This evening, the Blue Jays designated their disgruntled infielder for assignment, giving them ten days to release or trade Shea Hillenbrand. The one-time future hope for the Boston Red Sox is due to make $5.8 million this year before entering the free agent market.

The Blue Jays opted to cut ties with Hillenbrand after he made remarks critical of the team. He was unhappy with his manager, unhappy with his playing time and generally unhappy with the organization on the hole.

Well, I have the perfect landing place for Hillenbrand: The Bronx. Shea Hillenbrand would be a huge upgrade for the Yankee bench.

On the season, Hillenbrand is hitting .301/.342/.480 with 12 home runs in 296 at-bats. That instantly makes Hillenbrand better than any of the other Yankee back-up infielders. Miguel Cairo and Nick Green can’t hold a candle to Shea. At least he has some pop in that bat.

Furthermore, at Yankee Stadium since 2001, Hillenbrand has thrived. In the Bronx, he has hit .328/.355/.527. A back-up corner infielder with an .882 OPS at Yankee Stadium? Sounds good to me.

Cut Cairo; keep Green. Or cut Green, and keep Cairo. Either way, adding Hillenbrand to the mix would be a huge upgrade for a depleted bench.

Update: In reading the comments to a post on this topic at WasWatching.com, I saw another great solution. Cut one of the extra outfielders. Do the Yankees need Aaron Guiel and Bubba Crosby? Not if Joe keeps using Bernie Williams every day. Make the bench stronger, I say.

So when Bernie came up with the potential go-ahead (and the Yanks’ third) run of the game at third base with one out today, I assumed he would succeed. So much for that.

Bernie feebly struck out on three pitches. An inning later, Kelly Stinnett made a mockery of his postion and cost the Yankees the game and Randy Johnson’s strongest outing of the season.

For Bernie, however, lack of success with a runner on third and less than two outs is somewhat surprising. Heading into today’s game, Bernie had 13 at bats in that situation and has 14 RBIs to show for it. While he had just 3 hits in those situations, he has a lot of what I call the Bernie Speciality: a bouncing ball to second base. That strike out, a costly one, was just Bernie’s second of the season in that situation.

It couldn’t have come at a worse time.

As exciting as this game was, I feel a bit sheepish about it. Everyone watching at home saw the replay over and over and over again. Even those of us sitting in the Stadium were a bit shocked. But hey, it’s a long season, and the Yanks will get good calls and bad calls.

Memo to Mike Reilly: Stay away from Lookout Landing author Jeff. He might kill you himself.

Thursday is an important day for Hideki Matsui, who is scheduled to visit the doctor and could be given the go-ahead to begin basic hitting drills.

Matsui, who is recovering from a broken left wrist, already has been taking dry swings in which he allows his left hand to come off the bat to reduce stress; exercises that involve making contact with the ball (such as hitting off a tee) would be the next step.

Matsui also has been playing catch in the outfield during batting practice, though he can only catch balls that are lobbed to him; he isn’t allowed to shag fly balls yet. Matsui is targeting an August return, which would be ahead of the September prognosis he received right after his injury. “If it turns out to be that, that’s fine,” Joe Torre said. “We certainly hope it is.”

If the doctor gives the Yanks and Matsui some good news on Thursday, I would expect the Yanks to focus on landing a pitcher instead of an outfielder before the July 31 trade deadline. But can the Boss resist Bobby Abreu?

Pitching for the first time since the AA All Star Game and the Futures Game, Hughes was brilliant. He threw 5 scoreless innings to extend his scoreless inning streak to 22 2/3. He struck out 9, walked one, and gave up just three hits.

Let’s review: Over his last seven outings now at AA Trenton, Hughes has been nothing shot of perfect. On a strict pitch count, Hughes has twirled 42.2 innings while giving up 19 hits, 3 earned runs, 12 walks and 54 strike outs. His WHIP over that stretch is 0.73, and his ERA is a miniscule 0.63.

