| Rob Intrieri. 22nd April, 2006 - 12:41 am
 Relying on the unreliable. Depending on the undependable. This describes the Yankees season, and this is not a promising description. The reason for all this instability and question comes back to one name: Randy Johnson. The 42-year old that can no longer get the job done on a consistent basis. The basket that the Yankees foolishly put all their eggs in. Ladies and gentlemen, the basket is falling fast and the eggs are on the brink of shattering.
Randy Johnson did a fine job of confusing the Yankees. While on the Diamondbacks, an aging Unit contributed some of his best years, with some of his most dominating stuff. In his six years in Arizona, Johnson had an ERA above 2.64 just once-and in that year he was injured! Four times he had more than 300 strikeouts. Not only this, but Johnson was a model of consistency. In every year he wasn’t injured, he started 35 games. He also pitched over 240 innings in five of his six years in Arizona. Randy Johnson was all these things, and he was the most intimidating hurler in the league. At 6’10” and with that mullet, not to mention the high speeds at which he threw the ball, Johnson could weaken anyone’s bladder. In 2001, he absolutely carried the D-Backs to a World championship over the Yankees. He won three games in the series alone, including a complete game and a cameo as a reliever.
From that day on, the Boss, George Steinbrenner, fantasized about the Unit in pinstripes. Only problem was, Randy hadn’t yet found the fountain of youth the way Roger Clemens had, and he continued to age the way a normal human did. In this respect, it’s not all Randy’s fault. The Yankees played a role in this disaster as well. They had experience with Roger Clemens, the man who defied the aging process, and expected that from everyone. The truth was, that was a once in a lifetime shot. It was rare. Randy didn’t have the same workout routine that the Rocket did; he may not have had the same drive, for that matter. Maybe he was just getting older and tired; his body could have been breaking down. Johnson is a couple years younger than Clemens, but even so he is now 42 years old. The Yankees acquired him when he was a fading 41. It was simply too late. They couldn’t get the job done in 2004, when the Yankees could have used him to defeat the Red Sox in one of those four chances, and the last year that Randy really dominated batters. That was such a strong year for the Unit, he pitched a perfect game just to eliminate any doubt of his domination, but his team was so bad and the Yankees desperately wanted him to anchor their staff. The Diamondbacks were too stubborn, and didn’t trade him away, which was probably a good decision as they got that amazing year out of him and are now fine without him. So the Yankees should have given up the dream for Johnson at that moment. But they didn’t. Frankly, they had no other options. They needed an ace and they had to take the gamble on the old veteran.
So far, the gamble hasn’t paid off. If Randy was consistent then, his career has spun 180º. Now he is completely unpredictable. You just don’t get the same confidence when he comes to the mound as you do when Clemens or Pettitte or Mussina manned the hill. Sometimes, he pitches well when the Yankees can’t score any runs. Other times, like his last appearance against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, he’ll come out with a four run cushion and collapse. Seriously, he has to be better than this. Seven runs allowed in a little more than 3 innings? No one would even think or attaching that stat line to Randy’s name 3 years ago. But ever since he’s been on the Yankees, I find myself asking scary questions like, ‘I wonder where Jeff Weaver is right now?’ or, ‘How much would it take to bring Jose Contreras back?’ He’s been that unreliable, which is really saying something. In the playoffs, Randy has struggled throughout his career outside of 2003, and his woes didn’t pause last year as he lost a huge game in Anaheim. Now I don’t want to generalize, because Randy seemed hurt at the beginning of last season and really picked it up after the All-Star break, but how much could he possibly have in the tank? Sure, he’s still had three solid performances out of four so far this year, but he can’t explode like this in New York. It’s unacceptable. Every time he goes out there, he plays Russian Roulette with the Yankees and their fans. They never know when they’re going to get a strong performance out of him and when they aren’t. He’s like a bank that protects your money 75% of the time. Not a horrible percentage in most cases, but in a situation like this it is dreadful. This is a problem that could cost the Yankees their season, as it did last year.
The Yankees are always looking for an established veteran, but that doesn’t always work out, and Randy’s a testament to that. Instead they need to take a cue from their rivals, the Red Sox, and be willing to take some risks. Josh Beckett, for example, is a young pitcher with amazing stuff and history of blister problems. The Red Sox looked past his injuries and made a calculated risk to bring in a young fireballer resembling a retro-Roger Clemens. Now, although the season is early, it’s looking like a good decision. Beckett is 3-0 with a miniscule ERA of 1.29. Not to mention, he absolutely owns the Yankees, at least he did in 2003. If he continues to pitch like this all season long, and Johnson continues to pitch the way he has all season long, the Yankees could find themselves on the outside looking in. |
