I hate Roger Clemens' guts as well for what happened after 2003, but SB, this can only help the Yankees. Clemens can go deep into games, and knows how to pitch (effectively) in the AL East. He was the best free agent pitcher available this year, far and away the only sure-fire guarantee in the bunch (the next best was Zito and then Schmidt, neither who look too hot right now).

Give me an aging Roger Clemens right now over any of the other guys signed as an FA. His contract is prorated - so he isn't getting a Randy Johnson style deal. It's for one year - he's a rental to get them through October with a championship.

Again, I think personal feelings need to be put aside. This isn't "typical Yankees" because this isn't a typical situation. We've had to start ten different players this year because of injuries. No starter has been injury free except Igawa (jinx...please no). Clemens brings stability and clubhouse chemistry, something we are in desperate need of.

Furthermore - now he can be a mentor to guys like Phil Hughes and Tyler Clippard, which is merely a bonus.

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I was ecstatic when I heard the news today. I'm not expecting Clemens to be a savior - all I want is a starter who knows how to get guys out. Good lock Lodger Cremens!

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Abreu looks to be back. Hooray. Let's keep it up.

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Darrell Rasner did a great job today, let's hope he can stay healthy.

I think it's because his stuff isn't dominating like a Clemens, Pedro back in their day. He gets a lot of groundball outs

I agree but if he can help deliever them a championship this year, all's forgiven. But I won't lie, with the state the rotation is in, Clemens is a God send IF he too can stay healthy!

Clemens' return benefits both sides

Roger Clemens' decision to join the New York Yankees might seem, at first glance, to be at least a small surprise. But it is actually Clemens in classic form -- The Rocket to the rescue.

Of Clemens' three choices, the Yankees, on the surface, might seem to have the least obvious appeal. The Houston Astros had the comforts of home. The Boston Red Sox had far and away the best record of the three teams -- the best record in the American League, for that matter -- so the chances of Clemens finishing his career with another championship seemed to point to this option.

But if you're Roger Clemens and you've won 348 games and you're headed toward the Hall of Fame, you are not bound by the usual considerations. Your sense of yourself is largely heroic, and this is not all ego. You have the numbers to prove it.

So the question, in part, becomes: Where can you make the biggest difference? And the answer to that question comes back: with the New York Yankees.

Look at the Yanks. They have an everyday lineup as good, or better, than any in the game. But they are a sub-.500 operation as we speak, because their pitching has been beat up and/or ineffective. If one man could make a tremendous difference to their overall outlook, that one man would be Roger Clemens.

He may be 44 years old. But in his 19 starts with the Astros last season, he had a 2.30 ERA. The most recent evidence says that he is still The Rocket.

In these circumstances, with the Yankees in desperate need of pitching help, you could say that Clemens is the hero, riding in on a white horse to save the situation. In fact, Clemens might be the entire cavalry.

So these circumstances are perfect for Clemens' sense of himself. But there is another element that makes the Yankees the sensible choice for the ace of aces: It's not all a question of what he can do for them. It's also a question of what they can do for him. It isn't all the money. He could get that in the other two locales, too. The record says that the Yankees will score runs for Roger Clemens -- lots of runs.

This was the problem in Houston. In 2005, Clemens had an ERA of 1.87, but because the Astros, even though they became a World Series team, could not consistently score for him, that splendid ERA translated into only a 13-8 record.

If The Rocket pitches at anything like the level of the last two seasons, he won't have that non-support issue in the Bronx. The vast majority of the time, if he pitches well enough to win, the Yankees will score enough for him to win.

You take these two circumstances -- the opportunity to be seen as the lead character in a Yankees revival and the assurance of runs with which to work -- and you can see why Roger Clemens has ended his annual semi-retirement in favor of another stint with the Yankees. They could be the Yankees again, if they get better pitching. What could be more of an answered prayer than the addition of Roger Clemens?

The announcement of Clemens' return, made by The Rocket himself during the seventh-inning stretch on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, was in perfect keeping with the theme. The Rocket appears suddenly, magically, and within the blink of an eye, deep concern turns to genuine optimism.

There aren't many people who could make this happen. There are even fewer pitchers who could make this happen. But Roger Clemens can. That is why he is going to the Yankees.

