The Yankee Illusion

The Red Sox are 3-1 against the Yankees this year and for some reason those wins seem to mask the fact that in mid May the Red Sox are STILL sub .500!But man it feels good to win by one run against the Yankees.Bartolo Colon has 2 losses this year and both were hard luck losses against the Sox.Meanwhile Joba Chamberlain is the gift that keeps giving... if by giving you mean insurance runs.Daniel

Joba is out of shape? Was he ever IN shape?

The word out of Tampa is that CC Sabathia has dropped weight and looks like he is in terrific shape. That's good news for the Yankees because, when you consider how lousy Phil Hughes' second half was, Sabathia is the only starting pitcher the Yankees have that they can count on.But evidently there is a constant combined weight for Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain. Whatever weight CC lost, Joba

Plan D for the Yankees... destroy Joba's career some more

Plan A for the Yankees this off season evidently was "Sign Cliff Lee."Their plan to do that was to assume he would buckle to the amount of money thrown at him. Evidently nobody in the Yankees front office ever spelled "Assume."Plan B was to alienate as many beloved Yankees as possible. Derek Jeter was told to find a better deal. Jorge Posada was told to turn in his catchers gear. Mariano Rivera

The Red Sox need to offer Mariano Rivera a three year contract

Wait a second! The Yankees are playing hardball with Mariano Rivera?Um… wow.That is the most staggeringly stupid thing I have ever heard in free agent history.YES, stupider than the Cubs offering Milton Bradley a long term deal.YES, stupider than the Rangers making Chan Ho Park one of the top paid pitchers in baseball.If there is ever a lynch pin to the success of the Yankees since 1996, it has

How bad are Joba Chamberlain and Javy Vazquez?

I know Joba and Javy have been pinatas for me all year... but let's face it, they've earned every single whack the way they've pitched.Don't believe me? Just look at last night... a game where their supposed 8th inning stud and supposed new rotation workhorse were used in their playoff roles: Mop up men.Actually Joba was given the role to get out of a 6th inning bases loaded jam and keep the game

The Yankees lose in an unusual way but with the usual pitchers

I mentioned last weekend that the Yankees hadn't lost game that they were leading in the 8th inning or later since July 10th... before the All Star Break.Well now you can change July 10 to September 10 as the Yankees coughed up an early 4-1 lead, an 8th inning lead and an extra inning loss.While the result was surprising, you can hardly say the culprits were.The Yankees took a 4-1 lead after 3