April is over, and you know what that means: time to panic. The conventional wisdom in baseball goes like this: the first two months of the season are for figuring out what you got; the second two months are for making improvements via trades and promotions; the final two months are when you make a run at the pennant.
So, we're a little early, but let's see just what the Yankees have got. If the lineups Girardi has been throwing out there are any indication, the Bombers have problems.
Girardi has yet to use a single lineup more than twice. Part of this is due to injuries, but it also has a lot to do with underperformance. But for the most part, the Yanks' lineup is setting up like this:
Johnny Damon - Nary a day goes by when I don't thank the Red Sox front office for letting this guy go. His numbers - .275 BA, 1 K every 5 AB's - are more reminiscent of Dwayne Hosey than the dynamic leadoff batter of 2004 and 2005.
Derek Jeter - Talking negative about "Cap'n Jeets" is like insulting someone's mother around here. Too bad. Homeboy is off to a slow start, and not enough has been made about it. No matter how many billboards you're on, a .674 OPS is a .674 OPS.
Bobby Abreu - Off to a slow start, but let's not even talk about that. The fact that Abreu won a Gold Glove in Philly is alarming enough to make you scream "David Wright!" The plays he botched out in right field last night didn't show up as errors, but they cost the Yankees the game.
Alex Rodriguez - Also off to a "meh" start, and he's hurt. A-Rod will heat up after he gets off the DL, but he's still going to get booed at Yankee Stadium until he hits a grand slam to win the World Series.
Hideki Matsui - Hey, every dog has its day. Godzilla is slugging .495 while batting a .316 clip. But the Yanks still don't have a real spot for him on the field. His fielding in left is about as effective as a stone statute of Chuck Knoblauch. He can DH, but the Yankees already have about 67 DHs on the roster and one of them, like Matsui, is lefthanded. That's a controversy waiting to happen.
Jorge Posada - Jorgie carried the Yanks last year, but now he's hurt. It's not supposed to be season-ending, but it's not what the Bombers need, either.
Jason Giambi - Not to flog a corpse, but this guy should just wear an albatross around his neck when he comes to bat. Less than 300 RBI and more than $80 million in salary since the start of the 2004 season. Oh, and he's batting .164.
Robinson Cano - Streaky, streaky, streaky. Cano will come alive at some point, but the Yanks need him now and he has responded with 7 RBI in 110 at bats. Oof.
Melky Cabrera - Here's a guy who is fulfilling his end of the deal by hitting a solid .280-something and getting on base at a .362 clip. Trouble is, he's supposed to be a character actor, not a leading man.
It all adds up to a sub-.500 record through 30 games. Fernandez and LaMonica are in for a long, hot summer.
--Whittle