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

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.