YFSF

Yanks Acquire Eric Hinske

Does this mean the Yanks are a smart franchise? Before this most recent trade, Hinske played three seasons on three different teams run by general managers who went to ivy league schools. Boston is considered by many to be the brainiest of front offices, Tampa's management team is filled with sharp thinkers, and many analysts think Neal Huntington is going to turn things around in Pittsburgh. The Yanks give up a couple of prospects  to add much-needed depth. Hinske can play the corner outfield and infield positions. I like this move given the plan to rest A-Rod regularly and Damon's recent injury issues. Hopefully, Hinske gets back some of the power he had last year.

'X' Out

Xavier Nady needs Tommy John surgery and is out for the rest of the season. Given the usual 12-month recovery time, this obviously puts quite a dent in his 2010 season, as well.

Cost vs. Value

2009 cost:

• CC Sabathia: $14 million
• A.J. Burnett: $16.5 million
• Mark Teixeira: $20 million
• Total: $50.5 million

2009 value (so far):

• One game

This hereby concludes the bear-poking portion of this blog.

Cheapies, Contd.

After this morning's post on Nick Green's home run, somewhat in response to a complaint from a YF in an earlier thread about how cheap it was (and how sports media should be berating Fenway Park for allowing so many such home runs), I emailed Greg Rybarczyk, who runs Hit Tracker, the home run tracking site that will waste two hours of your time before you even realize it.

Inspired by Brad's question in that post, I asked Greg basically whether there was a way to see which park's notoriously easy home run spots tended to be utilized more often.

A little debate is developing about the relative “cheapness” of the home runs allowed by the respective ballparks, especially in light of Yankee Stadium’s new title as Coors Field East and yesterday’s walkoff cheap shot by Nick Green.

I’ve read your emails with Yankee bloggers in the past about how the straightening of Yankee Stadiums’ right field wall has effectively shortened the dimensions at that park, and some of us were wondering if that change makes right field at Yankee Stadium an easier place to hit a home run that would otherwise be an out (or non-HR hit) in every other park than down the lines at Fenway. Is there some way for us to figure this out on your site, or do you have a spare moment to run some numbers?

Greg was kind enough to reply with a pair of extremely enlightening diagrams, which follow the jump.

Cheapies

There's been some talk -- seemingly among disgruntled Yankee fans rightly annoyed by the media carping about the unexpected home run proclivities of their own ballpark -- about how "cheap" Nick Green's home run to win yesterday's game against the Braves was.

And, no doubt, it was cheap. Our eyes tell us this because it snaked around the Fenway Park right-field foul pole. Greg Rybarczyk's excellent HitTracker site also tells us this because it traveled just 317 feet, the second-shortest homer in baseball this season (for which there is data; about 10 homers do not).

This raises a fun question: What is the cheapest home run hit so far this year, and how do we define "cheap"?

Longest Day's Journey Into Night

So the Yanks fall short of a momentous come-back win after losing their ace to an injury which might or might not be serious. This happens after the Sox win on a home run that traveled as far as one of Chris Drury's home runs during the Little League World Series those several years ago. Basically, the Sox have clinched the AL East in June despite Dice-K being awful and David Ortiz providing negative value. Meanwhile, when it's not muggy and unpleasant in New York City, it's rainy and gray. Finally, the sun, hidden behind clouds all day anyway (how pointless is that?), has set. And now we have the night to think about our damned Yankees. The days get shorter starting tomorrow. Will the good news ever end?

Yankee Goes After Teammate

"It couldn't happen to a better guy on the mound, either. He's got a tired act."

After [striking a guy out he] pounds his chest and points to the sky while letting out a roar.

"I just don't like watching the guy pitch," Bruney said. "I think it's embarrassing."

Wait.  Check that.  Brian Bruney was criticizing someone on the Mets.  So confusing.

Annals of Bad Headlines

Someone at the Post's sports desk needs a political sensitivity chip installed.

Contract Year Conspiracy Theory

Johnny Damon interned here a few summers ago, and changed some dimension strings without telling anyone.

3x

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, tied once again for the division lead, are each one-third of the way through their respective seasons. If the next two-thirds play out exactly the same way, here's what we would be looking at after Game 162: