Two games out of the wild card last time I checked.

Trending poorly, that's for sure. But even the team as currently constructed ought to rebound somewhat from a terrible June (86 runs scored in the whole month):

" 'My job is always to see if we can improve regardless of position,' Cashman said. 'If something declares itself as an opportunity that makes sense, that we can acquire, then obviously we’ll have to look at it.'

'We’re in striking distance,' Cashman said. 'And we want to fortify if we can.'

In other words, Cashman owes it to his players, his ownership, his fan base and manager Joe Girardi and his field staff not to consider this a lost season – no matter how many players are lost for the season, or might not return at the top of their game."

"Throwing in the towel" in this context means trading your veterans for prospects.
I can only think of maybe 1 or 2 veterans who are healthy and useful for trade bait: Gardner and Cano.

Maybe Robertson? Maybe Sabathia or Kuroda in a a salary dump?

So, yeah. It's a little early to panic and trade any of these players.

I would assume that's too ridiculous to mention, but that's the only thing I can think of that would constitute "throwing in the towel."


The only other action I can think of that suggests tanking the season is rushing AAA players to the majors. Which is what the Yankees are being forced to do, anyway.

8 Wins, 6 Losses, 4.15 ERA

When a fat pitcher pitches eight shutout innings, he is durable.

When a fat pitcher continually blows leads in the sixth and seventh innings ... and when he can't make a play on a crucial infield single ... he is no longer durable. He is just fat.

"Machado went to third on a fly ball to center by J. J. Hardy. Adam Jones, the dangerous cleanup hitter, then tapped another swinging bunt up the first-base line. Sabathia ran to retrieve it and tried to make a spinning play. But he is not athletic enough, and his feeble throw dribbled well wide of the mark, and Machado scored to even the tally, 3-3."

"Not athletic enough."

Sources can be stupid.

So he's going through rehab and publicly announcing his progress so he can be Albert Belle II:

"The News reported on Thursday that sources close to the ongoing drama surrounding the embattled third baseman believe Rodriguez has fast-forwarded his return to the team so he can then claim he is physically unable to perform and announce his retirement.

That way, he could collect the full amount of his salary — $114 million over the next five years — even if he is suspended by commissioner Bud Selig’s office because of his alleged ties to Biogenesis, the South Florida clinic that Major League Baseball investigators believe supplied banned drugs to Rodriguez, Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun and approximately 20 other players.

But Jeter, from what he has seen of Rodriguez in Tampa, doesn’t think A-Rod looks like he is ready to call it quits."

Of all the scenarios that seem ridiculous, the rush-to-retirement angle seems to be the most ridiculous of all.

Cashman is the loose cannon.

" 'Visit from Dr. Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news the green light to play games again!' A-Rod tweeted."

Great, especially since David Adams had an other 0-fer .... and a fielding error, as if that was even possible.


"Less than two hours after A-Rod shared his exciting news with the world, Brian Cashman made it clear that he wished he hadn’t done that.

'You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, (we will),' Cashman told ESPN New York. 'Alex should just shut the f--- up. That’s it. I’m going to call Alex now.' "

If you randomly picked 100 tweets, 99 would be more controversial than ARod's.


"There have also been some not-so-memorable moments. Several postseason failures, a mid-World Series opt-out, one steroid admission, another embarrassing PED scandal, one photo shoot (mirror included), the 'Ha!' play, the slap play . . . the list of clownish antics goes on and on."

1) I dispute whether all of these antics are "clownish."

2) If these moments are not-so-memorable, then why do you remember them so easily?

Moral outrage tends to be subjective.

89 at-bats for David Adams.

.191 BA, .226 OB%, .292 SLG%, 23 Ks, 2 walks.


To this particular Yankee fan, the continued presence of this in the lineup is outrageous.  

AL East living up to its preseason hype.

Toronto's 9-game winning streak has the AL East tightening up:

AL East	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	AWAY	L10	STRK
Red Sox	45	31	.592	-	23-15	22-16	5-5	W1
Orioles	42	32	.568	2.0	20-15	22-17	6-4	L1
Yankees	40	33	.548	3.5	21-15	19-18	3-7	W1
Rays	38	36	.514	6.0	21-16	17-20	3-7	L1
Blue Jays	36	36	.500	7.0	20-17	16-19	9-1	W9

The Bronx is Vernon.

I'm not sure what options Girardi has until Granderson returns.  You play Wells in the hopes he snaps out of it.  Or I guess it couldn't be any worse to give Zoilo Almonte the starting LF job:

"In 56 June at-bats heading into Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Wells had only six hits — all singles. That is a .107 batting average and a .107 slugging percentage for the month. 

The numbers illustrate the difficulties Wells has been experiencing; he does not need to be reminded. 

'I don’t need to know the numbers,' he said before Thursday’s game. 'I know they’re terrible.'

Wells even had trouble against a pitching machine in the Yankees’ batting cage Thursday afternoon. He came to Yankee Stadium early to work with the hitting coach Kevin Long after he went hitless in both games of a split doubleheader Wednesday. The Yankees have a machine that cranks up the velocity to almost unhittable speed, and sure enough, it got the better of Wells."

