Phil Hughes is not an ace.

"With the sinker, Hughes stumbled onto the grip messing around during a bullpen session, similar to how Rivera discovered his legendary cutter. Hughes never had a pitch run in on right-handers before; it prevents them from leaning over the plate and whacking everything else.

'It's a good pitch for him,' said a major-league scout who has followed Hughes since his amateur days. 'I don't know whether it was the Yankees or the media, but people labeled him as the next Roger Clemens. That's unfair to put on anybody. He's a solid, middle-of-the-rotation guy for a good team.' "

Right.

In other words, not an ace.

Mentor

Hiroki Kuroda isn't bad.

Somebody needs to shut Mike Lupica up. My sides are splitting:

"Chris Christie really is a huge Mets fan, so it was kind of neat to hear him tell Boomer and Carton the other day that he’d like to be general manager of the Mets."

Chris Christie is huge, I'll agree with that.

Ha ha, get it?

Because he's fat.


"But with everybody constantly talking about the Mets’ finances and Jersey’s deficit being what it is — is this really a good idea?"

No, it isn't a good idea.

Oh, wait ... that was supposed to be funny.

Ha ha! The fiscal problems on New Jersey linked to the financial problems with the Mets.

You should totally go to the George Washington Bridge scandal next. We're set up for the knockout punch.


"Well, if Christie does end up with the Mets, at least think about taking the 7 train and not the RFK Bridge if you’re coming to the game from the city."

Killed it.


"Who watched Hiroki Kuroda fade the way he did last season and thought the Yankees should pay big-time, ace money to re-sign this guy at the age of 39?

One more time, every time the Yankees act as if it were some kind of act of God that they got this old:

These players didn’t sign themselves.

Kuroda didn’t do it and neither did Ichiro and neither did Alfonso Soriano and neither did Brian Roberts."

Bartolo Colon didn't sign himself, either, and neither did Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder or Josh Hamilton or Ichiro and his 3 RBIs ... or Jeter and his ... his ... his 1 HR ... and his 8 RBIs ... and his sit-back-on-high-choppers-and-turn-them-into-infield-singles thing because he has no range at SS.


But Kuroda is pretty good (3-3, 4.55 ERA, Yankee Stadium, bad offensive support, bad defensive support) and he isn't being paid ace money.

Kuroda is the third-highest paid pitcher on the Yankees and the 17th-highest paid  pitcher in MLB.

In terms of the overall contract, it's only one year.




Brian Roberts is literally making $2 million this year. I'm guessing there are some performance incentives, because MLB players generally get $2 million per year for rolling out of bed and tying their shoes.

It would be almost impossible to find a veteran free agent who makes less money than Brian Roberts. I'm not sure it's legal to pay a veteran free agent less than Brian Roberts.

He isn't very good, and maybe the Yankees are biding their time hoping to score Utley.

But the Yankees knew he wasn't very good.

That's why he's only making $2 million ...and he already has 9 whole RBIs.

Relatively speaking, Roberts and Kuroda are bargains.

Felz Stat of the Day

Yankees with two outs and RISP after 46 games:

AB: 191

BA: .188

OB%: .272

SLG%: .262

Derek Jeter plays catch.

Some weekend editor for the NY Post tries to get a rise out of Jeter fans.

The thing is, this guy doesn't really follow sports.

The other thing is, it's not really that difficult to find Jeter detractors.

But of all the attacks, this has got to be one of the oddest:

"In the second-to-last Subway Series game, Jeter came out for a pregame warmup with a video crew.
A cameraman furiously backpedaled while contorting his body to such an extreme to get that all-important low-angle shot — creating that larger than life 'Jeterian' image of the captain taking the field.

Jeter began running sprints in left field as his video entourage was told by security guards it could not be on the playing field. So, rather than warm up on the infield, the Yankee shortstop had a soft toss in front of the visitors dugout, which gave total access to the filmmakers.

 With each successive throw, Jeter moved farther and farther down the left-field line while adoring Yankee fans looked on.

More perfect shots for a final-season homage."



