Lost Weekend

A lot to catch up on after a miserable long weekend for the Yankees.

• Most importantly, the Bombers lost three of four to the woeful Devil Rays and the marginal Mariners, in turn letting Seattle and Detroit inch closer in the Wild Card race. The Yankees looked incredibly flat all weekend, and recently they've shown a disturbing predilection for throwing in the towel once they're down by a handful of runs.
• Nice Guy Andy Phillips is out for the season with a broken wrist after being hit by a pitch. This is a problem, because Joe Torre will either play Jason Giambi at first base too much, increasing the chances he breaks down, or, God forbid, throw Minky back out there. Some people never learn. Wilson Betemit's slump vastly increases the chances Torre will turn to the Minkman sooner than later.
• Roger Clemens will miss at least a start and get an MRI on his right elbow after reporting a "grabbing" sensation during Monday's drilling by Seattle. The way Clemens has pitched lately, Mike Mussina isn't necessarily all that much of a downgrade. But the Yankees' rotation is suddenly frightful for the stretch run, with Wang and Pettitte looking solid, Phil Hughes struggling, Clemens hurt, Mussina legally dead and Ian Kennedy with one big-league start. Joba in the rotation, anyone?
• Edwar Ramirez struggled yet again Sunday vs. Tampa. Can he not pitch while trailing? Or is he simply not a major-league pitcher? His minor league numbers and strikeout rate suggest he can succeed at this level, but he's giving up a ton of home runs right now. If he's not effective, the bullpen is massively shaky aafter Mariano Rivera and Joba.
• Needless to say, a huge game tonight for the Yankees, with summer officially over. They need to win at least one of the remaining two games from Seattle to continue controlling their own destiny.

The Purple Rose of Miguel Cairo

Yankees 7, White Sox 3.

So Josh Phelps threw the ball to all corners of Comiskey Monday night, and Joe Torre's shrill, hysterical reaction was to punish that bad boy, and start Miguel Cairo at first base against Mark Buehrle last night.

Miguel Cairo.

I don't care that Cairo slapped a clutch RBI single into centerfield last night; playing him at first-base was irresponsible, an extreme breach of a manager's responsibility to put the best team possible on the field. Cairo is a significantly below-average player at any position, let alone first base where mighty sluggers normally roam (or at least stumble). Cairo's not exactly Don Mattingly with the glove either, so there is no possible justification for playing him.

Bring me Andy Phillips. Bring me Josh Phelps. Bring me the ghost of Minky. Bring me Shelley Duncan. Bring me...oh, wait...not him.

Meanwhile, the Yanks' bullpen continues to disgrace itself at every opportunity, enabled like a lifelong alcoholic by the sad, abused tandem of Joe Torre and Brian Cashman.

Chris Britton, he of the impressive 2006 season and dominant minor league numbers, has pitched five innings with the big club this year. At the same time, Luis Vizcaino (6.91 ERA) has thrown 28 innings, Kyle Farnsworth (1.58 WHIP) has thrown 24, Ron Villone (6.30 ERA) has thrown 10, and Scott Proctor's right arm has grown 11 inches longer than his left. These guys shouldn't even have big-league jobs, let alone be allowed to pitch in high-leverage situations.

The Yankees, as an organization, don't recognize mistakes quickly enough, and they don't learn from the past. Minky/Miguel Cairo = Tony Womack. Vizcaino = Felix Heredia. Certain guys just need to be cut loose before they sink a season, but the team's brain trust is unwilling on incapable of action. Cashman and Torre combine the indecisiveness of Hamlet with the sheer stubbornness of Archie Bunker. The results speak for themselves.

Here Comes the Minky

I read a book when I was little called "Here Comes the Strikeout." It was about a kid who was so bad at hitting a baseball that every time he walked to the plate, all the other kids yelled "here comes the strikeout!" I, of course, couldn't relate to the book at all because I was always a high-OBP guy in Little League. I was Moneyball while Billy Beane was still doing keg stands at whatever gay Ivy League school he went to.

In the end, of course, the sucky kid learns how to hit and comes through with a game winner. I don't foresee a similar ending to the 2007 Yankees' season.

Minky Update: .212/.282/.364. His OPS+ is 76.

Brian Cashman is Asleep at the Wheel...

...or simply not very smart.

Cashman has made some great moves, some highly questionable moves and some moves that were ordered from above, but his continued refusal to find an adequate solution for first base proves that the GM either doesn't care anymore or doesn't understand how to win baseball games.

Minky currently has a VORP of -1.8, meaning that he is performing worse than a typical Triple A call-up. With a struggling team and a lineup that's not producing, the Yankees simply can't afford to carry that kind of dead weight on offense one day longer. Josh Phelps is adequate at best during his half of the platoon, but Minky's a lefty, making him the dominant portion of the platoon, and he is something considerably less than adequate.

Coming into the season with Dougie Baseball pencilled in at first base represented poor planning on Cashman's part. Staying the course this deep into the season represents lunacy at best, blatant sabotage at worst. Cashman clearly learned nothing from the Tony Womack Experience, as he still refuses to admit his mistakes in a timely fashion and move on. Minky can't possibly save enough runs with his glove to atone for the sins of his lumber.

