Yankees Notes: Girardi, Wood, and Laird

The Yankees had an off day yesterday, so there really isn’t a whole lot of news going on.

Andy Pettitte is throwing a bullpen this afternoon, which is critical to the Yankees season, but we haven’t gotten an update on that yet. As soon as there is something, I’ll let you know.

Here are some notes:

There have been a lot of questions about Joe Girardi and the open managerial position in Chicago, but Girardi insists he isn’t thinking about that. His focus is on this team and this playoff race.

Minor league third baseman Brandon Laird has been named to the Double-A Postseason All-Star team. His overall season numbers: 126 G, 25 2B, 25 HR, 99 RBI, 44 BB, 104 SO, .281/.339/.494/.833.

Kerry Wood has been lights out since joining the Yankees. Why? Possibly because pitching coach Dave Eiland adjusted his arm angle.

Here are this weekend’s pitching matchups:

Friday: RHP A.J. Burnett (9-11, 4.80) vs RHP Freddy Garcia (10-5, 5.08).

Saturday: LHP CC Sabathia (17-5, 3.02) vs LHP John Danks (12-8, 3.31).

Sunday: RHP Ivan Nova (0-0, 3.02) vs RHP Gavin Floyd (8-10, 3.97).

There is also some pretty big non-Yankee news. First is the news that the young Nationals fireballer Stephen Strasburg needs Tommy John surgery. Also, the White Sox claimed Manny Ramirez off of waivers.

Related Stories

• August 2, 2010 -- Yankees Notes: Wood, Berkman, Lowell, and Laird
• August 27, 2010 -- Read: NoMaas’ Interview w/Mark Newman
• August 23, 2010 -- Trades of Kearns and Wood Working Out; Berkman Not So Much
• August 14, 2010 -- Yankees Bullpen is Red Hot