Building and Rebuilding

While the new Stadium goes up in the Bronx, there's rebuilding going on across the street in the House that Ruth Built. Yankees fans seem to have unrealistic expectations about this year's team. Like everyone else, we come into spring training excited about the new season and excited about our team's prospects. But realistically, anyone who wasn't concerned about the starting rotation, the bullpen, and some aging veterans, wasn't looking at the team unbiasedly. We've taken some heat for saying the Yankees would not be a playoff team this year.

Expectations were very high for the team's 3 young pitchers- Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy- based on last year's limited showing. Hughes' no-no in progress before his injury in May and his strong finish in September and October, Joba's dominance out of the bullpen, and Kennedy's showing in September gave everyone hope that the Yankees were poised to start another dynasty. But those limited experiences were just that, limited.

Hughes pitched poorly before a rib injury gave him the equivalent of a student being saved by the bell. Kennedy was beyond awful, and didn't help himself with the fans or media with his parting shots on the way to Scranton. And of course, Joba is human. As happened last night, he will get beaten. And as much as he may deny its a distraction, having the front office publicly bicker over his role, has to be disconcerting.

Injuries are part of the game, and when you have 2 of your key regulars out of the lineup it's going to hurt. But those injuries are magnified when players like Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano fail to pick up the slack.

Joe Girardi has had to juggle pitchers in the bullpen all season as he tries to figure out who goes where and if they belong. He thought he had his 7-9 innings worked out and then Brian Bruney suffered a devastating injury.

What this all boils down to is expectations aren't always met, and yes, sometimes they are unrealistic. Yankee fans have gotten very used to winning since 1996 and the impatience of some of us really shows. The things being said about Hughes and Kennedy (they're trash, gutless, etc.) makes us shake our heads in wonder. These kids are inexperienced rookies. Maybe they'll become stars and maybe they won't, but to write them off after a month is absurd. But unfortunately, that has become part of Yankeeland, where fans expectations have become as unrealistic as the owner's.

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