The Bronx Bombers?

So, this is what last place feels like. I guess I forgot from last May, when the Yankees were just as bad, maybe even worse.

Ian Kennedy was bad today, five runs in five innings isn’t exactly what the Yankees thought they would be getting when they called IPK up after pitching 8.1 scoreless innings in AAA. For now, Kennedy will just have to keep at it and maybe he can revert back to the way he pitched when he was 1-0 and dominant in three starts for the Yankees at the end of last season.

The big problem here is the offense who scored six runs in four games against Tampa Bay. Sure, Tampa Bay isn’t bad anymore, but they aren’t exactly the 1996 Atlanta Braves and the Yankees managed to score 1.5 runs per game against Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir.

Johnny Damon is 2 of his last 18 and aside from a three game stretch (April 20-23) when he was 7 for 14 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. Aside from those three games, Johnny has 3 HR and 12 RBI in 40 games. It might be time for Joe Girardi to strip Damon of his leadoff title that he seems to be immune to losing.

Jason Giambi is the Yankees biggest problem though. The pitching might be inconsistent (outside of Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina, yes Mike Mussina), but Giambi is a one man wrecking crew, and not in a positive way. Giambi is 19 of 105 this season and since August 27, 2007 he has played in 58 games, going hitless in 36 of them with only six multi-hit games in that time. And on top of that the Yankees are 56-60 (.483) since the start of 2007 when Giambi plays and 56-30 (.651) when he doesn’t. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Tomorrow the Yankees have Johan Santana and if Joe Girardi runs out his “vs a lefty” lineup again (the one he did today) then YES might as well show Yankeeography: Kelly Stinnett. Hopefully tomorrow’s lineup will just be the best offense the Yankees can put out there as the Mets too have been struggling to score runs. Maybe the batting order can look a lot like this:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Duncan 1B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Ensberg 3B
Moeller C

I would like to see Melky Cabrera leadoff rather than Damon, but let’s be honest, Girardi doesn’t have the balls to take Damon out of that spot. The only way Damon doesn’t leadoff, is if he doesn’t play, but that isn’t likely either.

For third, Morgan Ensberg and Alberto Gonzalez are basically the same thing as power doesn’t really matter, considering neither of them have the pop to go deep off Santana. And Chad Moeller catching is better than Jose Molina batting, but then again what isn’t?

The Yankees need one of their famous 11 of 12 and they need it fast. This weekend they better take two of three or I am sure Hank Steinbrenner will be heard again.

Not So Dandy Andy

Andy Pettitte was as bad as he could possibly be tonight and the Yankees made the Rays look the way the Yankees are supposed to look.

Pettitte continues to be get lost with two outs in an inning the way that Scott Proctor used to get lost with two strikes. The Rays just smothered his cutter and embarrassed him on the base paths.

Andy Pettitte better do some thinking and find out what type of pitcher he wants to be because the garbage has brought with him his last three of four starts is unacceptable. Pettitte has a 7.18 ERA over his last four starts and hasn’t won a game since April 20th.

Here is what Andy has done since his last win:
21.1 IP, 28 H, 17 R, 16 ER, 7 BB, 17 K, 5 HR

Guess he is really earning his $16 million this year.

As for Jose Molina…it’s time he found a seat on the bench and took back his role of backup catcher and give the starting duty to Chad Moeller. But I am sure Joe Girardi is about as close to making that swap as he is to starting runners or trying to steal a base.

Maybe Joe G hasn’t realized it yet, but Jose isn’t that fast and in his first at bat with Robinson Cano on first and no outs, Molina showed bunt on the first pitch, then took the sign away, and grounded into a double play. Alberto Gonzalez then single and would have either scored a run and given the Yankees a lead, or made it men on the corners with one out. Instead there was two out and no one on for Gonzalez’s single to right.