"It’s only May, and it’s already getting ridiculous. How many times can we say goodbye?

I have a no doubt that this holiday season Steiner Sports will be offering Jeter memorabilia, including a three-hour documentary highlighting the Farewell Tour (only $19.95!).

Perhaps I will be included in crowd shot; I’ll be the one with the look of disdain on his face."

You'll be the one who nobody is paying attention to.

Mike Lupica handicaps the Cy Young Award.

"Of all the money Brian Cashman spent so the Yankees, coming off an 85-win season, could just keep pace in the American League East — you would think that spending nearly half a billion would actually buy the AL East like a second home — the money that matters so far is what he had to spend to get Tanaka."

I don't think many people expected the Yankees to win the AL East. Though they are in first place at the moment.

Why? Because the Yankees lost their best player in the off season. They also lost their closer.

So the "nearly half a billion" the Yankees spent in the off season, spread over 5 or 6 or 7 seasons, is not really all that much per season in modern-day baseball.

Tanaka has been one of the best pitchers in the game; Ellsbury has been great; Beltran is hurt; McCann is overpaid, but the Yankees knew what they were getting wit h McCann ... they seem to be satisfied with a bunch of HRs and good defense.


"He still has to pitch out the season. He may even lose a game one of these days. There are other pitching stars to talk about in baseball. Max Scherzer beat Jon Lester in a 1-0 game at Fenway Park Friday night that was something to see, and Scherzer, pitching for what he hopes will be a heart-stopping new contract, is already 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA.

Mark Buehrle has been spectacular so far. So has Sonny Gray of the Athletics. Clayton Kershaw isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Justin Verlander, both of whom have already signed heart-stopping contracts of their own. With it all, Tanaka has been the pitcher in baseball to watch this season, the one to talk about. He has delivered in all ways, and done it at the Stadium. He has done it in New York."

Mmmmkay.

Who else is in the running for the Cy Young Award?


"Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers goalie, might make a run at him if the Rangers get on a run to the Stanley Cup Finals, that is the way it goes around here, for any team that has a chance to win it all. We are going to find out, first against the Canadiens, if the Rangers can come from being 1-3 down against the Penguins the way they were and can get on the same kind of roll the Giants did that time, when they went from 7-7 to winning another Super Bowl off the Patriots."

No boxers or "Dancing with the Stars" contestants?

Daily News scores an exclusive story about Alex Rodriguez.

Four writers taking credit.

An anonymous source says Alex Rodriguez almost retired from baseball due to mental and physical exhaustion.

I didn't read the rest of it because, like everybody else, I am not paying too much attention to Alex Rodriguez right now.

It's like scoring an exclusive interview with Hollywood legend Butch Patrick.

It's like forcing yourself to watch a new episode of the Simpsons.

Put the Subway Series out of its misery:

"So this was before the Mets had finally won 12-7, officially made it two in a row this season off the Yankees and six in a row going back to last season, before they had also made it official that after 38 games they have the same record as the Yankees do at 19-19.

So there was still more baseball to be played on this stupidly long baseball night at the Stadium, before Mets fans were allowed to ask this question:"

"Stupidly long."

Like a Mike Lupica article.


"If one team wins all the time, how much of a rivalry is it, really?"


This is not a rivalry.


"This was in Section 223 in the top of the sixth, a couple of Mets fans from Kearny, N.J. up there. Jose Carvalho, a 25-year-old accountant, was wearing a black David Wright jersey. His friend Alex Almeida, 22, a year away from becoming an accountant himself, was wearing his blue Wright jersey.

They both were still in high school the last time the Mets were in the playoffs. But this wasn’t the night to look back on the wreckage of the past several seasons, this was a night to revel in their team beating up the Yankees again.

'I wish we could play the Yankees all season long,' Jose Carvalho said.

'We don’t want to leave here,' Alex Almeida said. 'Please don’t make us.' "

Zing!

Must I tell the truth about this? The truth that Mets fans know in their hearts? Just how anticlimactic this has been the past two seasons? Finally winning the phony NY Crown and the prize is nothing more than a .500 team and an ocean of empty green seats at Citi Field?


