River Avenue Blues makes a modest proposal regarding Ramiro Pena - specifically, one that gets him off the major league roster ASAP and replaces him with AAA shortstop Eduardo Nunez.
..(W)ith (Kevin) Russo and (Francisco) Cervelli often in the lineup due to apprehension to push Posada and A-Rod (justifiably so), having a Nunez at least provides a better shot that there won’t have a complete black hole when an infielder needs a rest. Because I have no doubt Pena will always be a black hole in the lineup.
Here's the thing. There are plenty of players, both backups and regulars, who earn their paychecks primarily from their gloves. But when you're carrying somebody on the roster who's never posted as high as a .340 OBP or .360 SLG at any level of professional baseball, he's basically got to be on Ozzie Smith with the glove to make up for it, and Pena isn't. And while it may seem silly to worry that much about your utility infielder, the AL East is turning into a very tight race, so tight that the 3rd place team could have the 3rd best record in baseball and still go home early, and Yankees backup infielders could wind up with enough plate appearances to make an impact.
- Dave Cameron of Fangraphs analyzes Robinson Cano's breakout season.
- More Fangraphs - R.J. Anderson asks where AJ Burnett's strikeouts have gone. Even worse, AJ is still pretty wild - his walks haven't dropped much, and he's on pace to hit 20+ batters. It's still somewhat early, but as things stand now this is Burnett's worst season for strikeouts since very early in his career.