Bernie's playing with an injured butt. I guess he only strained it, whereas Pavano pulled his butt.

I suspect Shef DH's tonight, with Melky and Bernie at the corners.

Anyone notice that teams have already stopped running on Melky's arm?

3 Ideally, Sheff returns as the DH tonight, but it seems Damon's injured foot needs more rest. I'm hoping Sheff is okay to play, with Bernie in center, Melky left, Damon DH. We'll see how it goes.

According to NY Post, slumping Giambi is sitting tonight against the knuckler, which means Cairo or Phillips at first.

Post reports Torre is also deliberating whether to start Posada because Wright and Stinnett have been working well together. Please go with Po, Joe.

Following those four straight extra-base hits off Foulke, Becky, likely inspired by last Tuesday's triple-comeback, thought just maybe . . . I reminded her that there were two outs and Terrence Long would have to bat before they could tie it up. Sure enough.

I have to say, for all of the useless-to-harmful players the Yankees have had in recent years (Enrique Wilson, Tony Womack, Sturtze, Erickson, etc.) none have made me physically sick upon sight quite like Terrence Long.

Me neither.

Now, I didn't see much of the game (picking my wife up at the airport....grrr....), but why don't we take the same approach with Schilling as we do with Pedro; namely wait the guy out...then get him/bullpen in the 6-8th innings ??? Any thoughts ? It kills me to see this guy beat us.

10 Who will hurt their team more by running out useless vets and refusing to play anyone without significant major league experience - Joe Torre, or Dusty Baker?

Now there's a fascinating - and frightening - comparison, hmm?

As for your other question. Baker is far worse. Really, I don't even think it's close.

Have they? Because if the throw last night was any indication, they need to start running again. Boston was too cautious on the basepaths last night.

I fear those two far, far more than I repose hope in Rodriguez. Am I the only one who feels this way?

As good as Rodriguez is, there are so many spots where I'd far, far prefer to see a professional hitter up there, someone like Mark Grace, say, or Paul LoDucca.

The thing is, I often wonder whether this team wouldn't be better by employing two or three of these types of hitters in place of Rodriguez.

The question to ask, in other words, isn't whether Rodriguez is overrated, but what alternative players could we get with that money.

Is it better to have two or three solid, quality players or one superstar?

It seems to me that when you look at the old Yankees and the Californias, Floridas and Arizonas that beat them, they did it without the Mannys and Arods and Ortiz'. And we're stuck with an Ortiz who never seems to step it up the way Ortiz does.

I'm not sure I'm being clear here, but the point is that Rodriguez is fine, I'm just not sure he's what the Yankees need and I'd not be sad to see him go in the right deal.

Of course I am biased against sluggers, far preferring to watch guys like LoDucca, so there you have it.

Respectfully, I have to disagree. We were watching the game the other night and I lamented that the whole team was injured and my kid (3 1/2) asked why. "Because they're old," explained my wife.

And there you have it. None of this is unforeseen. Instead of sinking all this money into aging superstars, the team needs to return to the focus on depth that it had in the old days.

Remember in '98 how Tino, O'Neill and Bernie all went down and yet the club didn't miss a beat? Not one beat.

If only we as fans could vote for what kind of team we wanted to watch. I for one would cast my vote to stock the team with solid guys and the timely, second-tier superstar (a la David Justice or Matsui) rather than this pile-up approach.

Well, anyway, at least I'm enjoying watching Melky at the bat, he's giving me something to look forward to.

And how about Cano on the field? He's been spectacular. I think this is the best (infield) defense up the middle in years and years.

for crying out loud.. show some faith n patience in ur team's superstar..

sometimes u need the wind on ur back.. and i am quite sure, the liners that OFers snag only when he hits them.. will start going in the gaps..

u know its funny, when other sluggers like Manny or Vlad struggle they are in a "slow" phase or small slump..

but when ARod goes in a slump its a debacle.. right?? its sacrilege.. right.. how dare he with all of his 25 million not hit a HR every time he shows up...

oh wait isnt Giambi in a funk too?? funny, but we shrug it off.. saying he needs to or will get it back.. but we cant show that patience with ARod??

good lord..

He has 23 screws in his leg, and doesn't quite fit the Yankee profile being young, and, you know, a horse, but there are less appealing options (see Long, Terrence).

"Slugger" Rodriguez is a career .307 hitter who draws an average of 74 walks per year.

"Professional hitter" Grace was a career .303 hitter who drew an average of 78 walks per year and "professional hitter" Lo Duca is a career .285 hitter who draws an average of 43 walks per year.

17 I think Matsui snapping his radius would qualify as unforseen.

Texas pays abt 130 mill of the 252 overall..

and we are paying 120+ for 7 years..