Wells has about 9 hits in his last 90 at-bats.

The .300 April was quite optimistic, but he can't really be this bad, can he?

I think Phil Hughes should keep his spot in the rotation.

Kidding!  I'm kidding!

The dream is long over.  Phil Hughes is not a "tease," unless you're teased by mediocre pitchers who throw a good game every month or two.

Phil Hughes is not an effective major league pitcher.  There is not point in discussing his spot in the rotation or his future with the Yankees.  Hughes is #8 on the depth chart as far as I'm concerned ( behind Kuroda, Pettitte, Sabathia, Phelps, Pineda, Nuno, and Nova).

A long time ago, Hughes had a decent season pitching out of the bullpen.  He could probably do that again -- it's an easy job.

He also has enough "stuff" to be a decent major league pitcher ... but he's out of shape, stupid, stubborn, and gutless.

The bad luck Mets :-(

When I read something like this, I truly wonder if Lupica is on the Mets' payroll:

"Alderson was asked this question: Does he ever consider what the current Mets record would be if Santana were healthy and Ike Davis hadn’t turned into such a hopeless case that he is now playing baseball in Las Vegas.
'Honestly?' Alderson said. 'I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think we could be a .500 baseball team. A little above. A little below.' "

The Mets are 15 games under .500.  Approximately 40% of the season has been played.

So Alderson is saying that two players ... Johan Santana and Ike Davis ... would be worth 8 wins through 40% of the season.  Which translates to 20 wins for the full season.

Unless I'm misinterpreting ... but the column specifically says current Mets record.

If that's what Alderson truly thinks, then he's quite unreasonable, because the math defies reason.

"Then he was talking about the arrival of Zack Wheeler. And about Travis d’Arnaud, the catcher he got from the Blue Jays for R.A. Dickey, who is still hurt, but is expected to play for the Mets before the season is over; talking about the draft, stockpiling young talent, how slow that process can be."

Just for clarification, it's d'Arnaud who's still hurt, not R.A. Dickey.  I know when you read the words "R.A. Dickey, who is still hurt," you'd naturally assume R.A. Dickey is hurt.  

Then you'd give the 3rd-grader a grade of "check minus" and return the paper for proofreading.

Last time I checked, Wheeler had an ERA above 4.00 in AAA.  I guess he throws really fast, but lots of pitchers throw really fast.  I don't know if he's going to be Nolan Ryan or Todd van Poppel.  For every Tom Seaver, there's a thousand Matt Kinneys.

Same for d'Arnaud.  Maybe he's Gary Carter, maybe he's Josh Thole.  Maybe he's Buster Posey, maybe he's Dioner Navarro.

"All that. And how this is a time of the year when teams still aren’t ready to make any kind of trade for another few weeks at least, and how right now 'you are reduced to the waiver wire or released players.' "

Boo hoo.

If only the Mets had a bunch of good players who stayed healthy, they'd be in first place.  Just like every other bad team.

Alderson and Collins don't get enough blame.  

The Mets are underachievers who play stupidly and sloppily.  The Mets bullpen has been awful for three years in a row while Oliver Perez is lighting it up in Seattle as a lefty specialist (Alderson can't even take responsibility for that?).

If Ike Davis stinks, it's the GM's fault for failing to recognize this.  Fans and WFAN radio hosts similarly overrated Davis's talent, but it's not their job to properly evaluate Davis's talent.  

If your players go down with injury, you need to have depth.

The day the Yankees blame bad luck is the day I know they're a bunch of losers.

Somebody needs to tell him this joke isn't funny.

Mike Lupica on 2/6/2013:

"This is what Ryan Braun, who seems to be the most falsely accused guy since Jean Valjean in 'Les Miserables,' says when his name turns up in the ledgers of a two-bit South Florida scammer and drug pusher named Anthony Bosch:"


Mike Lupica on 6/16/2013:

"It’s so heartwarming to see Ryan Braun reaching out to baseball writers these days, but only to talk about baseball matters.

Because it would be wrong, wrong, wrong for him to, say, talk about why once again he is the most wrongly accused man since Jean Valjean in 'Les Miserables.' "


1) This unfunny joke didn't spontaneously become funny.  It wasn't funny in February and it still isn't funny in June.

2) When you use an unfunny joke twice, it suggests that you think it's really funny.  So funny, you had to use it again for the benefit of any readers who missed it the first time.

3) Never explain your joke.  If your audience doesn't know who Jean Valjean is, then they won't get the joke.  If your audience knows who Jean Valjean is, then there is no need to explain he's a character in "Les Miserables."

3a) Do you think "Les Miserables" is an impressive cultural reference?

3b) Are you too lazy to think of another example of a wrongly accused man?

Is this some kind of joke to you?

"The minutiae might dull the agony of the day’s events. The Yankees stranded 14 runners. They loaded the bases in the 11th and again in the 14th. A leadoff, 13th-inning double from Cano went nowhere. A familiar set of culprits deflated the offense time and again, the quartet of Mark Teixeira, Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis and Vernon Wells. As a group, they went 0-for-28 with 12 strikeouts.

