Babe Ruth is not Walking Through That Door

It's never a good sign when your captain is echoing Celtics-era Rick Pitino in his post-game quotes:

"That doesn't matter that guys are out," captain Derek Jeter said. "You can bring back Gehrig, Ruth and DiMaggio, but we haven't been playing well. That's the bottom line."

Warning Signs

It's too early to panic, etc. etc. disclaimer disclaimer, BUT

-Pretty much everyone on the offense looks another year older. Last year, the Yankees made the playoffs because ARod and Jorge Posada had career years. The team made no upgrades to the offense in the off-season. ARod and Posada can't be expected to re-create their 2007 numbers, and no one else in the offense (except for Cano) can be expected to significantly improve, because THEY ARE ALL ANCIENT. And declining.

-Phil Hughes' fastball still has as much velocity as Bugs Bunny's changeup. Um...Phil? Please don't make us all look like fools for railing against the Johan trade.

Goodnight Hollywood Boulevard

Rally monkeys, thunder sticks and fans who don't know when to cheer until the scoreboard instructs them. Yep, we're back in Southern California.

Last night's 7-6 loss to the Angels was a brutal punch in the stomach. You can't call it a must-win on August 20, but when both Boston and Seattle had won earlier in the day, the game took on added importance, especially given the pitching matchups for the rest of this series, and Boston's cream-puff schedule.

The Yankees' offense didn't do enough against Dustin Moseley, and paid for the price for it eventually. The bullpen faltered badly as well, with Luis Vizcaino looking awful, Kyle Farnsworth returning to form and Sean Henn being Sean Henn. This game illustrated that on days when Joba can't pitch, the underbelly of the bullpen is still awfully weak and exploitable.

For once, Joe Torre did the right thing, bringing Mariano Rivera into a tie game on the road. Unfortunately, Mo's been a little tired lately and could only go one inning. My only argument with Torre in this game (other than using Farnsworth at all) is that I wouldn't have let Hughes come out to start the 7th. He struggled badly with his command all game, and looked gassed. It might not have made any difference, though, as poorly as the bullpen performed.

The Yankees need to split these next two games, or they could quickly find themselves back in a hole, on the outside looking in for both playoff spots.

Dunzo

The Yankees needed a sweep, and thanks to the decrepit Mike Mussina and an inept offense, didn't get one. The Yankees have absolutely no chance to catch a Red Sox team that doesn't look likely to falter severely. Pre-2004, the Yankees could have held out hope that Boston's demons would lead to a collapse, but those days are over.

The Wild Card looks unlikely at this point, but the division title is almost completely out of the question. It's not June yet. Great season, guys.

One side note: David Ortiz is a career .285/.377/.552 hitter. Against Mike Myers, he's at .357/.375/.643. Joe Torre needs to stop bringing Myers in, expecting him to have success against Big Papi just because he does things with the left side of his body. Myers is incompetent in general, but particularly against Ortiz. The Yankees would be better off walking Ortiz in every big spot or challenging him with a right-hander who can actually, you know, pitch.

White Sox 4, Yankees 1

So the Yankees return home with their tails between their legs, having lost four of six to two teams they should readily handle, in a stretch vital to their post-season hopes.

The Yankees' offense was completely embarrassed on this trip, and their hole is deeper and darker than ever as they prepare for a brutal stretch of schedule against the Mets, Red Sox and all. This team truly might be out of the division race for good by the time Roger Clemens makes his debut. Think Rocket's regretting his decision already?

This team-wide slump is inexplicable and inexcusable. Hope is fading, and like Jack Bauer says, WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME! It's getting late early out there. Papa don't preach, the Yankees are in trouble deep.

Perhaps this team's problems are deeper and more systemic than any of us realized. I have begun to truly doubt this group of players, this manager and this front office. Looks like the post-season streak ends in 2007.

Pushing the Panic Button

Yep, it's time.

It's getting far too late in the season to be diddling away a series against lowly Seattle. Far too late to be two games under .500. Far too late to be this far out of the division and Wild Card races.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is the team the Yankees broke camp with. The team Cashman put together with his newfound authority. No more blaming injuries, or April weather. The Yankees just flat out aren't that good.

2005 was an aberration, not a pattern to be repeated. The Yankees defied the odds and the gods that year by turning around a season in disarray. It's certainly possible that they'll do it again, but the hole is getting deeper, and rookie Chien-Ming Wang is not walking through that door. Rookie Robinson Cano is not walking through that door.

The offense disgraced themselves against Seattle. ARod has reverted back to 2006 form. Giambi is inflexible and overmatched against good pitching. Matsui can't get it going. Cano looks more and more like a fluke. Johnny Damon looks more and more like a financial albatross. Is Coco Crisp available?

And let's not forget, with two outs in the top of the ninth yesterday in a one-run game, with the tying run on second base, who came to bat for this mighty Murderers' Row with the game on the line? Motherfucking Minky, that's who. Thanks, Cash. Great plan at first base this year.

