Rocky Mountain Air

Tonight is game one of a three game series for the New York Yankees as they are taking on the Colorado Rockies from the NL West.
The pitching match up tonight will feature Mike Mussina (3-3, 5.17 ERA) taking the hill for the Yankees and opposing Josh Fogg (2-5, 4.95 ERA) for the Rockies.
Josh Fogg allowed seven hits and two runs in his last outing, against Boston, but the Rockies provided him with six runs against Boston's Curt Schilling.
He did, however, show a lot of poise in getting in and out of jams in the game and did get the win.
He also struck out four Red Sox batters in that game.
The last time we saw Mike Mussina he was walking off the field to the tune of a standing ovation this past Wednesday night after allowing just two runs off six hits in 7 2/3 innings during the Yankees' 7-2 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Moose struck out seven batters and walked none on the night and he threw 101 pitches (74 for strikes).
Mussina has pitched well in his last couple of starts and looks to continue to turn things around tonight by having yet another solid performance against Colorado to bring his record above .500.
The right-hander has surrendered only three runs in his past 13 2/3 innings, striking out 11 along the way.
Matt Holiday will be a player for Yankees fans to keep their eyes on in this series as he's batting .429 in his last ten ballgames and has been a nightmare for opposing pitchers to get out.
Brad Hawpe and Todd Helton are also formidable presences in the Rockies batting order.
A few pieces of business are still up in the air for Joe Torre between now and game time concerning the infield and the starting line up.
With the team playing in an NL park there will be no designated hitter.

This brings up two issues for Joe Torre:

• With Wil Nieves as Mike Mussina's newly minted personal catcher, how can you have Nieves do the catching and still keep Jorge Posada's hot bat in your starting line up?
• Who plays the outfield positions and what about Johnny Damon? Damon, slowed by injuries all season, has to play the field in order to hit because the designated hitter isn't used in the National League. Damon has been banged up, but he is hitting better now. What do you do? Do you take away Melky's arm in the outfield and put a hobbled Damon in center?
  
  

One fix to the first issue is to allow Jorge Posada to play first base in the game tonight.
This is something that has been floated around for the week or so with Joe Torre and Don Mattingly and Jorge Posada and it appears that that is something you might expect to see tonight.
With Giambi out indefinitely and Mientkiewicz out for the next couple of months --- this is an issue that could be re-visited several times before the season is over.
I know that they've flirted with having Damon play fist a few times and I know that Posada has played infield positions before.
When Posada went to high school in San Juan he was a All Star shortstop and played second base for the triple A Columbus Clippers when he was in the Yankees minor league system,
They converted him to catcher after a particularly nasty home plate collision in 1994 in which he broke his left leg and dislocated his left ankle.
I have also known of speculation that either Posada or Jeter (or perhaps both, first one and then the other) could be converted into first basemen at some point in the next 3 to 5 years to extend their Yankees playing careers.
But most of this stuff is something that could be, and should be, years away.
In in the scope of this season I think that Miguel Cario is doing amicably as the first baseman for now and I wouldn't be surprised if the don't get another first baseman in the Bronx before the trade dead line.
But with Clemens and Pettitte both possibly leaving after this season, I think any deal that deals away pitching is too high of a price to pay.
If we can't get a quality first baseman without dealing out Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes then they just need to keep their money in their pockets and walk out of the store.
We are doing O.K. in the last 14 games with Cario and if you give away one or both of the pitchers who could possibly be two and three in your starting rotation in 2008 or 2009 for an over priced star first baseman who might not stay with the team beyond the 2007 season then you are shooting yourself in the foot.
Look at next year's rotation if Clemens and Pettitte don't stay...
It's Wang and then Moose and then...?
We cannot deal Hughes.
We just can't.
And I don't want to deal Joba either.
Just not good moves to make.
Not unless the deal includes a quality and major league ready starting pitcher.
And if a team had such an animal they wouldn't deal it away for a minor league prospect pitcher?
That just wouldn't much sense, would it?
I mean if we can trade Hughes, Joba, and Farnsworth to the Twins for Santana and Morneau --- then lets make that deal A.S.A.P. !
Otherwise....

Anyway, I've gotten woefully off topic here...

What WAS the topic?

Ahhhh yes, the Colorado Rockies game tonight...

It's the first game of a three game set between these two ball clubs and the first pitch is scheduled to be thrown out at approximately 9:05 PM EST and will be available to Yankees fans on MY9, WCBS radio, MLB Extra Innings, and MLB.Tv.

Tomorrow's game is also at 9:05 PM EST and will feature Andy Pettitte (4-4, 2.93) being opposed by Jeff Francis (6-5, 3.61) for the Rockies.

Then the last game of the series will be a day game at 3:05 PM EST on Wednesday and that will feature a pitching match up between Roger Clemens (1-1. 3.65) squaring off against Rodrigo Lopez (3-0,2.90) for Colorado.

So tune in tonight and cheer for the boys as they soak in some of that cool Colorado air and try to win another series and inch closer to Detroit and Boston as the quest for another pinstriped October continues !

67 games down....
95 games to go....

Until game time,
LETS GO YANKEES !!!