Nobody To Blame But Himself

Worst Haircut Ever!

I know I am a couple days late on this topic, but I have to weigh in on a few things after Saturday night’s game.  To begin, AJ stunk up Target field.  He was absolutely terrible and took the Yankees right out of the game within the first two innings.  There is no way to defend AJ’s pitching performance in this game, and the Yankees will need to make a big decision after this weekend as to who will remain in the starting rotation.  That’s for another post.

That all being said, I think the media did a terrible job handling this whole debacle between AJ and Girardi.  I watched the game and as I watched Burnett struggle in the 2^nd inning, I was surprised to see Girardi restrain himself long enough before pulling AJ.  Once Girardi got to the mound, we all saw Burnett speak his mind but the media really took it to a new level.  I know it’s the Yankees who have the limelight on them all the time and AJ is the biggest lightning rod on the team besides Arod, but it wasn’t a huge story to begin with.

Girardi and Burnett both said after the game that AJ wasn’t angry with Girardi but rather was angry with the home plate umpire for calling ball four to Joe Mauer.  Burnett thought the pitch was a strike along with Russell Martin who claimed the home plate umpire called that same pitch a strike all night long.  Burnett walked off the mound and cursed.  There was no real indication that AJ was cursing at Girardi and Girardi never got heated about it until after the game with the media.  AJ then went into the clubhouse and Girardi soon followed.  After the game, both AJ and Girardi said they were looking at the video.  There was never any indication the pitcher and manager were fighting with each other and based upon the totality of the situation, there was no reason for AJ to be upset with Girardi.

AJ allowed 2 runs in the first inning and 5 runs in the second inning.  Any pitcher knows there is a strong chance they will be pulled for allowing 7 runs over 2 innings.  Moreover, AJ had pitched a total of 40 pitches in the 2^nd inning when he allowed a walk (his 3^rd) to Mauer.  40 pitches is a dangerous threshold for a pitcher in one inning and AJ knew he would be pulled solely based upon fatigue issues.  This wasn’t a situation where it could go either way and the pitcher was upset for the manager not having confidence in him.  This was a situation that was necessary and if any decision was incorrect by Girardi, it was keeping AJ in the game as long as he did.

It also makes no sense that AJ would be fighting with Girardi as Girardi and Cashman are the biggest supporters of Burnett.  Both Cash and Girardi defend AJ to the media more than any other GM/Manager combo I have ever seen.  They protect AJ and always try to instill confidence in him.

But obviously the media wanted a good story with the way AJ has been playing lately and rather than report one, they created one.  They created the drama and spun the non-story the most dramatic way possible. I get it… it sells papers, but the story was F***ing Bull**** as AJ would say. 

"Players Go Through Difficult Times"

 “Players go through difficult times in this game,”  “We all do. Sometimes we need days to clear our head and just to take a deep breath. I’ve been there. I’ve been through struggles. And this season has been a struggle for Jorge. It has been. He has tried to fight through it and today he just felt like he needed a day.” - Joe Girardi

The whole story begins with Jorge Posada batting .165 on the season.  This is the lowest batting average in all 172 players in Major League Baseball.  In case you haven’t been watching the season, Posada is struggling.  He looks terrible at the plate and is striking out like crazy.  In the 32 games he has played, Posada has 30 strikeouts.

Posada has been batting 6^th or 7^th in the lineup, but yesterday Girardi bumped Posada down to 9^th in the order.   I couldn’t agree more with bumping Posada to the 9^th hole.  The Yankees offense is struggling to drive in runs and Posada has been given a fair chance to swing the bat.  Normally I would say Girardi should wait until 150 at bats before making changes in the lineup, but Posada has 125 at bats, and with the way the Yanks are leaving men on base, it was the right decision.  Something needed to be done!

When Posada gets bumped to the 9^th spot in a Yankees-Red Sox game, it obviously created a media buzz.  Posada then met with the media and claims he is OK with the lineup change.  He even says that he deserves it because of the way he has been hitting.

Posada then has a change of heart and meets with Girardi before the game.  He tells him that he needs a day off.  According to Girardi, it was a short conversation where Posada just indicated that he needed a day off to “clear his head.”  There was no mention of any injury or a back issue.

Cashman was then called in to intervene and spoke with Posada about reconsidering.  Unfortunately, Cashman couldn’t persuade Posada to stay in the lineup. This is where the drama is created.  Neither Cashman nor Posada has said what happened during this meeting, but Cashman was clearly not happy.  Girardi then pulls Posada from the batting order and Andruw Jones replaces Posada as the DH. 

During the second inning of the game, Brian Cashman met with reporters in the press box and gave a statement.

“At 6 o’clock Posada came into Joe’s office and asked him to remove him from the DH slot in the ninth hole. There is no injury and it’s my understanding, I think he plans on talking to you guys after the game.  Obviously I’ve talked to Jorge. I’m not going to comment on my conversation with Jorge on it. That’s really all I’ve got to tell you.”

