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!!
Bulls, Sharks Win; Yanks Awful
In D.C. and stumbled across a sports bar called, "The 51st State". The 51st State is a NY sports bar meaning they feature all NY teams when they are playing on their TV screens. Last night, by the time we got there, the Bronx debacle was already underway as the Yanks were already down 5-0 to the bargain basement KC Royals. With the Red Sox coming to town today, the lustre of the Blood Rivalry is a little bit worn. The Red Sox are under .500 and have just been swept by the Blue Jays up in Toronto. The Yankees have just lost 2 out of 3 to the Royals. Who knows what to expect. If I had to predict: probably plenty of runs tonight as Bartolo Colon faces Clay Buchholz. In the mean time, Tampa Bay is now in first place. The team that lost Matt Garza, Carlos Pena, Rafael Soriano, Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour and Carl Crawford.
The other thing that makes The 51st State sports bar stand out is that it was the only bar that had the Sharks/Red Wings game on TV. We stayed for the first period and it certainly looked like the Sharks were poised to win. In the end, they did but not before the Red Wings made them sweat. This was a great series and a tip of the hat to the Red Wings. Canucks/Sharks should be a dandy. By the way, so much for the great NHL TV contract with Versus. No Versus in the hotel. And I'm staying at a major chain. There is an NHL team here. It was funny as we were walking back to the hotel we thought we could stop at another bar to watch the second period. Not one bar on the way back had the game on. It was NBA.
Which brings me to the Chicago Bulls. Thankfully, they will advance to face the Miami Heat and hopefully but an end to the Dream Team. This will be a great series, one that I wil be following which is amazing for me to say since I am not a big NBA fan.
Hoping to check out the Nationals tonight against the Marlins. Should be fun.
No Justice: Heat Advances
The Miami Heat eliminated the Boston Celtics by winning the series 4-1 and awaiting a possible date with the Chicago Bulls. While the Bulls hope to eliminate Atlanta, the Dream Team will rest and get prepared to win the Eastern Conference title. Frankly, it disgusts me.
I do not have any problem with players exercising their right to free agency. But I do have a problem with the chicanery that went on last summer when Lebron James and Chris Bosh conspired with Dwayne Wade to construct the Dream Team in South Beach. To hell with Cleveland. To hell with Toronto. This is about winning a championship even if it means destroying two franchises and sadly they are 8 games away from pulling it off.
Wade and James are outstanding athletes and great basketball players. A year ago, I really liked them. But now they represent to me athletes who really don't give a damn about the fans. For that, I was really hoping that they would get knocked out of the playoffs sooner rather than later.
The Celtics looked old and couldn't cope with the injury to their outstanding guard Rondo. His courage to play through injury is to be applauded. With the Lakers also eliminated, it may rest with the Bulls to do us all a favor and eliminate the Dream Team. Here's hoping they can do it.
* I'll be in D.C. for the next couple of days and will try to have new posts on Friday and Saturday. If unable, will definitely be back Sunday morning with NHL predictions and thoughts on the second round of the Blood Rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox.
Red Wings, Phil Jax & ARod
* A week ago I indicated that Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs was a dud compared to Round1. However, the Detroit-SanJose series has had as much drama as Round 1 with the Red Wings pulling off another come from behind 3-1 win last night at the Joe Lou evening the series at 3 apiece.
The Sharks led this series 3-1 and in game 5 led 2-0 and 3-1 in the third period at home. They were about to put the Red Wings out of their misery. But, the old guys from Detroit won that game 4-3 and the Sharks somehow began what will be the biggest choke act of the playoffs if they lose game 7 at home on Thursday night. The Canucks were in the same boat in their Round 1 matchup against Chicago, seeing a 3-0 series lead evaporate which led to a Game 7 at home. However, the Canucks won Game 7 to advance and they await the survivor of the Red Wings-Sharks series.
I really believed that the Sharks had the better team. But, from where I'm sitting it's not looking good for them right now. Thursday ought to be something.
* Phil Jackson is calling it quits. The former Knick has had an outstanding career as a coach, winning a number of championships with both the Bulls and the Lakers. One has to wonder how successful he would have been without Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant and Shaq.
