The LoHud Yankees Blog

Looking for your baseball fix?

The AAA game is on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. from Portland, Ore. You can follow the game on MinorLeagueBaseball.com..

You also can follow Double-A game from Trenton.

The Double-A game is going on now. Eduardo Nunez already has two hits and one RBI for the Northern Division. Zach McAllister apitched a scoreless inning.

There are assorted Yankees in both games.

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Our next live video chat will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. It’ll be a preview of the second half of the season and a look back at the first half.

Go to LoHud.com/ProTalkLive to join in and ask your questions. There will be fabulous prizes for the best questions. Maybe not fabulous, but there will be prizes.

The chat is sponsored by Friedrich Air Conditioning.

Forgot to mention this yesterday, but LHP Damaso Marte has started a rehab assignment in the Gulf Coast League.

Given that rehab assignments have deadlines, this would indicate that the Yankees believe his sore shoulder has healed.

Marte has not appeared in a big-league game since April 25. He had a 15.19 ERA in seven appearances.If he can come back, having two lefties in the bullpen would be a plus for Joe Girardi.

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The return of Pedro Martinez to baseball reminded today of one of my favorite sportswriting stories.

I was covering the Mets when Petey signed in 2005. He was still an ace then, going 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA and 208 strikeouts. He made NL hitters look silly with that change-up.

As the season wound down, he gathered all the beat writers to his locker and handed out business cards with his phone number on them. The cards said “Pedro J. Martinez, right-handed pitcher.”

“Only call me if you absolutely need me,” he said.

I called Pedro once that winter and, miraculously, he answered.

I still have that card, too. Trust me when I tell you, that’s the first and last time an athlete handed out cards with his number on them.

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Vote for your favorite ceremonial first pitch on LoHud.com. Mariah Carey?

Disclaimer: This blog post is based purely on my own opinion. I have not been told in any way, shape or form that this trade will actually happen or that the Yankees are pursuing a trade at all. Please do not link to this post like it’s news. It’s not.)

Derek Jeter is having one of the best seasons of his career. Jorge Posada is somehow still one of the game’s best catchers at the age of 37 and Mariano Rivera is as great as ever.

The point is that these three key Yankees are still championship-caliber players in 2009. Will that be the case in 2010 or 2011? None of us know that.

The Yankees can win right now and I’m not so sure they have the pitching to do that. Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte are far more erratic than anticipated and the No. 5 starter looks like rehab case Sergio Mitre.

The Yankees have used their bullpen for 283.1 innings already. Only three bad teams — Baltimore, Oakland and Cleveland — have used their bullpens more often in the American League. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Obtaining Roy Halladay would solve a lot of problems. He gives the Yankees a rotation that can get them to the playoffs and beyond while at the same time taking heat off a soon-to-be-overworked bullpen.

But how to how get him? That is the question. Here are my conditions:

• Vernon Wells can stay where he is. Taking that ridiculous contract is a non-starter.

• I’m not giving up Phil Hughes.

That said, here is what I will give up:

• Joba Chamberlain. The unexplained loss of velocity is a concern. So is the stubborn unwillingness to listen to others. There is a chance he could be great. But as each day passes, there seems to be more of a chance that he won’t be. He has a great story, but maybe we’ve already seen the best part. Look at this way, what the odds he will be as good as Halladay will be for the rest of this season and next? Zero.

• Jesus Montero. There has to be pain in this trade and this is it. Jesus of Venezuela might be the best power hitter in the minors and could be a difference-maker for any team. But he’s a catcher and that is the one position where the Yankees are loaded. The defensively refined Austin Romine is developmentally close to Montero and Francisco Cervelli could well prove to be an adequate stopgap. Plus the Yankees have a bunch of impressive young catchers in the pipeline including Kyle Higashioka, Gary Sanchez and (soon enough) J.R. Murphy. It’ll hurt, but Montero could well be a DH in five years. The world is full of DHs.

• Anybody else: Yes, anybody else in the minors. Austin Jackson, Dellin Betances, Zack McAllister, take your pick. This is Roy Halladay, after all.

Sure, Halladay will add $7 million to the payroll this season. Big deal. The Yankees are drawing more fans than any team out there and inventing new revenue streams every day. Broadband access, Yankees Universe, etc. There must be $7 million in there somewhere. Check the Legends Seats for loose change.