He is the answer for what ails them. They will provide him with necessary the run support. There will be general disapproval of this choice deep in the heart of Texas and in New England. But The Rocket's return for a second hitch with the Yankees makes perfect sense, for both the club and the pitcher. Not only can Roger Clemens win with the Yankees, he can be a main reason that the Yankees can win.

Source: Yankees

Clemens announces return to Yanks

NEW YORK -- "Roger Clemens is a Yankee."
With those five words, displayed on Yankee Stadium's matrix screen in a surprise announcement during the seventh-inning stretch on Sunday, the 44-year-old right-hander ended all the speculation and confirmed his return to the Bronx.

The Yankees officially announced that they have signed Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, to a Minor League contract. The deal is worth $28 million on a prorated basis from the day Clemens is added to the Yankees' 25-man roster.

Following the playing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," public-address announcer Bob Sheppard instructed the crowd to draw its attention to the owner's box and the video screen.

The image of Clemens, holding a microphone, drew a loud ovation from the crowd at the game between the Mariners and Yankees, but his comments would soon be drowned out by an even more raucous ovation from the paid attendance of 52,553.

"It's a privilege to be back," Clemens said. "I'll be talking to you all soon."

Clemens returns to the Yankees, where he pitched from 1999 through 2003, serving as a member of two World Series championship teams in 1999 and 2000.

"He's older than most guys," said Yankees manager Joe Torre, "but he still takes care of himself very, very much."

As a Yankee, Clemens -- who was originally acquired from the Blue Jays prior to the 1999 season in exchange for Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd and David Wells -- compiled a record of 77-36 with a 3.99 ERA, striking out 946 batters in 157 starts.

On June 21, 2003, Clemens became the 21st pitcher in Major League history to reach the 300-win milestone, while also recording his 4,000th career strikeout in a 5-2 victory over the Cardinals.

Clemens made 19 starts for the Astros last season, posting a 7-6 record with a 2.30 ERA after signing a Minor League contract on May 31, reprising his role as the Astros' in-season acquisition after going 13-8 with a career-best 1.87 ERA in 32 starts for Houston in 2005.

"We just felt he was a great addition for more than one reason," Torre said. "Roger will certainly add a lot of stability to what we're doing."

Dating back to this past offseason, Clemens had declined to say if he expected to pitch at all in 2007, but he hedged his bets by saying through his representatives, Alan and Randy Hendricks, that he would consider playing for only the Yankees, Astros or Red Sox.

Clemens, who also said that he would pitch only for a team with hopes of playoff contention, will join a Yankees club that has seen its starting pitching suffer through an extended stretch of inconsistency and injuries.

Clemens' good friend, Andy Pettitte, has twice been pressed into relief action to help out a beleaguered bullpen, while Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Jeff Karstens, Phil Hughes and Carl Pavano have all spent time on the disabled list.

Pavano, the Yankees' Opening Day starter on April 2, could miss the remainder of the season, which created an even more glaring void for The Rocket's liftoff to fill.

Clemens would likely need a series of Minor League appearances, likely beginning at Class A Tampa, in order to prepare for Major League action. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did not rule out a return to the mound for Clemens on June 1 against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

"Obviously, I'm not ready to step on the mound at Yankee Stadium yet," Clemens said, "but I'm going to do everything I can to get back here ASAP.

"Make no mistake about it: I've come back to do what they only know how to do with the Yankees, and that's win a championship."

Clemens ranks second all-time among Major League pitchers with 172 career strikeouts in the postseason, behind only Atlanta's John Smoltz (194). He leads all active Major League pitchers in wins (348), strikeouts (4,086), games started (690), innings pitched (4,817 2/3), complete games (118) and shutouts (46).

Source: Yankees

Well, check the log book. I've been talking about this since this last yr. This is a HUGE story.

Clemens is one of THE best pitchers in baseball. Granted, he may only pitch a handful of meaningful games, but when you have to play a game 3 in Detroit he is nice to have for about 6 innings. Let the offense do the rest.

There's really only a handful(and by handful I mean a FEW) of "lock-down" pitchers in baseball. I.e Halladay, Oswalt, Beckett, Santana, Clemens, Schilling, Pedro(back in the day). Then there's guys like Jake Peavy, CC Sabathia and Carlos Zambrano who are potenially amazing but maybe not Pedro status. That's about it.

