The New York Yankees are desperate for a win after losing badly on Friday night 10-6 after a horrible start from CC Sabathia and he now is the only pitcher this season in the majors to give up seven runs in three straight starts and now the Yanks will send out Ivan Nova to face Chris Archer of the Rays and NY will need some solid offense after coming alive late on Friday.
The Yankees are struggling hard and are ranked 21st in runs and 23rd in batting average and after the trade of Alfonso Soriano the team is hoping for more pop in the lineup and they will need it as they get Derek Jeter back and possibly Alex Rodriguez as well as Curtis Granderson. The team has dealt with a ridic amount of injuries this season and they have to keep winning to hang on the AL East, as the Red Sox are in control and the Rays are right there and the Yankees may only have the wild card to rely on.
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Soriano is owed $24.5 million through next season and the Cubs wanted to get him off their books, so they are paying $17.7 million and the Yankees will cover the remaining $6.8 million and they are happy to do so, as the team greatly needs some power. The team is sending a middling prospect in the deal and both sides are happy with the result and now Soriano will be back with the team he started his career with before he was traded in the Alex Rodriguez deal with the Texas Rangers.
The Yankees have been dealing with a ridiculous amount of injuries this season and now Soriano gets to come back and play with his former teammates and friends in Jeter and Mariano Rivera and the Yankees are hoping he is a bit of a throwback to his days in pinstripes, as he was a great power hitter and RBI man and the Yankees need that again badly. Soriano was with the team from 1999 to 2003 and coming back to the Bronx is a happy destination for Soriano.
The Cubs had him on an eight-year, $136 million contract and now the Yankees will help finish that off and after winning 2-0 behind a strong game from Hiroki Kuroda on Thursday, they have a chance to end some hot play from the Rays with CC Sabathia on the mound on Friday night against Jeremy Hellickson. The Yankees are six games behind the Rays and a sweep over the weekend would give them a clear shot of getting back in the division race.
The Cubs are way out of it and are sellers at the deadline and Soriano comes over after hitting .254 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs this season and the Yankees are getting him at a hot time, as he has been going strong in July with eight homers and 16 RBIs and New York is hoping he can keep up that style of play. Soriano is old at 37, but the pop in his bat is enough for the Yankees and they basically need him in there just to get some more offense.