Don't panic Yankee fans, but there is concern

[BuckFoston]

So the Yankees entered the week tied with the lowly Royals and Devil Rays for the worst record in the American League. Sure, the Yankees then proceeded to beat up on Tampa Bay on Monday night, but only once in their history have they started so poorly and still made the postseason. That was in 1977, when they went on to win the World Series.

We haven't even played 10 percent of the season yet, so it's far, far too early to pronounce any team dead or alive for the long haul. However, it's the Yankees, and when you're subject to that kind of scrutiny and you have an owner that's easily unhinged, things become a bit more meaningful, even at this early hour. As such, it's worth asking: Are the Yankees in trouble?

The Yanks' run differential of minus-24 entering the week was the fourth-worst in all of baseball, so it's not as though they're merely unlucky here in the early going. Thus far, the problem has been pitching and defense.

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The offensive attack has certainly been lacking (the team needed Monday night's 19-run outburst to move into the top half of the AL in runs scored ), but the Yankees rank dead last in the junior circuit in runs allowed. Although a couple of notable starters have been underperforming (to wit, Randy Johnson and Jaret Wright), much of the onus falls on the bullpen, which, as a unit, has a 5.63 ERA on the season. Yankee partisans, of course, are wondering whether things will get better.

In the bullpen, only Mike Stanton had an ERA of less than 4.00 before Felix Rodriguez's two shutout innings Monday also helped out his season stats. You certainly figure future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera will improve on his 4.91 mark, but it's possible he's pitching through an injury. Still, even if it takes a trip to the DL, bank on improvement.

The setup staff, however, is less promising. Steve Karsay is coming off yet another serious injury, and there's no guarantee his tattered arm will allow him another effective season. Tom Gordon was one of the best relievers in baseball last season, but, at age 37, he could be out of gas. Tanyon Sturtze is a sub-par major leaguer whose career peak consists of one average season in Tampa Bay four years ago. Paul Quantrill? Age 36 and coming off his worst season as a reliever. All told, this is a bullpen with age and performance issues that are going to shanghai the team's efforts to get through the middle innings. And that's assuming nothing's seriously wrong with Rivera. Fortunately for the Yanks, bullpen issues are fairly easy to resolve on the trade market.

There also might be reason to worry about the rotation. Johnson's struggles aren't worthy of concern — it's early, and he's the second-best lefty in the history of the game (Lefty Grove is the best, for those curious). Of course, he is 41, and precipitous decline is possible. Instead, I'd be most worried about Wright, who's off to a terrible start. Wright has usage concerns and is coming off the only good season of his career. Now that he's no longer the beneficiary of Leo Mazzone's alchemy, has the Jaret Wright of old returned? The Yankees had better hope not. On the offensive end, the Yankees could have first base/DH issues unless Jason Giambi recaptures something he lost about two years ago, but they should be fine overall. Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada will surge at some point, and that, along with Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter should be enough to offset the inadequacies of Tony Womack and the team's hydra-headed 1B/DH situation. Bernie Williams' glove in center remains a glaring trouble spot, and the Yankees badly need a legit glove out there. But they'll likely stay the course.

In any event, the Yankees figure to have season-long weaknesses at the back of the rotation and in the bullpen. If the Orioles' pitching turns out to be for real (we know the middle of their order is legit), this could be a club that struggles to make the postseason.

Basically, it's not time to panic, but it is time to be concerned. This team's substantial flaws have been laid bare in the early days of the season, and since they have exactly one prospect worth mentioning, it'll be difficult to haul in any superstar solutions at the trade deadline. If the Yankees had been more creative this winter in assembling the bullpen, picked up Jon Lieber's option, signed Matt Clement and landed Carlos Beltran, they'd be in much better shape. Instead, they spent their money unwisely, and that's beginning to show.http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3550216

[RLA68]

If it was just one phase...maybe I could sleep better. We win by scoring 19 runs last night. Tonight we score 2 freakin runs.

We allow 8 runs last night and allow 5 runs tonight with the great "Big Paycheck" on the mound.

We suck in all phases of the game right now. I am ready to jump off of a local bridge but there some people that really need to start playing to their normal level.

[HBK]

I'm sure you will bounce back and win the division thanks to a Boston mid season slump.

[RLA68]

I hope so but you never know. We are playing like crap and we have not even had the injury bug yet.

Who do we have that can jump into the rotation if one or two of starters go down? We don't even have 5 decent pitchers to start games. Wright and Brown are bums. RJ will pick it up but he is not too impressive so far. I am not jumping for joy over Pavano or especially Moose either.