On the Yankees beat

I am very concerned because I have no faith in Cashman's abilities to make the necessary roster corrections and none in Torre's abilities to lead this team or make the proper game management decisions.

I also think it is a terrible move bringing Hughes up into this situation under these conditions. And, as far as Clemens coming along to help out, he said he wants to go with the team that has the best chance for a ring. He is quickly approaching his decision time frame, and from what we've seen, which team do you suppose that might be??? Certainly not the Yankees.

Melky and Igawa need to go to AAA. Myers and Farnsworth need to just go away period. The manager needs to go and bring in someone with a little intensity and fire. Phelps needs to play more and replace Nieves as backup C. And, while we're at it, getting Bernie on the phone wouldn't be such a bad idea.

well the road trip certainly stunk - I'm not in full blown panic mode though - however get back to me if we're looking at the team having a 7 game losing streak with Karstens and Igawa slated to face Boston.

I have no problem with the Hughes call up. The Yankees have tried to avoid it by using other options, but those other options proved either ineffective or just not ready for the majors - the kid is the best pitching prospect in all of baseball, lets see what he's got.

Hopefully Andy does tonight what he did so often in his first go around with the team and that's stop the skid.

Myers has now failed twice in a row in the only job he has - I would not be shocked to see Torre start to lean on Henn in those situations.

In a perfect world, Rick is right that Myers and Farnsworth should go away - especially if Joe has lost faith in them and thus will only use them in mop up roles - but the reality of the situation is that they both have guaranteed contracts and will not just be released.

Francessa and Russo were just talking about Bernie - that even the Yankee offense can't carry a bench that has two guys batting under .200 and two guys who are 0 for the season. I think Cashman's take is going to be that the Yankees have had no problem scoring runs - it's keeping the other team from scoring runs that has been the issue - and I agree. I think calling up Hughes is as far as Cashman is prepared to go in terms of a panic move just now - but we'll see how things stand after this weekend.

I’m not in total panic mode…yet, but I’d be lying to you if I knew for a fact that everything is going to be fine.

It’s becoming painfully obvious Torre is making some panic moves and I think the players are starting to sense it. Its clear Torre is going to play “his guys” (Proctor, Vizcaino, Myers) and has completely lost faith in others (Farnsworth) even though it hurts the team.

Off the top of my head, I would move Igawa to the bullpen (what an awful signing, should’ve gotten Lilly instead), DFA Myers (what’s the point of his carrying a roster spot when he only faces one batter and most times can’t get the job done?), sign Clemens as soon as possible (and I still don’t like him, at least personally), somehow get a better catcher (Doumit?), trade Melky for a relief pitcher (should’ve been done in the offseason), and bring Bernie back (he’s needed on this team!).

I think Giambi needs to play some 1B, Phelps as the main backup, Mientkiewicz never should start or hit, and Bernie to DH.

I am not panicking yet. The Yanks are snake bitten right now and I see no reason for anything drastic. The Sox, Jays and O's will all have their down times this season as all teams go through it.
I would however, get rid of Myers who is on the team for one reason- to get lefties out and if he's not going to do it, then dump him and bring up Villone who can at least pitch more innings while getting bombed.
I would send Igawa to AAA when some of the other starters are healthy, that guy needs serious instruction.
When Mussina comes back and the team can actually throw three decent starters in a row, it won't be too bad.
Wang was taken out last night because he was out of gas, that's all there is to it. He will go deeper into games when he gets one or two more starts under his belt.
Once the starters begin to stay in the game longer (expect a short outing from Mussina his first game back as well), the bullpen will be rested and get better.
All this freaking out is very amusing to read though so keep it up. I especially liked the one idiot who said he wanted the Yanks to lose the rest of their games so they could get the first pick in the draft, hahaha, what is this, the NFL?
On the good news front, Randy Johnson got his *ss kicked last night by the Padres. :)

I liked the quote from Damon about losing 5 straight without being outplayed. Like Jim A said, they've just been snakebitten lately. I think everything can still work out OK. I definitely agree with everybody who wants to get rid of Myers though. The guy has one freaking job - to get out lefties, and just off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 or 4 times when he failed miserably and cost the game. Torre is starting to worry me, too, but I think its still too soon to do anything drastic.

