Baseball’s Savior

The Marlins dump continues and this time the Yankees were on the receiving end. They picked up middle relief pitcher Ron Villone for minor leaguer Ben Julianel. Villone has a solid arm even as he gets up in age. He struck out 70 batters in 64 innings, and he can even spot start if need be. He’ll join a solid pen that consists of Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth and the newly acquired left hander, Mike Myers.

Julianel turned 26 in September and he still hasn’t even had a cup of coffee (heck, he hasn’t even pitched above AA). He came to the Yankees when they moved Sterling Hitchcock, but he had a solid season last year in Trenton. 106 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings, which was mostly relief. But like I said, he’s kind of a man among boys, so you’d expect him to be solid at that level.