Joba's availability after pitching two innings yesterday and Jason Giambi's condition. The lineup:
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Betemit 1B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

It's Mike Mussina (0-1, 4.76 ERA) against Jason Hammel (3-5, 6.14 in 2007) of the Rays. More to come...

By now all of you know about Francisco Cervelli's fractured wrist and how he got it on Saturday. Joe Girardi thinks a baserunner barreling into a catcher in spring training is dirty pool, but other people (including Cervelli himself) think it's part of the game -- even if the game doesn't count.
What do you all think? I keep going back and forth. If you're a young player, you have to play the game to win, or your manager will think you're a slacker. But the chance of injuring someone else or getting injured yourself should make you more cautious in spring training, shouldn't it?
I think the worst part of this is Maddon's comments -- he expressed no concern for Cervelli at all. I guess the Rays are trying to establish a culture of hard-nose play.
Like I said, I keep going back and forth.

The Yankees sent four pitchers to the minor-league camp before the game:

Daniel McCutchen (one scoreless inning in spring training)
Steven Jackson (one scoreless inning)
Steven White (six earned runs in three innings)
Scott Strickland (injured/didn't pitch)

There are still 60 players in camp.

Vs. the Rays (nee Devil) at Legends Field
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
A-Rod DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Ransom 3B
Molina C
Melky CF
Mussina P
Other pitchers: Karstens, Farnsworth, Albaladejo, Ohlendorf

Hideki Matsui is listed on the travel squad for Sunday's game at Fort Myers. If he goes, he will DH for his first action of the spring. Is it the best thing to have him take a 2 1/2 hour bus ride when he missed time last week with a stiff neck? Matsui said he was going to confer with Joe Girardi but felt ready to play.

If you're wondering what happened to Kevin Thompson, he's alive and well in Pirates camp. Here's a story.

If you are of a certain age, you grew up reading Bill James’ Baseball Abstracts in the 1980s. James introduced the idea of studying baseball stats – he called it “sabermetrics” – to a wide audience and changed the way people thought about on-base percentage and stolen bases and lineup construction and clutch hitting and a million other things.
The back cover of his latest book (with the ostentatious title “The Bill James Gold Mine 2008”) says he “revolutionized baseball.” I don’t think he did that, but he did have an impact on the way I think about the game, and I’m sure many others, too. We wouldn’t have OPS without Bill James. So that’s a good thing.
The good news about the new book is James intends for it to come out every year. It’s similar to the old Abstracts in that it has a section on each team with essays and little stat nuggets. There are a lot of charts and raw stats, but I always skip those and just read the essays.
In the Yankees section, he does a study of whether the Yankees lose more games when Mariano Rivera is tired. He also has these nuggets:
In 2002-03, Jason Giambi hit .339 and .327 in clutch situations. Since 2004, he has hit .217, .229, .203 and .222 in clutch situations;
Alex Rodriguez in 2007 hit only one ground ball single through the right side of the infield;
Mariano Rivera last year threw 99 percent fastballs and cut fastballs. No other major league pitcher (50 games or 100 innings minimum) threw more than 86 percent fastballs.
If you like stuff like this, check the book out. If not, don’t.
I’d be interested to know if any of you read the old “Abstracts” in the 1980s and still have a box of them in your parents’ attic like I do.
And yes, I know James is a Red Sox consultant.

Kyle Farnsworth had some interesting things to say about Joe Torre and Joe Girardi. Read about it here.

If you want to know why sports writers should write and not talk, check out a new video our old pal Jim Baumbach and I shot this week. Click on "sports" and then scroll over to the right until you see the headline "Ask Anthony." If you find it, I have a question: what the heck is going on with my shirt?

The Yankees "renewed" Joba Chamberlain's contract for the major league minimum of $390,000 the other day. For those of you who don't know what "renewed" means, it means they set his salary because he doesn't have any leverage. They didn't negotiate with him, or if they did they didn't give him what he asked for.
Here's what Joba said when we asked him about it:
“I don’t play the game to get paid. I play the game to enjoy it and love it. The paycheck’s a bonus. What do I have to complain about?”
The same thing (with a different dollar amount) happened to Milwaukee's Prince Fielder and Philly's Cole Hamels. Here's what they said about it:
Fielder ($670,000):
"I'm not happy about it at all. The fact I've had to be renewed two years in a row, I'm not happy about it because there's a lot of guys who have the same amount of time that I do who have done a lot less and are getting paid a lot more. But my time is going to come. It's going to come quick, too.''
Hamels ($490,000):
“I know what’s been going on and everything. It’s just a part of the game when you’re in my situation. You don’t have any say, you just have to take it. Sometimes it can be frustrating because you feel you’re a part of the team but I just want to see some generosity and understanding about what I’m going out there every five days to do.”