I think the basic problem with proposing moves now is that not many teams generally make trades in April - GM's will generally wait about a month or so to see what shakes out with their team - it's a good practice.

But speaking hypothetically, here are some possible moves:

Farnsworth, Karstens, Melky and cash to Philly for Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino

Why the Phillies would do it: They are desperate for bullpen help and need a CF to replace impending free agent Aaron Rowand

Why the Yankees would do it: Victorino gives them an Endy Chavez type on the bench and Ruiz is a good young catcher who could serve as Jorge's back up and eventually take over. The Yankees in this deal might also have to take back the salary of a Jon Lieber too.

Find a new reserve middle infielder - whether that is someone on another team's roster (Cantu, Barmes, Scott Hairston) or a street free agent - Cairo just cannot hit and he's not enough of a fielder or runner to make up for that.

Myers DFA, Villone up
Villone might not be any more effective than Myers but at least he can pitch to more than one batter.

Phelps to start every day at 1st with Meinty as the defensive replacement - not only has Phelps earned the right to play more, Meinty has earned the right to not play.

Send Igawa to AAA to work on some things

So after that here is how the team would look:

Damon
Jeter
Abreu
Alex
Giambi
Matsui
Posada
Cano
Phelps
bench: Victorino, Ruiz, Meinty, new infielder

Rotation
Wang
Andy
Moose
Hughes
Rasner/Igawa (until Clemens is signed or Pavano gets back)

Pen
Rivera
Proctor
Vizciano
Bruney
Henn
Villone
Rasner/TJ Beam

send Igawa to the bullpen

Anon,

you don't want a pitcher with his control issues coming out of the pen.

Cantu is a horrible infielder worse than Soriano...Callaspo on D-backs or Gonzalez at Scranton.Cairo had 5 ABs going into last nights game.He is not the problem .Phillies are not going to trade Ruiz their starting catcher and Victorino who is off to a great start .

Yanks would have to give up too much in the way of eating Farnsworth's contract and taking on Lieber's. If the Phillies would do Farns for Lieber straight up, I would do that.
I agree w/ Ruse, Cairo played well defensively last night and is somewhat versatile. I wouldn't get rid of him now, he'd be a scapegoat for this bad start and he doesn't deserve that.

I am also concerned about the Yankees start. Primarily, the lack of innings from the starters, and Torre's Bullpen management.
I'm not a big Mike Myers fan, but ironically, he is the second most effective guy out of the bullpen right now. True, he can't get Ortiz out (how many lefties can in late innings?) and last night was just a mistake to Crawford. Should we DFA Mo Rivera for his back to back meltdowns?
There is nothing wrong with Cairo, he is a fine utilityman that is ready to play when needed and will give you solid defense, run well, and move runners with the bat.
Scoring is not the Yankees major concern, it's preventing the oppostion from scoring, especially in later innings. Torre desperately needs more quality innings from the starters and needs to stay with them longer, so that the number of appearances by the pen can decrease. He uses so many in each game, thus increasing the chances that at least one is going to have an off night.
I agree that Igawa should work out his command issues in Scranton. And I think his start this weekend will decide his fate on whether or not that happens.
We need a long winning streak right now!

Myers blew a matchup with Crawford in the first series too.

I said it yesterday and I hope last nigth is not the beginning of a pattern, when A-Rod doesnt hit I dont feel comfident that the team will pick it up around him. So even when pitching improves I am not sure the wins will neccessarily follow in the numbers needed.

let's just say for a moment that these Lefty vs. Lefty matchups are overrated and a joke . Visciano' role should be getting lefties out.He is no worse than Myers.Lefties hit a .160 off him in 2006.BTW he's been known to get righties out !

Trade Farnsworth to the Cubbies for Matt Murton .Lou has no bullpen and they just brought Pie up from triple A and moved Floyd to rightfield.

Chip,

As far as your trade it would be great, the only problem is Philly would have to be on drugs to give even one of those guys for a collection of non-performing role players. Junk is Junk!

Ruse and Jim,

You two are probably right on Cairo - you know I've never been a big fan of his though.

The only reason I suggest Ruiz might be available is because the Phillies signed Barajas to a three year deal.

