Vizcaino most likely gone

Luis Vizcaino declined the Yankees' offer of arbitration, thus allowing him to remain as a free agent.

From his agent, Bean Stringfellow:

"We are proceeding like the Yankees aren't involved," Bean Stringfellow said yesterday morning. "I talked to Brian (Cashman) and he said he was going to call twice and hasn't. I have teams interested and Luis has played on many teams and has enjoyed them all." (New York Post)

Vizcaino was somewhat of a Joe Torre casualty during a few instances last year. He was used a lot in April and then struggled in May. He came back to form during the summer, but then struggled in September after pitching over 29 innings in July and August combined.

That said, the bullpen still needs to be improved. Mariano Rivera is really the only trustworthy member, now that Joba Chamberlain is being moved to the starting rotation.

Yankees interested in Mahay and Vizcaino

According to Bryan Hoch, the Yankees have contacted the representatives for Ron Mahay and Luis Vizcaino.

Mahay, a 36-year-old lefty, will probably receive a three-year, $12 million offer from the Yankees. I feel that three years may be a little too much, but the bullpen is need of improvement right now. Hoch also says that Vizcaino may seek Scott Linebrink money (four years, $19 million). If that's the case, I'd let Vizcaino find employment elsewhere.

Pavano to be released?

Is Carl Pavano's time in New York over?

From Joel Sherman:

There is a strong likelihood the Yanks will release Pavano before Nov. 20 so that they can use his 40-man roster spot for a player valuable to their future. Each team's 40-man roster must be set by that date in preparation for the Rule V draft on Dec. 6 at the Winter Meetings. (New York Post)

That's a shame.

This is a fun stat: Sherman noted that Pavano had as many wins in his Yankee career as Luis Vizcaino had from June 22 to July 21 last year.

Luis Vizcaino's arm

There was a reason Luis Vizcaino was so ineffective against the Mariners last night, Joe Torre said. His shoulder was bothering him.

So the reliever, who has thrown 68 1/3 innings in 70 outings, will get a couple days off. He did go for an MRI today and that showed no problem. "The MRI was nice," general manager Brian Cashman said, adding that the prescription is just rest. (Source)

Torre does it again.

Some interesting stats

The Yankees don't play until 7:00 tonight, so to keep myself occupied, I've been playing with the Baseball-Reference Play Index (and what a great tool it is). As a result, I have come up with some nice stats for you all to enjoy.

Since July 1, Robinson Cano is batting .400 with a .456 OBP. He is 56 for 140 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs. He has also walked 13 times (he walked 18 times all of last season).

Since May 30, Melky Cabrera is batting .347 with a .390 OBP. He is 85 for 245 with five home runs and 35 RBIs.

Since July 1, Bobby Abreu is batting .364 with a .408 OBP. He is 48 for 132 with seven home runs and 41 RBIs (mind you, he has 11 and 76 for the season).

Since July 1, Hideki Matsui is batting .331 with a .387 OBP. He is 48 for 145 with 15 home runs and 35 RBIs (he only had eight home runs for the seson before that date).

Since Mariano Rivera's implosion against the Boston Red Sox on April 27, he is 1-1 with 18 saves in 42 innings pitched. He has struck out 43 batters, walked only two and has given up only six earned runs. His ERA went from 12.15 on that date to 2.77 where it stands today. He also has not blown a save since (knock on wood).

Since May 28, Luis Vizcaino has been on fire. He is 6-1 in 34 games with a minuscule 1.31 ERA. He has given up only five earned runs in 34 1-3 innings and has struck out 33 batters while walking 15. Opponents are batting .176 off of him. Hopefully he isn't burned out by the time the playoffs (PLAYOFFS!?!? Yes, the Yankees are now serious playoff contenders) roll around.

The braintrust gathers in Tampa

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner met with his top advisers for 90 minutes Tuesday, discussing potential moves before the July 31 deadline for trades without waivers.

General partner Hal Steinbrenner, general manager Brian Cashman, team president Randy Levine and chief operating officer Lonn Trost attended the session along with senior vice president Felix Lopez, special adviser Gene Michael, senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman and vice president of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer.

The team officials met for two hours at Legends Field, the Yankees spring training home, before being joined by Steinbrenner.

The group also discussed potential help from the Yankees' minor league system. Pitchers Phil Hughes (sprained ankle) and Jeff Karstens (broken leg) are on minor league rehab assignments and could be ready to rejoin the team within the next two weeks (source).

Sounds like a riveting meeting. I can't see the Yankees making any major trades. They seem reluctant to trade their highly-touted prospects, and the team is finally starting to show that they can play together. I can see trades involving bullpen help, but that is pretty much it.

Also, does anyone else find the following Joe Torre quote (from the same article) as absolutely hilarious as I do? NoMaas does.

Manager Joe Torre did not rule out a bullpen assignment in the majors for Joba Chamberlain, who has been a starter this season.

"If that is the case, we would take care of him," Torre said before Tuesday night's game against the Royals in Kansas City.