* Now that Derek Jeter has raised his average, the media scrutiny has gone to ARod. Last night, ARod delievered with 2-run single that provided the winning runs to lead the Yankees to a 3-1 win over the Royals. Baseball is a marathon and you would think NY media scribes would understand that. Instead, they jump on whoever has hit a down period. First it was Jeter now its ARod. If you get a chance, check out Tim Smith's article:
Tuesday’s Thoughts
While looking out my back window finally seeing flowering on trees and bushes here is what's going on in my head:
* Funny how getting four hits, 2 of which home runs, has the New York dailies now focusing off of Derek Jeter and on the rest of the greybeards on the roster something I have been complaining about since the beginning of the season.
* Staying with the Yankees, Bill Madden's article today in the Daily News might have been written by me. Take a peek if you get a chance today.
* Animal Kingdom wins the Kentucky Derby and I think its pretty much a given that we will not have a Triple Crown winner this year. For those of you 40 years old and younger you have never seen this feat accomplished. I consider myself lucky as from 1973 - 1978 there were 3 Triple Crown Winners: Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), and Affirmed (1978).
* Speaking of Secretariat, if you get a chance go on YouTube and search Secretariat. You will get to see all 3 races and I can tell you there was nothing as dominating as watching this horse win the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown.
* Vancouver took out Nashville last night 2 - 1. Kudos to Barry Trotz and his staff for a valiant effort. Loved the catfish being thrown onto the ice. Wonder if that will be restricted as the octupi are on Detroit.
* Speaking of Detroit, the Joe Louis Arena will be rocking tonight. The Sharks have to be kicking themselves blowing a 3-1 lead at home in Game 5 and could have finished the Red Wings off. I still think the Sharks are the better team, but if Wings win tonight they could win this thing in San Jose.
* I can't figure out Damien Cox of the Toronto Star. Last week he proclaimed on Twitter after the Bruins advanced to the Conference Finals that the Bruins have now won the Kessel trade. I must be missing something but Tyler Seguin has been a healthy scratch the first two rounds. The kid will dress and play on the third line against Tampa Bay as a result of the injury to Patrice Bergeron. Let's see what happens in this series before we proclaim Bruin victory in the most talked about trade in recent Toronto sports history.
* In a recent edition of SI, there was a story about the old ABC show, Wide World of Sports. For those of you too young to remember, this show was on every Saturday afternoon. It was incredible as it went around the world covering sporting events that went beyond the 4 major sport leagues. The best was the boxing coverage, as you had the opportunity to watch the most recent heavyweight fight which included Muhammed Ali.
* They'll be a new champion in the NBA as the Lakers were swept by the Dallas Mavericks. Lamar Odom and Andruw Bynum should be ashamed of themselves for their late game actions. Hardly befitting of champions.
* Unfortunately, the Miami Heat look like they will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston looked really old last night. Can't quite understand why Ray Allen didn't take the final shot in regulation time which would have tied the series for the Celtics.
* And finally, the 2011 NFL Draft had a big decline in the television ratings this year. Do you think it had anything to do with the stupid and ridiculous labor situation????
Fantasy Ups & Downs
With a little over a month into the 2011 Fantasy Baseball season, I have had my share of ups and downs. I'm in a head-to-head league with the opportunity to change my line-up on a daily basis. There have been surprises, disappointments and injuries. After starting the season 0-2, I've bounced back to win my next 3 games.
Injuries and Pick-ups: The most devastating injury was that to Ryan Zimmerman. 3b is a weak position and losing Zimmerman has forced me to make all kinds of move. I first picked up David Freese who was doing really well until he went down with an injury which forced me to pick up Placido Polanco. Polanco has filled in admirably.
The injuries to Phil Hughes and Brad Lidge has led to a bunch of pitching moves. In a massive Monday morning massacre, I dropped Joe Nathan, Lidge, Hughes, and Colby Lewis. In return I picked up Kyle Lohse, Justin Masterson and Michael Pineda.
