Yanks hold steady with eye on July 31 trade deadline

Javier Vazquez threw just 37 pitches to record his first 12 outs yesterday afternoon. In truth, however, the Angels were helping out the Yankees righthander.

By attacking Vazquez so aggressively, failing to get into deep counts and striking out, the Angels masked the reality that Vazquez didn't have his best stuff. When Vazquez, up six runs, stopped locating his pitches with such precision, the Angels pounced, knocking out the Yankees' starter with none out in the sixth - he needed 43 pitches to get just three more outs - and we had ourselves a ballgame on this ultra-humid Yankee Stadium day.

So the Yankees prevailed, 10-6, but experienced a fourth straight shaky and/or shortened performance from their starting pitcher. At a time when they're trying to convince themselves that their rotation, minus the injured Andy Pettitte, can get through the schedule's dog days.

Here on July 22, you view everything through the prism of the July 31 non-waivers trading deadline. Each game brings new information. With that in mind:

No, the starting rotation hasn't encouraged. We've seen one full turn now since the All-Star break, and after CC Sabathia's solid outing against Tampa Bay Friday night, Yankees fans viewed a daily soap opera: A.J. Burnett's craziness, Pettitte's groin problem, Phil Hughes' long rest biting him back and Vazquez's middle-inning implosion.

"As a starting pitcher, you kind of know. Sometimes, when the bullpen is a little tired, you want to go out there and give a lot," said Vazquez, who nevertheless became the third active major leaguer to beat all 30 teams. "But sometimes it doesn't happen."

There's really not much out there, though. A rotation of Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte's replacement Sergio Mitre, Hughes and Vazquez ranks up there with any club in baseball. And Pettitte should return in September, his arm rested.

The bench looked good. Namely, Colin Curtis, the testicular cancer survivor who provided the day's most entertaining sequence. Pinch hitting for the ejected Brett Gardner in the seventh inning, with an 0-and-2 count, Curtis worked the count full off Scot Shields before slamming a three-run homer, his first major-league dinger.

Moreover, starting designated hitter Juan Miranda went deep, and backup catcher Francisco Cervelli contributed two hits.

"These guys are capable," Girardi said of his bench. The Yankees are targeting all sorts of players in trades, from Florida's Jorge Cantu and Wes Helms to Baltimore's Ty Wigginton to Cleveland's Jhonny Peralta.

For the moment, however, they can't find anything close to a match on trade values, so they're talking up internal candidates like Eduardo Nunez, Chad Tracy, Eric Bruntlett and Brandon Laird.

Nevertheless, the hunch here remains that the Yankees will find a veteran bench guy by the 31st.

The bullpen looked better. Yet the success of bench guys Curtis and Miranda made the relievers' life easier. David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain escaped self-created, sticky situations in the sixth and seventh, and then the Yankees' lead went from 6-5 to 10-5 in the bottom of the seventh. With so few trade options out there, Robertson and Chamberlain probably represent the team's superior options.

Really, the best "acquisitions" the Yankees can make are more consistent performances from Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. Either way, the Yankees' best daily breakdown might come from simply looking at the standings, where, concerns aside, they own the game's best record.