They entered the season with only three reliable starting pitchers, one of whom would miss much of the 2011 campaign. Their star shortstop and catcher are getting creaky. Their roster includes more retreads than a used car lot. The dessicated remains of Andruw Jones and Eric Chavez actually get playing time, despite 3.7 wins above replacement combined over the last four years. Their superstar cornerman is dinged and running from the MLB law. Their huge free agent reliever walked six batters a game before pulling up lame. All 700 pounds of Bartolo Freakin' Colon has 18 starts for them already this year.
They play in the toughest division in baseball and they didn't make a single trade deadline deal for the first time since the Paleolithic Era.* So the Yankees are toast, right?
Kudos to Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman and team management in the Bronx. Two-thirds of the way through a lost season they're tied for the best record in the American League with a starting rotation right out of 2001. They've managed to spin Colon, Freddy Garcia and Ivan Nova into gold. They stuck with David Robertson out of the pen and he's rewarded them with a 1.44 ERA, no home runs allowed and 14 strikeouts per nine. Somehow this squad ranks second in the circuit in ERA ... and that's their weakness.
At bat, it's no surprise that the Bombers are a juggernaut. They're second in scoring in the majors with 5.38 runs per game, led by three starters with .500+ SLG (and ARod is close). Derek Jeter at short and Russ Martin behind the plate are rebounding from awful starts, and keeping Jorge Posada away from lefties (he's hitting .103 against them) short-circuits the only black hole in the home half of the inning. Absent Posada versus southpaws, every one of their hitters ranks above replacement value, which is a fancy way of saying their bench is solid too, They've even swiped 120 of 156 bases as a squad, a superb 77% rate.
To top it off, the Bronx brass refused to succumb to deadline deal extortion and instead let a flaccid trade market go untouched. The Yankees may have locked up the most productive trade deadline week by demonstrating disciplined restraint. Without sacrificing either of their catching uber-prospects, they got Soriano back from the DL last week and will welcome back Alex Rodriguez next week, Bud willing.
I'd still be a tad concerned, were I other than a Yankee-antagonist, about the pitchers they'll run out after Sabathia come playoff time. Garcia, Colon and Nova could turn into pumpkins any day now. But with Robertson, Rivera and perhaps Soriano locking up the late innings and a lineup that could scare Chuck Norris, they will once again be a force to be reckoned with once the post-season arrives.
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