Four Game Losing Streaks Bring Out the Crazy

Last night, I came across some things that made me bury my face firmly in the palm of my hands.

First, there was the idea one blogger had that the Yankees should fire Kevin Long.

...

Right.

Of all the problems this team has had this year, the offense is probably the last one on my list.

Has run production been down the past couple of days? Sure. That happens when you're missing both Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada from your line up, no matter who the hitting coach is.

Despite this, the offense still has yet to be shut out of any game. Robbie Canó and Melky Cabrera seem to have done 180s from last year. Even José Molina, normally a black hole of doom at the bottom of the line up, has a grand slam.



The other call is to fire Dave Eiland.

I'm not sure Joba Chamberlain or a healthy Phil Hughes would appreciate that. Veterans like CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte are only going to be helped so much by a pitching coach, while Joba and Hughes--those most impressionable--both would have likely not made it this far without Eiland's help.

It's hard to make the same arguments for the starting staff since it's statistically pretty bad, but that number takes into account Wang's horrendous starts. Technically, the Yankees got a quality start from AJ last night--six innings, three runs--but you won't hear anyone talking about it because the Yankees lost the game.



Then, of course, there are the calls to fire Girardi.


The team has played 27 games. 27. And you know what? With the exception of Wang's starts, the Yankees have had a chance to win every single one of their losses.

Girardi is not responsible for the injuries, or for the lack of hitting with RISP.

If there's one complaint to be made it's that Girardi is over-managing the bullpen, but this is the same guy that managed the bullpen so well last year. He didn't all of a sudden forget how to manage a bullpen, did he?



Judging by the calls from some fans, you would think this team is 9-15--which is coincidentally the record the team played to without A-Rod last year.

They recovered from that enough to win 89 games last season, and that was without Matsui, CC, AJ, and for all intents and purposes Canó and Cabrera, all of whom we have this season.

I'm not saying this team doesn't have problems. It does, and it looks like the AL East could very well be a four team race if Toronto keeps it up.


Still, to call the season over, to call for the heads of guys other than perhaps the training staff that hasn't been able to prevent some of these injuries, is sheer fallacy.