YANKEE CHECKLIST: TRADE DEADLINE AFTERMATH

It's not the first time the Yankees believed in their team enough that players on the trading block didn't wow them enough to make deals. Bottom line, the Yankees may have made 1 small deal today trading Chad Qualls to the Pirates for Casey McGehee (Read about the trade HERE) but over the next 2 months it could prove important. Why?  Let me break it down my way, not with stats and sabermetrics and analysis from top experts ... Just my way...my brain thinking about how things have unfold and could unfold.

It's my opinion that the Yankees made a smart move not trading for Ryan Dempster. Now, I know they were in "talks" with the Cubs, but they didn't pull the trigger. Why? Well,  I believe that the combination of Freddy Garcia and David Phelps proves better than Ryan Dempster and to give up guys for Demp seemed forced to me.  Maybe the Yankees didn't like who the Cubs wanted in return or maybe they just realized that Demp wasn't the guy.   You don't make trades just to make them and I'm happy no deal was done.

The Yankees have Joba Chamberlain back now (Read HERE), so no doubt that's stability in the pen and he looks to have a great summer and fall. "Joba's in the best shape of his life." That's all I read about and now he's back and I'm so psyched for the big lug. His energy will help the club.

Mark Teixeira's wrist injury isn't serious and that's a good thing.  Maybe he's out a few days. Not a big deal. Larry Bowa on MLB said it best yesterday; you put Nick Swisher at first, you keep Ichiro in right where he's familiar and you keep platooning Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez on left until Tex comes back. Then, it's IGS in the outfield. I would subscribe to that.

The Yankees pitching is good on paper and I say that because there have been hiccups. I feel like it's taken some time for them to get really going. But August is here and they will. This is when CC Sabathia can really turn it on.

Luckily for us, Hiroki Kuroda has become a huge surprise and Phil Hughes is working out the kinks and has looked good as of late.  Look, we only need 4 starters for the playoffs and not knowing if Andy Pettitte can come back hurts, but we need to work through it. Well, we can. I believe.  And don't for a second think that Cliff Lee was ever an option for the Yankees at today's trade deadline. I think we learned our lesson with him. Cliff Lee and his lovely wife don't want any part of New York.

If they did, they'd be here. That was never going to happen ladies and gentlemen, and I wasn't quite sure why it kept surfacing on Facebook and Twitter. No, if the Yankees were really desperate for pitching, they would have pursued someone...and they still could! But I believe that the Yankees know their pitching is fine, they just need alittle momentum and a whole lot of RISP help.

Yes, runners in scoring position is a problem for the Yankees. But anyone who thought Ichiro would show up and everything would be fixed is wrong. Give the Yanks a few more days to get this team rolling with some new blood, Casey McGehee, Ichiro and trust me, it will come together.

In the end, the Yankees did the right thing this year. They picked up the little pieces that could prove big. And yes, even though the deadline is past, moves that had been discussed or have a framework can still go through by August 31st. What am I getting at? All I'm saying is Cashman's sneaky... Who knows if he still has another poker in the fire. He may and we may find out about it soon enough. Either way though, the Yanks will move forward no matter what. After all... We have a championship to win, don't we?

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