NOW IS THE TIME TO TURN IT ON!

I love this photograph.  This is a picture of CC Monster in the playoffs.  He's been nicknamed CC Monster by my 3 year old who somehow confused Cookie Monster and CC Sabathia and now, he will be forever called CC Monster in my house... It's exciting to see this shot. It's exciting to know that baseball is almost here.  

(In Photo: Matt Diaz)
We are literally 1 week away from Spring Training being over.  We have seen guys like Matt Diaz come and go and our Captain Derek Jeter be put on the shelf until on or after April 6^th, read HERE. We have seen our starting rotation start to take shape and we have seen guys like Chien-Ming Wang and Vernon Wells come aboard.  Things are starting to get exciting.  But most importantly… this is the week that we need to start to turn it on.

Now, you’ve heard me say in STOP ASKING ME ABOUT PRE-SEASON, I DON'T CARE! that I don’t care about Spring training. It's a fact, I don't.  I do care however about the rhythm the Yankees get into in the last week of the Spring. The last week leads up to the start of the season. Now is the time.   I mean, that’s when we rally.  That’s when you get the team rolling, the pitchers get their final Spring start, the hitters are starting to feel good at the plate and hopefully the injuries are behind us or at least in our case... we're healing. 

Overall, I’m not overly disappointed in what I saw this spring.  We got to see the kids play and I hope we get to see them again this year.  Personally, I would love to see Kevin Youkilis be our first baseman in Mark Teixeira’s absence and have a kid like Ronnier Mustelier play third.  I think that would be a huge advancement in the Yankees lack of "youth molding."  Who knows if it would happen, and who knows if we’ll see the guy this season at all. 

The fans want him, but the Yankee brass doesn’t appear to care what we think. If they did, Raul Ibanez would be in pinstripes right now. 

I would have loved to have seen Melky Mesa be a temporary outfielder in the absence of Curtis Granderson. But, that ain't happening. Instead, we signed Ben Francisco,  we signed Brennan Boesch, both great pickups… and now, with Vernon Wells signing in the Bronx, Mesa will go down to the minors and play every day.  It’s actually not a bad thing. Mesa will get a ton of at bats down there and we may see him if we need alittle speed or in September when it matters.   

(In Photo: Brennan Boesch)
Cashman made some moves to better the club believe it or not.  Sure, not all of us liked the names, but when I sit back and review, who were we actually looking for anyway? The market wasn’t exactly stellar.  Overall, the Boesch signing, the Wells signing… even the Wang signing, could be significant as we move forward.  The reality is, we just don’t know yet..

But forget that for a moment and remember this... while the losses in Spring don’t count, turning it on now matters.  Soon enough we will start 2013 and it will be against a hungry Red Sox team who has something to prove. We will compete against a Blue Jays team that looks outstanding on paper and we will compete against an Orioles team that wants payback for last year's playoffs.  This division has never been easy, but 2013 will be extra difficult and no matter who the Yankees players are, we need to step it up as 1 team and win.  In the end, that’s the goal. Sure, we may not be the best as individuals, but it's the team of 25 that makes things happen... I really believe that.  It reminds me of this quote:

“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. Sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.” 

Thank you Vince Lombardi…

Now Yankees…. Let’s get some.

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