'We’ve got to be better than that,' Teixeira said. 'That’s a no-hitter for all of us. That’s not good.'

'You probably won’t see that very often,' Girardi said. 'My guess is we won’t see that the rest of the year.' "

Useful reporting from Jeff Passan.

News that is actually something new:

"Under threat of suspension, the minor league players gave testimony that Major League Baseball plans to use to confirm the veracity of Bosch's story, the sources said. The league last week cut a deal with Bosch, the proprietor of the so-called wellness clinic, to drop a lawsuit against him, provide him with protection and try to sway the government from prosecuting him in exchange for his detailing players' involvement with Biogenesis. 

The revelation that multiple minor league players used Biogenesis products confirms a long-held belief that immunity could be an option for major leaguers and that the list of players who sought out Bosch exceeds the 20 or so publicly named from his logbook."

That is corroboration.

I can't believe what I just saw!

Robinson "Robbie Hustle" Cano just tagged up from first base to second base on a deep fly ball to CF.

I went to my first baseball game.

"Most people would think of the legacies of Joe Girardi and Terry Francona as scrappy players turned successful managers for two of the most influential franchises in baseball history."

That would be accurate.

"But the Biogensis bombshell this past week, where as many as 20 big leaguers could face suspension as a result of their link to the performance-enhancing-drug lab, has exposed the two skippers for what they truly are:
Frauds."

Not mutually exclusive things.  They may be frauds, but they're still scrappy players turned successful managers for two of the most influential franchises in baseball history.

"Case 1: On Wednesday, Girardi, when asked about Alex Rodriguez’s alleged PED use and looming 100-game ban, said he was only going to talk about baseball.

'This is in MLB’s hands. For me to speculate doesn’t make a lot of sense.' "

 "No comment" is the only proper answer in this situation.


"Really? What could be more about baseball than a guy taking illegal drugs to improve his performance to the point that he hits the fifth-most home runs (647) in history, drives in the seventh-most runs (1,950) and wins three MVP Awards?"

Betcha didn't know Alex Rodriguez was a productive baseball player.  Well, now you know.  Thanks for the minimal research.

"Hypocrisy oozes from Girardi’s dismissal of the discussion as a distraction, nothing more than a persistent gnat buzzing around the brim of his interlocking N and Y on an otherwise peachy spring day."

Metaphor Man is on a roll today.



"Here is a guy who, as a player, stood shoulder to shoulder with steroid cheats ranging from Sammy Sosa to Chuck Knoblauch, then went on to manage the likes of A-Rod and admitted HGH user Andy Pettitte."

You missed dozens of cheaters with whom Girardi stood shoulder to shoulder, but you don't seem to know much about this topic in the first place. It actually sounds like you entered a pro sports locker room for the first time ever and were shocked that the manager didn't answer your provocative questions.  That's not what happened, that's just what it sounds like.  An outsider who is just learning about PEDS, locker room etiquette, human's tendency towards self-preservation, etc.


You also don't seem to know the meaning of the world "hypocrisy."  If Girardi made a living chastising the teammates of PED users, and then he refused to rat out PED users himself, then he would be a hypocrite.
 

"So, let’s get this straight, Joe: while you were earning close to $30 million as a player and/or coach over the past 24 years, it was OK for you to benefit from all of those players’ pumped-up performances, but when someone wants your thoughts on how they went about executing and maintaining that level of play, you say it doesn’t make a lot of sense for you to speculate?
Stunning."
 
Girardi was a player and then he was a coach.  He earned that money as a player and a coach.  He was never a player "and/or" a coach ... what is that use of "and/or" supposed to do? Utilize pseudo-legal language to give a BS article a veneer of credibility?

You absolutely got it straight, by the way.  It does not make a lot of sense for Girardi to speculate, regardless of how much money has has earned in professional baseball.

"Case 2: Cleveland manager Terry Francona also said Wednesday 'as an industry we kind of buried our heads in the sand a little bit.'

While, on its surface, Francona’s indictment is refreshing, where was his searing self-assessment when busted steroid cheats Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were blasting a combined 289 home runs while leading Boston to two World Series over the eight years that Francona was manager?

Francona won an average of 93 games a season and made the playoffs five times on the inflated backs of Ramirez and Ortiz, but did you ever hear a word of suspicion from him as he was hoisting his World Series trophies and being lauded as one of the best managers in the game?"

I'm not quite understanding the logic here.  Francona deserved to be lauded as one of the best managers in the game.  His steroid cheats were defeating the steroid cheats on other teams.

"Francona and Girardi certainly have had plenty of company in allowing this fraud on the game and its fans to exist, but there have been very few who have basked more in its tainted glow."

Off the top of my head, I can list 500 people who have "basked more in the tainted glow" of this fraud.

Do frauds even glow?

I guess this particular fraud glowed.  A tainted glow, but, still ... a tainted, glowing fraud ... in which few people basked more than scrappy players Terry Francona and Joe Girardi.

