Mea Maxima Culpa
Clearly I have made my first (and not my last) big blunder of the blog-season, and BGW has correctly called me on it. I stated that the Yanks rotation was better than advertised, but since noone has made it into the 5th inning yet, that can only amount to wishful thinking on my part. I'm not worried about Pettite, not yet anyway, Wang will be solid, and I continue to believe Igawa will be an effective starter. But Pavano can't be depended upon and given his terrible spring and a performance ESPN described as inept, Mussina may already be in a more significant decline than previously thought. The bullpen has looked good so far, but they are bound to get seriously overworked in short order.
Looking at this pitching staff, we might well be in for another disappointing,perhaps even disastrous season. Unlike BGW, I'm not especially worried about the Red Sox pitching. Wakefield always looks good in April and then falls apart when the weather gets warmer and the winds die down; Beckett always looks great in the start just before the one he blows up; and while Dice-K may indeed be an ace, there is reason to believe Schilling is not one anymore. And then there's Tavares. There are, however, at least 2 teams that I would say are plainly better than the Yankees right now. One is the Tigers, who have Maroth to replace Rogers and still boast Verlander and Bonderman, along with an improved offense, and the other is the Angels, who suddenly have a healthy Garret Anderson to go with Vlad, awesome starting pitching and a lights out bullpen. Once Figgins gets healthy, you may be looking at a team the Yankees just can't beat.
In the meantime, I'll just say this, if the Yankees' pitching is going to fail, let it fail on the path of apprenticeship. Let's see Hughes, Sanchez, Razner, and Karstens vie for places in the rotation alongside Wang, Igawa and, as the eminence grise, Pettite. There is such a thing as losing productively, but not if you are doing so with Mussina or Pavano on the mound. Give them the next copupla weeks to work it out, but then start rebuilding the staff. One more reason they shopuld have fired Torre when they had the chance. You know ol' status quoain't going to lead no youth movement. If it were up to him, Bernie Williams would still be the world's only arthritic centerfielder.
Looking at this pitching staff, we might well be in for another disappointing,perhaps even disastrous season. Unlike BGW, I'm not especially worried about the Red Sox pitching. Wakefield always looks good in April and then falls apart when the weather gets warmer and the winds die down; Beckett always looks great in the start just before the one he blows up; and while Dice-K may indeed be an ace, there is reason to believe Schilling is not one anymore. And then there's Tavares. There are, however, at least 2 teams that I would say are plainly better than the Yankees right now. One is the Tigers, who have Maroth to replace Rogers and still boast Verlander and Bonderman, along with an improved offense, and the other is the Angels, who suddenly have a healthy Garret Anderson to go with Vlad, awesome starting pitching and a lights out bullpen. Once Figgins gets healthy, you may be looking at a team the Yankees just can't beat.
In the meantime, I'll just say this, if the Yankees' pitching is going to fail, let it fail on the path of apprenticeship. Let's see Hughes, Sanchez, Razner, and Karstens vie for places in the rotation alongside Wang, Igawa and, as the eminence grise, Pettite. There is such a thing as losing productively, but not if you are doing so with Mussina or Pavano on the mound. Give them the next copupla weeks to work it out, but then start rebuilding the staff. One more reason they shopuld have fired Torre when they had the chance. You know ol' status quoain't going to lead no youth movement. If it were up to him, Bernie Williams would still be the world's only arthritic centerfielder.
posted by joe valente | 1:59 AM
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