YANKEES SUCK - who is to blame?

[Texasmame]

As a Sox fan, their pain is delicious.        

[JackTucky]

Might be stray-rod.

=J

[shardian]

Steinbreinner has forgotten what it was that got him to his late 90's championships - A farm system. Buying up washed up 40 year olds will not improve things. Don't get me wrong, Clemens can still pitch, but at this point, he IS NOT worth $30 million to pitch half a season and he will not turn their season around. Pitchers don't play every day.

Instead, he "could" sell off a bunch of his overpaid vets and build up a good pitching crop in the farm system with prospects. Oh wait, he can't do that because he paid way too much for his players and noone is willing to take on their bloated contracts. Doh!

Well hell, lets throw some more money at the problem and see what happens.

BTW, I always enjoy it when the Yankee's suck, but they always pull it together at some point or another.

[Zero_Hour]

Shouldn't the poll title read, "who should we thank?" 

*gave up on baseball around the same time the Pirates were busy getting all coked up in the 80's*

[Buddabing]

I love it when the Yankees suck. I especially hope Pettitte and Clemens get shellacked every start.

I wish there was a salary cap in baseball.

[ChadTower]

Steinbreinner has forgotten what it was that got him to his late 90's championships - A farm system.

I don't think he has forgotten.  I think he is aware of his own age and aware he doesn't have time to develop a crop of new stars.  Given the probability of turning out another set like the Yankees did in those years, I'd say it's damn near impossible to happen again (or else every team would have a Jeter now and then) before Steinbrenner dies.  He knows this.  His only chance at more titles is to buy them.

[pointdablame]

The team just can't mesh.  When we are hitting, we're not pitching well.. when we have someone make a good start, we can't get any runs on the board.

I really have to agree about the farm system.  George has totally destroyed our farm system and we have no prospects and a bunch of old players on the field prone to getting hurt.  Add in A-Rod and the fact that he is a huge primadonna and a major pain in the ass and this is what you get.  You also get bad press when people like A-Rod decides to yell at infielders like he did the other day... real professional there kid.   

I'm a lifelong Yankee fan and am still watching.. but this is painful lately.  Salary aside (which I agree is utterly ridiculous), there is no reason we should be playing this type of baseball.  On paper, they are unstoppable, and yet there are days when they look like amateurs.  I don't know what it is exactly, but the players can't mesh like they did in previous years.  Too many egos maybe, who knows.

I hate Boston with a passion as Yankee fans is supposed to, but they are fun to watch this season.  You can't deny them when they're playing .700 ball and look the way they do.  Mussina made a comment the other day about how in order to win 90 games, the Yanks have to go 30 over .500 for the rest of the season... and that to win the division, that'd have to assume the Red Sox only played .500 ball for the rest of the season.... neither of those things are going to happen if you ask me (as sad as it makes me to say it)

I guess the Yanks just really want to play some more golf this year....

[shardian]

You also get bad press when people like A-Rod decides to yell at infielders like he did the other day... real professional there kid.   

I thought that was pretty funny actually. Since when did pro baseball become so damn serious? It is supposed to be fun, and light hearted. For a sport in which about 90% of the game is spent with everyone just standing or sitting around scratching their crotches, there needs to be some fun. Jeez, back in the day it was all in good fun when a pitcher used vaseline for example. Modern day baseball is some damn uptight it is more like what a Royal British baseball league would be like IMO. I barely even watch baseball highlights any more because everything is so uptight.

Hell, little tricks like that, along with heckling the pitcher/batter are what make the game fun. Catchers will talk to batters all the time to try and distract them. Infielders talk at baserunners. IT IS PART OF THE GAME PEOPLE and things like that are what made the game fun in the first place. Seeing that smirk on A-Rod's face made me like him more. He is out there having fun. Hell don't accuse him for being unprofessional, accuse that infielder for falling for such a trick - PROFESSIONALS are supposed to be immune to things like that. Hell, look at Barry bonds and all the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- he is putting up with. I personally hate the guy, but dang you gotta give him a teensy (very teensy) amount of credit for taking all of the heckling and threats and still doing his thing.

[JackTucky]

I thought the arod thing (I heard he said "mine" like the shortstop would) was awesome.

