The Crybabies Are At It Again

I liked Buck Showalter when he managed the Junkees in the early '90s, and I like him a lot more right now. This is a typical Yankee/Snorre/A-Rod style reaction, once again. And according the Junkees' logic, they should've started Mussina instead of the awful Wright. I don't understand!? The last game of the year, you can't treat it as a joke! What happened to the "code of honor," A-Schmuck? A rare kudos goes to Brian Ca$hman though, who actually says something smart at the end of the piece. Anyway, here are all the details, from ESPN news services:

The New York Yankees will be on the road for Game 1 of their Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels. And the Bronx Bombers are crying foul about it, directing their ire against former Yankees manager Buck Showalter.

Showalter removed starters Michael Young, Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock for pinch-runners in the third inning against the Angels on Sunday. The Texas Rangers led 4-1 after three innings, but the Angels rallied for a 7-4 victory and earned home-field advantage for the first round against the Yankees with the victory.

Young, Teixeira and Blalock went a combined 4-for-5 on Sunday, but their replacements went 0-for-6.

The Yankees, who lost 10-1 in Boston on Sunday, finished with an identical 95-67 record as the Angels, but Los Angeles won the tiebreaker because it won six of 10 games against New York this season.

Former Ranger Alex Rodriguez, who played for Showalter in Texas, was one of the Yankees who was peeved at the Rangers manager's decision.

"There's a code of honor when so much is on the line," Rodriguez told the New York Daily News. "You hope people do the right thing. But you can't control what people do."

Yankees manager Joe Torre was equally surprised.

"It's surprising," Torre told The New York Times. "If his team was in the playoffs, I could understand it a little bit more. It's just surprising he pulled them so soon."

Showalter defended his decision, saying he wanted his three young stars to get an ovation from the home crowd in the team's final game of the season.

"Those guys posted up every day," Showalter told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "They deserved that cookie."

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said told the New York Times that he didn't mind Showalter's decision, however.

"If we had won one more game, we wouldn't have to be worried about what anybody else did," Cashman told The Times.

Game 1 of the best-of-5 series between the Yankees and Angels is Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET.

Manny's Playoff Picks '05

That time of year again:

AL:
Angels over Yankees in 4 - Angels gave the Yanks lots of trouble this year, except for those two sloppy games in August. LA is red-hot and will not screw up like that again. Plus, LA has better pitching, more speed than the Junkees, and better D. I think they'll do very well against Mussina and Chacon.

Red Sox over White Sox in 5 - this will be a close one, but I think Boston will get just enough pitching to prevail. Manny and Papi are the difference-makers here.

ALCS: Angels over Red Sox in 6 - The Red Sox are a very flawed team (especially in the pen), and those flaws will catch up to them eventually. I say that will happen in the ALCS.

NL:
Astros over Braves in 5 -good matchup, but Clemens, Pettitte, and Oswalt are the guys you want in a short series. Plus, I don't like the Braves' pen.

Cardinals over Padres in 4 - maybe Peavy can win a game, but otherwise, they're no match for St. Louis.

NLCS: Cardinals over Astros in 6 - should be thrilling like last year, but the Astros will miss the '04 heroics of Beltran.

World Series: Cardinals over Angels in 6 -should be a fun matchup as David Eckstein meets his former 'mates, but the Angels are not as good as the Red Sox were in '04. LaRussa gets his first ring since '89.

Playoff Picture the Way I Like It

I'll try to be optimistic here and say that the matchups look better to me now than the alternatives. In other words, I'm glad Cleveland didn't make it - they'd likely play the Junkees at some point, and they'd likely have the "we're so excited to be here" attitude, which the Angels do not. I'm not thrilled that other than Vlad, nobody in the Anaheim lineup really scares you, but they have decent pitching, a great bullpen, and they're an aggressive team. Hopefully they expose the Junkee outfield defense, and do what they did in 2002. They have homefield, which is nice, so we'll see what happens.

Had they played the White Sox, again, I'd be nervous, because the White Sox live and die by their pitching. Their offense doesn't do anything for me, so the Angels are really their best opponent as far as I'm concerned.

In the Sox vs. Sox series, I have to root for Boston only because they have a better chance than Chicago at beating the Junkees in the ALCS.

In the NL, I suppose I have to root for Houston, because their pitchers can beat the Junkees. Clemens and Pettitte will have something to prove, so it's them, but if not, then the Cardinals.

Of course, if the Angels oust Old York, I can just sit back and enjoy, and feel happy for whichever team wins.

Well, It Sure Ain't a Money-Free October

So, my only solace in the Junkees winning the AL East for the umpteenth time is that at least my prediction about the AL East turned out to be right. While the Despiser predicted the Junkees would go the way of the '04 Mariners, I said that they would once again nail the AL East. Hey Despiser, the moral of the story is: never doubt the power of $200 million.

And with the top money team in the division winning once again, perhaps this will get the message across: competitive balance is still a problem in this game. Heck, if Boston wins tomorrow, 7 of the 8 playoff teams will be in the top half of the payroll rankings, the lone exception being San Diego (and if Bonds were healthy and DePodesta had half a brain, things might've been a lot different). And 5 of those teams are in the top 10 in payroll (Junkees, Red Sox, Angels, Cardinals, Braves). And if the Phils can pull it out, then we'll see 4 of the top 5 payrolls making it. Good for the game? I think not.

And next year, the Junkees' streak just might be in jeopardy. Toronto will have a healthy Halladay and the new ownership is adding payroll. If the Orioles stay healthy and have no off-field distractions with clowns like Ponson and Palmeiro, they should improve. And the Devil Rays went 39-32 in the second half, just a drop worse than the White Sox' 40-34. That's another team on the rise, where new management might finally give them credibility.

As for the upcoming ALDS, I'm hoping for the Yanks to play the Angels in the first round. They've been red hot in September, and the Yanks always have trouble with them (except for that bizarre series in August). It'll also be interesting considering how the team has changed since then: Anderson and Erstad aren't as good, Salmon, Eckstein, and Glaus are gone, but now there are Guererro, Figgins, and Cabrera.

But who knows, the Yanks might be taking on Cleveland. But with Jaret Wright going against Boston tomorrow, the Indians' chances look slim. Anyway, I'll hold off till we know for sure.

The Final Weekend

It was almost another "here we go again" night last night. I walked out when the Junkees were winning and the Sox were losing, and felt like things were over and done. If the Sox lost three of four to the Jays, I thought, they don't deserve to even make the playoffs. But Big Papi showed once again why he, not A-Schmuck, ought to be MVP. A-Rod's been good, but aside from the homer off Schilling in July, has not had too many moments like these. And how many times has Ortiz done this?

So it's a one-game gap between the Sox and the Yankees heading into the weekend. Best-case scenario: obviously, a Red Sox sweep. That would clearly give them the division, and if the Indians win a couple of games (very possible now that the White Sox have clinched), that would mean a Yankee-free October.

And let's say the Red Sox take 2 of 3? So then the season would end with the two teams tied, and lead to a one-game playoff at Yankee Stadium. Aside from home-field, the Yanks would have a big edge in pitching. The Red Sox will have already used Wells, Wakefield, and Schilling, so who's left? Arroyo? Clement? Not good. The Yanks have Chacon (whom the Red Sox have hit hard in the past) and Small (on 3 days rest). And if they're desparate, Jaret Wright. I don't like the Sox' chances in a one-game playoff.

And if the Yanks take two of three, forget it. The Sox might be able to make it if the Indians screw up, which is unlikely.

As for the pitching matchups: Wang vs. Wells: Wang hasn't been great since coming off the DL; he's got a 4.44 ERA with batters hitting .291 off him. Then again, batters are hitting .304 off Wells since the All-Star break. And he's got health issues. But he's had some good starts against the Junkees this year.

Key stat with Wells, though: 7-1, 3.00 at home this year, 7-6, 5.56 away.

Saturday: Wakefield vs. Johnson: Both teams play their hot hand: Wakefield has a 1.99 ERA in September, while Johnson has a 2.17 mark in the month. And in September: .167 BAA. Johnson's got a big home/away differential too, though: 11-2, 3.13 at home, and 5-6, 4.71 away.

Sunday: you really don't know what you'll get out of either pitcher. Mussina had a good first start after coming off the DL, but was bombed by the Orioles. Schilling has been a mixed bag lately, but has done well against the Junkees.

I'd love to see a sweep here, but I think the realistic prediction is Boston taking two of three.

It Ain't Over....

You know it's a crappy night when you title a Yankee Despiser piece with a quote from Yogi, of all people. But yeah, it was that kind of night. Yanks and White Sox win, Red Sox and Indians lose. Yanks up by one in the division. Small pitching tomorrow, against a Baltimore lineup that went back to dead tonight.

Those damn Jays have been to the Red Sox like the Rays were to the Junkees: an annoying thorn in the side. Frank Catalanotto turned into David Ortiz and hit like crazy. Arroyo stunk it up. And the Red Sox couldn't buy a friggin' hit with runners in scoring position. So many opportunities wasted.

And Arroyo once again proved why a Red Sox repeat looks damn near impossible right now. Last year, the pitching was much better. Pedro, Schilling in top form, and Wakefield. And in the clutch, Derek Lowe stepped it up. This year, aside from Wakefield, there's nobody you can really trust in a big game. Wells? The same guy that bailed out in the '03 World Series? Come on. Clement has stunk it up in the second half. Arroyo is still inconsistent. You never know what to expect from Schilling these days. And don't get me started on the middle relief. Then again, a Red Sox championship looked damn near impossible last October, after that infamous 19-8 thrashing. But with Dave Roberts no longer on the team...

And I think Mark Shapiro has pulled ahead of Theo Epstein in the young-Jewish-neophyte GM category. But that's a whole piece in and of itself.

Anyway, there are still four games left. Anything can happen. The Sox can win a few, the Yanks can lose a few. But things are not looking too good right now.

Baltimore Comes Alive!

How about that, 17 runs against Yankee pitching? Never thought I'd see the O's do that without Roberts, the other Juice Man, and Sammy Sosa. (Although the way Sosa was this year, they probably wouldn't have scored all those runs with his bat in there.) Too bad it had to happen on a night where the Sox and Indians lost. Guess they can't win 'em all.

A few things to ponder, after tonight:

- How will Moose fare against the Sox, in a lineup not littered with the Newhans and Bernie Castros of the world? Will he step it up when it really counts? Or will he be even worse than tonight?

- Now that the O's are alive, will they do anything in the last two games of the series? Or will they just revert to old ways, and get clobbered once again?

- The Yanks and Red Sox have no middle relief. Nothing. The Yanks have Rivera and Gordon, and nothing else. The Sox have Timlin and Papelbon, and nothing else. This weekend's series just might come down to which team's starters can stay in the game the longest.

