Mirror Images?
Right now, when I look at Alex Rodriguez, its almost like I’m looking at Dave Winfield, in a way. And when I look at the Yankees as a team, it’s almost like I’m looking at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. To wit:
Alex Rodriguez is off to a torrid start to this season - currently sitting at .400, 14 HRs, and 34 RBIs… with another week to go in the month of April. Mercy. Given his (perceived) status as a postseason failure, is he the Yankees new Mr. May? Is Howard Spira out of the joint so Steinbrenner can re-enlist his services on the *new* Mr. May? Most importantly, as Winfield toiled most of his Yankee career during a down time in that team’s history - so will ARod ride into the HOF as the Yankees ride the down elevator in the standings? I just remember that whenever Winfield came to the plate against the Sox, it worried me - he just attacked the ball so ferociously and usually hit it real hard… and real far. Right now, when ARod steps in, I get worried - he’s just hitting everything, while the team around him isn’t winning as many games as one might expect.
And speaking of the Yankees as a team, eerie how similar they are to the Devil Rays at this young stage of the season: in AL team batting, the Yanks and D-Rays are 1/2 in runs scored and home runs, 1/3 in OPS, and 2/1 in total bases… a couple of high-powered offenses - getting little to no pitching support. To wit, AL ranks: the D-Rays are last (14th) in ERA (6.04), while the Yankees are 9th (4.32). The D-Rays do have six saves from their bullpen, the Yankees are tied for last with the Mariners at zero. The Yankees are last in quality starts, with five - the D-Rays just ahead of them with six. Overall, I guess the Yankees have better pitching… than the Tampa Bay Devil Rays - high praise indeed.
Oh, and after the D-Rays beat the Yankees last night, TB is 8-11 and NY is 8-10.
Yes, it’s very, very early in the season - but right now when I think of ARod, I think of Dave Winfield a little bit… pretty good company. And when I think of the Yankees, I think of the Devil Rays - and that’s got little to do with Steinbrenner’s Tampa Bay connections… not so good company.
Lots of baseball still to be played, and lots of Steinbrenner’s money still to be spent before July 31st to address the Yankee ills - thus its likely the Yankee team will start performing better, while its also likely that ARod starts falling back to earth a little bit… but… then again… in the words of Joaquin Andujar: “You can sum up baseball in one word: youneverknow.”
Okay, I’m done now.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I don’t think you will be seeing a rotation including Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, and Kei Igawa much longer. Wang returns tonight, and Mussina will be back shortly. Hughes is starting on Thursday. This is about to become a vastly improved team. It is truly shocking that the Yanks are below .500 with what AROD is doing. I imagine your comparison the DRays was tongue in cheek, but shortly it will have no basis, as the DRays are well on there way to another 90 loss season.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I trust you’ll put a Pounder on that. Even with the worst pitching in the league, I’ll take the Devils Rays for 89 losses or less this year.
Given that my comparison to the DRays is for less than 20 games, yes… I’m not willing to draw any long-term conclusions just yet. That said, a guy can always hope.
P.S. Was it last year or the year before that the Yankees started 8-19 (or something like that)? Regardless, whatever recent year it was, they went onto win the division title. I do find it amusing that some in New England are “dancing on the Yankee grave” as it were. Hey, I love watching the Yankees struggle, even if it’s only a short-term thing - but let’s not pretend that this will (be allowed to) continue.
Maybe this is the year the Yankees actually don’t win the division - but I’ll believe it when I see the end-of-year standings, not the start-of-year standings.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
I am happy to pounder TB <70 wins and/or TB +10 wins < NYY Wins. I don’t think NYY will win the division this year, or make the WC, which will likely come out of the Central
April 24th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
I think TB has a very exciting young lineup, and I’d love to see the Yankees closer to TB than the division title - but I don’t see that happening. Steinbrenner/Cashman/et al aren’t going to sit by and let the Yankees win less than 90 - and I’ll pounder that.
I’ll take TB 70+ on wins for a Pounder. I just think one of these years they’re going to approach/surpass .500 - and I’m willing to Pounder this is the year.
I hope you’re right about the Yankees out of the playoffs - but as with the Braves and their division-title run, I’ll believe it when I see it.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Yankees play at least 1/2 their games against the Devil Rays???
May 2nd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Devil Rays are a poor man’s Yankees? I posted separately on this, but with each additional pitcher injury, the Yankees are getting closer and closer to assembling a rotation that’s actually worse than Tampa’s.