tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Yanks Swept Away: What A Disgrace!!!

Losers of five in a row and 9 out of their last twelve, the Yankees head off to Tampa to take on the first place Rays and their ace, David Price.  Could we be looking at 6 in a row??  Who knows.

One would have thought that their blood rivals would have brought out the best in them, but the Yankees played uninspired baseball.  Errors, failure to hit in the clutch, base running gaffes and failure to do the little things were evident last night and have been evident in the recent 5 game losing streak, the longest losing streak ever at the new Yankee Stadium. 

There were plenty of scapegoats last night.  Freddy Garcia couldn't hold a lead, Alex Rodrieguez botching a ground ball that led to a run, Russell Martin's passed ball which resulted in a run, Nick Swisher looking totally lost at the plate and Brett Gardner going 0-4, unable to get down a sacrifice bunt and getting picked off at first base.  Painful to watch.

To summarize: the Yankees are a mess and a disgrace to their fans and the uniforms they wear.  Moreover, I'm not sure that the two men in charge (Cashman & Girardi) have the ability to lead them out of this.  Joe Girardi lamented that there is no book that you can turn to when it comes to how to deal with aging stars.  Hmmmm....are you kidding me???  He had no idea that this might have to be something he would have to deal with?

In Joe's defense, he shouldn't have been put in this position because the tough guy General Manager should have been developing players to begin the process of replacing the Core Four.  Brett Gardner is the only new addition from the farm system in the last 3 years.  Let me ask you a question, who would you rather have: Brett Gardner or Melky Cabrera???  For Cabrera the Yankees got Javier Vazquez.  How did Cashman make out with that one??

But for Robinson Cano, the Yankees have not developed a position player of consequence since the arrival of Jeter, Pettite, Posada, Rivera and Williams.  Hmmmmm.....the foundation of the dynasty.  Oh and by the way, Cashman had nothing to do with any of that.

For the last several years, Cashman has put an emphasis on drafting pitchers.  Yet, they have ruined Joba Chamberlain, don't know what's wrong with Phil Hughes and have had to bring on board Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon.  Where are these young arms?????   How come other teams bring kids up and they can perform????

There is a management theory which is based on the belief that 92% of what goes on in an organization is a reflection of the person in charge.  If we accept that, its painfully obvious why the Yankees are in the state that they are in.  The Steinbrenner boys don't have a clue about baseball.  The guy they have complete trust in has developed only one position player of consequence in the last 6 years.  This is the same guy who has not developed a quality starting pitcher in the same time period.  The same guy who appears to have the media skills of a ham-handed CEO who loves to show how tough he is by going after his employees.  In this case, employees who have made your organization very successful.

Maybe the disgrace isn't the guys wearing the uniform.  The disgrace is the guy who is running the show.  The disgrace is Brian Cashman.  It's time for a shake-up.  It's time for Cashman to go. 

Don't forget tomorrow's Tuesday's Thoughts.

Pinstripe Trouble – Brace Up It’s Going To Be A Long Summer

While losing 6-0 to the Red Sox wasn't bad enough, all hell broke loose when it was reported that Jorge Posada pulled himself out of the lineup before the game.  You see, Posada was demoted to batting ninth.  Batting only .165, Posada was moved to 9th and Nick Swisher was moved to 8th with Brett Gardner and Russell Martin being moved up in the lineup.  What transpired during and after the game tells me a lot about this team and this organization.

Can I understand why Posada was moved down in the lineup??  Yes, but wouldn't it have made more sense to just sit him??  The Yankees know Posada.  They know that he is an extremely proud person who has a fiery personality.  As a result, why wouldn't they have just sat him.  What difference would it have made if he was sitting on the bench or batting ninth.  If he couldn't bat 6th or 7th in the lineup then he didn't deserve to play.