In Molina’s next at bat, Melky Cabrera was on first and with one out, Molina hit into his second 6-4-3 double play of the night in as many chances. He is 4 of his last 37 and is batting .214 on the season. Stellar numbers. Meanwhile, Chad Moeller is wasted on the bench with a .342 OBP.

Bobby Abreu came into the game 3 for 4 lifetime vs Matt Garza with two doubles, but looked as if Koufax in his prime was on the hill as Abreu weakly flailed at fastballs, mistiming them in every at bat.

The Yankees need to win this series and now that means winning the next three in a row.

Mariano > Papelbon

“I feel a certain obligation not only to myself and my family to make the money that I deserve but for the game of baseball,” Jonathan Papelbon said. “Mariano Rivera has been doing it for the past 10 years and with me coming up behind him I feel a certain obligation to do the same.” - Jonathan Papelbon on his contract situation, 3/4/08

Well how about that, Jonathan Papelbon got his new contract and has reacted nicely, blowing back to back saves against the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. And on top of that, the Twinkies stole two bases off him as Delmon Young swiped third and Carlos Gomez swiped second, both with two outs in the ninth.

MARIANO RIVERA
0-0, 14 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 12 K
0.00 ERA, 0.36 WHIP, .106 OPP AVG, 9/9 SV

JONATHAN PAPELBON
2-2, 17.2 IP, 14 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 21 K
2.55 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, .210 OPP AVG, 10/12 SV

The Kei To Another Loss

(A picture of Kei Igawa from last night)

In what was easily the worst game of the 39 games played this season, at least we all learned something.

Kei Igawa is the worst pitcher in Major League Baseball. Period. End of story.

Maybe the Yankees can actually use that multi-year deal they gave Igawa and have him throw BP to them before games instead of wasting it on the Tigers and other teams during the game.

But you know what, as much as it hurt to watch this game and watch the Yankees fall back under .500 and throw away another game in 2008, this game was necessary for the Yankees front office to finally erase any notion that Kei Igawa can pitch in the Major Leagues.

Not exactly the most worthy of choices to make a start in the bigs with a 3-3 record and 3.86 ERA in AAA, and Wilson Betemit was not the most worthy of choices to start at third base with the Tigers putting out a lineup of only right handed hitters.

Whenever the Tigers made contact against the $20-million man, which they did often, they were just missing monumental blasts and the majority of their outs came in the form of long fly balls and line drives drilled right at Betemit. The hits that did come were in the form of doubles to the gaps and balls drilled down the third base line past a diving Betemit.

Wilson Betemit might have hit a home run to dead center at the Stadium yesterday, but let’s be honest, he isn’t very good, and I am not sure he is helpful on this team. There is a reason why the Dodgers quickly gave him up for even an overused, worn out reliever (Scott Proctor) who’s arm was an appearance or two from actually falling off.

On Friday, Betemit reached base on an infield single that was made possible by a Kenny Rogers miscue off his glove and then was quickly picked off. In his next at bat he hit the ball maybe 17 inches from home plate and was retired with a lob to first. This along with his embarrassing play at third base has to be enough for Alberto Gonzalez to get on a direct flight to Mo-Town tonight.

The Yankees had their chances to get back in the game and even take the lead, but every time they had a rally they killed it via the double play (Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter) or the ground ball (Wilson Betemit). At least Robinson Cano decided to finally play baseball after taking a month long vacation to begin the season.

Tomorrow is another day and if the Yankees don’t win, well that will just be another series they have lost this year. As of right now, their series record this season is 4-5-3 and they are in serious danger of losing another unless they get strong outings from Darrell Rasner and Andy Pettitte.

It is funny how the Tigers are SO bad, yet they are 4-0 against the Yankees and 25% of their wins have come from the Yankees alone. What’s worse is that Kenny Rogers, who was about as effective in pinstripes as Igawa, can’t beat any team that doesn’t play their home games in the Bronx. Even though Rogers never has a 1-2-3 inning and is constantly looking at two on and one out, he gets out of jams because of the Yankees inability to hit with runners on and runners in scoring position.