Shortly after Cashmans comment, Posada’s wife tweeted that Jorge pulled himself from the lineup due to a back issue.  It seemed like this was a shot back at Cashman.  I don’t know whether this tweet was prompted by Jorge or if it was just done by a loving wife trying to protect her husband, but it was a dumb move.  MLB is not OK with tweets during the game by anybody, as was shown by  a two game suspension of Ozzie Guillen after tweeting from the clubhouse a few weeks ago. 

I am not sure why Cashman discussed anything with the media during the game, but it only helped create more problems for everyone.  Girardi had to answer questions about this mess after the game and Posada had to address the media as well.  The post game interviews had nothing to do with the Yankees loss and only dealt with the clubhouse drama.  (There was literally only 1 question to Girardi about the game during the post game interview.)

So after the game ends, Posada meets with the media.  Posada was obviously angered with Cashman  He repeatedly stated that Cashman shouldn’t be discussing these things during a game, and said “that’s just how Cashman works now.”  Posada also said he felt a bit disrespected by being dropped in the lineup by Girardi.  He then went on to discuss his back injury, and how the injury is the reason he pulled himself from the lineup.

After Posada’s meeting at his locker, Girardi has to go to the press room for the post game interview.  Since Girardi was ejected late in the game, he was able to watch the game on TV from the clubhouse.  While watching the game, he was informed that Posada has a back injury.  This was the first time Girardi heard anything about an injury.  

Girardi did a pretty good job of dealing with a tough situation.  The interview was very tense, but Girardi kept it simple.  He told the media that he met with Jorge briefly before the game and there was no indication of an injury.  Girardi was under the impression it was a mental issue, and Jorge was frustrated with his offense.  He said the meeting was very short and Posada never mentioned “being insulted.”  It seemed like Girardi was bothered with Posada coming to him so close to game time and requesting to be pulled from the game.  Girardi was forced to make some last minute changes, which seemed to bother him.  

Now the Yankees are facing off against John Lester today.  Lester is a lefty and Posada has yet to get a hit against a lefty.  He is 0-24 against lefties this season.  I don’t know how Girardi could actually putsolely based on the numbers.  Unfortuinatly it doesn’t end there.  According to all the reports, the Yankees are discussing the entire situation with Major League Baseball.  It seemswant to punish Posada for his conduct and want to ensure they are not going to get into a dog fight with the players union for suspending or fining Posada.  Its very possible, the Yankees will suspend Posada for either “insubordination” or for refusing to play by pulling himself from the lineup with a reported injury.  Posada is a bit of a hot-head and this won’t go over well.  

We will find out how this plays out throughout the day as the media will be buzzing about this story.  It doesn’t help that tonight’s game is the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game of the week. story.  It’s upGirardi to put out all the fires and keep the clubhouse in order. 

I must say that Girardi did the right thing yesterday.  He had to bump Posada down to 9^th in the order as Posada is the worst batter on the team right now.  Once he was told by Posada that he wanted out of the game, he dealt with the situation correctly.  He made the changes to the order, but also called Cashman to deal with the situation.  Finally, after the game, Girardi kept it simple and didn’t throw Posada under the bus (which he could have!).  

Everyone besides Girardi handled this situation poorly.  Cashman shouldn't have said anything to reporters during the game, and Jorge shouldn't have pulled himself from the game.  Problems like this have the potential to snowball into bigger issues for the team.  If the Yankees don't fix this problem now, we can be discussing this in September as the reason the Yankees didn't make the postseason.  

PUT YOUR EGO'S BEHIND YOU AND DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE TEAM!!!! 

Sunday Morning Notes

Posada is the DH in today's lineup and I can't help but wonder why Girardi isn't sitting him more.  Eric Chavez is having a great start to the season batting .389 in the 20 plate appearances he has made.  Posada is having trouble getting going, and it just seems logical to use Chavez while he is hot. 

Right now, Posada only has 3 hits in the past 22 at bats and went 1 for 5 yesterday.  Posada really can't do much other than hit some home runs, so it would be worth a try to keep him on the bench and use him later in games if necessary.  It's not like he is playing catcher anymore.  I'm not saying that he shouldn't DH, he really needs to find his rhythm as the DH, and while he is searching they should plug Chavez into the lineup. 

TODAYS LINEUP
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

Russell Martin is also in the lineup today after catching last night which is somewhat surprising.  Something tells me that Martin is still fired up after getting hit by a pitch last night.  Although I would normally want to see a catcher get a game off, especially when they have another 15 games in a row to play, I like Martin in the lineup.  Martin has had a great start to the season and may have been the best offseason pickup.

HUGHES UPDATE

Not too much to report but Phil Hughes is still on the DL and working on getting some arm strength back.  He has been rehabbing by throwing long tosses and yesterday he did a lengthy bullpen session which was the toughest workout he has done so far.  He is going to have one more bullpen session Monday and then the plan is to throw in a minor league game by Thursday. No word on whether his velocity has increased yet.  We probably won't hear anything until he pitches in a few games.