Hal Not Happy With Slow Start

Hal was in town yesterday, and stopped by the Stadium for a meeting with GM Brian Cashman and Manager Joe Girardi. He also expressed his disappointment in Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, but remains confident that they will "come back strong."

From Mark Hale:

According to Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi, the meeting was routine, but Hal Steinbrenner emerged from a lengthy, closed-door session with his general manager and manager yesterday to say he was disappointed in the Yankees' performance so far this year.

Hal, who shares supervision of the team with his older brother Hank, said he was not happy about inconsistent hitting and pitching as well as a rash of injuries. He specifically mentioned young pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, who are both on the disabled list.

"The young pitchers at the beginning of year, it was upsetting at times," Hal said before the Yankees' 2-1 win over the Rays. "It wasn't what we thought. It didn't go exactly the way we thought it would go. But, you know, that's the way it is. We're highly confident in Kennedy and Hughes and that they're going to come back strong when they do come back."

"This is New York, and the fans deserve a team with marquee players," Hal said. "Where we want to end up is a tremendous mix of young talent and veterans. And the veterans, the free agents, they cost money. And we realize that. We are going to have a lot of money come off the payroll, and that's going to give us some options. But believe me, we're going to use a good portion of it to get this city the team it deserves."

Well, Mark Texiera and CC Sabathia will be available, I hope those are the "marquee players" Hal is referring to.

I like the vision Hal has of what this team needs to be. It seems he's on the same page as Cashman. Speaking of Cash, Hal also mentioned that his contract will not be discussed until after the season.