This Lineup Tells You Everything You Need To Know

(Here's the lineup post that sparked a lot of discussion over at IIATMS/TYA yesterday)

1) Brett Gardner- CF
2) Eduardo Nunez- SS
3) Robinson Cano- 2B
4) Kevin Youkilis- 3B
5) Vernon Wells- DH
6) Juan Rivera- 1B
7) Brennan Boesch- RF
8) Ichiro Suzuki- LF
9) Francisco Cervelli- C

That, or some similar variation of that, is what the New York Yankee starting lineup is going to look like one week from today. It’s a far cry from what the lineup has been the last few years and a far cry from what the lineup was expected to be this season, but it actually perfectly encapsulates everything the Yankees are right now. It shows how they’re an old, injured team with a lot of payroll tied up in its older, injured players. It shows how the self-imposed payroll crunch has limited the team’s ability to seek out trade and free agent options that best meet its needs. And it shows how little impact MiL depth the team has in its own farm system to help overcome the injuries and lack of big-time trade/FA activity.

We aren’t quite into “darkest timeline” territory yet, but it’s getting close and the Wells trade that’s expected to be finalized today does signal dark times in Yankeeland. This is a team and an organization handcuffed by its own future plans, plans that don’t allow for wiggle room to address problems in the present and result in the front office agreeing to take on $13 million for a player who’s barely worth $1.3 million at this stage in his career. Some of the other guys and gals might come on here later today and try to find some positives in this mess, and more power to them for trying. I just don’t have the energy to try to do that right now, and I definitely don’t have the right shade of lipstick to put on this pig.