The Yankees have been doing a lot of roster-shuffling lately. Godzilla was activated today, which means Justin Christian was sent down to Scranton. To make room for him, Jason Lane was released. Chad Jennings says he probably asked for his release, and will sign with the Red Sox. (Uh, boy. Isn't that what happened with Carlos Pena?) Jennings also suggests that this might mean Austin Jackson gets called up to Triple-A for the playoffs, because after September callups, Scranton will be short of outfielders.
Brett Gardner was benched with Matsui's return. Girardi said he wants to DH Godzilla every day, with Damon back in DF.
I wonder if he might change his mind on that. Damon screwed up two catches in CF tonight, the second of which allowed the winning run to score.
At this point, though...I don't think it matters. The Yankees appear to be done for this season. I don't see them making the post-season. Peter Abraham put it bluntly:
If there were some easy answer, it would be a good story to write. But there’s not. Mix in a few underachievers (Cano, Cabrera, Jeter), the fact that nobody is having a career year (like A-Rod and Posada last season), the injuries and vastly different personality as manager and you have a bad mix.
Unfortunately, it’s only going to get worse. The Yankees are largely a team of well-paid, under-contract players. Once it becomes obvious to even the true believers that they’re not going to the postseason - and that could be by the end of the week - it could get ugly.
Keep in mind that 21 of the remaining 37 games are on the road and 19 are against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.
I can't say I'm surprised. I've been saying all along that the Yanks didn't have the pitching to get past Boston this year. (Though I have to say, I never expected the Rays to do what they've done.) I predicted during spring training that the Yanks might not make the post-season this year.
But it's still kind of a shock. The Yanks have been an October fixture since I became a baseball fan.
