Yankee 'pen is a bunch of bull

I said it--mostly jokingly--at the time, but when the Yankees made a pair of trades shortly before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline that replaced right-hander Kyle Farnsworth with left-hander Damaso Marte in the bullpen, but the Yankees had fixed something that didn't appear, at the time, to be broken.

Farnsworth, who shortly thereafter lost a game for his new Detroit Tigers by giving up a game-ending homerun against the Tampa Bay Rays, and Edwar Ramirez were in the midst of hitless-innings streaks.  Jose Veras had emerged as a reliable reliever, the seventh-inning guy before Farnsworth in the eighth and then, of course, legendary Mariano Rivera, perfect in save opportunities.  The bullpen was cruising, slamming the door on opponents, running like a well-oiled, hard-throwing machine.

The one thing that the bullpen didn't have was a lefty, but it had been pitching so well that no one seemed to care--no one, that is, except Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman.  Cashman pulled the trigger on a deal that brought Marte and outfielder Xavier Nady, who would take over the outfield duties and banish Brett Gardner back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for four minor leaguers.  One of those minor leaguers was Jeff Karstens, who, ironically, has thrown fifteen shutout innings in two starts for the Pirates, allowing just seven hits and five walks, at a time when the Yankees' rotation, ravaged by injury, includes Sidney Ponson, Dan Giese, and either Darrell Rasner or Ian Kennedy.

And while Nady has been unquestionably good for the Yankees' offense, providing a huge offensive upgrade over Gardner, Marte--who had an ERA of almost 3.50 in the National League at the time of the trade--is 0-2 for the Yankees, with an ERA of 9.00 and a WHIP.  He has thrown seven innings in eight appearances for the Bronx Bombers, allowing seven runs on seven hits and five walks.  Even lefties are hitting Marte since he came to New York, posting a .368 On-Base Percentage Against, the same as righties.

Maybe it's chemistry, or maybe it's coincidence, but the two other go-to-relievers in the Yankee bullpen have faltered since the trade deadline.  Jose Veras followed up an outstanding June by posting a 2.61 ERA in July, allowing three runs on eight hits and five walks while striking otu 13 in 10.1 innings.  In August, however, his ERA is 4.15, and he as allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in 4.1 innings.

The splits are even more pronounced for Edwar Ramirez; he threw 11.1 innings in July without allowing a hit while striking out 16.  This month, however, he has allowed nine runs, eight earned, in just 3.1 innings, lowlighted by a grand slam surrendered to Mark Teixiera of the Anaheim Angels, and then a five-run, no-out debacle less than a week later also against the Angels.

Is it coincidence?  Is it chemistry?  It could be either, but that doesn't really matter.

All that matters is that the bullpen was a stength--a tremendous strength.  But then Brian Cashman fixed it, and now it's broken.

The Yankees are going to need that bullpen to find a way to pull it together if they want to make it to October Baseball.  But who's going to fix that bullpen now?