Here is what the Yankees blogosphere was talking about today.

• It’s About The Money takes a look at what makes Cory Wade so effective.
• Beyond the Boxscore takes a PitchF/X look at eight rookie starters including David Phelps.
• Bleeding Yankee Blue wonders about what the Yankees should do with Eduardo Nunez.

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• April 24, 2012 -- Grading the Yankees first 16 games
• April 11, 2012 -- Phelps and Wade star in Yankees 12th inning win
• April 6, 2012 -- Thoughts on the Yankees roster as we wait for the 1st pitch
• March 9, 2012 -- Yankees sign Pineda, Nova, and two others to 1-year deals

• Yankee Analysts article on Angelo Gumbs.
• MiLB.com fluff piece on Brett Marshall.
• Mikey O’Brien promoted to Double-A.

Triple-A Empire State: W 3-1 vs Toledo. W: Mitchell (3-1) S: Whelan (9)

Eduardo Nunez: 1/4, 2 K, SB (2) (.231)
Ramiro Pena: 1/5 (.221)
Kevin Russo: 1/2, R, 2B, 3 BB (.279)
Brandon Laird: 1/4, R, RBI, K (.242)
Ronnier “Musketeer” Mustelier: 1/3, BB (.286) “I am… a hit… machine”
Gus Molina: 2/4, 2 RBI, 2 K (.200)
Colin Curtis: 1/3, BB, 2 K (.176)
DJ “The Mitchuation” Mitchell: 7 IP, 4 H, R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (2.75 ERA) He’s ready for the show.
Manny Delcarmen: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, K (1.42 ERA) At this point he could prove useful in the major league bullpen.
Kevin Whelan: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 K (1.83) Doesn’t get more dominant than that. Three batters, three strikeouts for save number nine. He’s got 31 K in 19.2 IP on the season, and hasn’t walked a guy in his last six appearances. Another who’s ready to contribute.

Double-A Trenton: L 0-1 to Binghamton. L :Claiborne (1-2)

Abe Almonte: 1/4 (.285)
Corban Joseph: 1/3, BB (.343)
David Adams: 1/4, 3 K (.227)
Cody Johnson: 0/4, K (.270)
Melky Mesa: 0/4, 3 K (.254)
Luke Murton: 2/3, BB, CS (2) (.283)
Kevin Mahoney: 1/4, 2 K (.291)
Walt Ibarra: 0/2 (.274)
Brett “Fire” Marshall: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (2.79 ERA) Putting together a solid campaign this season.
Preston Claiborne: 1 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB (4.24 ERA)

High-A Tampa: L 6-5 to Lakeland. L: Arrebato (1-1) Had a five run lead to start the sixth, gave up three to officially blow the lead in the ninth.

Ramon Flores: 1/4, K (.247)
Kelvin Castro: 1/4, R, HR, RBI, 2 K (.212)
Rob Segedin: 1/4, R, 2B, K (.297)
Neil Medchill: 2/4, R, RBI, SB (3), K (.270)
Kyle Higashioka: 1/4, R, 2B, RBI, K (.214)
Eddy Sosa: 1/4, CS (2) (.245)
Tyson Blaser: 1/4, R, RBI, 2 K (.288)
Zach Nuding: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K (4.63 ERA) After two bad outings with 5+ earned runs, this was a much needed solid one.
Tom Kahnle: 1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (9.64 ERA) Just his third appearance of the season, still shaking off the rust.
Rigoberto Arrebato: 1 IP, H, ER, BB, K (3.57 ERA)

Low-A Charleston: W 14-5 vs Savannah. W: Cotham (3-1)

