On the bright side, the Yanks always seem to hit big name pitchers better ?

1 This question has GOT to be addressed. After all, teams with far less vaunted lineups rake #4 and #5 pitchers while the Yanks always seem to struggle. But why? Is it a function of poor scouting, overconfidence, or a combination of the two.

2 or maybe just the fact that the Yanks as a whole been struggling badly this year?

One of the main difference between now and when we were hot in May is simply that the RISP is horrible. it's not that we aren't hitting against these guys, it's that we simply not bring the guys on back or hitting our homeruns when guys are on . (yesterday was the exception

A ten game win streak would sound pretty good right about now. Seems like ages ago, doesn't it?

The offense was bad last night but I watched the whole thing and I give credit to Ramirez. He pitched a good game.

I freakin took the day off of work today to go to the game. It's mad early in the a.m. and man, it looks like it's going to be warshed out.

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Someone posted last night that they'd take a week off from baseball if the Yanks situation didn't improve soon. I've had those same feelings myself, both recently and in the past, but no better by now! We're hooked ...

I blame it on Jeter's birthday party last night. Melky apparently wasn't invited. ;-)

The forecast shows the rain clearing up in the afternoon. I think they'll get the game in. Though it might be delayed.

Beam looked good, except for the brain fart on Renteria. It was a good pitch to Francouer, who unfortunately was able to golf where they ain't. And Wright looked good.
Is it just me, or does Kay seem feisty lately. I wasn't online last night, but did anyone else pick up on Kay basically calling out Torre for removing Wright after 6, when he had only thrown 90 pitches?

All the YES crew was feisty last night. Frustrated or emboldened by the Yankees' struggles, maybe? They went on and on about A-Rod. They're usually pretty supportive and positive, but man, they went on a tear. Especially Justice.

Alex, any day out of work - rain or no rain - is still a better day than being at work.

So the title reads "Snake Eyes". Every time I think I read that title I think of my favorite G.I. Joe character. I'm feeling a little dense, what's that ('Snake Eyes') suppose to really mean in relation to last night's game?

http://tinyurl.com/rlee5

I thought last night's post-game comments by Justice were on the mark. Answering the "party line" excuse that Arod is a HOF-type player and will eventually step up and hit like he's expected to, Justice argued that if Arod should start hitting like an MVP in 2 weeks, where will the Yankees be by then? Justice argued that Arod has been MIA in June and he needs to start hitting NOW, not in 2 weeks when it just might be too late for this team.

As for the current state of affairs with the team, I will argue this until I turn blue: Cashman needs to make a move for a run-producing corner-OF now, not tomorrow or July 31st. Pitching will be available in the next month and, contrary to the opinions of some here at BB, is not the Yankee's pressing need -- offense is.

In the month of June (25 games), the Yankee pitching has given up more than 5 runs per game a total of 8 times. Over that same period, the Yankee offense has scored less than 5 runs a game a total of 11 times. Of those 8 games that they've given up over 5 runs, the Yanks are 1-7. Of the 11 games that they scored less than 5 runs, the Yanks are 3-8.

In the last 10 games, the Yankee offense has score less than 3 runs a total of 5 times and have score more than 5 runs a total of TWO times.

Pitching has NOT been the problem thus far, it has been the ability to consistantly score runs.

"Snake eyes" is slang for throwing 2 (when rolling a pair of dice). I guess the two single dots are supposed to look like a pair of eyes. So I assume "snake eyes" refers to the number of runs the Yanks scored last night.

Oh...now it makes sense. Thanks, randym!

11 I have been, and still am a huge fan/supporter of Arod. But, I am beginning to wonder if he will "get it going" this year. However, it is not just him, the whole offense is in a funk. I just wonder if missing the two big run producing outfielders is beginning to catch up. They definitely don't give Arod anything to hit. He has no protection now. I almost think it would be better to bat him in front of Giambi. If not, he needs to be more patient and take more walks. He swings at alot of bad pitches.

Kay has been yapping about Wright the last couple of starts now, first he was openly questioning whether it is worth leaving a guy in the rotation if he can only give you 5 innings, especially with his contract. Last nite was just an extension of that, since his pitch count was still kinda low, at leats for a normal hurler...

14 Good point.

14 look, I'm no hater! There is nothing that I'd like more than to be proven wrong and see Arod take off and carry the offense for an extended period of time...but I too am beginning to wonder whether we are witnessing his worst offensive season of his career and whether he will be boo'd out of Gotham.

Last night Justice (or was it Leiter?) pointed out that Arod won the MVP with 48 HR's. That caught my attention because I forgot how many he actually hit. It is now the end of June and Arod has a total of 15 HR's and is in a homer drought. At this pace, he will be lucky if he hits more than 30 HRs on the season.