With Dan Uggla, Torri Hunter and Adam Dunn struggling, I moved to pick up Ryan Theriot, Jeff Francoer and Adam Lind. I dropped Theriot and picked up Orlando Cabrera. The 2b, SS, 3b positions have been a constant shuffle with injuries to Zimmerman and then Freese. Francoer and Lind have been big, particularly now with Nelson Cruz being on the DL.
Disappointments: I can kick myself for drafting Ian Desmond over Starlin Castro. I still don't know why I took Desmond and he has been a disappointment though he does have 10 steals, the most on my team. Adam Dunn has not provided the power boost I was expecting. I'm hopeful he will turn things around.
While I knew Dan Uggla would not hit for average, he has also not hit for power and RBI's. Juan Pierre has not provided the steals that I thought he would. Nelson Cruz was not hitting well before he went on the DL and Matt Wieters has been middling at best.
Ted Lilly has not pitched well and has disappointed me big time. Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan and John Axford was suppose to anchor my relief corp. So much for that!!! Joaquin Benoit started out strong but was getting bombed and has since been dropped. Clay Buchholz has been a disappointment however he pitched well his last outing so I'm remaining positive.
Steady Performers and Surprises: Miquel Cabrera has been the anchor of my offense providing power, RBI's and average. Curtis Granderson leads my team and the AL in home runs. Justin Verlander has pitched well, including a no-hitter on Saturday which pulled out a win for me this week. Gio Gonzalez has been everything I thought he would be and Matt Capps has filled in well for the aforementioned Nathan.
Waiver pick-ups have helped big time. Offensively, Francoer, Polanco and getting Adam Lind have saved me. Pitching-wise, I'm really happy with Michael Pineda and have been helped by Gavin Floyd and Kyle Lohse. But probably the biggest surprise has been Justin Masterson. He is finally pitching the way the Red Sox felt he would only now he is doing it with the Indians.
With four big months ahead, hopefully the injury bug leaves me alone the rest of the way. Time will tell.
Don't forget tomorrow: Tuesday's Thoughts
Predators Stave Off Elimination…Red Wings Next??
While the Eastern Conference semi-finalists, Tampa Bay and Boston, await the start of their series, the Western Conference quarter finals still roll on. Last night, the Nashville Predators staved off elimination by overcoming a 2-1 deficit and winning in Vancouver 4-3 to bring the series back to Nashville for Game 6.
It may be unrealistic that the Predators will be able to knock off the Canucks but you have to be impressed with the heart and soul of a team devoid of superstars. Coach Barry Trotz deserves a lot of credit. Year in and year out this team is always competitive. Pekka Rinne has been solid in net and has been a force all year for the Preds. And GM David Poile has done a great job building a team on a budget. The late season acquisition of Mike Fisher has worked out well. Here's hoping the Preds can push a Game 7 by giving their fans a win at home in Game 6.
In the other series, it seems hard to believe that the Red Wings are on the verge of being eliminated by the Sharks 4-1. However, one has to truly wonder how good the Red Wings really are. I had the opportunity to see the Red Wings in person this season and while Pavel Datsyuk was not in the lineup, I was not impressed. I also watched Game 2 last Sunday and was again not impressed.
While one would think the Red Wings will send this one back to Detroit, it wouldn't surprise me if the Sharks end the series this evening. They are the better team. One has to wonder if the Red Wing dominance is over. Should be interesting.
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!!!!
Will Round 3 of NHL Playoffs Be More Exciting??
Hate to tell you I told you so, but I told you so. The 1st round of the NHL Playoffs was unbelievably exciting. Multiple Game 7's, plenty of overtime games. Round 2 exciting?? Not so much.
One series down and the other 3 on the verge of being closed out has hardly made for the excitement we saw in round 1. In fact, we could actually have 3 four game sweeps if Boston and San Jose win Game 4.
Round 3 could be better. If the teams that are leading currently advance, the matchups would be: Tampa Bay-Boston and San Jose-Vancouver. Both series could be very interesting. San Jose-Vancouver would pit two Western powers who have similar styles. Only problem will be the late game starts. Tampa Bay-Boston will be extremely interesting as Tampa's skill players match-up against Zdeno Chara and company.
Round 3 predictions ahead. Stay tuned.
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