New York Yankees

The All-Star break is approaching and that is usually when trade talks start heating up. Rumors are flying around all over the place: chat rooms, internet blogs , news reports, etc.

One of my favorite places to find the latest rumors is MLBTradeRumors.com .

Here are the following moves and rumors from the Yankees and Mets that have popped up this past week:

Yankees

Alex Gonzalez’s RBI single with the bases loaded in the top of the 11th inning started a five-run rally as Toronto topped New York, 6-1, Friday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees had a slim lead for most of yesterday’s game, but with two outs in the eighth inning CC Sabathia gave up the lead as the Mariners tied the game at two. But Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to help the Yankees win 4-2 .

Here are some notes:

If you knew absolutely nothing about baseball, never watched a single game, and just so happened to turn on ESPN one night when the Yankees are playing on Sunday Night Baseball , you might just think to yourself, “who is this young guy playing shortstop for the New York Yankees?”

On Thursday afternoon, the New York Yankees avoided getting swept by the Seattle Mariners.

Yankees ace CC Sabathia led the team in the 4-2 win over the last place team in the AL West.

A-Rod sealed the deal with a two run A-Bomb. It was really in the bottom of the eighth inning and not the ninth, but who cares? A-Rod doesn't seem to think it mattered, and he was right.

Alex Rodriguez's eighth-inning two-run homer off Mariners closer David Aardsma helped the Yankees salvage the finale of a three-game series and avoid a possibly crushing defeat thanks to Jorge Posada.

The catcher, who is one of the worst defensive backstops in the American League, was charged with a passed ball in the top of the eighth when he whiffed on CC Sabathia's 2-1 offering to Russell Branyan.

The blunder allowed Josh Bard to move to third and the speedy Ichiro Suzuki to advance into scoring position as the tying run.

Hitting a home run with the game tied has all of a sudden become commonplace for Alex Rodriguez.

With the scored tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a go-ahead, two-run home run to lift New York to a 4-2 win over Seattle Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

It was the second time in less than a week that Rodriguez allotted the Yankees a lead with a home run. His sixth inning blast last Friday in Los Angeles was the difference in the Yankees 2-1 win over the Dodgers.

Today is the final day of balloting for the 2010 MLB All-Star Game. If it had ended yesterday, Justin Morneau would be AL's starting first baseman in Anaheim.

He's garnered 2,118,654 votes, ahead of Mark Teixeira with 1,863,235 and Miguel Cabrera with 1,832,782.

I understand why Morneau is leading the vote. The Twin leads Major League first basemen with a .349 batting average, a 1.063 OPS, 16 homers, and 52 runs driven in. He's committed only one error in 676 total chances.

Its almost July and the heat stove is certainly heating up, but some answers still remain un-answered. The main question that need to be addressed is where do the Yankees need to improve. The bullpen has be inconsistent to get to Mariano.  While the rumors are spreading that they will make a move to acquire another bat or a starter, the bullpen is where the work is needed.

As usual, there have been a lot of rumors that continue to swirl around the Yankees as the trade deadline approaches in July.

However, the Yankees might not have to trade anything to add depth to their bench because there are some very talented free agents available that could get the job done just as easily as somebody the Yankees could trade for.

This is also a better option, due to the fact that the Yankees wouldn't have to give up any prospects, and some of the players out there might be cheaper than picking up the contract of a traded player.