Robinson Cano got off to a sluggish start to the 2007 season but he’s been on fire in the 2nd half of the season.  Cano has played in 41 games since the All-Star Break and he is 58 for 152 (.382 avg, 1.057 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 7 homers and 32 RBIs.  Cano has now played in 126 games this season and he is 148 for 480 (.308 avg, .843 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 13 homers and 72 RBIs.

The Yankees have signed Jose Cruz to a minor league contract and they have sent him to AAA.  He will likely be recalled by the Yankees next week if he gets off to a good start in AAA.  Cruz had a rough time in San Diego this season as he played in 91 games and he was 60 for 256 (.234 avg, .691 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 6 homers, 21 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.  Despite his struggles this season though Cruz has had a decent major league career to this point.  Cruz has played in 1,350 career games now and he has a .248 career average with a .796 OPS.  Cruz has scored 707 runs, whacked 204 homers, driven in 623 runs and stolen 113 bases.  This was a nice depth signing by the Yankees.

The Yankees have sent Jim Brower and Jordan Karstens to the minors.  Karstens has pitched in 5 games (3 starts) for the Yanks this season and he is 0-3 with a 11.20 ERA and a 2.41 WHIP.  Brower pitched in 3 games for the Yankees and he was also awful as he allowed 8 hits in only 3.1 innings and had a 13.50 ERA.  The Yankees have recalled Sean Henn and Edwar Ramirez from the minors to replace Karstens and Brower on the roster.  Henn has pitched in 22 games this season for New York and he is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.  Edwar Ramirez has pitched in 4 games for the Yanks this season and he is 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA.

The Yankees have activated Jason Giambi off of the disabled list and they have designated Miguel Cairo for assignment to make room for him on the roster.  Giambi likely won’t play as much as he did before he was injured.  He has played in 46 games this season and he is 39 for 150 (.260 avg, .811 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 7 homers and 23 RBIs.  Someone had to go so that guy was Miguel Cairo.  Cairo has played pretty well as a bench player this season for the Yankees so this was a little bit of a surprise.  The Yankees decided to keep Shelley Duncan over Cairo due to his very hot bat.  Cairo has played in 54 games this season for the Yanks and he was 27 for 107 (.252 avg, .626 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  It’s possible that Cairo will get claimed on waivers to help some team off of the bench.