Wednesday morning briefing

1) Hank Steinbrenner has wasted no time in building himself a reputation while at the helm of the New York Yankees; that reputation is based on proverbial sound bites, some simply to speak his mind, and others to light a fire undenearth the cash-rich ballclub that he is running. Another one of those media outbursts arrived after the Yankees lost another game to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday evening. Some words directly from Steinbrenner:

"The bottom line is that the team is not playing the way it is capable of playing. These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money."

"This is going to get turned around. If it's not turned around this year, then it will be turned around next year, by force if we have to."

"We have good professional hitters and I have a lot of faith in them. I'm not saying they are not giving the effort, but they need to be playing harder."

Most of the time, the words that come from Steinbrenner are taken in the same light as all the rants that we have witnessed in past years from his father. They are frustration, disappointment, and panic wrapped up into one. I do not think that ripping the ballclub publicly is the way to handle a slump or a slow start or a sluggish offense. That typicall creates drama within the clubhouse, wasted energy that should be directed towards winning baseball games.

But, of course, it is always more complicated than what the public eye is allowed to see. Should all things be kept in house? Not sure, but that is arguable, although with the depth of media coverage in the game today, it is unlikely. Thing is, I understand that making some comments to the media often times will get a team going because they will know that the front office is not satisfied with the product that has been on the field. For this to be effective, it must be done in a professional manner and it must be constructive criticism, not demeaning verbal abuse.

With that in mind, I am in line with what Hank did this time around. I have no problem with him going to the media and voicing his displeasures. He did not bash anyone, but simply stated his expectations of the ballclub, in a manner that was meant to jolt a stagnant baseball team. This was not a vengeance-filled rant, but rather a stern talk with motivation as the desired goal.

The Yankees dropped two games under .500 with their most recent loss to the Rays, and are now 4.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the division lead. Their 169 runs scored through May 13th ranks only 8th best in the American League, let alone all of baseball. Remember, this is the New York Yankees; a club who is built on a high-powered offense and run production is the MO.

Yes, there have been an abundance of injuries to this lineup. Derek Jeter missed some games with a leg injury and now Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, two staples of the lineup, are missing an extended amount of games at the same time. Those factors alone can cause for a drought in production, and that is without even mentioning Robinson Cano's indiscernible bat.

But, frankly, Hank Steinbrenner hit this nail right on the head. The club has had to endure injuries and slumps, but who doesn't? This team has looked sluggish at the plate and mediocre on the mound. There are plenty of veteran players on the roster making a lot of money who need to step up and pick up the slack until A-Rod and Posada return to the field and the rotation finds its groove. There is no excuse for playing .500 ball, let alone sub-.500 ball, if you are the New York Yankees. Too many dollars are spent to put a winner on the field, and at some point in time, it comes down to hunger and drive and tenacity and sheer will to complete a task.

Subsequently, I do not think the Yankees struggles have been from a lack of effort on the field, and that is the one part where Hank is off base in this new batch of quotes. It is not right for him tell his players through the media that they are not playing hard, because in reality, they are professionals with a lot of pride who are not out there to lose baseball games. More importantly, Hank has no idea what it is like to play the game, let alone play it at the major league level. He has no experience of hitting a big league fastball or trying to get Manny Ramirez out, and therefore cannot fathom what it feels like to struggle on a baseball field. That is the dividing line between Hank and the players and is the reason this type of scare-tactic is never really recieved the way it was intended to be.

2) It is funny how a team, with high expectations, can go from unbelievably hot to inconceivably cold in a matter of a week. That is what has happened with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is difficult to figure out what to make of this Dodgers club because they have pieces in place and all facets of the game are at least average if not better. This club has pitching, hitting, defense, a good mix of youth and veteran talent, a great manager, and a productive clubhouse atmosphere. And yet they have lost their last five ballgames. So what gives?

The Dodgers have only scored ten runs in their last five games, with James Loney's Mother's Day blast the only homerun in that stretch. It is apparent that since Rafael Furcal has been out with a hurt back, he is not elgible to come off the DL until next week, the offense has sputtered and the runs hopped on the first train out of town. Juan Pierre needs to get on base to be the catalyst-- in the last five games, he has been on base only four times out of his 21 plate appearances, although he has stolen two bases when he got on.

Matt Kemp and James Loney are a combined 10-for-37 in the last five games, so they are not exactly struggling. But when Andruw Jones is nonexistent and Furcal is not on base to score runs, Kemp And Loney have to pick up the slack left from Jeff Kent for run production. Loney and Kemp are the staple of the middle of this order for years to come, whether they like it or not. They need to hit more homeruns than they have, but they are young, and all signs point towards the fact that the homerun totals will rise.

Russell Martin is an excellent hitting catcher, but he is a complementary offensive player. In a lineup of other sluggers and on-base rats, Martin is awesome because he will play off of the success of the other hitters. He can drive in runs when guys are on base and he can work the count and and steal a bag or two when the team needs baserunners. But if he is left stranded on the island, his offensive package is completely exposed. Martin is stuck in between molds. He is not a guy with tremendous speed like a Jose Reyes, who can get on base and cause havoc and jumpstart an offense that way, and he is not a big bopper like Albert Pujols who will hit enough homeruns, and therefore drive himself in enough times, to carry a stuggling club on his back.

With all of that being said, the starting pitching has been the downfall. Brad Penny, the needed rock of the rotation, has watched his ERA rise above 5.00 due to a couple of recent shaky outings, and Derek Lowe is averaging less than 6 innings per start when he is supposed to be the sinker-baller who takes the ball into the eighth inning and gives the bullpen a rest.

These team-wide droughts are typical of any club for a long baseball season, and the Dodgers should return to form sooner rather than later. Hopefully for them, their starters begin to eat up innings again and their hitters find their swings while they still are reasonably close to the Arizona Diamonbacks in the National League West. At 4.5 games back of Arizona, there still is time to write this Hollywood script and pen the ending in any fashion they please.