"Wright got three hits and is nearly back to .300. Suddenly Granderson, who looked lost in April, is up to .205. Murphy is hitting .320. It was the Yankees who hurt themselves hitting into double plays in the second game of the Subway Series, particularly Derek Jeter in the fourth, guys on base, Yankees with a chance to get right back into it, Jeter hitting into a 1-6-3."

Gee, did Jeter really ground into a double play?

Though I must commend Lupica on his in-depth statistical research. There is plenty of evidence to support the notion that the 2014 Mets are better than the 2014 Yankees. Lupica gives us the batting averages of three players.


"They spend like drunks, and the crowd goes wild. The Mets don’t spend nearly enough to suit their fans. But for now the two teams have the same record. The Mets were supposed to be in big trouble and now have won three in a row. The Yankees are at .500 and, guess what? The last time they were at .500 last season, even with all the injuries and what felt like replacement players, was at 5-5. After 38 games they were 24-14."

The Yankees are mediocre, last year and this year.

That is why the Subway Series is lame. That is why beating the Yankees six games in a row is unsatisfying. You don't tell your grandkids about the time you managed to beat Vidal Nuno.

I don't know who's replacing Gee on the mound tomorrow, but the final two games of this series will likely have a total of one starting pitcher anyone has heard of.

The rest of the baseball world is laughing at New York's so-called rivalry.

The joke's on all of us.


I partake in the ritual. I am a fan. I hope Jose and Alex had a fun time and enjoyed themselves, though I wish the Yankees had won the game.

But let's not pretend you're really jazzed up about this. It's like beating the Lakers without Kobe.

There's an unformulated joke in here somewhere.

What happens when Jonathan Papelbon pitches to Mark Teixeira?

Then the answer is something like, he doesn't, because one of them is too tired ... or one of them pulled something ... or ...

Point is, well, the point is, these two guys sure are a couple of marshmallows.

Felz Stat of the Day

In the last 200 games, the Yankees are 104-96, with a -39 run differential.

Teixeira's legs are tired.

"Though he has six homers in his last 12 games and is playing his usual stellar defense, Teixeira has dealt now and again with fatigue. He labored to score from second on Yangervis Solarte’s deep single in the seventh inning and took his time rounding the bases on his homer on Sunday because he said he was simply gassed."

Well, he has not been playing stellar defense, for one thing.

Secondly, he took his time rounding the bases on his homer because he was simply gassed?

For crying out loud, get a Tony Little gazelle.

Congratulations. You got your man in exchange for your soul.

Meanwhile, Melky Cabrera is batting .335 with a career-high slugging average of .532. I guess right under Selig's nose? But, more likely, Selig doesn't care about PED use anymore.

I was just thinking how the Daily News seemed to had surprisingly backed off its ARod obsession.

Mike Lupica's Inner Circle

"Here is an American League manager and a good one, one from outside Derek Jeter’s division, talking about Jeter on Wednesday, now that Jeter has put more than 100 at-bats into the books in the last season of baseball he will ever play for the Yankees."

Who?

It can only be one of ten people in the entire world, yet you won't tell us who.

Maybe it's top secret information; or something very controversial.

" 'Just remember what it was like for (David) Ortiz a few years ago (2010),' the guy said, 'when he looked a lot worse than (Jeter) is right now. People wanted the Red Sox to cut him.'

I told him I remembered that, everybody does, but then reminded him that Ortiz was just 34 at the time. Jeter turns 40 at the end of June, and he does that after the lost season of 2013.

'Jeter is six years older than Ortiz was,' I said.

'But he’s still Jeter.' "

I told him I remembered that, everybody does, but then reminded him: Steroids.

"I mentioned all the analytics about how Jeter can’t pull hard stuff anymore. It made the guy laugh.

'No one ever played Derek Jeter to pull,' he said.

Then he added this: 'I know how old he is. I know how short his range looks at short. But in my heart, I believe this is one player you write off at your own risk.' "

Jeez, that's it?

So your secret conversation discovered an AL manager who's pro-Jeter?