This is a huge story. Considering some of you spend most of your natural lives in this thread, I really can't believe that you're not more excited about this. Having a potential staff of Mussina, Clemens, and Petitte with guys like Hughes and Wang looks REAL good, especially when combined w/ that O.

True, but some of us are still feeling the burns of Clemens and most of the staff is injuried. Currently we have Wang, Moose and Pettitte ready to go. When we get Clemens, Hughes and the others back healthy, then it'll be a sight to see. Imagine a Yankees vs. Red Sox matchup with Schilling, Beckett and Dice-K against Wang, Clemens and Pettitte

How Clemens landed in the Bronx

The Yankees' charter touched down in Texas last Monday evening, and general manager Brian Cashman sent a text message to Randy Hendricks, the agent for Roger Clemens. "I just landed in your wonderful state."

Hendricks responded: "I'm out of town." And a couple of hours later, as Cashman dined with manager Joe Torre, he said, "I wonder if he's at Fenway Park."

This was just one more anxious moment, in the Yankees' months-long pursuit of Clemens. They had lost out on the bidding for the future Hall of Famer last year, but Clemens had remained close friends with a lot of the Yankees -- Derek Jeter, Torre and Cashman. And his very good friend Andy Pettitte re-signed with the team in January.


And when the Yankees traded Randy Johnson to the Diamondbacks, they felt as if they were setting themselves up in two ways to lure Clemens: First, by clearing Johnson's $16 million salary from their books, they would have the cash to bid aggressively on Clemens, and secondly, they would no longer have second thoughts about giving Clemens special treatment, like leaving the team on days between his starts. They would not have wanted to create that precedent if Johnson was still on the team.

But the Big Unit was now gone and from the beginning of spring training, the Yankees -- like the Astros and the Red Sox -- were in contact with Hendricks, monitoring Clemens' thinking, making it clear they were interested. The Yankees upped the ante quickly, though, in March, floating the notion that they were prepared to pay Clemens significantly beyond what his prorated salary was last season with Houston, about $3.6 million per month, a prorated $22 million salary.

The Yankees' first trial balloon in March: $25.5 million. Clemens also met with owner George Steinbrenner, who made a personal plea to the pitcher, reiterating how much he wanted Clemens to come back.

Clemens and Hendricks made it clear to everyone, even into late April, that he wouldn't make his decision until late May. But as Mike Mussina got hurt and then Carl Pavano, the Yankees felt they could and should become more aggressive. After landing in Texas, Cashman wanted to set up a meeting with Hendricks -- only to learn, to his horror, that the agent was meeting with the Red Sox, which the agent confirmed to Cashman with a text message on May 1. Hours later, Phil Hughes hurt his hamstring. The Yankees' need for pitching was acute.

Cashman and Hendricks e-mailed back and forth on Tuesday and Wednesday, kicking around the idea of meeting during the day Thursday in Houston, but there was a terrible storm in Arlington that forced the postponement of the game. The Yankees and Rangers were scheduled for a doubleheader Thursday, and Cashman felt that if he was away from the team during the game, then the media might get an inkling of how he was trying to make an aggressive move on Clemens. He had used the same approach in signing Johnny Damon: Make a very aggressive offer quickly and force a decision.

So Hendricks and Cashman spoke on Thursday night, and the financial parameters were laid out: Clemens would cost a prorated salary of $28 million. Hendricks got off the phone and called Clemens, and told him that the time was nearing for the pitcher to make a decision, and that if he was going to go to the Yankees, now was the time. "Let's do it," Clemens responded.

Cashman spoke with Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine on Thursday night, laying out what the cost would be -- including salary and luxury tax, about $6.5 million per month to the Yankees. They agreed to talk the next day, and at 4 p.m., the Yankees' executives had another conference call.

Cashman hung up and phoned Hendricks immediately. "We'll do it," Cashman said, and the two men talked about how to break the news, agreeing that having Clemens speak to the crowd at Yankee Stadium on Sunday afternoon could make for a great moment.

