Masahiro Tanaka Heads to the Disabled List

The Yankees opened the 2015 season with many uncertainties along with a roster full of expensive, aging and increasingly injury prone players loaded with talent but shrouded in skepticism about their ability to contend in the American League East.

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While things were going relatively well  for the Yankees, they faced a major loss Tuesday night during the game against the Rays when news broke that Masahiro Tanaka was heading to the 15 day disabled list with tenderness in his right wrist on Tuesday, and after an MRI revealed a forearm strain in his throwing arm — an ailment frequently associated with ligament injuries. This is the second time the 26-year-old superstar landed on the disabled list for in his young big-league career. He will be shut down from throwing for 7-10 days, and Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters that the club hopes Tanaka will return to the mound in a month.

When asked if Tanaka’s latest injury could be related to the UCL issue that sidelined the pitcher last season, manager Joe Girardi said: “I can’t tell you that. I don’t know. I could be, it may not be. Something came up from his bullpen, and who knows? The thing is, we’ve got to deal with it, and we will.”

But Tanaka’s injury serves as a gloomy reminder of the Yanks’ continuous struggle to keep a healthy team as they employ the Majors’ oldest offense and a starting rotation that also features CC Sabathia, who missed most of 2014 with a knee injury, and Michael Pineda, who has made only 17 big-league starts since 2011.

It’s enough to keep Yankees manager Joe Girardi up at night, and with good reason. However, these Yankees have shown early on that they have the makeup to contend for a playoff place, even without Tanaka.

Meanwhile, their offense, one littered with question marks in March has re-emerged in April. Obviously Alex Rodriguez has been the catalyst, but Mark Teixiera is also slugging like his old self, while Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury are Showing signs of bouncing back from bad first seasons in the Bronx. It’s early, but over the past two weeks at least, the Yankees have shown they can flat out hit - even Chris Young, who was laughed out of Queens last season, has an OPS flirting with 1.000 off of the bench.

Michael Pineda, who now becomes the Yankees’ ace by default, pitched 5²/₃ innings to get the eventual no-decision against the offensively underwhelming Rays. He threw 93 pitches, which prompted the somewhat early exit. Chase Whitley, will likely remain in the rotation until Tanaka comes back. 

So while Tanaka obviously represents a major loss, thanks to the way their offense has resurfaced, and the emergence of a sub-2.00 ERA bullpen, there’s really no reason why New York can’t still win the AL East.

Christine O'Connor

@christineeeeO

George and Hal Steinbrenner: How The Apple Falls Far from the Tree

Hal Steinbrenner says he’d consider all options if the New York Yankees don’t qualify for the postseason in 2015.

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“It would be horrible not to make the playoffs three years in a row,” Steinbrenner told the New York Post. “We’d be embarrassed. So anything (firings, etc.) would be on the table, yes.”

Does that mean Baby Boss would like to shake up the organization just like dad used to? Not so much.

"We are at the beginning of the season, no one is on a hot seat right now," Steinbrenner said. "I am absolutely comfortable with [general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi]. Nobody wants to hear me whine about it, but what Girardi dealt with the last two years with injuries. I think he has done a good job, given two abnormal years [for injuries] that I hope doesn't happen again. As far as Cashman, I think he made some great trades [last] July. That certainly went into my thinking [in re-signing the GM this past offseason]. But more importantly he is a smart guy. I like the people he has under him."

Hal is more laid-back , more compassionate than his win-at-all-costs dad. 

George had the attitude of getting rid of staff members if they didn't get the job done.

Joe Torre won four world series and he was constantly pressured with his job being on the line. 

The loss of Yoan Moncada has really left Yankee fans bitter. The fan base was really hoping for the young talent. With stars like Jose Abreu and Jorge Soler emerging, Yoan Moncada represented the Yankees' potential jump into the Cuban market right now. Three private workouts and a $25 million offer later, he's heading for Boston. Moncada would have boosted the Yankees' farm system to one of the top farm systems in baseball. Incidents like this make it easy for the fan base to lose trust in Hal and Hank Steinbrenner. Big Stein would have never let the Yankees get outbid by a measly $5 million, especially when bidding against their rival team.

Does Hal lack the desire to win or is he too nice? Either way, he should learn from what his dad did to win championships.

Christine O'Connor

@christineeeeO

New York Yankees Update:: Cashman, A-Rod, and more.

cbssports.com

The New York Yankees are suffering through an average season. As of writing this, they're 9 games back in their division and likely out of the wild card race. Mets' fans would be thrilled with this season. Knicks' fans, sadly, would be equally happy. Yankees' fans? Displeased. Who's to blame? Injuries? The players? GM Brian Cashman?

The knock on the Yankees has been the same since the strike of '94. They buy teams. They have more money than anyone else, and they use that to buy the best players. And, to a certain extent, that's true. The problem with this view, though, is no one knows who the best players are going to be this year, next year, or even, really, next game. Scouts, metric stats, and players' history can only tell you so much. After that, it's a crap shoot. You can only hope your team makes the best decision it can with the information it has.

Absent of a history of injuries for a player, injuries are impossible to predict, and they've cost the Yankees dearly this year. I'm going not to list all their injuries, but at one point almost their entire starting pitching rotation was on the DL. The Yankees' current DL would earn more than half of MLB's teams.

Professional players got where they are for a reason, and they, with very few exceptions, always play their best. Players go hot or cold, sure, but there's way too much money on the line for them to take games off. Rarely can the players be blamed, exclusive of themselves.

So injuries played a part. The players are doing what they can. What's Cashman's role? He signed all these players. He spent big money on Tanaka. He re-signed A Rod. Oh, and most importantly, his contract is up.

Blame Cashman if you want. Blame injuries. Blame average play. But what happened is this: the Yankees ran into a leagueful of bad luck. In times like this, we all would like to lay the blame on one person, one source. If we just get rid of X, everything will be fine. If it was that simple, Brian Cashman wouldn't have his job, you would. Given everything that's gone wrong since A Rod's suspension, an outside shot at a wild card ain't bad.

The Yankees have said they expect A Rod to be healthy and ready to play next year. This is part gamesmanship, and part lobbing a ball into A Rod's court. Of course they expect him to be ready to play. He's still on the payroll.

Yankees' fans are pissed about this year. They're pissed at Cashman. They're pissed at A Rod. Let's remember, though, as we say goodbye to Jeter this year, that Cashman and, yes, A Rod had as much to do with the championship, division titles, and memories since 2004 as Jeter did. Maybe what's missing is the support.

Josh Henderson

T: @verybadwrong