This might be Brian Cashman’s greatest move ever…and no, I’m not talking about signing Hideki Matsui or Mike Mussina, or selling beer in plastic bottles instead of easy-to-spill cups — I’ll give Cash credit here.  I’m talking about the mid-season acquisition X-Man, Xavier Nady. The man has brass cajones.  In tonight’s 9-4 victory over the O’s, Nady singled in the go-ahead run and then tacked on a solo homer in the ninth for good measure.  When the Yanks win these days, it seems like Nady’s right in the middle of it.

In under a month as a Yankee, Nady is now hitting .319 with eight home runs and 21 RBIs.  Nice. And you know what’s nicer?  He shuts his mouth and does his job in a way that doesn’t command too much attention — of course he does get to hide behind the glowing lights that are A-Rod and Jeter.  If Cashman wants to make another good move here, he locks this 29-year-old up long-term.  Then again, Cashman may try to trade X-Man off to whatever team the Yankee GM winds up with next year…

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Derek Jeter got his 2,500 career hit tonight, putting him on pace to get to 3,000 sometime in 2011…assuming he doesn’t get injured or go into a major tailspin.  And every time I see Jeter move along on the all-time Yankee hit list, I can’t help think of Joe D and his service to Uncle Sam.  Yes, the Yankee Clipper spent three of his prime years playing ball for the U.S. Army during WWII.  Give DiMaggio 200 hits in each of those three years and he passes Lou Gehrig for first place on the list with around 2,800.

But I guess you can’t play the “what if?” game like so many Yankee fans do with Joe D or Mickey Mantle and his injuries…and his booze.  Personally, I’ll argue that the latter may have helped Mickey play better.

Check out the Yankee all-time list here.

Still, Joe D does not have the highest Yankee lifetime average.  That honor goes to Babe Ruth with a .349 lifetime mark…Jeter is currently fifth at .315 and DiMaggio was fourth at .325.

The Yankees have to be content. 2-for-4 against an Angels team that just beat the crap out of Boston is pretty good. Some may argue that the Halos gave this game away today. Sure, four errors and ten unearned runs is not pretty. But at the same time the Yanks did something with their extra at-bats and that is critical.

And just look at the new guys hit. Xavier Nady with his six RBI. Pudge with a home run…

So what happens to Darrell Rasner who got mauled today (five runs in four innings)? Ian Kennedy is getting a starting spot and either Rasner or Sidney Ponson is taking the hit. Who sits??? Rasner who has been consistently just below average all year or Ponson who somehow has managed to turn 111 hits in 89.1 innings into a 6-2 record. And yes, he did look impressive Friday against the Angels by tossing seven innings of two-hit ball.

Tough call…the almost average farmhand or the career underachiever who’s winning for some reason… I want to say Ponson should go because he feels like a ticking time bomb to me, but at the same time I find him fascinating. How long can he keep giving up this absurd number of hits and still win ballgames? It’s like watching a guy on a greased tightrope slowly wobble his way along. You’re almost sure that he’ll fall, the question is…when?

In the end, this question probably won’t matter as Phil Hughes will be back soon and given a chance to join Kennedy in the rotation. Meanwhile, Rasner and Ponson will be watching, hoping Hughes continues to be a chronic injury problem.

Sure, the Yankees lost the last game of their three game set against the Red Sox yesterday, but they proved they can match, and defeat, Boston’s pitching. It was only after the Red Sox teed off on a soon to be gone Sidney Ponson that they took control of the final game of the series. However, over the weekend, the Yankees accomplished quite a bit.

They shaved one game off the lead Boston had over them in the Wild Card standings.

The Yankees’ best (Joba) outpitched the Sox best (Beckett).

Xavier Nady is now in left field and the bottom part of the order looks respectable again.

Damaso Marte is also now a Yankee and he struck out Big Papi in an important situation on Saturday.

Not bad. But now it’s back to business against the O’s and then the Halos come to town. After that it’s off to Josh Hamilton’s home in Texas…

Now, in the coming days there will be a lot of speculation about the Yankees trading for a starter to replace Ponson. I think replacing Ponson is important. However, much of the speculation is currently around Jarrod Washburn (Stats) of Seattle coming to New York in exchange for prospects. Bad idea. It’s not to say that Washburn would be a bad number five guy on the Yanks, but with a season ERA of 4.50, it ain’t worth it.

Ian Kennedy will soon be available. Phil Hughes will follow shortly thereafter. If the Yankee brass had enough faith to start the season with these two in their starting five, they should stick with them now. One of them should get Ponson’s job.

Yes, 2008 did not start well for either…Kennedy has a 7.41 ERA in eight starts. Hughes’ ERA is even higher at 9.00 after six starts. However, a combined 14 starts is no reason to trash a couple of guys who have shown as much promise as these two have. To think one of them cannot pitch with an ERA around 4.50 the rest of the year would mean the Yankees badly misjudged their worth.

Now, you could argue that the two young Yankee starters still need to go through growing pains before they can help the team and a pennant race is no place for such development. Additionally, you can argue that Washburn’s veteran experience is exactly what the Yankees need through the rest of the year and into the post-season. I suppose. But these two kids are supposed to be better than an overpaid number five starter. They have shown flashes of this in 2007. If the Yankees really want to go for a championship this year, they take a chance on one of the kids pitching like an ace.

Washburn is the type of pitcher that will do enough for the Yankees in the regular season and then get battered in the post-season. That’s not enough. If you recall, Hughes won the only post-season game for the Yankees last year by pitching an impressive game.

He, or Kennedy, should get the chance to win important games once again in ‘08.