Torii Hunter? too expensive
Shannon Stewart? too moody
Aubrey Huff? too crappy

Those were the names mentioned as potential targets on the late Baseball Tonight following the Matsui injury (funny how a devastating injury makes the individual game feel insignificant, although Farnsworth was flat-out dealin'). The trade market is pretty bare, unless you want to pick up some dead weight like Shawn Green or Jeromy Burnitz or Matt Stairs (thanks, but no thanks). There's always the option of a guy like Reggie Sanders, who's been through the wars and wouldn't shy away from the New York spotlight. He'd be a good fill in until Sheff and Matsui were healthy, then he'd make one heck of a DH. But what would the Royals want in return for him? More than I'd be willing to pay, that's for sure.

Another potential option could be Eric Hinske (don't laugh, I'm serious) who's made the shift to the outfield this year to accommodate Lyle Overbay. Over the last year he's raked at Yankee Stadium and raked against the Red Sox. What more could you ask for from a 12 week fill-in (hopefully it's just 12 weeks)? For whatever reason, Hinske has always struck me as one of those guys that was born to wear pinstripes, even back when he was a Cubs prospect. Toronto is looking for any excuse to dump him, maybe Cash could pull off a minor miracle and get Hinske for nothing of real value (i.e. Tanyon Sturtze). Hey, he did manage to get not 1, but 2 players for Tony Womack.

The biggest loser in this whole Matsui-Sheff injury situation is A-Rod, cause he's not going to get a damn thing to hit now. It might be best if Torre flip-flops A-Rod and Giambi in the lineup, because something tells me A-Rod is going to try to hit the proverbial 5 run HR each AB with Sheff and Matsui out. Giambi would give him some protection, and if there's one thing we know about Jason, it's that he'll stick to his game plan hell or high water. He'll continue to take his walks behind A-Rod, and continue to crush mistakes. Pitchers have to be a lot closer to perfect to get Giambi out than A-Rod.

All in all, let's hope Cashman gives Melky a chance to play in left and Bubba in right full-time for a week or so (or until they prove they can't handle it) before doing something drastic. The Yanks are going to have to start playing some more (gasp!) small-ball, because the offensive thunder has been reduced to partly cloudy with a chance of rain. I highly doubt a David Justice is going to ride in on a white horse and save the day this time (Shane Spencer, where art thou?). You never know, maybe Melky will be this year's Robbie Cano.

Bryan Smith at the great Baseball Analysts has this to say about the Yankees farm system:

So much for Eric Duncan's big turnaround as a prospect, huh? The first baseman is hitting .228/.295/.277 in a season when Jason Giambi has a .500+ on-base percentage. Duncan's strikeouts are down, which is nice, but where oh where are the power numbers? ... If you think the support Cole Hamels has gotten for his call-up has been extensive, think about Phil Hughes' upcoming promotion. No, it won't be too soon, but an August injury could bring a phenom to New York.

If not Hughes, then who's this phenom they're going to call up? Darrell Rasner and Matt DeSalvo are the one's likely to get the call if needed, (in that order) and they ain't phenoms.

Down on the Farm:

Triple-A Columbus (3-2 win over Richmond in 12 innings)
Kevin Thompson: 1 for 5, 1 K, 1 SB
Kevin Reese: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 SB - called up after the game
Russ Johnson: 2 for 5, 1 R
Carlos Pena: 2 for 5, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 E (fielding)
Mitch Jones: 0 for 4, 1 RBI, 2 K
Eric Duncan: 0 for 5, 1 K - I'm begging you, please send him back to Trenton so he can get back on track
Andy Cannizaro: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI - walk-off HR from the guy with the same number of career HR in 6 years as vowels in his name
Darrell Rasner: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HB - 73 of 105 pitches were strikes, 12-1 GB/FB ratio (sorry Nats, no trade-backs...unless we get Fonsy)
Colter Bean: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Matt Smith: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K - seems like he has an easier time getting big leaguers out than Triple-A guys

Double-A Trenton (3-2 loss to Bowie)
Gabe Lopez: 0 for 2, 2 BB
Bronson Sardinha: 0 for 4, 1 K
Randy Ruiz: 1 for 3, 1 BB, 1 K
Shelley Duncan: 0 for 4, 2 K
Justin Christian: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 K, 2 SB - dropped to 6th in the order
Omir Santos: 1 for 2, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Tyler Clippard: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HB
JB Cox: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HB - 14.1 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 12 K last 6 outings

High-A Tampa (2-1 win over Jupiter in 11 innings)
Brett Gardner: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K - scored GW run (who else would it be?)
Eduardo Nunez: 1 for 5
Cody Ehlers: 0 for 5, 3 K - 7 game hit streak snapped, his BA dropped 34 points during the streak, that's how hot he was in April
Matt Carson: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 HBP - drove in Gardner with a GW sac fly
Tim Battle: 1 for 4 - thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double (dumbass)
Jared Greenwood: 0 for 5, 1 K - as if that wasn't bad enough, C allowed 6 SBs
Alan Horne: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 HB - if you're keeping track at home, that's 15 IP, 6 H, 18 K combined during his last 3 starts
Josh Schmidt: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HB - bouncing back from season starting slump

Low-A Charleston
(Game 1: 3-1 loss to Rome in 7 innings)
Action Jackson: 0 for 2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
Jose Tabata: 1 for 3, 1 3B, 1 K
CJ Henry: 1 for 3, 1 2B, 1 K, 1 CS, 1 E (fielding)
Chris Malec: 0 for 3, 2 K
Garrett Patterson: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HB - first appearance since being promoted from extended spring training (7-3 GB/FB ratio)
Abel Gomez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
(Game 2: 7-0 win over Rome in 7 innings, perfection was nothing more than first inning leadoff single away)
Austin Jackson: 0 for 4, 1 R, 2 K
Reegie Corona: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SB
Jose Tabata: 0 for 2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP - 9 game hit streak ends, reached base safely in the last 14 however
Brett Jones: 2 for 3, 3 RBI, 1 K
CJ Henry: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 K - .357-.400-.571-.971 since coming off the DL
Wilkins DeLaRossa: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K
Jim Conroy: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Rolando Japa: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K - now that's domination

Mindblowing Jose Tabata stat-of-the-day: Sometimes the numbers just speak for themselves:

David Ortiz: .256-.377-.627-.987 in 43 ABs with RISP
Jose Tabata: .541-.561-.757-1.318 in 37 ABs with RISP

This is the best thing to hit the intranet since this ;-)

As if the Matsui injury wasn't bad enough, I was killing some time before the game by playing MVP 2006, and my 25 HR, 60 RBI, Gold Glove RF/cleanup hitter tore his ACL in the first game of the Conference Tournament. The Yankees will survive Matsui's injury, my team is screwed.