Gardner, Duncan back

Peter Abraham reports the Yankees’ latest roster moves this morning.

Brett Gardner has been activated off the disabled list.  He hasn’t played since July 25 with a broken left thumb.  Shelley Duncan has also been recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Yankees and Rays are playing a doubleheader at the Stadium today.  CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett get the starts.

Gardner to DL with broken thumb

The news broke earlier this morning that Brett Gardner broke his left thumb during his takeout slide at second base yesterday afternoon.  He was put on the 15-day disabled list, with Jonathan Albaladejo taking his spot on the roster.

Peter Abraham says that have the extra pitcher up is temporary and they’ll add a position player in the next couple of days.  He suggests Austin Jackson, Shelley Duncan or John Rodriguez.

Gardner will be in a cast for two weeks.

I think if the Yankees call up Jackson, they feel that Gardner’s injury is more serious.

‘I immediately regret this decision’

This reminds me of something that should be on Straight Cash Homey.  What a waste of money.

These personalized jerseys cost $100 (plus shipping) on MLB.com and leave the warehouse in 2-3 weeks.

When I went to the Cubs game on April 4, I saw two Shelley Duncan T-shirts and a Tanyon Sturtze jersey.  Ironically enough, one of the Duncan shirts was in the same section as the Sturtze jersey!

Picture found on SI.com

Yankees win 7-1

Joba Chamberlain rebounded nicely after a couple of bad spring training starts. Tonight, he gave up one run on three hits and no walks in three innings. He also struck out three batters and threw 20 of his 29 pitches for strikes. His control had been a cause for concern, as he walked four batters in his start against Team Canada.

Phil Coke followed Chamberlain with two shutout innings, striking out three and allowing three hits.

Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom both went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Juan Miranda hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, and Shelley Duncan added a three-run home run in the seventh. Hideki Matsui joined the hit parade with a double.

The Yankees will play the Tigers for the third time in six days tomorrow afternoon in Lakeland. CC Sabathia will start for the second time this spring.

AP Photo

Posada sratched due to shoulder soreness

Here comes one of the first negatives of spring training. Jorge Posada was removed from today's lineup due to shoulder soreness. From Peter Abraham:

Spoke to Posada and Girardi. Posada felt some pain while stretching on Thursday and has been playing since. He didn’t think it was a big deal, But when he woke up with it again today, he said something to the trainer and was checked out by the doctor.

He won’t throw until Tuesday at the earliest. They’re describing it as the first setback he has had in his rehab but nothing to be too concerned about. But obviously there are concerns. To me, this illustrates that while the Yankees are a stronger team than they were last season, Posada and Mariano Rivera remain major concerns.

Uh oh. Shelley Duncan was put in at DH instead.

If I hear anything else, I'll post an update.

Yankees win 5-1

The Yankees are 2-0 and have outscored their opponents 11-2. Too bad it's only February.

Phil Hughes started today, and pitched two shutout innings, despite hitting two batters. He threw 33 pitches for 22 strikes and struck out one batter. Hughes was consistently reaching 92 mph with his fastballs. The two hit batters are a concern, but he was able to work out of trouble in the first inning.

Phil Coke also pitched two shutout innings, so did Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, Mark Melancon and Jonathan Albaladejo. J.B. Cox gave up one run on three hits in his one inning of work.

At the plate, the Yankees hit two home runs, including a solo home run by Jorge Posada in the third inning. He also drove in a run on a ground-rule double to center in the fifth. Shelley Duncan followed with a three-run home run of his own in the seventh.

Mark Teixeira also hit a single in his first game as a Yankee.

The Yankees travel to Fort Myers tomorrow to face the Twins at 1:05 p.m. Ian Kennedy will go for the Yankees.

Yankees invite 20 to spring training

The Yankees announced 20 spring training invitees in a press release today. Some names we already knew from minor-league signing this offseason: Angel Berroa, Kevin Cash, Sergio Mitre and John Rodriguez. Other notables are Shelley Duncan, Kei Igawa, Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero.

In addition to the players on the 40-man roster, this brings the total number of players scheduled to report to 60. Chad Jennings notes that some names not included were J.B. Cox, Alan Horne and Eric Duncan.

Click the above link to read the entire release.

Duncan DFA; Coke's role change

More news from Sam Borden via Peter Abraham:

Shelley Duncan was designated for assignment resulting from the acquisition of someone named Mark Teixeira. Phil Coke was also told to prepare to work as a starter.