Mason “Mad Mase” Williams: 3/4, R, 2 RBI, CS (6) (.315)
Cito “Cheeto” Culver: 2/4, 2 R, RBI, BB, CS (2), E (9) (.220) The errors are concerning, but he’s still young and it’s good to see a two hit game, although it did come against a lefty :-/ He has been a very patient hitter of late, with eight walks in his last 10 games.
Dante “Bichette Happens” Bichette Jr: 2/3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB (.244) Speaking of patient hitters, Bichette has seven walks in his last seven games and is 12 for his last 38 (.316)
Tyler “The Boss” Austin: 1/4, 2 R, HR (12), 2 RBI, BB, K (.288) Homerun totals continue to rise, average continues to fall.
Gary “The Sanchize” Sanchez: 2/5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 6 RBI, K (.333) Shouldn’t be much longer before a promotion to High-A is in order.
Ben Gamel: 2/4, R, BB (.255)
Kelvin De Leon: 1/4, R, RBI (.286)
Caleb “Gotham City” Cotham: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 K (2.31 ERA) Not a strikeout machine, but he’s really getting the job done at this level.
Pedro Guerra: 1 IP, zeros (1.59 ERA)
John Brebbia: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, Hr (3.86 ERA)

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Andy Pettitte, with his glare of steel and nerves of the same, roused the Bronx in a way I don’t believe I’ve heard in years.  When it was over, The House That George Built shook with a roar the way The House That Ruth Built used to.  He didn’t pitch great and it didn’t matter.

His impact was immediately felt the moment he stepped onto the field and headed to the place where he belongs.  The place he created dozens of memorable moments.  The place where he displayed that terrifically fluid pitching motion and mastered the art of the pickoff.   Andy Pettitte looks like he belongs on a pitching mound.  And he looked like he never left; although he returned with some signs that age has set in.

Pettitte didn’t pitch terrible, but he wasn’t great either.  Its foolish to expect a guy about to turn 40 and who has been out of baseball for a full season to come right in and take over where he left off.  In the minors, he didn’t dazzle because he never had to.  He simply had to be sure that he could pitch and that he still wanted to.

The answer to both of those questions was affirmed Sunday afternoon.  Although he remarked about tired legs, his pitches (especially fastball velocity) were still there.  He missed the mark a few times and paid for it, giving up seven hits, three walks, and four earned runs through six and a third.

Speculation runs rampant in sports regardless if you are a stat junkie or not.  To quote John Sterling, “You can’t predict baseball.”  I still maintain Pettitte will be a so-so pitcher during the regular season.  He’ll have games where you swear you’ve entered a time warp back to 1996.  Likewise, there will be games you won’t recognize that its really him.

Will he regain his post-season dominance should the Yankees get that far?  He has numerous factors working against him this go round.  He’ll be more prone to health issues and fatigue could set in as the dog days of summer draw to a close.  With the way the pitching staff has been up and down this year, there is no telling if he would even make the post-season rotation.

I’ll maintain his greatest contribution will be his leadership and knowledge.  While veterans like CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda may benefit mostly just by the presence of Pettitte, the younger arms like Ivan Nova and future starter David Phelps have a lot to learn from what Pettitte can teach them.  I also feel that if he hadn’t gotten hurt, Pettitte could’ve done wonders for the confidence of Michael Pineda.  Pettitte has been the young kid thrust into the New York spotlight.

We can speculate all we want about what really happened to Pineda but it would be shortsighted to think that the media attention did not play a part.  Phelps, Nova, and Pineda could not have been given a better mentor.  And if either or both of the ‘Killer B’s’ are needed at some point this season, hand them right over to Andy.  He knows what it means to be a Yankee and how to deal with that expected success.  Its not like Captain Jeter couldn’t do the same or isn’t as capable, but its almost a totally different mentality for a pitcher. The bullpen has/had Rivera and he is/was terrific in guiding them to be one of the most effective in baseball, now the starters have Pettitte.  Lets hope he can even out the waters of this choppy sea the starting rotation has been navigating.

The Yankees also got back the perpetually high-on-life Nick Swisher.  If there is one thing I know about him, it’s that he loves baseball and more so being a Yankee.  I think it might be a pipe dream to expect Swish to don The Pinstripes next year and that’s too bad.  The guy is having a pretty great year and has been one of the more consistent performers thus far.  Is this season an audition for other teams that might be interested, or is he giving the Yankee faithful one last gift?  I’d like to say he’d take a big pay cut to come back but lets not get to ahead of ourselves.  Heck, if the Yankees suddenly hit a wall and struggle big time, Swisher may likely be a featured trade chip.