Should've Been Gone Long Ago

Interesting hearing the Yankee fans serenade Bernie in what hopefully is his last home game with the Bombers (At least things are still tied). Unless the Yanks are dumb enough to bring the guy back for another year, that is.

But that said, even a Yankee hater can't discount Bernie's contribution to the Junkees' dynasty. The guy was humble, played hard, and got his fair share of clutch hits. And yes kids, once upon a time, Bernie could actually play a half-decent center field.

But Bernie should've gone out on top, like Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius. And Mattingly, to an extent (who of course was never the same after '89). Those guys knew when to leave, before they would start embarrassing themselves. Heck, Brosius hung 'em up a week after hitting the biggest homer of his career. And O'Neill even swiped a career-high 22 bases in his final year, although his .267 mark led to a lot of slammed helmets and smashed water coolers.

But Bernie didn't do so, for whatever reason. Even after hitting in the .260s in '03 and '04. Was it for the love of the game? For the love of the money? I don't know. But Bernie will go out like Robbie Alomar and David Cone, leaving us with a bunch of forgettable moments. Instead of the big HR in '96, or the batting title in '98, Bernie's legacy will be filled with all the botched fly balls of the past few years. Filled with all runners who weren't afraid of that arm. Filled with all of those frustrating slumps of '04 and '05, and, perhaps worst of all, being benched for Tony Womack back in May.

Many Yankee fans out there are saying goodbye to Bernie. But many of them ought to be saying good riddance, especially to a .251 hitter with a .696 OPS making $12 million per year.

Calm Down, Junkee Fans

So as always, Junkee fans get all horny that their team is hot, and having surpassed Boston in the standings, they told the Red Sox to have a nice life.

Not so fast.

The Red Sox win, the Junkees lose, and all of a sudden, they're tied. And as it stands, the loser would go home, as there would be no wild card for the AL East runner up to fall back on.

Admittedly, I'd give the advantage to the Junkees. Yes, I know that the BoSox are really good at home, and after Sunday, their remaining games are at Fenway Park, whereas the Junkees play in Baltimore and then Boston. Still, the way the O's have been reeling, Old York has a better chance of knocking them off than Boston does of Toronto, who can be pesky at times.

And the weekend showdown can go either way, so for me to be really confident, the Sox have to win all their games until then, hope the Junkees lose a couple, and then I'll be okay.

Speaking of okay, that is not how Jaret Wright has been, as he continues to be this year's Kevin Brown. He's stunk up the joint, and the fact that the Junkees leave him in the rotation to justify his $21 million salary is just gleeful.

Robinson Cano continues bungling the plays, and more often than not it costs his team. Let the good times roll. And the Juiceman Giambi was back to April form with 6 left on base, including his bases loaded strikeout in the eighth.

Manny Ortiz wrote about the Red Sox, and their ability to turn in on when they have to. Let's hope that they've done just that.

Well, Now They're There, Dammit!!

Thank God for football. Otherwise, I don't know what I'd do. Both Sox teams seem to be having a "who can choke faster?" race, and the Red Sox have officially pulled ahead. There are still 10 days to go in the season, and anything can happen. But I sure as hell didn't want THIS to happen. Awful.

Gotta give the Junkees and their $200 million payroll some credit. They always find a way to win. If their pitching gets rocked, they'll just put up 12 runs. And if the hitting is shot, the pitching is stepping it up.

But I don't want to hear about how the Junkees are incredible for coming back from the abyss, for their remarkable turnaround, and what a great job Snorre and Ca$hman did. $200 million teams are supposed to lead the division. (Unless the Yanks go 162-0, they don't impress me.) Especially with top-caliber years from Jeter, A-Rod, Matsui, Rivera, and the Juice Man. Sheff contributed, and lately, RJ has had some very good outings, like tonight.

Especially the Juice Man. The turning point to the Yankees' season was when the Juice Man returned to old form, in more ways than one. He had quite a few big home runs, and added a lot to the Yankees lineup. If the Juice Man stays healthy and (more importantly) juiced, perhaps the '05 Yankees are a better bunch than the '04 version of the team, which featured Tony Clark at first. Bringing up Cano was a good move, and Wang also contributed, but the Junkees' turnaround was all about Juice.

And don't tell me about all the injuries. Yes, a $200 million team can afford to take a few hits, like this team did. Heck, they can take a lot more hits than most other teams out there.

Anyway, a lot can happen in ten days. There's still hope for a Yankee-free October. But with 5 more games against the pathetic O's and 3 against the hapless Jays, the hope looks rather dim.

Did I mention, thank God for football?

Small is Small Again

I know, I'm the one who cringes at every New York Post-style cheesy baseball headline. So why I am putting up such a groan-worthy pun as a title? Well, after seeing "Small Wonder," "Small Comes Up Big," and every other nauseating line out there, I think it's nice to see one with a negative connotation towards the guy.

After a bad outing last time, Small was hit hard again last night. Seemed like the O's had 2 runners on in almost every inning. But like the Junkees early in the year, Baltimore could not get that big hit when they needed to. And with the game's close outcome, that's definitely what cost them in the end. Small pitched 5 decent innings, but with a Leiter-esque 102 pitches.

Amazingly, the Junkees' pen nearly blew the game after that. Heck, the one good thing about that is that Gordon and Rivera are gonna be exhausted by the end of the year. Where have I seen this before?

If the Junkees ruin my October and make it to the postseason, they'll have to get 7-8 innings from every starter to get anywhere. Embree makes Felix Heredia look good. Sturtze is exhausted, and Proctor can't do much. So much for $200 million.

So, do Yankee fans still want Aaron Small in there in a big game? Or Chacon, against a lineup with more than just Wells and Hillenbrand? Looks like AL batters might finally have their number.

--- Watched White Sox-Indians last night, and what a thriller it was. Too bad the Tribe lost. I love how Harrelson refers to the White Sox as "we" and "the good guys." John Sterling ought to start doing that. I don't care if it's unprofessional. "The Giambino" and "Theeeee Yankees Win!" are also unprofessional. Besides, what better way to kiss King George's fanny than, "after 7, good guys up by 2"?

September 20th, and Still Not There

Like I said the other day, I'm taking this season one day at a time. Sure, the Junkees gained some ground on the struggling BoSox. And yes, they remain a game and a half behind the Indians for the wild card. But the bottom line is that they're still not in the playoffs if the season ends today.

I'm pissed off because it looked like Wang didn't have it, but the Orioles offense is just pathetic. I'm sorry, but Luis Matos doesn't put a scare in me.

There's not much else to say. You can't rely on the Red Sox to do anything because their pitching has been in the toilet. Aaron Small is on the hill tonight for the Junkees, while Shilling starts for Boston, and I bet some people would rather have Small pitch for their team than Curt. I wouldn't, because Small has to have his butt handed to him on a platter one of these days, and I wouldn't be shocked if today is that day. Oh, well. If the Junkees pull it off and make the postseason, I'll just become a soccer fan.

Embree Helps Weekend End on a Good Note

So, the Yankees finally lost. I was just waiting for the day, tired of praying for the Sox and Tribe to keep winning and maintaining their leads.

Wright's injury might have been a good thing for the Junkees today, considering he had nothing. If he would've stayed in the game any longer, things might have really gotten out of hand. Leiter and Sturtze ended up doing a decent job filling in.

For the first few innings, the Yankees looked like the bumbling buffoons we saw in April. A baserunning mistake here, a wild pitch there, and not being able to string anything together against Lilly. So early on, it seemed like an easy win for the Jays. The Junkees made 'em sweat in the 9th, putting the tying run on board for Derek Jeter. But DJ wasn't quite as clutch as he was against the Rays, whiffing to help the Jays salvage one in the series.

The big difference-maker? Embree giving up the insurance run to the Jays in the 8th. That silly PR move is coming back to bite the Yanks, and I think that's great.

With Boston getting whipped today (gotta start worrying about Clement), the AL East lead stays at 1.5. But the biggest difference is the wild-card lead. At 1.5, the Junkees still have a shot to win it, but at least there's now some breathing room for the Tribe. And with the Junkees playing four against the hapless O's, the Indians sure could use that extra game.

-- It's gonna be real interesting to see what happens in that AL Central. I hope Chicago wins some more games, because if they keep stinking it up, the Tribe will take over the Central lead and the White Sox will be left fighting the Junkees for the wild card. And I would take the Junkees in that battle. So the White Sox have to do well the rest of the way, but not too well. Especially with 6 left against Cleveland.

But if it all ended tomorrow, we'd have ourselves a Yankee-free October. Let's hope it stays that way.

Small Gets Rocked

Like I said before, the Junkees are still out of it, and even though that could end by Friday, enjoy it while it lasts.

That said, Aaron Small stunk up the joint on Thursday. He allowed five earned in six and two-thirds innings. Now I know the Junkee fans were getting horny about the guy's eighth win, but come on. Had they not been facing AAA pitching, and the Junkees lose 5-0, nobody's getting too excited. But they beat up on a guy who came in with an ERA over 6.00, so what do you expect? Now I know that Small's been pretty good overall, so for that, it's fair to get horny (although Snorre yanked him from the rotation at one point!), but be a little fair.

- I know the Red Sox have scuffled, and they better hang on to win, because you know that if they blow it, you'll hear about 1978 all over again.

- Things could still turn around because Toronto is somewhat decent, but at times they've also looked like a AAA team.

- In the series, it's RJ, Chacon, and Wright. So I'll sign up right now for two of three. Then again, you're likely to see a few 11-9 contests. Yankee haters, pray hard!

Still Not There

I know it's an annoying cliche, the kind you used to hear from Fred Hickman when he did the pre-game shows on YES, but this is how I feel - you have to take it a day at a time. Right now, on September 15th, the Junkees are still not in the playoffs. I know, they've been hot, they've got the players who can turn it up (a $208 million payroll will do that for you - how much the Red Sox could do with another $60 million or so), and I'll be very pissed if they make it, but the bottom line is that right now, they're out of it. The Sox won, the Indians won, so the Junkees are not there yet.

I can't fret too much about Thursday, although a Yankee win and a Red Sox loss will tighten the gap. The Indians are off, so even a Bummer win will leave them in second place. Fine with me. I'm just going to enjoy each day.

And you know I never count them out. I know that if they sneak into the postseason, they can win it all. If that leads to a salary cap, I'll sign up for it right now, because without the big money advantage, they have no hope of ever winning anything, the way the buffoons run the team.

But I've said enough about the need for a salary cap, so in order to not be a one-trick pony, I'll shut up and enjoy the moment:

AL EAST:
Red Sox -
Yankees 2.5

AL WILD CARD:
Indians -
Yankees 1

Yankee Fans Can't Get Too Excited

So, another laugher of a game. Yanks killing the Rays, just like old times.

But there was a game like this in June, where the Yanks won 20-11. After that? They lost two straight to the Rays, including Hendrickson beating Wang. So have the Yanks figured out the Rays yet? We'll find out.

