LATEST TEAM INFO:
Mariano blew two saves in the same series for the first time ever. He is appearing more and more human this year. "They think I don't have blood in my arms," said Rivera of people's expectations of him. "They think I have oil." He's still a dominating closer, but he is no longer "unhittable". An important piece of the Yankee playoff machine is gearing up, that's Andy Pettitte. After missing nearly 2 months of the season with an elbow injury, Pettitte has turned in another strong performance in his 7th game back. Now that Pettitte has had a chance to work into game shape, he should be more consistent over the rest of the season. The Yankees have a 3 game lead over the Red Sox and are 6-4 over their last ten. One more game against the Tigers and then the Yankees open a 3 game set against the Sox. The current rotation is Wells (Thurs.), Mussina (Fri.), Hernandez (Sat.), Weaver (Sun.), and Pettitte (Tues.). Clemens is on the DL, this is the deepest and most frightening rotation in the majors.
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE:
Things are getting out of hand. The Yankee payroll is 15 plus million more than any other team. The only thing I like about the Mondesi addition is that no top propects were traded in the process. To land a Cliff Floyd or Shannon Stewart the Yankees would have had to trade Nick Johnson. That could be a huge payoff later, considering how close the Yankees had been to dealing Soriano two years ago. I'm a little sad to see Lilly go, he's going to be very successful. Hopefully, Weaver will be better. On the note of a baseball strike. I'd like to see the owners stand up to the players and allow them to realize they make excellent money for playing a game and that a strong luxury tax needs to be put in place. The owners deserve to be able to make profits since their own money is on the line if a team can't make a profit. It's not George Steinbrenner's fault he owns a big market team and is running a successful franchise, should he be punished for that? No, but other teams clearly can't compete so something has to give.
RUMOR MILL:
The Yankees were very busy over the last few weeks. They have added their "star" right fielder that has never had 100 RBI. I bet the Blue Jays wish they could have had Shawn Green back for Mondesi, instead all they got was a AA prospect.
INJURIES:
Clemens and his groin are hurting. He should be activated soon after he's eligible to come off the DL. Who goes to the pen when he does come back? Probably Hernandez or Wells.
ON THE FARM:
With the top dogs injured the rumor mill isn't churning as much. Rivera and Clausson are on the shelf.
These numbers are through July 16th games:
Drew Henson: .255 AVG/ 41 R/ 11 HR/ 43 RBI/ 20 BB/ 97 K
Marcus Thames: .211 AVG/ 33 R/ 10 HR / 31 RBI/ 31 BB/ 46 K
LINEUP
This seems to be the lineup of choice. Soriano still isn't drawing walks.
1. Soriano
2. Jeter
3. Williams
4. Giambi
5. Mondesi
6. Posada
7. Ventura
8. White
9. Johnson
QUICK VIEW:
Upgrade:
Mondesi- He has all the tools of a great player, let's see if he can put it together.
Weaver- Should post similar numbers, except should get more wins than his days with Detroit. He should be a nice addition and I don't except too much fan pressure on him since most fans don't know much about him. Detroit is the limbo of MLB.
Drop: Hitchcock- what a waste of money
Hold: Giambi, Jeter, Posada, Soriano, Ventura, and Williams; Mussina, Pettitte, Clemens, Hernandez, Wells and Rivera.

Correspondent's Note:
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