Look, the team NEEDS his offense right now and he is failing them. If there was EVER a time to step up and carry the O, it's when your #1 competitor in the division is reeling off 10 wins in a row. NOW, not 2 weeks from now, is when Arod MUST step up and deliver. I fear that he won't and the team will suffer because of it.

As I've said repeatedly on this board, with the loss of Matsui and Shef, an extended slump by either Giambi, Arod or Posada will doom this team. Well, Arod is officially in a very extended slump and as the numbers point out, our offense is indeed anemic. if it wasn't for Giambi's heroics in Monday night's game, we might be looking at a Braves sweep in the Bronx today. If Giambi should hit a dry spell, god help this team.

Cashman, go out and make a move today...before it's too late!

Why am I still very calm about this team? I still don't think Cashman needs to make a move.

The Sawx aren't going to win every game and the Yanks ARE going to play better. I don't know, I guess after last year....things just look so much better this year.

I think they should try A-Rod in the two-hole. It worked in 2004. It'll remind him to take walks rather than swing at bad pitches. He'd have Jeter and Giambi behind him for protection. And Jeter hits better in the three-hole anyway.

18 I agree. I'm not in a panic. The Red Sox have been very lucky. We haven't. Bats will slump, no matter how many sluggers you have.

The thing is...we've "made a move" before. We've been going with the "buy an aging veteran" plan for five years. It hasn't worked. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We have to do something different.

18 "The thing is...we've 'made a move' before."

But a move is necessary. When there's a whole, fill it, pronto. Last year the team's pressing need was starting pitching so cashman went out and traded for Chacon and grabbed Small. Right now (and for the forseeable future) the need is offense. So, Cashman, go out and get help.

Acquiring aging veterans has worked in the past (see Justice in 2000) but I am not lobbying for a mega-deal (e.g. Soriano) because it'll cost Hughes. But any upgrade over Bubba/Melky/Reese/Thompson/etc. is a huge upgrade to the team.

I'm still in the "Get Reggie Sanders" camp. He looks like a pr!ck and he might be a K machine, but he hits for power and can drive in runs. Based on this season, he obviously likes hitting in Yankee Stadium and he would elongate the lineup by hitting behind Posada in the #6 or #7 hole. And, I'm pretty sure we can get him for a few mid-level AA players.

Plus, when Shef and/or Matsui return, Sanders would be a legit bat off the bench.

20 I think a lot of that stems from the reactionary society we live in. Publicly traded companies need to grow at 15% rate, which is crazy, if they don't then people get "re-deployed", projects get cut, etc, etc. It doesn't matter that profit margins are great, if you ain't showing growth then you simply ain't worth investing for. What does this have to do with the Yanks? We talk about wanting a plan for the future, but the minute things start going wrong then it's OK to sacrifice the plan in order to get immediate gratification.

Can someone please tell me what corner outfield would make everyone happy? Not only that, what would you give up for that corner outfield? You know everyone wants a pitcher by the name of Phillip Hughes. We have a need, everyone knows we have a need, they know it is in George's nature to give up whatever is in his farm to make his team better NOW. Simply put, we are damned if we do…damned if we don't.

21 //I'm still in the "Get Reggie Sanders" camp. //

You do realize that the Royals offered Sanders to the Yanks for Phillip Hughes?

I'm also not panicking regarding the need to make a deal (though I know I probably fool people given my frustration on game nights), nor am I sweating the Red Sox's current streak.

However, I do think what's contributing to the anxiety is the reality that the Tigers are 28 games over .500 and the White Sox 24 games over, and neither team shows any signs of slowing down.

With that said, funny things always happen..last year the Indians were one game over .500 shortly after the All-Star Break, and got as high as 29 games over, before memorably losing six of their last seven to blow the wild card. We were 51-45 on July 23rd last year after losing our 3rd straight to the Angels (Kevin Brown's last game), and ended up clinching the division on October 1st being 29 games over at 95-66.

So there's a lot of baseball left to be played. I'd sure feel better if we had a little more firepower in our lineup though, that's for sure.

If we can find a Chacon and Small for the OF, I'd be all for it...but Cashman has been burning up the phone lines for two months, and hasn't come up with any. (I'm still hoping for Craig Wilson, though.)

I dunno...I think we need to get it done with pitching and defense. We aren't going to replace Matsui and Sheff's production. And even if we did...it hasn't won us a World Series.

20 Pythagorean Winning Percentage is a good statistical way of determining how "lucky" a team has been. The Yanks have scored 419 runs (#2 in MN) and allowed 350 runs (7th best in ML) which equates to a Pythag Win Pct of .581, 8 percentage points above their record of 43-32. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have scored 412 and allowed 360, for .560 (real world: .622).

