Embarrassed, yes -- panicked, no

This has been a huge glaring weakness for the Yankees for the past several years. Even with the anticipation of A-Rod coming back ahead of schedule, Cashman absolutely needs to make a move to reinforce the anemic bench. All we have right now worthy of a pinch-hit AB is Melky.

“it gets late early…” Not this damn early moron! And way to make zero points in your little post!

right now is starting pitching. Currently the rotation just isn’t giving the team enough quality innings, hence the bullpen is already feeling the effects, albeit this early into the season. If the starters can put in 6-7 good innings, my concerns about the bullpen lessen. I’m interested to see how CC responds tonight. I also have some nagging concerns about Joba’s diminished velocity, compared against his starts last season. The upside is that there are options available for the rotation. Let’s see what Hughes can do.

Offensively, the entire dynamic of the order changes once A-Rod returns. I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen from Cano and Melky seems to have improved greatly regards his plate discipline, except in high pressure situations, where he still tends to overswing. I’m beginning to think that Gardner just can’t cut it at this level. Love his speed, but it doesn’t matter if he can’t get on base.

As for other issues, I’ve never been a Cashman fan, but no need to cover that ground again. Some of Girardi’s in-game management decisions leave me scratching my head, calling for a bunt to advance the runner when Matsui is on first? I’ve seen him do this twice and still haven’t figured it out.

Bottom line for me is that this team is up to it’s typical early season underachieving ways. I really hoped this would be the year for them to come out of the gate strong. But there is still alot of baseball left and it is far too early to throw in the towel.

jump off the Whitestone Bridge quite yet. First look at the calendar. Second, we knew without A-Rod the team would tread water. .500 is pretty much the definition of treading water. There is some cause for concern. First that the rotation that was supposed to be great is mediocre at best so far. Second middle relief pitching just outright sucks—then again whose middle relief doesn’t. Bruney and Mo have been the bright spots of the pitching staff. Third is the concern that our farm system appears to be developing a lota of 4-A players( too good for tripleA but not ready for the Majors. Finally, the perception of Cashman vs Epstein will only turn around when the players Cash has brought in via free agency or up from the minors actually produce on the field is pressure situations.

I think the team needs to look at returning Joba to the bullpen as a viable option, but it is still a bit too early to make that call. His velocity is a cause for concern, as well as his abrupt finish, which I still fear puts him at an increased risk for shoulder problems. As I mentioned, the upside is that the team does have options if that move needs to be made.

Regards Boston, I think talent-wise the teams are just about equal, I won’t do a position-by-position comparison, IMO teams win or lose collectively. Boston seems to have this “never say die” attitude regardless of the score, whereas it appears that whenever the Yankees are 2-3 runs down, they just pack it in.

tnredneckyankeesfan about Joba, it’s far too early to judge his ability as a starter based on this small sample size, I’d just like to keep the 8th inning role available as an option if the shoulder issues flare up again. As I mentioned I am concerned about Joba’s velocity, given last season he was consistently in the 95mph area, this season his fastball seems to be hovering around 92, and those numbers are based on PitchFX data. Could just be that his arm strength isn’t where it should be, but that is a fairly significant decrease in velocity.

If Hughes pitches well and Wang comes back healthy, why not use Hughes, IPK, or Aceves like the Sox do Masterson? Yeah they are all projected starters, but they’re also Yankee farm hands who should be utilized to help the Major League club win. It couldn’t hurt our long man problem either.

way too early. yankees always get off to slow stars, in 07 they were 8-13 on April 27, 06- 11-9, 05 9-12,04 9-11. they made the playoffs every year those years. like you said 144 games left, and wang is responsible for alot he has tired out the bullpen and A-rod isnt even playing. the red sox fans can laugh at us now, but we will be laughing in October. GO YANKEES!!!!

I have been a Yankee Fan for my entire life. The past three, four years are proof that Cashman must go. I’m confused why they re-signed him. We still don’t have a bullpen.
Rivera is getting old, god bless him, and our beanch is superior to none.
He waited to long to go get starting pitchers and has this team in a panic mode.

I’m not just saying this because of ur slow start (Again). I have been saying this for years.

Aside from this, I have some positive statements to make:

Texiera is usually a slow starter, and we need his bat.
A-Rod should be coming back shortly and let’s hope they are not rushing him back to soon.
Wang’s aweful start was not predicted by almost anyone.
CC Sabathia’s start last year was worse than this year so I can only hope the rest of his year is better than last ( that would be great).
AJ Burnett has pitched fairly well, only one outing has been bad.
Cano is maybe living up to Don Mattingly’s prediction that he will win a batting title some year ( that would be great).
Phil Hughes looked very good last night and all spring! The Franchise is back!
Joba should be moved to long relief again, where he should have stayed all along.
Melky got a wake up call, but then again he started hot last year, don’t forget that please.
Despite all our problems, we are still 10-10, not bad considering if the season ended now, Toronto wins the division, Tampa the reigning Champions of the AL are behind us, and Seattle leads the West. And you got to love this, our crosstown Mets are not doing so great either (that always gives me a boost).

So there is still hope in Yankee Land.