The Yankees have real problems. Perhaps unsolvable ones. Maybe ones that will take them under .500 for the first time in more than two decades and keep them out of the postseason for a second straight year.
But in case you haven’t noticed, that is pretty much the sport this year. There are a few exceptional teams — particularly in the Bay Area — and then most every other club is doing a cha-cha .500.
It feels like the Yankees might be in NCAA Tournament mode for a while: Can they survive and advance until something better comes along? Until, say, CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda get back into the rotation? Or until someone can come up from the minors to provide a jolt?
Hey, we didn’t see Chase Whitley coming to help, so maybe second baseman Rob Refsnyder (hitting .342 at Double-A) or Pete O’Brien (21 homers in 59 games between Single- and Double-A) or multi-positional Jose Pirela (.330 at Triple-A) could help jumpstart the sleepy offense.
Or perhaps until a trade can be made: Just a year ago, for example, the Yankees were pretty much on life support when Alfonso Soriano was obtained and helped revive a terrible lineup.
But the best ally the Yankees might have right now is that they play in the AL East. Yep, the Blue Jays began Monday 12 games over .500 and with a 5 1/2 -game first-place lead (six on the third-place Yankees). Maybe after two decades out of the playoffs this is Toronto’s year. However, it sure is hard to find executives/scouts in the game who believe strongly in the Blue Jays.
And it is possible a very important part of the previous paragraph scooted by you with little to no attention – the part where they are described as the third-place Yankees. That means there have been two teams worse than the Yanks this year. The two teams generally expected to be atop this division — Boston and Tampa Bay. The Rays, in fact, have the majors’ worst record. The Red Sox were one half-game better than the Mets.
The Yankees, meanwhile, ended the weekend as MLB’s only .500 team (31-31). But there were 13 teams in all within three games of .500. You can look at that middle class in a variety of ways, but I do think some judgment has to be based on surroundings; in the Yankees’ case, the rest of the AL East. So here is just some stuff you should know about the rest of the division:
Blue Jays: They lead the majors in homers and are second in runs, and when they play at home their offense is particularly fierce – though the Jays were shut out in consecutive games to end the weekend against the Cardinals. If Mark Buehrle is going to pitch all year like a Cy Young front-runner and Melky Cabrera and Juan Francisco are going to keep providing high-end complements to Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, then Toronto just might pull this off.
But the rotation is supermodel thin. Buehrle and R.A. Dickey are old, J.A. Happ and Brandon Morrow injury-prone and Drew Hutchison and Marcus Stroman have no full-season major league history. It feels as if GM Alex Anthopoulos is going to have to come up with a supporting arm for the rotation.
Orioles: No team’s starters have thrown fewer innings than Baltimore’s. The hope that Johan Santana and a six-man rotation might help collapsed with Santana (he tore his Achilles). Can well-regarded prospect Kevin Gausman be a rotation savior? Can Chris Tillman recapture last year’s form? Can Ubaldo Jimenez succeed in the AL East?
And beyond his knee and his bat, Manny Machado now has the sport wondering about his head after his bad behavior – culminating with flinging his bat – over the weekend against Oakland.
Red Sox:Â The wrecking-ball offense that spurred a championship last year has vanished. The outfield, in particular, has been a sore spot, as rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. has not risen, Grady Sizemore has failed to come back in full and Jonny Gomes, Daniel Nava and Shane Victorino collectively have failed to provide the impact of 2013. The outfield ranks last or next to last in the majors in average, slugging, OPS and homers.
The Red Sox have a strong farm system. Thus, they might have ways to address the shortcomings with the outfield and the fall of Clay Buchholz — whether it is through promotions or trades. But the Sox’s roller-coaster nature has been in full view, as they just completed a 22-game stretch in which they lost 10 straight, won seven in a row, then lost five consecutively.
Rays: Their resourcefulness over the years and ability to be David to a division of Goliaths is the main reason they still are given a chance of recovering. But this has pretty much been a disaster. Tampa Bay is last in runs with – among other things – Evan Longoria having by far his worst season. Grant Balfour has been so bad that manager Joe Maddon announced Monday that the Rays are going to closer by committee.
The Rays always had been able – in times of crisis – to count on their rotation. But it has been injured and too ineffective. Let’s put it this way: Tampa Bay looks much closer to opening the David Price market than getting into the race.