Jorge Posada will have surgery on his right shoulder, which officially puts an end to Posada's season. Posada has experienced shoulder troubles, which have hurt his ability to throw out runners and kept him from catching, the entire season. The Yankees decided to shut down Posada's rehab after the team acquired Xavier Nady Sunday. Posada should return at 100% for the start of next season.
One of the most interesting stories of this season has been the Triple-A home run race between Albuquerque's Dallas McPherson and Oklahoma's Nelson Cruz. Both homered last night, which kept McPherson one ahead of Cruz with 38 home runs. The reason for both players' ongoing success in the minors is that there is no space for Cruz in the Rangers' outfield or McPherson in Florida's infield.
Many argue that Goose Gossage's induction into Cooperstown was long overdue, but none of that mattered today when the nearly-unhittable reliever was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame. Since many of us at hardballreport.com weren't alive when Gossage pitched, we feel that we can't give Gossage's career justice. But William Nack of ESPN was alive during the reign of Goose - so check out his tribute.
With their impressive comeback win over Houston Saturday, the Brewers tied the Cubs for first place in the NL Central after the Cubs were beat in the 12th inning of against Florida. The Brewers were powered by Ryan Braun's four RBIs and Bill Hall's game-winning hit. Eric Gagne once again picked up the victory, the team's ninth in their last ten games. The series to watch, starting Monday, is Chicago @ Milwaukee.
The Yankees acquired outfielder Xavier Nady, a power-hitting righty, from the Pirates. Also part of the deal is southpaw reliever Demaso Marte. The Pirates will receive four minor-league prospects in return. Nady is hitting .330 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI and will help balance a very left-handed Yankees lineup.