Torre was in the loop all along, and about a half hour before Sunday's game, he met with the coaching staff to inform them of the news. Word drifted out to the players. Early Sunday afternoon, Hendricks phoned executives from both the Red Sox and Astros and told him that he had a deal with another team. "It was a bit of a surprise," Tim Purpura, Houston's GM, said on Sunday evening, from the Astros' team bus. "We hadn't had any dialogue since the end of spring training."

During the game, Astros manager Phil Garner turned to Brad Ausmus and told him the news about Clemens. "I'm not shocked," Ausmus said, by phone. "I feel exactly the way that I did when Pettitte signed. I'm not shocked, but I'm disappointed that I won't have the opportunity to work with him anymore."

Clemens' arrival at Yankee Stadium was timed carefully, in the midst of the Yankees' victory over Seattle on Sunday, and when he walked through the door, Cashman greeted him with a handshake. "Thanks for coming over," he said, "we really need your help."

Clemens spoke to Steinbrenner briefly, and then stepped out into the owner's private box and picked up a microphone to speak to the crowd at Yankee Stadium.

Source: ESPN

I just can't believe that both Pettitte and Clemens are back in NY.

Why the f*ck did they ever get rid of them to begin with? Whoever it was that made the decision to let them go(Steinbrenner,etc) looks like a complete moron now that they have brought them BOTH back.

Well Pettitte left because New York was more concerned about trading for A-Rod. At the time, I was upset to see Andy go but I knew he had elbow problems. His first year in Houston he sat much of it due to those problems and thought maybe the Yankees did the smart thing in letting him go. His second year he struggled but was making a comeback and last year he had his best year as an Astro. I was pessimistic about signing him this year but he's proving to be a reliable workhorse when his number is up (which is EXACTLY what the Yankees need right now).

Clemens pulled the "I'm retiring, now that I'm out of my Yankees contract I'm going to pitch closer to home" card. I felt it was very disrespect for him to betray New York like that after he won not one but TWO World Series there (something he never did in Boston, Toronto or Houston).

Well, I would definitely take Boston in that one, no doubt about it. Not to say that the Yanks couldn't win that series, but in order to do so I think their offense would have to be a few steps above the Sox's.

The Yankees have the best lineup in the country. With 3 reliable starters, they could take this year's Sox!

Now that you mention those 3 reliable starters, it's makes me think. They actually have about 5 potential reliable starters. I wonder if Torre will get Dean Smith syndrome where you have SO much talent that you under utilize it b/c you bench the wrong guys while trying to utilize everyone on your roster.

Let's say Wang comes out and pitches game 1 and the Yanks lose a close one. Pettitte comes out and wins game 2 and Rocket wins game 3. So...your up 2-1 and you still have Hughes and Mussina who you want to throw, so you throw those guys for game 4 and 5. Let's say you split those games and it goes 7. So....who pitches games 6 and 7? Obviously Roger would pitch one of them, but who pitches the other? Wang or Pettitte? Better make the right choice. Or...Wang could start the game and Pettitte could pitch relief. I like him in that role. Or....maybe you throw Hughes in game 7. Lot's to think about.

Not to give you guys anything more to worry about but you see my point. Of course, I'm sure it's better to have those guys and not need them than to need them and not have them.

I wish I was Clemens. It would be nice to come back from my entire week of vacation, and then tell my boss "I'm not coming back for the next few months." And then wait around for a bigger and better company to pay me millions at which point I waltz in on my own time and only work for part of the year. Then again I don't have a cool nickname like "The Rocket". Maybe that's the secret.

That's a problem I wouldn't mind having

That was courtesy of the Tampa crew. Cashman was against the decision, from what I've read. They basically felt that Andy's elbow was tied together with string, and was about to snap. Instead, they went with the aging, injury-prone Kevin Brown, who was in much worse shape.

But yeah, getting rid of Pettitte was retarded. Clemens was a different story. He said he was retired, ending his contract, and left the Yankees. Then, only after he saw Pettitte in Houston, he decided to come back. Most Yankee fans accepted this as a screwjob, not the fault of upper management like the Pettitte deal.



