Written by Sean P | 01 August 2010

For all the ballyhoo surrounding Austin Kearns, I think it’s probably best we remember who he is: A reserve outfielder who shouldn’t take too much playing time away from Swisher, Gardner or Granderson. So far Kearns is hitting .272/.354/.419 with a wOBA of .343. As most know this line is propped up by a ridiculously hot April and a yearlong BABIP that’s 40 points above his career average (.341 this year compared to .303 lifetime). Since April he’s hitting .253/.338/.376. Additionally Kearns hasn’t fared as well as one would think against lefties this year. Here’s how Granderson, Berkman, Kearns, Thames and Gardner have stacked up against lefties this year and over their careers.

If Kearns is going to take playing time away from anyone, it should be Granderson and only against lefties. This may seem obvious to you but our unfortunate troika of announcing filth last night seemed to think they were getting an everyday player in Kearns. They aren’t. They seemed to think Kearns was going to take significant playing time away from Granderson AS WELL AS Gardner. He shouldn’t.

In addition, if there’s any debate about who should DH against lefties, well, it looks pretty one sided- Thames has been significantly better against LHP this year and throughout his career than Berkman.

I think against lefties, the lineup should go something like this:

Jeter SS

Swisher RF

Texieria 1B

Rodriguez 3B

Cano 2B

Posada C

Thames DH

Kearns LF

Gardner CF

Personally, with the way Jeter has swung the bat this year I’m about ready to drop him from leadoff duties but that’s a post for another day (Gardner is a pretty obvious choice to leadoff). I tried to give Granderson the benefit of the doubt against lefties but I think it’s just something he can’t do right now.

-I noticed something about Lance Berkman’s defense while looking at his numbers. Berkman is a pretty good defender at 1B. Last year while he had a -3.5 UZR and a 0 +/- Berkman was 5 runs above average according to Total Zone and has been better so far this year: 7 runs above average according to +/- and a UZR of 2.7 (compared to Tex -2 +/- and -3.7 UZR). It’s too small of a sample to really rely on at all but for his career Berkman has been a very solid defender at first base. So a little additional good news is that Berkman isn’t a total loaf playing first when Tex is at DH. Inconsequential, but interesting.

Written by Sean P | 31 July 2010

The Lance Berkman trade is official. The Yankees will trade Jimmy Paredes and Mark Melancon in order to acquire the Houston switch hitter.

Jimmy Paredes is a speedy SS in Charleston (A) who currently is hitting .280/.307/.403 with 34 SBs in 433 PA’s. The switch hitting 21 year old obviously doesn’t walk very much, only 4.2% of the time but has been working on his strike zone discipline and approach this year. Baseball America labeled him the Yankees 14^th best prospect entering 2010. Some scouts believe that he has a chance to hit for some power as a SS due to his good bat speed and although his defense isn’t otherworldly, he should be able to stay at the position (UPDATED: reports on defense are all over the place).We didn't have him in our pre-season top 30, and speaking for myself, I couldn’t envision him as anything more than a utility player at this point.

Mark Melancon is someone you’re probably more familiar with, as he’s had shots in the Bronx both this year and last. Melancon hasn’t had a ton of success in the big leagues so far (20 IP, 5.75 K/9, 4.87 ERA, 4.53 FIP). Melancon has always been able to get a lot of swing and misses and keep the ball on the ground but has struggled a bit this year in AAA. His walks are up (12% of PA’s) and the strikeouts are down (22.5% of PA’s). His past two seasons in AAA he’s had FIPs of 2.54 and 2.82 respectively, while this year it’s at 4.15. The 25 year old works primarily with a 90-94 fastball, a good deceptive low 80’s curveball and a decent change-up.

Berkman obviously isn't the player he once was but considering who the Yankees were trotting out regularly at DH, he's quite the upgrade. He’s currently hitting .245/.372/.436 but ZIPS projects a rest of season line of .267/.384/.489. He plays a pretty solid 1B but he'll obviously be stationed at DH for his short Yankee career.

In my opinion, this deal is pretty good for both sides. The Astros get salary relief as part of their rebuilding process along with two decent prospects. Paredes doesn't really excite me at all but he has some potential according to who you ask. Melancon could probably help the Astros right now, but either way he's a cost controlled RP for the next few years. If he can regain his form, he'd be a nice back end option for Houston. The Yankees get the rental they were looking for and hope Berkman can produce for them. Hopefully he'll continue to get on base and hit for some power in New York.

Written by Greg Fertel | 29 July 2010

Last June, I took a look at Baseball America's 2006 top 30 prospects for the Yankees and discussed where they were now(Prospects 1-10, 11-20, 21-30). A little over a year later, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing, this time with Baseball America's top 30 prospects from 2007. Over the next few days, I'll be counting down from 30.

30. Daniel McCutchen, RHP

McCutchen always projected as a guy who could step in at the back of the rotation and eat innings at a slightly above replacement level. When the Yankees included him in the deal for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, it hurt their depth a little, but wasn't much of a loss. Since then, McCutchen has yet to establish himself as a solid major league option. He is now 27 years old and has netted -0.7 WAR in 64.2 career innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He continued to pitch well when in Triple-A, but has not been able to translate that success to the major league level.

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Written by Sean P | 29 July 2010

Photo removed due to standout douches from bumbly Cape Lawyers.com

As the College Baseball Blog noted early this morning, Tommy Kahnle's Facebook status now reads- "Gonna be a Yankee on Friday, leaving the Cape for home then Staten Island"

As I noted about Khanle before, the Yankees 5th round pick has a plus fastball that touches 98 and the the makings of an average change up and a very sub-par curveball. He profiles best as a late inning reliever.

Also of note, he has great hair.

Written by Greg Fertel | 28 July 2010

Via RAB, one of their readers is reporting that Caleb Cotham had labrum surgery and will be out for the season. I had just mentioned the other day that Cotham expected to make it back this year, but that obviously will not be the case anymore.

I liked Cotham when the Yankees drafted him, but he will be getting an extremely late start to his career and the odds are extremely stacked against him ever becoming a major leaguer, especially for the Yankees. Lucky for the Yanks, they have gotten some good performances from less heralded pitchers that they selected in the 2009 draft.