The Yankees right now are in a catch 22 - They have good relievers who stop being good relievers because they have been overused because the spot starters couldn't go deep into games and now that the team is starting to get back starters the pen is so gassed that they are blowing those games.

Hitch,

The Phillies did give up Abreu for junk, but I get your point, it is probably wishful thinking.

Ruse,

Dont know if you heard Mike and The Mad dog yesterday about Farnsworth. National Leaguers all knew he was useless and no one could figure out why the Yanks wanted him, so Farnsworth for any one is a no go I think. If a team was in salary dump mode they might take a bad performer with an expiring or low value contract, but that doesnt apply here.

Chip,

I know but I am still not on the Abreu bandwagon.

I know the common thinking here is that the relievers are having trouble from being over worked....but from the beginning the relievers have done a pretty bad job. Maybe not all of them but with the exception of the Minnesota series, the have been porous every day.

Here is Rob Neyer's take on Phil Hughes:

Hughes didn't fare well in his brief spring training trial with the big club, and he's pitched only 16 innings this month with Triple-A Scranton. But as Baseball America's Jim Callis reports, Hughes recently made "a minor adjustment with his delivery, [and] was back to locating his 90-94 mph fastball and plus curveball with precision." The result last week: six innings, two hits, zero walks, 10 strikeouts.

If you're not a serious Yankees fan, or a crazed fantasy owner, answer this question: Before this month, had you ever heard of Darrell Rasner, Chase Wright, or Jeff Karstens? Let alone all three of them? Well, they've combined to start six games for (theoretically) the world's best baseball team, and Wright and Karstens both have been hammered. Meanwhile, Kei Igawa co-leads the staff with four starts, but doesn't lead with a nifty 7.84 ERA.

The Yankees are in fourth place, four games out of first place. That's not so bad. What's bad is continuing to rely on a bunch of marginal major league starters. The Yankees have a significant amount of wiggle room, thanks to their star-studded lineup. But even the Yankees can't afford to go with a two- or three-man rotation.

Really, the only reason you wouldn't bring up Hughes now is the fear of destroying his promising future. Physically, the Yankees are not going to hurt him, at least not measurably. Hughes won't throw 120 pitches in a game this season, and perhaps not even 110. When it comes to his psyche, you have to assume the front office knows more about Hughes than we do. True, his nerves might get the better of him. It happens. But you might as well get the initial jitters out of the way, and if he struggles initially -- as many young pitchers have over the years -- you send him down and give him another shot in a month or two.

Pitching to major leaguers isn't easy. Jeremy Bonderman was an excellent prospect, and is today a fine pitcher. But as a 20-year-old rookie, he lost 19 games. Hughes might be a prodigy, though, and he's almost certainly one of the five best starters in the organization right now. If this is panic, every team should be so lucky.

Viz was pissed yesturday , the look on his face after the HR pitch by myers said it all. when your players are IN DANGER of health you stop the culprit. I think (honestly ) that a public statement by ownership about this would put the thought into Joe that we are watching you. Because in all do you think Cash would EVER criticize Torre??

Good find Chip,

That is why I say wright will be a better pitcher.

I don't know but i think he is our sleeper if he is kept with us. I think he is going to emerge over HUGHES just by being back in the background. he will always remember boston and that will motivate him to be a beast and remember ... HE IS A LEFTY

BB,

At 24 and still just making AA - well I dont know how much more developmental time he has. They didnt demote him to AAA ball but back to AA. So they dont even think he has progressed any with his stint up here. I bet we never hear of him again.

I don't have a care in the world. Mussina will be back soon, Hughes is coming up, Wang is finally back. The Yankees are 4 games out, with 143 to play. Last place three weeks into the season means nothing more than our team has had some serious injuries and caught some bad breaks. It will turn around.

Hitch, they didn't send him to AAA because they didn't have a spot in the rotation there - the scranton rotation is:

Clippard, Olendorf, Jackson, Rasner and DeSalvo

Karstens and Rasner might turn out to be marginal major league starters.Their stuff is not electric but their style of pitching is in the Suppan mold.Karstens/Rasner both could be solid bottom of the rotation types.Remember all you naysayers were raving about Karstens in ST.Give the kid a chance before you start writing him and everyone else off.
I'm really surprised why Rasner who was pitching reasonable well was demoted.
I know it's a numbers game but he pitched well.