"I believe he is right. Jeter has looked old sometimes this season, as old as most 40-year-olds who have ever tried to play shortstop in the big leagues have ever looked. And there have been times when it has looked as if Curtis Granderson has hit a harder .175 than the .255 Jeter took into the third game of the Yankees-Angels series on Wednesday night."

Oh, wow.

Lupica is pro-Jeter, everybody. Now you can rest easy.

I don't know what Curtis Granderson has to do with it, but it doesn't matter.

A bold pro-Jeter stance by Mike Lupica and his anonymous AL manager.

You know what? Put numbers around it or your prediction is useless.

If Jeter's back at full throttle, then what is his slugging percentage going to be the rest of the season? Right now, it's around .300 for the season, which is bad, and that has held for the past two seasons and almost 200 at-bats.

"Of course you know the season hasn’t started the way Jeter wanted it to if already there is discussion, some of it overheated, about Joe Girardi dropping No. 2 of the Yankees out of the No. 2 spot in the batting order. The controversy of April and May was supposed to be about how many days off Girardi will give him, not how much of an easy out Jeter has been hitting where he is still hitting."

It's not a controversy.

'99 Jeter is not sitting on the bench. Brendan Ryan isn't going to hit 30 HRs. Jeter is the best option simply because there aren't any other good options.

Also, Jeter is not going to get benched because he is currently the only popular player on the team. Tanaka may get some juice by the end of the season, but not Jeter Is Retiring level.

"DiMaggio hit .263 that year, with 12 home runs and 71 RBI in 116 games after hitting .300 the year before with 30 home runs and 122 RBI. DiMaggio did not turn 37 until after he’d limped away from his last season as a Yankee. Jeter is 39 going on 40. You have to at least wonder if DiMaggio’s numbers from 1951 are looking pretty good to Jeter right now."

Thanks for the heavy duty statistical research, but I don't see why you're bringing up DiMaggio (or Granderson, or Ortiz).

Jeter is not as good as he used to be. He is past his prime. It's very cowardly to make a predictions of future success without putting numbers around it.

If Jeter finishes the season with 12 HRs and 60 RBIs, is that some kind of big comeback?

Because ARod is going to do that in 2015 and get booed until his head explodes.

"The scout continued: 'Now we’re going to see if he can make the right adjustments and start hitting the ball the way he used to, and beat you. Or maybe there’s no adjustment he can make, and Father Time just beats him.'

Maybe that is the analytical way to look at things. But he is Jeter. Even this late in the game, it is too early to write him off."

I think Jeter's batting average will be fine, but his on-base% and slugging% will be too low and his overall production will be low in terms of runs scored and runs batted in.

Major league players are often judged by runs scored and runs batted in. Just a standard "analytical" way to look at things.

I suspect Jeter's deficiencies in these areas will be ignored by his cheerleaders and, therefore, if Jeter bats .280 and scores 50 runs, Lupica can declare Victory.

So here are some precise numbers I am forecasting: .280 BA, 12 HRs, 75 runs, 60 RBIs. Decide for yourself if that qualifies as a comeback. I'd say that's unproductive, but the best option the Yankees have, and better than the slop they threw out at SS last season.

If I underestimated Jeter's production, I will be thrilled. I can also take some pride in the fact that at least I made a real prediction.

Yankees are in first place after 29 games.

Last season, the Replacement Yankees were 1.5 games out after 29 games. Which is what matters.

There are quite a few observations one can make about the 2014 Yankees, but Mike Lupica hasn't got the time for that:

"After 29 games last season, already looking like a replacement team, the Yankees were 18-11.

After 29 games this season, they are 16-13.

Just sayin’ "

After 29 games, the 1977 Yankees were 17-12 ... and they won the World Series!

After 29 games, the 2012 Giants were 14-15 ... and they won the World Series!

Hooray!

We're going to win the World Series!

This includes Ellsbury's clutch single last night.

2014 Yankees with 2 outs and RISP

131 AB

.183/.267/.221

24 hits, 5 doubles, 0 triples, 0 homeruns