The Yankees have scored six runs in their past 42 innings played and 4.17 R/G (through May 14), which is below the AL average.

Sure, some of the blame should be placed on a guy like Robinson Cano, who has made 10.1% of the team’s plate appearences and posted a -.239 MLVr. But, a dropoff in offense was to be expected when the team lost ARod and Posada, who combined for 170 VORP in 2007.

The problem was compounded when not only did the Yankees loose their two best players, their replacements have been their two worst players by MLVr:

Morgan Ensberg: -.282
Jose Molina: -.329

Also, Cano, Molina and Ensberg all rank in the bottom 30 in VORP in all of baseball. Some of the worst offensive players in the entire game are in the Yankees lineup everyday instead of some of the best (PECOTA Projected MLVr):

ARod: .280
PO: .151

So, when you read a story like this its legitimate cause for celebration.

Mike Mussina was good again Wednesday: 6.1 IP 5 HA 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 4 K

Moose currently ranks 26th in the AL in RA+ (min. 30 IP) with 1.05. He has emerged as the Yankees second best starter.  

Robbie went 4-for-4 in the Yankees 2-1 win over the Rays Wednesday. He’s now hitting .205, is the future batting champ out of his slump?

Clayboy is a girl.

This will be one of the few media criticisms where I don’t quote the author. The reason for that is because I have nothing to quote. ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick wrote a long peice about “on-field antics” and didn’t even mention Red Sox reliever Jon Papelbon, a fist-pumping riverdancing fool.

Direct contradiction.

Without ARod and Posada, this team is hard to watch every night. One run per game is incredibly frustrating and simply not going to cut the mustard.

That Joe Girardi is one hands-on manager. As I write this from The Trop, he’s in the bullpen catching Andrew Brackman. Humberto Sanchez is warming up next. (Source)

I mean come on, Joe Torre didn’t know who Joba Chamberlain was until he was in Toronto for his MLB debut and Girardi is freaking catching Brackman, who is months away from even MiLB games because of his injury and years away from his MLB debut because he was just drafted last year.

Our new manager is a much better fit for this organization.

TRENTON _ Five games in the Thunder bullpen was enough to convince the Yankees that reliever J.B. Cox was ready to move on to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Highly-regarded Class-A right-hander Mark Melancon has been added to a Trenton relief corps that has lost Steven Jackson, David Robertson, Bo Hall and now Cox since April 26. (Source)

Cox at Tampa and Tenton: 12.2 IP 11 HA 3 ER 4 BB 8 K

Melancon at Tampa: 25.1 IP 26 HA 8 ER 6 BB 20 K

From NYT Tyler Kepner:

Random prediction: Sean Henn turns out to be pretty good for the San Diego Padres. Henn still has a good arm, and he needs a fresh start.

Look, I like Kepner as much as the next guy. Nay, I like him more than the next guy. He is the Yankee beat writer that I most enjoy reading. He is far superior to The Journal News’ Peter Abraham. I only wish Kepner updated his blog as much as PeteAbe.

Still, as much as I like Kepner, there is no excuse for confusing Sean Henn with a decent pitcher:

1.2 IP 3 HA 5 ER 3 BB 2 K