Torre's Days Winding Down?

The Yankees have a 3 game series with the L.A. Angels at "The Stadium", beginning May 25. The question is will Joe Torre still be the Yankees manager when that date arrives. The Yankees sit 17-19, 8 games back of the 1st place Red Sox in the AL East. The team is coming off an 8-5, semi-successful, semi-failure, set of games against the Rangers and Yankees.

9 is the reason Joe Torre has to be worried. That 9 is the number of games straight against the White Sox, Mets, and Red Sox. The first 6 are on the road before a 3 game home series with the enemies to the north. It's conceivable that if the Yankees do poorly in those 9 games, King George may decide to lower the ax on his long tenured manager. King George doesn't like losing, but King George really doesn't like losing to the Mets and Red Sox (probably the Mets even more than the division rival Red Sox).

The White Sox are 2 years removed from a WS title, and outside of Mark Buerhle's no-hitter, are struggling themselves. Jim Thome is on the DL, and Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye are slumping. The team is 18-16, 4 games behind the division leading Tigers, but a game under .500 at home.

The Mets enter today's play a 1/2 game back of the Braves for 1st place in the NL East. They're 23-13 and still a favorite to go to the World Series.

The Red Sox are trying to run away with the AL East, leading the Yankees and Orioles by 8 games. Though their hitting has not been tremendous, their starting pitching has and their bullpen, led by Jon Papelbon, Brendan Donnelley, and the surprising Hideki Okijima has been very solid. With the Sox series coming on the heels of the Mets series, it could be make or break time for Torre.

The Yankee's problems are plentiful. They hit, but get poor pitching. The pitch, and get no run support. And muscle and bones break and pull and cramp (and not just to Jason Giambi).

Since the 7 game losing streak in April, the Yankee's rotation, for the most part, has kept the team in a position to win. But while runs were plentiful in April, they have begun to disappear in May.

Derek Jeter has been a hitting machine all season. So has Jorge Posada. After that its been a roller coaster of inconsistency and slumps.

Here are 3 prime problems with the lineup.

Bobby Abreu was a crucial cog in the Yankee's winning their 9th straight AL East title last season. After a quick start, he's been stuck in quicksand since, his average spiraling downwards. He has just 1 HR this season, and has struck out 32 times in 36 games. In the 13 games of May, he's walked just 1, while hitting just .211

Robinson Cano was hotter than the 4th of July during spring training. It carried over to the regular season, as he hit .333 through the first 10 games. But since hitting .307 on April 24, his average has plummeted 70 points to .237. He's 8-46 (.174) in May, with 4 of those hits coming in 1 game. Like Abreu, he looks completely lost at the plate. And unlike the "normal" Abreu, Cano was never selective at the plate to begin with.

Alex Rodriguez had to come back to earth at some point. Unfortunately, its come at a time when the rest of the team isn't producing much. On April 24, A-Rod had 4 hits, including a pair of HRs, to raise hit batting average to an even .400. In the 18 games since, he just 1 HR and 5 RBI. He's hit a pedestrian .277 to drop his average down to .329.

The bullpen continues to struggle, but the rotation has been much better with Rasner and DeSalvo in and Igawa out. Clemens will strengthen the rotation more, though he will also tax the bullpen more. And of course there is Phil Hughes lurking on the DL. Now the team needs to hit before the pitching slumps again.

May 25, Angels at Yankees. Where will the Yankees be in the standings and who will be the manager? Good question.