When I watch LoDucca hit, he just seems so expert on lining the ball to right field that he seems more dangerous in those spots than Rodriguez does. It could be a false perception, sure, but it looks to me like Rodriguez is trying to pull everything all the time and it's exasperating to me.

21 Cliff, do you really not at all see what I'm getting at?

Yes, Matsui going down is unforeseen.

When the Yanks are this down, whatever Arod DOESN'T do tends to be magnified. I have true faith he will pick it up but I just hope he can maintain his gold glove ability in defense when we are waiting it out. Those errors recently were harmful.

I'm not against the guy or anything, but honestly, I'm just not that impressed by him. His swing is amazing and smooth, of course, and his fielding is often sublime, but he doesn't seem to have that extra notch when he needs it.

I'm not trying to overreact or stir the pot but at the same time, I watch nearly all the games and I'm just offering my perspective, skewed though it may be.

"... Jorge Posada returned to the lineup after missing two games with back spasms. Posada received heat treatment for the condition, but he burned a small area on his back and had a bandage there Monday. "

It just seems like ANYTHING can happen to this team right now.

That said, David Justice was an aging superstar who had one last half-season of brilliance that carried the Yankees to a World Championship before age and injury wiped out his career. Your other example of a guy worth having is Matsui, whose injury is the primary source of the Yankees problems right now as Sheffield is due back tonight.

You then praise Cano and Cabrera, two kids the Yankees have promoted in lieu of making a trade for another overpriced aging superstar such as Justice, proof that the sort of thing you're saying you'd wish the Yankees would do, they're actually doing. So while you're point is well taken, your supporting evidence is a mess.

But I didn't say that, I only mentioned that Matsui's injury was indeed unforseen.

Shawn Chacon - Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left leg hematoma.

Bubba Crosby - Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring.

Tanyon Sturtze - Placed the 15-day disabled list with soreness in the front of his right shoulder.

Hideki Matsui - Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left wrist fracture

Gary Sheffield - Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hand contusion

Chacon's injury wouldn't have become a problem if he didn't pitch that day.

And surely none of us here mind that Sturtze is out for good.

You forgot what's his name? you know...it starts with a P...

The thing about Justice was that it was timely, he was the right piece at the right time and his contract was appropriately short-term (wasn't it?).

Matsui's injury was unforeseen, right. I was just saying that he's the kind of free agent I prefer to see, maybe because the expectations aren't so high as they are for guys like Arod and Giambi.

Yes, Cano and Cabrera are a good sign, no doubt. I think the thing with Cabrera is that I'm worried they're not going to let him play out the year. I hope they do.

30 Good question. You're right, of course. I was probably thinking about Bernie, Jorgie Damon and Shef.

I may be way off base, though, admittedly.

One also wonders, would a younger Sheff have healed faster? Would a younger Sturtze have endured further (not that I'm complaining)? Would not signing the injury-prone Pavano (not an age issue, but an injury-prone issue) have helped the Yankees improve their depth elsewhere? You're right that those five injuries are not age-related (nor is Farnsworth's tweaked back), but the plight of the team as a result is exacerbated by its age.

I'd still make that trade again in a heartbeat. To me the Championship makes it plenty worthwhile, but it's not a great example for what you're on about.

My point is that he seemed to be a perfect fit and his role was clearly defined. And because of the situation, I didn't mind when he failed the next year because he'd already met and exceeded expectations the previous year. The problem there was that Torre should have played Spencer in the postseason instead because it was clear to all who had eyes to see that Justice was helpless at the plate.

My point is simply that he seemed to be an acquistion based on the real needs of the team rather than on his star power, as with Giambi and Rodriguez.

and we also only got him because the gamer that he is.. he switched to 3B for the TEAMs sake and a chance to play for the Yanks..

remember when the BoSux tried to get him.. he offered to take a paycut and it was MLBPA that prevented that "precedent".. a fact which is lost on the "B" faithful

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/05/a-rods_daily_ca.html

It's true the team needed a power bat when they brought Giambi in, no doubt. Honestly I can't recall what the alternatives to Giambi were (probably because at the time it was clear that the Yanks were going to get Giambi) but there must have been some other decent power available in a more balanced ballplayer. Maybe not, though.

As for the Rodriguez trade, yeah, I don't know, that's tough. I really don't know about that. Maybe I'd rather have seen top prospects come in from somewhere than Rodriguez, I don't know.

Good points.

Of course it would have been a gamble going with Johnson over Giambi, but I'd have been happy with that. That would have been one alternate solution to replacing Tino, anyway.

The problems are:

Giambi stopped hitting.

RJ stopped pitching.

Injuries to Sheff and Matsui.

The can fix/solve most of these.

If RJ can pitch and Sheff/Giambi can hit, no one will care about A-Rod.