in MLB Articles

Yankees have been knocked silly

The New York Yankees are off to their worst start in ten years. The last time they were six games under .500, it was 1995 and they hadn’t won a title since Carter was President. "We’re just not playing good. There’s really nothing else you can say," says Yankee leader Derek Jeter.

Even with a revamped lineup and a weak opponent, New York still managed to get beat 11-8 on Wednesday night by the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The D-Rays are now only one game back of New York in the battle for the AL East’s worst team.

So what has gone wrong? Well, New York was counting heavily on their free agent pitching signings to help them overtake Boston. Forget about Boston; this team has to pass the Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers of the world first. With Kevin Brown showing his age, Jaret Wright already injured as usual and Randy Johnson looking mortal; the Yankees will be hard pressed to rebound and be the perennial 97-to-107 win team everyone expects them to be.

As mad as George Steinbrenner is right now, you have to figure that Joe Torre’s managerial job is safe for the rest of the season. Big George has done some crazy things in his time, but to blame Torre would be wrong. If anyone is to blame, it could be GM Brian Cashman. With virtually all the money he’d ever need to spend on payroll, he’s the one who has chosen the current crop of players. Look for Cashman to be canned by the all-star break if New York is still under .500 by then.