But the Yanks filled an extremely vulnerable position for a guy no Yankee fan ever trusted.

But even if Pudge regresses back to being a .250 hitter for the Yanks – that is still 30-40 points higher than a Jose Molina catching everyday.

I’m just hoping Pudge feels a little energized with a new team and really turns it on for the final two months. The fact that he’s a Type-A free agent is also a huge bonus over keeping Farnsworth. Those draft picks are gold these days.

Also, without saying his name, Cashman actually admitted that Melancon is probably going to get a shot in the bigs this season because he mentioned in the press conference the one of the deciding factors to make this move was that there are minor leaguers “pushing their way through the system” which kind of made Farnsworth expendable.

Well, outside of Melancon, Anthony Claggett, or perhaps Scott Strickland (who is not a prospect at the age of 32 but doesn’t mean he won’t get a look), there are no other relievers “pushing their way through the system”.

Plus, here’s what Cashman said to the NY beatwriters the other day about Melancon’s promotion to Scranton:

You may remember Mark Newman saying Melancon might spend the entire season in Double-A, but it appears Melancon forced the Yankees hand. Brian Cashman told New York beat writers today that Melancon “pushed himself up to that level.”

There’s that word again. It sure sounds to me like Cashman is ready to give this kid a shot as long as he keeps mowing down hitters in Triple-A.

And I can’t effen wait to see him.

I think Girardi did Pettitte and Pudge a disservice by starting him over Molina last night. First, it was obivous Pettitte and Pudge were struggling together. It’s only natural, and not a huge deal, but in a series opener of this magnitude, I would have preferred Girardi starting Molina—a longtime Angel catcher who likely can better exploit the Angel hitters than anyone else.

Second, Pudge had very little time to prepare a game plan what with his hectic travel. A better thought would have been to slate him as the DH for a day, and then start him with Ponson.

The Yankees can’t afford to give games away—especially games when Pettitte, Joba, Mussina are pitching. Girardi has got to put them in the very best position to win, and I think he missed the boat last night by starting Pudge.