So in this instance, your intuition is backed up by statistics. The Red Sox should revert to their record suggested by the numbers of runs they score. Indeed, another way to look at Ortiz's "clutch" performances is that they wouldn't be needed if the Red Sox didn't, for example, blow 6 run leads in the 8th inning.

On a scarier note, the Tigers' Pythag Win Pct is .652, only slightly below their actual record.

The Red Sox have been very lucky. We haven't. Bats will slump, no matter how many sluggers you have.

Again with the luck. Guys, do you really want to hang your head on that? If either guys who run this site wrote crap like that they wouldn't be on baseball toaster.

Almost half way into the season, and the difference has been luck. If you really believe that, you know nothing about baseball.

May I remind people that last night Cano was also out. That drastically shortens an already short lineup, so I'm not surprised by the dropoff. Fortunately, I expect Cano back sooner rather than later which will also help things.

I agree the team could use a corner OF, but as others have said, I just don't see anyone useful available (though I would also be interested in a trade for Wilson, he seems good all around). Reggie Sanders for Hughes is a joke and until it gets closer to the trade deadline, that's what teams are going to demand. Maybe as we get closer to July 31st and the Royals (or others) want to salary dump the asking price will go way down, but at the moment, there isn't a deal to be made.

One area I think we're actually ok, might be the BP. If Beam and Villone continue to pitch well, then a BP of a Dotel, Beam, Villone, Myers, Mo, Smith, and Farnsworth/Proctor (I know that one of the kids is likely to go for Dotel, but I can dream) is actually pretty strong compared to other AL teams.

Starting pitching has been decent to good as of late as well, though its hard to say if it'll continue. If the Yankees can stay close for now, pick up a decent bat around the trade deadline, get Matsui back in August/September, I think they can be ok. The Sox are on a tear right now, they will drop off and we'll make up some games.

"Indeed, another way to look at Ortiz's "clutch" performances is that they wouldn't be needed if the Red Sox didn't, for example, blow 6 run leads in the 8th inning."

Which, since ortiz didn't blow the 6 run lead, your stat has nothing to do if ortiz is clutch or not.

If ortiz was playing in new york he'd be huge, and you guys would be loving him. You need to take off your homer goggles for once.

27 its not "luck", its about statistics. Over a small sample size its possible for a team to be way over or under their expected record (Pyth. %), but over a 162 game season, almost all teams are very close to it. People are merely pointing out that the Sox have won many close games as of late while the Yankees have lost a few, and those things tend to even out over a full season. So we can expect the Yankees to improve a bit on their record and the Sox to drop off a bit.

If I flip a coin and it comes up heads 20 times in a row, you'd still expect that if I flipped it 1000 times, it'd be about half and half. That's not "luck."

29 I believe the comment was about the Sox as a whole. No one (at least not me) questions that Ortiz is a great player (and I'll admit, what seems like a classy guy who deserves respect).

26 Actually, it wasn't my intuition. I saw the Wall St. Journal article that crunched the numbers and concluded that the Red Sox have been the luckiest team baseball this year. :-)

They're peaking too soon, mark my words...

23 yes, I know. But Sanders is owed $5mm this year and another $5mm in '07. After Sweeney, he is the Royal's highest salary.

The Royals may ask for Hughes, but if the Yanks take the approximate $6mm left on his salary plus give a few AA players, the "small-market/out of 1st place by 26.5 games Kansas City Royals" might just do it.

20 & 25 Your right on the money Randy. Making a move for the sake of making a move is what cost us Jose Contreras. I also agree with trying to get Craig Wilson since he can play several positions including catcher (could we release Stinnett?).

21 The Yankees had Small in spring training last year. They didn't grab him mid-season, he had been in AAA all along.

20 The aging veterans of which you speak include Shawn Chacon (27 in 2005) and Jeff Weaver (25 in 2002). In fact, so we can all be clear about this, here are the Yankees big deadline acquisitions thus far this decade:

2005: Shawn Chacon (27)
2004: Esteban Loaiza (32)
2003: Aaron Boone (30)
2002: Jeff Weaver (25)
2001: Sterling Hitchcock (30)
2000: David Justice (34)

Only the Justice and Chacon moves made a difference. The Loaiza trade was more about dumping Contreras than getting Loaiza. In 1999 all they did was pick up a 35-year-old Jim Leyritz and in 1998 they did nothing, because they didn't need anything.

