New York Yankees

Via Chad Jennings of LoHud: The team's 29 signed draft picks alongside the number of the round they were drafted in.

Here are some bits for the day—

Alex Rodriguez left Monday’s game with a stiff calf that an MRI revealed to be a low-grade strain in his left calf. He’s day-to-day.

In his rookie season of 1952, Joe Black won 15 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He lost only four times, pitched to an ERA of 2.15, an ERA+ of 171, and helped the Dodgers win the pennant.

Black was voted the National League's Rookie of the Year, and finished third in the MVP balloting.

Black was Brooklyn's top relief pitcher. He appeared in 54 games in relief, but manager Charlie Dressen realized that he was short of starters for the upcoming World Series against New York's other team, the New York Yankees.

By Brandon Moor

August 17, 2010

As we get ever so close to the end of the 2010 MLB season, the playoff picture has begun to slowly take form. There are six teams in the American division and six teams in the National division fighting for a postseason berth, with everybody else 8 games or more away from even flirting with a wild card.

In no specific order, the Yankees, Rays, Twins, White Sox, Rangers, and Red Sox are the big six slugging it out in the American League, while the Phillies, Braves, Cardinals, Reds, Padres, and Giants are battling it out in the National League.

Fresh off an unacceptable loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon, the New York Yankees arrived back home to face the Detroit Tigers for a four-game set.

Instead of keeping the Tampa Bay Rays at bay, the Yankees lost to the Tigers 3-0, but that is just the icing on the cake.

After witnessing yet another poor start by Javier Vazquez on Monday, I believe that it is about time to call upon the services of 23-year-old Ivan Nova.

As you may or may not know, Vazquez is going through a stretch of dead arm right now, which is severely limiting his velocity on pitches, which are topping out at 88 miles per hour.

He got ripped by the Rangers last Wednesday, and he gave up two runs through four innings against the Tigers yesterday, throwing 106 pitches and dodging several scary situations in the process.

I remember back in February 2004, when I first heard the news that Alex Rodriguez had been traded to the New York Yankees.  At the time, I was a soon-to-be 14-year-old fan who had finally stopped taking for granted how difficult it was to win a World Series.  After growing up watching the Yankee dynasty win four championships in five years, I had suffered through the Diamondbacks debacle of 2001 and the embarrassing loss to the Florida Marlins only months earlier.