Its obvious Swisher has some sort of positive impact on the rest of the team.  Two of our most important hitters are on a tear right now.  Robinson Cano has rocketed his average to just over .300 and Alex Rodriguez is doing very well at the plate the last few games.  Is it all because of Swish?  Likely not, but you can’t argue that his excitability is contagious.

Here’s a Swisher Salute an exciting run to the All-Star break!

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“July is so far ahead,” Amaro said. “We just have to get on track. But if July comes and we’re playing like this, we’ll be sellers. How we play now will determine whether we’ll be buyers or sellers in July.”

It’s obvious that there is one player on the Phillies capable of getting Amaro a great return should they become sellers. Cole Hamels‘ contract ends after this season. If he is not traded, his contract will expire and the Phillies will get nothing in return. Thus, if the team is still tanking come July, it makes sense that they should get what they can for him.

Obviously this is all premature. With a pitching staff like the Phillies have, a winning streak could begin at any time. Then this discussion becomes irrelevant. For now it is still in play. This is a Yankees blog, so the most important question becomes whether or not the team should trade for Hamels should he become available.

Let me start by saying this; no extension, no trade. As much as Hamels could help the Yankees win this year, half of a season with Hamels is not worth five to six seasons with all of our top three to four prospects. Some may argue in the opposite direction, but this is my stance.

The picture gets cloudier if one assumes that the trade is contingent upon an extension being worked out, much like the Phillies did with Halladay a few years back.

There are many factors that will make this trade a winner or a loser. The most obvious factors are the extension and the personnel to be exchanged. One would have to believe that any conversation about Cole Hamels starts with Manny Banuelos. He is the best prospect in the system, and he has a chance to become what Cole Hamels already is. After that, pick two or three of the top six prospects in the system and kiss them goodbye. Names like Betances, Mason Williams, Dante Bichette Jr., Austin Romine, and Jose Campos would all be thrown around. It’s possible that Hughes could be brought into the fold as well.

Let’s take a look at what Hamels has done thus far in his career. He is 28 years old. He’s 6-foot-3, 200-pounds and he has been quite durable, never suffering a significant injury. His career ERA is 3.35, but over his last 472 IP, two seasons and seven starts in 2012, his ERA has been just 2.86. His career K/9 is 8.5, and has hovered consistently around that number for the past two seasons. He has excellent control, as he only walks 2.2 per nine innings for his career.

For those who prefer advanced statistics, his career FIP is 3.59, and BABIP is .281. His ground ball percentage is 42%, and his fly ball percentage is 38%, which is pretty solid and would play well in Yankee Stadium.

As far as the extension goes, Hamels currently wants seven years and is asking for circa $23 million per season. The question has to be asked about whether that number fits into the austerity budget. Assuming it does, this is still a ton of money to pay a guy for his 29-35 seasons.

In this trade we’d be giving up prospects and cap space, edging the team even closer to the salary cap threshold. If they can sign Hamels and still have space to re-sign Granderson and/or Martin (or a suitable replacement), then I say it’s close to a no-brainer. It becomes more difficult if giving Hamels an extension would seriously jeopardize those signings.

Another factor to think about is the right field situation. Domonic Brown and John Mayberry could be solid options for the Yankees in right field next season. My gut tells me that the Phillies will want to hang onto these guys considering how anemic their offense has been. If they are available, however, they could be the deciding factor in any trade.

There is also the question of whether it’s better to just wait and see if Hamels makes it to free agency. A valid argument can be made that this is the best method. It has been said before though that when you have the chance to obtain a pitcher of this magnitude, you do it. Waiting could result in another Cliff Lee scenario.

There are plenty of reasons to go after Hamels if he is to become available this Summer. He is the exact type of pitcher who will have success with the Yankees, or any team for that matter. The real question is not whether or not the Yankees should go after him, but how much they should be willing to give up.

I would hate to see Banuelos go, but if I’m given the option to make a deal with an extension stipulation for Cole Hamels, and all I have to give up is Banuelos, Hughes, and Nunez or some other prospect, I’d have a hard time saying no. This is especially true if you throw Domonic Brown or Cameron Maybin into the fold. It’s hard to believe that the price for Hamels would be that cheap though. The trade might have to include a Mason Williams type as well. I’d still do it.

It’s fun to dream about what future rotations could like like if the Yankees pulled off a trade of this magnitude. Sabathia, Hamels, Nova, Pineda, and blank for years to come looks pretty solid. They’d have all of those guys long term.

If Cashman has the opportunity to obtain Hamels without completely selling the farm and can build an extension guarantee into the trade, the Yankees should pull the trigger. As one of the more prospect minded bloggers out there, I think Cole Hamels is too good to pass up for players who may or may not succeed. Whether this fits into the Yankees financial plans remains to be seen, but if it does then Cashman should go after Hamels hard.

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David Phelps

“I think I’m going to have to use him (in a one-inning role), and use him sometimes (like) that and sometimes multiple innings,” Girardi told Chad Jennings of the Journal News. “It’s a guy that has done a pretty good job against left-handers and right-handers, and I think you can do that along with (Cory Wade).”

The Yankees have options here, but I like the idea of Phelps potentially getting a bigger role in the bullpen if he continues to pitch well. Freddy Garcia is also out there and it’s only been three appearances, but if he keeps pitching well too than he can justifiably be used as the long-man, freeing up Phelps for more of a middle relief job.

There is a reason to avoid doing that. If that happens it won’t take long before Phelps isn’t stretched out enough to be an emergency starter if the Yankees needed one. In that case they would have to use Garcia which might not be as good an idea as using Phelps. They could always call up D.J. Mitchell for an emergency start if they didn’t trust Garcia though.

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“When it’s close,” Soriano told Chad Jennings of the Journal News. “No matter if it’s the sixth, seventh, ninth — I feel better when the game is tied, or close, losing by one run, winning by one run. … That’s what I like. That makes me feel more better, when I face the 3, 4, 5 hitters. Whatever happens, come back next day, try to do it again.”

Soriano became a closer with the Atlanta Braves in 2009 and then joined the Rays as their closer in 2010. In those two seasons he had thrown 138 innings with a 2.41 ERA, a 10.4 K/9, and a 2.7 BB/9. In more than one season with the Yankees as the setup-man, he has pitched 53.1 innings with a 3.71 ERA, an 8.3 K/9, and a 4.4 BB/9.

Both are sample sizes that are too small to draw real conclusions from and it is insane to me that a pitcher making over $10 million a season would have a hard time with motivation, but it is possible. Maybe that’s what he needs to pitch successfully. We’ll see if he improves over the next couple of weeks, but if he does it’ll make for an interesting situation once David Robertson returns.

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Ivan Nova

“We really probably don’t have to make a decision until Saturday game time,” Girardi told Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger. “It’s not completely abnormal for a guy to miss a bullpen, to skip a bullpen, if they’re a little bit fatigued. So, you prefer that they don’t.”

Nova actually admitted to reporters that he was scared, but he has experience dealing with this type of injury from last year and said this wasn’t as bad.

It’s good to hear that he thinks he can make his next start. Even if he can’t, it sounds like this isn’t anything more than skipping one start. If that’s the case than David Phelps should have no problem filling in.

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It’s way too early to tell if Garcia has put his struggles behind him, but so far so good. He has made three, two-inning appearances in typical mop-up duty and has not yet allowed an earned run. To go with his 0.00 ERA as a reliever, Garcia has four strikeouts and two walks in six innings while opponents have a weak .150/.227/.150/.377 line against him.

Don’t look for him to be knocking on the rotation’s door just yet though. One of the problems manager Joe Girardi cited in removing Garcia from the rotation was that his velocity was down from where it was last season. In his few appearances that velocity has been up a bit, but inconsistent and it is too soon to be able to tell if he’s rebounding physically. If he keeps pitching the way he has been, he should expect to at least move up in the bullpen pecking order.

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“They’ve been good,” CC Sabathia told Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger. “They played us tough, even that first series here. Every game was grind-it-out tough, even Tuesday. So, that’s a really good team over there.”

Take the starters they faced this week, Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen, two young pitchers with 2.something ERA’s that have already shown more pitchablity than almost anybody else the O’s have thrown at the Yankees in recent years.

