IT WAS worse last season. Much, much worse. How easy it is to forget, but the Yankees were in a far more dire spot than their current plight when the second half began a year ago today.
Chien-Ming Wang mysteriously came up with a shoulder injury during the break that would disable him for two months. Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright already were out, meaning four starting pitchers on the DL. When the second half opened, the Yanks were a third-place team – in both the AL East and AL wild card – with Jason Anderson, Wayne Franklin, Darrell May and Tim Redding all on their pitching staff.
The rotation was in such shambles that Redding started the second game and lasted one inning in a 17-1 loss at Fenway Park, a humiliation hastened when a 20-yearold center fielder named Melky Cabrera misplayed a Trot Nixon liner into an inside-the-park homer. Al Leiter, the NL’s worst pitcher, was obtained to start the series finale because, essentially, the Yanks had no other options.
Over the next two weeks, a career journeyman, Aaron Small, would debut for the Yanks and Shawn Chacon would be obtained from Colorado in a seemingly inconsequential trade. The Yanks would win the AL East because of those two.
In other words, a season is long and unpredictable.
That is why this season it is possible to see the Yanks getting healthier over the next few weeks and winning a ninth straight AL East title. But it also feels as if the Yanks are at a tipping point, that one more significant injury to a key player – a Mariano Rivera or a Jorge Posada or a Derek Jeter – and they would be unable to recover.
This is where they are as the second half beckons tomorrow night, good enough to win, yet fragile enough to fall from contention. But they are still in better condition than at this time last season because their pitching is not such a mess. That should bring perspective.
Nevertheless, the presence of two strong AL Central clubs, the Tigers and White Sox, means the Yanks might have to win the division to get into the playoffs. Perhaps, more important, the Yanks cannot expect heavenly gifts again like Small and Chacon. And they probably should not expect much outside help either.
There are members of the Yankee organization who believe Mark Hendrickson, recently dealt from Tampa Bay to the Dodgers, will be the best starter traded during this season. Such is the state of available pitching. As the July 31 trade deadline nears, the price likely will drop for corner outfielders such as Alfonso Soriano and Bobby Abreu (the Yanks were asked for untouchable Philip Hughes, so far, for both). But if the price does drop, other teams with deeper systems might be better positioned than the Yanks to make a deal. For example, there is a growing sense among executives that the well-stocked Angels are the frontrunners for Soriano.
“We have areas of need,” Cashman said. “At the same time, our acquisitions could be [Robinson] Cano and [Octavio] Dotel in the next two weeks, Pavano in 45 days, and [Gary] Sheffield and [Hideki] Matsui by Sept. 1. I do know we are going to get those players back at some point.” So that leaves the Yanks in a version of baseball Four Corners, trying to stall long enough until key players return to fuel a significant, late-season run.
The Yanks have a five-game series at Fenway looming in five weeks. If they were able to have Cano, Dotel and possibly the quick-healing Matsui back by then, it would be a huge asset. It is too much to ask for the vacationing Pavano to be ready, though a starting pitcher for a five-game, four-day series would be most precious.
Still, the Yanks’ current pitching troubles are nothing compared to last season at this time. The Yanks survived to win another AL East title. Will they this year?
The answer might very well depend on if they really are getting healthier or if they are one more injury away from oblivion?
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BOMBERS ON THE MEND
A closer look at some of the Yankees’ key injuries:
GARY SHEFFIELD: The outfielder has been on the DL since June 2 with a left wrist injury. His planned return date is sometime in September.
HIDEKI MATSUI: The outfielder has been on the DL since May 13 with a broken right wrist. His planned return date is sometime in August.
ROBINSON CANO: The second baseman has been on the DL since June 25 with a strained left hamstring. His planned return date is sometime in late July.
OCTAVIO DOTEL: The reliever has been on the DL since May 20, 2005 with a right elbow injury. His planned return date is sometime in late July.
CARL PAVANO: The starter has been on the DL since July 7, 2005 with rotator cuff tendinitis, and a right elbow injury. He has no planned return date.