Brian Cashman goes on FOX and tells a national television audience that Posada pulled himself out of the lineup.  As evidenced by Posada's remarks after the game this clearly irritated him.  However, Cashman says that he told Posada and his agents exactly what he was going to say on FOX.  What I found most telling was a comment that Posada made that went something like "that's the way he does things now."  To me that shows that Posada doesn't appreciate Cashman's handling of players.  Think about how the Jeter contract scenario played out.  If Posada feels that way, don't tell me that there aren't others in that clubhouse who feel the same way as Posada.  If that is the case, how can you expect this team to function as a team.

This collection of millionaires is not like the 1977-78 Yankees.  That group took on all the distractions including the meddling of George Steinbrenner and played to win.  They were World Champions twice including the dramatic 14 game comeback against these very same Red Sox in 1978.  Somehow I don't think this collection of players could pull that off.

This entire organization is in trouble.  As I have stated many times on this blog, the farm system has not produced players to begin the process of phasing out older stars, some of whom are icons.  The Steinbrenner boys are responsible for giving Jorge Posada the extra year on his current contract because they couldn't risk further fallout after the hostile break-up with Joe Torre.  Think: bad break-up with Torre, open warfare in contract negotiations with Jeter and now Posada. 

This team has played poorly since last August.  In fact, in an article today in the NY Post it was pointed out that the Yankees were 29-30 from August 1 to the end of the 2010 regular season.  Couple that with their current record, they are 49-47 since August 1, 2010.  Hardly championship material.  What's more troubling is that I don't see much hope of it turning around.

There seems to be a terrible entitlement malaise with this team.  Some of these guys are stilling living off the 2009 Championship.  Some of these guys are living off past performances.  The Yanks have lived off the long ball this year but that tells us a lot.  It tells us that these guys are playing as individuals.  When do you see someone try to get something going by laying a bunt down?  When do you see the Yankees hit and run?  How about stealing a base.

There needs to be a major shake-up.  The Steinbrenners are going nowhere.  Cashman's contract runs out this year and I think there needs to be serious consideration for a change.  Girardi also needs to be reviewed in that I believe that some of these guys he's played with have a problem with him.  Some of the young players down on the farm need to be brought up.  Jesus Montero should be brought up now.  Bring up Jorge Vazquez.  Think about bringing up Kevin Whelan and see what he's got, he of 12 saves and a 1.50 ERA.  There needs to be an infusion of youth beacuse this team is old and stale.  Maybe youthful energy can spur some of these older players.

I have felt from the beginning that this was going to be a long season and there is nothing that this team is showing me that would lead me to believe otherwise.  Tonight they have to depend on Freddy Garcia to avert a sweep.  What does that tell you?

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/yanking_our_chains_3SjsFdJyJZrihm4nvsCdKN

Read the article above by Kevin Kernan.  Brace up boys, it's going to be a long summer!!

The Obsession With Derek Jeter

The NY Daily News, the NY Post, and ESPN have stories today about Derek Jeter being dropped in the lineup.  The NY Post equates the situation to when Don Mattingly was dropped in the lineup and replaced by Paul O'Neill.  But is the situation really the same???  And does this merit the type of media scrutiny that we are seeing and reading??

Mattingly batted 3rd and while hitting over .300 was not hitting for power and driving in runs.  O'Neill was leading the AL in hitting and was the obvious choice to replace Donnie Baseball in the 3 spot.  Who replaces Jeter as the leadoff hitter???  If you look at the current Yankee roster and specifically the current lineup, there is no one who is better than Jeter right now to be placed in leadoff spot.  Brett Gardner has already been there and has been moved.  Curtis Granderson is not an option either and it may be better for the Yanks to have him in a position to be able to drive in runs as evidenced by his 2 home runs last night which led the Yanks to victory.

Does this merit the media scrutiny??? Absolutely not!!  Derek Jeter's hitting woes are a concern but so are those of Jorge Posada, ARod, Nick Swisher, and Brett Gardner.  While today marks the first time there have been stories on Posada's hitting struggles, no one really is questioning anyone else.  So why the obsession with Jeter??

