In the wake of the New York Yankees' record-setting three grand slams in a 22-9 victory over Oakland on Thursday, here are some Yankees-related news and notes for you this morning.
Posada plays second base for Yankees - NYPOST.com
It had been two decades since Jorge Posada fielded a ball at second base. Not since the 40-year-old former All-Star catcher was a raw, first-year minor leaguer. But such was the Yankees' 22-9 laugher against the A's yesterday that he provided not only the game's coupe de grace, but its comic relief as well.
After talking his way into playing the ninth inning at second base -- a request manager Joe Girardi couldn't refuse, after the tough year Posada has been through -- Posada fielded Anthony Recker's ground ball, and fired a one-hop throw to Nick Swisher at first base.
Posada got the out with a seed of a throw that actually knocked Swisher over and left him chuckling as he made the play, falling over.
"Now you guys know why they moved me behind the plate. I told Joe [Girardi] I wanted to go in there. Good glove, no throw," said Posada. "It'd been a while. It's been a long time since I took a ground ball on the infield."
Bartolo Colon could be removed from rotation to right schedule
It seems the time has arrived at last to pull the plug on the six-man rotation. This debate is the only baseball talk we really have in New York right now, what with the Yanks sailing along and the Mets sinking so steadily. Sabathia's mental and physical well-being are the driving forces in the discussion and the chief concerns of Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman.
And for the first time Wednesday, Cashman said the team would at least discuss the possibility of skipping Bartolo Colon's next turn.
Colon is a candidate for expulsion, along with A.J. Burnett, because Colon has been tiring early in his starts and could benefit from bullpen duty. Asked if he were uneasy about the pitcher's decline over the last three months, the Yank GM called such concern "a legitimate question."
"Nothing we can do about it," Cashman said. "He's in an area that he's been certainly before in his career many times, but he's in an area that he hasn't been in in five years. So what it means, I don't know. I just don't know. It's more of a guessing game, and we might as well not bother guessing."
Bradley: Yankees' A.J. Burnett deserves a few more starts to prove himself | NJ.com
[A.J.] Burnett deserves not one, but a few more starts to prove he belongs on the mound in the playoffs, not because of his $82.5 million contract, or because he’s got some great track record of Yankee postseason success — though he did go 3-2 with a huge World Series win in 2009 — but because he may still prove he’s the team’s best option.
The scary part is the 'he may still prove he's the team's best option' line. That tells you that no matter how many starting pitchers the Yankees 'think' they have, beyond CC Sabathia they have no idea what will happen. That's a tough way to enter the postseason.
Montero's bat remains scalding hot | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball
With September right around the corner, Jesus Montero's tenure with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees could be coming to a close. If he does get called up to "The Show," Montero is making a lasting impression in the International League, or at least on Rochester.
The Yankees' No. 1 prospect homered twice and drove in all Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's runs as the Triple-A club beat the Rochester Red Wings, 4-1, on Thursday.
The Venezuelan native hit two-run homers in the bottom of the first and seventh innings. He also walked in the fifth.
Over his last four games, the 21-year-old is 7-for-18 with four home runs and 11 RBIs.