Is there any question that Chad Moeller is better than Jose Molina? Sure, Jose is supposedly some defensive whiz, but Moeller isn’t that bad defensively either (except for the constant errors on throws with runners stealing second) and at least he is somewhat of a threat at the plate. If A-Rod is in the lineup then I guess you trade Moeller’s bat for Molina’s defense, but he isn’t and the Yankees can’t score, so it would be wise to try and get whatever offense you can get and put it in the lineup. I can’t believe I am saying that we need Chad Moeller’s bat in the New York Yankees lineup.

Rasner better bring his A-game tomorrow afternoon because well, the Yankees can’t afford anything less.

Three’s A Crowd

The YES broadcast team has been very much like the team they cover in 2008, as neither the commentators nor the Yankees lineup has remained consistent throughout the first 36 games of the season. Because of this the Yankees are playing .500 ball and the inconsistent calling of the games on YES has created sub-par broadcasts. Right now the Yankees can’t help their own lineup due to injuries to the heart of their order, but YES can certainly make adjustments by eliminating one personality from the broadcast every game.

When the YES team crams three personalities into a single telecast of a game, it actually interferes with what is happening on the field as the cameramen scramble to capture shots of what is being talked about in the booth in a chaotic manner. The last thing I want to do here is sound like the whiny Bob Raissman, but YES could use the advice that I am sure many fans in Yankees Universe aka the Tri-State area would like to give.

The formula of a play-by-play man (Michael Kay) and two color commentators (can be any of a large pool) can only succeed in certain circumstances, but during the previous series with the Indians, Kay along with John Flaherty and David Cone, just wasn’t what it could have been. While Kay is trying to call the game every pitch, he is constantly held up while the other two finish up their thoughts, which most of the time are repetitive statements from earlier in the game.

Having Flaherty, a former catcher, is a great addition to the telecast as he does a very good job telling about what might be going on in a mound conference or what pitch sequences might accompany a certain hitter. At the same time, Cone is good talking about pitcher’s preparations and why they may or may not shake off a catcher’s choice of pitch. But, both of them tend to venture outside their area of expertise and their opinions sometimes clash and contradict each other, and before you know it, you’re watching a Yankees game with Mike and the Mad Dog on in the background.

I understand that YES has a problem turning down former Yankee players searching for a broadcast considering they have chosen to keep on commentators who had a minimal role in pinstripes (Flaherty) or a very short one (Al Leiter). Nevertheless, if you wore the “NY” on your chest at some point, there seems to be a spot for you somewhere in that booth and if not, they will just make room, even if it jeopardizes the value of their broadcast, as the YES Network attempts to mirror FOX’s Super Bowl Half-Time Show team of six.

It is a constant competition for air time with Kay trying to get in his nerdy and relentless cliches acting as though he is hosting his ESPN Radio show instead of calling a Yankees game, while Flaherty and Cone both try to out-do each other and make the finer point about the game or analyze a certain situation. And don’t think it is just Flaherty or Cone creating this problem, it also occurs when Leiter is present and Paul O’Neill as well.

It is a shame that Ken Singleton has not done as many as games as he used when Jim Kaat (the Babe Ruth of broadcasting) was still in the booth and it’s too bad that Bobby Murcer has had the health problems he has had otherwise, none of the problems with the YES broadcasts would exist.

Even though many Yankees fans dislike Michael Kay and his ability to call a game, I think that he does do a good job and there is no reason to remove him of his duties, but rather just remove some of the pieces around him. If there is anyway to get Ken Singleton back in there on a regular basis (though I am unsure of his personal and family life, which might be causing him to call fewer games) then that is the answer to fixing the broadcast. But until Singleton is back in there and with Bobby Murcer not always in New York, there needs to be some sort of order in the booth because before you know it, Aaron Small and Todd Zeile will be part of the YES team.

Under .500…Again

Ballgame over. Indians win. Theeeeeeeeeeeeeee Indians win.

