Yank's Hold Player's Only Meeting

From Mark Feinsand (hat tip to WasWatching.com):

The Yankees held a players-only meeting less than an hour before Tuesday night's game in an attempt to reinforce the sense of urgency that filled the visitors' clubhouse at the Rogers Centre.

Only a couple of players spoke during the session, but the message was clear: Unless the Yankees get their act together, they'll all be going their separate ways before October.

"Just go out there and pick each other up, believe in each other and believe that we can get back to the postseason," Johnny Damon told the Daily News when asked about the meeting. "We play most of those teams we need to catch, so it's up to us. We need to leave it all out there. This is a playoff atmosphere now where we have to win games."

Being that they had this meeting it really makes last night's offensive performance that much more pathetic. Oh, the defense wasn't so hot either. Yes Johnny, I'm talking to you.

Yanks Sounding Like A Beaten Bunch

From Bob Klapisch:

More and more, the Yankees’ season is taking on the colorless hue of an 85-win finish, not good enough for October, not bad enough to be catastrophic. The players are either too young or too old, hardly anyone in their prime. Senior management won’t dare use the taboo “R” word, not as it tries to keep 4 million fans pouring through the turnstiles, but the veterans will privately tell you otherwise: for all the hype of a monster year, the Bombers are already on a long, flat road to nowhere.

“You can just see, everyone here is trying to figure out what the [heck] is going on,” is what one of the clubhouse elders was saying. The words weren’t meant as criticism, just an observation about a franchise that’s suddenly lost its compass.

Another veteran said, “Without [Hughes and Kennedy] pitching the way we expected, you’re talking about .500, tops.”

“You look at everyone hurt, and now you wonder,” is what one Yankee was asking before the game.

At least the manager and GM sounded a bit more confident:

“This is something every team goes through if they want to make it to the promised land,” said Cashman.

We haven’t seen such mediocrity in the Bronx since the early 90s, but don’t expect the Yankees to admit they’ll be a better team next year. Girardi said, “I’m a firm believer that everything is fixable. You just have to find a way to fix it.”

Well the part about not seeing "such mediocrity in the Bronx since the early 90's" isn't true. Last April they were 9-14, even with A-Rod's amazing April.

These quotes from unnamed veterans bother me. If I was Hank Steinbrenner, I'd be fuming as I read this article (which he probably was). And if I was Derek Jeter, I'd act like the captain of this team and make some sort of statement, privately to the team, and publicly to the media, that this team has not, and will not give up. Will it lead to victories? Who knows. But showing a bit of confidence is never a bad thing.