I must admit, Mike Lupica doesn't know a lot about sports or the law, but he's probably an expert when it comes to lacking credibility.

When Cervelli comes back from the DL later this season, and Cheater Pettitte is pitching to Cheater Cervelli during the pennant race, Lupica will be silent and Yankee fans will cheer.

The issue is not whether or not ARod is a sympathetic character.

The issue is that, when you take so much delight in ARod's predicament, your biases are showing:

"Bosch tried to shake down poor Alex Rodriguez, officially the most misunderstood man in America, unless Ryan Braun eventually takes the title away from him. He likes to party. So he is supposed to be the Brian McNamee of this thing, we’re not supposed to trust Anthony Bosch anymore than we were supposed to trust McNamee, Roger Clemens’ former trainer."

As usual, Lupica attempts to score points by taking down a non-existent opponent.  Nobody is claiming ARod is "poor" or "misunderstood."  Most observers get that ARod is a stupid, arrogant man who lost credibility a long time ago.

However, if he's guilty of association with Bosch, it really makes one wonder why ARod has never failed a drug test, what is deficient in MLB's program, and why Selig isn't focused on fixing these deficiencies.

"You already hear from various experts in and out of the media — whose idea of investigative reporting involves reading actual investigative reporting in newspapers such as this one — that Major League Baseball will lose with Bosch and Biogenesis of America the way the feds lost with Clemens."

Is Mike Lupica seriously attacking his fellow sports commentators for speculating?  What is Mr. Gumshoe's idea of investigative reporting ... did he look up "biogenesis" on Wikipedia?  

"If we’re not supposed to believe Bosch, even before we know whether he has the goods or not, because he’s supposed to be some kind of pimp, why are we supposed to believe the alleged johns?

What about the credibility of Alex Rodriguez at this point, if the present story about Biogenesis goes absolutely nowhere?"

We're not supposed to believe ARod, nor do we need to believe ARod.

ARod has the presumption of innocence.

ARod does not shoulder the burden of proof.

ARod has never claimed innocence while under oath.

Since you asked.


"You now even see some of Bosch’s associates — you can also call them defendants — being given a platform to whine about being bullied by MLB.

I hope they did. Get bullied, I mean. It is a good thing that MLB has taken this fight to them and out into the open, even knowing it could lose in arbitration or in court in the end. It is a good thing and the right thing for the sport."

I hope MLB goons, in their zeal to to uncover sources at the Daily News, give a knock on the door of Mike Lupica.  Or maybe on the doors of Mike Lupica's family.

It's a good thing and the right thing for the sport.


"Alex Rodriguez talks about the 'process.' He and Braun and others better hope the 'process' doesn’t end with Bud Selig invoking the 'best interests of the game' clause if he feels a solid case has been made against them; these are the most sweeping powers for any commissioner in any sport, ones Selig has never used, not once. They all better watch out that the end of this 'process' isn’t just a suspension, but some of them being banned like Pete Rose."

I must say, I totally agree that Selig has not acted in the best interests of the game, not once.  Ba dum bum.


I suppose this process could result in lifetime bans for several players.  It's a possibility, but not very likely.  So Lupica will likely be wrong again -- and, make no mistake, Lupica is predicting a lifetime ban.

I also don't believe that's in the best interest of the sport in any way, shape, or form: 

• I'm a Phillies fan.  I say Matt Harvey took steroids.
• MLB files a scattershot lawsuit and subpoenas all Fed Ex deliveries and cell phone calls for all MLB trainers.
• I'm the Dodgers GM.  I want out of Zack Greinke's contract.  I found a guy who says Greinke took steroids.

This is what can easily occur once the goons feel comfortable bypassing the process.

The whole point of the process is to help avoid these biases and abuses.


Perhaps Selig can leverage this threat to improve the testing program or to elicit some confessions.  Perhaps, in the long run, this will help weigh down the "cost" side in the cost-benefit analysis.  But a lifetime ban of Ryan Braun is in the best interests of the game?  That is a very tough sell.

"Baseball goes after these guys the way Travis Tygart of the United States Anti-Doping Agency went after Lance Armstrong. How did that one come out?"

Armstrong was banned from racing after he had already retired.


Here's the other thing: Let's say the Accused MLB ballplayers are as lacking in credibility as the Accuser.

Are you familiar with MLB's bizarre lawsuit against Bosch?  The supposed leverage they have against this guy?

It seems to be that MLB is claiming that Bosch damaged the reputation of baseball by supplying its employees with steroids. 
 
Bosch couldn't possibly damage the reputation of MLB because MLB's reputation was already shot.  I mean, MLB hasn't even fired Mark McGwire.  Bosch wouldn't hire a high-profile criminal like Mark McGwire because Bosch has a reputation to maintain.  Bosch doesn't make MLB look bad -- MLB makes Bosch look bad.


