With the Yankees tied for first place in the AL East, general manager Brian Cashman is not burning up the phone lines trying to make a deal … yet.
“There’s no aspect of the club I’m worried about making changes on right now,” Cashman said yesterday at a charity golf tournament co-sponsored by the Yankees and the Pinstripe Bowl in Monroe Township, N.J. “I just think we’re still trying to decipher what is real, what isn’t real.”
Example A is Derek Jeter. The Yankees captain has gotten off to a rough start before his bat showed signs of life Sunday in Texas with two home runs and raised his average to .276.
Cashman does not think Jeter was desperate for a big day, but acknowledged that it will quiet the questions about Jeter for a while.
“Do I think he personally needs it? No,” Cashman said. “Do I think it changes the focus for a period of time? Absolutely. We’ve got about five guys in that lineup that are struggling. He’s taking a lot of the questions or has been for the first month, but in fairness we’ve had a little bit of an offensive epidemic. Although we’re one of the better offensive clubs, we just haven’t fired on all cylinders yet.
“I think his name has given other aspects of the offense some cover.”
Entering yesterday’s games, the Yankees were seventh in the AL with a team batting average of .252. Jeter, Brett Gardner, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher have lacked productivity, at times, over the first six weeks of the season.
On the flip side, the Yankees’ starting pitching has been better than anyone expected. Cashman will likely make a deal for a starter at some point, but the urgency is not there at the moment because of how well Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have done.
“I just don’t think we’ve reached our potential just yet in some areas,” Cashman said. “In other areas I think that over time . . . I’ll have to try to tinker.”
Cashman said it’s still too early to take much meaning out of each player’s production.
“I haven’t been focused on an individual basis, it’s more of a collective,” he said. “I’m happy we’re in first place. I feel like we’re there despite a number of things that either ails us or we haven’t maximized our potential yet.”
