pinstripepress

So once again, Roy “Doc” Halladay has shut down the New York Yankees. Naturally he would throw his first complete game of the year against us, ugh. Up until the 8th I wasn’t feeling too bad - A.J. was keeping us in it (only down 3-1), but then he gave up the solo homer to Hill, and that was it. Before that, I thought maybe we could scratch out a couple and have a shot, but no dice. Blue Jays 5, Yankees 1.

Here’s the thing - the Yanks are starting to look OLD fast. They’re going down with injuries left and right, and it’s happening to some of their key players. We MUST get younger, and ESPECIALLY in the outfield. I reeeeally hope that this kid Jackson is the real deal, because then we could help the situation in the outfield pretty soon. I also see a lot of promise in Ramiro Pena, and I think he could be the next shortstop when captain clutch transitions away from the position. All we need is some young legs behind the plate, and we could be strong defensively up the middle again - which by the way, there are some potential options eventually in Cervelli and Montero (depending if either can hit at this level). Let’s look at the rest of the pack: Teixeira is pressing, but he’s still young and his prime, and I think he’ll get comfortable eventually and become a fan-favorite; Robbie is young at 2nd and has certainly improved defensively while still having the ability to hit like a batting-champion; A-Rod is 33 but hopefully he gets sent away somewhere for lying and/or gets injured and then we can bring in a good role-player at 3rd (I’m fed up); Nady is fine in rightfield once he comes back (he’s 30); and we could either stick Jeter in left next year or deal for a guy like Matt Holliday who can play defense (plus he’s young and hits righty). As far as the bullpen goes, I believe in Coke, Melancon, Bruney, and Joba (once he goes back there). Of course Mo’s still here, but not sure how much longer that he can be great. Finally, the rotation - Sabathia is young and in his prime (he had to be signed), Burnett is a 50/50 signing so time will tell, Wang will get back to being solid and he’s still got many years to go, Andy still has enough pitching left in him for at least this year, and I still believe in Hughes but he’s gotta learn how to be consistent (keep in mind he’s still 22 years old and learning). If we can at least count on Sabathia, Wang, and Hughes to be the bulk of the rotation for the next decade, then I think we can return to winning as long as you have the right players surrounding them.

However, for the time being, we have to deal with the team we have, so let’s cross our fingers and hope things click.

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