New York Yankees: Trouble in the Bronx?

Feb 21, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (right) and generial manager Brian Cashman during spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

“Start spreading the news!” Those words are sung by Frank Sinatra on audio at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. It is played after each New York Yankees victory. It is also, perhaps foolishly, also played at the conclusion of each Yankees loss.

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The news is indeed spreading. The first place Bronx Bombers are 1 ½ games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays after being swept by the team north of the border. They lost 2-0 on Sunday. Totaling the weekend series scores, they lost 10-1. The only Yankees run was scored by first baseman, Mark Teixeira in a controversial homerun to left field. A fan in the stands interfered with the play that prevented Blue Jays outfielder Ben Revere from making a catch. The umpires granted Teixeira a homerun on that play. They have been shut out over the last 26 innings.

The Yankees head to Cleveland for a midweek series against the Indians before returning to Toronto to face the resilient Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays come home to face the Oakland Athletics, before the anticipated Yankees series.

The Yankees are reeling and slipping, while the Blue Jays are steamrolling. Over the past 8 games, Toronto’s won them all. Over the last 8 games for the Yankees, they have lost 5 of those 8 games.

New Yorkers and Yankee fans around North America are searching for answers as to how to fix this ball club and how to slow down the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, the Yankees are older. Yes, the Yankees are perhaps even slower. However, they are full of veterans who know what skills are necessary to succeed and know how to get the job done.

The Yankees had pitchers Nathan Eovaldi, Ivan Nova and Masahiro Tanaka go head to head against Toronto’s pitchers R.A. Dickey, David Price and Marco Estrada. If you take away the Saturday game, where the Yankees lost 6-0, it was an even matched series. Toronto won the Friday game 2-1 and Sunday’s game 2-0.

Say what you will about Yankees skipper Joe Girardi, he had the best of a worst situation. He could not have started CC Sabathia as he had pitched earlier in a game against the Boston Red Sox. He also couldn’t have started prospect Luis Severino, as he also started in his debut game, last week against the Red Sox. His next start is Tuesday night against the Cleveland Indians.

The bats were clearly asleep, in the series against Toronto. Over the weekend, outfielder Brett Gardner went a combined 2 for 8, designated hitter Alex Rodriguez went 1 for 11, while first baseman Mark Teixeira went 2 for 11. These three are the Yankees biggest bats and Toronto somehow managed to silence all three of them. These three bats combined produced 5 hits total over 30 at bats. That’s a batting average of .166 and that’s not going to cut it.

New York needs to hit the reset button. The team knows how to hit and get hot. In the four previous games, before the Toronto series, the Yankees scored a combined 28 runs, giving up only 9. The Yankees are in for a tough ride, however, as they head to Cleveland. The Indians scored 34 runs and gave up only 15 in a weekend series against the Minnesota Twins.

We are two months away from the playoffs and a lot can still happen over the final 50 odd games. At the July 31 trade deadline, the Yankees clearly failed in their attempt to gain that extra starting pitcher, so they don’t have to rely on Sabathia. The team has also had injury woes to its pitching staff with Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka at various times this season.

In New York, fans can be ruthless on their team. It’s World Series victory or bust and changes need to come. The bullpen has been solid. For the most part, the batting lineup has been sensational. The team has got huge returns on A-Rod and Teixeira’s play this year. The starting rotation has been a bit of patch work. Sabathia’s 4-8, 5.34 ERA disaster as a starter is something to be concerned about. Yet, somehow, the team has managed to tread water.

If the Toronto Blue Jays, somehow, manage to overtake the Bronx Bombers, heads will spin out of control in New York. If the Yankees fall out of the wild card spot consideration, heads will spin faster than the Tasmanian Devil and changes will commence and start with firing manager Joe Girardi. It may even go higher and fire General Manager Brian Cashman.

Girardi has done a pretty good job in spite of the tools he has had to work with on their pitching staff. The team has only won one World Series since 2009 and missed the playoffs the past two seasons. Cashman has been the General Manager since 1998. He could ultimately pay the price if the team falls out of the division lead and out of wild card contention.

If you are rooting against the Yankees, you love the predicament the team finds itself in. If you are a fan of the Yankees, you perhaps might be a little worried, trying to block out any negative talk of your favorite team.

No matter how you slice it, the Yankees franchise has everyone talking about them.

Next: What to do with CC

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