There exists no rational explanation for Minky still holding a roster spot, let alone receiving significant playing time. At the very least, the Yankees' recent offensive woes have forever proven false the ridiculous notion that a team can "afford" to have a weak bat or two in the lineup, as long as the rest of the batting order is strong. Injuries and slumps happen, and when they do, a team needs production from every position, let alone one as offensively-grounded as first base.

Every day the Yankees don't make a move, their already slim playoff hopes take another hit. One of these days, if it hasn't already happened, that hit will be fatal.

Sadly, if the Yankees don't make the playoffs, their epitaph will focus on pitching injuries, overpriced vigilantes and a poor bullpen. All have hurt, true enough, but even a mediocre major league first baseman would offset some of that damage.

Murderers' Row

In last night's game against the White Sox, the 7-8-9 hitters in the Yankees' lineup were Melky Cabrera, Minky Baseball and Wil Nieves. The members of that enticing combo have OPS+'s of 73, 84 and -79 respectively (league average is 100). The fact that the Yankees can send three such pathetic , inept hitters to the plate in succession condemns the way this team was put together, particularly given the franchise's financial advantages. So, Brian Cashman made some awful choices.

Making matters worse, though, is that in the second inning of last night's game, still scoreless, the Yankees had runners on first and second with no one out and Cabrera up. Melky bunted, advancing the runners. There can be no possible justification for Joe Torre putting the bunt on when two such awful hitters are due up next. Melky is off to a putrid start, but at least he has some modicum of ability. The Yankees' only legitimate chance to score that inning was for Cabreara to drive in a run or two. Sure enough, Minky struck out and Wil Nieves flied out. So, Joe Torre made an awful choice. Again.

Huuuuuuuuuuughes

All in all, more good than bad from Phil Hughes last night.

The kid definitely has major league stuff and poise, and he should be here to stay. He dominated the Jays' weaker hitters, particularly Adam Lind, but Toronto's three tough righties (Wells, Thomas and Rios) were all over Hughes with great swings and rocket line drives.

Hughes didn't throw as hard as I expected, living in the 91 MPH range and occasionally touching 94-95, which is where I thought he would throw consistently. I have two concerns after his first start: he gave up a lot of fly balls, especially to righties, and he doesn't seem to have that one dominant out pitch that screams "ace," a la a Johan Santana change-up or Felix Hernandez curveball.

That being said, I was impressed that Hughes kept attacking hitters, a refreshing change of pace after watching Igawa and most of the bullpen nibble at corners all year. Home plate umpire Ed Montague squeezed the kid a little, particularly against Vernon Wells, and the Blue Jays also took a smart, patient approach at the plate, taking a lot of pitches. The result was Hughes falling behind a lot and running up a high pitch count. He seemed to tire early, around the 80-pitch mark.

I remain supremely excited for the Phil Hughes era. Given all the hype that some overanxious assholes were pushing on the kid and his debut, he handled himself quite well, and I don't think you can call his performance a letdown.

Listen, on Jesus Christ's first day on Earth, he pretty much just laid around, cried, messed his pants and spit up. So, in that light, Hughes was pretty fucking impressive.

And I know Joe Torre doesn't trust young pitchers, but I don't remember him blatantly sabotaging one before, which is exactly what he did last night by batting Dougie Baseball second. With this pitching staff, the offense needs all the help it can get, and Minky, Miguel Cairo (whose poor fielding also cost Hughes dearly), and the rotting corpse currently serving as backup catcher are dragging the Yankees down at-bat by at-bat.

Batting Minky second in this lineup deserves its own post, but frankly, I'm tired. Joe Torre should know better.

Now, Pettitte vs. Douche-K tonight in the opener of a series the Yankees absolutely must win.

In Defense of Minky

Ladies and gentleman, meet your new whipping boy, the Tony Womack of 2007: Doug Mientkiewicz.


Mientkiewicz’s PECOTA-projected OPS this year is .710, with a -1.7 VORP and an EQA of .258. In case you need reminding, this is the dominant half of a platoon that will start at first base for the New York Yankees. Gehrig, Mattingly, Minky.

From a baseball standpoint, acquiring Mientkiewicz couldn’t possibly make less sense. He’s coming off back surgery, isn’t anywhere close to the defensive stud he once was, and will be significantly below league average at a position where it isn’t difficult to find offense. Much of the advantage the Yankees gain from fielding strong hitters up the middle will be mitigated by Minky’s anemic bat.

HOWEVER…

Mientkiewicz also managed to piss off the entire Boston Red Sox organization in the aftermath of the 2004 World Series when he stated his desire to keep the ball he caught for the historic final out of that World Series. (The most boring World Series ever, by the way.)

In doing so, Mientkiewicz exposed the Red Sox front office honchos for the infantile, petty, manipulative thieves that they are. Not only did the Sox make a public issue of demanding the ball from Mientkiewicz, helping to tarnish and distract from their victory in a parade of minor off-season controversies, but after Mientkiewicz agreed to lend the ball to the team for a victory tour, the Red Sox filed suit to keep the ball and essentially threatened to steal it. the incident resulted in lingering bad blood between Mientkiewicz and the Red Sox front office and fans.

And any enemy of my enemy…Welcome aboard, Minky! Please try to slug over .325. Thanks.