GETTING THE YANKEES TO 100%

Alex Rodriguez: Alex is a few weeks away from returning according to Ian Begley and that’s a good thing. Yes, Nunez has adjusted well to every day play at 3^rd base, but there is nothing better than a regular in there with a power bat to really make you feel comfortable. The Yankees are in their last week of July and that means many things, this week the trade deadline week, names will be brought up like crazy about who the Yankees need, want and should give up. Rumors are usually true, but some are just plain ridiculous. Read them all, open your mind but know one thing, nothing is final until it’s final, and if you don’t believe me, ask Cliff Lee who was looking at New Jersey real estate until he was suddenly shipped to Texas last year.

Alex, according to Cashman has been progressing great and once he’s back, the question will be what to do with Nunez. I say, with a bat like that, you need to use him off the bench, with him and Andruw Jones, or a Ty Wigginton type, that’s a pretty strong bench, a lot of power and a lot of clutch. It’s not like you’re going to bring in Nunez as a late inning defensive replacement, he can’t field.

Rafael Soriano: In Soriano land, Rafael Soriano should be back Wednesday or Thursday. In his last rehab start at Scranton Wilkes Barre, he allowed 1 homer, a run and hit, in 1 inning of work. He struck out 1. Look, it’s a rehab start; don’t get crazy, although, I would have liked a better line. Soriano has not had a very good time rehabbing and according to reports and hasn’t exactly been too talkative to reporters after games where he gets knocked around. This guy has a bad attitude in my estimation and it’s a poison. The good news is we’ve been doing well without him and it’s not like we really need him right now. I wish him well though. Who knows, maybe Roger Dorn will put a cut slip in Soriano's locker as a joke like he did to Ricky Vaughn. You want to see someone really flip out? Ha Ha. If you’ve never seen Major League then you don’t know what I’m talking about. See it.

(Photo: MiLB)

Eric Chavez: Chavez went o-4 in his last rehab start in Single A Tampa. In a previous game in Tampa, he was 4-5 and had 2 runs in a 10-3 rout of Tamps verses Jupiter. According to Chavez, he is experiencing no foot pain which is great. Let’s just hope he doesn’t start experiencing that mysterious back strain or abdominal strain… or better yet, let’s hope he doesn’t get injured shaving or something. Having Chavez here is yet another great bat off the bench, plus this is a 6 time gold Glover. If A-Rod were to need a rest, Chavez could be there either as a sub or a late inning replacement. He’s expected back tomorrow, hopefully everything goes as planned. Welcome back Eric, you were missed.

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