Not CASHing In

Disclaimer: This is not a panic blog entry. The Yankees have won 2 of their first 4 games, which have been played on the road against two of the best teams in the American League: the Red Sox and the Rays. That's not easy to do for any big league team, even the Yankees, to accomplish. But tonight's game was ugly for so many reasons, and it really brings up a lot of questions about some of the off-season moves made by the team. We'll get into Mark Teixeira later.

First off, I was happy about the Javier Vazquez move when the trade was made. Tonight, I just realized that he had an ERA close to five in many of his American League seasons. Vazquez was good in the National League, but we know that does not always translate into the varsity league, the A.L. I will say that Javy showed a lot of potential in the first three innings of tonight's game. He looked like he knows how to pitch. Then something happened. I don't know what, but everything he threw was high in the strike zone. Here's hoping it's just early-season jitters. Trading for Vazquez and not signing John Lackey still makes me scratch my head. The fans deserve answers from Brian Cashman.

I seriously don't understand Girardi and Cashman's love for Marcus Thames. The guy had an awful spring training, and there's a good reason why he had no team before the Yankees picked him up. It turns out that he doesn't really hit lefties all that well, and his outfield defense is completely atrocious. Same goes for Randy Winn. Another bad spring, yet he makes the team. It smells a little bit like the Joe Torre syndrome to me. "We have to take the guys that have experience." Thames has played two games in left field, and cost the team three runs thanks to his defense. Brett Gardner deserves to be playing every day.

Finally, and I love the guy for what he did last season, but Mark Teixeira has got to be kidding me. I know he's traditionally a slow starter, but not this slow. You could say that A-Rod and Jeter are yet to get going, and I'd have to say you were right. But Jeter still gets his hits, and A-Rod has had three extra base hits already. Teixeira looks lost out there. Is it time for a day off? Johnson can play first, Jorge can DH, and we can get the Cisco kid a little bit of playing time.

One positive: credit Joe Girardi for the way he used the pitching staff. Despite giving up nine runs, the Yankees only used Javier Vazquez and Sergio Mitre. The bullpen is rested and ready to go for Saturday. All in all, an ugly night in St. Petersburg. I kind of remember starting an April series like this last year. Except this time, no Yankee outfielders were brought in to pitch.