WHY THERE ARE 21 DAYS LEFT

If you're a true baseball fan, a true New York Yankees fan, being stuck in the winter and snow means 2 things:

1. You're sick of it.
2. Countdown to Pitchers and Catchers.

In years past, it's about getting down to Tampa and seeing all your Yankee favorites but also seeing the new guys. This year oddly, there's not a ton of hype, just a lot of wait and wonder. People are freaking out, me included and there's tons of questions... Is Cashman going to pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade for a starter? If so, when? How about Pettitte... is he coming back or what? Is the bench really just Andruw Jones, Eduardo Nunez, and Ramiro Pena, Greg Golson and Colin Curtis? We could use a cheap veteran to mentor these kids too, right? Andruw Jones is great, but put another vet in there. Someone with the Tony Clark gene.

Sure, once we get to Tampa, we'll calm down alittle bit, after all, the boys are playing baseball, what's better than that? But the problem still remains... Pitching. CC, AJ, Phil and what? Yes, the Yankees have Ivan Nova, but I'd give him the 5th starter role no problem. Many think I'm anti-youngster. I'm not, I just don't think you should just force it on someone. Spring Training's where we'll see those kids, maybe we'll see some magic. But in the meantime, we still need a 4th starter. Will it be Pettitte? Millwood? My friend Jared? Who? I've been bitching about this hole since Pettitte filed for free agency. Yes, I gave Cashman a hard time, but the reality is, quality pitching will come in a trade this winter, not in the free agent market. We can patch the hole with a Garcia or a Millwood, but we can't feel really good about it unless Millwood suddenly gets back to his prime. It's a tough market. That's why in the back of my mind, it may not be the January Surprise we're waiting for, it's the February Surprise that Cashman's about to drop on us.

I remember the Winter of 2004, I was driving home from a signing featuring Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez. It was cold that day. As I put on the radio, sports came on 1010 wins and said the Yankees just traded Alfonso Soriano to the Rangers for Alex Rodriguez. It was February 16, 2004. Remember that date for 1 reason and 1 reason only, Cashman's not done, and he's never done. Something's up his sleeve. I truly believe that. Listen, you can rank on Cashman all day long saying he's dragging his feet. I do from time to time as well. But look at what he's dealing with? I even killed him saying he screwed us in the Lee deal... we're all pissed. But answer me this question... When Cashman leaves the Yankees when his contracts up and he signs a deal with another Eastern Division team, are you still going to be saying that? Cashman is one of the best GM's in baseball and while he may not have the Yankee Empire behind him if he moves on, he'll have that savvy GM mentality, the contacts, the friendships and that Golden Boy reputation. You don't want to compete with that, trust me. At the end of the day, time isn't standing still you BYB freaks, I swear it's not. With pitchers and catchers just 21 days away, it's about to get warm. We're about to see our heroes, the green grass, the sunshine and Mr. Brian Cashman... And he might... might... might have alittle surprise for all of us... in February. We just need to trust him.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.