–       I am glad to see Jim Thome waive his no trade clause and return to Cleveland.  He is the anti-LeBron for that city, not to mention they could really use his bat to make a final push at the playoffs.

–       Talk about a grand showing by the Yankees last night.  Did anyone else find it as fitting as I did that Curtis Granderson was the guy to hit the record setting 3^rd grand slam?  Thank goodness it wasn’t Derek Jeter.  I am tired of hearing people talk about how great he still is.

–       Just to point out a few stats the back up my claim that despite his recent “resurgence” at the plate, Jeter is still not very good anymore.  His .299 avg. is completely hollow.  His isolated power stands at a paltry .088 (lowest of his career).  This in turn leads to his meager .388 slugging percentage and an OPS of only .747.  He is on pace to set career lows in runs scored and total bases.  I am not here to pile on with the Jeter haters.  I just wish people would put it into perspective that despite his mashing of late, he is still set to have one of the worst years of his career.  Dude is still a 1^st ballot HOF though…so don’t get it twisted.

–       Those of you who saw California’s Braydon Salzman take a comebacker right of the brim of his hat witnessed something amazing.  For the science behind why he was not killed immediately upon impact check out this video from ESPN’s Sport Science.

–       I watched The Sandlot last night on AMC and was reminded of why that movie is the Best Baseball Movie of All Time.  For more details on that, look for my write up on the movie to come out later today.

–       Lenny Dykstra has been charged with indecent exposure.  Supposedly he exposed himself to women he met on Craigslist…Hello ladies, why else do you think a washed-up, has-been, like Lenny Dykstra wants to meet you based on an internet personal ad?

–       And ending on a good note for my Astros today, we actually won a real, live, major league baseball game last night!

What is it about Fridays and MLB Debuts? On June 10 we celebrated Mike Moustakas Day here at the Sombrero, and just one week later we celebrated Dustin Ackley Day.  Today we are thrilled to celebrate another prospect debut: Mike Trout.

Ranked as The Golden Sombrero’s No. 2 Prospect headed into the 2011 season, Trout has done everything (and more) at Double-A to deserve the call to the Big Leagues.  At the time of his promotion, the 19-year-old outfielder was slashing .324/.415/.534 with 12 doubles, 11 triples, nine home runs, 27 RBI and 28 stolen bases.

However, like most Trout enthusiasts (namely MTD over at Off-Base Percentage), none of us sincerely expected his arrival until this time next season – maybe a bit earlier.  But after a hamstring injury to fellow speedster Peter Bourjos during last night’s game, the door officially opened for Trout.

So, to usher in the Mike Trout Era, here are several videos of the phenom in action from the last two years.  I’m now more excited about his debut than seeing Jeter collect his 3,000^th hit (to an extent). Regardless, this is a great day to be a baseball fan.

And cue the celebratory tunes:

Recently we received a comment from a reader regarding our predictions, and I think the topic he brought up is probably worth its own piece.  The reader felt like I unfairly predicted that the Yankees would finish the year third in the AL East behind Boston and Tampa, who I predicted would both finish 2011 in the playoffs.  Before I continue, I would like to mention that I think the AL East will be a very tight division, particularly in the battle for second place.  The Yankees are one of the best offensive teams in baseball, and they certainly deserve a great deal of respect for that, but everything else they do is far from representative of a playoff-caliber team.

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Today on The Baseball Show, co-host Clint Evans from Diamond Hoggers and I welcome Jason Rosenberg from It’s About The Money, Stupid. IIATMS is the New York Yankees SweetSpot network blog on ESPN. A huge thanks for Jason to being on the show–and as he mentions about former guest Matt Sosnick–we would also say that Jason is one of the best guys in baseball writing.

Topics discussed included:

• How he got started blogging about baseball
• He talks about our friend Matt Sosnick, MLB Agent
• His induction into the SweetSpot network & relationship with Rob Neyer
• Speculation about the next head editor of SweetSpot at ESPN
• We are joined by a renegade intruder, only for a moment though!
• Jason says The Extra 2% is a must-read book.
• Hardcore New York Yankees talk
• The Tampa Bay Rays possibilities of winning in the AL Central
• What does the future hold for the catching position (Francisco Cervelli, Russell Martin, Gary Sanchez, Jesus Montero, and Austin Romine), as well as Joba Chamberlain
• Have Yankee fans and Alex Rodriguez mended their relationship?
• Curtis Granderson talk, and how will Andruw Jones fare as the fourth outfielder?
• Thoughts on Derek Jeter’s contract extension
• Much more!

A huge thanks to Jason for being part of the show. Check out IIATMS anytime you want  to read about the Yankees. Find him on Facebook or follow him on twitter. And as all baseball fans know, the Yankees are always relevant.

On Saturday morning Clint and I were back at it on The Baseball Show, offering our thoughts on all of this past week’s signings, as well as other notable headlines.

Some of the many things that we discussed:

• Adam Dunn: Clint’s favorite player and my the White Sox new 1B/DH

• A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko, and the Chicago White Sox

• The great career of Andruw Jones and what could have been…

• Adrian Gonzalez; the newest member of the Boston Red Sox

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