NY Yankees -- 2013 edition

[Giant Obsession]

Okay, so 7 of our 8 starters from last year are hurt or gone.

The pitching staff, if it holds true to form, should be well above average.  This year it will need to have stretches of dominance.

Count me as one lifelong Yankee fan who is glad to see all this happen.

The "Core Four" from the mid 90's were the foundation of this team.  What in the heck have Yankee scouts been doing for the last 20 years ?

Joe Girardi will have to manage the REAL game of baseball this year.  Hit and run, steals, hitting behind the runners, bunting, advancing runners.

I rued the day we traded Austin Jackson, Phil Coke, and Ian Kennedy for Curtis Granderson.  My brother, also a devout Yankee fan LOVED it.  Extolled the virtues of this lefthander star.  He admitted last August...."you were right".

Granderson is a great guy, well spoken, a true gentleman. But he has holes at the plate that average pitchers exploit.

Mark Texeira(sp.) is the 2nd most overpaid player in baseball.  The finest DEFENSIVE first baseman I have ever seen, he has obviously hit that age where his hitting skills are on the decline.   And four years left on his contract.  Of course, we will never know if he could have mitigated this decline by adjusting to hitting the ball the "other" way against the shift that almost every opponent throws his way.  His abject stubborness to be a dead pull hitter is maddening.  Personally, I hope he is gone for the year.

Speaking of which....AROID.  Injuries, declining production, head case, steroids....reads like an ala carte menu.  If the Yankees had any balls, they would challenge his contract (HE is the most overpaid player in the league).

Jeter....what is not to love.  I pray for his health quickly because I want that run on the Hit record.  The romance of baseball needs him so we can FORGET Pete Rose totally.

Gardner, with good health, will be an All Star.  He should be in CF for the next 10 years.

And that brings me to the GREATEST mystery of the Yankee roster....Eduardo Nunez.  Tall, slender, very fast, and a butcher in the infield.  They sent him down last year when he was hitting .290.....right after Gardner's surgery.  GREAT, I thought, they are finally going to teach him the outfield where his assets are best utilized.
Then, I read an interview with Cashman just before spring training where he states the Yankees have ONLY considered him as an infielder and will work to correct his problems.

HISTORY Mr. Cashman.  Look up Mickey Mantle and Bobby Murcer.  Between screwing around in your marriage, getting blackmailed, and jumping out of planes...spend a little more time paying an open minded interest to your organization.  Okay, I know that was a semi-cheap shot.....but I find Nunez  as an infielder an insult.

Ichiro...no problem...love him...and he never cracks a bat or has it splinter.  There IS a reason for this for whoever is interested.

Catching....well, let's see...Yankee propaganda has told us for the last 5-7 years we have 3-4 catchers of promise in the pipeline.  Cervelli is servicable and more importantly, very likeable.  Austin Romine...always injured.  Chris Stewart makes Jake Gibbs and Frank Fernandez look inviting.

And last but not least....Robinson Cano.  Five years ago I thought he was just plain lazy.   Then watching him everyday, I discovered he is the MOST effortless fielder and hitter I have ever seen.  It is all natural ability.  The man should be a triple crown threat every year....period.   Another dead pull hitter who needs to make the "shift" adjustment when necessary.  But hands down the most talented Yankee and if/when so inspired the best player in baseball.....even if 3-4 times a year he forgets how many outs there are when on the basepath.

All that said, I told my brother last year "Third Place" after watching all of their spring training games.  "The slide has started."  Little did I know Baltimore would phoenix from the ashes and that Toronto would get decimated by injury like no team I have ever seen.

This year.....I have no idea.  Romance tells me the pitching staff will be sterling, the lesser players will use their maximum ability and Girardi will truly "MANAGE" this bomberless team to a lot of 3-2, 4-1, and 2-0 wins.

You see, I LOVE the romance of baseball...there is nothing like it.  Ron Guidry, Mo Rivera, Brian Doyle et al.... it has always had a grip on me.