So there you have it. I don’t for a second think the Yankees will do it. But if J.P. Ricciardi will take Joba, Jesus and anybody else, I’d make the deal.

The Yankees need a starter and can’t do better than Halladay.

Our latest live video chat will be Thursday at 1 p.m. It’ll be a preview of the second half of the season and whatever else you want to talk about.

Go to LoHud.com/ProTalkLive to join in and ask your questions. There will be fabulous prizes, three of them as a matter of fact.

The chat is sponsored by Friedrich Air Conditioning.

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If you are unfamiliar with The Batting Stance Guy check out his Yankees video. Great stuff.

Joe Maddon handled his bullpen exactly right, leaving the lead in the hands of Mariano Rivera. He took care of business like he always does and now the American League has home-field advantage in the Series after beating the National League 4-3. The game lasted only two hours and 31 minutes.

Derek Jeter was 0 for 2 but scored two runs. Mark Teixeira was 0 for 3. No player had more than one hit or one RBI. There were only three extra-base hits.

Baseball takes a day off tomorrow. The Yankees get an extra day and go back to work on Friday.

AMERICAN LEAGUE (36-41-2)
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Derek Jeter SS
Joe Mauer C
Mark Teixeira 1B
Jason Bay LF
Josh Hamilton CF
Michael Young 3B
Aaron Hill 2B
Roy Halladay RHP

NATIONAL LEAGUE (41-36-2)
Hanley Ramirez SS
Chase Utley 2B
Albert Pujols 1B
Ryan Braun RF
Raul Ibanez LF
David Wright 3B
Shane Victorino CF
Yadier Molina C
Tim Lincecum RHP

TIME/TV: 8 p.m., FOX.

Notes: The AL has won six straight and is 11-0-1 in the last 12 games. … Honestly, is there anything quite so stupid as there not being a DH in the All-Star Game? … Jeter is 9 of 19 with three runs scored and three RBI in nine previous games. … Teixeira was 1 for 3 in his one previous game, that coming in 2005. He homered and drove in two runs. … Rivera, of course, has been just about perfect as an All-Star. He has appeared in seven of the nine games he was selected for. His line: 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 3 saves.

Our latest live video chat will be Thursday at 1 p.m. It’ll be a preview of the second half of the season and I’ll try and come up with a trade package for Roy Halladay that doesn’t include Phil Hughes or Jesus Montero.

Go to LoHud.com/ProTalkLive to join in and ask your questions.

The chat is sponsored by Friedrich Air Conditioning.

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Chad Huffman of the Portland Beavers beat our man Shelley Duncan in the Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby last night. Huffman finished the three-round competition with 15 home runs. Duncan hit 10.

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Mark Feinsand of the News will be on WFAN from the All-Star Game at 11:05 a.m.. He’ll be on with Kim Jones and Adam The Bull. Give it a listen.

The first half of the season, while full of potholes, actually worked out pretty well for the Yankees.

What was your favorite moment of the first half? Mine was the night Mariano Rivera picked up his 500th save and his first RBI against the Mets.

Tony Mazz of the Globe reports that the Blue Jays will not let teams negotiate an extension with Roy Halladay before a trade is completed.

In other words, the Jays want your best prospects in return for only a guaranteed year and a half of Halladay.

Meanwhile, why would Halladay waive his no-trade rights without the incentive of a new deal? The short answer: He would not.

These things are all subject to negotiation, of course. But why would the Yankees, for instance, give up Phil Hughes, Jesus Montero and somebody else without knowing for sure they they’d have Halladay beyond 2010?

Wow, the blog is on fire today.

Loyal reader and poster Betsy was on WFAN and Kim Jones knew of her LoHud rep. Nice work, Betsy. Meanwhile, the Hinske homer post morphed into some good baseball talk with Rebecca and SJ44 making some great points.

As for the Hinske call, here are the ones that I like so far:

1. Hinske with your best shot

2. They’re hysteric for Eric.

3. Pinch me, what a shot by Hinske

4. The Masher from Menasha does it again

5. Hinske, Farske, Outske

The greatest one (unusable of course) was “It’s a Monica Lewinski for Hinske!”

We’ll see what else you come up with and I’ll be sure to give John a few choices when I see him.