Honestly, i think the weekend as a whole was a net positive. The three game lead allows them a little bit of a cushion for the Mitre era, and as long as they just weather the storm and don't do anything stupid (If we are going to trade for a starter, it needs to be a high level guy. Its pointless to trade for a middling number five when you already have Mitre, Gaudin, Moseley and Park on the roster) I think we're in good shape.

Had they lost today, though, I think there'd be some trouble.

Cashman says 4-5 weeks for Andy's return.

Meat Tray to be given the task of filling in for him ...

[2] Someone on RAB said that the next two starts for that spot are KC and Cleveland. If the other starters pull their weight, we might be able to muddle through.

I'm not happy about Andy and the BP certainly sucks, but it's really up to ARod, Jeter, Teix and the rest of our bats to carry us over the next 4-5 weeks.

Welp, Andy should be ready and rested for the post season, should the Yanks make it. In the meantime, bet your ass that Cashman will make a move.

We had to figure that someone would miss at least a few starts with injury this year. If Andy ismthe only starter who's hurt this year, it will be a success. They can weather this setback, but it might put more pressure on Hughes' innings limit. Will they skip him given the chance, or is he fixed in the rotation until Andy gets back?

I agree with Mattpat (1), there is no reason to trade for drek hen they have a roster full of such fodder. Who knows, maybe someone from MiL will get a shot and not stink it up.

[5] I don't want him to make "a move." If he can make a good move, great. Don't just get us another Chad Gaudin. We have four of them already, use one of them.

I also agree with William from the game thread: great move by Girardi to go with one of his better relievers to get out of the tight a spot in the third.

5) that makes sense, Alex, but my gut tells me that he won't deal for a spare arm from a position of weakness.

4) i don't think anyone needs to carry anyone elae just yet. Again, with one of the best rotations in the league, they can weather the storm for a few weeks. That being said, I think that if anything, the Cashman will surprise us and pick up a bat.

[8] Hopefully a better bat than Wes Helms

9) yeah, I saw that rumor. Grim, very grim.

I'll go out on a limb and predict that they get Dunnqnd atbnot too high a price in prospects.

Well, who are the A-level arms available? Oswalt just went down with an ankle injury. The Stros must be just kicking themselves for not selling high.

As for weathering, look at what the Red Sox have done. Admittedly they're 6 games behind, but they've had a storm of injuries over a long period. Missing a few Pettitte starts won't kill us.

[10] Hysterical! You're going to have to get that looked at, mp.

12) grrr...

Still, I'm telling ya', they get Dunn at a reasonable cost in terms of prospects.

[11] That's sort of my point. If you can't find a quality arm, don't just get an arm for the hell of it.

[8] A lot depends on AJ. With Mitre instead of Andy and AJ's 4.5+ ERA, our rotation is not that great, and doesn't stand up to TB or Boston (with Beckett back).

The pitching has carried this team thus far. I believe it's time for the O to step up and carry us until Andy is back.

Boston will get a whole lot better in 2-3 weeks when many of their injured are back. I'm not freakin' out, just saying it's time for ARod and Teix to get dangerous again.

[10] Dude........... SPELLCHECK!

Rumor is the Yanks are looking at Ted Liily (again).

15) spellcheck is the problem! This damn touchpad makes all sorts of crazy changes, and at other times leaves unchanged the very odd things that my none too nimble fingers type.

Anyway, it adds to the fun, no?

As for the rotation, of course if you take out one of the better starters and replace him with a sixth or seventh starter, the rotation will not be as good. At the same time, one could argue that both AJ and Javy have been better than number five starters, as have, of course, CC, Andy and Hughes. So, for the next few weeks the team will have what most teams have, a crummy pitcher in the rotation...that is, more or less a number five starter. It will sting for a few starts, but i don't see this as a serious threat...yet.
.

[16] I kind of like that, actually.

16) Rumor is the Yanks are looking at TedLiily

That was in honor of me, I take it. I'm touched.

; )

Clearly the Yanks need to go out and kick the tires on Sir Sidney "Snack" Ponson. Although he's Vanderslooted his opportunities a few times, I think he's ready to lead this staff.

20) don't do that to Mattpat!

[19] actually I'd love to get Ted Lilly back

And, maybe they can try out one of the kids -- Ivan Nova or Zach McAllister. On the other hand, the K-Man is still in AAA...

BTW, if it's only a few starts, maybe Dustin Moesley or Mitre could start in the 5th hole.

I'd be thrilled with Ted Lilly honestly.

sucks to lose Andy for a few weeks, but you never know this could end up being a blessing in disguise. It might not be the worst thing in the world to give the left arm a little bit of a breather before the final push. Like was said earlier, we've already gotten so much more out of Andy this year than anyone could've expected...time for some other guys to step their game up for the next month or so. Looking at you AJ...

[21] Its about that time again, isn't it? Every two years?

[23] That's what I think is the smart move. And, that's what I think is going to happen, too. Or Gaudin.

Unless...

You don't think...

ROGER CLEMENS???

Ummm ...;. Ted Lilly's fastball has lost 2-3 mph since last year ... he's dealing 86-88 now .... we don't need that

27) I always liked Lilly. You look at his numbers this year: ERA is pretty good, WHIP is very good. But his stuff is worse and some of his peripherals look worse. I'm not sure he would be worth it assuming the Yankees would overpay for him. Then again, is he better than Lucky or Gaudin?

Anyway, i'll stick with my prediction that Cashman does not deal for a pitcher, but rather picks up a bat.

Anyway, i’ll stick with my prediction that Cashman does not deal for a pitcher, but rather picks up a bat.

===============

Or he could kill two birds with one stone and acquire Micah Owings :-)

[5] My ass might be precious to me (and hopefully my wife), but who else would want to wager for it?

