I have have been beating this dead horse and I will continue to do so. The Yankees' three catcher arrangement/usage is mystifying at best, incompetent at worst. If Molina plays, Posada MUST bat DH, every time...at least until this offense proves that it can score runs otherwise.

Babying Posada's shoulder or not, why is Moeller wasting a roster spot. Yesterday Molina came up twice in high leverage situations (5th and 7th, IIRC), yet was allowed to bat (admittedly he walked in the 7th). He was lifted for a PH in the 9th inning, down by three runs, with no one on base. What are the odds that exact bit of in-game strategery would have any measurable effect?

And another of my pet peeves (or dead horses). Why are they carrying 13 pitches AND three catchers AND with Damon hurting? Unless they have made some move about which I have not heard, the bench today will be comprised of Moeller (who will never play), Damon (who can't play), and Posada (who apparently also can't really play, but is available to hit once--maybe in the 9th inning). What the hell?

With the AS break coming up, put Damon on the DL so that they can carry another bat, even if the options in MiL are slim. Or, stop carrying three catchers if one will never be used.

The only think that will make this better is when Girardi decides to PH for Gardner, which will call into question why the first guy to get batted for is hitting lead off. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

At this point, I am not so much discouraged by the question of whether the Yankees can beat the Red Sox, but whether it even matters any more. At the very least, I would hope this team can summon enough of something (heart, soul, mind or body) to avoid a four game sweep.

I think a big problem with the Yankees this year has been a reliance on their past and a refusal to acknowledge that the team was in trouble from a much earlier standpoint.

I agree with you that poor play at the top is much more serious. But that does not excuse failing to deal with easily remedied problems at the bottom.

It just shows how much 'smarts' is a part of baseball and how making the right adjustments can make all the difference.

Now, those bad seasons could be blips, or they could be injury seasons. But I sometimes wonder if those are seasons where the athlete' physical abilities decline without the player adjusting--changing his swing or finding a new pitch, etc.

This is my roundabout way of talking about Jeter. I still think that this season is the product of injury. But if it is a decline year, perhaps Jeter will bounce back as he adjusts to his own changing abilities. Anyway, just musing.

The inside-out thing is resulting in too many weakly hit balls.

I swear, Molina (over Posada) must save 1/2 run a game for us.

There goes Jeter again, inside-outing a weak fly. TURN ON THE FUCKIN' BALL DEREK!

Regarding Molina--there is no way him throwing out the odd base runner saves 1/2 run per game (80 runs on the course of the season).

Heck, they have both started the same number of games of so (around 43), and Molina has only thrown out around 10 more runners than Posada.

He's got good speed, but I don't think he reads the ball off the bat that well. Josh Hamilton is the same way. He's got amazing tools - runs like a gazelle, has an arm that's stronger than Melky's and more accurate - but he's not a very good CFer, because he doesn't read the ball off the bat very well.

1) Joba
2) Pedroia
3) Lester
4) Cano
5) Ellsbury
6) Masterson
7) Melky
8) Buchholz
9) Hughes
10) Kennedy

Their best five young players beat our best five young players, in terms of "impact," I have to admit.

Posada: 25 GS, 30 SB, 7 CS (1.2 SB/G)
Molina: 44 GS, 25 SB, 22 CS (.57 SB/G)

Still, I am not convinced that .5 or .6 SB per game difference accounts for .5 runs per game.

Whatever. As long as the Sox are the last of the two teams to win the big cheese, we get to listen to this and other mythical narratives.

Even if Melky is a prospect, he sure as heck wouldn't rank higher than Buchholz, Hughes or IPK.

I also don't think you can rank Pedroia over Cano based on one bad half season. Cano STILL has an OPS+ higher than Dusties, and he's only been getting generally better as the season has continued.

And to that end, I would put Melky at the bottom of that list. I would put it at
Joba
Lester (in his 3rd year, to be fair, so does Wang get to be on there for only his 4th year?)
Cano
Pedroia
Ellsbury
Hughes
Buccholz
Masterson
Kennedy
Melky

I never said that the Yanks were doing BETTER than the Sox, but the idea that the Sox have somehow been so great at developing their talent and are doing well because of them is simply not true and is the result of Gammons-hype. They are doing well generally despite their "kids," save Lester and Pedroia in the last two weeks.

But its this whole "impact" crap that really bothers me. The Yanks have had lots of impact from their farm in their BP, while the Sox' farm arms have been awful. And just because Hughes has been injured and not so good doesn't mean he loses "impact" status.

And, finally, who do the Sox have in the minors right now besides Buccholz who is an "impact" player?

On another note, if they're going to talk about Arod's personal life in this broadcast and then spend 5 minutes talking about Julio Lugo's sunglasses and bench warming ability, it might be fair to mention that Lugo has a less than savory personal life (e.g., beating up his wife in a parking lot, which is a hell of a lot worse than what Arod's doing).

I do like the irony of the Sox getting Lugo for his "hitting" ability. just ask his wife.