The good news..The Yanks took two out of three games in Seattle and Ichiro Suzuki got comfortable with his new team. The bad news.. A-Rod’s broken hand. He was hit by a pitch from Felix Hernandez during Tuesday’s game against Seattle. What does this mean for the Yankees? It really couldn’t have come at a worse time. They have a day off today and are getting ready for a three game series against the Red Sox. The Yanks were talking about potential trades before the deadline to replace A-Rod, but Brian Cashman announced that they had found their answer shortly after trade discussions occurred. “Eric Chavez is the solution”, Cashman said. He explained that he is very comfortable with Eric Chavez filling in for A-Rod and that Jayson Nix, who has started to contribute for the Yanks is also a big help. They also called up Ramiro Pena to take a place on the bench in his absence. I don’t think they had a chance with Eduardo Nunez. When he has played third base in the past he has made several errors and during the second half, the most important time in baseball is not the time to test him.
The third baseman expected to be available to the Yankees by the trade deadline are Chone Figgins of the Mariners, Chase Headley of the Padres, Ty Wigginton and Placido Polanco from the Phillies but Cashman is doubtful that the Yanks will need to go there with Chavez, back up Nix, and Ramiro Pena. The Yankees are confident in their farm system which is why Cashman will most likely not take part in a trade deal. He would most likely not be able to strike a deal like he did for Ichiro Suzuki. That was very rare.
As a veteran, Chavez has been injury prone but Cashman expects him to play third every day and to handle it well. He is batting .269 with eight home runs and 20 RBI’s in 64 games this season.
A-Rod is expected to be out for six-eight weeks. With their hot hitting, and stable pitching I think the Yankees will be able to hold on and remain at the top of both the AL and NL. Let’s go Yanks!
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