Lupica is correct: MLB players are scoundrels.  Since MLB players are well-documented scoundrels with a long, disreputable history, Bosch could not have damaged the reputation of MLB players.  Since Bosch could not have damaged the reputation of MLB players, the lawsuit against Bosch has no merit.  Since the lawsuit against Bosch has no merit, Bosch has no reason to flip.  If Bosch doesn't flip, nobody gets suspended.

I want to talk about a baseball player named Melky Cabrera.

He used to be on youtube, shirtless in a hotel room, eating peanuts with a porn star.

He is on youtube eating something off his bat.

He created an infantile fake website to throw investigators off his trail.

He failed a PED test and was suspended 50 games.

After the suspension, the Blue Jays signed him to a $16 million contract.

He is batting .280 with 2 HRs so far this season.

Lots of players come back from suspensions. Also, lots of players are stupid. So, while Lupica can scarcely contain his glee at another chance to bury ARod, there is no reason to think ARod's career is over:

"But if he does confirm everybody’s worst suspicions about A-Rod, confirms that A-Rod was not just trolling for a way to make himself what he used to be but actually getting drugs from a two-bit scammer like Bosch — Biogenesis Bosch! — then he would be suspended for a long time; suspended for being a user all over again and lying to baseball about that. His career would be over. Nobody comes back from that."

Why not?


"A-Rod would have to fight to get the rest of his money from the Yankees."

Contract Law is on his side.


"And maybe, if he ever recovers from his latest hip surgery, he would become the kind of novelty act in Taiwan that Manny Ramirez has become."

He's expected to recover in July or August.

He'd likely be more productive than Brignac, Adams, and maybe even Youkilis.

 
"No wonder all these big guys from the Yankees have suddenly been liberated to talk about how 'disappointed' they are in him. They act as if they all knew that Bosch was in the chute this way."

Yes, they knew Bosch was ... ummm .. they knew Bosch was "in the chute."



"Or maybe he was doing some form of baseball drugs from the time he was a kid — was never the golden-boy, natural talent, home-run-king-in-waiting that we thought he was when he was a kid with the Seattle Mariners."

I agree, maybe ARod has been on steroids all along and his entire career is a fraud.

Which is why I can similarly speculate that the careers of Piazza, Pedro, Big Papi, and hundreds of others are fraudulent.

Which is why proof is so important.

Which is why ARod won't get suspended 100 games.

Which is why the Yankees won't be able to get out of his contract.

Which is why everyone is supposed to be equal under the Law.

Which is why a person's popularity with Mike Lupica is not a legal determinant of innocence or guilt.

The draft is working as it was designed.

Joel Sherman does the research:

"Consider this: Of the 74 players at last year’s All-Star Game, 57 were drafted and 31 of those (54.4 percent) went in the first round — and 22 were not available when it was the Yankees turn to pick."

Something-gate.

"In the case of Bountygate, the NFL’s zeal to protect its image resulted in an obsessive pursuit of a handful of players and coaches whom it never had the evidence to convict. Of course, this inconvenient fact didn’t stop the league from trying. And the harder NFL officials tried, the worse they looked. In the end, all they could come up with was an affidavit from a former assistant coach who had been indefinitely suspended from football after being caught on tape goading his team to intentionally target opponents’ heads. In other words, he had every reason to tell the NFL what it wanted to hear.

Which brings us to Biogenesis-gate. Given what we know right now, there’s not much reason to believe that Major League Baseball’s case against the players whom it’s seeking to suspend is much better. Already, the league has behaved in ways that have undermined its cause. It has sought to buy the clinic’s records from a former employee. In a new twist of biochemical McCarthyism, MLB has reportedly offered some players on the list immunity to testify against others. Finally, it sued Bosch to force his cooperation.

he ploy worked; Bosch is cooperating. But what, exactly, does baseball have here? Some sloppily kept records from a shady anti-aging clinic and a sketchy cooperator with every reason to tell league officials what they want to hear. Maybe there’s more compelling evidence to come. But before he goes any further down this path, Commissioner Bud Selig might want to remember how badly Bountygate worked out for his NFL counterpart, Roger Goodell."

Creepy.

"Tony Bosch, the fake doctor who ran the Biogenesis Clinic exposed by the Miami New Times earlier this year, merely has to tell MLB everything that went on at his defunct business. In return, the league will drop its lawsuit against him; 'indemnify him for any liability arising from his cooperation; provide personal security for him and even put in a good word with any law enforcement agency that may bring charges against him.' "

Provide personal security for Bosch?

"Put in a good word" with law enforcement agencies?

This is Bud Selig we're talking about. It sounds like Vito Corleone.



We will provide personal security for you, Mr. Bosch.

Why would I need personal security?

Just in case somebody would want to hurt you.

Who would want to hurt me?

Nobody would want to hurt you. But just in case somebody would want to hurt you, we will provide you with personal security. In exchange for your completely voluntary testimony.

I don't doubt they're guilty ...

... but some of this still doesn't add up.

1) You can't just skip the first-level suspension and go to the second-level suspension. These players have not even tested positive. So the players will certainly have a solid appeal.

2) What kind of immunity can MLB offer? MLB is not a Court of Law. MLB agreed to withdraw a potential lawsuit against Bosch ... but MLB can't order around the Florida Attorney General.

