Can the Yankees salvage a 3rd place finish this year?

[geek tragedy]

The Red Sox and now the Rays have come in and punked the Yankees at home. And they're not even the division leaders.

CC got his big contract and pulled an Adrian Beltre. Burnett is good for strikeouts but walks a ton of guys. Wang sucks. Joba is either decent for 6 innings or dominant for two.

Pettite is a has-been, as is Mariano, who is serving up all kinds of gopher balls.

Eventually, the Sox and the Rays will pull away in their race for the division crown.

Which leaves the question: Can the Yanks beat out the Jays this year? And, should they look out for those pesky Orioles?

[rockymountaindem]

1. What makes you predict the downfall of the Jays?

I think this run of theirs has been going on too long to be deemed a fluke.

[geek tragedy]

2. Well, look at who they've played.

Lots of games against Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Baltimore.

Not so many against Boston and Tampa.

[rockymountaindem]

3. I tried to point that out here but got bogged down in a circular argument

I think you're right though.

[njlib]

4. I said for years that Giambi was the curse

Every "superstar" signed, from Giambi to CC, has been beyond disappointing. I'm a firm believer in "growing your own talent" and they should've started adding youngsters after they lost the series in 2001, showing a little patience, making an attempt to become a TEAM again. I argue with a fan friend over A-Roid every season. He still insists he's the best player ever and I say stats don't mean shit if you can't come through in the clutch and PRODUCE for your team. The successful teams of the late 90's all had a different "hero" in any given game, where playing "small ball" was the way to win and a base hit was the difference between winning and losing a game.

I like Swisher, Melky & Cano are holding their own, Damon's been productive. Mariano's performance tonight was a fluke. He's done so much for the team over the years, he's earned the right to be human once in a blue moon. Their pitching's sucked for too long now and they still leave too many men on base. There's no excuse for not scoring with bases loaded and no outs!!

They make me crazy for the first 2 months every season. I refer to them as the Stankees usually until at least mid-June. As crappy as they look right now, I'm predicting they'll get it together and finish better than anyone thinks they will at this point in time.

I hope, I hope, I hope!

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

5. You forgot Toronto

Hell, 4th place might be a miracle for the Yankees this year!

[joeybee12]

6. The Spankees are 6-7 at home so far...

...the house that arrogance built will be their doom.

[Capt. America]

7. I hope they salvage 4th place. Lets recap: almost 500 million dollars for three players.

[rockymountaindem]

8. As Red Sox announcer said during the last Sox whooping of the Pinstripe Boys:

The Yankees needed someone to come in late in the game, which was already out of reach. However, none of the prospects were appealing. Said Orsillo, "With $200 million in salary this year, you'd think they'd have someone on the bench!"

To draw an obscure analogy, the Yankees are kind of like the Swedish Man O' War "Wasa", which was the most powerful ship in the world for two hours before it capsized due to being too top-heavy. A hugely expensive project that looked great on paper, but just didn't function in reality. On the other hand, maybe the return of A-Rod will add some "juice" to their lineup :hide:

[Ganja Ninja]

9. The Jays finished strong at the end of last year.

They are likely going to be in the hunt right to the end this year. The Yankees? They're just too old and slow and full of broken down roid freaks. When you look at the Rays Carl Crawford and BJ Upton pull a double steal it's all too obvious. The Yanks don't have anybody to compare. And when they play the Rays and something like that happens and the cameras pan the Yankee dugout, you can see it on their faces as well. They look beaten.

[LisaM]

10. I hope not.

I would like nothing better than to see some pre-scheduled game of the week with the Yankees air in September, with a bunch of empty seats in The House That Greed Built.

[BOSSHOG]

11. Maybe they could pick up Ramirez in July