Wednesday, September 29, 2010

What's The Plan Now?

Alright, so the Yanks are officially in the playoffs, but what's the next move?  Are they playing for the division title or not?

Joe started to show his hand by pitching CC last night and riding him for 8+ innings and then going straight to Mo.  He left no doubt that he was in it to win it last night and the team responded.  But then after the game, the mixed messages started showing up again.  Andy was scheduled to pitch tonight and now he's been scratched and moved back for Javy (WHY???????), and there was talk of resting some of the starters.  But the Yanks have also stated multiple times that their goal is to win the division and when you've got guys like Jeter and A-Rod, who would be amongst the first candidates for some rest, saying they want to stay in and go after the division, what do you do?

Joe and Cash and everybody else need to decide what's important.  They can either play it safe, rest some starters, and juggle the rotation to set up the ALDS, or they can keep the foot on the gas and play it out to try and pass Tampa.  Joe said last night in the locker room that "We still have aspirations of winning our division and trying to get home-field advantage."  Now he needs to decide how strong those aspirations are and how hard he wants to try to win the division.  I would say that starting Javy in place of Andy tonight is not a move made with winning the division in mind and I think everybody would agree with me.

Your move, Joe.

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