Well, the Boss has spoken and Joe Torre seems to have Steinbrenner's support.

But, a pat on the back is only a few inches from a kick in the arse. 

Steinbrenner issued a statement  on Monday in which he say's he's unhappy with the current situation with the team, but that GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Torre still have his backing. 

Frankly, I think Steinbrenner issued the statement just to placate the media and the fans.  The days of Steinbrenner firing managers based on a weekend series against the Red Sox in April are long gone.  Steinbrenner may still be the Don Corleone of the Yankees, but he no longer holds all the strings.  There's a Michael Corleone somewhere in the organization and whether it's Howard Rubenstein, Randy Levine or someone else, there is someone in Steinbrenner's ear.  And that person (or persons) knows that firing Torre now makes no sense.

The main reason for the Yankees poor performance so far has been the starting pitching.  The starters have been besieged by injuries and when a starting pitcher can't deliver at least five innings of quality baseball, it's going to have a negative impact on a club.  The trickle-down effect has also wreaked havoc on the bullpen, which has led to tired arms and sub-par relief.  The Yankee offense can't score 8 runs every night (and sometimes even that isn't enough) so that's the main reason why the Yankees stand a 9-14 so far this season.

Now, Steinbrenner still has the final say on what he wants, but I don't think he knows what that is anymore.  Obviously, he wants to win, but I don't think he necessarily knows how to achieve it.  He has always relied on his "baseball people" for input, but I believe now, more than ever, that his own baseball instincts have left him.  I'm not a doctor and I don't want to say that there is something definitively wrong with The Boss physically or mentally, but I do think he's slipping.  He doesn't speak with the media the way he used to, and when he does, he seems emotional and confused.  Again, I'm not saying that he's a senile old man, but I do think he's getting more help on assessing the State of the Yankees than he did in the past.

OK, with that out of the way, there is nothing that can be done with the team now anyway.  There aren't any trades to be made right now and the Yanks have already dipped into the farm system.  Phil Hughes has already been brought up and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Roger Clemens to come back.  

Once Wang, Mussina, Pettitte, Igawa, Hughes and possibly Pavano (he's still on the team so I'm throwing him in there) take consecutive turns in the rotation is when the Yanks will have a better sense of what kind of team they have. 

Then we can see what kind of reaction Mr. Steinbrenner has. 

Until then, all this talk is just nonsense.

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