Duncan was fun to watch for about five minutes. But hopefully he'll catch on with someone else.

Coke pitched 12 games in relief at the end of the season, allowing only one earned run in 14 2/3 innings.

So Coke throws his hat into the ring for the fifth starter spot, along with newly-acquired Jason Johnson. If all else fails, he'll be a solid left-handed relief option.

Duncan optioned

The Yankees finally realized that Shelley Duncan isn't cutting it, and optioned him out to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, according to Peter Abraham.

Utility man Alberto Gonzalez was called up to take Duncan's roster spot.

Duncan has 10 hits in 57 at-bats this year and has made three errors at first base in limited playing time.

Gonzalez has played third base, second base and shortstop during his 21-game stint with the Yankees earlier this season.

When you're 9-55 at the plate...

...you better be able to throw to second base with ease.

That is now Shelley Duncan's third error of the season and the Yankees' early lead has vanished.

Meanwhile, Mike Mussina is falling apart after the error once again. It is now 3-1 with only one out.

Still love the Raz

Nick Markakis' sixth-inning solo home run aside, Darrell Rasner had his fourth-straight solid start. In his six innings, he allowed that one run, while striking out three, walking run and allowing five hits. He also threw over 69% of his pitches for strikes. Despite this, he lost his first decision of the year.

However, unlike the last few games, the offense was shut down by Garrett Olson and the Baltimore Orioles. Five days earlier, Olson gave up six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings to the Yankees. This afternoon, he pitched seven shutout innings despite throwing 56% of his pitches for strikes. That's baseball for you.

LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Veras ruined any chance of a comeback. They quickly turned a 1-0 deficit to a 6-0 mountain. The Yankees were able to score one run in the ninth, but that was it, as they lost 6-1 and snapped their five-game winning streak.

Shelley Duncan was miserable, going 0-4 on the day, including a pop up in the ninth inning after Hideki Matsui had led off with a double. He now has nine hits in 55 at-bats this season.

Ian Kennedy and Brian Burres will face each other tomorrow night in a rematch of last Thursday's game.

(AP Photo/Rob Carr)

It's spelled "Shelley"

Shelley Duncan is a first baseman/outfielder for the New York Yankees. Sean Brennan of the Daily News will have you believe that someone else wears No. 17 for the Bronx "Bombenrs."

Glad I wasn't home

You all know by now that the Yankees lost 6-5. They are now 0-4 against the Detroit Tigers this season.

Kei Igawa was terrible, as expected - three innings, 11 hits, six earned runs. He is still scheduled to start next Wednesday, but hopefully something will change between tonight and Tuesday evening. It's amazing what $5 million can buy you in 2008.

Jonathan Albaladejo will be added to the disabled list with an elbow injury. He pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings before injuring himself. Chris Britton, who was sent down for Igawa, will be brought right back up. The same situation occurred when Alex Rodriguez was placed on the disabled list.

By the way, since bursting onto the scene last season, Shelley Duncan has done absolutely nothing. He is 5-26 with one RBI this season, yet he continues to hit high in the lineup when he does get playing time. It's nice that he's energetic and it's nice that he slams forearms with his teammates, but he's showing nothing at the plate.

The Yankees once against fall one game under .500 on the season at 18-19.

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Back from Maine

I just got back from Maine, and boy are my legs tired.

The Yankees have lost two games (three-straight overall) and some moves have been made. I was unable to watch the games, so I don't have the right to comment. Here are the moves that have gone down:

Before today's game, Shelley Duncan was called up, as lefty reliever Billy Traber was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lefties had been hitting .375 against Traber, so he isn't serving much of a purpose if he can't get lefties out. Loyal readers of the blog already know my stance on lefty relievers, so it's not a big deal if the bullpen doesn't have a lefty reliever for the sake of having a lefty reliever.

Before last night's game, it was learned that Brian Bruney has a torn ligament in his foot and will be out for the season. Chad Moeller was also designated for assignment. This resulted in Chris Britton and Jonathan Albaladejo being called up to give the bullpen some extra arms.

Apparently Joba Chamberlain tweaked his hamstring the other day and is receiving treatment. The Yankees are being quiet about the injury, so I'll pass along any information I can get when it becomes available.

After losing three-straight, the Yankees are one game below .500. As evidenced by the record, the team has been very up and down so far. The Yankees have been on two three-game winning streaks and have followed both with a three-game losing streak. Hopefully Chien-Ming Wang can be the stopper tomorrow afternoon. If they can pull out a victory tomorrow, they'll have a chance to split the series Monday night.

