The state of the New York Yankees has caused legitimate worry.
Latest news:
·Alex Rodriguez—out.
·Andy Pettitte—return pushed back to mid-September.
·Nick Swisher, AJ Burnett—playing hurt.
Now, the Bombers are tied atop the AL East, as the Tampa Bay Rays have played catch-up.
The Boston Red Sox are lurking not far behind and just activated 2B Dustin Pedroia from the DL. Pedroia is a powerhouse.
No one count out the Toronto Blue Jays either, this team is unbeatable when hot as Tampa, New York and Boston have recently experienced.
Even squeaking out a win on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees looked tired, and dare I say old.
Sans-A-rod has never fared well for the line-up. The Yankee bats tend to center themselves around A-rod’s talent, which is just human nature. The team can win games without A-rod and that is what must happen till he gets healthy.
Cano, Gardner, Graderson, Cervelli, Joba, Robertson, and Hughes were great at the start of 2010.
These young Yankees, as a group are as talented as the Rays or Braves. The difference is budding bombers have an arsenal of veteran all-stars to fall on when the going gets tough. It’s a nice luxury.
Those same veterans, like A-rod, Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettitte, Burnett, and Sabathia lead the youngsters, minus Granderson, to a championship in 2009 and now it’s time to pay them back.
It’s time for fans to start facing reality about the state of our elders, but also embrace the future because it is bright.
For now, the remaining regular seasons games will test the reigning champs who have no cushion wins to lean on. That is why losing to teams like the Royals is just making the quest harder.
Just getting to October is the focus because no point in thinking about it yet. Even as a member of the elite AL East guarantees nothing because the NL teams are better than ever.
The truth is it’s time for the fans to encourage the team, who are in the midst of transitioning. No more booing one mistake, just be quiet out of respect if it is all you can do.
Personally, the 2009 and current 2010 Yankee teams are different. They win as a team, lose as a team, fight as a team, support one another as a team and that is rarefied air in sports these days.
It’s about time the fans followed because there is no ‘I’ in team.
Only teams win games, which lead to post-season berths but genuine champions repeat, so LET’S GO YANKEES!
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