I am concernerd for one reason about the Hughes promotion. Back in Joe Torres early managing days with the Mets, he was under pressure at the start of the season to show progress. The Mets had a young stud, the top rated pitching prospect in the minors name Tim Leary. The Mets wanted to give him at least another 1/2 season at AAA since at 20 he had only a small amount of experience at that level. Torre talked the GM into promoting Leary and in his first start he hurt his arm and was never the same again. He lasted a whole 2 innings. That debacle was the final straw that caused the Mets to fire Torre.

Ruse, as a naysayer who was saying nay about Karstens a while ago - I think that he fits in the Shawn Chacon model - a guy who looked more impressive than he really is last year because since he came out of nowhere, scouting reports on him were spotty at best. After a winter of study scouts came up with a better game plan to attack him with - don't chase the breaking ball and sit on his marginal fastball and then hit the poop out of it.

Hitch,
Chip is right on Wright.He was a little overwhelmed to say the least in Boston.It's an old adage in baseball that lefties tend to mature later than righties.Of course there are exceptions.

I believe in Wright I beleive he is under the radar. I cannot fully remember but was ANdy P highly talked about in 95? I Know he had a pretty high era in his few starts, but was brought back by new mgmt , in which the team ma y feel is better with developement of our minors today , Buck would be perfect for the team status NOW. I also beleive that Stick should be promoted so he would be around BC

In positive Yankee news, Bronson Sardinha, after a horrid start has started to hit better of late.

Chip,

Just my point, all those guys "ahead" of him are pretty marginal.
Rasner -26
Clippard - 22
Ohlendorf - 24
Jackson - 25
Desalvo - 26

This is not exactly a young promising crew especially when you look at some of the ERA's. Yet Wright couldn't crack that line-up.

The Mets also had a 19 yr old kid from Double A named Gooden who stuck around for awhile.Pitching is a crapshoot.Role the dice.

Additionally he features a change up as his main pitch. So his fastball is really his change-up and I have never liked pitchers that do that. Once the league times them its usually what you saw in Boston.

Gooden didn't have the mental maturity to handle life as a big league player. Bringing him up 19 may not have helped when you look at the overall picture of his career.

Hitch,
The point is they were all Double A or higher last yr.Once the starting pitching settles down abit ,I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two of those guys unloaded.Clippard is a keeper.

I think that the yankees are in trouble, but this is the right part of the season, because there is time to fix things.

They need more DEPTH. If Cano had gotten on to start the 9th, the next three hitters up were Cabrera, Mienkivetz and Cairo, with no one on the bench. The great Yankee teams always had guys who would come off the bench and give a lift- Sojo, Leyritz, Vizciano,etc.
The only guy who fits that now is Cairo. he just hasn't palyed alot- if he did he would contribute like he did last year when Cano went down. But the rest of the bench is a joke. They need to cut loose one of the 1st basemen and add a veteran pinch hitter. Bernie Willimas would be the perfect choice. He could also fill in in the outfield, along with a Kevin Thompson- let Cabrera play everyday at Scranton.

The bullpen is also a mess (obviously). But I belive that this is because of the type of pitchers they have out there. Farnsworth, Vizciano, Bruney and Proctor are all "8th inning" type guys- i.e.- they are good for one inning. Myers is a "fraction"- not even good for one inning, and Rivera is your 9th inning guy. So Henn is really the only guy they have who gives length. This is vital when your starters don't go long (Even when healthy, Mussina and Pavano will not go past 100 pitches). I would suggest cutting a couple of guys loose (Myers and Bruney) and calling up some minor leagurs to pitch in games when the starter can't make it to the sixth. This will save your top relievers for games that are most likely to be won. The worst thing you can do is pitch your top three relievers in games when you are losing.

Hughes is the only real prospect pitching in either AA or AAA. The others are spot guys or backenders for bad teams. Maybe if they need an inning eater in the future one may pan out. Hughes is the real deal as long as they dont rush him which I hope they aren't. Othewr than him they will have to look to the outside for help.

