Yankees Now 2-6 Vs. Major Leaguers

You knew you couldn't take the three-game sweep against the Royals seriously. Kansas City sucked to begin with, and without Grienke, McDougal, or Redman, and with Runelvys Hernandez very out of shape, the team is a joke.

The Twins are a pretty good team, but they've slipped over the past couple of years. The emergence of the White Sox and Indians, along with the lack of cash catching up to them, have turned them into another has-been. Their pitching is still their strong point, even though Santana usually starts off a bit slowly. But their hitting has always been weak. This year, the lineup consists of a mix of decent young guys like Mauer and Morneau and mediocre-at-best vets like Luis Castillo and Tony Batista.

But they've managed two impressive wins against the Yanks. On Friday, the inconsistent Moose had his usual bad start. And some guy I've never heard of managed to hold the Yanks to a run.

And Saturday was a combo deal from both Wright and Rivera. You knew Wright would suck. Seems like everyone knew, except Ca$hman and George, apparently.

It's always a treat to see Rivera blow a game (though I don't think anything will top the thrill of Game 7 of the '01 WS). But I can't get too excited. Last April, he blew two saves against the Red Sox. There were murmurs that the guy was losing it. And then he proceeded to have another dominant year. So unless Rivera has six blown saves come June, I have no doubts as of yet.

It's only April, and maybe after enough games against the Orioles, plus a few times facing Seth McClung, the Yanks will move up in the standings. But as we've seen the past few Octobers, the Yanks always have trouble with the good teams. And in '06, that's as true as ever.

- The Yanks made another couple of "nothing-to-lose" moves, picking up 1B/DH Carlos Pena (who was part of the Jeff Weaver deal) and RP Jesus Colome (a guy who's gotten his butt kicked by the Yankees on many occasions). I don't see these guys having nearly as much impact as Chacon and Small. Pena might be an improvement over Andy Phillips, and Colome is just insurance for Farnsworthless and Villone.

But if these guys turn out to be any good, I don't want the Yankee fans to talk about Cashman's genius. The Yanks just gave these scrubs a few thousand bucks more than anyone else was willing to offer, and figured, "why the hell not?" Just like with Chacon and Small.