The Yankees final game in Kansas City before they head off to Boston, showed just how different this team is at the start of this year compared to the 2007 Bombers.  Well ok, so Andy Pettitte is still back to being the stopper again, but it goes much deeper than that.

Pettitte who shut down the American League in the 2nd half of 2007 to win 15 games overall, still could've won much more.  In fact had Pettitte had this type of run support and bullpen help early last season he could've easily gotten himself around 21-22 wins.

Pettitte and his efficient outing of 6/2/3 innings of one run ball were aided by a couple of guys who weren't in the mix this early last season.  Melky Cabrera the Yankees now starting Centerfielder batting in the two hole for the injured Derek Jeter, went 2-5 with a solo HR, two RBI and a run scored, raising his average to .320 on the season.  Remember folks, Melky was being used as the 4th outfielder at this time last year and got off to a slow start, not this time around. 

Morgan Ensberg also had his best game as a Yankee, filling in for Mr. .056, going 2-4 with a run scored.  Jose Molina was also 2-4, brilliantly continuing his play for Posada.  Additionally chipping in for the Yanks were two guys who were hot last April and are hopefully breaking out of it just in time for Boston in A-Rod who hit his 520th career HR while passing Mickey Mantle on the RBI list and tying Bobby Murcer on the Yankees HR list and Jorge Posada who went 2-4 with a HR as well.

Finally the Yankees got some Mo-Jo out of their bullpen to pick up Pettitte and keep the lead.  Joba Chamerlain was just dominant, there's just no other way around it, as he worked 1/1/3 fanning two on 98 MPH fastballs.  And of course Mariano Rivera was as sharp as ever in his one inning of work, sending the Yankees off to Boston with a 5-5 record.  

Apparently that brand new HD scoreboard in Kansas City didn't come with a quality drainage system, though the Yankees bats seemed to go right down it on Wednesday night.  If we're going to have a Northeast team that can't hit in the cold weather, be it April or October, perhaps they may want to add a retractable roof on the new digs across the street.

Honestly though in all fairness, this was a game that only "Mr. Slip 'n Slide" former catcher Rick Dempsey could love.  No there weren't any "Lake Erie Midges" out there this time, though there may have been termites.

While I understand it is early and some guys are hitting .700, I still can't understand how Jason Giambi is batting .056, Robinson Cano .194 and Johnny Damon .212.  And before everyone jumps on me about there being no such thing as "clutch hitting," there is such a thing as timely hitting and this group leaves a lot of people on base, 14 to be exact, scoring no runs against the Kansas City Royals! 

Way to go Brian Cashman!  A-Rod's not going to duplicate last year's totals, nor is Posada who is a year older.  And then you are naieve enough to think that Jason Giambi is going to play first and be productive for 130-140 games a whole year older?  Thus with no power in center or at first you neglect to sign either Torii Hunter or Aaron Rowand?  Having Cabrera-Hunter/Rowand-Abreu in the outfield seems like a much more solid configuration to me!

And oh what you couldn't afford these guys or decided not to sign off on a Johan Santana deal because of lack of "payroll flexibility."  And yet YOU sir signed our vaunted Triple-A "ace" Kei Igawa for $46 million and gave A-Rod a "hardball offer" of $300 million (yeah you guys really show him huh?) and somehow with the four-million plus migrating to the final year of Yankee Stadium and the flood rush of revenue coming in next year from the new ball park, you were having issues with "payroll flexibility?"  OH COME ON PALLY!

To be fair for the record I was for getting Santana, but not for getting ripped off by the Twins in order to get him, just as they were by the Mets.  But really YOUR "genious" robbed us of another year from Bernie Williams, because you said Jason Giambi couldn't play first base a year ago and so you decided to give him the boot, sign Josh Phelps who didn't even last through June and Doug Mientkiewicz who is now history.  And yet now again Giambi is somehow capable of playing first and you have no true defensive first baseman off the bench.  Oh and the Yankees could've used Bernie off the bench to DH when Giambi was hobbling around last October in the playoff and Matsui was having knee issues hitting into double-plays!

Bomber Bites: Can't say I blame manager Joe Girardi too much on his pitching strategy, except for when it comes to using another brilliant Brian Cashman signing, Kyle Farnsworthless.  FARNSWORTHLESS SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER BE USED AGAIN PERIOD!

While Girardi said he was sure he could straighten out his old battery mate from Chicago, its too bad he couldn't coax Cashman into bringing back another one of his old Cubbie teammates, Jon Lieber.  Lieber who pitched pretty decent with the Yankees in 2004, is the long-man/spot-starter for the Cubs this year (something the Yankees don't have) and is 1-1 with a 0.00 ERA pitching in two games striking out three in five innings of work.