I think it’s time for Hughes to face some hitters at Columbus. He has thrown 110 innings already this season, and the Yanks are going to shut him down soon. He ought to get some work in against slighty better hitters if the Yanks won’t just have him start in the Bronx. He can’t get much better in Trenton.

I’m sure we won’t be able to avoid this story over the next few days.

Of course, if it involves a discarded Royal, the Yankees are in on this rumor. According to reports, the Royals have had the audacity to lower their asking price to include one of the live young arms in the Yankees farm system. No longer are the Royals demanding Philip Hughes or Jose Tabata in exchange for an outfielder with a .302 on-base percentage. They will simply settle for Tyler Clippard or J.B. Cox.

Here’s the skinny on Sanders: He’s bad. The Royals are his 8th team since 1998. If he were any good, wouldn’t you think he would stick around for a bit?

On this season, he’s hitting .244/.302/.417 with 76 strike outs in 254 at-bats. His VORP clocks in at -3.0. That’s right; it’s a negative. Reggie Sanders is worse than the best available AAA option. He’s worse than the guy you pick up off the scrap heap (Aaron Guiel, anyone?).

The Yankees, it seems, do not understand this concept. Why would you give up even a Minor League pitcher for an outfielder who makes a lot of money, is really old, and isn’t any good? It doesn’t make sense. This is not the impact player you seek.

He joines an elite group of relievers:

Lee Smith – 478
Trevor Hoffman – 460
John Franco – 424

The Sandman, however, is the only one of the group to record all of his saves for the same team. His first save came on May 17, 1996 at Yankee Stadium in a game against the California Angels. He would record 5 more that season as the set-up man for John Wetteland.

Since assuming the closer role in 1997, Rivera has notched 395 saves or more than 40 a season for nearly ten seasons. He also has 34 additional postseason saves. These lofty numbers serve as a testament to Rivera’s ability and the Yankees’ success. Think what you will about the validity of the save, but Rivera certainly belongs in the Hall.

I’ll have more later on Monday. I just got home from a weekend away and must catch some sleep. Wang vs. Ichiro and the Mariners in 98 degree heat should be a great way to start the week.

Here’s what Sherman had to say:

Until now, the Yanks were expected to be the lone New York club pursuing Abreu. However, two sources confirmed to The Post that the Mets recently contacted Phillies GM Pat Gillick to say that if Abreu, closer Tom Gordon or starter Jon Lieber are made available before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, to count the Mets in.

That revelation complicates life for the Yanks. The Mets simply have come to believe top starters such as Dontrelle Willis, Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt will not be available. One Mets official described the pitching market as “No. 4 and No. 5 starters who you will have to pray can really help you.” The Mets have been closely linked with one such starter, Washington’s Livan Hernandez, who is due $7 million next year and has the NL’s second-worst ERA (5.94).

So if they cannot upgrade their rotation, the Mets are considering improving the offense as a way to alleviate pressure on their staff, notably young starters Mike Pelfrey and John Maine. Abreu, for example, would add even more speed, patience and power to a lineup that generated the NL’s most first-half runs…But can Minaya get Abreu?

Sherman goes on to the note that the Phillies would be very reluctant to trade Abreu to a division rival. He says that the Yanks, with injuries to Sheffield and Matsui, need Abreu more. He would be a huge upgrade over the Aaron Guiel/Bernie Williams platoon set to debut tonight.

For the Yanks, the concern is Phillies GM Pat Gillick’s asking price. In two weeks, when Gillick decides the Phillies are done, and it’s time to sell, Gillick will ask for the top prospects in return for his All Star player. But the Phillies are in no position to bargain as Abreu is owed a lot of money over the next few years.

I can envision a scenario where the Yankees offer to pick up Abreu’s tab in exchange for fringe players. With the Mets in the picture, though, the price for Abreu just might get steeper. While WasWatching.com’s Steve Lombardi appears somewhat skeptical of Abreu, having watched him in Philadelphia, I believe Abreu would succeed in New York and thrive with a supportive crowd.