Trop Time Coming Up!

A tough weekend for Junkee-haters, as the Yanks won two out of three. Randy finally decided to show up, and the Juice Man's homer made all the difference yesterday. But I can't complain. At least it's a 3-game spread, rather than just 1. Those two games make a big difference. And Saturday's game was sweet.

It's amazin to me how the Rays can do so well against the Junkees, and the Sox can't quite match up. Maybe they should get Waechter and Hendrickson in the rotation, and get Wells out of there. Put Cantu at second base, Jonny Gomes in the outfield, and Carl Crawford instead of Manny. And just for Randy Johnson, get Eduardo Perez. Then again, if they had that team, the Red Sox probably wouldn't be in first. Go figure.

But my favorite series of the year comes to a close over the next three games. The Yanks and Rays go for 3 more, and then the Junkees play the O's and Jays for about two weeks straight. Spoilers, anyone?

But as long as the Indians keep on winning, things are in good shape. They play the A's next, which won't be an easy matchup. They have 10 games remaining against the Royals and Rays, though, which definitely works in their favor. The 6 against the White Sox might be tough, but Chicago has slowed down quite a bit over the second half. They're 30-26 since the All-Star break, and their once-huge AL Central lead is down to 5 and 1/2 games. As Jon Miller pointed out last night, by the time the Indians-White Sox series comes around, it may be a battle for the division title.

Ca-no Can't Field

After Friday's Red Sox disaster, the Junkees returned the favor yesterday. The usually reliable Shemp booted a ball, Lawton screwed up again, and Cano did his best Chuck Knoblauch imitation.

Cano's hitting prowess has long since died down, though he quietly had a good week this week (7 for 13). In today's Post, Joel Sherman points out that Cano has the lowest pitches seen per plate appearance in the league (a mere 3.03), which explains his awful OBP (.313). No wonder the guy was awful at the #2 hole. This guy makes Jose reyes look like a patient hitter. At least Snorre eventually saw the light and bumped the guy to the 9 hole, but waiting so long to do so might have cost his team a few wins.

And Cano is looking like a disaster in the field. He has two errors in the series so far, and a costly error in the 9th recently cost the Yankees a game. And something similar happened in August, though I can't remember exactly which game. Cano's fielding % is the second-worst among AL 2B, right ahead of Soriano. Add Cano to the Yankees' list of awful fielding 2B, joining the likes of Sax, Sori, and of course, Knoblauch. As the Despiser pointed out, it seems like the last decent-fielding Yankee 2B was Willie Randolph. Or, back when Felix Hernandez was 3 years old.

So the days of Cano being the next Derek Jeter seem as far gone as the days when Tino was crushing the ball every night. Yankee fans are too busy going crazy over Aaron Small to talk about this guy anymore. The truth is, Cano is probably the next Mariano Duncan. Maybe.

-- Best thing about yesterday's win: Schilling finally returning to form. And not a moment too soon. If Curt can keep this up.....

-- And did anyone notice Andy Pettitte notching his 15th win yesterday?

-- Go Indians!!!

Lawton and Bellhorn: Useless

Chalk up another two for Brian Ca$hman. His new acquisitions are batting a combined .103, with Lawton at 3 for 28, and Bellhorn at 1 for 11. The Junkees thought they were smarter than everyone else, which is what they always think. Their recent dive in the standings is largely thanks to the two clowns they picked up.

I was actually a little nervous about Lawton, because he's always been a decent hitter. Never great, but good enough, and certainly better than Tony Womack (who isn't this year?). I even considered it a this-is-it moment, meaning that this move would push them over the top.

Bellhorn, on the other hand, was a win-win pickup, kind of like Leiter, Small, and Chacon. Because there are no expectations, if they do great then Ca$hman is a genius, and if they're lousy, we didn't think they'd do anything anyway, so the buffoon is safe. For some reason, though, we don't hear about Tim Redding or Darrell May, or Buddy Groom, or Melky Cabrera.... Or even Robinson Cano and his .307 on base percentage. Or the biggest bust of all, Randy Johnson. Should have kept Pettitte....

Tribe Back on Top

Last night's game was one of those that just leaves an awful taste in your mouth. Tampa Bay was leading, 4-3, and you figure, okay, the Junkees will lose another one to the Rays. Then the Juice Boy comes up, and it's another Yankees classic. And on a night where the Sox and the Indians win, the Yanks come out unscathed.

So tonight's game was a lot better. Wang was not in top form, and Proctor and Franklin (no law firm lines, please) gave the Rays all the runs they needed. So the Junkees come into the weekend series against Boston a half-game behind the Indians in the wild card. Nice.

It's a big weekend on both fronts. While the Yanks play division rival Boston, the Indians have a tough opponent in the Twins. As I said before, I don't have much faith in Schilling, but hopefully the Sox can pull out the other two games.

Friday night is Wells vs. Small. After Opening Night, Wells has done nicely against the Junkees. And I think the Sox offense might be the one to finally send Small back down to earth.

As for Saturday, much as I dread Schilling being out there, I like the Sox' chances against Chacon.

And Sunday might be the best pitching matchup of the series, Wakefield vs. Johnson. Aaron Boone aside, Wakefield is usually very good against the Yanks. Question is, though, which Randy Johnson will show up?

And the biggest X-factor of them all: can the Sox play as well outside of Fenway?

Gotta Love Those Rays

Once again, this was one of those nights where I thought the normal order of the universe had been restored. Eduardo Perez didn't hit any dingers off Randy, and when RJ got out of the jam unscathed in the 6th, that 'ol dreaded "here we go again" came to mind.

But enter the 7th, and things changed. Johnson gave up a couple of hits, and Flush Gordon gave up a sac fly to tie things up.

When the Junkees put a couple of runners on against Orvell in the 8th, I thought they were gonna win it. But Bernie hit into a DP, so we could all relax.

And between the hits off Mo and the Cano error, the 9th was sweet. I'm offically a D-Rays fan. Time for me to get my cap and my Jonny Gomes jersey. Nah, I've gotta go with Jorge Cantu.

-- It was a sweet night overall, with Boston winning on a Big Papi walk-off shot and Cleveland winning as well. And as I write this, the A's are winning.

The only bummer is, since I said I was rooting for the Mets in the wild-card race, they've gone 1-6. Awful. Well, there's always the Astros. And the potential sight of Clemens and Pettitte playing October ball while their ex-teammates play golf. That would be sweet.

Small and Chacon Do It Again

I don't care about how nice the "feel-good" stories are about these guys. I don't care if Small was in 15 million organizations till now. I don't care about the fact that Chacon suffered through all those years in Coors Field. Right now, I can't stand these two guys.

In a way, I hate them more than A-Rod or Sheff. While A-Rod might be an arrogant jerk, the guy is still one of the best players in the game. So you expect the guy to do very well, though you always hope he has an off-year like last year.

But Chacon and Small? These guys are supposed to stink! They're supposed to give up 6 runs a game! Small is supposed to be a downgrade, not an upgrade from Mussina! What the heck is going on!?

I guess the only thing more irritating than an arrogant Yankee is an overacheiving Yankee.

-- After Friday night, I thought the A's had the series locked up. But it seems like the A's aren't the shoo-in they were just a few weeks ago. The injuries are starting to catch up to this team, as is the less-than-impressive offense. When it comes down to it, the offense is still about Eric Chavez and a few decent others. As in years past, the A's chances will hinge upon dominant starting pitching.

-- I don't know about you, but I'm dreading the Schilling game vs. the Junkees coming this Saturday. I've kinda given up on Schilling doing anything this year; though it would be something if the guy could step it up once again come October.

Did Snorre Overuse Mussina?

So, the latest injury to hit the Yankees' pitching staff has been to Moose. Mussina, of course, was the only one in the original rotation not to miss any starts. Until yesterday, that is.

And Mussina's injury is no big surprise. Heck, the guy's 36 years old, and had a stint on the DL last year, too. So while perhaps we could've expected Moose to make all his starts, no one should be surprised that the injury bug hit him again.

And I have a feeling that Snorre might have burned the guy out. His 101 pitches-per-game average is a bit lower than his career average (104) (although Moose only averaged 96 per game last year), so he hasn't been used more than in other years. But again, this is a guy who's not getting any younger, and who has had injuries in recent years. The guy can't do what he used to do.

This year, Mussina is 6th in the AL in pitches thrown. And most of the guys on that list are a lot younger, like Zito, Buehrle, Haren, and Freddy Garcia. The only other people Mussina's age or older in the AL's top 10 are Randy Johnson and Tim Wakefield (who, as a knuckleballer, doesn't really count).

Not surprisingly, Mussina is also 7th in the AL in pitches per inning, with 16.6. With a .282 BAA (a career high), the guy has had trouble getting out of innings quickly, which is taking a toll on his arm. So perhaps it's Mussina doing it to himself, in a sense. But again, Snorre, as manager, has to realize when to pull the guy out of the game.

And the guy has been used a lot in recent games. In 3 of 5 starts in July/August, Moose had 115, 122, and 115 as his pitch count for the game. These days, that's a heck of a lot for any pitcher. Especially for a 36 year old.

Who knows? Maybe Moose was bound to break down no matter what, no matter how much or how little he was used. But there's always room for speculation. Especially here.

--- Looks like Moose's injury was a blessing in disguise, at least for one game. If Small keeps this up, I'll be praying for Mussina to get back in there. When is Small gonna finally crack, like Chacon did in Safeco?

Seattle Split for Yanks

I said before this series that I would be very happy if the stinky M's got a split in this series. And so I am pleased with where things stand right now. Boston built up some breathing room in their lead over the Junkees, pulling 2 games ahead in the standings to their current 3 1/2 game lead. And now we have a three-way tie for the wild card.

I was surprised by the way things turned out this series. I figured the Junkees wouldn't score much against King Felix, but I thought they would hit like crazy against Seattle's awful pitchers, the same way they did back in May. But aside from the Juice Man's big game in game one, the Junkee bats were uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the series. Shemp in a little slump, which is why Snorre DH'ed him last night. Perhaps the big X-factor here is Robby Cano's struggle: the guy added some depth to the lineup, and his performance, along with Bernie and Posada's subpar performances, has caused the Junkees' lineup to become very top-heavy. It has also caused some annoying Yankee fans to shut up about their "incredible" farm system.

And I think it's safe to say that Tanyon Sturtze has officially turned into the '05 version of Paul Quantrill (who just got dumped by the Padres, BTW). I think Snorre is to blame for burning out his relievers. It cost him last year, especially when Gordon was awful in the ALCS. And so far, the guy hasn't learned much from his mistakes. And if you want to give Snorre a pass and say, "it's not his fault that the starters have stunk and that he had to go to the 'pen a lot," then you've got to pin the blame on Cashman. A $200 million team should not have to burn out their relievers.

