Ramiro Pena had an emergency appendectomy yesterday, following a strong performance in Toronto Sunday. It looks like Pena will be out at least 6 weeks for his ailment, which would put his return to approximately the same time period when Arod would return to the Yankees.
The Yankees called up Brandon Laird yesterday and although he was activated for last night's game, he did not arrive in Tampa until the middle innings. Laird has been a minor league prospect for a few years now and was the best option for a utility infielder as he is on the 40 man roster already. His numbers are not great in Triple-A this season as he is only batting .266, but since his terrible month of April he is hitting .294. Laird has been improving as the season progresses and in the month of July he already has 4 home runs. (10 on the season) He plays third base, first base and the corner outfield spots. He is probably best known as a third baseman though and that is where he will play on the Yankees behind Eduardo Nunez.
Girardi has said that Nunez will be the everyday third baseman and Laird will be the back-up. This gives the Yankees the option of resting Jeter at least one day a week and replacing him with Nunez while Laird gets some time at third base. Nunez has been doing well offensively lately and has 17 RBI's on the season - 9 of which have tied the game for the Yanks or given them the lead! He may not be the "clutch" batter that Jeter is, but Nunez is a worthwhile replacement.
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