Joe Torre's Last Stand

By Ron Prezzano


Judging by the amount of injuries and lack of post season fight this New York Yankee team has displayed in the past two seasons It is definitely time for a managerial change for the New York Yankees. That last statement exceeded my self-imposed allotment of twenty two words per sentence. That just goes to show you how frustrated and tired I am with Joe and his laid back approach to managing.

The Yankees have once again gotten off to a slow start. I guess we can also blame the atrocious weather conditions across the country for this sub-par showing. Why not, Joe does, but yet the Mets continue to play well in equally poor weather. Can you guess where I am going with this?

Look across town and you will see a manager who does not take poor or lackadaisical play lightly. Willie Randolph will let his players know when he sees things that are not to his liking. The Met players will run through a wall for Randolph and their on field play shows it.

Joe's decision to go with a three headed first baseman is a signal that he is showing signs of dementia. This move has created a logjam at first base and will cost the team a much needed roster spot. By electing to nurture this three headed sinkhole, and go with twelve pitchers, Joe leaves himself short handed with position players. This has already been obvious regarding the injury plagued start of the season.


Johnny Damon had a calf muscle strain and Hideki Matsui has a hamstring issue that has put him on the disabled list. This transformed into playing Miguel Cairo in left field for a couple of games. Cairo is a utility infielder and played four games in the outfield last season. This is the New York Yankees for God's sake. The highest pay-rolled team in baseball. Miguel Cairo, Josh Phelps, Doug Mientkiewicz manning two power positions for the highest paid team in baseball? This is like Having a Bentley and letting your wife use it to pick up groceries.

The Yankee defense has been nothing short of frightening. Derek Jeter's weakness to cover ground up the middle, and to his left, has always been his Achilles heel. Now his inaccurate throwing to first base is being exposed. Tino Martinez and Jason Giambi were great at making that scoop play at first base and saving Jeter a ton of errors. With Josh Phelps now playing some games at first base it is evident that The Captain will long for days past. There goes that Gold Glove Award.

A-Rod, at third base, has shown signs early that he has more agility at the hot corner, but still is a defensive question mark.

Robinson Cano, at second base, makes the hard plays look easy, and at times the easy plays look hard.

Hideki Matsui, in left field, has looked less than stellar defensively as time goes on.


Johnny Damon, in center field, covers adequate ground but he throws like I do left handed and I am right handed.

Bobby Abreu, in left field, is not the most graceful or fluid of players to play that position. Sometimes, (as in recently) he has shown his Reggie Jackson "Iron Glove" impersonation. Not pretty.

Combine this with a very shaky (so far) and injured starting pitching staff and the formula looks bad for this year's Yankee team.

If there is a positive and a strength to this team it is their offense and bullpen. Somehow, between Joe Torre's ability to mismanage and over use his bullpen this could turn into another weak link.

The offense will be solid for the regular season. If the Yankees make the playoffs, and that is not a given this year, good opposing pitching will shut them down again.

Although the Yankees have improved themselves in the off season with a younger farm system and pitching staff, that is not enough. Baltimore, Toronto and even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have improved significantly. They are all good offensive teams and Baltimore and Toronto have a decent bullpen. Sound familiar?



The American League East is turning into a cloned division, with the exception of Tampa Bay at least. They will beat up on one another and Boston could open up a good lead by June.

The Red Sox, to me, seem to have an upper hand on the division. Good Starting pitching, the usual decent offense, and Jonathan Papelbon as the closer, this will be the team to beat. There, I said it, as painful as it is.

Injuries always play an important role and that could dictate who survives.

Pitching and defense win titles and the Yankees are falling short once again in that department.

This will be Joe Torre's last stand.