So now we have a great series coming up: Oakland and the Junkees. The A's didn't fare to well against the Angels, but they are certainly a different team than the garbage the Yanks faced in May. The big question though is how much Crosby's injury will affect the A's. Someone on ESPN said that the turning point for the A's early in the year was when Crosby came off the DL. Then again, the pitchers are more locked in now than they were back then. And Eric Chavez wasn't hitting back then, either. Let's see what happens, and hope the A's, Angels, and Indians all win.

RJ Beats Up on AAA Team

This is from an ESPN chat:

Seymour, Brooklyn: So what do you think about the Yankees chances at the title with a dominant Unit?

Rob Neyer: (11:28 AM ET ) He looked great last night, albeit against what was, with the exception of Richie Sexson and Raul Ibanez, essentially a Class AAA lineup. Even if RJ's healthy, though, what about the rest of the rotation? Right now it's Wright, Leiter, Chacon, Small. The Yankees always have a puncher's chance, but considering their rotation they could also 13-17 down the stretch and watch the postseason on TV.

Ex-Red Sox: George's New Fetish

Back in the '90's and even till today, it seemed like George has had a serious ex-Met fetish. There were the high-profile signings of the likes of Darryl, Doc, and David Cone. Then there were bit players like Jose Vizcaino and Alberto Castillo. Ex-Met closers Benitez and Orosco put on the pinstripes for a short while in '03. George has also brought in the '99-'00 Met heroes in Zeile, Olerud, and Ventura. This year they brought in Leiter, another hero from that era. And new Yankee Matt Lawton? The guy the Mets got for Rick Reed a few years ago. Remember when the Junkees gave Sid Fernandez a spring training invitation? What a disaster.

But with the signing of Embree and now Bellhorn, it seems like George is now fixated on the Red Sox. And as my compadre the Despiser pointed out, George likes guys who punished his team in the playoffs, like Wright, Pavano, etc. And Bellhorn certainly fits the bill there, too.

Thing is, Bellhorn was at best mediocre in his tenure with the Red Sox. And looking at his career numbers, Bellhorn has had a good year or two, and that's it. This year, the guy simply stunk. Todd Walker in '03 was a much better offensive player, though his defense was awful. And people forget he had plenty of whiffs during the playoffs last year. Theo Epstein has made another classic under-the-radar move in getting Graffanino, filling what had been a pretty big hole in the lineup. And with Alex Cora to back up, the Red Sox won't miss Bellhorn.

The Junkees were stupid to get Embree, who has made the Yankee fans pine for the days of Felix Heredia. Okay, he hasn't been that bad, but he's still been quite awful.

And Bellhorn too, seems like a PR move, and not much else. I don't see how the .215 bat of Bellhorn will do much to spell the slumping Robby Cano. Maybe he's better than Escalona, but even that's debatable.

Thing that scares me about George's new fetish: the possibility of Johnny Damon in pinstripes next year. If that happens, hopefully George overpays and Johnny underperforms.

--- I am officially rooting for the Mets in the NL wild-card race. The only thing better than a Yankee-free October would be to have the Mets be the one and only NY team playing in October. Oh, what I would do to see New York turn back into Mets town....

Yankee-free October in Jeopardy

It was just 10 days ago when all was well for the Yankee haters of the world. The Junkees had lost a couple of sloppy ones to the Devil Rays, the usually calm Joe Snorre busted a gut, and the Red Sox had a pretty comfortable lead over the Junkees. And for the first time since 1993, perhaps we could really look forward to the postseason.

But now, the Junkees are looking like a threat once again. They beat the White Sox, took 3 from the Jays, and are poised for a sweep of the Royals. And the Juice man has hit two dingers today. I guess with Palmeiro out of the news again, he's back in true Giambaby form. Even though the Royals will probably go down with the '03 Tigers as one of the worst teams in history, I was hoping they could pull off a sweep like they did earlier in the year. But the rules of nature kicked in: if you go up against a team with 7 times the payroll you've got, chances are that you will not do too well.

The only hope I see now is the difficulty of the Yankees' upcoming schedule. I'm not too optimistic about the four-game set against the crappy Mariners; I'll be happy if the M's can split this one. Then there's Oakland, which should be an excellent series. The Junkees face those pesky Rays six times after that, with a Boston series in between. The Junkees have been streaky this year, and right now they're on a roll. Let's hope some tough opponents knock 'em off their feet.

Inconsistent Moose Does It Again

For all the money this guy is making, the Yankees deserve more. The guy's making more than guys like Dontrelle Willis and Chris Carpenter, who almost always guarantee a win when they get out there. And Moose is making more than ex-teammate Andy Pettitte, who's also more reliable. And getting blown out against the Blue Jays, who have simply stunk the past few nights, made Moose's outing even more of an embarrassment.

When it comes down to it, even the biggest Yankee hater has to admit that Mussina is undoubtedly one of the better pitchers in the league. But is he a big-time starter? Not anymore. Not with an ERA north of 4.00. And no, you don't pay someone $19 million just to be one of the better starters of the game. You pay that kind of money for someone of at least all-star caliber. And Moose has not been on that level for the Junkees this year.

No Yankee fan can look back at Mussina's signing without at least a tinge of disappointment. Don't get me wrong, Moose's signing wasn't as disastrous as the Junkees getting Johnson, Brown, or Pavano. But everyone expected more from the guy.

--- Last night's Junkee loss, Tribe loss, and A's win puts everyone again in a three-way tie for the wild card lead. The A's have to get hot again. And the Indians aren't the friggin' Yankees: they have no excuse for getting their butts kicked by the AAA-Rays. C'mon!

Weird Win for Yanks

It was a weird night tonight. First, I never thought I'd see the day that Felix Escalona would make YES' Yankees Classics. And Mo had another bad outing tonight. Weirdest of all was seeing Al Leiter out there in the 7th. For a second I thought it was Game 5 of the 2000 World Series all over again.

The Blue Jays are just not a good team. This is a team that has built a winning record on Roy Halladay and smoke and mirrors. Now, with Halladay on the shelf, it's all smoke and mirrors. With Delgado gone, there's no real scary bat in the lineup. Maybe Vernon Wells, but he's nowhere near the slugger Delgado was in his prime. And guys like Hudson, Hillenbrand, and Russ Adams are good players, but not so reliable for the big hit. And aside from Halladay, no one on the pitching staff is that great. Guys like Towers and Lilly are serviceable, as is closer Miguel Batista. Serviceable, yes. Good, no.

At least the Indians won again. Seems like they're the team to root for, especially with the A's starting to revert to May form. If their hitting stays hot, the Indians can go a long way. Hafner provides them with a big bat, Martinez has gotten better as the season's gone on, and guys like Peralta and Sizemore are solid. They're not quite the 1990's Indians, but they're a solid team through and through. And their starting pitching may be better, especially with Westbrook recovering from a dreadful start of the year. And if they make the wild card, Mark Shapiro ought to be mentioned along with Beane and Epstein as one of the game's better GMs. Heck, in my book, he's up there for dumping Robby Alomar on to the Mets. But then again, Alex Escobar went about as far as Shawn Abner. So go figure.

Randy Dominates Again

Face it, Junkee fans, the guy is finished. He's done. I bet he does not last through his contract. The Junkees will buy him out, and send him to an early retirement. And his trade and subsequent signing will go down as the biggest bust in New York sports history, if not in all of professional sports history. If he has his typical Randy Johnson season, the Yankees are in first place by a lot. Instead, they might not even make the postseason.

The weekend was starting to look dreary, as the Yankees won the first two, the Red Sox lost one and the A's lost one. But on Sunday, the Red Sox won, so the lead is back to 4. Now I know that it'll be frustrating if the Junkees make it, even as the wild card, but that's still good because they'll have to play the White Sox and face Buhrle and Garland in Chicago. And Contreras owns them, so as long as Boston holds the lead in the division, it won't be that bad. But of course, nothing would beat a Yankee-free October!

And as far as the Snorre rumors, I hope he stays, because he's a lousy manager, and if he goes, they might actually bring in someone decent.

Junkees Take Two From Struggling Sox

I know Junkee fans are ready to get excited about beating the AL's best team two out of three. They ought to take a closer look at some of the factors in play here:

- It's no coincidence that the White Sox' biggest slide of the year came with Scott Podsednik on the shelf. No offense to Timo Perez, but their offense was shot without Podsednik. The guy is about as big a table-setter as there is in the majors today. This series reminded me of the '01 ALCS. The Yankees were able to keep Ichiro off base, and just like that the 116-win juggernaut called the Seattle Mariners became just another footnote in the oblivion of baseball history. This series, the Yanks had it better than back in '01: they didn't even have to face Podsednik, who helped win the rubber game of the last Yanks-White Sox series. And even John Flaherty (in a pre-game interview) admitted that it was a huge factor in the series. So the Yanks caught a break. They caught a tail-spinning White Sox team, and were able to take full advantage of that. And by hitting 4 HR off Johnson, the White Sox didn't quite win today's game the Ozzieball way.

With that in mind, Sunday's loss is a big embarrassment for the Junkees. Johnson stunk again, giving up home runs like they were going out of style. Randy Johnson is probably the biggest high-profile disappointment the Junkees have acquired in a long, long time.

- And here's hoping Shawn Chacon turns out to be another Javier Vazquez. Vazquez also started off hot when he switched leagues. Heck, most fans forget that Snorre put him on the '04 All-Star team. Then again, anyone in pinstripes has a chance to go when Snorre's manager. Anyway, once AL batters got used to Vazquez, he struggled, his mechanics got screwed up, and his Yankee career was over.

Most people facing Chacon have never seen the guy before. The guy has very good stuff. So of course people will struggle, having never seen him. Maybe Chacon can go till the end of the year baffling hitters like he currently is. But will it last in '06? There's a good chance it won't.

- One more point on Chacon: If Snorre were smart, he would put this guy in the pen. Sturtze and Gordon are tired, and Chacon has had lots of bullpen experience. Heck, he even saved 25 games for the Rockies a few years ago. Aaron Small has never had bullpen experience, and it cost the Yankees Wednesday night. If Snorre is so set on on keeping old man Al Leiter in the rotation, he may as well put Chacon's relief-experienced arm in the pen. But instead, he's letting Aaron Small turn into Sterling Hitchcock. A job well done, Snorre.

Another Bullpen Beauty

Joe Snorre is an idiot. That says it all. He takes out Aaron Small from the rotation - the starter who's pitched most consistently lately - and leaves in Al Leiter, who always works with a high pitch count, thereby taxing the pen, and that's what happened tonight.

Leiter was through after 5, so they turned it over to Small. The guy stunk tonight, Embree was his usual self (did the Red Sox know what they were doing when they dumped him? I think so), and Sturtze is way over his hot streak. Funny how I don't hear Sterling go on and on about the greatness of the Grand Tanyon anymore. And the Junkees can't run Rivera and Gordon out there every night, so the scrubs give away another one.