The Yankees had won two in a row with Giambi out of the lineup, they've lost two in a row since his return.  Well ain't that a co'inkie'dink!

Mr. Matsui, Johnny Gomes and Ross Gload thank you for contributing to their hit totals on this young season.  I guess it always was King Kong who was more prone to scaling large buildings than Godzilla.

Memo to Cashman, I applaud your willingness to cultivate the farm system, but I'm starting to believe that the Yankees need their own version of the "football Giants" Jerry Reese. 

The offense exploded and Mike Mussina never imploded as the Yankees cruised on by the Tampa Bay Rays by a final of 6-1 Monday.  The win gained the Yankees a split in the series and finished off their first homestand with a record of 4-3 as they head off to play the Kansas City Royals.

Mussina was superb, going six strong allowing only one run on two hits.  Moose, who also had three K's was dialed in enough to tie Hall of Famer Bob Gibson with 251 career wins.

The offense struck early as Bobby Abreu who finished a double away from the cycle, continued his barrage of hitting heroics with an early 2nd inning HR, a two-run shot to put New York out in front 2-0.  Abreu is hitting .400 on the young season.

Flashing ahead to the 6th, Abreu tripled, Alex Rodriguez singled him in and Hideki Matsui doubled in A-Rod, increasing the lead to 4-1.  The Yankees tacked on two more in the 7th on hits by Matsui and Cano, making the final 6-1.

Finally Brian Bruney, Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins pitched brilliantly, thus saving the arms of Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera for the next series in KC.

Bomber Bites: Should the Yankees have hung on to Doug Mientkiewicz or Andy Phillips instead of signing Morgan Ensberg?  I'm getting the feeling he might be this year's version of Josh Phelps.

Brian Bruney is making me feel a lot better about the Yankees trading away Scott Proctor.  The guy who was the "2006 version of Joba" has looked sharp thus far, velocity wise and with his control.

Hey Joe Girardi, with Derek Jeter out can I please see A-Rod at SS, if only for a few games?

Phil Hughes faces former Mets pitcher Brian Bannister in KC and they wonder why people decry the "Los Mets" philosophy, this guy for Ambiorix Burgoss?

Jose Molina, what a steal!

Exactly 50 years after the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants left New York brokenhearted, the New York Mets left their fans in stunned disbelief not seen by New York National League fans since Bobby Thomson hit the shot heard 'round the world off Ralph Branca in 1951, sealing what was both a monumental collapse and comeback in one felt swoop.  How fitting they played the Florida Marlins on fan appreciation day at Shea, especially given that now fans of both teams know what it is to have something of great potential taken away from them.

For the first time ever a team leading by seven games this late has blown it.  Obviously a good, hot Philadelphia Phillies team did what they had to do and took care of business.  However to lose eight home games in a row (Citi Field can't come fast enough) including games to the likes of the cellar dwelling Marlins and Washington Nationals is clearly unacceptable.  And from the owner on down there wasn't one voice being publicly adamant about this team whipping itself back into shape.  Clearly someone must take the fall.

To their credit, since Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph arrived the Mets have done nothing but win.  However if I'm the Mets Rick Peterson and Rickey Henderson have to go and Willie must be allowed to bring in his own coaches.  The Mets did hit well with HoJo as hitting coach, but at first base the Mets would do well to bring back fan favorite and former fellow coach with the New York Yankees Lee Mazzilli as the first base coach and as for pitching coach how about another guy Willie and Mets fans know all too fondly, Mel Stottlemyre.

In the off-season Minaya did nothing significant to upgrade the roster.  He went from the clutch but oft-injured Cliff Floyd to the clutch but oft-injured Moises Alou in leftfield.  Kept Julio Franco who served no purpose because they were tight in their Texas Rangers days.  Then instead of retaining Chad Bradford and Darren Oliver who'd pitched brilliantly out of the pen and Heath Bell, he brings back Mr. Steroid Guillermo Mota whom he knew full well would be suspended for 50 games right off the bat and he trades Brian Bannister to the Kansas City Royals where he won 12 games this season for the second coming of Mel Rojas in Ambiorix Burgos. 

This all the while knowing he had two 40 something's prone to break down at any second in Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez.  Couple that with the fact he had to know Pedro Martinez and Duaner Sanchez would be out until at least August if not later.  In addition this might be more the ownership than Omar, but knowing this about the rotation and their troubles at leftfield and second base, they could've gone after a Gil Meche type or the most logical fit for versatility Alfonso Soriano.  Finally at the trade deadline they need pitching (and who doesn't these days), especially bullpen help and what do they get?  A nice player in Luis Castillo, but certainly not anybody who's going to put you over the top.