By ERIK BOLAND

WACO, Texas -- A headline from the Waco Tribune-Herald from Thursday read, "Will Circus Follow Clemens to Waco?"

The answer earlier today was no.

Roger Clemens spoke to members of the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association for almost 90 minutes at the association's annual convention Saturday morning into the afternoon and, no, steroids were not mentioned. The media "throng" expected never materialized as the majority were Texas newspaper and television reporters, a smattering of New York representation [the YES Network did not make the trip] and, naturally, ESPN. It was about 15 reporters in all.

No media members were allowed in the Waco Convention Center but according to coaches interviewed afterward - which was confirmed upon seeing a recording of Clemens' talk - steroids, HGH, Mitchell and McNamee were not among the topics covered.

"It was all inside baseball stuff," one coach said. "Pitching grips, mechanics, delivery. Those things."

"We love him down here," another coach said. "He's from Texas. He's one of ours."

Much more of this will be in tomorrow's paper but that was the overall tenor. Don't mess with Texas.

One coach, in addressing a group of non-New Yorkers - but with one listening - blamed the New York media for "blowing this out of proportion."

Told later that the media didn't author the Mitchell report, he said, "Whatever."

Only one of the many coaches interviewed admitted to having a desire hear Clemens address the proverbial elephant in the room.

"It would be natural to have those questions," he said.

None of them were asked. Maybe at next year's convention.

It's the top of the 9th here, and the Yankees appear headed to another loss. They trail 7-3. Mike Mussina gave up all seven Boston runs, all of them earned, in 6 2/3 innings. Julian Tavarez held the Yankees to just two runs.

Tonight's game has been rained out.
The Yankees announced that Phil Hughes will still make his major-league debut tomorrow against Toronto.
Andy Pettitte, tomorrow's original starter, will instead pitch Friday against the Red Sox.
Interestingly, Joe Torre said he hadn't committed to a starter for Saturday. It's between Kei Igawa and Jeff Karstens. Have the Yankees lost that much faith in Igawa already? Who would you guys start on Saturday?

Opening Day lineups:

Devil Rays
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist SS
Rocco Baldelli DH
Ty Wigginton 1B
Delmon Young RF
Akinori Iwamura 3B
Dioner Navarro C
Elijah Dukes CF
B.J. Upton 2B
Scott Kazmir P

Yankees
Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi DH
Hideki Matsui LF
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Josh Phelps 1B
Carl Pavano P

Joe Torre was answering a question about Hawaiian outfielder Bronson Sardinha when he wandered into a mention of Bernie Williams. Which led to another question: Did Williams ever return Torre’s two calls from the beginning of spring training, when the Yankees were wondering if Williams would accept their non-roster invitation?
“I haven’t heard from him,” Torre said. “I’ll talk to him. I’ll probably call him again. In regards to spring training, that’s what this was all about: business. I think any [future] calls I make to Bernie, it’s going to be more of a personal nature.”
Asked if he thought Williams could still rejoin the Yankees this season, Torre said: “I think it would be a very, very long shot only because spring training would have been important for him.”
By the way, Torre was very complimentary of Sardinha, the 23-year-old outfielder who went into yesterday's game batting .400 this spring.

Hi, folks. Rieber here, filling in for Kat today. Yanks are in Kissimmee today, so there will be a little down time on the blog while I drive over there. Updates later from the land of the Astros (will there perhaps be a Clemens sighting?)
So why don't we fill up the morning hours with a little election. You get to vote on the position battles shaping up here and we'll tally 'em up later:
RH first base
1. Phillips
2. Phelps
Backup catcher
1. Nieves
2. Chavez
3. Davis
4. Pratt
Last pitcher in the bullpen
1. Bruney
2. Karstens
3. Rasner
4. Other
TTYL.