Again, I can't complain. Sure, a Red Sox win and an Oakland victory would make this one hell of a night, but this is beautiful. And now they can shut up about Aaron Small.

Granted, the Devil Rays had their share of luck over the last two games, but the Junkees always seem to lead the league in luck, so it's only fair. We're closer to a Yankee-free October!

Mo Blows One and Proctor's Done

What a game last night. Johnson actually pitched well (which doesn't mean much against a team that's 30 games under .500), and then Mo came in. Can you say, "here we go again"?

Then Eduardo Perez came up and changed everything. Perez belongs in the annals of the great Yankee killers over the years, including Juan Gonzalez, Jay Buhner, and Edgar Martinez.

And Mariano is officially off his game right now. Nobody is dumb enough to say the guy is done. We thought so in April, and then Mo reeled off about 30 scoreless innings in a row. That sure shut everyone up. But recently, he's blown a couple of saves, and don't forget that loss against the White Sox last Wednesday. The guy is giving up a lot more fly balls than usual. So even though Mo isn't done, it's nice to see him slumping. And right before September, no less: he couldn't have picked a better time to go south.

And Scott Proctor's Yankee career is over. George does not like guys who give up walk-off hits or walks. In '03, Weaver gave up a walk-off shot to Alex Gonzalez; that was it for his Yankee career. Earlier this year, Stanton gave one up to Brian Roberts; two days later, goodbye. Can you say, "designated for assignment"?

Wright's Night

So I guess for one night, the normal order of the universe was restored. The Junkees were actually able to beat the AAA-Rays. Not so normal, though, was Wright's performance. The guy pitched damn well, and Mo was able to hold off a potential rally for the save. (Meanwhile, Schilling couldn't quite get the job done.)

So let's watch the Yankee fans get excited about Wright beating up one of the worst teams of the game. Let's see them get all hyped up over nothing.

And hopefully, we'll see Wright go the way of Leiter; one good beginning start, and not much else to follow.

Yanks Beat Up on AAA Pitchers

Well, to be fair, the Red Sox did the same a few days ago, so I can't go too crazy.

What else happened this weekend ... Mariano finally blew a save! When that happens, that's got to be the most satisfying thing to see. Just a day before, I saw a chart in the paper of longest streaks of saves converted. Well, he's got to start all over now. But to me, it's more of the psychological boost that Mariano does not mean game over. Most of the time, yes, but not always.

I hope Bernie keeps his hot streak going long enough for the Junkees to sign him for next year, so he could stink up the joint again.

Leiter was very shaky on Friday, but he got the win, so in Snorre's book, he's better than Small (can't wait for Jaret Wright to come back and get lit up), so that's good.

Has anyone noticed that John Flaherty is hitting .165 this year?

All in all, you can't be too happy because the bottom line is that they did win four games and gain a little ground in the playoff race, and as much as Tampa Bay has owned them this year, you know that the $208 million team always has a better chance against a $30 million payroll club, so everyone pray.

Now They Can't Hit

Another few losses, and it'll be crisis-time in Junkee land again. And as long as the Sox, Indians and A's keep winning, I'll be quite happy with that.

Thing that struck me about the White Sox series: the Junkees couldn't hit. And this was without facing their two best starters, Garland and Buehrle. Cano's been slumping for a while (6 for his last 43 = .141), Shemp's been off his game (3-21), and even the Juice man's bat was quiet this series (1-9). Bernie's bat has been dead. And Jorge Posada is aging fast (.247, .332 OBP). The Junkees have survived their pitching problems simply because of their offensive prowess. But if their offense continues to waste gems like Small and Chacon pitched, they'll be out of it real soon. Maybe their bats will wake up against Texas, who gave up 35 runs in the Boston series. But with Proctor and Leiter pitching, will it even be enough, against one of the best offensive teams in the game?

-- So much good stuff yesterday. Another botched ball by Bernie. Mo blowing a game for the first time in ages (the way Joe used him, you know he was dying to win this one). Fans calling up WFAN and ripping Snorre. Another Sox win.

Best part of it all? Getting to see Jaret "I miss my Mazzone" Wright make his return to the rotation. (Wonder if the Junkees are stupid enough to bump Small to make room for Wright, which may be a non-issue if RJ stays on the shelf.) Wright starts against the Rays next week. I guess that's gonna be another series win for Tampa Bay.

George Bashes Snorre

Yankee despisers have felt, for years, that Snorre is overrated. Apparently, George agrees. He said, "I'm not pleased with the manager. I don't know why they kept the left-hander in there. ... He should never have pitched to Konerko. Konerko's their best hitter."

He's right! Alas, there was no Junkee magic in Tuesday night's 2-1 loss to the White Sox. When they rallied in the ninth, it reminded me of a hundred games I'd seen over the years, except when Bernie lined out to end it, the result was different.

And I don't want to hear any whining about injuries now that Old Man Johnson will miss another start. The Red Sox were prepared for injuries and the like, with Wade Miller in waiting, Bronson Arroyo stepping in for Shilling.... And that's with a payroll $70 million less than Old York's. Besides, the way RJ was pitching, did you really want him out there? I know I do, but right now, he's the 4th best starter on the Junkees. And don't be shocked if we don't see Carl Panavo out for a year or two. Gotta love it!

Contreras Tells Yanks Where To Go

What a long, strange trip it's been for Contreras. There was the whole Yankees/Red Sox competition in trying to get him, culminating in the Yanks winning out, the famous "evil empire" line by Lucchino, and George making up stories about Theo Epstein. Then Contreras starts pitching for the Junkees, beats the Tigers and Devil Rays, and gets rocked by the Red Sox and any other half-decent team out there. The Junkees get fed up, ship him out for Loaiza, and Contreras does decently for the White Sox. Then, last night, first time facing his old team, Contreras is lights out. Sweet!

In the end, though, it was pickup of the year Alan Embree making the difference in the game, giving up a big HR to Konerko. Too bad the Junkees gave up on Damaso Marte, a much better lefty than Embree. But it was worth it, just for Enrique Wilson, right?

A thrilling Red Sox win puts the Junkees 4 1/2 back. And the Junkees and the Indians are both 3 1/2 out of the wild card.

Anyone notice the Mets (3 back) are closer to the wild card than the Yanks?

-- I'm counting on the White Sox to help bring back the real Aaron Small today. Gotta do better than they did against Chacon.

Junkees Hit the "10 Over" Mark

I could be pretty upset right now. The Junkees won another close one, A-Rod had another homer, and they beat the White Sox. And Junkee fans are getting all excited about being 10 games over .500 for the first time all year.

But look at it this way. If I would've told you in December that the Yanks wouldn't be 10 over till August, you would have thought I was nuts. The past bunch of years, the Yanks got to 10 over in May or June. The anniversary of the '94 strike is coming up; when the games stopped, they were 70-34, a lot better than they are now.

My guess is that '95 was the last time they got to 10 over so late in the year. And comparing this year to '95, the team was in a different direction then. Their big pitching acquisition of the summer was David Cone, not Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon. This team will not pull off a September run like the '95 Junkees did.

And if the season ended tomorrow, the Junkees would be home for October for the first time since the Spike Owen era. Even in a year where A-Rod, Rivera, and Sheff are all putting up MVP-caliber numbers. So things are not that bad.

-- The Yanks are lucky they're missing Garland and Buehrle this series. I don't care if the Junkees win two of three here; they wouldn't stand a chance against the White Sox in a playoff series.

Bob Ryan on Dave Roberts' Steal

I mentioned this play in passing last week, and now Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe has a whole piece on it. Roberts' steal in Game 4 might have been the most important play for the Sox in the ALCS. Check it out here.

Small, Leiter Save Junkees

If by some chance the Junkees make the playoffs this year, Joe Snorre has to make Aaron Small the #1 starter. I can't stand the guy. Just when you think he'll actually fall back to earth and become the AAA-level pitcher he's been, he throws another solid game. He better start stinking it up soon enough; the guy is driving me crazy.

But overall, not a bad weekend. Seeing the Unit get rocked makes up for seeing Small and Leiter pitch well. Especially considering how the Yanks have millions invested in him, and are paying Leiter and Small the minimum.

The Junkees only pick up a game on the Red Sox, and are still 4 out behind the A's/Angels for the wild card. The Sox stunk it up this weekend, especially with a Met-esque performance on Saturday night. But 3 and 1/2 is still a pretty good lead. And with the Yanks taking on the White Sox, maybe these teams can gain some ground in the races.

Mike Lupica on Juice-on Giambaby

Cloud of mystery will continue to hover over Giambi
You want to know the high cost of steroid use? Jason Giambi is the high cost, even if he never serves one of those 10-game suspensions, even if he never loses a day of salary because of a positive drug test. Giambi is the high cost of steroids because even when he is hitting the ball the way he is hitting the ball now, which is the way he used to, he is still a suspect.
He has never admitted to steroid use, at least not in broad daylight. All we have to go on with him is leaked grand jury testimony to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. And since there is no provision for leaked grand jury testimony in baseball's collective bargaining agreement, Giambi does not fall into the category of players who can be tested more frequently "for cause."
The truth is, he should want to be tested all the time, as a way of convincing people that he is clean. But even if that happened, he would still be a suspect, because there will be enough people who will not believe him when he says this is only about hard work, who will believe instead that Giambi is taking some kind of human growth hormone that shows up only in blood tests, which baseball is not allowed to administer. Or that he is ahead of the curve with some sort of new designer steroid that is undetectable in urine tests, this year's version of hGH, the last designer steroid that was supposed to rock everybody's world.
Even Giambi has to understand that he is expecting us to take an awful lot on faith these days, starting with this: Without any medical help, without trips to the chemist, he looks exactly the same and hits exactly the same as he was when he was on the juice, when he was the kind of slugging MVP guy who could eventually command $120 million from the Yankees.
This isn't about fair or unfair. This is the way it works in the real world. All over baseball, we see other suspects who don't look nearly as muscular, as beefed-up, as they used to. We see ballplayers shrinking before our eyes. We don't have positive tests on them, either. We just know what we see in their bodies and in their power numbers. And, of course, we follow the saga of Barry Bonds, who might become one of the first players in all of recorded history to take an entire year off because of his particular knee problem.
After the news about Rafael Palmeiro hit this week like a force-five baseball hurricane, Giambi was asked about suspicions still directed at him.
"I really don't care, to be honest with you," he told reporters in Cleveland.
Then he said, "If somebody wants to shortchange (his offensive production over the last month or so), that's their problem, not mine."
He ought to care. And it is his problem. Maybe it would be different if Giambi had ever answered one question honestly about steroid use, during that period when he nearly tore a rotator cuff trying to pat himself on the back for being a standup guy for that February press conference at Yankee Stadium. But he has never admitted to anything, as a way of protecting his contract status with the Yankees. A few months ago, the Yankees couldn't give him away. Now he is the "resurgent Giambi," which is the way general manager Brian Cashman referred to him the other day during a phone conversation we were having.
The truth about Jason? The truth is we're never going to have the whole truth about Jason. He has his power numbers again and we still have our questions. Everybody else has shrunk except him, and that isn't a witch hunt, and that doesn't diminish the work he's done. It's just the way things are.
They asked Giambi about Palmeiro in Cleveland and this is what he said:
"My heart goes out to him and his family."
Why?
Because Palmeiro is another standup guy in the world of jockdom? It was reported in the New York Times the other day that both Mike Mussina and Ruben Sierra, both of whom were teammates of Palmeiro's once, believed Palmeiro's version of things, that he took something unintentionally. Sure he did. It happens with Stanozolol all the time. Here is the truth about Stanozolol, because drugs don't lie even if drug users lie all the time: It is a powerful steroid that is not found in dietary supplements. Palmeiro unintentionally took Stanozolol the way guys go into bars at the cocktail hour and unintentionally drink martinis.
So here we are with Giambi, taking it all on faith. But then hasn't that always been the case with him? We took it on faith that he was apologizing for steroids, even though he never did. We took it on faith once that he had lost only a few pounds between the end of the 2003 season and the beginning of the 2004 season, even if he looked like a wide receiver after all the years when he looked like a tight end. We were supposed to take it on faith that he had some kind of benign tumor, even though he couldn't tell us what kind.
We were told in February by Giambi and his agent Arn Tellem - he also has Palmeiro, and must be awfully proud of his guys - that Giambi couldn't answer questions about drugs because of the ongoing BALCO investigation. Well, there is no ongoing BALCO investigation anymore. They have made it clear out there that no further witnesses will be called now that Martha Stewart time has been handed down to Victor Conte.
This would be a perfect time, considering Giambi's offensive stats, for him to give us some answers. If not, he can't get indignant because we still have our questions.

