[22] Some of this I agree with, but really Brett Gardner got injured and they did replace him with a player who actually gave them more offensive production than Brett did on average, and of course not as good defense, but that’s what happens when you lose a starter. There weren’t A+ left fielders for the taking in May, after all. (I bet they could have got Carl Crawford!)
And it’s just a mistake to give up anything to get relief pitchers, except the elite ones like Soriano, so I’m glad Cashman didn’t do that.
Finally, as a matter of fact the Yankees did suffer at the catcher position because of injury: Austin Romine was expected to be ready to bring up at least as BUC, but he lost most of the season and will not be ready until next year (this from River Avenue Blues).

hahaha

But I don’t see why Baltimore couldn’t keep this up for one month after they’ve done it for five.

The most serious long term injury has been Gardner. Even though the gritty one is not a huge offensive contributor, he’s not bad, and his defence is of course excellent. When he went down, the team elected not to replace him, but rather turn Raul Ibanez into a more or less fulltime LF (with occasional rest from Jones), and turn the DH into a rest ward/comedy show. And as the season has dragged on, Ibanez (despite his moments) and Jones have been exposed: they’re not hitting much and they play atrocious defence. So yes, Gardner’s injury has been serious. But that raises the question of why the team did nothing, really, to address it until signing Ichiro.

Meanwhile, the other injuries, with the exception of A-Rod’s, should have been manageable—that they are not speaks to rather somewhat clunky roster construction. I mean, you lose Mo—that’s bad—but then Soriano steps in fine, and Robertson is still the eighth inning guy. That menas all you need to replace is middle relief. And yet, despite all of the organization’s alleged pitching depth, the team tries to solve this problem by trade for…Chad Qualls. And then Derek Lowe? Or hoping that Joba “I just had arm surgery and then broke my foot off of my leg” Chamberlain would come back and dominate. Seriously?

In the shorter term, since A-Rod got hurt, yes there have been a few more overlapping injuries that have hurt the team. That’s going to happen. But injuries didn’t make catcher a black hole (trading *for* Stewart…seriously?); they didn’t make Granderson become what he’s been most of his career, only now with worse defence.

Wait……..

Yes… we have played poorly since the ASB, but I think more to the point, we had played over our heads for quite a while.

Baseball likes to say “you gotta play through injuries and still find a way to Win”. That’s very sportsman like, but there’s a reason teams fight to get players that cost over $15m, while guys like Chavez, Ibanez, Pearce, Jones, et al, are lucky to make $2m.

Last night, we watched a Spring Training lineup.

Both Baltimore and TB smell blood.

Not only do we Teix back NOW, but ARod, even in his currently meh state, helps our lineup. Fantastic Robbie needs to bashish lackluster Robbie. Grandy needs to know something about ‘singles’ and ‘walks’. But even with our offense back…
our pitching will tell the story.

I tend not to be a doom-and-gloomer, despite my sarcastic running commentary, but this season has a pretty bad vibe. I think they’re going to fold. If that happens, we’ll see who (if anyone) takes the fall. It’s not like this has been Cashman’s best season, either.

And, because its apparently the rules, or something, I got to see Joe Girardi play a pointless game of matchups in the ninth of an already lost game, which of course, backfired, because it always does.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but he’s an active hindrance to this team and clearly the worst manager in baseball.

And I’m pretty damn sanguine about the Yankees chance of making the playoffs at this point … as in, I figure it’s as likely they don’t make it, as they do …

But hey, I’ll put my money where my mouth is … I’ll bet you 1 Bronx Banter themed sponsorship of David Robertson’s (The ALABAMA HAMMA!!!) BBREF page that *if* the Yankees don’t make the playoffs this year, they *don’t* fire Joe Girardi.

How’s that sound?

Once Tex and A-Rod return from the DL, they’ll be plenty “rested.” I hope that means they play every game.

the name, however, leaves a bit to be desired. not quite “fausto carmona”. then again, i guess that was too good to be true…

[9] free baseball will expire in a half-inning. 3-run bomb for the phils in the 10th…

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