Mets fans were left fuming, perhaps it was from frustration of the former New York Yankee managing in their dugout or the former Atlanta Brave pitching on the mound. Perhaps they should've have known better than to have been teased once again.  Perhaps they should've just listened to Jimmy Rollins all along, that in fact they were just doomed from the start. 

The New York Yankees are engaged in a "Cold War" of sorts.  Well armed with pitching to be sure, it's all a matter of whether the Yankees fire off any of their missles in a trade or if they can get them to fire for themselves down the stretch.  Back in the 1980's the Yankees dealt away the likes of Jose Rijo, Doug Drabek and Bob Tewksbury and ended up with little or nothing to show for it.  However in the 1990's they held onto the right guys in Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Ramiro Mendoza and turned prospects such as Sterling Hitchcock, Eric Milton and Matt Drews into Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, Jim Mecir, Chuck Knoblauch and Cecil Fielder.  Now the Yankees must decide on what they'd like to do with a plethora of prospects which include: Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Alan Horne, Tyler Clippard, Jeff Karstens, Darrell Rasner and Jeff Marquez.

If I'm the Yankees, I'm not letting any of these guys go at the deadline period.  Not that I'm writing off the division just yet, but if this team as currently constructed with enough talent, can't catch the Cleveland Indians who are just four games ahead of them presently in the Wild Card standings, then they don't deserve to make the playoffs. 

What the Yankees should do is unload Kyle Farnsworth on somebody, call up Phil Hughes to replace the recently demoted Kei Igawa (which will happen assuming all is right, this Saturday), call up Jeff Karstens to be their long-man/spot starter out of the pen and call up Joba Chamberlain to pitch out of the pen.  The worst case scenario is for the Yankees to remain stagnant, the best case is that their moves aid them much like the 2002 Anaheim Angels where Phil Hughes becomes John Lackey and Joba Chamberlain mirrors Francisco Rodriguez. 

Would a guy like Eric Gagne, Chad Qualls or Octavio Dotel be an upgrade over Farnsworth?  Yes.  But worth the prospects?  No. 

What is all comes down to is that the Yankees can't be afraid to trust their own guys, especially their heralded prospects.  Over the last three years (2005-07) the Yankees have called up players that weren't initially on many people's radars nor were they trusted until injuries or poor play necessitated their call-ups.  It was Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang who were called up two years ago to replace failures like Tony Womack, Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright.  Last year it was Melky Cabrera getting called up due to the injuries of Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui.  This season it's Andy Phillips getting the every day nod in place of the off-season disaster situation at 1st.  In summary, Cano, Cabrera and Phillips while pumping life into this club as every day regulars are all hitting around or over .300 on the season and Wang has 12 wins as the ace of the staff after missing almost a month of the season. 

While it would be nice for the Yankees to also further upgrade their bench at the deadline, they'll likely have to hope that Jason Giambi can come back at full strength either as a power bat off the bench or as a DH.  If Giambi can come back at 100% it would do wonders for the type of protection A-Rod needs.  Because A-Rod knows that he has to be the guy to knock in runs consistently given the fact that others usually don't and thus with opposing pitchers knowing that, they aren't giving A-Rod anything to hit, which in turn is frustrating A-Rod and making him impatient at the plate.  A healthy Giambi would curb that.  However what a healthy Giambi should not curb is the playing-time of the surging Melky Cabrera.

Hall of Fame Perspective: Anyone happen to notice about 70,000 fans descended upon Cooperstown this weekend?  This was for two guys in Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. who transcended the game, were class acts and were guys who you could just respect and admire watching as a fan no matter what team you rooted for.  Imagine then given the proximity of New York Yankees and New York Mets fans state and city wide with Cooperstown in their own backyard so to speak, just how jam packed that place will get when players like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza all get inducted one day?  Perhaps we'll get a barometer and a small taste for that next year when Goose Gossage is finally enshrined at Cooperstown. 

Enough is enough and it's time for the New York Yankees to start making some moves pronto.  No more general statements, idle threats or cliches about how it's a long season.  This team is dead and listless and is in need of some serious wholesale changes.

Starting at the top the Yankees must go back to the future and install Gene "Stick" Michael as General Manager and Buck Showalter as manager.  Those two are excellent talent evaluators who essentially put the Yankees back on the map in the early 1990's.  These two know how to evaluate talent, cultivate a farm system, make shrewd deals and have won in New York before.