Derek Jeter is OK after being sat on by Melvin Mora on Saturday. Miguel Cairo is headed to the DL with the strained left hamstring he suffered Saturday and could miss three weeks, according to Joe Torre.
Cairo’s injury and Jeter’s near-miss got me to thinking: which Yankee do you think is the one they could least afford to lose to catastrophic injury for the rest of the season? Consider your answer carefully – think about who would replace the injured player -- because it’s not as easy to choose as you might think.
These are my top five:
1. Mariano Rivera
2. Jorge Posada
3. Mike Mussina
4. Chien-Ming Wang
5. Derek Jeter
My reason for rating Jeter fifth is the Yankees have a more than capable replacement at short in Alex Rodriguez and could always go out and get a bargain-basement third baseman (Aaron Boone?). They have no one to replace Posada, so in my view he's their most indispensible position player. Rivera at No. 1 should be self-explanatory. Mussina and Wang get high marks because quality starting pitchers are hard to replace.
The question isn't who is the best Yankee player -- that's Jeter -- but who would be the biggest loss if he got injured for the rest of the season.
Your thoughts?

In all the talk of the possible return dates of injured Yankees -- like Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and Robinson Cano -- the name Carl Pavano is hardly spoken of seriously as someone who could come back and help the team in September.
It seems like Pavano has spent his entire Yankees career rehabbing one injury or another. The Yankees have been fooled before by hints of progress; they hope they won’t be fooled again.
An impressive batting-practice outing before yesterday’s game at Camden Yards had manager Joe Torre contemplating – dare we say it -- a return to action for Pavano, who hasn’t pitched in a big-league game since June 27, 2005 because of a variety of ailments. The latest was a bone chip in his elbow that was surgically removed on May 25.
“He was good,” Torre said after watching Pavano throw 50 pitches to Nick Green and Andy Phillips in 95-degree heat in his second BP outing in four days. “He was really good. We just have to make a decision what to do next.”
Torre said Pavano could throw another batting-practice session or could be farmed out for a rehab assignment. With the minor-league season ending around Labor Day, Pavano has a month to build up enough arm strength to be a candidate for the big-league rotation.
“I felt good and I thought I looked good,” said Pavano, who threw all of his pitches to catching coach Tony Pena. “It’s been a really long road. I’m not opposed to doing a game after this, but that’s not my call.”

Rieber here. I know how much many of you care deeply about him, so I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you: Bubba Crosby is no longer a Yankee.
The team designated the backup outfielder and blog-posters favorite for assignment on Friday and added reliever Jose Veras as their 12th pitcher.
Joe Torre explained that he really, really wanted a 12th pitcher so he would have someone to pitch in blowouts and Bubba was the most expendable player after the Yankees acquired Bobby Abreu and Craig Wilson.
Crosby was so upset with the news that he angrily refused to talk to reporters before leaving Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
OK, Bubba fans…ready, set, vent.

You have to pity poor Andy Phillips. He was playing every day and hitting the tar out of the ball in Detroit and Baltimore. I remember remarking to a colleague in Baltimore, “Wait till he goes 0-for-10. Joe can’t wait to get him out of the lineup.”
Turns out we didn’t have to wait until 0-for-10. Phillips goes 0-for-4 in one game and, with Derek Jeter needing to DH because of his sore thumb, Phillips goes back to the bench. When he finally gets to start again on Sunday (only because Jason Giambi is hurt), Phillips goes 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and looks awful doing it.
I’m not saying Phillips should have started over Jeter or Giambi when Jeter had to DH. It’s just unfortunate for Phillips that it worked out that way when he was going so well.
The problem with Phillips is when he doesn’t play regularly his swing gets out of whack and he flails at everything, whether it’s in the strike zone or not. And for whatever reason, Torre just doesn’t see him as an everyday player. Torre has “his guys” and will go to battle with them every day. The guys who aren’t “his guys” are always ripe to be shunted to the bench or the back of the bullpen or Columbus without a moment’s notice.
After Sunday’s game, Torre volunteered that Phillips looked awful. Volunteered it! Could you imagine him doing that with one of his core players? This is what he said: “I can’t fault anybody with the quality of the at-bats today. Except maybe Phillips, he hasn’t played for a few days and he got a little overanxious.”
Torre did add that it was “understandable” for Phillips to look that way.
Did you know there is actually a blog devoted to ripping Joe Torre? It’s called http://firetorre.blogspot.com/

