"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

So last week, "The Nation" offers "yes please" the following trade: Carlos Pena and Brad Lidge (DL) for Kevin Youkilis.

The manager of "yes please" (my sister) rightly notes that this ranks among the most offensive and insulting trades she's ever seen.

At the time of the trade, Pena was batting .181 and Youk was batting over .330. Brad Lidge is just completely irrelevant since he has recorded since roughly around the time of the Reagan administration.

The best part about this trade proposal is that while me and my sister are laughing and appalled etc at this nonsense, "The Nation" retracts his offer.

"Are you serious??" my sister says. "Like, what the f is he doing? 'Sorry, you had your chance, now the offer's off the table.' Man, I blew it. I totally missed a golden opportunity to deal my best hitter and round out my lineup with a slumping non-entity."

That night, Carlos Pena went 2 for 4. 2 Runs. 2 RBIs. 2 Homeruns.

"WHAT?!? IT'S LIKE HE KNEW. WTF HOW DID HE KNOW? I HATE THIS LEAGUE."

So Carlos Pena makes "The Nation" look somewhat like a genius, weirdly. Although I still, for the record, think it's a bullshit trade. And also, for the record, "The Nation" is in last place, so if I were him, I'd just bite the bullet and deal A-Rod for a slew of other talent. But that's neither here nor there.

Last night, Girardi stuck Cano in the clean up spot. Seemed a little random at the time, but I remember thinking that I didn't even care how it panned out, I was happy with the move, because if nothing else it demonstrated that Girardi is aware of the lineup problem. It's something I touched upon yesterday, how we're knocking in 10 hits a game, yet scoring only 2 runs. And moving Cano up in the lineup was a sign that Girardi was taking an active role in fixing this statistical detriment.

It also worked out pretty well, and just like Pena made "The Nation" out to be a nostredamus, Cano showed why we mere mortals aren't baseball managers, and that--indeed--perhaps the skippers do know what's best for their team.

Complementing a brilliant 7-inning, 8K outing from Hughes, Cano took Sipp yard for a salami. Swish also went deep earlier in the game, a 2-run ding off Carmona in the 2nd inning. THERE'S the offense I know and love!

Almost the entire team got a hit, and the lineup was a little weird. No A-Rod. No Cervelli or Posada. Ramiro Pena was moving around SS and 3B, with Kevin Russo coming in at 3B at one point, and Chad Moeller was catching.

Verrrrry strong hitting from the Yanks last night. And Hughes set it up so even Chan Ho Park couldn't ruin this one. Mitre and Park closed out the game, neither letting up a run. That might be the first time I've ever been able to say that ever. Wow.

And now for the best news: CURTIS GRANDERSON IS BACK AND RANDY WINN HAS BEEN DFA-ED.

The Tribe could barely touch Hughes last night, as he only let up 2 runs and 1 BB. Our young gun proved once again why exactly he's so good: HE TAKES DIRECTION. He's like the Holy Grail of coworkers. You know, the type of person you look to hire because you know they're just a good worker and quick study. They won't complain, they'll do what you ask them to, and they'll always look for a way to get ahead and go the extra mile.

That's Phil Hughes. He adds pitches to the his arsenal like he's collecting Garbage Pail Kid cards or something. Yesterday it wasn't just his blistering fastball that was stifling the Tribe, but his cutter specifically. And what makes him even better is that he has an astounding changeup that he can mix in with all this. The only thing that guy can't do, as far as I can tell, is a slider. But that's fine with me, I see more than my share of that with Joba anyway.

So begins the holiday weekend. And for the unfortunate opponents stepping into GNH, so begins the bleeding.