He's still the same old Melk...

Before you all jump on the Melky Cabrera bandwagon, realize, he's still the same guy he was last year who started off the season with 4 homers by April 24th. Remember? He had a very solid April hitting 299... after that...it went downhill, 234. in May and 207. in June.

Just remember who brings more to the teams overall winning mentality, clearly Gardner. There will be games where the Yankees will go up against team's aces and be dominated throughout the game, days like these the Yankees will rely on scrappy infield singles by Gardner to get on base. Gardner can put himself into scoring position with his speed and ofcourse we all know who follows him in the order, Jeter, Damon and Teixeira. Melky... can't really do those things, he got thrown out at second right before Ransom ripped a double which would have scored him. He also can be to blame for the 14 inning affair that we all sat through yesterday striking out with the bases loaded and 0 outs.

Ofcourse Gardner followed him with 1 out and the bases loaded and popped up, but still, put the bat on the ball. Girardi will still start Gardner, which is good, but i've talked to several Yankees fans who have told me they would prefer Melky after watching his recent success.

I'm happy for Melky Cabrera, it's exciting to hit a walk-off homerun, and he probably earned himself another start, but we need to remember that Gardner is the dynamic player the Yankees need, not Melky.

Yankees vs. Twins

As you probably already know, the Yankees are playing the Minnesota Twins today. Joba Chamberlain is making his first appearance this spring, but don't expect the big guy to be lights out, last year it took him a few games to get his arm strength built back up to where it normally is at.

Anyway, here's today's lineup via Pete Abraham...

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Molina C
Duncan DH
Cabrera CF

Pitching today: Joba Chamberlain followed by Igawa, Dunn, Veras, Giese and others.

I'll be back later with updates during the game, but how bout Brett Gardner? So far he's been blowing Melky Cabrera out of the water in every single way: hitting, fielding, base running... and i'm happy about this.

Update 1:22: Like i said, don't expect much of the lights out Joba we're accustomed to seeing, he's averaging 88 MPH on his fastball, 2-0 Twins after a double by Jason Kubel.

Update 1:31: Teixeira just crushed a fastball from Liriano to right field for a double, 2nd and 3rd with 1 out for A-rod.

Update 1:32: Alex Rodriguez hits a sac fly to deep left, seems like Michael Kay is a bit off today, he thought that was a homerun, Nick Swisher up now. 2-1 Twins.

Update 1:45: Carlos Gomez just teed off on Dan Giese, solo shot to left. 3-2 Twins.

Update 1:54: Sac fly by Jeter, and both teams are in the "21 club" ... according to Michael Kay. 3-3 tie game, going to the top of the 3rd now.

Update 2:18: Just updating the score here, appears to be 6-3 Twins, Dan Giese got roughed up in the 3rd, going to the top of the 4th now with Jose Veras on the hill.

Update 3:00: Boy, camera angles and sound affects can even make a television show about cutting down trees look mildly interesting... i promise you i will not be watching that show however (Axe men).

Update 3:09: Kei Igawa is rocking his sun glasses, as usual. 6-3 Twins top 7.

Update 3:48: Sean Henn on the hill for the Twins who just gave up an infield single to Jesus Montero, i've got to go for now, but the score is 7-3 in the bottom of the 9th, 0 outs 1 man on. A-Jax up now.

Who wants pop-ups?

So this morning i was checking out Peter Abraham's blog over at LoHud, where i noticed he started a poll.

'Melky or Brett in CF?' was the name of the poll, but can i just get something out there? Unless... Melky Cabrera hits 600. with 15 HR and 30 RBI in Spring Training, i don't want him being anywhere close to the starting lineup on Opening Day.

Melky Cabrera's time has come and passed, the only thing we can get from him now is the occasional bloop single and the ever so constant pop-up. However; if Melky does somehow make it to the starting lineup, and in his first at-bat he comes up with a runner on... and pops-up... you will never see Melky Cabrera again, because i am going to kidnap him.

Brett Gardner has a much greater upside to Melky Cabrera, though his golden arm does appeal to me in some way. But Brett has the speed, the defense, the same power as melky... minus the pop-ups. He's basically a better version of Melky, because... besides the golden arm that Melky Cabrera owns, i can't think of one thing that he has, that Brett doesn't.

You may think Melky has great range in the outfield, with all of his running catches and then tumbling 20 feet... but really, he's barely making it to the ball. I learned this when i saw Brett Gardner rock the CF slot last year destroying Melky in the 'range' department.

Guys, the answer is simple... give Brett Gardner the CF role, he's just all around better. Melky Cabrera... well... i still remember the days where you would occasionally be clutch...(mainly defensively, i.e that catch robbing Manny, i was there) so i'll let them leave you in AAA.