I'm going to throw out a theory here that has no basis in fact: maybe the Yankee heirarchy is behind all of this.  There is no question that there was bad blood between Jeter and the Yankees over his contract.  I think there is also no question that most fans sided with Jeter.  So the Yankees want to show who's boss here and stir these stories to get fans to clamor for a demotion forcing Jeter to come forward and accept it.  Ridiculous???  Who knows.  Don't forget the Yankees leaked stories and planted questions to get at Joe Torre in his later years.

The real story is the lack of development in the Yankees farm system as it relates to offensive players.  As I've mentioned before on this blog, Bernie Williams was  the last outfielder who was developed within the system who was a bona fide keeper.  Look at the current lineup: Jeter, Cano, Posada and Gardner are home grown with Jeter and Posada on the downside of their careers.  The real focus should be on Mr. Cashman & Company. But you don't see any stories about that!!!!

Storm Clouds On The Horizon For Yanks

Let me start out by making it very clear: I'm a die-hard Yankee fan.  My first Yankee memory is Bobby Richardson's leaping catch which gave the Yankees a World Championship in 1962.  I went through the dark era from 1965 - 1975, when they were flat out terrible and the only way I could listen to their games was by putting foil on a radio antenna and pulling in WGY Schenectady.  I bring all of this up to show my Pinstripe loyalty.  However, I call them like I see them and I'm concerned about where the Yankees are heading this season.

In earlier posts I have criticized Brian Cashman for his failure to shore up the starting rotation.  Being fair, the bargain acquisitions of Freddy Garcia and Bartolo "little Andre" Colon has placed a temporary band-aid on the rotation.  In fact, over the course of the last week Yankee starters have pitched well enough to win.  However, victories have not necessarily followed.

Since coming back from a minor injury, ARod has been struggling big time, Jorge Posada has been awful at DH, Nick Swisher is having difficulty from the left side of the plate, Derek Jeter has not been Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner(while coming on lately) has not proven to be a lead-off hitter.  You can pitch as well as you want, but you have to score some runs to win.

The Yankees are going to have to make some tough decisions.  How long are they willing to go with Posada at full-time DH??  When does Derek Jeter get moved down in the line-up?? Do they have a legitimate lead-off hitter on their roster??  What do they do if Phil Hughes can't come back this season??  And, will Garcia, Colon and Nova be able to handle the heat of a summer pennant race.

The Yanks currently sit atop the AL East, 2 games ahead of the Rays and 4 games ahead of the Red Sox.  Obviously, I'd rather be in first than third.  However, you have rose-pinstriped colored glasses on if you don't have some concern as we go further into the month of May.  I've felt from the beginning that this season was going to be a tough one.  I hope I'm wrong, but I'm having a hard time seeing this team as its currently constructed doing much damage in October.  Even more scary, October may not be guaranteed.  Time will tell if I'm a worry wart or if having followed this team for nearly 50 years I can see the storm clouds ahead.

Cashman Doing Great Job: Really???

This morning both New York dailies are praising Brian Cashman for unearthing such gems like Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Andruw Jones, Eric Chavez and Russell Martin.   Now let me be fair, I loved the Russell Martin signing.  Martin was a two-time All Star in the National League before injuries sidelined him.  By the way, he's also only 28.

I liked the signings of Jones and Chavez.  The Yanks have been notoriously weak on their bench and these two help to strengthen that and provides Joe Girardi with options.  As far as the pitchers, I had no problem with Garcia.  Having him as the number 5 starter was a decent move.  Colon?  I must admit that I am completely surprised by how well he has pitched.  One can make the argument that he is the Yankees second best pitcher.  So I guess all of that means that Cashman has done a great job.  In fact, he's proud that he has "unearthed nuggets".  Gene Michael once told Cashman that he needs to be a "prospector".

