Matsui outta here for a 1-5 pitcher?

The New York Post is reporting that the Yankees may have asked Hideki Matsui to waive his no-trade clause so that he can be shipped to the San Francisco Giants for pitching help.

What kind of pitching help, you ask?

Johan Santana-like help?

Ah, no.

Well, the Giants have Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Might help a little, right?

Ah, no.

Nope, the kind of pitching help we're talking about in exchange for the once-feared bat of Hideki Matsui is none other than Jonathan Sanchez. In 33 appearances last season, including four starts, he put up a record of 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA.

Look, if Carl Pavano is gone for good, the Yanks need to replace that spot on the roster somehow.

On the brink of elimination, Yanks break out the steroids

NEW YORK (AP) - Jason Giambi got his first start of the playoffs Sunday night, inserted into the Yankees lineup for Game 3 against Cleveland.
The Indians also made a lineup change, putting Trot Nixon in right field. Nixon's combined numbers in the regular season and playoffs against New York starter Roger Clemens were striking: 15-for-39 (.385) with four homers, five doubles, eight walks and 12 RBIs.
With the Yankees looking for more offense as they tried to stave off elimination in the best-of-five playoff series, Giambi batted sixth and replaced defensive whiz Doug Mientkiewicz at first base.
Slumping slugger Hideki Matsui was New York's designated hitter, batting seventh, with leadoff man Johnny Damon playing left field.
Giambi had just one plate appearance as the Yankees combined for only four runs in the first two games of the series at Cleveland. He singled as a pinch-hitter in the opener, late in a 12-3 loss.
The 2000 AL MVP with Oakland, Giambi hit .236 with 14 homers and 39 RBIs this year during a season interrupted by injury. He had only 254 at-bats, but walked 40 times to give him a respectable .356 on-base percentage.
Giambi entered 6-for-14 (.429) with two homers and five walks against the Indians' starting pitcher in Game 3, Jake Westbrook.
"That, plus the fact we really haven't done anything offensively. Our ballclub scoring four runs and three of them on home runs is not our identity," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We need to put men on base, get them in the stretch, make them think about what we're going to do."

Another Joe Torre mistake

Joe Torre's decision to put Hideki Matsui into the game last night as designated hitter instead of Shelley Duncan, an idea he'd been toying with, according to the New York Post, backfired bigtime.
Matsui going into last night's game was 0 for 9 against Sabathia in his career.
Now he's 0 for 13.
Meanwhile, Duncan was put in as a pinch hitter and he actually got a hit against the Indians and scored one of the Yankees three runs.

Saturday at Fenway: A whole lotta suck

Alex Rodriguez was 0 for 3, struck out twice and left two men on base.
Johnny Damon was 0 for 4, including a strikeout.
Hideki Matsui was 0 for 3, including a strikeout, and left two men on base.
Posada, Giambi and Cabrera were a combined 0 for 7.
The Yankees gave up today at Fenway, pulling many of its failed stars for scrubs on the way to a 10-1 defeat.
Detroit is already beating up on Johan Santana, 4-0, and if that trend continues tonight the Tigers will be only 2 1/2 games back in the Wild Card.
Meanwhile, New York sends a cortizone-injected 45-year-old Roger Clemens to the mound.
Detroit has a realistic shot of catching the Yankees for the Wild Card.
Even if that doesn't happen, Dice-K's success against the Yankees early in yesterday's game and Beckett's and the Boston bullpen's dominance over New York today make it increasingly clear that there's little chance of the team getting by Boston in a seven-game playoff series.