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.