Then there is the bullpen, which has been where the Yankees hitters have traditionally feasted over the years. Closer Jim Johnson looks solid and is off to a good start with a 0.54 ERA.

Then there are setup men Pedro Strop and former Yankee Luis Ayala. Strop looks electric out there and showed off skills that may translate into a closer eventually. Ayala has also gotten off to a good start in Baltimore. Yankees fans like to get on him, but he’s a solid groundball pitcher that has done well for himself in the last year and a half.

The most important reason the Orioles may stick around longer than expected this year is the veteran presence in their lineup. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Matt Weiters, and J.J. Hardy are a strong core. Mark Reynolds will be back in the lineup soon and there are a few others that have some decent talent surrounding them in the lineup.

They’re in first place now and it’s not a total fluke. They probably don’t have the depth to maintain that over 162 games, injuries will take their toll and their rotation, improved, probably still isn’t deep enough. However, the Orioles aren’t pushovers anymore.

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Triple-A Empire State: L 2-8 to Toledo. L: Betances (2-3)

Eduardo Nunez: 1/4, RBI, K, SB (1) (.222)
Kevin Russo: 1/4, 2 K (.275)
Brandon Laird: 2/4, K (.242)
Colin Curtis: 0/4 (.172) Had one throwing error.
Frankie Cervelli: 0/4 (.225). Had two throwing errors on the day.
Dellin Betances: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 7 K, HR (5.4 ERA) Wild yet again.
Kevin Whelan: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 K (1.93 ERA)

Double-A Trenton: W 10-1 vs Binghamton. W: Hall (3-4)

Abe Almonte: 1/5, R, RBI (.286)
Corban Joseph: 3/5, R, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI (.344) He’s hitting well to start his seaosn, and it’s good to see both him and David Adams healthy.
David Adams: 1/5, R, K (.222). Played second base today.
Luke Murton: 1/4, R, HR (4), 2 RBI (.272)
Melky Mesa: 2/4, R, K (.261)
Kevin Mahoney: 3/5, 2 R, 2B (.293) Having a great season so far. Most impressive is his OBP (.417)
Yadil Mujica: 2/4, R, 2B, 2 RBI (.433) Demotion.
Shaeffer Hall: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 4 K (3.59 ERA) Best outing of the season for him.
Kelvin Perez: 1.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K (0.82 ERA)

High-A Tampa: L 5-3 to Lakeland. L: Pinder (1-2)

Ramon “Ray-Flo” Flores: 2/4, R, 2B, BB, K, SB (4) (.247)
JR Murphy: 1/4, BB (.208)
Rob Segedin: 1/4, 2B (.299)
Kyle Roller: 0/3, RBI, BB, K (.232)
Kyle Higashioka: 1/4 (.208)
Neil Medchill: 1/4, HR, RBI, R, K (.259)
Eddy Sosa: 1/4, SB (8), K (.245)
Jose Ramirez: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, ER, BB, 8 K (4.43 ERA) Love to see the eight strikeouts and lack of walks. Don’t be fooled by the three unearned runs this was an excellent performance.
Branden Pinder: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (4.15 ERA) Struggling to find a rhythm this year.
Mark “Monte Python” Montgomery: 1 IP, H, 0 ER, K (1.56 ERA) He’s been so dominant.

Low-A Charleston: L 4-3 to Savannah. L: Gerritse (0-1)

Mason Williams: 1/5 (.301)
Cito Culver: 1/3, RBI, BB (.211)
Gary Sanchez: 0/4 (.330) He’s ONLY batting .330 now. Terrible.
Tyler Austin: 0/4, K (.289) Just seven for his last 42 (.167). He was bound to hit a slump at some point.
Dante Bichette Jr: 0/3, R, BB, K (.234)
Ben Gamel: 2/4, R, 2B, K (.248)
Angelo Gumbs: 0/3, K (.262)
Kelvin De Leon: 0/1, R, BB (.287)
Brett Gerritse: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR (4.08 ERA)
Mariel Checo: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (2.12 ERA)
Ben Paullus: 2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER (9.58 ERA) Can’t get anything going this year.

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