Are Pitchers Figuring Out Cano?

For much of the year, Robby Cano has been surprisingly good. When he came up during the Junkees' first shakeup in May, I thought maybe he'd be better than Womack. But the guy's been damn good, perhaps a borderline ROY candidate. Junkee fans haven't been so excited about a rookie (not counting Shemp, who wasn't a real rookie anyway) in a long, long while.

But in the past week, Cano's been awful. A 3-for-28 slide has pulled his average down 17 points. Then there was that incident where he was reading the paper while talking to reporters. I didn't see what the big deal was with that, especially considering that Cano is teammates with such media-friendly folks as Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown.

But what I found most interesting was what Waldman said yesterday: pitchers are starting to change the way they approach Cano. For example, they're starting to throw pitches way outside to see if the guy can chase it. And so far, it's worked.

Who knows? If Cano is for real, he'll make the necessary adjustments and start hitting again. Otherwise, he'll turn out to be more Angel Berroa than Derek Jeter.

------ Painful game last night. I especially hated seeing A-Schmuck and the Juice man getting homers. But with the A's and Sox winning, at least the Junkees didn't gain any ground in the races.

Go Moneyball!!

I've never been a fan of Moneyball. I like aggressive baseball: stolen bases, sacrifice bunts, and stuff like that. Besides, no Moneyball team has ever won a playoff series. And the teams that have won the World Series have been anti-Moneyball models, filled with base-stealers like Dave Roberts, Juan Pierre, and David Eckstein. If not for Roberts' stolen base in game 4 of last year's ALCS, there still might be a curse today.

And watching Moneyball teams can be downright boring. I hate watching the station-to-station style. When the Blue Jays made 3 sacrifice bunts all year a few years ago, they were about as exciting as their hockey counterparts, the Maple Leafs. No, that's not a good thing.

But because Moneyball teams like the A's have had success in the regular season, they're good for potentially knocking the Junkees out of the playoffs. The A's have a 3 game lead in the wild card, and the Blue Jays are just a game and a half behind the Yanks. The Jays have beaten some good teams lately, having swept the Angels and taken two from the White Sox. Let's hope they can beat up on the Junkees over the weekend.

And the A's now look totally different than they did when the Yanks were killing them in May. For me, their low point must have been when Kevin Brown shut them out for 7 innings. Now that's embarassing. Since then, though, they've gotten the last laugh from the Junkees, pulling ahead of them in the wild-card standings. Billy Beane's boys better pull this one out.

---- Sweet seeing the Yankees lose again last night, with some help from Aaron Boone. That team had been winning on fumes and thanks to the Angels' sloppiness; they're finally coming back down to earth. Anyone notice the Tribe is just a half-game behind the Junkees in the wild-card race? And that the Yanks are now 4 1/2 games behind Boston? Good times.

Leiter, Junkees Fall to Tribe

So much for the Junkee strategy of taking any pitcher who gets released. Leiter showed why he should have hung 'em up two years ago. Mad Dog Russo was right when he said that Leiter was shot.

The Junkees almost pulled it off, down 6-1, scoring 4, but they fell short this time, unlike in the Angels series, when they should have been swept, but Anaheim was sloppy, so New York stole a couple.

Now it's looking as if making the playoffs is no sure thing. They have no reliable starters (even Mussina hasn't been great), as Randy Johnson has not found any consistency. One good start, one bad one. Two good, one bad. Three good, two bad. That's been Randy's MO this season. Mussina has been better than he's been in previous years, but you still can't trust him. The Al Leiters are going to have Al Leiter type starts, so if I were a Junkee fan, I'd wait till 2006.

Juice-On Again?

With the news about Palmeiro bringing steroids back to the forefront, it's time for some speculation.

The Giambaby has done a complete 180 over the past few months, going from Mario Mendoza to Mickey Mantle, the last Yankee to hit 14 HR in a month. Suddenly, Giambi has become that feared MVP-level hitter the Yanks encountered back in 2001. Maybe even better. How does that happen? Did he suddenly just get more confident? A lot more confident? Is Donnie Baseball that good? And why has the Tino Martinez fadeaway not happened yet?

After Giambi BS apology about nothing a few months ago, who knows. It's time for more speculation. Besides, BALCO's designer steroids, undetectable in baseball's testing, should prevent Giambi from having an embarrassing moment like Palmeiro. Maybe instead of going back to AAA in May, Giambi went back to the juice. And with designer steroids, can we really know whether Giambi is on the stuff? We can't.

The way Yankee fans are treating the guy, you'd think he'd have come clean. Remember when the BALCO grand jury testimony leaks came out in the offseason? Yankee fans were ready to kill the guy. Do these fans really know whether Giambi is off the juice? I doubt it. And I doubt they care.

A Pretty Dead Deadline

With all due respect to Matt Lawton and Geoff Blum, it was the most boring trading deadline in a few years. I think that works out better for Yankee despisers; Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon are not carrying this team to the playoffs.

Also, it was a weird weekend. The Junkees took two of three from the Angels, but lost a game in the standings. They probably should have lost Saturday, but were lucky to face K-Rod on a really bad day. And even though they won today, there was plenty of good news. After Johnson's last start against Minny, I got a little scared. Sure, the Twins' offense is terrible, but to give up just 2 hits and fan 12 is damn good no matter what. And when he started today with 5 K's in two innings, I thought it would be another vintage RJ start. Not quite. Johnson has now given up 23 HR on the year, and showed that he's still not consistent. Didn't think Shawn Chacon was gonna do better than he did.

With Moose getting a loss and RJ stinking it up, it was good to see the Yanks' big two do poorly. All we need now is for Small to get back down to earth, and Chacon, too.

-- As for the Embree deal, after the Sox dumped him, I had a hunch that the Yanks were gonna pick the guy up. After all, it would be quite the PR move to get an ex-Red Sox, to get one of the guys that helped bring on the choke last year. But then I thought, Cashman can't be that stupid. Embree had a 7.00 ERA and looked done. But apparently, Cashman was that stupid. Again, the Yanks are lucky that K-Rod had a huge off-night Saturday night. Otherwise, he might've been able to pitch Sunday and perhaps help the Halos to a sweep.

-- Series I'm looking forward to: Yanks-Toronto next weekend. The Jays have quietly pulled ahead of the O's, and swept the Angels last week. All without their ace, Roy Halladay. Sure, they lost a couple to Texas this weekend, but I thought they'd fall apart after Halladay got hurt. Glad I was wrong about that one.

Hideo Nomo - Another Winner

Once again, as I said with Leiter, Ca$hman is putting himself in a win-win situation by signing a guy whose ERA over the last two years is 7.70, which, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark, is the highest ERA for a pitcher who has pitched this much in 75 years.

So if Nomo stinks, he'll say, hey, what did you expect? We were desperate, and he was the best option out there. If he does okay, then Ca$hman will tell you what a genius he is for picking up a guy off the scrap heap.

That they have no one to trade for a decent pitcher is an embarrassment.

Short Leiter Start Dooms Yankees

So far, looks like Leiter's had two good starts, to go with one bad. After all, one run in 5 innings: not too bad, huh?

But with a Yankees bullpen that doesn't go much further than Sturtze, Gordon, and Rivera, a 5-6 inning pitcher won't cut it. And Mets fans know that, more often than not, Leiter is a 5-6 inning pitcher. And once you factor in the DH (which he didn't have to deal with in the NL), forget it.

And Leiter's short start is exactly what killed the Yanks. It was a close one till Sturtze and Proctor came in. If not for those two, maybe the Junkees would've won it against Rincon.

Leiter's presence might wear out the pen. Sturtze didn't do so well last night, and perhaps it was merely, in the words of Pedro Martinez, "a bad day at the office." Or is the guy tiring out?

With that in mind, Yankee fans can't get too excited about Leiter. At least now they can go crazy about Nomo. Brian Cashman is certainly excited: "He's one of the premier pitchers of probably all time." I guess when half your team is over 35, you can start thinking that it's 1998 all over again. Just remember: if someone sucks too much for Tampa Bay, they're probably not that good.

Lack of Money Catching Up to Twins?

For a few years now, Yankee fans have used the Twins as a way of showing that money does not buy championships. After all, the Twins have been able to make the playoffs annually, despite having a small payroll! This year, however, it appears that the lack of money may finally do them in.

Every winter, another few Twins are forced to jump ship. We've seen David Ortiz, Eric Milton, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, Bobby Kielty, A.J. Pierzynski, and others go elsewhere. But amazingly, the Twins have always found a guy to fill in the holes, be it with Joe Nathan, J.C. Romero, or Joe Mauer. This past winter, it was Corey Koskie and Cristian Guzman who left. And in terms of replacements, the Twins haven't been as lucky as in the past, and it's hurting the team.