For what seems like the millionth time, the Yankees will try to salvage a series tomorrow afternoon with Mike Mussina on the mound and given his recent roll, the Moose is due for a nice shelling.

Cliff Lee is on living the dream right now shutting the AL, but let’s not forget who this man really is and how badly he sucked in 2007 before being demoted. He is a lefty who throws 88mph fastballs and somehow gets the job done. His counterpart Chien-Ming Wang however was not equally as good.

Wang might be the Yankees ace, but tonight he was anything but that. The definition of an ace is someone who will match the other team’s starter with zeros until the offense puts some runs on the board. Sure, the offense didn’t help Wang out while he was out there, but then again he put them in an uphill battle before they ever had an AB because he was scared to throw strikes to Grady Sizemore to lead off the game.

Right now the Yankees are a tease. Win three, lose three, win two, lose two, and the pattern goes on. 17-18 through 35 is just funny because right now they might be only four back in the loss column, but they are so much worse than that.

It is funny that Alex Rodriguez Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano all got new contracts before the season and two of them are currently not playing (A-Rod, Jorge) and the other one might as well not play (Cano). So Murderer’s Row is rounded off by an ineffective Cano, a AAA-worthy Morgan Ensberg, and a backup catcher Jose Molina. The majority of the NL has a better offense than the New York Yankees.

It is hard to say the Yankees suck right now, which they do, because of the injuries and the fact they have played with their real lineup in only two of the 35 games this season, but no one in the AL East or AL for that matter cares about their problems. And none of the other 13 teams in the league are prepared to slow up so the Yankees can get healthy and come out swinging at the end of the month.

Wang Still Perfect

Chien-Ming Wang is still undefeated in 2008 and the Yankees won a game for the first time since Tuesday when they had that infield single rally against Cleveland.

Remember when Melky Cabrera was almost dealt to Minnesota in the off-season or how Mike Francesa constantly bashed the center fielder all last season saying he will never be a true Major League outfielder? Well where would this team be without the Melk Man?

The Yankees were able to get the big hits once again, but this time the pitching actually held up. It was the third night in a row they took the lead in the first inning and only the first time they actually kept that lead for the remainder of the game.

I don’t want to get too excited over this win even though it stopped a three-game skid, but the Yankees are going to have to go on one of those 11 of 12 tears to start showing they mean business and aren’t joking around like 2007. It wasn’t until June last season when they began to climb out of their black hole when they beat up on the NL in interleague play. Hopefully this time it will come quicker with still 14 of the next 18 in the Bronx.

Robinson Cano is a big part of the what the Yankees need to do over the next few weeks. Without A-Rod and Jorge Posada and without Wang starting every game, Cano needs to be Cano and start spraying the ball and being the future No. 3 hitter everyone predicts him to be. Cano hit .151 in April and is already hitting .250 in May (even if it just 1 for 4). Starting tomorrow I think Cano will begin to right this ship.

Mike Mussina has his work cut out for him tomorrow going against Felix Hernandez and the first inning will make or break the Moose, actually the first batter. If he can keep Ichiro off base to leadoff the game, it will make a big difference. Think that is crazy? Putting Ichiro on as you saw tonight instantly becomes the equivalent to an extra base hit as he will produce a run all by himself without anyone else on the Mariners reaching base safely. I think the Moose can handle the M’s tomorrow and he shouldn’t expect much run support with King Felix going for Seattle.

Embarrassing

Jim Leyland walked out to the mound in the 1st inning and said to Jeremy Bonderman, “What the f*ck are you doing?”

After that talk Bonderman allowed only two runs to score with the bases loaded and no one out and sat the Yankees down for the rest of the night on his way to 6-2 win for the Tigers?

Where is the Yankee offense? Where are the 900-1,000 runs we are suppose to expect from the most feared lineup in baseball?

Everyone always says the offense will come around, but the Yankees have played 29 games, are one game under .500, and can’t hit with runners in scoring position or with two outs or with a 3-1 count or if there is shift with all the infielders on the right side of the field (Jason Giambi, cough, cough).