"We'll make sure we don't abuse him," Torre said. "Not that we willfully abuse people, but you know, when panic sets in during a game, man, throw them all out there."

Glad to know that at least Chamberlain would be taken care of. The same can't be said about Scott Proctor and Luis Vizcaino.

Torre considering changing Farnsworth's role

The Yankees tied the score in the ninth and won the game, 3-2, in the 10th inning, with Brian Bruney and Luis Vizcaíno pitching the final two scoreless innings. It was good enough to give the Yankees their fourth consecutive victory.

But it might not be sufficient to keep Farnsworth in his role as the setup man to closer Mariano Rivera. With Vizcaíno having more success lately, Manager Joe Torre might use Vizcaíno or someone else in the eighth and Farnsworth elsewhere.

“I think we’re going to have to sit and think about it,” Torre said yesterday. When told Farnsworth had said he would be willing to change his role, Torre said: “Just answering that way, he’s not ignoring the fact that he’s struggling. To me, that’s a positive step” (source).

What is there to think about? Kyle Farnsworth is flat-out awful and he can't be trusted in any spot.

In 38 1-3 innings pitched, he's given up 44 hits, 19 earned runs and has only struck out 24 batters. He's been so bad this year that it's a big deal when he gets a 1-2-3 inning.

The problem is, however, that the Yankees have invested so much in Farnsworth that they don't have sufficient replacements for Farnsworth.

Scott Proctor and Brian Bruney haven't been as reliable as they were last year. Luis Vizcaino has been good recently, but he also had a stretch where he was terrible. His performance over the long haul is unpredictable. Edwar Ramirez is taking up a roster spot by never pitching, so the Yankees don't know what they have in him. Ron Villone and Mike Myers aren't eighth-inning guys.

It may be time to seriously consider calling up Chris Britton. Britton is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He also has 48 strikeouts in 44 innings.

Roster moves

Just because Roger Clemens gets to skip road trips doesn't mean the Yankees can carry more than 25 players on the active roster.

In calling up Clemens from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees sent down reliever Chris "Great" Britton. To make room for Clemens on the 40-man roster, they moved pitcher Phil Hughes from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL (source).

"That was a tough decision," manager Joe Torre said. "We just felt Sean Henn seems to be improving. He's probably closer to the long man that we want."

I can understand Torre wanting a long man, but Great Britton has been effective this year in an extremely small sample size. He deserves a shot to prove himself as a viable option out of the bullpen. He is certainly better than Kyle Farnsworth or Luis Vizcaino, and his numbers in AAA prove it (23 innings, 20 H, 2 ER, 9 BB, 26 K, 0.78 ERA), but I digress.

It's really a shame about Hughes. With Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Clemens, and Tyler Clippard, the Yankees have the best rotation they've had in years. However, I would have loved to have seen what Hughes could really do this year. His hamstring injury was very sad and painful to watch. Hopefully it doesn't set back his development.

Luis Vizcaino: Awful pitcher or just another Joe Torre casualty?

Meet Luis Vizcaino. He is a Yankee middle reliever, wears uniform number 52, and was sent to the Yankees in the Randy Johnson salary dump. He is 2-1 with a 7.66 ERA in 24 2/3 innings. He has struck out 12 while walking 19. He has squandered 24 hits, 3 of which went for home runs.

At first glance, these numbers are awful. But there has to be a reason as to why he is struggling, right? Is he a bad pitcher? Hardly. He was an integral member of the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox bullpen. From 2004-2006, he posted a sub-4 ERA in each of those 3 years. There has to be a reason why his numbers with the mighty Yankees are terrible.

The reason is Joe Torre.

Vizcaino was great in Spring Training and the first two weeks of the season. Out of the first 10 games of the season, Vizcaino pitched in 8, pitching 8 1/3 innings, allowing only 2 hits and 1 earned run, striking out 2, and walkking 3.

Joe Torre fell in love with him, just as he did with Ron Villone last year.

Since then, his numbers have done a complete 180. Beginning April 19, he has allowed 20 earned runs in 16 appearances. The overwork has obviously adversely affected his pitching, and is most likely injured and is not telling anyone.

Let's look at Villone's numbers from last year. Pre-all-star break, he was 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA and a .201 batting average against (BAA). Post-all-star break, he was 0-2 with a 8.35 ERA and a .301 BAA. In August alone, he pitched in an obscene 17 games, which resulted in 22 1/3 innings pitched and a 6.04 ERA. His September numbers were nothing to write home about either. In 9 games, he pitched 6 innings and allowed 18 earned runs.

As a result, poor old Ron was rotting in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the historic 2007 season. He was one of St. Joseph's most trusted relievers for more than half of the year, but there's only so much a 36-year-old arm can take. Now Villone is back, fighting Torre's fight.

Joe Torre cannot manage the bullpen. His mistakes were often overshadowed by successful Yankee teams and smart personnel around him. This year, this is not the case. The team is awful and his blunders are magnified. There is already one Joe Torre casualty this year, and it is not even June yet. Let's hope that the Namesake (Scott Proctor) is not next.

Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports