Take it away, Deuce...oh wait, that's me

So, taking off from RC's points about the latest Yanks/Sox tilt, here are my observations:

1) I give YES credit for pointing out the drop in Moose's velocity, even from last year. His fastball seems to have dropped a good 5-6 MPH, which makes his off-speed stuff...well, not so offspeed. I don't have a good grasp of his peripherals, but something is not right with him, and if his velocity doesn't improve...well, we're looking at the end of a solid career coming much faster than people would have guessed.

2) It cracks me up that all of a sudden people have begun "noticing" Kevin Youkulis. The stathead community has been a believer in him since his minor league days with the Sox, when he was the "Greek God of Walks." Of course, the attention has largely been due to his high batting average, that most overused of statistics in the mainstream media. One would like to think that, while looking at his average, people will gain an appreciation of the other things he does offensively, and will learn to appreciate other high-value guys like him. But, then again, that would be asking a bit too much.

3) My biggest worry with this season isn't that the Yankees will miss the playoffs. If they do, it will be disappointing, and something will probably get broken, but it's not the end of the universe. It's not that the Yanks will fire Joe Torre; again, it would be upsetting, but that time will come eventually. No, the biggest worry is that the team will fire Brian Cashman, and start over with another yes-man for the Tampa contingent. Cashman is doing things the correct way, rebuilding what had been a putrid farm system, and showing some sort of financial restraint (well, besides the Clemens thing). The Yankees are, as weird as it sounds, in a sort of rebuilding year this year, and in the beginning of what is most likely a 5-7 year plan to get back to the dynasty stage. To fire Cashman, who has done a great job thus far, would be a mistake, one that the Yankees may not recover from for quite some time. So, George, chill out, let the man do his work.