As for Johnson/Sanchez. As Steve Goldman pointed out to me on IM last night, Sanchez actually can hit lefties (.285/.328/.369 over the past three years). Not exactly Sheffield, but Cano’s not exactly stinging the ball and is 3 for 22 vs. lefties with a .273 overal OBP. Plus you don’t lose anything on D with Sanchez in the field.

Russ Johnson, meanwhile, does out-hit Tino against lefties, and got some solid swings on Wells, only he hit ‘em right at the fielders.

These line-ups may look bad, but they do make a certain amount of sense. Credit to Torre for looking at the numbers not the names in making these decisions. Note also that Matsui did not hit clean-up in either of those two games.

And I’m not daying the brass are in on Torre’s decisions EXCEPT for maybe Womack in LF…. which appears to be a decision from above. You know Torre is very loyal to Bernie and Bernie has been hitting of late.

My problem is that because they can’t admit Womack in LF is a mistake, when Bernie does play, it’s in CF. I’d rather KEEP Matsui there, and put Bernie in LF(his new position), where his D will do less damage.

Also, while Veritek’s numbers against Mosse were real ugly, I think there were a few other Sox also with ugly stats against Moose. I’d like to look it up, but I don’t know where. I don’t remember Veritek resting in all the Moose/Pedro games last year. But there is a LOT I don’t know.

I had heard a rumor that the Yankees had actually made an offer to Cairo but his agent never told him. Not sure if it’s true though.

Varitek was not “rested” against the Yankees. He had a lifetime BA of under .100 against Mussina. Under .100. Floyd wasn’t “rested” either. He was in a slump coming into the Subway Series and the last thing Randolph wanted was for Floyd to get the Golden Sombrero against Randy Johnson. This is late May. You have an off-day on Memorial Day. Why are we resting multiple players in the most important series this season-to-date? Why are we not fielding our best offensive and defensive line-ups? Are these orders from above? Do you think George wanted Rey Sanchez and Russ Johnson starting in the rubber match of a Red Sox-Yankees series at home? Get real.

All I know is that signing Womack was no way an upgrade in replacing Cairo. No one in yankee management has yet to see this, except for one yankee who is now crosstown replacing “Bizarro Matsui” with Miguel as the permanent 2b as we speak.

Maybe next year we can grab Grudzielanek at 2B, we havent had a “weird, but cool” last name since Knoblauch

Everytime I see Womack’s hit off of Rivera, I think it was just a hanging Cutter. It looked like the ball was sitting on a tee. He was a little off that inning(hitting Counsell with 2 strikes, throw to second.) Nice play on the next bunt, however. It annoys me because Brenly made so many stupid blunders, he didn’t deserve to win. That’s baseball for you. Sometimes you can’t explain it.

Since Cashman’s BIG move was to move Womack to LF, Womack will probably have to bleed from the eyes and ears before they bench him. The Brain Trust won’t want to give the impression their BIG move was a BAD move.

I can’t believe it’s Torre. Last year they brought in Lofton specifically to replace Bernie, and Torre still played Bernie. So if Torre sat Lofton (a player with a lot more upside then Womack), why would Torre bench Bernie for Womack? The word must come from above.

Womacks REAL value is to pinch run late in a one run/tie game (ala Dave Roberts). That said, from what I’ve read, a base stealer ONLY helps the team if he is successful 70+% of the time. Wo-is-me-mack is 16 for 19 (84%) with 2 pickoffs, or 76% (16 for 21). So his speed has helped some, but isn’t shaking the world. And with Sheff, ARod and Matsui behind him, being one first is often enough. If he batted 8th or 9th, then getting to 2nd in front of a singles hitter might help.

Last year Jetes was 23 of 27 or 85% (although pick-offs aren’t figured into that number). ARod was 28 of 32 or 87% (ditto about pickoffs).

I fear because we have Cash(man) invested in Womack, he will continue to make fans suicidal. We can only hope that Torre bats him 9th (or 10th) soon.