Koskie hit 25 HR last year. This year, with Cuddyer (5 HR) at third, that void of production is not being filled. And at SS, the Jason Bartlett experiment didn't pan out, leaving Juan Castro to play there instead. While Castro broke up Johnson's no-hitter last night, his average is still a miserable .249. And while the Twins probably don't regret giving up Guzman, considering how awful he's been for the Nationals, the guy did put up a pretty good .274 mark in '04. Maybe he would have done better staying in the AL and staying out of RFK.

The pitching has been the same as last year, perhaps a little better. But unless Santana goes on another incredible 2nd half run, the Twins may have trouble making the playoffs again.

And people forget that, after winning the Central so many times, the Twins have only one playoff series victory to show for it: beating the equally-October-inept A's in '02. The Twins have been good enough to beat the garbage teams in the Central (till the White Sox' emergence this year), with the unbalanced schedule giving them more shots at beating the Royals. But when it comes to October, they're simply overmatched.

Their biggest problem: no big bat in the lineup. No A-Rod, no Shemp, no Manny, no Vlad. Does Torii Hunter scare you in a big spot? Does Jacque Jones? Justin Morneau? Didn't think so.

And these guys cannot afford to sign any big names. Aside from Terry Mulholland and Bret Boone, this team is full of home-grown players. They've been able to lock up Santana and Radke, but have never been players in any big-name free agent over the past few years.

So don't tell me the Twins are proof that the system is fair. If Terry Ryan had $200 million at his disposal, he'd probably do a lot better than Cashman.

Angels Send Yankees a Step Backwards

Till Sunday, it was a very good weekend. But even after Sunday, it was still a pretty good weekend.

Simply put, the Angels took advantage of the Yankees' weaknesses. On Thursday night, they took advantage of the Yanks' lack of bullpen depth by loading the bases against Proctor, then having Vlad hit a grand slam off Flush Gordon. And I can't give the Yankees a pass just because Johnson had to leave early. A team with a $200 million payroll should have a rock-solid bullpen, and should be built to deal exactly with situations like these. With all the failures of guys like Proctor and Franklin, nobody has given Cashman a hard time. But the guy has year in and year out screwed up the bullpen. Aside from Tanyon Sturtze (which may have been a stroke of luck, anyway), Cashman has never been able to get the man for the bullpen in mid-season. Seems like it's an issue every year for the Junkees. And while the Red Sox have gotten Bradford and are pursuing J.C. Romero, the Yankees are hoping for another Robby Cano-like prospect to suddenly shine in the bullpen. Surely this $200 million behemoth could do better.

After that, the Halos knocked around Leiter and Brown. Anyone who thought Leiter would pitch like he did against Boston was simply delusional. The guy couldn't do a thing in one of the biggest pitcher's parks in the NL, and you expect him to switch leagues, go to a smaller park, and actually improve? Come on. And Brown was Brown, as always. After starts like that, Junkee fans just hope he doesn't do anything stupid and that his hand stays intact.

Even with all the injuries that have happened to Yankee starters, I can't give Cashman a free pass there, either. Although the Wang thing was unexpected, Wright, Brown, and Pavano came into the Yankee organization with injury-filled histories. While Pavano has been healthy the past few years, anyone who thought Wright and Brown would last the year without a DL trip was simply out of their mind. And if RJ's back or knee acts up, it would be hard to me to give Cashman a pass there, either. Some injuries are freak occurrences; others are simply inevitable.

Shemp came along and ruined Sunday, but 3 out of 4 is still sweet. Give Moose credit for a well-pitched game, and hopefully he'll get knocked around next time out.

--- The Orioles are officially done. Getting swept by the Rays was their way of signing off on the 2005 season. Wait til' next year. And I was satisfied with the Sox splitting their series with Chicago. You can't expect much more than that when you're facing the league's best.

-- As for the origin of "Junkees": I grew up with my big brother Lloyd referring to the Yanks with that name, and my usage of that moniker is a tribute to the guy. Be kind, folks: Lloyd is a long-suffering Mets fan.

Baseball: Only major sport without salary cap

The NHL just made a deal that includes a salary cap. The NBA has had a salary cap for years. Ditto for the NFL.

That leaves Major League Baseball as the only sport without one.

The other sports realized that you need it in order for things to be fair. Different sized cities bring in different revenues, so in order to not have one team dominating for many years, you level the playing field. In basketball, there's no way San Antonio sniffs the Finals without a salary cap. Otherwise, Tim Duncan is a Knick, and it's the Knicks against the Lakers every year.

But there's no need to beat a dead horse. We all know how the Junkees buy themselves a playoff spot every year. The owners wanted a salary cap in 2002, but did not want a strike after 9/11, so now with the CBA expiring in 2006, let's hope the owners of the Devil Rays, Pirates, Blue Jays, and all the other small-market teams all converge and do what they have to do.

That Was Quick

So, we can all breathe easier now. The Junkees are back where they belong. No, not quite. Not till the Orioles run past them in the standings.

Last night was the kind of game I was waiting to see for a while. Lind of like the games we saw in April and June, when the Yankees would get shut down by some bad pitcher. Last night, it was Chan Ho Park doing the honors. But he was matched by Moose for 6 innings. And after Robby Cano got the big hit and Sterling and Waldman couldn't shut up about how great the kid is, I was thinking, "here we go again."

But thanks to Blalock, the Yankees wasted a very good start by Mussina. This is the kind of game that can lead to a slide. Especially when your stopper is Aaron Small. (Speaking of which, if this guy does well, the tabloids will go nuts with awful headlines like "Small Comes up Big" or "Big Game for Small." Sorry for ruining your day. And someone pass me the New York Sun and spare me the agony.)

Junkees in First, Barely

Oh, this is great for baseball. The $200 million behemoth is in first place. So much for parity, Mr. Selig. Just wait till the Nationals fall apart.

That said, the Yankee lead in first is about as tenuous as it gets. You have not one, but two clubs just a half game out. When the lack of pitching starts catching up to the Junkees, that lead will not last, unless both the O's and Red Sox do poorly. So who knows, maybe this is the just the Yankees' moment in the sun.

The only solace I have about the Yankees being in first is that in March, I predicted they would end up there. But I sure hope I end up wrong on that one.

Lousy Weekend Wrap-up

(a) I have to give the $200 million team their props - they were certainly better than the Red Sox this weekend, as Boston came out flat as a pancake.

(b) The A-Rod homer off Shilling is no big deal - Shilling was just off the DL, had nothing on Thursday, so it's not that big a deal.

(c) Junkee fans are probably calling Ca$hman a genius for picking up Al Leiter when in reality, it was a no-lose move for Old York. If the guy does well - and let's not annoint the guy the next Warren Spahn after one start - then it was a great move. If he stinks the way he did in Florida, oh well, we picked him up off the scrap heap and only put him in there because we were desperate because of all the injuries. We didn't expect much from him anyway, blah blah blah. And of course, injuries are the reason the Yankees are losing, blah blah blah.

(d) Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina were lousy, but give Mariano his props.

(e) Let's see what happens over the next few games with Redding, Small, and all the other idiots. The Rangers are no slouches.

Also, I expect the Orioles to make some moves, based on what Buster Olney said on ESPN, and remember that Boston's farm system will take them farther than Old York's. So I'm not in panic mode - not yet. Get back to me in a couple of days, though....

Sox Lose Game, Junkees Lose Wang

It's here we go again time, folks. Another Junkees win over the Sox. Homers from the juice boys, Sheff and Giambaby. A-Schmuck finally had a big hit, this one off Schilling in a future YES Classic. Rivera gets the save against the Sox this time. Junkees only 1 and 1/2 out of first. Time to get excited about Palmeiro's run for 3,000 hits. I'd rather watch that.

But one other thing to watch will be how the Junkees respond to their most devastating injury yet, to Chieng-Ming Wang. I was reading Klapisch's piece about the guy on ESPN today, and interestingly, the fact he had shoulder surgery a few years ago stuck out at me. Not sure whether it has anything to do with today's injury (maybe the guy's just fragile?), but after calling the Yankees "lucky" the other day, I might have to take that one back. Whatever it is, their rotation is now officially a big mess. And Moose did not do too well tonight. Maybe things will get better before they get worse.

Top First Half Moments

As a Yankee despiser, I must say the current situation isn't great. The Orioles have gone south (although a healthy Bedard may change that), the Red Sox haven't been able to run away with the title yet, and with Halladay hurt, you can write off the Jays from the race. But with all that, it's been a great first half. Let's run through some of the better moments, in no particular order:

- After Giambaby's press conference about nothing, Sheffield tells the guy to "stop crying."

- Deja vu all over again: Mariano blows two in a row to the Red Sox.

- After bashing the Orioles throughout '04, the Yanks get swept in Camden Yards.

- After that, George says, "enough is enough"! Little did he know what was to come.

- Surprise, surprise. Jaret "I miss my Mazzone" Wright gets injured. Junkees waste another $21 million.

- Junkees lose three of four to the D-Rays, falling to 11-19.

- More deja vu: Yankees lose three of four to Tampa Bay again in June.

- Two words: Tony Womack.

- Two more words: Sean Henn.

- Watching Bernie attempt to play center.

- Watching E-Rod attempt to play third base.

-Watching Giambi attempt to play first base.

- Watching Giambi attempt to hit, for the first two months of the season. Then seeing him refuse to go to AAA.

- Randy Johnson stinking it up, then making excuses for his performance (days of rest between starts, Posada, etc.)

- Koo's double off Johnson.

- The bullpen implosion: Junkees waste millions on Karsay, Felix Rodriguez, Stanton, and Quantrill and replace them with no-names.

-Red Sox pummell Pavano and the Yanks, 17-1.

- George telling Cashman to go on the midwest road trip, only to watch the Royals sweep the Yankees, as the Junkees end up 3-9 on the trip.

- On that same road trip, George blasts Mel Stottelmyre.

- Seeing Pavano turn into Javier Vazquez redux.

- Seeing Tino Martinez turn back into a washed-up 37-year old.

- For the first time in years, the thought of a Yankee-free October.

Cashman's Full of Bull

I'm sorry, Peter Gammons and Manny Ortiz, but I don't believe for a minute that the Junkees are strapped for cash. Just because they didn't get Beltran? Cashman and co. thought that Bernie was still great (they are delusional sometimes), so they let him go elsewhere. Besides, Beltran never killed them in a big spot, as Tony Womack did, so that was also a factor. If the Astros offered Roger Clemens, do you really think the Junkees would turn them down? Come on.

I think this is a ploy. They know the CBA expires nect year, and teams like the Pirates and Brewers may push for a salary cap. That would end Junkee dominance, as they would not be able to buy all the stars, so George told Cashman to tell people that they have no money. This way, when 2006 rolls around, they'll say, there's no problem with disparity - even we have limits!

I hope no team falls for this. Without a salary cap, I pity those poor Devil Rays fans.

Strapped Again?

In Peter Gammons' latest piece, he quotes the Ca$hman as saying that part of the reason the Junkees built from within when they were struggling was that they couldn't afford to take on any new contracts. We heard rumblings like this before, when the Junkees didn't go after Carlos Beltran.

