Can't get much worse than that, huh? A 19-1 loss on George's birthday, the day when the Yankees officially hit the halfway mark of the season. Ouch.
It's a game like this that makes you really wonder what they need.
Is it a starting pitcher? Yes! Obviously they can't keep sending Shawn Chacon out.
Is is a reliever? Yes! Only Villone, and Farnsworth in garbage time, did well.
Is it a corner outfielder? Yes! They can't score at all the last two weeks.
So which is it? Good question. Joe Torre believes offense, so you figure that's the direction they're going in. One name to keep in mind is Aubrey Huff of the Devil Rays. Torre has always respected him as an offensive threat, and the Yankees had scout Jim Benedict in St. Petersburg the last two days watching the D-Rays.
Comments (14)
Sounded to me like Torre changed his mind about offense vs. pitching after last night's game. With good reason. We could have an entire the lineup of A-Rods or Giambis, and it wouldn't have helped last night.
I think the bullpen's okay. They're obviously overworked.
But the starting pitching...oy. Wright and Chacon have gone from 5-inning pitchers to less than two-inning pitchers. Bad Randy Johnson reappeared. Wang struggled. Even Moose left early his last time out (an injury Torre's still worrying about today).
Something's wrong with Chacon. Injury? Mechanics? I dunno, but he was a pretty solid for us last year, and when he was with the Rockies (away from the thin air of Colorado, anyway). Something's wrong. Perhaps it's fixable, but I don't think we have the time to fix it now.
It could be a menu at a Chinese restaurant. The more money that you want to spend or trade for. The more choices. We could not get enough hitting to replace both corner outfielders. Pitching changes especially in the starting rotation. Wright or Chacon or both have to be removed. I would bet on Chacon, less contract to swallow. We could develop a farm hand in Chacon's place. How about backup catcher? Cashman must be evaluating his needs everyday with the performance on the field. There are no fixes for the ailments of this team. Too many areas are in need. Hitting, starting pitching and outfield defense. I'm sure Phillips will be gone. He has some value this will leave a hole at first with Jason, gold glove returning. Some minor leaguers will bite the dust as trade bait. The cycle will repeat itself unless the Yankee orgainization bites the bullet. The years of trading away the farm system blue chips are paying a heavy price for upgrades today. I have no solutions to repair the loss of Matsui and Sheffield and upgrading the SP. In my opinion if all areas are not upgraded. This will not be a championship year and only window dressing on an aging team with multiple injuries to key players and only 3 starting pitchers for a 5 day rotation.
Don't trade for anyone. Reload and comeback stronger next season.
The Yanks obviously have many needs and not enough minor league talent to fill them all. Like you and me, they need to bargain shop. Go get Craig Wilson immediately. He can play (c)(1B)and (OF). This move up-grades our backup catcher, and gives us the option of trading Phillips without putting Giambi at 1B. We then have to go the "package route," and get either Soriano and Guillen," or Torii Hunter and Radke. Torii Hunter and Shannon Stewart is another possibility with the Twin "package." We must "long-term" any player, (other than Guillen,) whose contract is expiring at seasons end, before any and all deal(s) are final. Hughes is not included in any of the deals. He is saved to acquire,(if available,) a top AL starting pitcher. Currently, the only pitcher I would give Hughes up for is Zito. The primary players the Yanks should use to make these trade(s) is Cano, Melky, Phillips, Proctor, Beam, and Duncan. We should try and stay away from trading single A talent, as that's where the real future of the Yankees lies.
All things point to this. Gone are the days of raiding the farm system to fill an immediate need at the expense of a huge contract. If somebody like Zito can be had as a FA then do it in the off season not at the expense of blue chip prospects like Hughes et al. The bandaid method was bound to catch up sooner or later and that later time has arrived.
This is not to say that the Yankees can't pick up a Ty Wigginton for example, who at not yet 29 can figure in beyond 2006 but big names like Carlos Lee should be off Cashman's radar. There's also the pitching needs. Besides, what do you do with Carlos Lee when Matsui and Sheffield are back ? Brian Cashman is a guy that does his homework and he knows who is or isn't a fit for this year and beyond.
Yesterday's game inspired me to post this image of George Steinbrenner on our website (www.theweeklydonut.com) It is just a matter of time now before some substantial moves are made to salvage the 2006 season. And by Salvage I mean moves made to help insure that this team makes the post season. Because if they continue they way they are going, it will be third place and no wild card. My fingers are crossed that we can straighten this out before it is too late.
As it stands right now, if I were given the authority to make any changes that I see fit with eating salary of no concern the players gone in a NY minute would be Pavano, Chacon, Farnsworth, Stinnett, and Crosby. Guys that would be told that they're seriously on the bubble would be RJ, Proctor, and Cairo. Then start adding from there.
I don't understand why people keep saying Cano should be traded. Who do you want in his place? Miguel "I couldn't hit to save my life" Cairo? Seriously people, wake up! Screw the postseason if making it means giving away whatever cheap young talent we have! As Rich said upthread, retool and come back stronger next season. Build for long-term, not for immediate bandaid. Let's be honest, even if Yanks pull off a blockbuster, the chances of them winning it all just because of that one deal are slim to none. This team has too many holes to fix in one fell swoop. If adequate help cannot be produced from small-scale deals or from within the organization, forget it. Mortaging future is not worth 3 extra games in October. If anything, it would be nice to trade away a veteran or two for a bunch of top-notch prospects or young MLers....stock up the farm a bit.
What ym said.
Why would you trade the future, Phillip Hughes, for Zito? Zito will be a free agent, so you'd be renting him for 3-4 months. If he decided not to re sign with the Yankees, you just gave up your number 1 prospect and future for that??
You are also not going to get anybody that can play in the big leagues now for single A trades.
Rumors have a deal going with Seattle. Chacon goes to the Mariners for RHP Joel Pineiro. Maybe a change will do both pitchers some good. Let's see if it happens and go from there.
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