For a team floundering in the American League East, perhaps it was appropriate that the New York Yankees would acquire a player named Chase. In their pursuit of the division-leading Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees made another in a series of incremental moves designed to upgrade an injury-depleted, mediocre roster and got an immediate return on the transaction on Tuesday.
A little more than two weeks after grabbing Brandon McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman picked up San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley, along with about US$1 million for infielder Yangervis Solarte and minor leagues pitcher Rafael De Paula.
Headley marked the trade by getting the winning hit on Tuesday as the Yankees came from behind to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 in 14 innings. His single off Nick Tepesch scored Brian Roberts with a run that came 4 hours, 51 minutes after the first pitch by Chase Whitley.
Photo: AFP
Headley made his memorable Yankees debut by striking out as a pinch-hitter to end the eighth and then moved to third base, where he made a nice jumping grab for a Rougned Odor line drive in the top of the 10th. Headley also ground out in the 11th and made the final out in the 12th after the Yankees had loaded the bases with one out.
The teams slogged through 12 scoreless innings and then scored a run each in the 13th, with J.P. Arencibia hitting a home run off David Huff in the top of the inning and Brett Gardner then leading off the bottom half with a double before being sacrificed to third by Derek Jeter. Jacoby Ellsbury singled to the right, scoring Gardner with the tying run, but Brian McCann hit into an inning-ending double play, stranding Ellsbury at third.
Then, in the 14th, Roberts doubled to right and went to third on Francisco Cervelli’s base hit, bringing Headley to the plate. He raised a fist as soon as he hit the ball into the gap in left-center and after the ball landed, his new teammates ran to jump all over him on the basepath.
Photo: AFP
Still, even with the joy of a hard-fought win, the Yankees are a middling team. However, the AL East is lacking a dominant force, so the Yankees have reason to believe they could emerge as the ultimate winner and return to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus.
“I have more work to do,” Cashman said.
Certainly, Cashman has been the most aggressive general manager in the division so far. Headley is a solid, but not spectacular player, similar to McCarthy, who Cashman acquired from the Diamondbacks on July 6 for Vidal Nuno.
Cashman’s assessment of Headley after the trade was modest at best: “We feel like we’re at the very least getting an average major leaguer at that position, and maybe more.”
The key is that Headley is an improvement over Solarte, Zelous Wheeler and Kelly Johnson. Whether Headley and McCarthy, and anyone else the Yankees add, will be enough will not be known for weeks, but the team are trying.
Headley, a switch-hitter who turned 30 on May 9, is in the final year of his contract, which pays him US$10.525 million this year. Cashman did not rule out resigning Headley in the offseason, but he said that was not the reason for the trade, calling Headley a two-month rental.
Next year could see the return of nominal third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is suspended, but Rodriguez will turn 39 on Sunday and it is uncertain whether he can play third base every day at 39 and 40.
Third base has been a sore point for the Yankees ever since Rodriguez had hip surgery before last year’s season. Cashman signed Kevin Youkilis to replace him, but Youkilis lasted barely a month before a back injury ended his Yankees career. Cashman said he investigated all options at the time, including trading for Headley, but Headley was coming off his best season, in which he hit 31 home runs and 31 doubles and knocked in 115 runs, and the price was too high.
This season has not been a good one for Headley. He hit .229 for the Padres, with .296 on-base and .355 slugging percentages, seven home runs and 32 runs batted in. However, since July 1, he has gone 21 for 65 (.323) and Cashman said the difference was made by an epidural Headley received for a herniated disc at the end of last month.
“It seems like it’s had a huge impact,” Cashman said.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Manchester City have confirmed defender Josko Gvardiol suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Gvardiol was one of two City centerbacks who went off injured in the second half, along with Ruben Dias, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. The draw left second-placed City six points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal. City, announcing Gvardiol sustained a tibial fracture to his right leg, added in a statement issued on Monday: “The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
RSS