The cliche' is true, it's a long season and all teams have injuries, ups and downs. The Yankees have the best record in baseball, and are on pace to win 103 games with room for improvement, especially on offense. Tex is heating up, Arod will have to hit more for average than the fences due to his hip limitations, and i still believe Jeter will figure it out (and is probably slightly nicked right now) and hit .300+ this year. Po will hit in the clutch and Granderson should get better. Cano, Swish (who doesn't love him!), and Gardner have to maintain. Gardner has been a very pleasant surprise, and if he could run the bases commensurate with his speed would be all world.

I appreciate the fervor of many here, but the doom and gloom has to stop. It is a game, played by men and even with the best of effort, and smartest of moves, the other team sometimes wins. The best fail, and can even fail to make the post season. This team has too many resources and a legacy to honor not to make the best moves available by informed baseball minds who have to deal with real PEOPLE. It's easy to manage with nothing to lose on a blog.

Not for blind optimism, but I think AJ will step up after the weekend embarrassment, and CC, Phughes, and Javy will carry the load. The fifth stater should be cobbled from what we got, and should be able to go .500 with the offense heating up.

IMHO, the Yankees need some length on the bench with someone who can pinch hit with authority, and a solid mid-inning reliever to replace...take your pick.

[15] How do you spell check on WordPress? I have not yet figured that out.

The Yankees could probably use a reliever, a bat and now a starter, which is kind of incredible for a team with the best record in baseball. Cashman did not do a great job adding depth in the off season, so now is his time to make ammends. Considering that the Yankees have tolerated a poor 5th starter more often than not, I also think the main focus will be on a bat.

[30] Everyone is free to have their own perspective, but one man's "doom and gloom" is another's recognition of potential problems with the team. It's great to be optimistic, but that shouldn't preclude an honest assessment of the team. Optimism, pessism and everything in between are legitimate perspectives when they are well informed. I don't think any of them "has to stop".

[31] I think you're being a little hard on Cashman for not providing depth. Yes, on the offensive side this is a thin team, and the players who were supposed to provide depth (like Winn) were predictably awful. But the staff is relatively deep: they have five legitimate starters and they have both Gaudin and Mitre in addition to whatever they can scare up in AAA. As much as I complain about the latter, it is better than in past years when the team seemingly HAD to pick up waiver cast-offs to fill rotation spots. Indeed, the Yankees were deep enough (or so they thought) to shift Joba back to the pen.

As for the BP: again, there is some depth here. It would have been tough to predict that Joba would become highly unreliable AND Robertson to regress so much AND Aceves to get hurt AND Marte to be so ineffective and get hurt AND Melancon to be so poor AND Albaladejo to perform badly (in addition to Park's injury---Park, who was added for depth!). I would argue that the fact the Yankees only need one BP arm given all this is a testament to how much pitching depth they have.

My beef would be for the organization's unwillingness to cut bait, release Park, and give Albie (at least) another crack.

AND Albaladejo to perform badly

Uhhh, he has???

Given what I've read about how he's completely revamped his style of pitching and the success he's having in AAA, I'd much rather the Yankees gave Alby another chance before burning prospects bringing in another "seasoned" reliever ...

[33] I meant that he performed badly at the ML level this year (in very limited duty). He's tearing up AAA, which is why I wrote:

My beef would be for the organization’s unwillingness to cut bait, release Park, and give Albie (at least) another crack.

[34] Actually, I am an idiot---I glanced at his numbers on Baseball-Prospectus and assumed the last line was for 2010. Yet of course he has not appeared in the bigs this year, all the while tearing up MiL.

In any case, my point still stands:

1) The team was prepared with bullpen depth (including guys like Albie stashed in AAA), but

2) The organization could be criticized for not trying to exploit the arms they have at AAA.

[32] Well someone managed to fix a leaky BP down in the Gulf of Mexico; maybe the Yanks should talk to that guy...

Meanwhile, what has happened to Melancon? He got a shot this year and was pretty bad (in four innings). Worse, he has been pretty bad in AAA this year.

[36] Is he left handed?

[38] All I know is he had the right idea...

[35]
I was just tweakin' at the ide-ah he'd done anything at the ML level this year ... just bein' a "pedantic prick", ya know?

=)

[35] The organization could be criticized for not trying to exploit the arms they have at AAA.

I'm having a little bit of a hard time with the idea of stumping for AAA endorsements with the tagline, "Drill, baby, drill". That's just not something you want to get into your minor league pitchers' heads...

[40] Jinx...

[40] Ha-ha.

I appreciate the reference...but you weren't being pedantic at all, at least not in my book. I made a big gaff and you caught it. It seems like that sort of night for me.

[43] Ah yes, but that's why I was being ironic!!!

Well, only in the Sheryl Crow kinda way ...

And for the record, what I said was just a joke, I've never considered your contributions to BB in any way pedantic, you always bring a thoughtful, well-considered opinion and are willing to actually have a "discussion" with others who bring the same level of consideration ... a rare quality on these here intertubes ...

[44] Awww...

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY OPINION IS THOUGHTFUL AND WELL CONSIDERED!!!!!!!!!!!!
.
.
.
.
.
.

And I can spell.

[31] Thoughtful discussion and recognition of potential problems with the team is one thing, but statements like; "This team is shameful", 'This game marks the turning point of the season demise", "Girardi is a idiot", etc. are not thoughtful statements, nor a recognition of potenital problems. They are deflating utterances that have zero value and if they were not made constantly would actually be amusing in a pathetic kind of way.

You are free to have your own perspective, and you don't have to stop, but I am free to respond or stop wasting my time on this blog.