=J

[pointdablame]

Don't get me wrong.. I thought it was hilarious as well.  I also heard he said "mine" which isn't really heckling, and is something the infielder SHOULD be listening for if it was really one of his teammates.

That didn't stop the media from spinning it into bad press though.  The game IS too serious nowadays, I agree.  I guess that's what happens when it's billion dollar business and not a game anymore.

Funny yes... "good for the team"... probably not so much.

[shardian]

Funny yes... "good for the team"... probably not so much.

I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a winning streak now. Seemingly little things like this can effectively wake up a team and make them gel.

[pointdablame]

Funny yes... "good for the team"... probably not so much.

I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a winning streak now. Seemingly little things like this can effectively wake up a team and make them gel.

I hope you're right.

[hypernova]

Since when did pro baseball become so damn serious?

When it became a business just like anything else...which was long ago.

[Texasmame]

A question to those blaming the players.  Many of their core players are older and fading - as should be expected.

Why blame them for this - isn't it Cashman's fault, seeing as he signed them to deals that extended them into the "senior years?"

[shardian]

Funny yes... "good for the team"... probably not so much.

I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a winning streak now. Seemingly little things like this can effectively wake up a team and make them gel.

See, I told ya!

[lcddream]

They suck? They are one of 4 teams that will continue to the post season, and have done so for the past 13 years....


You can say what you want about money, but they don't suck.

[shardian]

They suck? They are one of 4 teams that will continue to the post season, and have done so for the past 13 years....


You can say what you want about money, but they don't suck.

I was pointing out that I called they would catch fire after the A-Rod incident. Not that they suck.

[ChadTower]

It makes me sick that teams can come in second place in their division and still make the postseason.  It really sucks the life out of a division race when both teams know they're going to make it regardless of which has a better record.

Eff the wild card.

[shardian]

It makes me sick that teams can come in second place in their division and still make the postseason.  It really sucks the life out of a division race when both teams know they're going to make it regardless of which has a better record.

Eff the wild card.

So you think it is horrible when the second place team in a division has a better record than anyone else in baseball except that team in their own division. The wild card exists for a reason. Besides, it is only four frikkin teams!

Now I wish Basketball would reduce the number of playoff teams. It's damn insulting that a team teetering at .500 ball has a legitimate chance at the playoffs.

[ChadTower]

So you think it is horrible when the second place team in a division has a better record than anyone else in baseball except that team in their own division. The wild card exists for a reason. Besides, it is only four frikkin teams!

Then the solution to that would be to have less divisions, not to add playoff rounds.  The only reason they added that was for television revenue, and really, who wants another 4 hour playoff game that ends at 1am and is only the first round anyway.  It probably won't be long before they add even more teams to the playoffs and it ends up just like the NBA.  162 games is more than enough to determine who belongs there and who doesn't.  It's the best team in each Division - not the second best.

[shardian]

So you think it is horrible when the second place team in a division has a better record than anyone else in baseball except that team in their own division. The wild card exists for a reason. Besides, it is only four frikkin teams!

Then the solution to that would be to have less divisions, not to add playoff rounds.  The only reason they added that was for television revenue, and really, who wants another 4 hour playoff game that ends at 1am and is only the first round anyway.  It probably won't be long before they add even more teams to the playoffs and it ends up just like the NBA.  162 games is more than enough to determine who belongs there and who doesn't.  It's the best team in each Division - not the second best.

In some cases, the best team in a division can be worse than pretty much every team in the other two divisions. It happens all the time in every professional sport. The wild card exists for a very valid reason and it was a great addition to baseball.
Now I would like to see the season trimmed down to about 120 games. I think the competitive level would increase across the board then.

[ChadTower]

Being in a bad division is part of sports.  If you can't even get out of your own division you don't belong in the playoffs.  Quality of division is cyclical and it swings around every few years.  This isn't unique to baseball by any means.

I'm tired of postseasons that take a month and a half after a regular season that takes half a year.  The NFL suffers from this, too... the postseason is just too damn long, especially those years where they take two weeks before the super bowl for no reason.

[tommy]

I think it all went downhill (or more downhill) when A-Rod's wife wore that T-shirt with what it said on it.