Joe Torre is committed to giving Melky Cabrera a long look in leftfield while Hideki Matsui mends, and Bernie Williams and Bubba Crosby will share right once Crosby finishes his rehab assignment.
That’s fine for now, but what should the Yankees do going forward? I want to get your take, Yankees fans, on a plan I would consider putting into place this season, or, if that’s not possible, next.
The Yankees should trade Cabrera and whatever else it would take (other than Phil Hughes, who is their only decent chance at developing a No. 1 starter in years) to the Twins for Torii Hunter. They should then move Johnny Damon to left.
My argument is this: outfield defense is more important than the Yankees seem to think. With an outfield of Matsui, Damon and Gary Sheffield – which could still be the Yankees’ outfield next season – a lot of balls will fall in that could be outs.
That won’t happen with Hunter in center and Damon in left. Damon is a step slower than in his prime and is not a top defensive centerfielder. He would, however, be a top defensive leftfielder, which is important in Yankee Stadium.
Next season, or whenever he returns, I’d move Matsui to right. He doesn’t have the arm for right, but it’s more important to me that he no longer has the legs for left, which anyone watching Yankees games this season knew before he got hurt.
The downside to this scenario is trading Cabrera before you know what he is and not trading Cabrera for pitching help, which the Yankees may need more than a centerfielder.
What do you think?

Quick alert for all the Kevin Thompson fans out there (I know at least two of you personally): Kevin is starting in rightfield on Saturday against the A’s. It might be his next-to-last day in pinstripes as Bubba Crosby could rejoin the team after Sunday’s game. So enjoy KT while you can.
UPDATE: KT had quite a day. He hit his first major-league home run, a solo shot to left, in the fifth off Kirk Saarloos. The Yankees were able to retrieve the ball for him and Thompson couldn’t hide his smile even though the Yankees lost, 5-2.
“It was like a surreal experience,” Thompson said. “It felt great.”

If what has been reported about Jason Grimsley’s use of performance-enhancing drugs is accurate – and there’s no reason to think it’s not – then that means two members of the Yankees’ 1996-2000 dynasty were at some point in their careers juicers. Two that we know of.
Now, Jose Canseco spent so little time with the Yankees at the end of the 2000 season that he hardly qualifies. But Grimsley was an important part of the 1999 and 2000 bullpens, winning 10 games combined and pitching nearly 175 innings.
The questions I have aren’t about those two, but about who else was using then. I’m not going to speculate on any particular players – and I ask you to avoid that temptation if you choose to respond to this blog – but we are free to think anything we want about any player we want.
When all is said and done, do you think Canseco and Grimsley will be the only 1996-2000 Yankees linked to the steroid scandal? As a Yankees fan, would you even want to know if other Yankees from those teams used steroids?

Derek Jeter was hit in the right hand by a Rodrigo Lopez pitch in the sixth inning Sunday and left the game. X-rays were negative and Jeter is day-to-day with a bruised thumb. Jeter missed two games earlier this week with a strained tendon in the same hand.
After the game, we’ll ask Jeter how he feels and if he’ll be able to play Monday against the Red Sox. I predict he will say, “I’m all right. It’s no big deal.” Check back later.
UPDATE: Jeter did say "it's all right'' and "It's no big deal'' and said he plans to play Monday.

Nicknames in baseball sometimes are taken from hip-hop culture. For example, the other day Joe Torre referred to outfielder Terrence Long as “T-Long.” That got me thinking about the other things I’d love to hear come out of the Yankees manager’s mouth:
-- When asked why he made a certain move: “That’s how I roll.”
-- When asked about a player being booed: “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
-- Referring to his four World Series rings as “bling-bling.”
--When he sees Long enter the room, yelling out, “T-Long is in the hizz-ouse!”
Unfortunately – or fortunately -- I think those are things I’m never going to hear from Joe.

Notes from a pregame in Baltimore:
--- Mariano Rivera probably won't pitch until Monday, but he says he's "95 percent" better with his back. The Yankees closer played catch with Ron Guidry in the outfield at Camden Yards before the game with the Orioles on Saturday, his first baseball activity since he hurt his back while putting on his left cleat Thursday.
-- Jason Giambi was scratched just before the game with the same stomach virus that felled Alex Rodriguez on Friday. A-Rod did not start for the second straight game. Kevin Thompson made his major-league debut in rightfield.
-- Shawn Chacon will pitch for the Trenton Thunder in a rehab start Sunday. Chacon is the third Yankee to appear in a game for the Thunder. The other two were Carl Pavano and Gary Sheffield. The Yankees hope the third time is the charm.
-- Saw two fans wearing a "Got Melky?" t-shirt for the first time. Maybe I'm a little behind, but I didn't know Melky Cabrera had earned his own t-shirt yet. He has officially arrived.