Lots of pregame news

I have been out of the room since around 5:00, so I missed the news before the game. Apparently a lot happened.

Firstly, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter have not been placed on the disabled list. Shelley Duncan was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Alberto Gonzalez, wearing No. 12, will start at shortstop while Jeter is hurt.

Ian Kennedy was also scratched due to rain in the forecast - not an injury. The infield looks like it's in horrible shape so I'm shocked they're still playing. Brian Bruney started in his place and pitched two scoreless innings.

I'll be back later with the game recap.

Giambi hopes to play tomorrow

Jason Giambi left the game in the fifth inning with a left groin injury and was replaced by Wilson Betemit at designated hitter.

Giambi apparently felt tightness while running the bases on Robinson Cano's single.

According to Peter Abraham, Giambi is day-to-day, but hopes to be in the lineup tomorrow.

“I’m going to come in tomorrow prepared to play,” he said. “I don’t feel anything just walking around.”

Despite Giambi seemingly feeling OK, he will most likely be out of the lineup tomorrow. As a result, the Yankees should give Morgan Ensberg a shot at first base. Shelley Duncan threw a ball into the outfield this afternoon and also threw high on another occasion.

Is it that hard to hit a sac fly?

This is getting ridiculous. The Yankees left another runner at third with less than two outs, as Johnny Damon popped out with the bases loaded.

On Opening Night, Damon led off and inning with a triple and was unable to score.

Leaving runners on base in these situations will likely come back to haunt the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the Rays have taken the lead on a sac fly (what a concept). Shelley Duncan threw the ball away which led to the Rays' first run. B.J. Upton grounded into an RBI fielder's choice, as Carlos Pena was thrown out a second (replays showed he was out at second). Jonny Gomes hit the go-ahead sac fly to give the Rays the 2-1 lead.

If Melky Cabrera was in center field (his suspension was reduced to two games and began serving it last night), the play at home would have been more interesting.

Duncan decides to appeal suspension

Shelley Duncan will appeal his three-game suspension, according to Tyler Kepner.

“The one thing I’d really like to do is I’d like to speak to Bob Watson and really tell him what happened, through my eyes,” Duncan said after speaking with his agent, Barry Meister.

“I feel like that’s been neglected in this process. It’s not like I did something that just came out of nowhere. People who know me and people I’ve played with know how I play, and they’re going to understand that.”

The appeal will most likely be held before the season starts, so Duncan would still miss regular season time even if the suspension is lowered.

Melky Cabrera will most likely appeal as well.

Thoughts on the suspensions

If you missed the updates on the earlier post, Shelley Duncan and Melky Cabrera were suspended for three games, and Jonny Gomes was suspended for two. All three players were also fined undisclosed amounts.

In the press release announcing the suspensions, Duncan's actions were called "violent and reckless" and they "incited the bench-clearing incident."

In comparison, they said Gomes' actions escalated the brawl.

There wouldn't have been a brawl if Gomes didn't run in from right field to plow into Duncan. The Rays would have been upset that Duncan spiked Akinori Iwamura, but the benches weren't ready to empty until after Duncan was run into.

How Gomes only received two games is ridiculous.

Cabrera received the same amount of games as Duncan for throwing a punch at Evan Longoria. Cabrera wasn't even ejected from the game, but the Rays had evidence of the punch. Even if he did throw a punch at Longoria, he shouldn't have gotten more games than Gomes did.

Manager Joe Girardi will only be fined. Since managers cannot appeal suspensions, he would have had to miss his first game as Yankee manager. Coaches Kevin Long and Bobby Meacham also received fines.

Because of Gomes' actions, the Yankees will be without their starting center fielder and will have to use Hideki Matsui in left for at least the first couple of games of the season.

Yes, Duncan's play was dirty. But Gomes caused the brawl.

Duncan and Gomes to be suspended

Shelley Duncan and Jonny Gomes will be suspended two or three games for their actions in Wednesday's brawl.

Joe Girardi will only be fined, and coaches Bobby Meachan and Kevin Long are also expected to be fine.

The suspensions will be served during the regular season, so it would've been strange for Girardi to be suspended for his first game as Yankee manager.

Update - 1:00 p.m.: According to Peter Abraham, Melky Cabrera will likely be suspended as well. The Rays claimed he threw a punch and MLB found evidence.

Update - 1:30 p.m.: MLB released a press release. Duncan and Cabrera got three games each and Gomes got two games.