So let me see.  The Yankee rotation is Sabathia, Burnett, Colon, Garcia  and Nova.  Hardly, intimidating for a playoff series.  Maybe barely intimidating to win the AL East.  The fact of the matter is that Brian Cashman made all the wrong moves going back to the 2010 trade deadline last July.  It was then that he first got hung up over his love affair with acquiring Cliff Lee.  The Mariners stuck it to him and he then decided that he would wait for free agency.  But for a moment, what if Cashman had went after Dan Haren?  Where would the Yankees be now??  Maybe Andy Pettite stays and Cashman could still have tried to sign Lee in December.  Now how about this rotation: Sabathia, Haren, Pettite, Garcia and Nova.

To be fair, the situation with Phil Hughes could not have been predicted and certainly is unfortunate.  However, the Hughes situation shows how fragile young pitchers are in spite of all the rules that the Yankees place on their young arms.  In the end, as it stands right now, the most winningest young pitcher that the Yankees have come up with in the last 10 years has been Chien Ming Wang. 

While Cashman has "cobbled" together a rotation to keep the ship afloat, the rest of the season is one injury to an over 30-something pitcher away from being torpedoed.  The Rays are only 1 game behind and have a pitching staff that is younger and coming on.  The Red Sox are 5 games out.  The Yankees head into May having more road games than at home.  The next 30 - 45 days will give us a good picture of where they will be as we head into the summer. 

Cashman should know better than anyone that a trip to post season baseball isn't determined in April.  It's way to early to be lauding the Yankee GM.  I'll wait until October and let you know how well Cashman has done as GM.

Cashman Goes At Torre. Why???

I read with amazement a story in the NY Daily News about Brian Cashman trying to protect relievers when Joe Torre was manager of the Yankees.  What does this revelation have to do with the 2011 Yankees???  About as much as the price of tea in China.

Cashman is obviously a little sensitive as a result of the news that Pedro Feliciano, a lefty specialist, is done for the year and one has to wonder about his career as the injury is similar to the one sustained by Chien Ming-Wang.  The Yankees are now left with Boone Logan as their only left-hander in the bullpen while they have two high priced lefties on the injured list: Feliciano and Damaso Marte.  In my mind, Cashman has a lot to be sensitive about these days.

Fortunately for the Yankees, the Red Sox have their own problems right now and the Yanks find themselves on top of the East Division this morning.  But it's April 15th and there is plenty of season left.  The Red Sox will right their ship and the heat will be raised up a few notches and the problem is that the Yankees pitching staff is in a weak state.  Phil Hughes is a mess.  It may make some sense to send him to Scranton and let him try to work things out there.  The jury is still out on Ivan Nova and you hold your breathe everytime AJ Burnett is on the mound though so far he has been good.  The question is: Can the Yankees right their pitching ship??

Cashman's broadside at Torre tells me that he's feeling the heat of blowing this past off season.  In fact, a recent story by Joel Sherman of the NY Post should be another reason why the Yankee GM needs to feel the heat.  Sherman, correctly, questioned Cashman's infatuation with Cliff Lee last summer and the smugness that since they didn't get Lee from Seattle in July that they would just buy him in December.  How did you make out Brian??

But the other point Sherman makes is that two other pitchers were moved last summer:  Dan Haren and Roy Oswalt.  How would the Yankees be right now if they had either one of those guys??  For me, I'd have preferred Haren but either would be better than what they have now.  And who knows with either one of them on the team maybe Andy Pettite comes back.

Going after Torre four years after he's left the organization is a cheap shot that was an attempt to mask the terrible off season that Brian Cashman had in trying to rebuild the Yankee pitching staff.  Brian needs to look in the mirror.  There's no Tampa mafia to blame.  There's no Joe Torre, Mel Stottlemyer and Ron Guidry to blame.  It's on you Brian and right now you are not wearing it well.

