Rays 8, Yankees 6: More misery

Mo saying everything is fine is reminds me of Mike Mussina in ‘07 and his refusal to admit that he doesn’t have the velocity to blow pitches pass hitters anymore. In past Spring Training years, Mo had talked about experimenting and working with different pitches. Perhaps now is time to bring out his full repertoire since his once unhittable cutter is getting tagged. Mo still possesses very good command so it’s hard to say that mixing in other pitches will not be successful. It’s still too early to tell but I hope he doesn’t have to embarrass himself to admit that he’s not the same Mo of the past.

if the team could win 89 games last year i dont understand why it cant get at least close with the 2 big guys they did pickup.

Going into this season, had I knew Phil Coke would be your best middle reliever, I would have laughed. You guys made some okay acquisitions as far as I am concerned, but your FO went for the flash and not the glue. They didn’t tie up the loose ends, just threw addressed the parts in most dire of need. Relievers like Will Ohman or Joe Beimel could have been had for a mere 2-3 million dollars. Jeremy Affeldt, Juan Cruz, Brandon Lyon, Dennys Reyes… Shoot I wouldn’t have even suprised if Cashman and the FO broke bank and signed Kerry Wood as a set up and future closer once Mo is gone. While these aren’t bullpen guys like Ryan Madsen or Carlos Marmol who just dominate a game, they are guys who are seasoned bullpen vets and have proven that they can get through an inning or two and not be the liability that a pitcher like Jose Veras is, or Johnathan Albaladejo. I, for one, accepted the resigning of Demaso Marte and thought it was pretty wise, and I still think he is the only solid arm in your pen aside from Bruney (Who, is somewhat streaky to me).

While I think more of the pressure for the pen is on Girardi for being totally clueless and using nearly all the pen in consecutive games, I don’t think that your pen is full of total losers either. I think they are just overworked, and at this point in the season, thats a really bad thing.

As far as your bench, thats another trouble spot. I, myself, didn’t even think Brett Gardner would be this lousy with a bat or that Ramiro Pena would even have a whiff of playing time, but that’s what it came to. Again, you could have made some small, couple million dollar signings like Baldelli or a strong jack-of-all-trades player like Willie Bloomquist. Alex Cora, Nick Punto, Kevin Millar.. All players that could be sitting on your bench and providing much more than Ramiro Pena, Ransom, Gardner, or anyone else in your farm system could have provided. They may not be Mark Texeira’s or A-Rod’s with the bat, but what bench player is? They provide knowledge of their position and are great defensive options.

Now, I am not going to say the signings you did make were horrid, they just weren’t the players to sign in my opinion. Outside of Texeira, the starters you guys signed weren’t the A grade everyone seems to give them (my opinions, of course). I mean, yes, you can tell me C.C. won the Cy Young and I will fully agree that because of that, he is a pretty damn good pitcher. But to not be able to foresee that after years of over working. His lowest year of IP was 180.1, and that was his rookie year, over the past three years, he has pitched these numbers: 2008: 253 innings 2007: 241 innings 2006: 192.2 innings. Now, I know you’re gonna tell me that he is huge and built to throw that much, but I dont think there is any man who can throw a ball in the mid 90s and pitch about 500 innings in 2 years and not be tired. Don’t give up hope on him though, because his WHIP is only 1.38 and in 3 of his 5 games, he only received 1-2 runs of support. I hope he works his problems out because I would love to see him pitch in a great rivalry game between our two clubs. I don’t think its impossible.. just give it a bit of time and he will work out.

Burnett, on the other hand, is defying who I thought he would be. I thought after he signed the dotted line on his contract, he would contract a broken finger or something and not be able to pitch. And that would turn to a broken this and that and blah blah blah. But again, he has a low WHIP (1.33) and has 3 quality starts. He only blew up against the Sox that saturday evening and his other “non quality” start was 4 runs to the Angels, in which you guys went on to win the game. I think if you didn’t sign him, you guys would be dead right now. But, if I had to go to the off season and say “should you or shouldn’t you”, I would say not, simply because he is a #3-4 starter at best. Would have said wait till next year and go after Harden or Lackey, but you dodged a huge bullet by getting him, simply because at that time, I thought Wang would be Cy caliber again and well.. he hasn’t been.

So where should the blame be placed? It has to be placed on Cashman, Steinbrenner, and Girardi. Cashman for going after the major needs, yet not fixing the minors (I fully understand that by taking care of those needs, he would have had to spend another 20-30 million dollars and the team would look more “bought” and what not, but lets face it, the bench and bullpen are a bunch of AAAA+ guys or underdeveloped talent who need more time to develop). Maybe a trade could have been in order.. you have a ton of expiring contracts and I am sure someone would have bit at Xavier Nady or Johnny Damon for reliever X or Super bench player B. I mean look what we got for Coco Crisp.. I am sure you could have got a good something or other for one of them.

I blame Steinbrenner for paying ridiculous amounts of money to the free agents. Look at it this way, Had you offered Burnett a bit less or Tex one year less, or cut atleast 15-20 million outta CCs contract (Because you overpayed for it by a long shot), you would have been able to have fulfilled all those needs I noted above. Instead, you got locked into bidding wars and had to pay the higher than highest price for these players, and that is kind of a shame. I understand that Steinbrenner is new to the Yankee legacy and what not, but he needs to learn how to control his wallet or people will become angry at him aswell.

And as for Girardi, I think he does a HORRIBLE job with your pitching. That bullpen is overworked already and it’s not even mid-season. He trusts nobody, and you know he can feel the media breathing down his neck. He feels that when he does the right thing, it’s the wrong thing. And when he does the wrong thing, he keeps making it worse. By doing the right thing, I mean yanking a pitcher who is at 120 pitches out of a game while he has the win. Then, he goes to the pen and the first batter gets a hit. He panics and gets the next Joe Somebody up in the pen and just keeps using all the arms. He has no trust in the pen, and its evident, but quite frankly, I wouldn’t either. But when he does the wrong thing, he just keeps making it worse. Such as tonight, Mo made two outs. Yeah he gave up two runs and the game was still winnable, but why the hell would you go to another pitcher? And in the last game against Boston. You were down by 3-4 and he goes to Melancon for the 9th. Why? I mean, I am not doubting your team can make comebacks (Because I have seen it happen), but you have to have trust and faith that the guy on the mound can spare you from having to use ANOTHER arm. If he can gain a form of trust and control with that pen, things will start to improve there, but as far as I am concerned, that is his weakness and ultimately will be the make or break point that keeps him in Pinstripes or leaves him without them.

Sorry if thats a big jumble of words and random thoughts and such. I didn’t intend for it to be if it is. Just trying to give some words of wisdom and give some form of hope. The season is far from over, and I will be honest, I doubt the Yankees alot right now. But I rather see you guys in the playoffs then the damn Rays. God I hate that team.

Have hope that your problems will sort themselves out. They aren’t that major and it’s not the end of the world.

Eric,
I enjoyed your essay on the front office. My Yankee friends and I over beer have commented by the winning core (Posada, Jeter, Mo) all aging together and the injury factor playing out. I think the defense was 2nd to last in the bigs last year. One thing I admire about Theo and crew is that they set theirmprice and let free agents walk – Arroyo and Lowe come to mind along with Damon not to mention Manny and Tek this past seson and outside FA’s such as CC and Tex. They do not lowball they make an offer they think is fair. They also lock up their stars in their prime at a discounted price. I think of the qoute – it is not personal it is just business…to be consistently competitive you gotta let the suerpstars test free agency and walk. The Yanks have the money to overpay proven players – but are they really worth it? If Beckett has leveled off they will not renew his contract…I hoped they would deal Papi in the offseason – I think he peaked in 2007. Dare I say this – I never suspected Manny to juice – so now I wonder why Papi has his injuries and now he sucks???