Yankees Next Move

The Yankees' express ran over "Doc" Halladay at the Stadium Saturday. The Bombers' bats whacked nine hits while scoring five runs in seven innings against the Blue Jays' ace. The Yanks won in the 12TH on Posada's walk off single. Let the good times roll. Not so fast.

Chien-Ming Wang left the game in the 6TH with a shoulder injury. Tyler Kepner reports:"That almost certainly means another trip to the disabled list for Wang, who missed most of last season with a foot injury, the effects of which bled into this season."--(NY Times)

Now what? The bullpen has been rebuilt on the backs of former starters Aceves, Coke and Hughes. Saturday's win is another example of the value of a deep, versatile pen. Six relief pitchers held Toronto to one run in 6 2/3 innings. Girardi has managed to turn a perpetual flaw into a strength. Leave well enough alone.

Who you gonna call? Peter Abraham reports: "The choice could be Sergio Mitre who is 3-1 with a 2.96 ERA in seven minor-league starts since returning from elbow surgery and a 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs."--(Gannett)

Let's look beyond the pleasant sounding, short-term minor-league stats. In five NL seasons, Mitre pitched 310 innings, with an ERA of 5.36 and a WHIP of 1.54. If ever anyone needed performance enhancing, it's this guy. The fact that he moved on to elbow surgery makes him a perfect fit for the Yanks' system. Four years after prioritizing the development of young pitching, the richest franchise in sports history is back in the scrap heap. Next.

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