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The Yankees will hope for a much easier win tonight as Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound on the day before the trading deadline.
Tonight's lineup: Gardner 7 Jeter 6 Ellsbury 8 Teixeira 3 Beltran DH Headley 5 Cervelli 2 Almonte 9 Ryan 4 Kuroda 1
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) July 30, 2014
Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury remain at the top of the lineup, while Mark Teixeira remains at first base. Carlos Beltran and Chase Headley follow with Francisco Cervelli remaining behind the plate. Zoilo Almonte gets the start in right field over Ichiro Suzuki and Brendan Ryan stays at second base over Brian Roberts for the second game in a row.
It's odd to see Brian McCann on the bench on the day before an off-day, but it's possible that they're giving Cervelli one more start to possibly drum up some interest just before the deadline. The Brian Roberts situation is odd, since he's just two plate appearances away from unlocking a $250K bonus. Girardi continues to say that he's giving him time off, but the timing is too coincidental. Something is up. They're waiting until after the deadline and they're either looking to add a second baseman or they're going to bring someone up. I don't think Roberts is long for this team.
We've heard plenty of rumors as to who the Yankees are interested in. Brian Cashman has asked the White Sox about John Danks and the Rockies about Brett Anderson, however, it appears that neither are going to happen.
Hear the #Yankees talked to #Padres about Benoit, but nothing doing now. Also, NYY not playing for Danks #chisox or Brett Anderson #Rockies
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 30, 2014
While it's good to see that Danks isn't going to happen, because wow is that a bad idea, Anderson might not be a bad acquisition if they don't have to give up too much. His injury history is likely what is keeping anything from becoming close to realistic.