JOE Girardi prefers to reveal as little as possible about the Yankees, and you could understand that philosophy these days.
What can he say about his $200 million roster? We can’t pitch very well, but for the really bad news we can’t hit much either. And for the second straight year the Yanks are Team Pavano when it comes to health. The fall guys for that last year were first overmatched strength coach Marty Miller and then, ultimately, Joe Torre.
Girardi was sold as part Jack LaLanne and part Bill Gates. For now, however, his most obvious trait is an absurdly secretive nature that would make Dick Cheney jealous. He is a hoodie away from being Bill Belichick, well, minus any success as a leader.
Girardi demanded his team arrive to spring in shape and then put it through a rigorous camp. What we are learning, though, is that the freak of a long season and the creak of old age are getting his roster, too. For at least the next two weeks, he will be without Alex Rodriguez (quad) and Jorge Posada (shoulder), arguably the majors’ best-hitting third baseman and catcher.
That further diminishes an underachieving lineup. Last night the Yanks put the first three men on against the struggling Jeremy Bonderman, scored twice and then never even got another runner to second. The Tigers won 6-2. The Yanks (14-15) fell under .500. And it is clear they are at a vulnerable place. Their rotation, offense and health are all not good right now.
At times like this over the past 12 years, the Yanks could expect Torre to defuse tension and project that over the long season all would be well. His team was injured and his offense horrid early last year, but the Yanks got to the playoffs again.
Can Girardi do the same piloting? Maybe. He’s a tireless worker. But Girardi does not extinguish anxiety naturally, and he is tending to create issues where they need not be. For example, he said before last night’s game that Phil Hughes was in the rotation “for now” and that there was no health issue. Then midway through the game the Yanks announced Hughes was on the disabled list with an oblique strain. That must be the definition of “say it ain’t so, Joe.” To be oblique is to not be straight forward. So this was an apt injury, a strain of the truth. Misdirection for misdirection sake – no advantages gained, goodwill lost.
Hughes (0-4, 9.00 ERA and mentally lost) needed a break anyway to regain his command and confidence. There were many reasons GM Brian Cashman did not deal Hughes for Johan Santana. One was because of his promise at 21 compared with the heavy workload Santana already has endured. But if you are counting, Hughes is now on the DL a second time in two years, more at age 21 than Santana has been his whole career.
Ian Kennedy (0-2, 8.53) starts Tonight, and if his results don’t improve he will soon join Hughes off the roster. Girardi and Cashman staked much of this season on the young starters; Cashman’s tenure might even be riding with them.
Nevertheless, they also envisioned the offense providing cover. That has not occurred. The Yanks were not designed to have Melky Cabrera as their most consistent performer. They have spent a season with no one really hot, and plenty of high-paid merchandise cold.
Andy Pettitte had middle-inning, long-ball trouble for a second straight start and the Yanks had no counterpunch. Bonderman threw 26 pitches in the first yet lasted two outs into the eighth. The Yanks’ two long-held staples – patience and power – are absent. Bonderman had walked 21 compared with 17 strikeouts, but the Yanks managed just two walks. Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco homered in the sixth and eighth innings, which is not only as many as his Yankees counterpart, Robinson Cano, has all year, but as many as the Yanks have in the past five games.
Without A-Rod and Posada – the Yanks’ two best righty power bats – it will become even more difficult to awaken this dozy lineup.
For the Yanks there just is not much positive to talk about. In case Girardi doesn’t know, that is bad.