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there...

Are You There, God? It's Me, Psycho Fan

If I keep screaming into the cosmos that the offense is a legitimate problem for this team, will anyone listen to me?

Hello? Anyone?

Just Another Day in Paradise

The Yankees really needed to take two out of three this weekend. It's still too soon to panic (said the broken record), especially with the starting rotation getting healthy, but losing five of six to Boston in the early-going is a major blow.

The whole team looks flat and timid right now, and since ARod has finally cooled off, the lineup is not producing nearly enough...especially against the likes of Tim Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. Johnny Damon is clearly hurt, and not pulling his weight. Unfortunately, Melky Cabrera seems to have regressed wildly and offers no assurances as a back-up. Robinson Cano is off to a sluggish, ever impatient start. Minky is Minky. Not filling the starting first base and backup catcher roles in the off-season is haunting Brian Cashman sooner than expected.

The bullpen continues to bleed runs as if Felix Heredia and Juan Acevedo were still around. Joe Torre's handling of said bullpen continues to be alarming, if not downright dangerous to the health of his pitchers. What can possible run through Scott Proctor's mind as he gets the call to start warming up yet again?

Although the calendar hasn't turned to May yet, the Yankees find themselves 6.5 games behind Boston, with only 12 games remaining against the Red Sox with which to make up ground directly. There's also the small matter that the Red Sox look like the better-constructed roster thus far. That might not be the case in August, but no argument can be made that the Yankees have the better team today.

Disaster

That Cleveland series sure seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?

Last night's 6-4 loss to the D-rays was a sledgehammer to the gut. The Yankees got exactly what they needed out of Chien-Ming Wang's return, scraped together a few runs off the tough Scott Kazmir...and watched helplessly as the bullpen imploded yet again.

Mike Myers has become ineffective against lefties. He needs to be released. He has a 1.62 WHIP against lefties this year, and his proven again and again that he can't get David Ortiz out...the one reason he was signed in the first place.

Everything is going wrong at this point, and if it weren't for ARod, the Yankees might be 5-14 or worse. It's still too soon to panic, but the Yankees need to get the bullpen straightened out immediately.

Time to Panic?

Consider the following:

-The Yankees have begun the season 5-6, and have won only one of their first four series.
-They lost a momentum-crushing game Sunday at Oakland in indescribably painful, surreal fashion.
-3/5 of the starting rotation is on the disabled list. Of the remaining two starters, one is an elbow injury waiting to happen and the other Kei Igawa.
-2/3 of the starting outfield have been down with injuries, and Melky Cabrera looks like the 2005 version of himself, not Melky 2.0 from 2006.
-Derek Jeter has committed six errors in 11 games, causing statheads everywhere to wet themselves with joy.
-Joe Torre is still the manager.
-There is still no backup catcher, and if the strained-muscle plague catches up with Jorge Posada, disaster will ensue.

The injuries are not a surprise in and of themselves, although their sheer volume has to be unexpected. This is the second straight season that the Yankees have been beset with injuries to one key part of the team (outfield last year, starting pitching this year). While Sheffield and Matsui's injuries last year were freak incidents, this year's crop of muscle strains and pulls seems more systemic, perhaps due to the new conditioning coach and program the team must follow.

Here comes the obligatory "it's too early to panic" speech: no, wait, fuck that, that's not how I roll. This team is in trouble early, with Cleveland and the Red Sox coming up this week, and someone named Chase Wright pitching two of those games. The Yankees could find themselves in a fairly deep hole by the time the pitching gets healthy, if that ever happens. And let's not forget that the pitching's not all that great even when carrying a clean bill of health.

Of course, everything could change if Phil Hughes and Roger Clemens are the 1-2 combo in early June. Let's just hope that by then the Yankees aren't looking at a double-digit deficit in the division.

A Simple Hope

If the Yankees fall flat on their faces this year, and finish in 3rd place, it should not be taken as evidence that Brian Cashman's new, youth-oriented, build-from-within plan is failing. To the contrary, the team the Yankees field now is the result of too many years of signing older players and trading solid prospects.

Old teams get injured. No matter how much Joe Torre wishes that "this is one of those freak things," the lengthening disabled list is a byproduct of poor design. And the lack of quality replacements for the crippled masses is proof the Yankees have been mismanaging their budget.

The moves Brian Cashman has made since he regained control of the organization were steps in the right direction. The Yankees need to get younger, keep their minor league talent, and learn to leverage their wealth in smarter, more advantageous ways.

Unfortunately, Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth and others are still under contract, and the franchise's broad shoulders are bending under their combined heft.

There's still enough talent on this team to overcome a ton of injuries and bad luck, but if the worst case scenario happens, and the Yankees do miss the playoffs, level heads need to prevail. the new course must be stayed. The price we pay now was writ years and years ago.