The Yankees have placed righty reliever Jonathan Albaladejo on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained elbow ligament. Albaladejo pitched in 7 games for the Yankees this season and he was 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. This is a tough break for the Yanks as Albaladejo could work multiple innings.

21-year old righty swinging outfielder Austin Jackson is off to a solid start in AA-ball. Jackson is the #2 rated prospect in the Yankees’ farm system according to Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook. He has played in 30 games so far this season and he is 35 for 125 (.280 avg, .726 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 5 homers, 17 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Yankees might have to use Jackson in a trade to fix their pitching problems at some point this season.

Jason Giambi still hits a home run once in a while but he’s looking more and more like he is toast. Giambi has played in 27 games this season for the Yankees and he is 13 for 83 (.157 avg, .710 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 5 homers and 16 RBIs. The Yanks have some options if they get sick of Giambi. Morgan Ensberg has hit over 30 homers in a season once. He has played in 17 games for the Yankees this season and he is 13 for 59 (.220 avg, .517 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs. The Yanks also have Shelley Duncan who they have groomed in their own minor league system. Duncan has played in 8 games for the Yankees this season and he is 4 for 22 (.182 avg, .560 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 1 RBI. Wilson Betemit has just come off the disabled list. He has played in 7 games this season for the Yankees and he is 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .398 OPS) with 1 RBI. Unless Giambi starts hitting the ball look for him to find the bench soon or possibly even get released. Only a team with the finances the Yankees have could even consider cutting a player that makes as much cash as Giambi does.

Robinson Cano has gotten off to a much slower start than he did in 2007. In 2007, Cano was awesome in the 2nd half of the season but the Yanks need him to pick up the pace right now with A-Rod and Posada on the D.L. Cano has played in 33 games this season and he is 19 for 121 (.157 avg, .467 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 3 homers and 9 RBIs. I have a feeling that Cano is going to get hot soon with the bat and the Yanks need him to.

The Yankees have sent rookie righty starter Ian Kennedy to the minors. He was awful for the Yanks this season. He pitched in 6 games (5 starts) for the Yankees this season and he was 0-2 with a 8.37 ERA and a 2.03 WHIP. Kennedy’s biggest problem was throwing strikes as he walked 20 batters in 23.2 innings. The Yankees are considering recalling lefty starter Kei Igawa from AAA to replace Kennedy in the starting rotation. The 28-year old Igawa has started 6 games in AAA ball so far this season and he is 2-3 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He has whiffed 32 batters in 32.2 innings so he might be starting to turn the corner, but don’t keep your fingers crossed.