Most Yankee fans are living in denial this season about the state of their favorite team. With George Steinbrenner stuck in the fog of his dementia and Hank Steinbrenner talking out of his ass all season, Brian Cashman has launched his covert operation on Yankee-dom. I hate to blow the cover on his little plan, but the Yankees are doing the “R” word this season; the Yankees are REBUILDING. Some might say that I’m jumping the gun here, that I’m biased because I root for the Mets. However, after watching Kyle Farnsworth suck ass in the 8th inning against the Twins the other night (for whatever reason, Joba was unavailable for that assignment) it’s pretty clear that Cashman is prepared to sacrifice this season for the future.
Now some would say that a team with a 200-million dollar payroll should be the best team in the league. And normally they’d be right. But the sad truth is the Yankees are finally paying the heavy price for Brian Cashman’s astute talent evaluation (ha!), especially in regards to starting pitching. After nearly a decade of obtaining great pitchers (ha!) like Jeff Weaver, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, and Kei Iwaga, the Yankees starting rotation is a joke. Wanna know it’s best punchline? When Mike Mussina is your best pitcher, you know your team is in trouble.
For all of those individuals who believe Joba is going to save the Yankees this season I have another “R” for you. It is called REALITY CHECK. It would be a miracle to see Joba actually come anywhere close to pitching 5-innings, much less 6, anytime soon. With the Yankees keeping him on a strict pitch count, by the time he fully “stretches” out his arm, we’ll already be heading into Labor Day. That means the Yankees’ bullpen, spearheaded by Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins, is going to have to pitch a lot of innings, especially on days when Joba only gets two batters into the 3rd, 4th, or 5th. Actually, they are going to have to get a hell of a lot more outs if Wang does not return to his ace form either. This is why I disagree with the Joba move because at least with him and Mo in the bullpen it’s a 7 inning game. This puts less pressure on your entire pitching staff.
Long term, the Yankees may be best served by missing the playoffs. This would finally force Cashman to remodel the team after a winning franchise like (I hate to say this) the Red Sox. I don’t know about you, but I would take Theo Epstein over Brian Cashman or Omar Minaya any day (Editor’s note: damn straight). He is the perfect example of a GM with huge resources who knows how to utilize them. Cashman is on the opposite end of the spectrum: with so many holes on the roster, Cashman cannot call up any young prospects that are ready to help the team because he simply doesn’t have them. I would suggest that he trade some of the vets for young talent, but all Cashman ever gets back in return are guys who need Tommy John surgery (Humberto Sanchez, anyone?).
I know the Yankees would never admit to this being a rebuilding year because of the outrageous price of tickets this season. And despite all these criticisms, I fully expect the Yankees to contend for the Wild Card… I just expect them to fall short thanks to this abortion of a pitching staff. If they want to make the playoffs, they better hope the offense finds its 1000-run-per-season form, and fast.
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