tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Yanks Drop One For Colon & Ryan Malone a Leaf??

Bartolo Colon bounced back from two bad starts with a strong game last night but the Yankees gave the game away with a 3-2 loss to Tampa. Colon's line score was impressive: 6.1 innings 5 hits 3 runs 2 earned 2 walks and 9 strike outs. However, a disasterous 7th inning that saw Curtis Granderson lose a ball in centerfield and Boone Logan botch a certain inning ending double play gave the Rays the go ahead runs and tagged Colon with the loss.

Colon's start was impressive as his fastball was consistently in the 90's and he didn't exhibit any problems with his hamstrings. Colon will probably have 2 more starts before the end of the month as the Yankees consider making a move for a starting pitcher. Tonight it's Freddy Garcia's turn to try to bounce back from a bad outing against the Blue Jays. Whether these two aging pitchers bounce back or not, I still think the Yankees need to make a move for a pitcher. Again it was reported in the NY Post that they had scouts at Ubaldo Jimenez's game last night against Atlanta. Jimenez had a strong start once again and would certainly look good in pinstripes. The key is trading prospects. While I am all in favor of building through the system, the problem is when do we see these kids play???

Russell Martin is hitting .220, why not call up Jesus Montero? How come other teams bring up young pitchers and they excel but the Yankees can't seem to do that?? Jimenez is only 27 years old and has an unbelievably inexpensive contract. It's not like your trading for a 34 year old.

2 other notes on the Yanks: Boone Logan takes a lot of heat and I'm at the front of the line as far as being critical. However, last night he pitched well. If the Yankees were playing in a major league ball park last night, Granderson catches that ball and Logan just needs to go to first to end the inning. The other item, the Yankee offense has been brutal. Mark Texiera needs to step it up. Hitting around .240 is unacceptable especially without ARod. The lineup is really shortened with Jorge Posada and Russell Martin hitting around .220. I'm not sure how much longer the Yanks can go with Posada as the everyday DH.

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There were plenty of reports that the Leafs and Lightning are talking about a possible trade that would bring Ryan Malone to the Maple Leafs with the Lightning getting Jussi Rynnas and a 3rd round pick. The Leafs have plenty of goaltending prospects so trading Rynnas would not be a bad move. Malone would certainly bring a tough, trucculent forward to the team who knows what it takes to win. One report I saw had Malone slotted in with Tim Connolly and Phil Kessel on the ist line. Malone would certainly clear space for the two smaller forwards. It would also help the power play as Malone can be a force in front of the net as evidenced by his play in Pittsburgh and Tampa. This would also strengthen the 3rd line with Joffrey Lupul teamed up with Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak. It will be interesting to see if there is anything to this in the upcoming weeks but it would certainly improve the Leaf roster without weakening their developing farm system.