Trouble In Paradise...Or, In The Bronx

The New York Yankees, who at one time led the American League Eastern Division by a seemingly insurmountable 10 games, have seen their lead shrink to just 3 games.

This drastic turnaround appears to have happened in about 3 weeks.The Yankees have overachieved all season, and maybe have made it look too easy. They still lead the American League in home runs - the Yanks are closing in on 200 and no other team has 180.

The team has survived injuries to Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain and un-retiring Andy Pettitte for very long periods of time, and still have managed to outlast the opposition so far.

There are some things that have surfaced and concern me however:

CC Sabathia is about to return from a second trip to the disabled list and if he is not right, any World Series hopes for this year vanish with him. RHP Ivan Nova has been complaining of shoulder pain at press time and he may replace CC on the disabled list. One mainstay of the Bombers' success so far has been the overacchievement of the pitching. The starting and relief pitching has been outstanding until recently. It seems to me that the staff is tired, some because they are overachieving and some because of over managing by Joe Girardi. The bull pen a huge advantage even without Mariano is showing wear and tear and Joe has to calm down. It seems that in the last three weeks, four or five guys from the pen pitch in every game.

Offensively the Yankees are built for power and so far no one does it better as far as hitting home runs. Common concern has been expressed that in close pennant race or post season games, good pitching tends to beat good hitting. Time will tell if that holds up this time.

It seems that while the Yankees are waiting around to see the home runs fly that the team seems lethargic and almost unprepared at the beginning of games. From a strategic standpoint given the make up of the club, there is not much a manager could do with spots 1-6 in the lineup that would make a discernible difference.

Where there is room for improvement is with the 7-8-9 of the lineup. Girardi is WAY too eager to sit back and look for the long ball here and to me this is the only part of his team that he can manipulate by stealing, bunting, moving the runners etc.

The Yankees have become stagnant and Girardi has to get more aggressive. Some might say it is ludicrous to criticize a first place manager but it is clear to me that a great season could fade away very quickly. Joe if you need anything else, just write!