SO THIS IS WHAT $200M IS WORTH, HUH?
Yankees dismal 4-8 start perplexing and disappointing




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
April 17, 2005

If what Yankees’ fans have witnessed over the past two week was a race horse the owner should take it out and shoot it. The 2005 edition of the New York Yankees has fallen and it can’t get up. This team has no heart, no spirit and no leadership. It is an entity spiraling out of control.

What’s wrong with this team would make Sigmund Freud lie down on his own couch. Where do you start? How about the offense? With a team batting average of .255 the Yankees rank 8th in a field of 14 teams. They are tied with Texas Rangers. They fare a little better in the home run department with 12 (fourth best), but rank 10th in RBI with 44. The Yankees are 4th in team OBP (.339), because they still have the ability to draw the walk, but they’re 10th in SLG% (.393). Over the winter the Yankees really did little to upgrade their offense. They added Tony Womack (.250) and Tino Martinez (.172) as the starting second baseman and back up first baseman.

Regulars Bernie Williams, Jason Giambi, and Alex Rodriguez are batting .200, .229 and .224 respectfully. Only Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield are batting over .300. Between the big guns of Sheffield, Giambi and Rodriguez the home run output is five. Baltimore Orioles’ second baseman Brian Roberts has as many as those three players combined. Hideki Matsui leads the team with 3 home runs. Remove the top three hitters and the Yankees have a team batting average of .216 among the rest of the regular line up. Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui have combined for 23 of the Yankees 44 RBI so far this season. That leaves 21 RBI to divide among the rest of the players. Alex Rodriguez leads the remainder of the players with five. Those are some pretty dismal numbers for a team being paid in the realm of $200M.

Let’s not just examine the offense. How about the pitching? The Yankees starting rotation has a combined ERA of 6.02. Randy Johnson, who was supposed to be our stopper, looked good his first outing, but struggled in the next two starts. His ERA is an un-Randy Johnson-like 4.74. Mike Mussina whose staple has always been consistency is only slightly better at 4.32. Carl Pavano has the lowest number at 3.86. Jaret Wright has a whopping two-game total of 8.00 and Kevin Brown who pitched for the first time this year on Sunday was lit up for six runs in six innings to post an ERA of 9.00.

The bullpen hasn’t had much to write home about either. The bullpen, which was overused last year, was allegedly upgraded, but has failed to slow down anyone when called upon. Mariano Rivera, arguably the greatest closer in the history of baseball, has blown two saves in four opportunities. His one victory only came when after blowing a save the Yankees came back to win the game in the 10th inning. Rivera is currently sporting an ERA of 4.91. He has allowed six hits and six runs (two earned) in 3.2 innings of work. That’s not Rivera, that’s Ramiro Mendoza. Tom Gordon, who was a solid set up man for Rivera during the 2004 season, has a bloated ERA of 7.50. In fact he gave up a three-run bomb to diminutive second baseman Brian Roberts of the Orioles on Saturday, which wiped out a 6-3 Yankees’ lead. The Yankees eventually lost the game 7-6. The rest of the relief corps hasn’t done any better. Steve Karsay (13.50), Felix Rodriguez (4.50), and Tanyon Sturtze (6.10) have been horrific. Only Paul Quantrill (3.18) and Mike Stanton (3.86) have been moderately successful.

This team does not look sharp by any stretch of the imagination. They are listless, lackluster and lifeless. Somebody call 911. As an observer this team has been very difficult to watch. When you see the talent on this team and the star roster it has the Yankees lack of aggressive play has been very baffling. I look at the calendar and note that it is only the middle of April, yet the Yankees look like they are playing in the middle of August.

Understandably, it is way too early to hit the panic button, but there is a definite reason for concern. George Steinbrenner has paid out a lot of money to these athletes and the ones who’ve earned their paychecks so far could be counted on one hand with a couple of fingers left over. Maybe the Yankees have gotten soft. Somehow I can’t think that someone like Thurman Munson or Goose Gossage would’ve applauded the Boston Red Sox when they received their World Series rings. I picture Munson grabbing a chair and wrapping it around Carlton Fisk’s head.

This team needs to shake itself and wake up. Although we’re only two weeks into the season, the Yankees should be concerned at how they’ve started out so far. Last year’s playoff collapse should’ve been a wake up call, not a sedative. The Yankees players need to get it going and soon before this season goes from a bad dream to a full blown nightmare.


PLAY BALL!



© 2005 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates