Robinson Cano got off to a sluggish start to the 2007 season but he’s been on fire in the 2nd half of the season.  Cano has played in 41 games since the All-Star Break and he is 58 for 152 (.382 avg, 1.057 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 7 homers and 32 RBIs.  Cano has now played in 126 games this season and he is 148 for 480 (.308 avg, .843 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 13 homers and 72 RBIs.

The Yankees have signed Jose Cruz to a minor league contract and they have sent him to AAA.  He will likely be recalled by the Yankees next week if he gets off to a good start in AAA.  Cruz had a rough time in San Diego this season as he played in 91 games and he was 60 for 256 (.234 avg, .691 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 6 homers, 21 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.  Despite his struggles this season though Cruz has had a decent major league career to this point.  Cruz has played in 1,350 career games now and he has a .248 career average with a .796 OPS.  Cruz has scored 707 runs, whacked 204 homers, driven in 623 runs and stolen 113 bases.  This was a nice depth signing by the Yankees.

The Yankees have sent Jim Brower and Jordan Karstens to the minors.  Karstens has pitched in 5 games (3 starts) for the Yanks this season and he is 0-3 with a 11.20 ERA and a 2.41 WHIP.  Brower pitched in 3 games for the Yankees and he was also awful as he allowed 8 hits in only 3.1 innings and had a 13.50 ERA.  The Yankees have recalled Sean Henn and Edwar Ramirez from the minors to replace Karstens and Brower on the roster.  Henn has pitched in 22 games this season for New York and he is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.  Edwar Ramirez has pitched in 4 games for the Yanks this season and he is 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA.

The Yankees have activated Jason Giambi off of the disabled list and they have designated Miguel Cairo for assignment to make room for him on the roster.  Giambi likely won’t play as much as he did before he was injured.  He has played in 46 games this season and he is 39 for 150 (.260 avg, .811 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 7 homers and 23 RBIs.  Someone had to go so that guy was Miguel Cairo.  Cairo has played pretty well as a bench player this season for the Yankees so this was a little bit of a surprise.  The Yankees decided to keep Shelley Duncan over Cairo due to his very hot bat.  Cairo has played in 54 games this season for the Yanks and he was 27 for 107 (.252 avg, .626 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  It’s possible that Cairo will get claimed on waivers to help some team off of the bench.

The Yankees have sent Brian Bruney to the minor leagues because of his control issues.  He has pitched in 50 games this season with the Yankees and he is 2-1 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP.  In 42.1 innings this season he has allowed 36 hits, walked 30 batters and whiffed 32.  The Yanks have recalled Joba Chamberlain to replace Bruney in the bullpen.  Chamberlain has pitched in 1 game this season with the Yanks and he threw 2 shutout innings allowing only 1 hit while walking 2 batters and whiffing 2.  In three levels in the minor leagues Chamberlain has pitched in 18 games (15 starts) and he is 9-2 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP.  He has worked 88.1 innings in the minors this season and he has allowed 62 hits, walked 27 batters and whiffed 135.

The Yankees saw enough on Scott Williamson in AAA to determine that he couldn’t help them so they cut him loose.  He pitched in 4 AAA games and he was 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA.  In 3.2 innings he allowed 5 hits, walked 3 batters and whiffed 7.  He will likely hook on with someone else because he still has a good arm.

The Yankees have designated lefty reliever Mike Myers for assignment to make room on the roster for righty reliever Jim Brower.  Myers certainly didn’t deserve this kind of treatment based on how he pitched for the Yankees this season.  Myers pitched in 55 games for the Yankees this season and he was 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.  In 40.2 innings Myers allowed 38 hits, walked 16 batters and whiffed 21. 

Brower deserved to get called up as he has been excellent as the Yanks AAA closer.  Brower has pitched in 41 AAA games this season and he was 5-1 with 21 saves, a 1.94 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.  In 51 innings this season Brower has allowed 48 hits, walked 13 batters and whiffed 44.  It will be interesting to see if Brower pitches well for the Yankees because he hasn’t had a ton of success in the majors over his career.  He has now pitched in 352 games (28 starts) in the major leagues and he has a 33-32 record with 5 saves, a 4.62 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.

26 year old lefty Ben Kozlowski used to be one of the brightest starting pitching prospects in all of baseball a few seasons ago but he has had some injury problems, so he has converted to relief pitching and the results have been good.  Kozlowski has pitched in 35 games (2 starts) in AAA ball for the Yankees and he is 3-6 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.  In 60.2 innings this season he has allowed 55 hits, walked 24 batters and whiffed 63.  Kozlowski might get called up in September when rosters expand if he keeps pitching well in the minors.

The Yankees needed to make room on the roster for Phil Hughes so they have designated Colter Bean for assignment.  Bean pitched in 3 games this season for the Yankees and he was 0-1 with a 12.00 ERA and a 3.33 WHIP.  He tossed 3 innings and he allowed 5 hits, walked 5 batters and whiffed 2.  The Yankees are hoping that Phil Hughes can fill the #5 role in the starting rotation as it has been a huge black hole for the Yanks this season.  Hughes has had it tough so far in his first three major league starts.  He is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.  In 15.1 innings this season he has allowed 14 hits, walked 6 batters and whiffed 16.  The Yankees need Hughes to be much better than that or they will be watching the playoffs on T.V. this season.