Wright is being sent down to do his thing regain that confidence remember the FACT he lasted 5 innings . yeah he gave up four shots but he did;nt leave the game after a HR he got the third out and he shut them down for a few innings factor in the enivroment , the catcher and the coach . you can mature with the enviroment. you would have a better catcher , trust me if posada was catching it would not have happened. remember after the clev HR he gave up in his first start , posada went and talked to him. nieves play calling was just as much at fault. then to throw up his arms showing up the kid did'nt help as well. also remember this Wright is 1-1 in MLB starts , Philip hughes could'nt even get out of Spring training

5 innings Bomber? Didn't he come out after the 3rd?

what happened to the cuban first baseman what are his stats??

Here we go again with the 38 yr old has been who is going to come back and scorch the ball,cover the same amount of ground in the OF as he did in his prime ,throw like Ichiro,pinch hit like Manny Mota ?????

Cheer up Yank fans,

It's April...a long way to go.

Last year the Sox went thru the same exact thing....they had guys no one ever heard of, or never wanted to hear from again like, Jason Johnson, Kason Gabbard, Kyle Snyder, Davern Hansack, and David Pauley starting games for them...except they were doing so in August and September when it was critical...remember the 5 game massacre in Fenway?...sure you do...now name the Sox staring pitchers...without cheating and looking it up...cant can ya?

Also, the Sox were forced to use "not ready for prime time" guys like Hansen and Delcarmen in middle relief...no choice...didnt have anyone who could throw strikes or get anyone out.

The Sox imploded due to a rash of injuries last year...but the silver lining is they may of found some gold in that extrememly frustrating season. Kyle Snyder seems to have his health and may live up to the #1 pick potential, Davern Hansack pitched a 5 inning no-no and has been absolutelt lights out in Pawtucket this season Hansen has the tools and the body to be an incredible pen guy...he needs time to develope and season...he was pitching college ball a year ago, Delcarmen has electric stuff, but needs to learn command and consistantcy. These guys gained valuable experience last year in a year that saw a inexplicable implosion for the team. It will pay dividends. The Sox made some major moves over the winter...perhaps the best move was hiring John Farrell as pitching coach..he has been a God-send. This year the Sox have incredible depth at pitching....actually have two complete starting rotations if needed between Boston and Pawtucket.

My guess is the Yanks will be in the same boat very soon...and again, it's April, not August.

NFW the Yanks are going to be a team that struggles to get above 500....they will be there in the thick of it come August/Sept.

Stats for Juan Miranda so far for the Tampa Yanks:

Team League AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS
TAM FSL .262 18 61 8 16 2 0 1 9 21 7 20 0 0 .333 .344 .678

7hr's already? well those numbers look better than our 1b is he error prone?

Thanks Pete!

BB,

There is nothing wrong with being hopeful. With pitchers I tend to be cut and dry. If they are not pushing their way to the big club by 24, then they probably will never be a factor unless the club changes their role to that of a releiver. Wright isnt even pushing his way onto the AAA club.

Every year clubs pull from AA pitchers to fill in for a game or two. That is done because they dont want to disrupt the development of the AAA guys, who are closer to being long term help. The Mets brought in a whole string or nobodies last year instead of bringing up Pelfrey their top guy. They didnt want to disrupt his development. Those other guys were never intended to stick, just fill a hole until someone else got healthy.

my bad One hr

Miranda is not the answer.
Phelps plays a decent 1st base ,he began a 3-4-1 DP which Giambi never could make.
The Yanks need a backup catcher with pop who knows something about handling pitchers and their fragile egos.Nieves is not the answer.
You don't want Nieves pinchhitting or standing anywhere near a batrack.

Hitch -

I feel you on your point and most of the time it is true what yo u say , but like bonderman who lost 19 games the positive for wright was the EXPERIENCE so he gave up 4 runs to boston, schilling gave up 6 . alot of reasons could have factor but the bottom line was he got himself out of the inning trailing by one run. he was,nt pulled within the Inning he got himself out of the inning. a few mechanical changes and the MEMORY of what happened and we'll be laughing at that day when he is a beast i n the future.

ANdy P did have bad outings in his starts in 95.

hahahaa @ Nieves

Ben Davis should ge t a call

BB,
Like I said nothing wrong with hope. Lets keep the fingers crossed for Hughes.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember AP losing his very first start in 95 and not looking particularly good while doing so.

