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Power Rankings
Date	Ranking	Previous
09/30/2008	8	10
Hello, symmetry, part II: The Yankees and Mets finished 2008 with the same record (89-73), the same home (48-33) and road (41-40) records, and within 15 runs of one another in runs scored and allowed. The Yankees, of course, put up those numbers against the AL's big-boy competition ... I'm about to sound like a massive Yankee apologist, but if you had said in April that they would lose Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui for most of the season, get nothing out of Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy, and see Robinson Cano regress into a poor man's Mariano Duncan ... well, 89 wins would've sounded pretty good, right?
09/23/2008	10	13
Yes, every member of the media loves the Yankees with the white-hot intensity of a thousand burning forests. Yes, we are given chocolate and precious baubles every time we advance their nefarious world-domination agenda. But here's the thing: They're 14 games over .500 in baseball's toughest division and, in the past two weeks, have taken series from the Rays (two of three) and White Sox (three of four). How are they not worthy of this spot? In what way are the Dodgers, Brewers, Cardinals or Astros -- all with similar records and run differentials in the lesser National League -- a better team than the Yankees? I can't make a case for any of the four. So rather than yip about media bias, commend us for showing restraint and not hopscotching them ahead of the four soggy-bottom teams at the bottom of the top 10.
09/16/2008	13	13
Say what you want about Derek Jeter and his defense and his intangibles and his girlfriends and every other real or perceived flaw in his game, but he's playing his face off at a time when most of his teammates have mentally checked out. ... The Yanks finished the season 11-7 against the Rays. ... You can bench Robinson Cano for his casual 'tude or you can bench him for his bat (4 of his last 25 with no runs or RBI, no walks since Aug. 20). Either way, it's a defensible decision. ... Having attended a few hundred games at Yankee Stadium, I'll miss the old building's smell -- two parts peanut and one part stale beer -- and the bright burst of sunlight when you emerge from one of its dank concourses. Everything beyond that? Not so much.
09/09/2008	13	12
Ladies and gentlemen, your fourth-place New York Yankees! ... From the glass-half-full department: Phil Hughes looked dominant in the Triple-A playoffs the other night. ... I have little doubt that, on the day after the Yankees are eliminated from playoff contention, Joe Girardi will open his pregame presser with a cheery "We're not dead yet!" Denial is an underused component of the successful-skipper tool kit.
09/02/2008	12	12
The Yankees are a middling team right now and several of the regulars -- most notably Robinson Cano, blessed with the temperament to smile broadly in the wake of game-crippling gaffes -- have more or less quit on 2008. But I can't in good conscience rank them below teams in the sparkly-giggly NL that have roughly the same record, both for the season and over the past two weeks ... It might be time to remove that "Andy Pettitte, big-game pitcher" tag. At a time when the Yankees have needed him to earn his salary, Pettitte has notched a 1-4 record and 7.01 ERA in his past seven outings, surrendering 58 hits in 42 innings ... Numbers are my God. I subscribe to their newsletter, tithe regularly to their cause, and fast during the Holy Revelation of the Immaculate OPS+. Yet while those numbers tell me that Alex Rodriguez has been the Yankees' best hitter this season, his August -- 11 rally-obliterating double plays -- has shaken my faith to its foundation.
08/26/2008	12	13
Let's not get too giddy about that sweep in Baltimore. Twenty-five of the final 35 games are against teams with winning records, they rank third from the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency, and the rotation is populated by individuals surnamed Ponson, Rasner and Pavano. ... Speaking of Cavalier Carl, anyone who expects anything beyond mediocrity from him is wishcasting. The guy barely cracked 90 on the radar gun against the Orioles and left half his pitches right out over the plate. ... Joe Girardi's relentless positivity when it comes to injury diagnoses ("He won't start a throwing program until Sept. 20, his foot is still in a cast, his leg muscles have atrophied, and he can't take more than 10 steps without getting winded ... but sure, Chien-Ming Wang might be able to help us in September") is getting tired.
08/19/2008	13	10
I can't say the Yankees are a lesser team than the five ranked immediately above them, but after last week -– intermittent effort, guys getting picked off first in the ninth inning of one-run games, giving Johnny Damon a day off to "rest" -- I don't know how you can have the slightest shred of optimism about their immediate future. ... So help us all, Carl Pavano will likely start for the Yankees on Saturday. He'll be received as warmly in the locker room as an antibiotic-resistant strain of gonococcus. ... It'd be a lot easier to take Hank Steinbrenner's daily "we shall overcome!" addresses on the state of the Yankee union seriously if he actually attended a game every so often. ... Nobody else will come out and say it, so I will: Bobby Abreu, you are plump and you are slow. Please stop attempting to steal bases in front of Alex Rodriguez. In the best-case scenario, you succeed and then A-Rod is walked. In the worst-case scenario -– which has come to pass nine times in 23 attempts this season -– you erase a base runner at the moment your team's best hitter is at the plate.
08/12/2008	10	6
So this is how it ends: With a whimper and what can only be described as a missed-opportunity-a-thon weekend in Anaheim, rather than a vintage Steinbrennerian orifice-shredding tirade. ... You can't knock the Yankees for their handling of Joba Chamberlain, who was coddled like a kitten. ... Over the past 10 days, the team has wasted excellent starts by Sidney "Tube Steak" Ponson and Dan "Rhymes With 'Rice,' Not 'Fleece' -– I Take the Time to Learn How to Pronounce Your Name; I'd Expect You to Extend Me That Same Courtesy" Giese. Fringe contenders can't afford to do that. ... I will throw my unconditional support behind whichever presidential candidate supports a Constitutional amendment that prohibits Derek Jeter from bunting.
08/05/2008	6	4
First Chien-Ming Wang, now Joba. If the Yanks miss the playoffs, their 2008 obituary will read "injuries, injuries, injuries" -- which will serve to obscure the real culprit, the team's inability to put down crapball teams. They're 10-15 against the Orioles, Reds, Pirates and Indians. ... They play 16 of their next 19 on the road, including another big-boy series against the Angels this weekend, and have only nine home games total until Sept. 11. ... Mariano Rivera in non-save situations: 21 innings, 18 hits, seven runs. Mariano Rivera in save situations: 27 innings, 12 hits, one run. Eerie!
07/29/2008	4	10
On one hand, the Yankees have steamrollered three well-over-.500 teams since the break. On the other, their starting rotation still includes Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner and their everyday catcher gets on base a sub-brutal 27.5 percent of the time. Ian Kennedy or Alfredo Alceves can't be much worse than Ponson; the bullpen catcher, whoever he/she may be, can't be much worse than Jose Molina. ... When I talk with my dad, I usually walk away with vital information about socket wrenches or grandma's diet. When Robby Cano talks with his dad, as he did over the All-Star Break, he somehow rediscovers the ability to drive the ball. ... The Red Sox spent the past five seasons plunking Derek Jeter with impunity, but now Joba Chamberlain's the jerkhead for going after Kevin "Looooouuuu" Youkilis? The funniest thing is Youkilis seems genuinely surprised every time it happens.

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