Everyone says "every year the Yankees go out and get what they need," but it's simply not true. Randym has it right, they'll "make a move," but there's rarely a payoff in fact, most of those guys turn out to be liabilities (I left off the fact that after they got Justice in 2000 they also got Denny Neagle closer to the deadline). Even Justice ran out of gas quickly after 2000 and the jury's still out on whether or not Chacon will wind up making a positive contribution this year.

All of that said, with Cano out nursing his hammy, Soriano becomes even more attractive, does he not? Play him at second until Cano returns then put Sori in the outfield when Robbie returns. Of course the Nats know this and it'll be Hughes or no deal, so it won't happen, but funny how that worked out, aye?

Meanwhile, on the subject of David Justice, other than repeating his point nine zillion times last night (Justice has Joe Morgan/Tim McCarver disease in which he says the same thing twice, paraphrasing and shifting his emphasis the second time, fooling himself into thinking he's elaborated on his point rather than simply repeated it), he failed to recognize that the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. So the other teams are hot right now and the Yanks are cold, that doesn't mean the opposite won't be true in August. You can't scoreboard watch in June or even July. Cripes, Rodriguez is pressing enough already, like trying to singlehandedly keep up with both Sox and the Tigers won't put him further in a funk?

Speaking of which, I've put a link to my pre-2005 piece on Alex Rodriguez's career trends under Suggested Reading. It's a reality check for those clamoring for a repeat of last year. My conclusion is essentially that you'll never see another season like that out of Rodriguez, but that's okay.

Dear Yankee Fans,

DON'T PANIC!

Warm regards from the grave,

Douglas Adams

PS - Remember, the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42.

Further to 35, in 1997 the Yankees big pick-up was Chad Curtis (28). In 1996 it was Cecil Fielder (32). Both were great for the Yankees over the remainder of those seasons. The Fiedler move, in fact, should be listed right beside the Justice move, though it's interesting to note that, after helping to deliver a Championship to the Bronx, both men were disappointing in their first full seasons with the Yankees, played elsewhere the following year and were out of baseball after that.

The Yankees are "cold" right now, but I take that as a positive. The yankees cold streak is .500 baseball(5-5 over the last ten and 12-12 for June). If this is the cold streak then this team will be fine. As far as Cashman making a deal he is playing it right. Just like he did with Johnny Damon he is waiting out the ridiculous demands(not that he's told me 1st hand or anything). The Sox are on an amazing hot streak, but it will come to an end. Noone here is suggesting a rash move, but over the last 6 months I've come around to Cashman being a smooth operator. He'll get a deal done his way or he won't make a move. The best trades are usually the ones you don't make.

Does anyone have a thought pertaining to the question asked earlier 2 because I was asking myself the same thing throughout most of the game. Does scouting need to be addressed as much as the play on the field, because it seems as though the players just go on up blindfolded when they see a picther they've never seen before. I'm quite bemused how teams like Boston and Toronto seemingly will jump all over a rookie or some "unknown" thrust into a spot start, but when he's in against the Yankees he's suddenly Sandy Koufax or something. Even the Rues talked about it, there has to be something to it; if not the scouting, then the serious lack of preparation or discipline by the players themselves?

And, how much of that had to do with Small's success last year, versus his failure this year?

14 & 19 A-Rod's been striking out at a career high clip (4AB/K vs almost 5AB/K for his career). Obviously he is trying to make up for the loss or Sheff & Matsui (or he is having trouble seeing the ball and is on the road to being washed up... let's hope for the former). Moving up to second in the order is a great idea to get him going. He'll see better pitches and might not feel the pressure to "carry the team". Lately it seems like we would have been better off with Andy in A-Rod's spot in the order anyway.

36 Shaun,

We finally know the question. And we didn't have to build another Earth to find out.

Still going, 1995 was David Cone. 1994 was no one because the strike was coming and before that the Yankees weren't The Yankees so it wasn't an issue.

So Cone '95, Fielder '96, Curtis '97 . . . Justic '00, that's where the reputation came from, but it's been five lean years since then

42 It's funny. In 95 Cone had that Mets residue, and I thought trading uber prospect Marty Janzen was a huge mistake. Cone had the best career Yankee value of any player acquired.

40 Not for nothing, but Andy Phillips is second on the team (behind Giambi) in slugging, a point ahead of Rodriguez after last night.

44 How bad is his plate discipline hurting him?

The Yankees have made some terrible mid-season acquisitions, mostly (I think)( because they get caught in a "we need a player for X position" mode, and thus overpay for that position. This is part of a deeper problem with how this team has been constructed the last couple of years. The Yanks consistently get aging and positionally inflexible players, or carry weak bats, because they slot into some prescribed position (back-up 1B MUST be a 1B, so get Olerud or Lee or Clark or conver Phillips, so he can never play another posi