One of the reasons Bonderman lost 19 games is he pitched for one of the worst teams in baseball.Certainly not a boost to his confidence.Hughes is Hughes you can't compare the 2 .These are entirely different circumstances.

I hope Phil Hughes lives up to his billing. He is a fantastic prospect, and will be a mainstay for years to come for the Yanks.

I'd love to see him going head to head with the Sox young phenom, Jon Lester, a couple of times this season.

That, fans, is what baseball is all about.

Pettittes 1st ML start
5 1/3 innings 7 hits 1 ER lost 3-0 .His next 2 starts were excellent.

Jim or Kobrien, if you talk to Joe torre, will you beg him to remove Myers from the team? And add a bullpen guy who can eat up innings to save the bullpen? I don't know why this move wasn't made 10 years ago, please beg!! I am not in panic mode but the dude is ruining a spot on the team, give a younger guy a chance!

Panic?no-worried-yes! The starters are killing the team-if this continues,the bullpen will be fried by May.The problems began in the winter,when they refused to sign Lilly,who was dying to return and instead signed Igawa,who is total garbage.If the scouting report said he was a #5 starter at best,why get him??? I think because they needed a Japanese import to counter the Sux-they got the best of the Japanese pitchers.
I love Bernie,he was great for the team,4 rings but he is done! Forget Mike and Dog and their rantings-Bernie cannot pinch hit and needs to play every day to be successful.He can't play in the field anymore and didn't bother to show up in the spring-he is retired and forget it-have Bernie day in August.Melky is off to a bad start,but defensively is still the best outfielder on the team.Maybe some time in Scranton will help him get his stroke back.The other mistakes made in the fall were1.catcher=they never picked up a true major league catcher,instead picking through the trash.
Nieves cannot hit,Posada never gets full day off and will wear out if nothing is done and 2.1b=
Dougy can field but cannot hit,Torre doesn't trust Phelps and Giambi can't move.They need a real fulltime firstbaseman.I don't think there will be any trades,it is too early in the season.It is time for Hughes-bring him slowly,even as a long reliever if necessary.

1995 stats.

1995 NYY 31 26 3 0 175.0 183 86 81 15 63 114 12 9 0 0 -- 4.17

He was shelled on a few outings BUT BUCK who is a much better evaluator of talent stuck with him and Torre Inherited him. Torre only good move was Giradi.

Roger Repoz,
Some good points !

chase wright would be the next mariano story or maybe even Igwa or sanchez , pitchers left off the radar and is instructed by a good team in the minors sometimes comeback with some success. the yankees stopped the Tampa shuttle because AGAIN of Torre complaining. see how situations come back at you.

remember this ..

Each time Cabrera fails blame torre , it is he who stopped him from being shipped to Scanton

I'm glad that we're getting this crappy baseball out of the way in April instead of the "dog days". It's just way too early to panic about this.
What's been bothering me is the fact that our pitchers are always pitching from behind in the count. No one is getting ahead of the hitters except for Petitte, who's been pitching great, and Wang. He was throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters. He only had the one bad inning where the Rays got the 2 runs.
I just don't get a guy like Farnsworth. He's got that blazing fastball that can put hitters away and to me at least, he just doesn't seem to trust it. He's always trying to be too cute and hit corners when he should just go out and let it fly!
The other thing that's got me going is our best players getting hit by pitches. This has got to stop and the way to make it stop is for our pitchers to start throwing inside and hard to the other teams' best players. I think Guidry should sit all of pitchers down in a conference room and show them clips of Gibson and Drysdale. What I wouldn't give to have pitchers in that mold on our team.

Giradi stated best Fansworth flaw , He stated he is not getting on top of his pitches which he QUICKLY identified last night, what does that say about your present coaches?

It says they're not sitting up there in the booth with nothing to do but watch and comment, and that they are not free to blab whatever they see to the mic.

That said, I do like Girardi and his way of homing in on things. Too bad he already has a name for not being able to deal with ownership -- GS can NOT be easier to deal with than the guy Girardi alienated so briskly that he was fired in spite of doing a great job with the team.

Florida Mgmt has a bad rep.

Trust me Giradi was HIRED not only to do the obvious

Anon,

I do agree with you on that, but I wish I could see the way from here to there...