If this is the case, it'll be interesting to see if the Junkees will make any moves before the trade deadline. They clearly need help with starting pitching, center field, and can use a lefty in the pen. Plus, none of their high-salary players are movable (thank you Gary Sheffield). But if they struggle after the break, I'd be very surprised to see George just sit back and do nothing come July 31.

In a way, this news may be more of a curse than a blessing for Junkee-haters. After all, instead of depeleting the farm system for washed-up veterans, the Yankees are starting to revert to Stick Michael tactics, by bringing up Cano, Wang, and Cabrera. Although these guys have been good so far, there's still no way to know whether Cano is more Alfonso Soriano or Pat Kelly, or whether Wang is more Andy Pettitte than Scott Kamieniecki. But a young guy like Cabrera is definitely better out there than Tony Womack. If the Junkees can successfully build a team with a mix of veterans and youngsters, they might be able to win it all again.

Hopefully, by the time guys like Cano develop (if they do), we'll have a salary cap in place.

Finally, an All-Star Game without Snorre and Half his Team!

I don't care much for the All-Star game. With the abolition of the league presidencies, the success of interleague, and MLB.TV, the game has lost its luster. But it would tick me off every time Joe Snorre would bring half his team to the game. Heck, I think the only dynasty Yankee ever not to make the all-star team was Clay Bellinger!

Remember that year when they had five shortstops, just to get Jeter in even though Nomar and Tejada had better numbers? Ridiculous.

At least this year, the only Junkees at the game are the ones who deserved to make it, like Rivera and A-Schmuck. Shemp screwed up his numbers by not sitting down when he was slumping in May, and even the usual plethora of Japanese fan voters couldn't get him in. Jeter's been good, but not on the same level as Tejada.

And Terry Francona will be in the dugout, not Snorre. Hey, maybe I'll actually watch an inning or two this year.

------
Lousy weekend, this past one. Lousy. Worst thing for me was Halladay's injury. A year removed from losing 90 games and losing Delgado, the Jays have managed to stay in the race. With their ace out, it'll be a miracle if they hang in there. (Interestingly, the O's (Bedard), Sox (Schilling), and now the Jays have lost their best pitchers for a long period of time. The Yanks are lucky.)

Usual Trifecta Ends Junkees' Streak

Do I feel relieved to see the Junkees' win streak is over. And I loved the way it ended, in classic '05 Yankees style: bad starting pitching, bad D (by the new centerfielder, no less), and an inability to hit in the clutch (thanks, A-Rod). Maybe after a bizarre week when Jason Giambi was hitting 'em out like crazy, things are headed back to normal.

Which leads to my next point. Back in '98, everyone made a big deal about how Andy Pettitte was 15-0 after a Yankee loss (something like that, I forgot the exact number). Now, I don't know how much you can read into that: after all, maybe he just got more run support than the other pitchers, maybe he was just plain good that year. Or maybe the guy preceding him in the rotation stunk so he had a lot of opportunities to win games after losses.

But there is something to the stopper effect. For one thing, this year the Yanks have no Pettitte, and thus no stopper. Consequently, this has turned into a very streaky team, and oftentimes one loss has snowballed into a malaise of losses. And considering how characteristic yesterday's loss was, perhaps this Yankee team is once again headed for a dive.

---------------------------
I'm not the biggest Billy Beane fan out there, but it was great to see those guys sign Mark Kotsay long-term. If Cashman doesn't fix that situation by the end of the year, it just might be what costs this team a playoff spot.

Giambi's Hot Streak: Calm Down, Idiots

Man, you should have heard all the morons calling up Richard Neer on WFAN (he's the laid-back host who sounds like he's doing his show from a hot tub), asking whether they think Jason Giambi will continue his hot hitting throught the rest of the year.

First off, remember Tino? He was sizzling, and since then? Must have gone into the witness protection program, because I haven't seen or heard about him in a long while.

Giambi's been lousy for a long time. A few good games does not a slugger make. Besides, he hasn't done it in a big spot against any really good pitchers. So let's all calm down, all right? (Except for Mr. Neer, who's not just calm, he's serene.)

Melky: More Trade Bait?

The newest Yankee kid is 20-year old Melky Cabrera. What is the deal with the Junkees bringing him up? Are they really that desperate in CF? Apparently. Especially with Tony Womack looking like the worst Yankees signing since Dave Collins. But I have a feeling they're putting him on display for some other teams out there.

After all, now that Pavano has hit the DL, the Yanks' rotation is really in trouble. After spending millions on the rotation in the offseason, the only Yankee pitcher not to miss a start this year (since Opening Day) has been Mike Mussina. Pavano, who had a history of injuries prior to '03, is on the DL once again. Brown is on the DL as usual. And something always seems to be up with Randy Johnson: his calf, his back, whatever. And I know Yankee fans love Wang, but as the Despiser has said, the guy is not that great. Does any Yankee fan really want Wang on the mound in a big game against Boston in September? Come on.

And now that we're already in July, trade winds are coming. Jason Schmidt is on the block, and the floundering Orioles want him. Then there are the Sox, who are desperate for relief (and by the way, I like the Schilling idea). George is known for getting players not so much because he needs them, but to prevent other teams from getting them. But as it is, the Yanks' pitching situation is bad news.

(One good thing about the Astros' recent hot streak: it probably means there is no chance of Clemens going back to the Junkees.)

Plus, keep in mind that the Yanks face some very good hitting teams after the break in Texas, Boston, and the Angels. If the starters get battered, George will make sure a trade happens. And maybe giving Cabrera the same exposure as Wang and Cano will make him more appealing. If teams see him as a major-league caliber player, then his value goes up.

So is Melky really here to stay? We'll find out.

Big Tests Ahead for Junkees

So far this year, the Junkees have had a pretty easy schedule, with mixed results. They've beaten the M's, A's, and Tigers, while struggling against Tampa Bay and KC. But for the next few weeks, the Junkees will face nothing but teams over .500.

They start a 4 game set with Cleveland, who look like they'll be a big factor in the AL Wild Card race. After the All-Star break, it's 4 games against first-place Boston, then three against a very good hitting team, the Texas Rangers. Then, they play 4 against another good-hitting club, the LA Angels. Finally, the Junkees come home to face another contender, the Twins. Let's hope Santana gets to face 'em in this one. After that? 3 more against the Halos. And it doesn't get much easier in August, where the Junkees play 6 against the White Sox.

So before Yankee fans get too excited about being only 4.5 games back, they ought to hold their breaths and wait to see how their team does during this stretch. Because it sure won't be easy.

Will RJ Demand a 4-Man Rotation?

The way things have been for the Junkees so far this year, I wouldn't be surprised. I guess RJ will do anything to get that ERA under 4.00.

After this awful 2-game set, I feel that hate towards the Yankees that I haven't felt since that first series of the year. The Yankees have been more laughable than hateable since then. And perhaps they're still laughable now. But between their hitting BJ Ryan like he was Jesus Colome, Giambaby looking like his 2001 self, and RJ pitching well, it was a series to forget. Not to mention that it probably sealed the deal that the O's are done. Thank God for Mets-Nationals.

But who knows what will happen next. Maybe the surging Indians can stop the Junkees from gaining momentum. And maybe if the Junkees stay close, George will piss off all the fans by trading Wang and Cano. And even if the Junkees stay hot, perhaps the Sox and Twins can stave them off and make it a Yankee-free October.

And sometimes, the Yankees in October is not a bad thing. 2004 wouldn't have been nearly as sweet had the Yankees not made it. But this is all speculative. All I know is, right know, the Yankees are hateable again. Let's hope the Indians change that back to laughable.

More Sterling Stupidity: Crying Poverty

Hearing Sterling doing today's game reminded me of why I usually stick to the Schmets with Rose and Cohen. Before the Yanks staged a "here we go again" comeback, they were down 8-6 after Sturtze and the pen squandered a 6-0 lead. At that point, Sterling couldn't shut up about how "the Yankees simply didn't have enough pitching today." Like the Schmets' Ed Coleman, Sterling was busy making excuses for the Yankees' awful performance to that point.

But someone tell the guy that the "not enough pitching" excuse doesn't fly for a $200 million team. It doesn't fly for a team with a $10 million closer, while teams like Milwaukee are stuck with the Derrick Turnbows of the world. It doesn't fly for a team that spent millions on Quantrill, Karsay, and Gordon, and it surely doesn't fly for a team that can simply cut two of those guys without worrying about the money.

Anyone logical would've blamed Cashman. The Yankee pens of the past had plenty of arms, including Lloyd, Mendoza, Nelson, and Stanton (all who came up during the Bob Watson era). Nowadays, aside from Gordon and Rivera, it's all potluck. And $200 million should get you a lot better than potluck. But they don't think that way on al-Yankzeera.

Sterling Gives Snorre a Free Pass

I was listening to the game while Sturtze and Proctor were walking everyone, when Sterling started a tirade about how chemistry and managing are all baloney. It's all about pitching, he said.

If that's the case, John, then Joe Snorre doesn't deserve any credit for his championship run. He deserves no credit for leading those veteran teams. After all, he had some damn good pitching over the years, with Cone, Pettitte, Clemens, El Duque, Mussina etc.

It's amazing that when the Yankees win, you always hear about how Torre is a genius of a manager. Suddenly, this year, the Yankees stink up and hardly anyone gives Snorre a hard time. A while back we mentioned an article by Mike Lupica saying that Snorre should be held accountable for the Junkees' struggles. And Joel Sherman awarded Torre as runner-up in the AL anti-manager of the year category. But that's been it.

But then again, what do you expect from al-Yankzeera?

Stanton Cut: See I Told You So / Starters' Woes Continue

How many times did I write that the Junkees were idiots for picking up a washed up reliever who used to be good, but was completely useless now? How many times did I mock George for trying to relive the glory days of '96-'00?

Whoever thought Stanton had anything left has his hat on backwards. So maybe now they finally realize that the dynasty is long over, and it's time to turn the page. Besides, Mariano Duncan has no plans to come out of retirement, although I hear that Gerald Williams may be available for the right package of prospects.... And now with Quantill gone, it's satisfying to see the Junkees flush $7 million down the toilet. Imbeciles.

In other news, Randy got bombed yet again, and Mussina was unimpressive giving up 4 earned runs in 6 innings. How do you not just love it if you're me?

Now Pavano misses a start, so we'll have to listen to Junkee fans and apologists say that injuries have killed the Yankees this year, when Wright and Brown weren't exactly blowing hitters away when they were healthy (neither was Pavano, for that matter), so they actually catch a break by getting Wang to pitch Sunday, but overall, it just gets better and better for Yankee despisers. Granted, I would never count them out until they are officially eliminated from the playoffs, but how do they turn it around when their starters get lit up night after night after night? Delicious!