Cashman blew it. The pitching is horrible.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... arm-1.html
Beyond hot seat, choices are lukewarm
By BILL MADDEN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS COLUMNIST
Posted Monday, April 30th 2007, 4:00 AM
One can only imagine Joe Torre's sinking feeling watching Manny Ramirez's two-run homer off Sean Henn, the third of five Yankee pitchers, sail high over the fence in the eighth inning, all but sealing another Red Sox win and assuring an anxious if not downright apocalyptic off-day today.
It already had been another trying afternoon for the embattled Yankee manager - with Chien-Ming Wang, his one true ace, not being on his game, and so many of his hitters continuing their collective funk. And just who is this Hideki Okajima who keeps coming in and reducing these guys to putty? There is no point in belaboring the fact that the Yankees could have signed Okajima this offseason but chose to pass. His five scoreless innings of three-hit, eight-strikeout relief against the Yankees in these two back-to-back lost weekends against the Red Sox will doubtless be put on the heads of Brian Cashman and his baseball evaluators when the blame starts emanating out of Tampa.
It's his own pitchers who have put Torre squarely in George Steinbrenner's cross hairs again. Those who have been marked absent during this crisis and the overworked bullpen that has come to resemble the little Dutch boy vainly trying to plug recurring holes. And, of course, it certainly hasn't helped Torre's cause that so many hitters are failing him now in this time of need.
In that respect, the cruel irony yesterday was Doug Mientkiewicz, of all people, providing Torre with the only lead he was able to enjoy with a three-run homer in the third inning. Given he fact that Mientkiewicz had carried a .140 average and two RBI into the game, Torre's decision to give him the start in order to provide the sinker-balling Wang an extra measure of defense at first base seemed like a stroke of genius.
Alas, Wang was not up to the task of preserving the lead as Alex Cora, the Red Sox's No.9 hitter and an even more unlikely game-breaker, hit a two-run blast in the fifth. And when Torre elected to pull Wang after 83 pitches and Cora struck again with a triple off Scott Proctor to set up another Boston run in the seventh, you could almost hear the collective wails in Tampa amid the hush that had fallen over the Stadium.
No, it's not going to be a very pleasant off-day for Torre and the rest of the Yankee high command. Cashman confirmed as much by reporting after the game that he had canceled a scheduled trip to the Dominican Republic.
"I'm not sure where I'll be Tuesday," Cashman said. "I'm keeping my schedule open."
And yet, as disappointed and embarrassed as Steinbrenner might be over these developments, he also has to ask himself if firing Torre at this juncture is going to accomplish anything. In Steinbrenner's bad old days, whenever his Yankee teams were underperforming, he would bring in Billy Martin in hopes of providing a spark. He did that five times, each time with diminishing results.
When he was prepared to fire Torre last October, he had, in Lou Piniella, the perfect fiery contrast to Torre's calm. But Piniella has gone to the Cubs now and Don Mattingly is Steinbrenner's designated heir apparent. No one knows if Mattingly can manage, but is this the time to start finding out? When the Yankee pitching is a mess - with Wang possibly being out again due to a split fingernail? Plus, Mattingly's personality is not all that different than Torre's.
In that regard, a lot of the scuttlebutt around the Stadium has had third base coach Larry Bowa, a modern-day firebrand version of Martin without the same managing pedigree, as someone Steinbrenner might be inclined to turn to. Forget it. Angry as he might be with Torre, Steinbrenner is still fully aware of his manager's popularity in New York and the fan wrath he risks if he doesn't replace him with someone even more popular.
Joe Girardi? That probably would be Cashman's suggestion, but if there's a call to be made here, Cashman's not making it. Girardi, after his experience in Miami, is seen as too controlling and too headstrong. That, plus his close relationship with both Torre and Don Zimmer, makes him about the last man Steinbrenner would hire as his manager.
One thing's for sure. This time no one is going to attempt to sway Steinbrenner. Not Cashman, who is as much on the hot seat now as Torre, and certainly not Steve Swindal. In the end, Steinbrenner, upon surveying the April damage and the mess this Yankee team is in - and also taking into consideration the $7 million he has to pay Torre no matter what this year - will reluctantly conclude that now is not the time.
For either firing Torre or anointing Mattingly.