I'd take the Yankees. The reason the Yankees lost the series(s) to Boston was because the pitching was dismal. The offense hit off their pitchers (as Irishman can attest with Dice-K's stats ). Now that the Yankees are coming back from injury, and will actually have their four main starters lined up (Wang -> Pettitte -> Clemens -> Mussina) and then with Hughes returning (I still think they should send him back down to AAA to keep him on his old schedule), Igawa and Rasner can duke it out for the last spot in the rotation (and Karstens too when he returns).

The Yankee offense is better than the Red Sox offense, if all the cogs are there. But until now, the injuries rendered the Yankee team completely dysfunctional. Clemens, even if he can't return to Clemens-esque form, should bring back some stability and some quality starts (literally and stat-wise) that give our offense a chance to do its work.

And its going to be necessary, too. Beckett has finally learned how to pitch in the AL, Schilling looks good, and Dice-K, despite his stats to the contrary, is getting the run support he needs to pull out wins.



Don't be so sure. Damon is (as always) dealing with nagging injuries, A-Rod has cooled off, Giambi strikes out too much, Abreu has been horrid until the last two games, Matsui is still recovering from injury, Cano has lost his power stroke, Melky contributes some vanilla ice cream, and Mienkeiwicz is johnny-come-lately with one or two homeruns but an otherwise quiescent bat.

Like I said, all the cogs in the machine have to be working, and then, yes, the Yankees have the best lineup in baseball.



I watched Orel Hershiser on Baseball Tonight tell me how Chien-Ming Wang has to "step it up to become the ace of the Yankees rotation."

Are you a fucking idiot? I think we all know the answer to that question. Where have you been the last two years, Orel?




Torre had issues last year with guys like Sheffield and A-Rod because he had no place to put them. A-Rod sucked the mighty penis in the playoffs, and Sheffield returned from injury, stuck at first with the newly acquired Abreu at right field. It was hard not to hurt feelings with that much talent.

I don't however think Torre would have a Dean Smith issue with the rotation. Both Wang and Pettitte have zero ego. Mussina's a quirky little prick who HAS to pitch on his day in the rotation or he'll go cry like a schoolgirl in the corner, so that forces Torre to use him when his number is called. So they could pretty much keep that stable going in a consistent 1-2-3-4 order for as long as they wanted to, sprinkling Hughes (who should return to AAA), Rasner, Igawa, and Karstens in there in the fifth slot (I plead the fif!). All in all, I wouldn't mind pitching any of the front four against the Red Sox.

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BTW - Want a good laugh? Go to ESPN.com/baseball and read all the comments from Red Sox fans about the Clemens deal. It's pretty hilarious.

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Would you settle for being Archie Bunker?

Right, b/c he's a huge left-hander who likes pitching in the cold.

BTW-Houston had the best staff in baseball before yesterday.

Now, it's all gone.

Pettitte is from Dear Park,Texas and of course Rocket is a graduate of a "little" baseball school in Austin.

Blue-blooded devils in stripes, all of you.

We'll trade you Andy for Roy Oswalt...

Igawa sent to Minors

NEW YORK -- Kei Igawa's big-league career is making a detour to the Minors.

Citing inconsistency and ineffectiveness over half of his first six Major League appearances, the Yankees optioned the 27-year-old left-hander to Class A Tampa on Monday.

"We just want to get him comfortable doing something different and that's not going to be easy," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It's not going to come overnight. The most important thing is that he understands it and trusts the fact that this is going to be good for him."

The Yankees made a $46 million investment in Igawa, a three-time strikeout leader with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League, but the import has had issues maintaining his performance early in his Major League career.

"I had success here and also failure as well," Igawa said through an interpreter. "To be consistent at the Major League level, I can definitely go down to adjust in the Minors."

The Yankees had originally intended to send right-hander Darrell Rasner down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a move to create roster space for Monday's starter, rookie Matt DeSalvo, but Torre and general manager Brian Cashman met Monday and instead decided to ship out Igawa instead.

Torre said that Igawa handled the message -- which was delivered in a meeting before Monday's game against the Mariners -- rather well.

"We're just trying to get him comfortable with what we feel will help him be more consistent," Torre said. "He took the news fine. We took a lot of time obviously making sure that he understood that he's still very important to us and we're taking this step to get him better than he is."