While I applaud Brian Cashman's philosophy on trying to re-structure the team to reload the farm system, re-stock the pitching depth and lower the payroll, he's not the evaluator they need to pick the right pieces.  Just look at some of the moves he's made recently: Damon over Beltran in centerfield, not re-signing fan favorite Bernie Williams and leaving the bench weak, trading away Gary Sheffield one of their only righty power bats for one pitching prospect who has been injury plagued and is on the DL with Tommy John surgery, trading Randy Johnson while being naive enough to believe that Carl Pavano and or Kei Igawa would be suitable replacements for a pitcher who won 17 games, those two combined won't make 17 starts.  Cashman neglected to sign proven younger pitchers in Ted Lilly and Gil Meche, citing payroll.  Then he turns around not three months later and gives a 45 year old pitcher in Roger Clemens $28 million to pitch for four months!  Don't even get me started with Kyle Farnsworth.

On the field as far as the manager goes, I love Joe Torre but even beloved and successful guys like Casey Stengel and Billy Martin had to go eventually.  Torre seems to have lost a little zip and confidence in his coaches since Zim and Stott left.  A lot of guys have seemed to tune him out for whatever reason and while he has acted as a great buffer between the owner, media and the players, it seems that now they may have taken advantage of that quality and now walk all over him.  Torre doesn't have this team playing aggressively at the plate nor does he have a grip on how to handle the pitching staff as to when to take guys out or leave them in or when to rest guys or not in the bullpen.

Stick and Buck would clean house with this team.  Bring the clubhouse back to "The Yankee-way."  They wouldn't tolerate slackers or headcases who either don't care, have poor attitudes or don't hustle.  They'd be sure to bring in guys who'd give their all, guys who are proven winners and guys who are hungry to win.  They'd bring in guys like Mike Gallego, Jimmy Key, Spike Owen, Mike Stanley and Wade Boggs who are blue collar ballplayers to turn this thing around.  They'd also give the kids a shot to grow and develop in order to build a new core from the farm system like they did with Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada.

  When it comes to this roster the Yankees need to get younger, more pitching and better defense.  Getting guys such as Mark Teixeria, Torii Hunter, Ichiro and Mike Lowell who could all potentially become available either at the trade deadline or as free agents after the season would all make great fits on this club.

If I were the Yankees, right now I would dump all the dead weight, old, overpaid, listless players.  I'd try to dump as much payroll as possible and try to gain as many prospects as possible.  Johnny Damon would be gone, the guy can't even barely run anymore and I'd let Melky Cabrera play and develop to find out what they've actually got in him.  I'd deal Bobby Abreu who has become a bad influence on Robinson Cano, much in the way that Raul Mondesi was a horrible influence on Alfonso Soriano.  Deal Jason Giambi and get his always injured steroid controversy ridden butt back out to the west coast to either the Angels or A's.  Trade Mike Mussina, who isn't going to get any better next year at age 39 and if at all possible deal Igawa as well and allow some of the younger starters such as Phil Hughes and Tyler Clippard to get a shot at developing and being ready for the 2008 campaign.  I'd also like to see them dump Kyle Farnsworth and Luis Vizciano and let some of the young arms pitch in order to see if they can't groom the next guy to replace Mariano Rivera within the coming few years.  

In addition, seeing as how they're free agents, though I'd like to see them play for no other team than the Yankees, the Yankees could potentially deal pending free agents in Rivera and Posada for some prospects with the understanding that they will re-sign them after the season is over and that the trades are for the good of the future of the team.  Finally, if they know he is going to leave and or if they know he wants out for sure, they should try to deal A-Rod for as many prospects as possible because his stock has never been higher and he is by far the most tradable commodity on this team at the moment who could garner the Yanks a boatload of prospects in return.  Of course A-Rod could too be dealt and opt out of his deal with the understanding that the Yankees will re-sign him in the offseason. 

This is what the Yankees must to to get back on top by the time their new stadium opens in 2009.  They need to cut the deadweight of overpaid headcases, get younger with more depth in the farm system and at the major league level and also they need to create more payroll flexibility in regard to the luxury tax.  It may be hard to do that with so much invested in this team, but obviously it has become apparent that the players don't have anything invested in this team any longer for the most part.  Thus if the Yankees want a quick turnaround in re-building the ballclub, they must act on this fast if not at the trade deadline.  The Yankees have bottomed out with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, thus the string of playoffs will have been broken which is the perfect opportunity to start the foundation of a new dynasty.