Alfonso Soriano hit his 30th home run on Saturday to become the first second baseman ever to reach the 30HR-30SB mark. Soriano, a native of the Dominican Republic, began his career in Japan before the Yankees took notice of him and purchased his contract in 1998. Due to his Japanese experience, Soriano was able to move quickly through the minors. He made his major league debut with the Yankees in September of 1999, but although he received two call-ups in 2000 as the injury replacement for first Scott Brosius and then Derek Jeter, Soriano did not assume a starting job with New York until last season when he replaced the relocated Chuck Knoblauch at second base.

While he posted solid numbers last season, including a .268 BA, .304 OBP, and .432 SLG in 574 AB on 154 H, 34 2B, 3 3B, and 18 HR with a 29:125 BB:K and 43/57 SB% for 77 R and 73 RBI, his low walk rate and high number of strikeouts seemed to preclude much improvement. We were actually present at the April 29th game in which he took his first major league walk, leading to a standing ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd. Consequently, the 24-year-old's break-out season this year has been an affront to sabermetricians everywhere, particularly as he has not increased his walk rate. Currently, Soriano's hitting .306 with a .332 OBP, and .562 SLG on 162 H, 42 2B, 2 3B, and 30 HR with an 18:121 SB% and 34/43 SB% in 530 AB for 97 R and 77 RBI.

Those numbers indicate that by the end of the season few people will bother noting that he was the first 30-30 second baseman because he will have become the first 40-40 second baseman. I can't completely shake the ingrained feelings that tell me that he's bound to be prone to extended slumps and a sudden drop in production due to the nature of his skills. However, he's certainly in a groove now and that could very well continue for years.

Juan Rivera appears almost fully recovered from the fractured kneecap that caused the Yankees to place him on the disabled list in early June, only four days after his promotion. New York will likely activate him from the DL in September after rosters expand.

After placing Rivera on the disabled list, the Yankees experimented with Marcus Thames for around three weeks before switching to Karim Garcia. However, Garica was only with the team five days before New York acquired Raul Mondesi, allowing them to designate Garcia for assignment. Garcia must have refused a minor league assignment, as he signed with the Indians a little over a week later.

Thames signed with the Yankees out of Mississippi's East Central Community College in 1997 as a draft-and-follow from the 30th round of the 1996 draft. He's moved slowly though the New York system, accumulating 1176 AB over parts of three seasons at AA Norwich in the Eastern League before moving up to AAA Columbus in the International League to start this season. In his 336 AAA AB, Thames has 73 H, 17 2B, 3 3B, and 13 HR with a 39:63 BB:K and 5/9 SB% for a .217 BA, .310 OBP, and .402 SLG. While in the majors, Thames appeared in 7 games in which he went 3-for-13 with a double, a homer, and four strikeouts. The 25-year-old's struggles in AAA this season indicate he'll likely need to repeat the level before he's ready for a job in the majors. However, Thames has demonstrated moderate power and speed skills in the past, so with the proper organizational patience, he should develop into a quality reserve outfielder or perhaps even a starter for a few seasons. This organization likely doesn't have the required patience to break him in themselves, so I expect he'll be dealt this off-season.

The Yankees placed Nick Johnson on the disabled list last week with a bone bruise in his left wrist. Johnson reportedly incurred the injury when he rolled over his wrist while making a diving catch of Raul Ibanez's line drive in the third inning of New York's August 7th game against the Royals. There's currently no estimate on when he might be able to rejoin the team. Unfortunately, wrist injuries are not new terrain for Johnson, who missed the 2000 season with a wrist problem. His walk rate has fallen in the majors, preventing him from producing the Rookie of the Year contender stats many expected. At the time of his injury, Johnson was hitting .247 with a .344 OBP, and .421 SLG on 78 H, 13 2B, and 14 HR with a 36:80 BB:K and 1/4 SB% in 316 AB. Johnson will only turn 24 tomorrow, so he still has some time to develop and mature into a quality regular. The off-season should dilute the possibility of any lingering effects on his power from his wrist injury.

New York originally recalled Mike Thurman to fill Johnson's roster but sent him down a week later in order to add another offensive player to the team in Alex Arias. Arias signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in early June after the Orioles released him from his minor league contract in late May. He offers nice flexibility off the bench as a utility infielder, but despite fairly decent strike zone judgment, he doesn't hit for average and he has shown no power or speed skills.

Thurman had taken Roger Clemens' roster spot but returned to the minors for a second time this season upon the activation of Mariano Rivera from the disabled list. Clemens rejoined the Yankees August 7th. While he pitched acceptably in his first two starts back, he struggled in Kansas City last week but not due to any reported injury. Brandon Knight once again returned to the minors in order to make room on the roster for Clemens.

The Yankees placed Rivera on the DL at the end of July with a muscle strain in his right shoulder. He doesn't seem to have suffered any lasting effects from his injury, though New York has limited his work somewhat since his return a week and a half ago.

Randy Choate was called up to fill Rivera's roster spot for two days before returning to the minors upon the activation of Sterling Hitchcock from the disable list. As he's behind Jeff Weaver in line for spot starts, Hitchcock will probably work long relief out of the bullpen for the rest of the season. Due to struggles in his five starts with the Yankees, New York bumped their latest acquisition to the pen upon Clemens' return. However, due to the ever-present health concerns of the rotation, Weaver could easily wind up making a couple starts in September or even October.

In my last article regarding the Yankees, I reported that New York had picked Seth Etherton up off waivers from Cincinnati. The organization has since been forced to return him to the Reds, as Major League Baseball decreed Cincinnati couldn't waive him while he was still rehabbing his injury.