On-Base Perception

The Mets have demoted Kirk Nieuwenhuis to Triple-A and called up outfield prospect Juan Lagares, the team announced Tuesday afternoon.

Nieuwenhuis struggled in limited at bats this season, hitting .125. Lagares, 24, hit .346 with three homers at Triple-A Las Vegas. He’s not in the lineup Tuesday night as the Mets take on the Dodgers at Citi Field.

Lagares can play all three outfield...

CC Sabathia allowed four runs in the first inning Monday night against the Rays and you could have turned your television off right then. According to the odds, the Yankees weren’t winning that game.

They didn’t, of course, following a trend that has the events of the first inning foreshadowing the fate of the game this season:

- The Yankees have allowed a run in the first inning in...

A look at how the Yankees’ top minor –league prospects have fared so far this season (all stats through Friday):

1. Mason Williams OF | Tampa Yankees (Single A Advanced) .296 BA, .433 OBP, .407 SLG, 0 HR, 4 RBIs Power likely to improve as he develops; excellent defense aided by superb speed.

2. Slade Heathcott OF | Trenton Thunder (Double A) .205 BA, .271 OBP, .295 SLG, 0 HR, 2 RBIs...

The Yankees were faced with five key personnel decisions heading into the 2013 season. In each case they let the incumbent walk and replaced him via free agency or from within. Here’s a look at how, three weeks in, the decisions have worked out:

CATCHER: Russell Martin vs. “Stew-velli” (Chris Stewart/Francisco Cervelli)

Stewart and Cervelli have combined to hit .322 while sharing time...

Padres CEO Tom Garfinkel made light of Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke’s social anxiety disorder, going so far as to compare him to the title character in the movie Rain Man while talking with a group of season-ticket holders, according to an audio clip obtained by Yahoo! Sports.

Garfinkel was speaking in the aftermath of last week’s Dodgers-Padres brawl – one that cost Greinke a broken collarbone....

Jeff Francoeur may be a one tool player. But that one tool is darn fun to watch.

Perhaps the only non-pitcher to stick around baseball because he has a great arm, Francoeur has made a living out of highlight-reel throws from the outfield.

But this one is just sick.

Watch as Francoeur doesn't even get a great plant and yet still nails a runner at home plate -- on the fly:

Your...

Curtis Granderson can easily tick off the far-off locales he’s visited as an ambassador for Major League Baseball: Korea, South Africa, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, Italy.

And he can just as easily point out each country’s common reaction to the interlocking white “NY” logo on his cap.

“Parts of these places don’t really realize how big baseball is,” Granderson said. “But the first thing...

Curtis Granderson spoke to students at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn on Monday morning, emphasing Jackie Robinson's importance to baseball and his enduring legacy in improving race relations in society.

Granderson spoke on Jackie Robinson Day and treated the students to a showing of the new Robinson biopic, "42."

Yankees GM Brian Cashman and catcher Francisco Cervelli...

Ike Davis was batting .136 and the Mets were facing lefthander Cliff Lee. The decision seemed easy enough for Mets manager Terry Collins: Keep the lefthanded-hitting Davis on the bench.

The decision to hold Davis out of Tuesday’s 8-3 loss to the Phillies continued a trend started last September when the Mets often benched Davis when there was a lefty on the mound.

On the surface, it...

Yankees infielder Eduardo Nunez left Friday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles with a right wrist contusion after being hit on the right wrist by a Miguel Gonzalez pitch in the bottom of the second inning.

He immediately doubled over in pain and grimaced, reacting to the pain for a long period of time, which prompted Joe Girardi and a trainer to examine him on the field.

After...