It’s pretty embarrassing and it’s frustrating to watch these games get wasted because the Yankees want to work the pitch count for three innings just to the point of a pitcher about to get on pace for 100 through five and then they go and make six outs in 11 pitches and just like that the pitcher is on pace for seven innings and has gained his confidence back.

Robinson Cano is a great player and a great hitter as well, but honestly this is just disgusting to watch. I am tired of watching Cano swing at the first or second pitch and then shake his head in disgust of himself as the ball is chopped to second or popped up to shallow left. Just another case of signing a new contract I guess, but why is he pressing, if he is? It’s not like he is signed for 10 years and $300 million. We have one of those guys and he has 10 RBI and is on the DL.

The problem with this team is the same as last year’s team: no urgency. It’s only April so let’s take it easy and then when we are 12 games back and eight under .500 at Memorial Day we can turn it up and go on a tear. That crap isn’t going to work anymore. Tampa Bay isn’t a joke anymore and the Yankees already dropped two of three to the Orioles, so where are the wins this summer going to come from as they throw away games right now?

Every NY newspaper keeps reporting on Joe Girardi and his lack of giving them information on injuries or other team matters. First of all, Joe doesn’t have to say anything and I would rather not have him announce what relievers are available on a given night. I don’t get his secretive ways of keeping, but if that’s what he wants to do, well he is the manager. Maybe he can manage in the game situations better than he manages the nonsense crap in the clubhouse. And how about the reporters stop asking nine times in a row if Phil Hughes is in the rotation and go ask Giambi or Cano why they can’t get a hit? Or ask Andy Pettitte why he has thrown away leads in back to back starts?

The Big G Is A Big Joke

Jason Giambi needs steroids to survive in the game these days and unless he starts pumping cycles again like it’s 2001, then well there is no place for him on the New York Yankees or in Major League Baseball for that matter.

The Giambino has gone from a .300+ hitter who can spray the ball to all fields and hit 40 bombs a year to a complete embarrassment with the bat. It’s either a ground out or a walk for the Big G these days, and it’s usually not a walk.

Time and time again the Yankees put people on with two outs in an inning only to see #25 emerge from the on deck circle to stick a fork in a rally before it gets going. His presence at the plate has become a joke and with the “martini glass shift” that Michael Kay likes to so often talk about, there is a better chance of John Flaherty getting a base hit from the broadcast booth than there is of Giambi reaching.

$23,428,571.00 is Jason’s salary for the 2008 season, his final year of one of the worst contracts ever handed out. He is currently making $144,620.81 per game. He must be a great conversationalist at first base with the opposition because I am not sure there is any other reason for him to be in the lineup.

The Big G has 12 hits this season in 22 games and has no hits in 13 of those 22 games. Now, I know that is seems unfathomable that someone could be so bad at something and get paid so much , which gives him that hefty .159 batting average. If Giambi keeps up on this pace

The Big G has five home runs this seasons. Two of them are off Mike Timlin and two of them are off Paul Byrd. I am not sure if Joe Girardi knows this, but Jason isn’t hitting anyone born after 1970.

Last night Giambi scored Matsui in the bottom of the 9th with a grounder down the first base line against Todd Jones who along with Joe Borowski have to be the two softest throwing closers in the history of the league. Giambi got credited with the RBI and the hit, but had anyone other than the new first baseman Migeul Cabrera been over there, the Big G would have just been the first out of the inning. You think Lyle Overbay would have missed that ball?

The Big G is back in the lineup hitting fifth and ready to sabotage any situation with runners in scoring position.

New Boss, Same As The Old Boss

“There are no asterisks in this life, only scoreboards. And ours is currently reading F*CKED!” - Ari Gold

Well that was a good game to watch, if you hate the New York Yankees.

