Andy Pettitte is 2-3 with an ERA below 3. But at least he's healthy. Darrell Rasner has a broken finger and all of us have brain damage from having to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver today.
There's only so more days I can be happy about Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada hitting the tar out of the ball. At least Alex Rodriguez hit a home run today, although as I watch, Kyle Farnsworth is doing his best to extinguish all hope with the help of Robinson Cano's pursuit of the single-game error record.
As for Joe Torre, I'm becoming more inclined to go with the thoughts of Jeff Pearlman, whose SI background is a welcome addition to ESPN's disposition toward getting illiterates to write for them.
This raises two points -- Roger Clemens should have no leverage regarding a decision on Torre's fate. If he really won't come back because Torre is fired, then the Yankees save many millions. And at that point, it might not matter if he's back.
Secondly, shouldn't the Yankees have just made this move last year. Maybe getting a Lou Pinella (or even a Bobby Valentine) was what they should have grasped onto in November. Torre is a very Casey Stengel-like manager. No success till he hit the greatest jackpot of his generation, but when it was gone, it disappeared quickly and never came back.
As it is, we've seen a lifeless team outside of the shrinking old guard (Pettitte, Jeter, Posada) and Damon, who's too hurt to matter. Moose is giving a good effort, but he's too old to matter. Rivera isn't much help to a team that never leads. And the rest...well, no one follows A-Rod's example whether he hits or not, Matsui has aged five years in the last two, Cano and Cabrera have greatly regressed, Bobby Abreu looks fat and slow as much as he looked sleek and muscular last year, and the bench is useless.
We're not watching a team in a slump. We're watching a team that's no good. And every day that goes by lessens the chance of that fact changing.
We're not watching a team in a slump. We're watching a team that's no good. And every day that goes by lessens the chance of that fact changing.
Agreed. Before the season, I was okay with getting rid of Brian Cashman and Joe Torre. I have started to come around on Cashman but I still would would like to see Torre fired.
I like Cashman's philosophy of getting younger and rebuilding the farm system. Unfortunately, he has to do it in New York, where you must win now and often going young and winning young does not mesh. Basically, he has to do a balancing act between loading a team full of veteran allstars while getitng younger at the same time. Thats why you will see guys like Jason Giambi and Hdeki Matsui always in the line up. Nothing against Matsui but he is 35 and for a team trying to get younger, there is no reason why you sign him to anything more than two year contract (maybe a 3rd year w/ team option).
The one problem I do have with Cashman is his signing of Roger Clemens. One, he isn't worth the money. No player is. He can come in and be lights out but thats only seventeen wins and chances are, the Yankees would have gotten ten of them without him there. Two, I agree w/ Kyle Farnsworth. He should be travelling with the team. I like free agency but it gets out of control where the player is dictating his terms to the organization and the organization is doing whatever it can to work around those terms. Is this for real? Are we living in some kind of Utopia? Three, I think he is a phony. Be honest, you wouldn't be comfortable having him inducted into the hall of fame as a Yankees, would you? Honestly, I see him as a better Carl Pavano. He is only in it for the money but hey, he does deliver from time to time.
Onto Torre (and possibly you can include Jeter in this). What does he do? All he does is sit in the dugout and occasionnally gets off his ass to pull a pitcher. He doesn't manage. I understand baseball is a different sport where the manager does not count as much but just like in every sport, when things are going bad, the manager has to take the blame. Forget Jeter backing him up, Torre should do the right thing and resign. He doesn't add anything to the team except be a comfort to the players which I am sick and tired of. Bring back Buck Showalter. Yes, the players did not like him but damnit, they did provide for him. Those World Series teams in the late 1990s may have been led by Torre but were nurtured and developed by Showalter.
Just one note about Jeter. What does he do as a captain? When he was named it I thought it was just a title without meaning. Today, I still feel that way. I mean what does he do as captain? Does he motivate the team? What?
Anyway, great post as usual.