Cowboy up, y'all!
This time, it's a collision with the second baseman (Doug Mintkayvich, of all people) while playing the last-place Blue Jays.
The Red Sox are still probably the favorites to win the freakin' wild card, but I thought they were a sure thing until they traded away Nomar. Cabrera hasn't hit well nor fielded well, and they're seriously playing Mintkayvich at second base.
But the Yankees should worry because have a bad bench.
(The Yankees bench is fine, Felz adds parenthetically. This guy at the Pinstriped Bible missed the story. Cashman obsesses about the bench, he doesn't ignore it. Think about it. This offseason, Cashman brilliantly improved three areas on the cheap: Bench, bullpen, infield defense. Imagine how great the bench would be if Travis Lee didn't get hurt.
But, again, sometimes the economics don't allow a strong bench. Even if the Yankees were willing to spend lots of money -- $5 million -- for a backup catcher. What catcher is good enough to make $5 mill and also willing to play backup to Posada? It makes no sense.
The only market for bench players are (1) pre-free-agency youngsters (Crosby, Posada ca. 1997), (2) lousy players (Bush, Dellucci), or (3) on-the-downside veterans who are willing to accept the role (Strawberry, Sierra, Raines).
Maybe you get lucky -- Bush hit .380 in 1998 -- but even if the Yankees were willing to spend tons of money to acquire a truly outstanding bench ... there aren't too many outstanding players who want to sit on the Yankees' bench.
Does this still qualify as parenthetical? That's a big parenthetical.)
The Red Sox are easy to hate with all that dirty uniform underdog Cowboy Up nonsense that they love to perpetuate, but they don't have a monopoly on the idea that fighting will have a "residual effect" on the team's play.
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