There has been a sense of selfishness around the Yankees for quite some, and it’s not just Jorge Posada’s frustration about his .165 average and the fact that manager Joe Girardi dropped him to ninth in the lineup last night.
The bottom line is that the Yankees are nothing special right now and haven’t been for quite some time. These Yankees need to get it in gear in so many ways, not just because Posada has had a problem with being “disrespected.” And not just because he removed himself from the lineup an hour before the 6-0 loss to the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, saying he “couldn’t play” and needed time to “clear my head.”
For too long the Yankees have been a privileged team. After the humiliating loss to the Royals on Thursday, I wrote that Yankees pride had left the building, along with Mystique and Aura. The Yankees lost their season-high fourth straight last night with their ace CC Sabathia on the mound.
Girardi, general manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees have not made it all that easy for the prideful Posada either. It has been an ugly situation for quite some time.
From the first pitch from Josh Beckett last night that knocked back Derek Jeter, the Red Sox wanted to take control of the Yankees and they did.
It’s interesting to note that Boston’s aging, declining catcher Jason Varitek (.164) was in the lineup and batting ninth. He singled in a run in the seventh and walked in the fifth when the Red Sox put up their first two runs on Jacoby Ellsbury’s double.
The Yankees need to find a way to get on the team page. Perhaps they need to do what they did in 2005, when they brought up Robinson Cano. They can bring up Jesus Montero. Perhaps that day is coming because of the way it went down with Posada last night.
Hitters are trying to do too much across the board, and once again the Yankees were dreadful with runners in scoring position (0-for-10). No one was worse than Mark Teixeira, who struck out his first two times up with runners in scoring position. Alex Rodriguez was missing in action as well.
“We’re in a rut,” said Teixeira, who broke an 0-for-30 streak against the Red Sox with a meaningless single in his final at-bat. “When you slump as a team, you are going to lose games.”
This is not a temporary slump. Consider the Yankees were 29-30 from Aug. 1 to the end of the regular season last season and you begin to understand that these 2011 Yankees, with a home-heavy schedule so far, are in trouble.
They have looked old, sloppy and even disinterested. And last night it really got ugly.
The Mets have gotten all the heat in this town, and deservedly so, but the Yankees are underwhelming and have shown no signs of breaking out. They are 16th in the majors in batting average with a .250 mark, and they are 12th overall in pitching with a 3.78 ERA.
They are middle of the pack millionaires in so many ways.
For too long, Girardi has used the excuse that it is too early to be overly concerned with the Yankees’ poor play. They have played like a group of individuals, concerned about their own personal performance more so than the big picture of really understanding how to play to win. They have been a ragged team for quite some time.
They haven’t done the little things right. Posada mentioned that his back stiffened up before the game, but this was really all about his head. Same goes for the team. They need to clear their heads as a team. Now the Yankees get to face Jon Lester and David Price the next two nights.
Posada said in spring training that if he felt he still could play and the Yankees didn’t want him back for 2012, he would look elsewhere if the situation were right. Clearly, the situation is not right for the Yankees and Posada at this moment.
The Yankees are in crisis, one through nine.