Really, the straw that broke the camel's back with me was when they dumped Tino Martinez to bring in Jason Giambi. They just kicked to the curb a popular and strong contributer to their championships to the next flavor of the month(admittedly Giambi was coming off a stellar season). As for the Red Sox, they're just Yankees lite right now, so I don't have any love for them either. And no, the Yankees don't have the best player at every position, but they do have the best players overall.

I dunno know... my beloved Redskins would be the same way if football got rid of the salary cap, so I certainly can't really claim any moral high ground in this argument. I just have an acceptance that other people are plenty free to resent the Redskins(though they aren't nearly good enough to garner that resentment yet).

I think it all comes down to the fact that people want to see the team with the most resources fail. It's only human.

A-Rod has always been known as Mr. April or Mr. May. I'd rather my superstar get the job done down the stretch. A-Rod could hit 80 dingers and 200 RBI's, but it will all mean nothing if he bats .100 in the playoffs. Superstars get the title of superstar by being clutch. A-Rod hasn't proven a thing.

It should also be noted that while A-Rod had a productive series against the Sox this weekend, he was the final out of the game in two of the 1 run losses.

Well, it was a tough series this past weekend. Losing three in a row was a harsh blow and it was pretty disappointing. Now we wait a few days and do the whole thing over this upcoming weekend in the Bronx. If anything, we learned that the bullpen cannot be used so much because they will have nothing left for the playoffs. We need better, longer, quality starts from our starters and our bullpen needs some major rest.

I am not at all disappointed with how Alex Rodriguez did or did not perform throughout the series. All of his detractors will be sharp to note that he was the penultimate out in game one and the last out in game three but they will not note that if it wasn't for him in game one of the series, they probably would have lost by five runs since he practically did everything. He has carried that team, with that horrendous pitching, throughout the first month of the season and still people cry and wine and say that "oh he was the last out," "he hasn't proven a thing." He has proven a whole lot.

Does everyone forget that "Mr. Clutch," Derek Jeter, got out in all three games, in the ninth inning when they needed to win the game--striking out in two of them? Does everyone forget that if Mariano Rivera did his job in the first game like he should have, then they wouldn't have needed runs in the ninth? Get off Rodriguez for just one second, quit denying that he is the best player in baseball and just wait for him to prove you wrong.

FKA, you took the bait.

I understand that A-Rod is doing something special right now. I also agree that he's got an enormous amount of talent. The thing is, no one (who doesn't love him already) will change their tune until he proves himself in October (or September if it's a tight race). He's got a history of strong starts and weak finishes. A-Rod has to prove he can get the job done. $25 million a year requires that.

The funny thing is, most Yankee fans and Yankee haters will agree on this.

I agree that he has to prove himself in October, that is how you are remembered as one of the best Yankees of all-time, performing in the playoffs. But when we are talking about what he did and didn't do this past weekend, I feel like his critics are picking at everything negavtive he does in order to make themselves feel better.

I have a ton of faith in him. Every single post-season I root for him to please do well, so that everyone can shut up. Problem is, he doesn't. He did well in the post-season in his first season as a Yankee. He was a part of that Yankee team that took a 3-0 lead on Boston before they--and more specifically, Yankee-killer David Ortiz--roared back to win four in a row. He was a part of that game three in Boston where the Yankees won like 21-6 or something and he was performing then. Ever since then though he has done nothing in the playoffs. I feel that he is different player this year and the playoffs will also be different. I just hope I am not wrong.

Today was a fine example of how the starting pitching is killing us. It's not like the Yankees aren're swinging the bats, or the defense is horrible, or the line-up needs to be changed. The simple fact is that we need good, quality starts from our starters. With Wang coming back tomorrow, the expectations will be great.

FKA, what's up with the Yankees? They've been sucking mighty hard lately. If it weren't for the Royals, they'd have the worst record in the AL.

Yes, yes I know. It truly is a bad start to the season. There are multiple problems including the fact that the pitching is so poor, they can't seem to get a decent start from anybody. Pettite had a lead today and gave it right back, they put Rivera in the 9th just to get some work and he gave up some more runs to boost his ERA to over 12. It truly is sad. The captain said not to worry too much because the season is young, but they need to right this ship soon. I have faith and believe that they will pull this out. There is no way they will be in last place when the season ends.

Thanks for mentioning that we are only better than the Royals (record-wise) ya jerk.

What a sad start. To be averaging the most runs per game in baseball and to also have the most bullpen appearances in the league is not too good. The starters also can't get deep into a game thus causing the bullpen to overwork and tire. This is not good for the long run. I just hope they can correct this with series against Texas and Seattle coming up.

I shudder when I think of how much worse the Yankees would be if Alex Rodriguez didn't carry them for most of April.

Why are the Yankees doomed with such bad luck? Phil Hughes goes out there and might have had a no-hitter if he didn't get injured. Now there are four starting pitchers on the DL and Hughes won't be out for a week or two. Try 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury. This really stinks.

Well after some costly bad luck the Yankees got two quality starts from Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina today to sweep the Rangers and achieved a three-game winning streak. Rivera also saved both games and now has three saves. It was good to see some good pitching and to notice that they didn't have to bat so well to win. Granted, Texas is not a good team by any means, but now the Yankees can use this sweep to start turning things around.

Well, things do look like they are getting better. With a great start from Wang yesterday, the Yankees' pitching might be coming around. It would have been rewarding if Wang could have achieved a perfect game, but what was more important is the fact that he went deep into the game and pitched great.

With the Orioles collapsing as expected and the Nats possibly being the worst team in the history of baseball, I'm just about ready to head off into the blissful world of baseball oblivion.

quote:

Originally posted by MajorNougat:
With the Orioles collapsing as expected

Come on, MN, don't give up on your team so soon. The Yankees were in last place at the beginning of last week and now they are in second place. Anything can happen.

I know many of you cringed, were disgusted and maybe destroyed some property when you heard but...Roger Clemens is now a Yankee, again. He might not be back until Memorial Day but he will be a great addition to the rotation. Once everyone starts pitching well (some already are) and our big pitchers get healthy, we might be able to rival some of the better starting rotations in baseball, i.e. Boston's.

When all is said and done, Wang-Mussina-Clemens-Pettite-Hughes doesn't look that bad at all.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Come on, MN, don't give up on your team so soon. The Yankees were in last place at the beginning of last week and now they are in second place. Anything can happen.

That's not saying much, since Boston is the only team in the AL East having anything resembling a good season.

The Cubs are actually playing halfway decent now. Things are pretty backwards when Milwaukee and Chicago are atop the Central.

quote:

Originally posted by less_success:
The Cubs are actually playing halfway decent now. Things are pretty backwards when Milwaukee and Chicago are atop the Central.

Yeah, the NL Central is almost flipped from last year. The Brewers are having a great season though.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
That's not saying much, since Boston is the only team in the AL East having anything resembling a good season.

It's saying much when the Yankees had lost 8 of 9 games at the end of April to go on to win 5 of their next 6 games. Granted, those wins were against Texas and Seattle but some of the losses were against Tampa also.

They close a 4-game series with Seattle tonight before they play two more series against Texas and Seattle again. The true test comes next week when they play big series' against Chicago, the Mets, Boston, Los Angeles and Toronto to close out the month.

OK, FKA. I think we can all agree that the Yankees aren't any good this year, right?