"I think going down to the Minors is an opportunity to adjust and come back to the Majors [at] 100 percent," Igawa said.

Igawa has had bright spots in his brief big-league tenure, most recently a six-inning relief stint against the Red Sox on April 28, in which Igawa allowed no runs and two hits.

But Igawa -- who is 2-1 with a 7.63 ERA in six appearances (five starts) -- was in the bullpen that day because his previous start against the Devil Rays was unsuccessful. On April 23, Igawa allowed seven runs on eight hits in a loss at St. Petersburg, Fla., prompting the Yankees to remove him from the pitching rotation.

Igawa's last effort, a May 4 loss to the Mariners, was similarly frustrating for the Yankees. Igawa allowed eight runs on nine hits in four innings of work, surrendering three home runs, despite the fact he later told reporters his effort had been acceptable and he threw just one bad pitch.

In that most recent start, Igawa even abandoned his full windup, preferring to instead pitch from the stretch, where he feels he can find better control. That leads the Yankees to believe that Igawa must make adjustments related to his balance; Igawa has walked 13 and struck out 19 in 30 2/3 Major League innings.

"There are some things he's got to fix, mechanically, we believe," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "He's had six games here: three been very good and three have been not very good.

"He's got Major League ability, we have no doubt about that. We've seen it in three games, but unfortunately we're not seeing it consistently."

While with Tampa, Igawa will work with pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras and Minor League pitching coach Gil Patterson.

The process could be a relatively lengthy one -- Contreras said the early focus of his efforts with Igawa would concern deconstructing his pitching motion and performing a lot of work in the bullpen and in dry mound sessions, with game action a secondary concern at this time.

"I don't know how long it's going to take," Igawa said, "but I'm going to do my best to get back up."

Contreras -- who was at Yankee Stadium on Monday to watch his pupil, DeSalvo, make his Major League debut against the Seattle Mariners -- said that he has a plan to help bypass the language barrier inherent in dealing with Igawa, who speaks little English and relies on a full-time interpreter to translate into Japanese.

Contreras said has already ordered a montage of videotape depicting star left-handed pitchers like Chicago's Mark Buehrle and the Mets' Tom Glavine in the hopes of relaying messages to Igawa by image.

"He's got the stuff to pitch here in the big leagues, and it shows it when he's able to throw strikes," Contreras said. "It's just getting to a consistent basis. We have to give him a chance to repeat his delivery."

Igawa, who was touted as a long-term asset by Cashman on the day he was introduced to the New York media in January, said that he was aware a reassignment to the Minor Leagues could be a possibility when he signed his contract with the organization.

"If you don't show results here up in the Major Leagues, the Yankees demote to [the] Minors," Igawa said. "I knew that before I signed with the team."

Source: Yankees

A heartbreaking lose for the Yanks as Mo lost another one. I feel bad for DeSalvo who had an impressive debut:

7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 3 BB, 0 SO, 1.29 ERA

Pavano will get fourth opinion on elbow

NEW YORK -- The fate of Carl Pavano's 2007 season appears to be hinging on a fourth medical diagnosis, as the Yankees will send the right-hander to the West Coast for more reviews on his ailing pitching elbow.

Pavano, 31, expressed confusion regarding his continuing travel plans following the Yankees' 3-2 loss to the Mariners on Monday.

Pavano said that he has been told by three doctors that his elbow has damage that could require Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. The Yankees have requested that Pavano fly to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Lewis Yocum, the team physician for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, for yet another review of his situation.

"Lucky No. 4? I have no idea," Pavano said. "I want to do what's right, and I've got three professionals telling me what's right. I guess I'll see the best doctors in the business -- all of them."

Before the game, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman declined to state if Pavano was facing a surgical procedure, except to say that the team is pulling out every opportunity to garner as many various opinions as possible regarding Pavano's health.

"Clearly, I want to make sure that we have a really accurate reading on all this," Cashman said. "We've got all the best doctors we're trying to pull in."

Pavano has not pitched since April 9, when he turned in seven innings to defeat the Twins in Minnesota. After that start, Pavano complained of tightness in his right forearm, and a series of attempts to get the hurler back on the mound showed some promise before ultimately ending with recurring discomfort.

Pavano has been examined by Yankees team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon, and over the weekend, he saw renowned orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Fla.