So we promise not to sue you, but we can't stop anyone else from suing you? That's it?

3) I think it's a bad move by MLB. Stick to your testing program and leave this other stuff up to the Courts. Attendance is down and I just don't think the majority of (potential) baseball fans are wringing their hands about PEDs.

Joe Girardi narrows down the problems with Phil Hughes.

"Hughes took a familiar beating from the Red Sox on Saturday night, allowing five runs and seven hits in just 4¤ innings. The right-hander struck out seven, but that hardly mattered. Hughes continues to be plagued by an inability to finish off hitters with two strikes. Incredibly, the Sox fouled off 29 of his 100 pitches, which Joe Girardi acknowledged as a problem early Sunday evening.

The manager mentioned the 'eight-pitch at-bats, 'which have a corrosive effect on Hughes over the course of a game. When asked what can be done to correct that – if anything – Girardi said Hughes still hasn’t mastered 'expanding the strike zone' or 'mixing [his] pitches a little better' and 'not making mistakes.' "

We don't have all day.

Easier question: Which aspects of pitching has Phil Hughes mastered?

Collin who?

I find it hard to give him credit.

What some people interpret as good pitching, I interpret as bad hitting:

"Many will say that Gee's performance was thanks to nothing more than a slumping Yankees team that has put together a magical run to start this season finally coming back down to Earth. And they may be partially correct, but these critics should also give credit where credit is due. It's not every night that the New York Yankees are limited to four hits, one run, no walks and are fanned 12 times by an opposing pitcher. In fact, Dillon Gee is only the second pitcher since 1916 with 12 or more strikeouts, no walks and four or fewer hits against the Yankees. Pedro Martinez being the other, in 1999."

The Yankees are 50 runs behind the Orioles and Red Sox. The Yankees are on pace for a mere 660 runs. The Yankees have scored around 12 more runs than the Mets, and the Yankees are in the DH league. The Yankees have a .307 on-base%.

I feel like it was the Yankees who fell back to Earth.

"Dillon Gee suffocated the Yankees over 7 1/3 innings en route to a 3-1 win for the Mets, which means that the Yankees have dropped all four games to the Mets, which means that the Yankees have now lost seven of their last nine.

While getting swept by an otherwise middling team like the Mets in a rivalry series is bad enough, the larger concern for the Yankees is that they may regressing to reasonable expectations. How long could they continue to thrive on the dubious backs of Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner and Lyle Overbay? Perhaps not beyond the month of May, as it turns out.

Presumably, the Yankees will get healthier, but the problem is that aging warhorses like Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez -- as great as their careers have been -- carry no guarantees. Actually, it's quite possible Jeter and Rodriguez will resume their declines, with both bat and glove. To boot, the schedule isn't going to get much easier (remaining opponents have an average winning percentage of .510), and the AL East is, of course, a tough loop."

The second wave of injuries -- Nunez, Cervelli, Youkilis, and Pettitte -- should not be overlooked. 

Wells, Overbay, and Hafner may very well regress to reasonable expectations. 

Jeter and ARod carry no guarantees -- no player carries guarantees.  But, in order to improve the team, the returning Yankees simply have to outperform Romine, the recently-departed Francisco, and Brignac.  These clowns have a combined batter average of around .100.

It was fun while it lasted.

Lots of articles about the sudden collapse of the Underdog Yankees, two from the same paper ...

But at least Ken Davidoff called it a week ago:

"They don’t hit too many home runs, don’t make too much money, and don’t fall short of ludicrously high expectations. Most pertinent, they don’t motivate the masses to say, 'We need Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira, Youkilis, etc.!!!'

To the contrary, the latest working theory I’ve heard while stumbling through Yankee Universe is that some fans don’t want the injured guys to come back at all, that the Yankees are better off with the 'fun' current group.

There’s an easy response to those folks: Be careful what you wish for. The more players the Yankees can activate off the disabled list, the higher chance they will have at turning this special start into a special season.

There’s nothing fun in an undermanned team turning a fast start into a heartbreaking finish. Just ask the 2007 Mets."

Cano isn't much of a draw.

Yankees will remember it when it's time to negotiate a contract.

Team on-base% of .310.

"As long as the Bombers didn’t get buried in the AL East, they would get a big pick-me-up when Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez – OK, maybe not A-Rod – were finally healthy and ready to contribute.

That time has come. Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis – a late injury addition – will be back Friday after they finish their Double-A rehab assignments.

So why doesn’t anybody seem excited? Based on the past four days, perhaps they should be.

Teixeira and Youkilis’ return means the Yankees have 24 hours to figure out how to make room for them – and Yankees fans have the same amount of time to come to grips with the fact that Lyle Overbay and David Adams will no longer be regulars."

Yeah, the newfound fans of the Replacement Yankees aren't going to be yelling about clubhouse chemistry after a Mets sweep.

I agree with Mattingly. I see it with the Yankees.

"But Wednesday morning, Mattingly could no longer contain himself in a pregame briefing with reporters in Milwaukee.

