Who Needs It?

It would be easy to sit here and complain about Alex Rodriguez's journey to 600. He hit number 599 a week ago in the Bronx, and he's yet to crack one over the fence since then. But you'd really only be able to complain about it if the team was losing, and if Alex was in a slump. Alex Rodriguez has been a different person since last season. He doesn't try to do too much, and that homer will come when it comes. A-Rod had a beautiful at bat in the first inning, driving in the first run of the game with a single up the middle, and that's all AJ Burnett and the Yankees needed en route to an 8-0 route of the Indians. I would like to retract my statement last week involving the Yankees' need to trade for Fausto Carmona. If there's any question why, check last night's box score.

Mark Teixeira is really turning it on, and it looks like he'll have no trouble ending up with over 30 homers and 100 RBI's, despite another horrendously slow start. The most important thing tonight was not Alex's base hits (one of which went off the right field wall), not Granderson's clutch at bats, or Cano's unbelievable power, but it was the man on the mound, AJ Burnett. After his little tantrum back on July 17, Burnett has turned in back-to-back scoreless outings to win two consecutive games. With Pettitte out and Dustin Moseley starting Thursday's series finale, the Yankees really needed this one, and Burnett delivered.

The Yankees are now 17-6 in the month of July, which is the best mark in baseball. The problem they are having are the teams below them, Tampa Bay and Boston. Tampa, too, is 17-6 this month, and Boston picked up a huge sweep of the LA Angels. If you think about it, the Red Sox are almost picking up free agents at the trade deadline as their stars begin to come off of the disabled list: Josh Beckett, Victor Martinez, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Dustin Pedroia. Fortunately, the Yankees have a 7 game lead over Boston, so there's not a need to worry (yet). Tampa Bay is another story, and this weekend's series at the Trop will tell you a lot about the remainder of the 2010 season.

Despite enormous amounts of power in the Yankee lineup, it's more encouraging to see games like tonight won by timely hitting. The base hits by Rodriguez, Gardner, and Teixeira that gave the Bombers a 4-0 lead essentially put the game away in the second inning. It became a show of whether or not A-Rod would get it done. A-Rod, like many other power hitters, hits homers in bunches. Once A-Rod gets number 600 out of the way, expect him to reel off about 4 or 5 more in a week. Other than the end of Tuesday's game, the Yankees haven't NEEDED a home run from Alex at any point. When he has to, he's still come through with the big hit. It's just those final at bats of the game where you see him swinging out of his shoes a little bit.

Every article/video blog entry this week has ended with a trade deadline discussion. I'm not all that sure if the Yankees will be able to acquire anyone at this point, but Scott Downs and Adam Dunn are the two men I'd most like to see in pinstripes by August 1st. Downs, a left-handed reliever from Toronto, has been outstanding this year, and Boston is also vying for his services. Dunn, a perfect DH for Yankee Stadium, hits mammoth home runs and his on base percentage would be a perfect fit. Only a few days remain for Cashmoney to come through.