Well, it seems as if A-Rod's injury could be even worse than originally feared, or better, depending on how he holds up to a regimen of rest and exercise, instead of surgery.



With the surgery, A-Rod would be out for four months, dealing a major, major blow to the Yankees lineup. His absence would put a world of pressure on newly acquired Mark Teixeira, not to mention the rest of the pitching staff.



Here's my idea of the Yanks' lineup without A-Rod.



1- Damon - LF

2- Jeter - SS

3- Swisher - RF

4- Teixeira - 1B

5- Posada - C

6- Matsui - DH

7- Cano - 2B

8- Ransom - 3B

9- Gardner - CF



It's not the scariest lineup in the world, but it's certainly not the weakest, either.

Fun with suffixes: I know, I know. Who in the world could have fun with suffixes??? Hear me out, though. Hardcore baseball fans in the mold of, say, a Tim Kurkjian or a Rob Neyer might find this interesting.

The suffix -mbo is one of the rarer suffixes in the English language. In fact, based on some admittedly cursory research, just one MLB player has ever had a name ending in -mbo: Pete Rambo, an outfielder for the Phillies at the turn of last century.

Yet, if the boys over at Baseball America are correct, we could see two such guys playing against one another in short order.

The Dodgers' top prospect is outfielder Andrew Lambo, taken in the fourth round of the 2007 draft. He projects to hit for power and average, somewhat in the mold of an Andre Ethier-type.
In 508 at-bats over two levels last season Lambo hit 18 home runs and drove in 91 runs.

Elsewhere in the state, the Angels' No. 8 prospect is Mark Trumbo, an extremely powerful first baseman selected in the 18th round of the 2004 draft. Trumbo, 23, clubbed 32 home runs and racked up 93 RBI over the course of last season.

Point is, after having just one guy with a name ending in -mbo over 130 years of baseball, we could see two playing on the same diamond (in interleague, of course) in just a matter of time.

Thunder tidbit of the day (Disclaimer: Thunder tidbit will not be daily): When you look at the numbers their hitters posted last season, it really is amazing that the Thunder won the Eastern League crown.

Trenton was the lightest hitting team in the league -- by far. Of their 1,262 hits last season, 902 -- 71 percent -- were singles. By contrast, their opponent in the ELCS, the Akron Aeros, had 69 percent singles in 2008.

Two percent may not seem like a big difference, but consider this: The Aeros had 395 XBH to the Thunder's 360.

Trenton beat Akron in doubles, 263 to 240, but fell short in triples and home runs -- 32 and 65 to 41 and 114, respectively.

Those numbers, perhaps, are the best testament to just how good the Thunder's pitching was in 2008.