Rieber here. I’ll be your Yankees correspondent this weekend from Baltimore.
Ah, Baltimore. If there are any Yankees fans left who haven’t been to Camden Yards, you really should make the effort. In my opinion, it’s the best ballpark in America: great atmosphere, great concessions, great proximity to other fun stuff to do. Which leads us to . . .
The Ballparks I’ve Been To List (in order of preference, current ballparks only, and I refuse to update their names, for example, SkyDome is SkyDom e, not PennyPackerDome or whatever they’re calling it now):
1. Camden Yards (Baltimore)
2. Fenway Park (Boston)
3. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
4. Pac Bell Park (San Francisco)
5. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
6. Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)
7. Yankee Stadium (Yankees)
8. Coors Field (Colorado)
9. Angels Stadium (Anaheim)
10. Bank One Ballpark (Arizona)
11. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati)
12. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
13. The Ballpark at Arlington (Texas)
14. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City)
15. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
16. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
17. SkyDome (Toronto)
18. Joe Robbie Stadium (Florida)
19. The Metrodome (Minnesota)
20. Shea Stadium (Mets)
21. RFK (Washington)
22. Oakland Coliseum (Oakland)

So that’s 22 of the current 30 ballparks. I’ve been to several defunct ones (Old Comiskey, Old Busch, Veterans Stadium in Philly, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Kingdome in Seattle). I once saw a hockey game in the Devil Rays’ dump before the Devil Rays existed. I once drove by Turner Field in Atlanta. And don’t even get me started on minor-league parks.

If time, money and geography were not factors, here’s the order that I would go see the other eight:
1. Safeco Field (Seattle)
2. PETCO Park (San Diego)
3. Minute Maid Park (Houston)
4. Comerica Park (Detroit)
5. New Busch (St. Louis)
6. New Comiskey (Chicago)
7. Turner Field (Atlanta)
8. Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay)

Your thoughts? Either on my list or your own?

One thought about Derek Jeter's 2,000th career hit:
Wouldn't it have been funny if Doug Mientkiewicz had picked up the ball and refused to give it back?

News from the pregame locker room:
-- Jorge Posada will miss the weekend series against the Royals with a tear of a hamstring tendon. Koyie Hill was in the locker room and will be added to the roster before the game to back up Kelly Stinnett. Posada is expected to miss 3-7 days.
-- Joe Torre said the Yankees are leaning toward giving Jaret Wright a couple of extra days to rest his tight groin and could start Aaron Small on Sunday. Wright would go Tuesday in Detroit.
-- Torre answered a question from WFAN's Sweeny Murti by nodding his head. Realizing what he did -- a radio reporter kind of needs a verbal response from the other end -- Torre said, "It doesn't help you for me to shake my head when you have a microphone here, right?"

News from the pregame locker room:
-- Jorge Posada will miss the weekend series against the Royals with a tear of a hamstring tendon. Koyie Hill was in the locker room and will be added to the roster before the game to back up Kelly Stinnett. Posada is expected to miss 3-7 days.
-- Joe Torre said the Yankees are leaning toward giving Jaret Wright a couple of extra days to rest his tight groin and could start Aaron Small on Sunday. Wright would go Tuesday in Detroit.
-- Torre answered a question from WFAN's Sweeny Murti by nodding his head. Realizing what he did -- a radio reporter kind of needs a verbal response from the other end -- Torre said, "It doesn't help you for me to shake my head when you have a microphone here, right?"

Miguel Cairo is playing left field today, Melky Cabrera right.
Jorge Posada (back) is out, meaning Cairo is also the emergency catcher.
Bernie Williams (hamstring) is not in the lineup, but can pinch hit.
Kyle Farnsworth (back) said he's available, but the Yankees called up Colter Bean from Columbus to give them 13 pitchers.

Seems like there’s a standing ovation for Bernie Williams every day there’s a game at Yankee Stadium. The 2006 season is his “Farewell Tour” and he’s been given Paul O’Neill-like royal treatment by the fans. That’s a good thing because Bernie has been a classy Yankee his entire career – not only to his teammates, but also to the media and fans. “There’s something about Bernie – a certain innocence that people love,” Joe Torre said before Saturday’s game against Oakland, in which Williams was moved up to No. 5 in the batting order. “There’s a certain elegance to his game. He’s more of an artist than a baseball player.”

Torre said he’s gotten angry at Williams a few times for a mental error or two but noted, “With him, you turn those hands around his neck into a hug. I’ve got as close a relationship with him as any player I’ve had.” Considering the close relationship Torre has had with so many players in his 11 years as Yankees manager, that’s really saying something.