The Yankees were hoping to get Alex Rodriguez back this week. Just in time for the Subway Series this weekend but that isn't going to happen.

The MRI A-Rod took showed some progress but it wasn't enought to get him in rehab games like the Yankees had hoped.

“We can’t afford to have him come back for two days then lose him for six weeks,” Girardi said. “We want to have him fully healed.”

Good move by the Yanks here. It's best to play it safe, especially when it comes to A-Rod. You have to be 150% sure that he's healthy enough to play. He's a very big part of this offense so no need to rush him again.

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In other news of importance in Yankeeland now, Ian Kennedy is scheduled to pitch one or two innings tonight in his minor league start. With that being said, in all likely-hood he will make the start on Thursday against the Rays.The move has not been offically announced. I assume that they would have liked Kennedy to do some more work in AAA but Kei Igawa's very unimpressive outing on Friday changed those thoughts. Again, I stress that Igawa should NEVER throw another pitch for the Yankees and that Kennedy could do a better job. I guess Girardi and company agreed.

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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Baseball, Ian Kennedy, Joe Girardi, Kei Igawa, Yankees

Tonight - 7:10 p.m., YES
Andy Pettitte - LHP (3-3, 3.77 ERA) vs. Matt Garza - RHP (1-1, 4.91 ERA)

Tomorrow - 7:10 p.m., YES
Chien-Ming Wang - RHP (6-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Edwin Jackson - RHP (2-3, 4.04 ERA)

Wednesday - 7:10 p.m., YES
Mike Mussina - RHP (5-3, 4.36 ERA) vs. James Shields - RHP (4-2, 3.14 ERA)

Thursday - 4:10 p.m., YES
TBA vs. Scott Kazmir - LHP (1-1, 2.70 ERA)

Kei Igawa was slated to pitch Wednesday but due to the rain out the Yankees have a couple of options for Thursday. They can pitch Darrell Rasner but one would think that Rasner is going to open up the Subway Series on Friday against the Mets. The Yanks could also go to the minor leagues for options for Thursday's starter.

I can not stomach another Igawa start. I hope Ian Kennedy is back up sooner than later, so we'll have to wait until Joe Girardi talks to his people internally. Let's see if they tell us the plans BEFORE the game starts on Thursday.

The Rays are coming off a series sweep of the Anahiem (not Los Angeles) Angels. They are five games over .500 for the first time in franchise history and find themselves 1.5 games out of first. This will be a tough series for the Yanks but with Pettitte, Wang, and Mussina going in the first three, I like their chances. Thursday's game is up in the air because of the rotation issue and the Rays throw Kazmir. The Yanks always have trouble against lefties. It should be a good series.

Series Prediction: Yanks take 3 of 4.

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Tags: Andy Pettitte, Baseball, Chien Ming Wang, Ian Kennedy, Joe Girardi, Kei Igawa, Mike Mussina, Yankees

Kei Igawa is NO GOOD! It's that plain and simple. He gave up six runs on eleven hits in three-plus innings. I'm not sure if Ian Kennedy would've done any better but I'm going to say at least he would've lasted until the fifth inning.

I'm sure many Yankee fans share my frustration. Manager Joe Girardi shared his frustration with the media after the game last night.

"He couldn't get a breaking ball over, whether it was his changeup or slider," Girardi said. "They were basically able to focus in on one pitch. It's not pitching like he's capable of pitching. We need him to pitch with all his weapons."

I'm not sure Igawa has any weapons at all. If anything, the way he pitches you would think he was sent by the other team as a spy. Ok, that's a little far fetched, even for me, but you get the point.

I don't like this guy and I don't like his style. He's afraid to challenge hitters and everything he throws over the plate gets tattooed all over the ballpark. He was a bad investment and I don't think he will ever turn out to be any good. Why GM Brian Cashman didn't send him to the Padres last season is beyond me.

What makes this start even more laughable is that Igawa thought he was ok.

"The result is part of baseball," Igawa said through his interpreter. "It can happen in any game at any time. The next thing I would like to work on is getting more strikeouts."

