Will the Yankees be able to come back? Can they make the playoffs? Will Roger come save the day?

 

NO.

 

These are questions we have been hearing and some have been asking the entire season. Never in history has there been this much coverage focused on a team that is tied for last in their division. I don’t care if Roger Clemens comes back and can be an effective starter. He will not turn around the entire team completely.

 

Clemens could pitch seven innings every start and give up less than three runs each time, the horrible Yankee pen still has to hold the lead for two innings and I am not sure they can.

 

Clemens could throw a gem and give up two runs, but the lineup would still have to score three runs to get the win, and in many cases this year they have not been able to touch the ball at the plate.

 

People need to come to the conclusion that the Yankees are simply a bad team.

 

Some would argue “They are in a tough division.” No they are not.

 

If the Yankees were placed in all of the other divisions, they best they could do would be a 4^th place standing in either the AL West or the NL Central.

 

Someone else may say “The mounting injuries have given the Yankees no chance to play at their full potential.” So what?

 

The Oakland Athletics have also been bitten by the injury bug and they currently are the owners of a .500 record. The Yankees have had incredible injuries, but they have been mainly focused on their pitching staff. The A’s have been hit on offense and well as defense. They have lost two of their best starters in Rich harden and Esteban Loaiza, their set-up man Justin Duchscherer as well as their closer Huston Street and to go along with those injuries they have lost 2/3 of their starting outfield, their fourth outfielder and their starting DH and former all-star Mike Piazza. Yet with all of these injuries they would not only be ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, but would be in second place.

 

The Yankees injuries definitely hurt, but they can’t be the one and only reason why the Yanks are in last place.

 

What people need to start focusing on is the success all of the other division leaders and real contenders in the American League are having.

 

Look at the Los Angeles Angels who are playing some incredible baseball with a monster starting rotation that could come to dominate in the playoffs. Coincidentally, the Angels just swept the Yankees in New York.

Another team, the Cleveland Indians, who are full of young talented players starting to blossom. Not to mention they just finished sweeping the Tigers who were the early favorite to win the central division. The Indians are loaded with exciting players like Grady Sizemore, a great slugger in Travis Hafner, and an ace in C.C. Sabathia. This is a team that deserves more credit and coverage as they will without a doubt be a team to be reckoned with at the end of the season.

 

Even a team like the Seattle Mariners should receive more publicity. They are not an AL powerhouse by any means, but are in contention despite injures and pre-season predictions. This is a team predicted by many to finish dead last in their division, yet even with 60% of their starting rotation spending time on the disabled list Seattle is still in contention. They, unlike the Yankees are currently above .500 and starting to get on a role offensively.

 

From now on I refuse to write about a team that is ridiculously underachieving and I will not attempt to make excuses for all-star players who cannot perform. Instead, I will focus on the teams whose play on the field deserves credit. Now, onto the weekly power rankings where Boston reclaims the top spot.