The Yankees last at bat of the day cost them the game at the time, but their lack of hitting the entire game is what really screwed them. Derek Jeter at the plate with 1st and 3rd and one out. My roommate says to me, “lay down a nice bunt here,” but knowing Jetes better than that I simply replied, “he is going to hit into a DP.”

Next pitch.

4-6-3.

Inning over and obviously at that point there was no chance the Yankees were winning this game since the bullpen (not including Joba or Mo) can complete their rare escape act only so many innings in a row.

Did Derek want to do that? No, obviously not, but was he trying to get a base hit rather than safely score Johnny Damon? Yes, he was. The double play is the Yankees worst enemy, and any team’s for that, but the opposition has picked one up time and time against the Bombers in the most crucial of situations. It is obvious when they are going to happen and not even shocking once they do.

Don’t get me wrong, there is no one on the team I would rather have up in that spot than Derek Jeter, but I couldn’t help but get a feeling that the good old 4-6-3 would take place. Maybe it is because of what the Captain did against the Tribe in the ALDS last season that had me thinking that way?

For some reason I thought Joe Girardi was this miracle worker who battled the NL East for an entire season with a Florida Marlins team, full of kids who had barely finished going through puberty. Wasn’t he suppose to be this NL-style manager who would find ways to manufacture runs the way the Yankees did when he played for them? Wasn’t he suppose to come here and drop down bunts and hit and runs and double steals and put pressure on the opposition and play hard-nosed ball?

General Joe (if you can even call him that anymore) will always talk about how Joe Torre constantly tells him to “just be himself,” in reference to managing the New York Yankees, but for some reason Girardi hears Torre’s word as “be like me.” Girardi is still playing for that 3-run homer that never comes, relying on station to station baseball the same way Torre left this team in October after Paul Byrd quieted the Bronx throwing wiffleballs at $200 million in Game 4, laughing his way to an ALCS appearance.

Is it still early in the season? Not really. The Yankees have completed 15% of their schedule and have accomplished nothing positive. They have not found ways to hit, the youngsters have not found the strike zone, and the bullpen is more burnt out than Ricky Williams.

The Yankee starters have been leaving work early, usually before the 5th inning, trying to beat the early traffic they have created by allowing a half dozen runs to score by that point. When you let the leadoff man get on every inning or fall behind every hitter 3-1, you are flirting with disaster and you might escape the situation a few times, but eventually it will get you. And for the second straight day, that is exactly what happened.

Paul Byrd and Jeremy Sowers contained the New York Yankees. Who would have ever thought they would be reading that sentence? The so-called “most feared” lineup in baseball was handcuffed by a poor man’s version of Mike Mussina (if that is possible) and a AAA lefty who produces more meatballs than the Olive Garden. That mixed with the most two outs walks and hits ever in a two-game span in the history of Major League Baseball, and the Indians find themselves sitting pretty with C.C. Sabathia on the hill tomorrow.

If tomorrow’s matinée is truly a rematch of Game 1 of the ALDS, you might as well find another afternoon program to watch because watching the Yankees tap into the pen in the third inning down 9 doesn’t sound like a relaxing Sunday to me.

When Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter want to hit, Bobby Abreu and A-Rod take the day off and vice versa. There is more production from the bottom of the order and bench guys then there is the highly paid, superstar bats.

Two days ago it was Joba Chamberlain throwing his curveball for a walk-off single when he has a 100mph fastball and devastating slider. Last night it was Andy Pettitte throwing BP to the Indians with two outs and today it was Joe Girardi sitting Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, and Hideki Matsui against a lefty. Might as well sit Jeter and A-Rod against the next righty.

Here’s a clue Joe, how about you sit Jason Giambi and his fat ass on the bench for once. If you want to play Shelley Duncan after sending him down to the minors for no good reason then put him in Giambi’s wasted spot in the order. Don’t take Matsui, the best hitter on the team through this point of the season, and sit him on the bench to watch Giambi flop around at first base like a beached whale.

Good pitching will always beat good hitting. And right now, the Yankees can’t beat anybody.