Act 1 Complete: Sox Win 4-0

As I stated in my Friday post, I would be happy if the Yankees came out of the weekend series with the Red Sox 1-2 which is what happened though not necessarily how I thought it would.  Last night, Josh Beckett served notice that he may be healthy as he shutdown the Yankees resulting in a 4-0 win.  But while the Yanks came out of Fenway with a win, the fact is they should have won Friday's game.  Yet, more importantly than winning 2 out of three, the weekend in Boston exhibited some disturbing signs that Yankee fans will need to keep an eye on.

Sign 1:  The starting rotation - Phil Hughes had his second terrible start and questions swirl around the 24 year old.  Where is Phil's fastball???  If the Yanks can't figure this out, it's going to be a long season.  The jury is still out on Ivan Nova.  While the kid was able to wiggle out of trouble, he had runners on base every inning he pitched.  Can the Yankees survive two starters having problems??  And we haven't seen Freddy Garcia in a starting role yet.  Is Kevin Millwood, Carlos Silva or Bartolo Colon the answer???  Oh Brother!!!

Sign 2:  The Captain - There is no bigger Derek Jeter fan than me.  And it pains me to say this, but at some point Joe Girardi may have to decide if Jeter belongs at the top of the lineup.  Jeter has not looked comfortable at the plate and in fact looks to me like he did last year.  I'm hoping he gets it going.  The Yanks need him.

Sign 3:  Jorge Posada - Despite the homers he has hit, Posada has not hit well as the DH.  With Eric Chavez looking good at Fenway, Girardi will have another tough decision if Posada doesn't start hitting.  Both Andruw Jones and Chavez have hit the ball better than Posada.  With their pitching question marks, the offense needs to be clicking more times than not.

Sign 4:  Brett Gardner - The Yankee high command believe in Brett Gardner.  I don't.  I'm not sure he's the guy to be your leadoff man.  In fact, with the way Jeter is hitting I'm not sure they have a legitimate leadoff man right now.  With the speed Gardner has, the fact that he cannot or will not bunt for a hit drives me crazy.  Last night with runners on 1st and 2nd, even if he faked a bunt he could have had the infield moving and possibly had a double steal situation. 

It's not time to panic but there are some disturbing signs on the horizon and unless corrected, it could be a long year in the Bronx.

Panic Sets In: Yanks Lose 9-6

I can't remember an April where doom and gloom isn't the prevailing mood when the Yankees make their initial trip to Fenway Park.  Do you remember when the Yanks lost their first 8 games against the Red Sox only to come back and tie the season series?

Losing yesterday is one game.  The bigger concern is the state of the Yankee pitching staff.  The lack of velocity on Phil Hughes' fastball is a major problem.  Hughes cannot get by throwing 87-89 mph fastballs.  The Yankees are saying that its not mechanical, its not physical and its all about building up arm strength.  I'm beginning to wonder.  This kid is 24 years old.  How does he lose it all of a sudden?  If the Yankees can't figure this out, they now have a rotation with one sure thing: CC Sabathia.

Currently, the Yankees have Boone Logan as their designated lefty in the bullpen.  Logan has been getting hit since the Rangers playoff series last year.  Yesterday, once again he was not able to shut down lefty hitters following a disturbing pattern that we saw in the Twins series.  With Feliciano and Marte out, what other alternatives do they have??

The loss yesterday shouldn't be as upsetting as the signs of possible trouble throughout the season.  Trouble that the Yankee hierarchy knew about before the season started.  They knew that the rotation could be a problem when they struck out on Cliff Lee.  Their answer was bringing in Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon and Kevin Millwood.  That problem has now been magnified by the issues with Hughes.  Then they sign Feliciano as another lefty out of the pen and he's placed on the DL and Cashman says that the Mets over used him last year.  If that was a concern now why wasn't it a concern before they decided to sign him?

One loss does not a season make but the bigger issues in the pitching staff will make or break this season and it calls into question the performance of Brian Cashman.

Today it's Ivan Nova against Clay Buchholz at 1:10pm on Fox.