Yanks Take Rain Shortened Opener From Texas

The Texas Rangers rolled into Yankee Stadium for a three game set and they ran into a brick wall in CC Sabathia. Coming off of his almost no-hit start in Tampa Bay, it looked like Sabathia was even better tonight. He had a rough first inning, but he quickly settled down and began the strikeout parade.

The big lefty struck out nine in six innings and even had an impressive six in a row. It was good to see Sabathia get some strike outs. Something that seemed missing from his debut season with the Yanks was the strikeouts. While his 7.7 K/9 was more than adequate during 2009, it was down a tick from his rate over the last three seasons before he joined the Yankees.

The bats did their thing against C.J. Wilson. Wilson is no match for a team like the Yankees. He just doesn't have the control to go up against a patient lineup like New York's. It is curious that Texas thinks he can be an effective starter again simply because he seemed to do well enough as a closer unless he was hurt.

The Ranger defense didn't help Wilson either as Chris Davis made a two-run error to give the Yankees the lead and there were a few other plays that could have been made to lighten the load on Wilson that weren't made. Of course there was one where Wilson hurt himself too.

But back to the big man. Last Year it took Sabathia until the second half, more specifically August and September, to go off and put together a dominant run that saw him win nine of his last 12 starts. Sabathia could easily eclipse his 19 wins from last year if he puts everything together sooner rather than later.

Speaking of big win totals, I don't know about anyone else, but I am very closely watching Roy Halladay in Philadelphia to see how much he embarrasses the National League. He has won his first three starts with vicious efficiency and I wouldn't bet against him to be the first pitcher since Bob Welch in 1990 to win 25 games or more.

Theo making the Moves

A couple of thoughts about the events of the past few days:

John Lackey: The guy is a gamer, a horse, an ace, or whatever other cliché you want. Lackey is good. I feel like the contract was a little big in both years and dollars, but with the possibility of Beckett leaving after this year, Theo took the opportunity to add a strong pitcher.

Mike Cameron: Jason Bay obviously doesn't understand the market for corner outfielders who are below average defensively and didn't show up in the 2009 postseason. The Sox offered 4 yrs/$60-65 million. That is about twice as much as Bay made in 2009 and a very fair offer. If Bay decides to sign with the Mets, good luck in Citi Field, also known as the last frontier.

When Bay rejected the Sox last offer, the Sox moved to try to sign Mike Cameron to play left field. (Recently, Cameron, the lifelong center fielder, decided he would be open to playing corner outfield) Cameron is an upgrade defensively and great on the base paths. Also, Cameron is known to be a great clubhouse guy.

Mike Lowell: A thumb injury seems to be holding up the deal to the Rangers for prospect Max Ramirez. If and when this happens, other moves may happen fast to acquire a bat at either 3rd or 1st. More to come from this story within the next week or so.

Halladay vs. Lee: I don't really get the point. If you wanted Halladay, you should have gotten him last August. You will probably ended up losing Kyle Drabek, one of your top prospects anyway. (This was a sticking point last August) I know you could probably save money with the extension to Halladay opposed to Lee, but Lee is younger, has less miles on his arm, and is a lefty. I guess we will have to see the final details of the trade before evaluation, but on the surface it seems silly. Halladay seems to be the favorite for the 2010 NL Cy Young.

Patrick Willis: The guy doesn't get a lot of attention playing in San Francisco, but after seeing him last night against a strong Arizona team I am pretty convinced he is the best linebacker in football. He is fast, strong, and knows how to make a play. I welcome arguments against this statement.

Monday Machinations

Since the Yankees were practically the only team that was stoking the hot stove last week I am sure that the rest of baseball was a tad bored. Well it seems that the rest of baseball decided all at once to get in on the act. Monday has been churning with rumors. From free agent destinations to possible mega-trades.

Here are a few story lines to follow for the rest of the week:

The Sox are looking to counter the Yankees big move from last week. Beantown is looking hard at free agent pitcher John Lackey. While it appears the deal isn't quite official, even though Lackey has already taken his physical, it would take a miracle for the Angels to slide in and outbid the Boston, especially considering how tight LA has been with it's cash. Why has Boston suddenly decided to start throwing their cash around? Perhaps Theo Epstein was one of the few who read Dan Shaughnessy's whiny column concerning the Boston front office's penny pinching ways to be a disgrace.

The more intriguing storyline for me is the rumored mega-deal between the Jays, the Phillies and a third team as yet to be named. I'm not sure why the Phillies would deal Cliff Lee to get Roy Halladay but that seems to be what the teams are edging towards. I understand how good Halladay has been and how good he would be in the NL, but really Lee is young, cheaper for next season and left-handed. I suppose the Phillies figure it would be easier to lock of Halladay to a long term deal since Lee will likely command a larger deal since he is three years younger, still it seems like a lot of energy and prospects expended to simply run in place.

Those are the dominant stories in the baseball world for today and probably a few more days.

Update 4:16 pm: It appears Hideki Matsui will get a little closer to home next season. The Angels are working on inking the Yankee DH to a one year deal worth $6.5 million deal. It would be a loss for the Yankees but likely one that will help them in the long run. Always better to lose a player with one year left in his prime than one year after.