'There has to be a mixture of competitiveness,' Mattingly said. 'It's not, "Let's put an All-Star team together and the All-Star team wins."

'It's finding that balance of a team that has a little bit of grit and will fight you. And also having the talent to go with it. All grit and no talent isn't going to make you successful. But all talent and no grit isn't going to get you there either.'

Mattingly wasn't just talking, and to prove his point, benched right fielder Andre Ethier for Van Slyke, offering this explanation:

'There's a touch difference between, "I'm giving you best effort," Mattingly said, 'and being willing to fight you for that prize, to do whatever it takes to win. It's almost something inside you that says, "You're not beating me today. You're not getting me out."

...

'I'm putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most competitive, and going to compete the hardest.' "

I take that to mean Mattingly would bench Cano once in a while, just to prove a point.

Why didn't he field the ball first and then let the umpire decide if it's fair or foul?

"Davis was holding a runner at first and shifting to cover the hole, believing it was unlikely that the right-hander at the plate, Brandon Phillips, would hit the ball down the line. He knew that the runner at third, Shin-Soo Choo, would be fast enough to beat his throw home on a softly hit ball.

When a grounder came his way, Davis ruled out throwing home to get Choo. He also decided against an aggressive attempt at a double play. On a ball like that, Davis said, stepping on first base would remove the force at second, meaning Choo’s run would count. Davis did not want to concede the run, because he knew the overpowering Reds closer Aroldis Chapman would come in for the bottom of the ninth.

As the ball skittered down the line, Davis said, it seemed to be bouncing foul. If it stayed on that course, the count would be 0-2 on Phillips. So, in far less time than it took to read about those options, Davis made the call: do nothing. Naturally, the ball stayed fair, skipping over the bag for the go-ahead hit. The Reds won, 7-4."

So the manager doesn't even matter.

The win-loss record also doesn't matter:

"Don Mattingly could not have done anything to keep Zack Greinke, Hanley Ramirez or Chad Billingsley healthy."

I am not completely sure that's accurate.


"He probably could not have done anything to get Matt Kemp out of his rut (though for what it’s worth Kemp did homer Monday night, only his second of the year after offseason shoulder surgery)."

I am not completely sure that's accurate, either.


"And Mattingly can’t make Brandon League pitch well… though arguably he could and should stop using him in key situations."

I am not completely sure any of this is accurate.

Maybe Mattingly is unable to motivate his players. Maybe they don't practice enough. Maybe they don't play intelligently. Maybe Mattingly doesn't optimize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.


"Like his mentor Joe Torre, Mattingly is a more or less competent tactician who really shines as a clubhouse leader. He treats his players well and, by all accounts, he has their respect. That can’t be measured, and clearly it is not helping the Dodgers win any games just at the moment, but it shouldn’t be written off entirely either. Like the vast majority of employees in all fields, baseball players will tell you that a good manager and a good workplace environment do matter."

Joe Torre is more or less a competent tactician?

I pick "less."


If the managers matter so little, I'll take the job at half the pay. Use the remaining money to shore up the bullpen.

Make room for Curtis.

Kevin Kernan notices the poor play of Gardner and Ichiro:

"Ichiro broke an 0-for-22 skid with a seventh-inning single and scored the Yankees second run, but struck out with the potential tying run on second to end the eighth. Gardner went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts and has five hits over his last 28 at-bats. Gardner singled in the ninth with one out and stole second and third against closer Tom Wilhemsen but Jayson Nix struck out and Robinson Cano grounded to short to end the game."

An unusual idea in Yankee Universe is that Wells ought to keep playing and Granderson ought to ride the pine.


Gardner's stats: 158 AB, .253/.324/.380, 3 HR, 7 2B, 2 3B, 20 R, 14 RBI, 16 BB, 40 K, 9 SB

Ichiro's stats: 134 AB, .239/.280/.328, 2 HR, 4 2B, 1 3B, 13 R, 8 RBI, 8 BB, 18 K, 5 SB


It's not Wells or Granderson in the Yankee outfield. It's Wells and Granderson.

Quarter pole.

Yankees in first place, on pace for 100+ wins.

Most people have been proven wrong so far, few people are willing to admit it:

"When I walked into the Yankees clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, they were not last in the AL East. They were first, tied with Texas for the league’s best record.

On one level, I was baffled. No Derek Jeter. No Alex Rodriguez. No Mark Teixeira. Until Tuesday, no Curtis Granderson, either. According to research by STATS LLC, they have the second-oldest roster in the majors and the second-most days lost to the disabled list. That should portend disaster.

Nope. Despite the ad hoc lineups, the long-term questions hovering over Jeter and A-Rod, and the division’s perpetual competitiveness, the Yankees’ excellence remains unassailable."

I'm not sure if it's because the Pinstripes are transformative, I just think the players they lost were overrated and the players they got are underrated.

Sabathia is #1 and #10 on the same list.

Matt Harvey is #5 on the list of current players most likely to win 300 games.

Matt Harvey has 7 career wins.

Don Mattingly is a good manager because I said so.

