Yankees swept by Sox, problems escalate

RED SOX 7
YANKEES 5

The troubled New York Yankees still can't get out of their own way as they were swept out of the Bronx by the hated Boston Red Sox, who reached .500 for the first time this year.

With the loss, the Yankees stand at 20-18, two games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East, and a game behind Detroit for the Wild Card.

Yet that doesn't even begin to describe the problems with the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees are getting old, they can't hit a baseball if their lives depended on it, and Brian Cashman finds himself in a tough position where he can't replace the likes of Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, and Nick Swisher because of their incredibly large contracts.

As great as Posada and Jeter have been, both are getting long in the tooth and can't deliver the way they used to. That doesn't mean they won't get an occasional big hit, but with these two struggling, it makes things very difficult for the Yankees.

Maybe the Steinbrenner family was right in not wanting to resign Jeter? He was a great player, but the Yankees sure could use someone younger at the position of short stop. With a guy like Jose Reyes set to hit free agency, the Yankees don't have the flexibility to sign him, and if they did, they have nowhere to play him.

It doesn't help either that Alex Rodriguez has struggled all year. Yes, anyone would take six homers and 22 RBI (the Mets certainly would), but those stats are not typical A-Rod numbers. Rodriguez who signed to a ten year extension in 2008 and is not going anywhere any time soon.

Then, of course, are the deadweights like Swisher, Andruw Jones, who is about 100 years old as well, and Brett Gardner.

Let's face it; the Yankees are a bad baseball team right now. Their starting pitching is decent but very, very suspect and their offense is old.

Now the Bronx Bombers head to Tampa Bay for a two game series. The Rays have been hotter than a firecracker for the past month, and it is hard to believe that the Yankees will get it straightened out in the next 48 hours. Believe it or not in 48 hours, the Yankees could be at .500.