New York Yankees

To tell you the truth, I loathe to even broach this subject. It has been debated to death by every fan, writer, media pundit, and cab driver with even a modicum of interest in the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, the issue must be addressed, and the time is now.

What do the Yankees do with Joba Chamberlain?

This isn't a re-visitation of the tired discussion of whether Joba is best suited for the starting rotation or the bullpen. Sure, plenty will still ask that question, but not me—not this time. The stakes are greater than that now.

The New York Yankees so far are having an excellent season, but they are still fighting for first place in a really tough AL East division.

The Yankees want to get to the playoffs, and to get there they need to pursue bottom of the rotation help during this trade deadline, and from what it looks like, the Yankees have interest in the Marlins' Ricky Nolasco.

On Friday night during Nolasco's start in Arizona, there were numerous scouts from many teams; one of those scouts belonged to the New York Yankees.

The Yankees might have missed out on trading for Cliff Lee , but they didn’t miss playing against him yesterday, as they beat the Mariners 6-1 behind a strong performance by Phil Hughes and a pair of homers of the bat of Mark Teixeira.

Here are some notes:

With Cliff Lee off the trade market, the Yankees should now look at adding the next best pitcher available, Roy Oswalt.

The Yankees looked like they were ready to land Lee today, some even called the deal imminent, but trade talks between the Yankees and Mariners fell apart after Seattle questioned David Adams health and asked for more. Lee was instead traded to the Rangers.

But we did learn something from this failed trade attempt, the Yankees are willing to part ways with top prospect Jesus Montero, who was previously "untouchable" according to Yankee GM Brian Cashman.

Everyone thought Cliff Lee to New York was a done deal.

Well everyone thought wrong.

The Texas Rangers took advantage of a snag in the Yankee trade discussions and have landed the top pitcher on the market according to many sources.

Not having Lee go to the AL East has to bring a huge sigh of relief on the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox.

Now, the Yankees will most likely be unable complete the second part of the deal which had them possibly sending Javier Vasquez to the Phillies for Jayson Werth.

A rumored deal that would send Mariner's star lefty Cliff Lee to the Yankees for top prospect Jesus Montero, along with infielder David Adams and pitcher Zach McAlister, is apparently off.

The Mariners have allegedly balked due to concerns over David Adams bad ankle, which he injured breaking up a double play while at Double-A Trenton about a month ago.

Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik will almost certainly move his All-Star starter. But with more than three weeks left until the trade deadline, Zduriencik will take his time to find the best offer.

Fox Sports is reporting that trade talks between Seattle and New York have stalled.

A source says that Seattle is concerned about David Adams' health, and that led them to ask for more.

The Yankees are unwilling to accommodate that request, and the two teams are at a standstill.

The Reds have begun to intensify their talks with the Mariners now, and the Rangers are also lingering.

Reports that a deal to the Yankees is imminent may have been a little premature

Lee remains scheduled to pitch tonight. By then we will surely know more.

Update: (2:28pm CDT) The player to be named later, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, is minor leaguer Blake Beaven.

Update: (2:25pm CDT) The players involved in the deal to Seattle are Justin Smoak and minor leaguers Josh Lueke, Matt Lawson and one other player to be named later. The player to be named later, and this is just speculation, could be pitcher Derek Holland or possibly minor league pitcher Tanner Scheppers. 

UPDATE (July 9, 2010, 4:10 PM) : It appears via several sources that the Lee to the Yankees deal is OFF. The reason has been given that the Mariners did not feel comfortable with the ankle injury of second base prospect David Adams.

While I view that excuse as a made up one, it seems to me that the Mariners were using the Yankees as leverage to maybe get a better deal from another team.

Or maybe they received a last minute offer which they deem as much better.