It's no Hollywood ending for Yanks' trip to California

It took place in California, near L.A., but the Yankees' trip to Anaheim had anything but a Hollywood ending.

After getting blown out on Friday night, the Yankees had a 2-0 lead in the sixth and a 3-2 lead in the seventh on Saturday, and they took an early 2-0 lead on Sunday.  They were in prime position to go into Anaheim and take two out of three from their nemesis, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  But there was a late script change, and the edit was not a crowd-pleaser--at least not in the Bronx.

Instead the Yankees, who trail both the Rays and the Wild-Card-leading Boston Red Sox in the AL East Division, were swept--swept out of Anaheim, and swept, perhaps, out of the 2008 Postseason.

The Angels boast baseball's best record to this point, but for the Yankees, it doesn't matter who they play.  Whether it's the 1927 Yankees or the 1962 Mets that sit in the other dugout, the Yankees need wins.

And this weekend, the Yankees picked up exactly zero wins in three important chances.  And as Monday morning approaches, the Yankees, the team that won eight straight coming out of the All-Star Break are eight-and-a-half games behind the Rays in the division and four-and-a-half games behind the Boston Red Sox--albeit Manny-less, but still the defending World Champions--in the Wild Card race.

The Yankee offense still struggles to drive in big runs in important situations.  But the additions of Xavier Nady and Ivan Rodriguez have left Melky Cabrera as the only weak spot in the lineup.  The real problem is Alex Rodriguez and his failures in clutch situations, but the bottom line is that the offense is what it is, and it's not going to get an external lift.

The bullpen has been a soft spot for the Yankees this month.  What was once a surprising strength has come back down to earth--hard.  Yankees' General Manager Brian Cashman has already made his moves to improve the bullpen, shipping out Kyle Farnsworth and bringing in Damaso Marte.  There may be some internal options for the bullpen, but they're not likely to arrive until the rosters expand in September.

The real issue for the Yankees is the starting rotation.  Chien-Ming Wang is now done for the year.  Joba Chamberlain is on the Disabled List, and it's uncertain whether or not he'll pitch again this season.  Ian Kennedy was hurt earlier in the season, but now he's back and as bad as ever, still searching for his first win of the season after getting shelled against the Angels this weekend.  Phil Hughes is supposedly on his way back, but he's not here yet, and every single game is critical if the Yankees are going to dig themselves out of this hole.  The rotation now falls on two veterans, lefty Andy Pettitte and right-hander Mike Mussina.  But the cold reality is that even if both of them pitch at the top of their game, the Yankees just can't win enough games with Sidney Ponson, Dan Giese, and Darrell Rasner making up three-fifths of their rotation.  And the internal options are limited at best.  Kennedy is apparently just not as good as either of those three, regardless of how bad they may be, at this point in his career.  Hughes can come back, but it would be foolhardy to expect him to immediately pitch as though he hasn't been hurt for the majority of the season.  And it would be even more foolhardy to expect that from Carl "The Invisible Man" Pavano, who hasn't pitched in the big leagues since . . .

It's the starting rotation that the Yankees have to improve.  That is what is going to make or break their season.  And that's what, for all the credit he got at the trading deadline, Brian Cashman failed to address.  He has lost time, valuable time, but he has to do something now.

The stage is set for a Hollywood ending, even after the team's California collapse.  They're way behind, but they have tons of talent, and this is their legendary Stadium's final season.  The script they're reading from has them plummeting into straight-to-video oblivion.  If they're going to make it to the final credits, they're going to need a re-write.  And to do that, they're going to need a new screenwriter or two.  I hear there's a guy named Jarrod Washburn from the West Coast who might be able to write a scene or two.