New York Yankees

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When the Yankees acquired center fielder Curtis Granderson this past winter in a trade with the Tigers for top prospect Austin Jackson, New York knew that Granderson struggled against left-handed pitching.

Last year, Granderson, who only hit .249 overall, batted a measly .183 versus southpaws. But the Bombers thought they could turn him around with the help of hitting coach Kevin Long.

As of July 19, the 29-year-old is batting .216 with a horrid .295 slugging percentage against lefties.

It doesn’t take a hardcore sabermetrician to realize that the All-Star vote is a sham. After all, the best catcher in the game (Miguel Olivo) received only the 11th-most votes at his position, and Omar Infante made the cut while MVP candidate Ryan Zimmerman had to sit at home (not the fans’ fault, but still). 

From the off-season acquisition of Paul O'Neil in 1992, to the blockbuster trade that brought Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers to the Bronx, George Steinbrenner has made a handful of pivotal trades during his time as New York Yankees owner.

Some of his deals were done during the offseason, while others (David Cone in 1995) were done prior to the trade deadline.

I've been fortunate to be a Yankee fan my entire life, but until George Steinbrenner passed away, I never realized how lucky I was to have "The Boss" as an owner.

The July 31st trade deadline is right around the corner and it looks to be a very active couple of days. Teams like the Padres, Rangers, Reds, and White Sox are all contending—but need that extra piece of the puzzle to put them over the top.

The Yankees recent injury woes leave them searching for a top flight starter. After missing out on Cliff Lee they are targeting the next best thing in Houston's Roy Oswalt. But the Yanks are only one of the many suitors going after Oswalt.

Corey Hart, Ty Wiggington and Ted Lilly have been discussed by seemingly one-third of baseball.

New York Yankees starting pitcher AJ Burnett took the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday afternoon.

Burnett was pulled in the third inning, marking his shortest outing in pinstripes. This time Burnett's frustrations got the better of him, which certainly did not go well over with his teammates.

In the first inning Burnett gave up a double to Carlos Pena that scored Evan Longoria. In the top of the second inning, the Rays' Reid Brignac hit a two-run homer that put the Rays ahead of the Yankees 3-2.

The Yankees' bullpen looked good today in relief of Andy Pettitte, who lest after two-thirds innings pitched due to a Grade 1 groin strain, which will keep him out a projected 4-5 weeks.

This puts the Yankees in a very precarious position for several reasons.

The bullpen has now pitched over 13 innings in the past two games, because of A.J. Burnett's injury from his clubhouse rampage yesterday and Pettitte's groin injury today.

Yankees ace Andy Pettitte left today’s game in the third inning with a Grade One left groin strain, and it has already been announced that he is expected to miss four or five weeks.  Coupled with A.J. Burnett’s recent two-handed assault on a locker room door that left Burnett bloodied and his ego bruised, the Yankees will likely conclude they have to find another starter to make up for their recent failure to land top-prize Cliff Lee.

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Alex Rodriguez has been romantically linked to the likes of Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz, and now the roidhead Yankees slugger will attempt to move into the movie genre himself.

Pitching wins championships, or at least that is the saying.  If this is the case, then the Yankees better start looking for some more help in that department.

While CC, Pettitte, and Hughes are having great seasons thus far, that can’t be said for the rest of the staff.

When it comes to the bullpen, the only reliable pitcher has been Mr. Reliable himself, Mariano Rivera.  After him the bullpen is a crap shoot.

Entering Saturday’s game, Reid Brignac had totaled two home runs in 66 games this season. Brignac equaled his total on Saturday and drove in half of Tampa Bay’s runs in a 10-5 triumph over New York at Yankee Stadium.

Tampa Bay improved their major league best road record to 29-15. New York lost for only the third time this month.