Reporters scratch heads over Girardi moves

With Joe Girardi as the manager of the New York Yankees, I've made my peace with seeing head-scratching managerial moves on a regular basis. Apparently, the New York media has not. Let the second guessing continue!

Reporters were perplexed as to why Girardi would send Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre into a scoreless game against the Tampa Bay Rays instead of David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain. I must confess that I wondered the same thing when I saw Girardi take out Boone Logan after one batter for Gaudin in the 10th inning and was yelling at the television as Gaudin proceeded to walk people. But Girardi is prone to over thinking matchups so we shouldn't have been too surprised.

What was most baffling to reporters is that Girardi said neither Robertson nor Joba was hurt, a fact that both players confirmed. The Yankee manager just felt they needed a day off, despite not having pitched on Sunday. It’s a strange stance considering the Yankees were in a tight battle against their toughest opponents and it would seem to be an all-hands on deck situation, but Girardi doesn’t think that way.

Girardi is less than eager to defend his daily moves and he was incredibly rude to the reporters, especially Kim Jones, who dared to ask him about his decisions and the loss that put the Yankees behind their division rivals.

For the record, I have no problem with Girardi wanting to protect his relievers. He's absolutely right when he said they've been used a lot lately and he's obviously thinking ahead to the playoffs in trying to get them some rest. But as the manager of the Yankees, he can't bristle and get defensive when reporters approach him with legitimate questions about his managerial moves.

Girardi, Yankees losing patience with Burnett

AJ Burnett is really starting to wear on the nerves of the New York Yankees.

The fact that manager Joe Girardi did not dismiss the possibility of shipping AJ to the bullpen is a sign that he is clearly frustrated by managing the weekly headache that Burnett has become.

Imagine the very real possibility of Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin pitching key games for the Yankees against the Tampa Bay Rays or Boston Red Sox in September because Girardi & Co. simply don't know which AJ will show up on the mound at any given day. As risky as it may be, Girardi may need to trust Mitre or Gaudin more than he trusts his supposed #2 starter as the Yanks fight for the American League East.

I think Girardi's biggest frustration comes from Burnett's inability to step up when the Yankees need him, especially now with Andy Pettitte's injury taking longer than expected to heal and Phil Hughes closing in on his innings limit. The Yankees manager would much prefer to send Mitre or Gaudin to pitch the last four innings of Hughes' September starts. Instead, he may have to use them in Burnett's place and hope they can win big games in a tight division race.

It's a bad spot for the manager to be in and that's partly Burnett's fault.

Yankees have to restrain eager Andy Pettitte

It must have been painful for the ultracompetitive Andy Pettitte to watch his substitute Sergio Mitre get pounded by the Kansas City Royals, making the veteran lefty more determined to return from the disabled list as soon as possible. The New York Yankees will have to restrain him.

The Yankees never had a chance in yesterday's game, with Mitre coming off a DL stint of his own to give up seven runs in just over four innings. But the Yankees will live with another three or four bad starts from Mitre or some other substitute. What they can't live with is Pettitte trying to come back too quickly, only to worsen the injury and miss the rest of the season.

Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman always take the cautious approach with injuries and I expect them to be even more careful with their 38-year-old pitcher. No matter how good Pettitte tells them he feels, they can't let him go anywhere near a mound until they are convinced that he is fully healed.

I think they are more than up to the task of protecting Andy from himself. As Pettitte said earlier this season when Girardi took him out of a game: "there's no fighting Joe." Pettitte may wish he weren't so right about that, but the Yankees know they must resist any temptation to let the feisty lefty fight his way back onto the mound too quickly.

Pettitte a tough loss for Yanks to overcome

I've long believed that a major injury to one of the Core Four would have the greatest potential to derail the New York Yankees this year. That injury came yesterday to Andy Pettitte.

Pettitte is heading to the disabled list, out for at least four to five weeks, according to general manager Brian Cashman. While I think losing Mariano Rivera for that amount of time would be a greater loss due to the mess that is the Yankees bullpen (which actually did well in yesterday's victory), Pettitte has been the most reliable member of the Yankees rotation all year. Losing him will be tough to overcome and the fans know it, with 60% saying they are very concerned about his injury in a Daily News poll.

The media is now begging for a trade and I'm sure Cashman will look at all available starting options. But I doubt he's going to mortgage the future with the Yankees still in the first place with the best record in baseball. None of the internal options such as Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin can really take Pettitte's place, but if they can hold opposing teams to three or four runs each outing, that might be enough to keep the Yankees in games, especially with Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez finally swinging the bats well.

But no matter how the Yankees play it, losing Pettitte is a major blow. With AJ Burnett’s struggles, Pettitte had become the stopper of losing streaks and I doubt that’s a role that either Mitre or Gaudin can fill.

Yanks should clean up their PED problem

It’s nice to see Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte trying to fix the mistakes they made in using performance-enhancing drugs, but I really wish the New York Yankees would finally deal with the PED problem within their organization.

ARod and Pettitte are going to attend an August fundraiser at Yankee Stadium for the Taylor Hooten Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of steroids named after a young man who used steroids and took his own life. The event will auction off items signed by ARod and Andy Pettitte, both of whom have admitted to using PEDs. It’s a good way to own up to their responsibility to young fans and try to prevent kids from suffering Taylor Hooten’s fate.

But it also serves as another reminder that the Yankees have failed to address the problem of PED use within their own ranks. Today, five more minor leaguers were suspended for violating MLB’s drug policy, including two players in the Yankee farm system. A disproportionate number of these suspended minor leaguers are Yankees, including Sergio Mitre who made it to the big league roster last year.

As much as they probably don't like to be reminded, the Yankees remain the poster team for PED abuse in baseball. The organization really needs to step up and do something about it, starting with extensive counseling on both the dangers of PED and the right ways for young players to take care of their bodies. Have ARod and Pettitte talk to the younger Yankees about staying away from these poisons. I think it’s the least they can do.

Girardi faces pressure to bench struggling AJ

After AJ Burnett's latest disastrous outing, Joe Girardi has started to feel pressure from the media to skip Burnett in the rotation. That pressure will only intensify.

Girardi resisted suggestions that the struggling Burnett should miss a turn in the rotation, even though he twice skipped over Javier Vazquez when he faltered earlier in the season. The move worked with Vazquez, who made a nice comeback after regaining his confidence through bullpen work, most notably getting a key out in relief against the Boston Red Sox. But Girardi doesn't seem eager to pursue that path with Burnett.

In truth, Burnett missing a turn isn't much of an option for Girardi. The New York Yankees are committed to protecting the young Phil Hughes and skipping him will be a bigger priority for them because Hughes is much more important to their long-term future. Additionally, two of Girardi's long men and potential fill-in starters, Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre, are on the disabled list, so having someone else start in AJ's place would leave the Yankees short in the bullpen.

But mostly Girardi seems to genuinely believe that his staff and Burnett are close to figuring out the righty's problems and getting them straightened out. Girardi knows his players better than the rest of us and if he really thinks Burnett is close to getting back to being effective, than he probably is. Or it could just be that Girardi knows a demotion to the bullpen would cause more damage to the emotional pitcher than it's worth.

Regardless, Girardi seems determined to allow Burnett to stay in the rotation and work on his problems. The pressure to skip him will keep rising if Burnett's starts continue to turn into automatic Yankee losses. But extreme pressure is part of Girardi's job as manager of the Yankees and I expect him to stick to his guns.