According to Pavano, Andrews found damage to a ligament in the pitching elbow, while Pavano reported that another physician, Dr. David Altchek, found a tear in the elbow. The end result of the diagnoses, Pavano said, is that he may eventually need Tommy John surgery.

That procedure would likely remove Pavano from competition for 12 to 18 months. Pavano is in the third year of a four-year, $39.95 million contract with the Yankees, which means that Tommy John surgery could effectively end his chances of pitching for the Yankees again.

"That's the surgery they're talking about," Pavano said. "You think I'm fighting to have that done? One of them says there's a tear in there, and Andrews sees films. ... I don't know why I'm going to a fourth doctor. I don't understand it."

The Yankees have garnered little from their large investment in Pavano, yielding just 19 starts and a total of five victories. He said that he was not eager to have the procedure performed to put it behind him, but his options appear limited.

"I would not like to have the surgery," Pavano said. "But I have professionals and that's what they do -- they make these decisions. That's the decision that they think is going to make my elbow better, and that's what I think I need to do."

Source: Yankees

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Just buyout his contract or let him sit on the sidelines for the remainder of his contract. We should have traded him during Spring Training when the Cards and others were still interested in him

Thank the mentally handicapped second base umpire who couldn't see Cano's tag even though the runner was out two feet before he touched the bag, allowing the Mariners to tie the game.

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Matt DeSalvo did a great job. You can see he's almost there. Still some control issues, but man he's got some nice stuff, particularly his forkball/screwball/changeup/combo.

It's probably nastier than the "gyroball."

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Kei Igawa got sent to the minors. People are bitching about Roger Clemens contract when we just sent our $46 million dollar man down to Scranton-Wilkes Barre?

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BTW - Kudos for Mike and the Mad Dog absolutely berating Brian Cashman and the Yankees for the Clemens deal yesterday, and making themselves look like complete retards. Of course this was a desperation deal - Cashman admits it - we need him badly. Of course we don't like the idea of him getting the family ties deal, but what can you do when you desperately need reliable pitching? And Clemens stats in the AL aren't that great? Holy fuck. He's going to be our 4th starter. Who else did you think was better to acquire to pitch in the AL East than this guy?

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Here comes the anti-Yankee ESPN quip.



Deception? You bet. You tell me how it wouldn't cost the Yankees a bundle (not just monetarily) to get guys like Brandon Webb and Ryan Howard...

It's tough to blame Cashman though - again, yeah, he could have traded him away, but would he have gotten quality pitching in return? Trying to find decent pitching nowadays is like grasping for straws, so I doubt that a Pavano deal would've garnered much, AND the Yankees still would probably be paying the vast majority of his salary.

I agree though, buy him out, end his career. He's toast.

DJ, Agreed about that tag. He was out by a freaking mile.

No I do agree with Cashman because I wanted to believe in Carl and give him another shot. Unfortunately, we were both wrong and the guys DONE.

In other news, it looks like Zito is settling down in the NL finally, 3-3 with a 3.65 ERA. He went 6 strong innings last night against the Mets, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits with 1 BB and 5 SO.

From what I've read the ump actually apologized about the call after the game...

A lot of good that did us.

This does bring up an interesting point, something I've often wondered about - does instant replay belong in baseball's rulebook?

I love instant replay in football but in baseball I just think it would be too hard to police. Can it be used to argue balls and strikes, etc... I just think it would slow an already sometimes boring game down to a crawl.

Did Red Sox drop ball on Rocket deal?

The Red Sox had their chance to preempt Roger Clemens's announcement that he had agreed to pitch for the Yankees again. Clemens's agent, Randy Hendricks, was in Boston last week for meetings with Sox brass and had dinner in John W. Henry's box Wednesday night when the Sox made their bid for the Rocket. It was for a prorated $18 million, more than $10 million less than the prorated $28 million Clemens agreed to take from the Yankees. Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, according to club sources, thought Clemens was still days from making a decision -- Lucchino believed this Thursday was the operative date -- leaving the Sox time to tweak their offer if they chose.

Source: SI

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Boston screws up signing a player? Nooooooooooooo. Say it ain't so.

I just made a thread/poll about it...check it out.