That's great because he had no strikeouts.

The Yankees made a late inning comeback...or at least tried to. Down 6-2 in the ninth inning, they were able to make it 6-5 and have the tying run at second base and the go-ahead run at first. With Shelley Duncan at the plate, he made solid contact, that at first made you think he might've tied the game but it turned out to just be a flyout to left-center to end the game.

Wilson Betemit was also a guy the Yankees can fault for losing last night's game. He misplayed a few groundballs at third base that led to Detroit's onslaught in the early innings. To be fair, the Yankees couldn't get a hit with runners in scoring position again...until the ninth inning. Too little, too late.

Igawa's turn in the rotation is next Wednesday when the Yanks visit Tampa Bay. Let's keep our fingers crossed Kennedy makes another brilliant start so he can get his spot back. And you thought it couldn't get any worse than Kennedy. Did we forget about Igawa and how awful he is?? Apparently so did the Yankees. One would think they would give another shot on Wednesday but if he bombs, Kennedy will be on his way to the Bronx in a hurry.

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Tags: Baseball, Ian Kennedy, Joe Girardi, Kei Igawa, Shelly Duncan, Yankees

The first half of the 2007 season has come and gone. With all the stories of the first half, one story can not be overlooked - the disappointment of the New York Yankees. After 85 games, the Bronx Bombers boast a baffling 42-43 mark and sit 10 games out of first place going into the break. How stunning is it? This is the first time since 1995 that they are under .500 before the All Star Break. The greatest closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera, only has 11 saves. They are 6-15 in 1-run games. They threw a pro-rated 28 million dollars at a 44 year old (he’ll be 45 next month) in mid May. They were swept by the Colorado Rockies. They became the first team in MLB history to use 10 different starting pitchers in its first 30 games. They spent 46 million on Kei Igawa, and he’s spent most of the last 2 months in the minors. The list can go on and on, but hey, let’s lay off them for now. It is only the All-Star break.

They did have some bright spots. Alex Rodriguez is having the season of a lifetime. He leads the Majors in almost every offensive category. Jorge Posada is quietly having one of the best years of his career, and Derek Jeter has been nothing but stellar both on the field and at the plate. Young phenom Phil (Don’t call me Philip) Hughes showed signs of brilliance in his last start when he took a perfect game into the 7th inning before he hurt his hamstring and landed on the DL. Andy Pettitte gave a quality start just about every time he took the mound. After that, not much to cheer about these days in the Bronx.

In early June, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner told General Manager Brian Cashman he was on a “big hook.” The Yankees then went on a winning streak and all was forgotten. A 14.5 game lead by the Red Sox became 7.5 in 10 days. Roger Clemens was on his way to save the season and the bats were starting to heat up and A-Rod continued launching balls out of every ballpark. Then they returned to their early season form, inconsistent hitting, pitching, and “lack of effort” according to Pettitte and Posada. The talent is there, but apparently it doesn’t show up to the ballpark everyday. Certainly, a cause for concern in Yankeeland. We all want to see hustle, determination, concentration, quality at-bats, moving guys over, driving in runs in big spots, the Yankees of old. Are they there? Or are we beating a dead bush?

Whatever the case may be, the Yankees have 77 games to make or break the 2007 season. They have an upcoming schedule that favors them and looks to put them in a position to make a serious run at the postseason. Games against Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Kansas City, Toronto, and Chicago should give the Yanks a shot, if they can win these series. Now is the time for Yankee fans to look at their team and realistically sense a possibility of a no show in October. The Yanks must win every series for the rest of the year to reach 95 wins, a mark that usually gets a team into the wild card. Or hope for a Boston collapse in the second half, just like 1978 when they came back on the Red Sox after they were down 14.5 games on July 14th. History is on their side. It’s time to rise to the occasion, time to reclaim their throne atop the A.L. East, time to quiet all the critics, but most importantly, its time to win!

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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Baseball, Brain Cashman, Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Jorge Posada, Kei Igawa, Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, Roger Clemens, Yankees