The Yankees went 1-5 last week and were outscored 41-23 by their opponents.  The Yankees got swept in a series by the powerful Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Red Sox came to NY over the weekend and spanked them 2 out of 3 games again.  It’s not Joe Torre’s fault but he might wind up the scapegoat.  The Yankees are now 9-14 and are in last place in the American League East, 6.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox and 1 game behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for 4th place!  What a disappointing start to the season.

Part of the reason that A-Rod has been getting all the good pitches he has is because Jason Giambi is hitting well behind him in the lineup.  In 19 games so far this season, Giambi is 22 for 75 (.293 avg, .876 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 4 homers and 17 RBIs.  As long as Giambi keeps hitting expect A-Rod to keep putting up monster numbers with the bat.

The Yankees will let him start tomorrow against the Toronto Blue Jays.  Hughes is the #1 prospect in the Yankees system but they might be rushing him because of their slow start.  The plan was to let Hughes spend the entire season in AAA ball but things have changed due to the massive amounts of injuries in the Yanks rotation.  Hughes started 3 games in AAA this season and he was 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.  He has thrown 16 innings so far this season and he’s allowed only 11 hits while whiffing 17 batters.  It will be interesting to see how Hughes handles the pressure of pitching in the majors.

Alex Rodriguez is showing right now why he’s the greatest baseball player on the planet.  The only difference between the Devil Rays and the Yankees so far has been the play of A-Rod who has won games by himself so far this season.  It’s possible that A-Rod is showing potential suitors what he could do for them if he opts out of his contract at the end of the season.  In 18 games so far this season A-Rod is 30 for 75 (.400 avg, 1.506 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 14 homers and 34 RBIs this season!  He already has tied Albert Pujols for the most homers ever in April and he has plenty of time to set a new major league record.  Yankees’ fans better get a good look at their whipping boy, because they will really miss him if he bolts at the end of the season.  And with the way he’s been treated by Yankees fans I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he wants out of New York at the end of the year.

The Yankees decided not to spend any money at the backup catcher position and that’s why they’re getting absolutely no production there.  Nieves has played in 7 games this season and he’s 0 for 15 with 1 run scored.  Nieves hasn’t even got on base this season.  The Yanks can’t let this go on too long because Posada will need to rest once in a while and Nieves ain’t getting the job done.