THE SEA OF MEDIOCRITY

If you were like me you too would have thought the 2014 version of the New York Yankees would be much better than a game or two over .500 at this point of the season. The organization opened up the pinstriped wallet and went out to find fixes to the issues that plagued the Bombers in 2013. The one thing you can’t pay for however is certainty. You cannot BUY titles…. much to the chagrin of Yankee haters around the world.

This season the Yanks have been okay, not great, not awful. They are, like most of the league, a middle of the road type club. Injuries have been a big part of why the club seems to start and stop so often. CC, Nova, Mikey Pine Tar, Tex, DRob, Beltran, Machine Gun Kelley…the list is already too long and we are only in the month of May. In any other year the Yankees might be in serious trouble and 5 to 6 games back in the AL East…but this isn’t any other year. We have seen that Boston, Toronto, Tampa and Baltimore have also had a host of issues and no one is able to run away with the division. Welcome to the SEA OF MEDIOCRITY!

Coupled with Yankee starters checking out like the rotation was a La Quinta Inn in Detroit, the team on a whole has yet to gel. Fans are still waiting to see Brian McCann shake off the early season struggles. The new backstop has been silenced by the shift and his frustration is apparent. Jacoby Ellsbury has scuffled as of late and although the middle infielders have been better, Jeter and Roberts are abysmal with runners in scoring position. The lineup looks like it is on the verge of putting it together one minute and then helpless the next.

The silver lining, if there is such a thing, is that the rest of the East is also failing to launch…the Sox brought back JD Drew’s kid brother for crying out loud. That’s your solution to find a “Spark”? Whatever you say, kid.

The thing that worries me is that it seems GI Joe is the little Dutch boy with his fingers in the dam. He sees a leak and plugs it with Vidal Nuno. He sees another and throws Kelly Johnson in. Sooner or later he will run out of fingers. The Yankees are older where they need to be younger. They are banged up where they need to be healthy…what happens if Baltimore or Boston figures it out first?

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not a doom and gloom guy and still believe the Yankees are a playoff team when October rolls around. Its just they have to be the team that get up first now that everyone tripped out of the starting block. They have a stretch against teams they SHOULD beat. Dropping one to the Cubs, Tanaka’ first loss by the way, is not what you want to do. The Bombers need to be on the plane after this week in the Windy City singing “Chicago is my kind of town!” They need to string together some wins and start to play at a higher level. As of now you don’t know what Yankee team is going to show up day in and day out.

I don’t want to hear “Hey Hal go buy us this!” or “Hey Cash get on the phone!” at this point. It’s not that easy and by the way, NOBODY IS AVAILABLE! What are you Veruca Salt?! “DADDY, I WANT A JEFF SAMARDZIJA NOW!” The team needs to win in this Sea of Mediocrity. It’s not impossible, in fact it’s ABSOLUTELY DOABLE with the guys they have. SWIM YANKS! Before the rest of the AL East does first.

** This one is for you Yankee fans demanding MORE!**





--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
   Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."



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