it seems like 5 days ago we were 1.5 games ahead of the Sox. WTF happened? We're gonna have the Angles and Rays up our asses all year for the Wild Card
I had to see Brett fucking Tomko in the game for two innings. There's alot of times I'll give Girardi a pass because the roster flexibility and bullpen was built like shit. It's a terrible defensive outfield. Thank God when Nady comes back we get to see the end of Hideki Matsui as Nady will get the bulk of the DH at bats since he cant play right because of his shoulder. But who even knows there. I'm basically hoping a one armed DH can do better then a guy with no knees to speak of. But how does Joe go to Tomko for that second inning after seeing Hanley absolutely crush a pitch right over the plate? Give anyone else that inning. ANYONE! Go to Coke for an inning. And where the hell was Hughes? Why wasn't he called upon after Aceves went down? If it's a thing where he was unavailable then again Girardi gets a pass. But I still say Brett Tomko taking the ball for that second inning was a shit move. He sucks. I never want to see Brett Tomko unless the run differential is at least 10 runs either way. Oh and screw Cashman too. This was an offseason where you can find bullpen help. It was obvious it was a problem. Whoever in the off-season didn't see it was kidding themselves as I said over and over. It's not gloom and doom. Yankees can always turn things around because they're still insanely talented. But these past two weeks of baseball have sucked ass. Without a Luis Castillo drop they lose 4 series in a row two of which were lost to the Nationals and Marlins.
Gardner in CF and Melky in RF is actually a good defensive outfield. Swisher in RF sucks. If it wasn't for Melky's bad throw, the OF wouldn't have been an issue this game. Let's not forgot Melky ranging into the gap to track down a deep fly ball (YES's Defensive Play of the Game) and Gardner tracking down a deep fly as well. It was Nady's elbow that's the issue, not his shoulder. He's been swinging pain free and played the field for the first time this week without any issues in the elbow. Coke and Hughes both pitched yesterday. Hughes has been a starter his whole career (and will be), his arm is probably not ready to be pitch on back to back days. Who would you have liked to see Cashman get this off-season without overpaying? Once Marte gets healthy (screw the WBC), he should be a huge part of our bullpen. He has been one of the best relievers in the game for a few years now. Rivera-Bruney-Marte-Coke-Robertson is a pretty solid bullpen. Also, Melancon is waiting for his chance in AAA. The bullpen has actually been very good recently coming into today. "THAT’S NO BULL: Yankees relievers have allowed one earned runs in their last 18 innings while striking out 20." (Source) The first sense of reason that I can agree with in your entire post. Plenty of baseball to be played still. The Yankees are in this position having missed ARod for a majority of the season, Nady for a majority of the season, Chien-Ming Wang being horribly ineffective. Hopefully Wang can turn it around, and if he doesn't Hughes, who has looked great, can step into the rotation. Recent Yankees teams after 69 games: 2009: 38-31 ... ??-?? 2008: 36-33 ... 89-73 2007: 35-34 ... 94-68 2006: 39-30 ... 97-65 2005: 36-33 ... 95-67 2004: 44-25 ... 101-61 2003: 40-29 ... 101-61 2002: 45-24 ... 103-58 2001: 39-30 ... 95-65 2000: 37-32 ... 87-74 EDIT: Yankees currently have the 2nd highest Win% in the AL, just so happen to be in the AL East with Boston who has the best
About your Jeter comment, he's actually having one of the best seasons of his career in the field range wise and lack-of-error wise. From NoMaas.org
I have a hard time shitting on any bullpen that has to be used in the second inning. You're going to have to use pretty much the entire pen. Coke was used later. Using him in the sixth just means you'll need to burn another arm, most likely. Know what else is funny? The 2000 team had a worse record than last year's team that missed the playoffs. The point? It's getting to the playoffs that matter. Anything after that is (mostly) a crapshoot.
Playoff teams expose and exploit weaknesses. So if Bruney comes back and the woes continue, it won't be a crapshoot. Now with Cashing Checks out, the Yankees lose at least a guaranteed 7 innings/start - perpetuating the exaccerbation of the bullpen.
So you're saying that the 2000 Yankees were the best team and had the fewest weaknesses? Please. What about the Phillies last year? Were they the best team in the playoffs? What about the 2005 White Sox? Were they the best team in baseball? No, no, and no. They were hot, and played well in short series. It can happen to any team. The most important things to have in the playoffs to increase the likelihood of victory are top-notch starters who strike guys out and a solid closer. But even then, nothing's a given. Um, the bullpen hasn't been the problem for at least two weeks. In fact, it's been really good for the past few weeks. To exacerbate means to aggravate. You're not perpetuating the aggravation of the bullpen. You'd be aggravating the problems with the bullpen, perhaps... but those problems aren't that bad at the moment. And more importantly, you don't know that CC is out for his next start.
