The Yankees placed 1B-L Jason Giambi on the disabled list on May 22nd. Giambi sprained his right ankle while rounding first base during New York's May 21st game in Texas. The sprain is not considered severe, but since a sore left hip and back spasms also troubled Giambi recently, the Yankees felt he should rest now rather than try to return to the lineup in a few days and have the injury linger. New York hopes he will be ready to rejoin the team when he first is eligible to leave the disabled list on June 6th, and I will be surprised if he is out more than a week past that date.

In conjunction with placing Giambi on the DL, the Yankees recalled OF-L Bubba Crosby and RHP Jose Contreras while demoting Bret Prinz. Crosby had been sent down on May 2nd when OF-L Kenny Lofton returned from the disabled list. Crosby will serve as a reserve outfielder, allowing the Yankees to comfortably use OF-S Bernie Williams as their DH occasionally without worrying about their outfield depth. Lofton seems to have fully recovered from the injury to his right quadriceps muscle, though he recently experienced some tightness in his left hamstring. Unless he suffers a more severe injury to the hamstring, he likely will not need to return to the disabled list, but the 36-year-old's leg problems are definitely affecting the way Lofton plays the game, as he's only attempted to steal two bases this year.

Meanwhile, 1B-S Tony Clark assumed the starting job at first in Giambi's absence. Clark's displaying solid plate discipline and promising power potential, but his poor contact rate is keeping his batting average down. The left shoulder injury that caused 1B-L Travis Lee to open the season on the disabled list continued to bother him even after his late April return, and further examination revealed a torn labrum. Lee returned to the disabled list on May 1st and underwent surgery to repair the shoulder on May 11th, so he is out for the season and therefore unavailable to cover first. When Lee returned to the DL, Homer Bush replaced him on the roster.