John G,

Another head case!

The GM is in charge of the roster, Torre has very little say in it. You can stop blaming Torre for the players that are available to him on a nightly basis. Cashman is the ultimate authority when it comes to those types of decisions, with input from Torre and the coaches. Bernie would still be around if Torre had his way and Cabrera would have been back in AAA after his horrible spring training.

Like I said earlier today, the Yanks just have been snake bitten recently and that goes for Torre as well as the players. The law of averages will right things fairly soon and everyone will come back off the ledge. There are some minor moves that should be made but they're just that, minor. No major shakeup is needed except in the health situation, once that is fixed all will be well.

Maybe the law of averages is working in your favor now. Maybe this is the upside! Once the health situation is fixed what if they go on a 10 game losing streak? Maybe this is just a bad team no matter who is on the roster.

Hitch,

Stop being a buzz kill. Your pouring water on these Yankee sycophants over optimism. They have all the solutions. The league just has to give them what they need.

Oblivion is the answer to minor annoyances.

Hey, I have a solution for your back-up catcher problem. I hear Fat Rosie is now available. That would be an upgrade there now wouldn't you say?

New York Yankees Are Drowning

The curse for Yankee nation is upon us.

Mo blows save in 2001 world series. d-backs world champs!

In 2002 they get beat by the angels. Angels world champs!

In 2003 they get beat by the pathetic Marlin franchise of Florida. Marlins world champs!

In 2004 they are part of baseball history and are swept right out of the park 4 games in a row by the sox after being down 0-3 and the red sox just kept on sweeping all the way to st louis without having to stop for new brooms. Red Sox world champs!

In 2005 they get ousted by the angels in the first round. White Sox world champs!

In 2006 they get ousted by the tigers with the whole team acting like that was the first time they ever payed baseball game. Cards world champs!

In 2007 your best player is having the MOST PHENOMENOL APRIL IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL and your team is in LAST PLACE! What would your record be without A-Rod? 3-16? 4-15?

That sounds like a lot of curses brought upon you guys the past few years. The tide is turning. To top it all of the red sox get daisuke. Usually George is the first one to overpay for a player. He just let the red sox show up his checkbook. He doesn't seem to care anymore.

Enjoy those 26 rings. I'm sure the majority of yankee fans on this board weren't even alive to see the 2000 world series win against the Mets.

LOL @ you guys. I can't wait to bump this when they finish below the O's.

ax myers, demote farnsworth to 6th / 7th inning, use henn and brunny in 7th /8th bring up villone (while at same time searching for his replacement)- damon giambi and abreau will come around. dont have to worry about arod, matsui jeter and posada. phelps in everyday until 6th /7th and then minky goes in for def. purposes. cano and melky are young, so their timing will come.

wish torre would stop mixing and matching. if he likes that idea so much, go manage a NL team.

gotta take 3 out of 5 in home stand. toronto is hot and boston still smells blood from last weekend.

friday night, set the tone. karstens, buzz one past ortiz's shrek head..u might not please your comatose manager, but team of 25 (especially jeter, arod, giambi, etc) , crowd of 55,000 plus and yankees universe will be damn proud of you.

who knows, maybe that will wake torre up in dugout!

Jim A that is not true , the papers and Torre SAID that he held back from sending Melky down so that means the Manager has input in roster descions. GM has power in waiving a player etc.

Must really tick you guys off to know that the 2 teams you all hate the most, the Sox and the Mets are both sitting in first place and cruising along without any problems while you guys are all the down at the bottom trying to figure out who your next miracle savior will be.

If bernie had shown up he would be , and if Bernie was here instead of melky and played a poor defense when matsui and damon was hurt Torre would have side step that as well

Most overrated in NY

of the 9 NY sports teams, Wang is the single most overrated player of all the teams. the guy is just not that great, he's an average 3rd starter, thats all. Get off his jock already. and dont give me the 19 wins, its the fluky-est stat in baseball and your team gives the most run support with 200 million dollars worth of hitters.

Garland won 18 games. twice. Blanton won 16 games with hitters hitting .310 off him. Lieber won 17. Cliff Lee won 18. Russ Ortiz 21. Loaiza - 21. etc.

and he gets rocked by Boston.