Just two weeks ago I wrote about how the Yankees and the Mets had almost mirror records since the May subway series. After the Mets took two out of three at Shea, they went into the tank, going 8-13. Meanwhile, the Yankees turned around their season with a 14-8 record, including that astounding nine-game winning streak.Then, the subway series in the Bronx. Yanks take two out of three. And both do a 180.
The Mets have gone 6-3 against a tough stretch of opponents. The Yankees, on the other hand, have gone 1-7 and lost three consecutive series, including four straight losses against the woeful Giants and Orioles. And once again, there are calls for Joe Torre's head.
What would I do to fix this, were I advising George Steinbrenner? (Jennifer -- call me.)
I would humbly present Big Stein with this simple five-point plan.
1. Fire Brian Cashman and Joe Torre.
I have made the case against Torre before, so I won't belabor the point. In a nutshell, I think he is a very nice man but not a good manager. A decent manager could win with the talent we had 10 or even five years ago, but not now. Even worse, he's lost this team. Probably lost it a few seasons ago, actually. So you know I'd want Torre gone. But why go after Cash, man? I don't have anything against Ca$hMoney, but I think he and Torre have to go down together. At the end of last season, it could have been just Torre walking the plank, but Cashman did the old Backdraft "You go... we go" manuever. Sorry, Brian -- that didn't work out so well in the movie either. Who replaces them? Well, George, I know your super-duper secret plan is to let Don Mattingly be the manager some day, so you don't want to hire somebody like Joe Girardi who would get in Donnie Baseball's way. On the other hand, you don't want to give Mattingly the job now -- you don't want him inheriting someone else's mess, and also because he's essentially going to be the same low-key, hands-off manager Torre was, and you need to shake things up. So go ahead and give the job to Larry Bowa. If he can't turn the team around, fire his ass. If he gets the team back to the post-season, say nice job -- and then fire him anyway. Hell, you did it to Buck Showalter, and people actually liked Showalter. Either way, Donnie is the manager next year. As for your new GM, well, I do happen to have my resume right here... 
2. Dump the dead weight. Did you know Chris Basak is on the 25-man roster? Apparently Torre didn't, either, because he was called up on June 5 and has been in just three games since then -- twice as a defensive replacement in blowouts, and once as a pinch-hitter (for Mike Mussina in San Francisco). Three weeks on the roster, three games, one plate appearance. Who does Joe think this kid is, Moonlight Graham? Put the poor guy on a bus back to Scranton. Next, put Johnny Damon on the D.L. -- he's been hitting .222 (.629 OPS) this month, and that doesn't include his 0-for-4 tonight. He can't play the outfield anymore. What's the point of having him taking up a spot on the roster? Let him get healthy and let Kevin Thompson play some outfield. 3. Find a legitimate first baseman. What kind of a world do we live in where Miguel Cairo is the starting first baseman for the New York Yankees? With Basak in the minors, Cairo goes back to being the utility infielder/team mascot and we get a real first baseman to take Basak's spot on the roster. It doesn't have to be Mark Teixeira or Paul Konerko. If the asking price for those guys is too high, grab whoever's cheap -- Shea Hillenbrand or Ty Wigginton or Dmitri Young or (my personal choice) Scott Hatteberg -- and if worse comes to worst, just call up Shelley Duncan (hitting .302/.388/.585 in Scranton, and how can you not love a guy named Shelley Duncan?) and let him duke it out with Andy Phillips.
4. Reinforce for the bullpen. With Damon on the D.L., call up RP Chris Britton. He has been great in Triple-A (2.25 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 11 BB, 42 K in 36.0 IP) and wasn't bad for the Orioles last year (3.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 17 BB, 41 K in 53.2 IP). Why has this guy been in Triple-A for three months while the Yankees' bullpen has been exploding? Next, tell Bowa to find out if Ron Villone has anything left -- and if not, cut him. Villone has given up 7 ER, 13 H and 5 BB in 12.0 IP this year, but he's appeared in just 10 games since they called him up from the minors on May 15. He had a two-week stretch in mid-June where Joe didn't use him at all. Well, either get him on track or release him. If we can't trade for a mediocre left-handed veteran on a bad team (Jamie Walker or Ron Mahay or Steve Kline), call up Sean Henn. Why the hell not.
5. Fire John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. This won't help the Yankees, but it would do so much for the Yankee fans. It's the best way to apologize for the first three months of the season.
1 comment:
...especially steps 3 and 4.
Finding a better first baseman should be a top priority, as this should be relatively easy. Look at how the A's snatched up Jack Cust (not that he plays first well or at all). Guys like Cust and Wily Mo Pena are examples of players that can be had for cheap, yet could put up big numbers if given the chance to play every day. The Yanks should look around Triple-A and see who might be available.
The pen is a tougher issue. There's no quick fix here, that I can see. A lot of guys have some value, but are not living up to expectations. Farnsworth was a mistake, and the Yanks may have to eat a big chunk of his salary. Rivera is still a very viable closer, but is not getting a lot of save chances. Other relievers, like Bruney and Proctor have some value, but have underperfomed a bit. A dominant setup man is needed, which could help the middle relievers fall into their roles a bit more.
Good setup men are not easy to come by. With the Yanks limitless payroll, they should target established future closers this offseason, such as Scot Shields or Rafael Betancourt.
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