OK I'm Talking Too Much, But There Are Some Bad Signs

While Boone Logan was donating his little gift to the Orioles, and we lost what seems to be our 4th game out of the last 7 by a 5-4 score, the Red Socks Slime edged Toronto 2-1.

And yesterday the Mets won both ends of a double header and moved into first place in NY.

The Giants had a dismal draft and the Yankees are playing like it's the 1970's.

Nick Johson hurts himself swinging a bat loosely in preparation for walking (or hitting .110 with what seems like no RBIs) and sits for ( what seems like weeks); HO HO Park finally pitched 3 good innings, then went south; Tex continues to flail around in April; Yankee base runners are just not fast enough or smart enough to steal successfully ( except for Brett, when he gets an infield single ); Granderson is now 0-120 and Nick Swisher is "just missing" every fastball, turning his offensive contribution into a series of short pop-ups to the outfield; and the worst kept secret is the deterioration of Jorge as a defender.

Jorge's inability to block breaking balls in the dirt caused a huge rift last year with AJ, and nothing has changed here; it is a tragic comedy watching him try to gun down base stealers with his throws into center field; or short-arming throws to third without success.

I love Jorge. He remains a fine hitter, has an excellent mind for working with pitchers, and catches pop-ups as well as anyone. He has been a vital cog in the Yankee's success since 1996. He is a great Yankee and we are lucky to have seen him play for all these years.

But the league knows what to do against Jorge if they get anyone faster than Nick Johnson on first base. Run. Run. And run.

If the Yankee offense ever comes back to life, we can probably have another very successful season. But I don't think we can win the big games in October. In those games, it is usually pitching and defense that separate the champions from the wanna be champions. The little things make all the difference; whether it is a runner stealing a base or AJ throwing a fastball to Chase Utley with two strikes and a runner on base in a close game instead of his breaking ball, because he fears Jorge may not be able to block it if it lands in the dirt.

I also don't think Cervelli will ever approach the career quality the Yankees got from Jorge. No one believes in Jesus as a catcher,, despite the Yankee press clippings. And Romine is ages away.

So, we should all hope for the Twins to fail, and fail again, so we can buy Joe Mauer's contract when they are ready to sell him.

Just a thought.