First, before I precede any further I have to talk Grand Theft Auto IV. That game is amazing and is a definite must have if you own a Play Station 3 or Xbox 360. I have already sacrificed a week of my life to it, and instead of writing articles, I have been wreakin’ havoc as Nikko in Liberty City. Speaking of wreaking havoc, injuries and youth have decimated the Yankees and the 2008 season is very much in peril (who would have thought on May 2, 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays would be in first place and Joe Torre’s Dodgers would have a better record). Things are not looking good in the Bronx as the Yankees’ two most indepensible everyday players (A-Rod, and Posada) are on the DL along with their top young pitcher Phil Hughes (it sounds like him and Carl Pavano have a lot to talk about in Tampa). Unfortunately for Brian Cashman, his scapegoat now manages in LA and his hand picked manger does not look too good right now.
Coming into the season the Yankees stressed “physical” fitness to prevent injuries because under Joe Torre the players were “out of shape”. Along those lines, we all heard about how much running the Yankees were doing in spring training and what great shape everyone was in. Fast-forward to today and their top starting pitching prospect broke his rib (I wonder how?) and both A-Rod and Jeter have suffered quad injuries (Maybe there was too much running in spring training?). In addition to those, Jorge Posada has been placed on the DL for the first time in his career with a strain shoulder. I say all this to point out that Brian Cashman may come to regret (sooner rather than later) firing Joe Torre. For all of Torre’s well-chronicled lack of in-game management skills, this is the time that Torre was at his best; he was able to take the blame and lead his team through the rough times. So far, Joe Girardi’s been showing that he can’t handle the heat that comes with a rocky start in the Big City. Now Cashman has to take responsibility for his flawed off-season plan. In the off-season, I wrote that the Mets once tried to build a contender with three young pitching prospects in the mid 90’s and failed miserably. Cash is heading down the same path, as the Yankees are not going to make the postseason this year with the way rest of the division is playing. His trio of young pitchers has failed him big time this year. Ian Kennedy was obviously not ready for the big leagues, and Phil Hughes is pretty much done for the season (Phil Hughes has been on the DL 2-times already in the last two years while Johan Santana been on the DL twice in his entire career). And while Joba has been great in his set-up role, there is no guarantee that he will be an ace as a starter. This, combined with the age finally catching up to the rest of the Yankee roster, has already put the Bronx in crisis mode.
The way the season is going both Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman might be looking for new jobs in the off-season. The gap between the rest of the AL east and the Yankees has closed significantly this season. This past weekend’s series between Tampa and Boston was actually a big one (I never though that Tampa would ever be involved in one of those). The Yankees with out A-Rod and Posada are not a very good offensive team (despite what took place this weekend) and apart from Wang, the Yankees’ starting pitching is a crapshoot. For a 200 million dollar roster, this is unacceptable and it’s time that Brian Cashman is held responsible for his decisions. However, unlike his father, I don’t think Hank has the balls to make the tough decision and “fire” his GM.
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