The New York Yankees Prepare for Life Without Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera was just enjoying some exercise and shagging fly balls at Kauffman Stadium Thursday night when he suddenly tore his ACL in a freak accident that will likely end his illustrious career.

Baseball's All-time saves leader will definitely miss the remainder of the first half of the 2012 season and is quite possibly done pitching for good. He was lifted off the field by Joe Girardi and another coach and could not walk to the clubhouse on his own before being taken to the hospital for an MRI which revealed the torn ACL and meniscus. Rivera, who told reporters today that he refuses to go out like this, explained his injury like this:

CC Sabathia Struggles in Game 3 Loss to Tigers, Yankees on Brink of Elimination

CC Sabathia was all over the place Monday night in his New York Yankees' 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers, who now hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series.

The chubby left-hander, who could barely lob the ball to Russell Martin on an intentional walk, matched a postseason-worst with six walks. He literally could not find the strike zone... and he feels pretty bad about it:

"I put us in a bad spot... the next time I get the ball, I'll try to go out and try to help us win."

Too bad he might not get the chance until next season.

But it wasn't all CC's fault. Rafael Soriano, the $161 million man who was tagged with the loss, surrendered the go-ahead home run to Delmon Young in the seventh inning. Two innings later, Jose Valverde had Tigers fans sweating for the second straight game with the Yankees rallying in the ninth, but Derek Jeter failed miserably, striking out with two runners on for the final out.

Justin Verlander was pretty solid for Detroit, giving up four runs on six hits with three walks, but fanning a career postseason-best 11 batters. Hitting an incredible 101-mph on the gun into the eighth inning, the right-hander gained run support through second baseman Ramon Santiago, who went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Meanwhile, Jhonny Peralta nailed an RBI double to tie it up in the sixth just before Sabathia's exit.

Now on the brink of elimination Tuesday night, the Yankees will look to A.J. Burnett, who sucked quite a bit this season, to shift the series back to New York and force a Game 5. Rick Porcello, a career 2-2 with a 5.56 ERA against the Bronx Bombers, will pitch Game 4 for Detroit at 8:30pm ET on TBS.

[Detroit Free Press]

Crappy News for Rafael Soriano

Rafael Soriano got some not-so-great news Wednesday: he won't be pitching again until likely after the All-Star Break.

The New York Yankees' $35 million setup man, who cozied up to the disabled list on May 17, was diagnosed with an inflamed ligament in his right elbow... the same ligament which was repaired with Tommy John surgery back in 2004. Not good.

Also not good: his 5.40 ERA over 16 appearances leading up to the injury.

With that, the Yankees immediately claimed right-handed reliever Kanekoa Texeira off waivers, while also transferring Phil Hughes and his lack of velocity to the 60-day disabled list so Texeira could squeeze onto their 40-man roster.

Get well soon, Soriano. You are totally replaceable.

[Blogging the Bombers]

Rafael Soriano Gets Ridiculous Contract from Yankees

Whoa everybody, don't look now but the New York Yankees are throwing their money around like a bunch of crazy people. No offense to Rafael Soriano, but he is not worth roughly $12 million a year.

But apparently the Yankees believe he is. The two sides have come to terms on a three-year contract reportedly worth $35 million dollars. Upon agreeing to the deal, Soriano promptly passed out.