While it's still way too early to determine where each major league baseball team will finish at the end of the season, Yankees fans are getting restless watching their team struggle. So far isn't so good for the Bronx bombers as the move to youth is taking longer than expected.
That Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy for Johan Santana trade doesn't look so bad now. You think the Yanks are kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger on one of the best pitchers in baseball?
Santana would've given them instant stability in a division where the hated Red Sox are pulling away. The powerful lefty is 3-2 for the Mets with a 2.91 era and 47 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.
So why didn't the Yankees make the move? Was Santana's age a factor? He's 29 years old so there's still plenty of life in him. Was it the money? With a payroll over $200 million Santana would fit right in with his $16 million a year salary.
So what's in store for the Yanks once things settle down and Rodriguez and Posada come back from injury? A-Rod will be back to his normal MVP caliber self but Posada may take a while to heal.
His injury is to his throwing shoulder and these injuries tend to linger so don't expect the normally durable catcher to bounce right back.
For the pitching staff Kennedy is only 23 and not quite ready to pitch every day in the majors so it will take all year for him to adjust. He was demoted to Triple-A but did however flirt with a no-hitter in his first start, so look for him to be called up soon.
Hughes, on the other hand, started off last season in a slump with an era over six for the first five months and did rebound with an era of 2.73 in September and 1.59 in October. He is in a similar slump so far but should snap out of it once the playoff race really heats up.
The one other major question, besides Kennedy and Hughes, is Mike Mussina. He started the season 1-3 but has won his last four starts. The change that has made him more successful is the fact that his off speed pitches have been clocked in the high 60's which in turn makes his 84 MPH fastball look like it's in the 90's.
Darrell Rasner was called up from the minors to pitch for Hughes and pitched effectively in his first start in a win against the Mariners. The Yanks hope he can contribute to a staff that is fighting to stay a float.
Kei Igawa has taken over in the fifth spot in the rotation after being called up from Triple-A and in his first start since last season got rocked for six earned runs in three innings.
Igawa has been a complete bust after the Yankees spent $46 million to bring him over from Japan. Hitters beat him around last season with combined OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .907...not good for a supposed control pitcher.
I expect a turnaround in the coming months as A-Rod comes back and provides the spark they so desperately need, although offense is definitely not the problem in NYC. My prediction is that the Yanks miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Only time will tell.
Comments (4) Add a comment »
from 5 days ago
I do not think A-Rod will be the same as last season when he returns. He is a great player but he is not always consistent. The line-up without both A-Rod and Posada is doing pretty well with Robinson Cano hitting better and Giambi is knocking some runs in. Abreu is getting extra base hits and Jeter is on the Home run board. Mussina is effective, Chein-Ming Wang is still a dominant pitcher, Pettite is a work-horse who gives the Yankees good starts, and Darrell Rasner has had an impressive start against a strong Detroit line-up. If the Yankees keep there stride and some team actually beats the Red Sux then the Yankees could take first place this year. However for that to happen they need to fix there bullpen. Albadejo is garbage, Hawkins is not anything special, Farnsworth is a no roids, roids-rage reliever, and Joba is just amazing. If Kennnedy comes back he could pan out because Igawa is good at giving up runs and Kennedy actually controls the game with his tempo. When The Yankees get 5 men who can go 6 or more then they can make the play-offs. Good news is that could be within about 2 weeks, and for now they are not playing horribly.
from 5 days ago
In my opinion, everyone in the AL should have hit the panic button when Detroit pulled off the blockbuster of the year. The Cabrera/Willis deal further solidified a playoff contender in the very competitive AL Central. I understand it is early, but when the back end of the rotation, in Kennedy and Hughes never produced, the team should have been very concerned. Adding to the panic is the success of the other teams in the AL East; although, that may not be expected to continue.
from 5 days ago
Dontrelle Willis is a shell of his former self. Honestly, I just think the Marlins wouldn't have let the trade go through if the Tigers didn't take him along with Cabrera. He's already injured and has not had a decent start worth mentioning for about 2 years. I would much rather take my chances with Kennedy and Hughes than Willis.
The lead isn't even 5 games, and it's May. That should say it all.
from 4 days ago
At this point, concern is they key word, not panic. The Yanks have managed to hover around .500 despite a horrible schedule, considerable down time for key players such as A-Rod and Posada, and the much lower than expectation performance of the youthful side of the pitching staff. If you recall last year the first half was similar if not even a bit worse, however things turned around dramatically in the second half. Yet, this kind of rebound cannot be taken for granted. The truth is that on most days the Yankee lineup does not have that awesome look that we've seen in the past. So what's the fix? Well, if past practice is a predictor of future events the fix will be to look around for a veteran player(s) who may be close to free agency or the twilight of their career and trade away some youthful assets or assume some contract costs for the veterans to fix the near term concern. I suspect we'll see a similar strategy fairly soon. One critical point to watch is the upcoming schedule which has the Yanks up against several teams that they have trouble with. One major slump at this early point could accelerate significant moves as they would fall noticebly .500 and start to fall well behind the wild card teams. At any event, I'd say the stage is set for one of those mid-to-late year deals that solves today's problem, albeit at the expense of future talent. The only question is likely "how soon" will it be.
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