"They've moved Matt Kemp's left foot back in the batter's box."

"They."


"It's just a few inches but still enough, they hope, to allow Kemp to clear quicker on the harder stuff inside."

Baseball is a game of inches.


"Over time he'd nudged that foot toward the plate, probably so he'd have a more reasonable shot at sliders on the far side of the strike zone, though it may have been unconscious."

OK, good to know.


"Either way, Kemp's setup had become closed, and now his stance is, while not open, at least sneaking up on neutral."

Sneaking up on neutral?


"The techies upstairs report the ball is coming off Kemp's bat well enough, presumably with the kind of velocity and trajectory that suggest better than one home run, eight extra-base hits and a .277 batting average through more than 150 plate appearances."

Who are the techies upstairs?

And who are they to conclude that the velocity and trajectory are better than .277 and 1 HR?


"This, anyway, is what Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said."

Anyway.


"It's small stuff – an inch or two of dirt or bat or ballpark that are the difference between an offensive anchor in the three-hole and a five-tool superstar in the National League West. Then, you take that inch or two, spread them over a roster, over a disabled list, over a stadium-full of expectations, and they amount to something.

Currently, they add up to the relative instability of Mattingly's employment, or at least the daily public referendum on his employment, because the Los Angeles Dodgers – as a result of all those misplaced inches – have been nothing like anyone figured they'd be."

Mattingly sounds like he'd make a heckuva batting coach.


"Generally, the conclusion to fire a manager is the call of the uninspired. The domain of the simple-minded. These are the same people who rail against the waiter when the fish of the day runs out."

Yes, the uninspired, simple-minded people who call for the firing of a baseball manager are ... the same people who rail against the waiters when the fish of the day runs out.

Not to rely upon simple-minded, nonsensical generalizations, or anything ...

I actually think the Heat are kind of boring. They play at half-speed until their backs are against the wall. Shoot a bunch of threes, wait for Lebron to save them in the 4th quarter.

"It doesn't matter whether you love the Miami Heat or hate them. You watch them. They are the team in professional sports, at least in this country, to talk the most about."

What if you don't care about the NBA? What then?


"People still call the Yankees the Evil Empire. They’re not, they don’t generate the emotion they used to one way or another, even when they're going good the way they are now. The Heat are the Yankees now."

I think Chris Nelson and Preston Claiborne are offended.


"LeBron James is the biggest star we have in sports and the Heat are the star team, more than the Yankees or any other baseball team, more than the Lakers and Celtics, more than any team in pro football.

They give off the most heat, in all ways."

The Heat give off the most heat. Brilliant.

Is Mike Lupica arguing with the voices in his head again?


For what it's worth, the dilapidated Yankees still lead the league in attendance and are still worth $2 billion.

Oh, and the dilapidated Yankees just happen to be in first place.

There's a pretty good story there. But it would require a writer to identify the Yankees as underdogs.


"The Orioles may not have a pure No. 1 starter, but I still think they’ve been the best all-around team in baseball this season.

And you better pay attention to the kid at third base, Manny Machado, because he is going to be a huge star for Buck Showalter for a long time."

The Yankees are in first place, by the way.


"By the way, do people still think that Mike Trout was the real MVP of the American League last season and not the guy who won the Triple Crown?"

Sure ... because last season was last season.

Do people still think R.A. Dickey was the real Cy Young of the NL last season?

That's "Mister Rivera" to you, pal.

When he returns from the DL, maybe Teixeira can add some depth to the bench.

Overbay is hitting .264 with 6 HRs and 20 RBIs.

Those sound like Teixeira stats at 1/20th the price.

Big Papi was on the list.

Sorry, but he loses the benefit of the doubt.

I don't see the connection.

"The signs are everywhere now. Panic on the sidewalks of New York, lumps in throats ... hope and faith and belief in miracles in Beantown. It can’t be happening again. But it is. Because if it can happen to Joe Torre and Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, it can sure happen to Carmelo Anthony.

Only this time, it isn’t the Boston Red Sox who are desperate to Reverse the Curse. It is the New York Knicks, champions last in 1973. And this time, the choke’s on them."

This is actually confusing.

This time, the choke's on the Knicks, instead of the Yankees ... and the team looking to reverse the curse is the Knicks, instead of the Red Sox.


So people are actually talking to Kevin Millar, Derek Jeter, and others in an attempt to force this comparison.


Basketball vs. Baseball.

First-round vs. ALCS.

Curse of the Bambino vs. No Curse at all for the Boston team trying to come back from a 3-0 deficit.


Let's listen to Brian Cashman for some common sense, who is a baseball GM inexplicably providing basketball commentary:

" 'I don’t see a comparison,' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the Post’s Mark Hale. 'The Knicks will beat Boston if healthy. The Knicks are considerably better than Boston. The Knicks are supposed to win. They will win.' "


Serby gets the final word, proving just how tough it is to force this comparison:

"And the Celtics never sold Bill Russell to the Knicks. But could this be some Curse of the ... Jambino ... anyway?"

I don't know what that means.