Farnsworth exposed

The notion that Joe Torre is the root of all failure in pinstripes has gotten a lot of mileage this spring. It's easy to pile on excuses when someone is gone. We've read that the Yanks weren't in shape because Joe ran a lax ship. Didn't read that last spring, when it allegedly happened. Last year we read that Brian Cashman created the office of "Performance Enhancement" and hired Marty Miller from outside of baseball to orchestrate the Bombers conditioning. There were plenty of complaints from the players that the new fitness regime was different. It didn't take long to see the repercussions as a rash of hamstring injuries decimated the Yank's rotation. At first it was dismissed as coincidence, as the DL grew Cashman had to acknowledge a problem and his new hire was fired in May. This spring you don't read Cashman's name attached to the debacle, that honor goes to the departed Mr. Torre.



The excuse parade has marched to the bullpen and been given the ultimate credibility test. It appears that Joe Torre was the reason that Kyle Farnsworth has failed in pinstripes. Don't believe it? Just ask Kyle. SNY has video of Daily News Live that quotes Farnsworth, "What they said last year about I couldn't go back-to-back days, which was news to me. I said 'What are you guys talking about?" The show than documents that in 7 back-to-back appearances, poor misunderstood Kyle had an ERA of 7+ and opponents batted at a .321 clip. (It has been a common thread on TV and Radio broadcasts that Farnsworth's velocity drops significantly when he isn't given a day off after a grueling 1 inning appearance.)

The panel discussion that follows Farnworth's lame excuse includes comments that he was signed to a 3 year 17-million dollar deal and "Someone in the organization is a poor judge of pitching." This brought back memories from earlier this spring when we were told Igawa's problems were related to communication--a year after signing a gaudy contract he still doesn't speak English.

Joe Torre has flaws, there has been appropriate criticism for over using a reliable reliever when he lost faith in other options. (Sturtze and Proctor RIP) At some point, responsibility has to be handed out in an even handed fashion. The players are responsible for staying in shape and producing results. The front office is responsible for providing viable options. When they don't do the job, it's not all Joe Torre's fault.