40-year old righty closer Mariano Rivera keeps rolling along for the New York Yankees. “The Sandman” has pitched in 58 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Yankees and he is 3-3 with 32 saves, a 1.58 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. He has only allowed 37 hits in 57 innings pitched so far this year while whiffing 44 and walking 11. Rivera has now pitched in 975 games (10 starts) in 16 years with the Yankees and he is 74-55 with 558 saves, a 2.22 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Rivera is closing in on Trevor Hoffman for the all time lead in saves in major league history. The 42-year old Hoffman has 600 saves right now but he’s going to have a hard time finding a team over the winter that will let him close.

Starting 1B Mark Teixeira hasn’t played up to his ability this season but he still has overall numbers that a lot of hitters would be damn happy to have. Teixeira has now played in 145 games for the Yankees this year and he is 142 of 549 (.259 avg, .850 OPS) with 104 runs scored, 30 homers and 101 RBIs. So despite having an “off year” Teixeira has still scored over 100 runs for the 5th time in his 8 year career. He has also topped 30 homers and 100 RBIs for the 7th time in his 8 years in the majors. So despite having a bad year the Yankees are probably still very happy with him.

The Yankees have designated 25-year old righty swinging outfielder Chad Huffman for assignment. Huffman played in 9 games for the Yankees this year and he was 3 of 18 (.167 avg, .452 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. He also played in 104 games in AAA-ball for the Yanks this year and he was 101 of 368 (.274 avg, .763 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 10 homers and 45 RBIs. This is not much of a loss for the Yankees who are loaded with better outfielders than Huffman.

UPDATE: (9/17/2010) - The Yankees have lost Chad Huffman on waivers to the Cleveland Indians.

The Yankees have five starting pitchers with double figures in wins this year. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be changes in the rotation come October especially if A.J. Burnett and Javier Vazquez continue to suck. 29-year old lefty C.C. Sabathia is the unquestioned ace of the starting rotation for the Yanks. He has started 31 games for the Yankees this year and he is 19-6 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. 24-year old righty Phil Hughes is the #2 guy right now but the Yankees are in a quandry with him. They want to watch his workload but they need him to keep taking his turn if they want to make the playoffs. He has pitched in 27 games (26 starts) for the Yankees so far this year and he is 16-7 with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Hughes does appear to be slowing down a bit and that’s not a good thing for the Yankees. 38-year old lefty Andy Pettitte is on a minor league rehab assignment right now with the hope that he’ll be ready to return to NY soon. He has started 18 games this year for the Yanks and he is 11-2 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. The Yankees hope he’s ready to roll when he comes back because they can’t afford to have him rusty. 33-year old righty A.J. Burnett has flat out sucked this year for the Yanks. He has started 29 games for the Yanks this year and he is 10-13 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He is pretty much pitching extended batting practice for the opposing team this year. 34-year old Javier Vazquez has not been that much better than Burnett. He has pitched in 28 games (25 starts) this year for the Yankees and he is 10-9 with a 5.09 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.

29-year old switch hitting RF Nick Swisher has been a big part of the Yankees’ success this season but they need to shut him down for at least a week due to his bad knee. Swisher has played in 134 games for the Yanks so far this year and he is 146 of 507 (.288 avg, .876 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 26 homers and 82 RBIs. The Yankees can afford to give him a break because they have Austin Kearns and Marcus Thames on the bench. The better give Swisher the time off he needs because they are going to need him in October.