AL East Notes: Yankees, Reyes, Cano

The AL East features one of baseball's tightest races, with just 6.5 games separating first place from fifth place. Here's the latest from the division that's currently fronted by the Red Sox…

• The Yankees have an alarming lack of right-handed power, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Prior to tonight's home run by Jayson Nix, the Yankees hadn't received a right-handed homer since Mark Teixeira's blast on June 4. That weakness is compounded by the fact that Teixeira's injured wrist hasn't responded well to a cortisone shot. Still, GM Brian Cashman told Sherman that he's not aggressively pursuing right-handed bats at this time.
• MLB.com's Greg Johns tweets that after many days of speculation, the Blue Jays will option Munenori Kawasaki to Triple-A Buffalo and transfer Ramon Ortiz to the 60-day disabled list to clear roster space for the returning Jose Reyes.
• Robinson Cano isn't thinking about his next contract, though the Yankees' superstar did make the mistake of stating that he will "be a free agent either way" when asked about his stalled contract negotiations on Monday, writes Chris Dell of the New York Daily News.
• Within that same piece, Cano also added that the Yankees desperately need Alex Rodriguez back, lauding not only his talent on the field but also his underrated leadership behind closed doors.