Is It Time To Give Up Hope On The 2008 Yanks?

該是對今年的洋基放棄希望的時候了嗎？

August 14, 2008, 12:25 am
By Tyler Kepner
Tags: Derek Jeter, Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain, Joe Girardi, Phil Hughes, Robinson Cano, Yankees

Maybe people were just so ready for a new Yankees chapter that most of us ignored the obvious in spring training: their young pitchers might not be as polished as advertised. Intelligent people across baseball thought Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were ready to contribute. Because of injuries, ineffectiveness or both, it just hasn’t worked out.
許多人也許都已經準備好要迎接新洋基的到來，但是大多數的我們都忽略了在春訓中的現實情形：他們的年輕投手群可能並沒有媒體報導來的那樣好。了解棒球的聰明人認為喬巴、大帝和總統都已經準備好對洋基有所貢獻了，但由於傷病和無效率的投球，也許兩者都有，導致他們的貢獻沒有如預期那樣的產生。

I bring this up because yet another team has shown the Yankees what they are missing. Look at the Minnesota Twins. Consider these names: Scott Baker, Glen Perkins, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, Francisco Liriano. Five young starters. Only Liriano, who was hurt, attracted widespread hype in March. All have proven more ready to help their team win than any comparable young starters on the Yankees.
我會提起這件事情是因為另外一支球隊剛好告訴了洋基他們所失去的是什麼。讓我們看看明尼蘇達雙城吧，試著想想這些名字：Scott Baker、Glen Perkins、Nick Blackburn、Kevin Slowey和Francisco Liriano，五位年輕的先發投手。只有受傷的Liriano在三月引起了廣泛的注意。這五位投手所展現出來的比洋基的年輕投手群更能夠幫助自己的球隊贏得勝利。

Yet pitching is the Yankees’ strength. Derek Jeter acknowledged as much after Wednesday’s embarrassing loss to end a miserable 3-7 road trip. “To be honest, our pitching has been pretty good,” Jeter said. “We’ve got to find ways to score runs.”
投手群的表現依然是洋基的優勢，在星期三，洋基帶著三勝七負的戰績結束了這一趟令人難堪的客場之旅後，Jeter坦承道：「老實說，我們的投手群表現的真的很好，我們必須做的是找到得分的方法。」

Their repeated failures in runners with scoring position might be a statistical fluke, but it’s killing the team, and the front office clearly recognizes that. What they can do about it – long term — is another story.
他們一直重覆著無法將得點圈上的跑者送回來的失敗，這也許是在統計數字上的偶然事件，但這的確整死了球隊，教練團也明白的承認這一點。然而，他們如何解決這個長久以來的癥結所在，那又是另一個問題了。

They made a nice trade for a solid hitter in Xavier Nady, and that’s a start. But unless you believe in Brett Gardner – and maybe we should – there’s no position player from the farm system ready to help next season.
他們做了一個很棒的交易，換來了可以令人信任的打者Xavier Nady，而這只是開始。但是，除非你相信Brett Gardner（也許我們應該相信），在農場裡沒有一個球員準備好在下一季裡幫助洋基。

There’s a lot to fix, and it will be interesting to see if the road trip saps the spirit of the players the way it has for many fans. (Even the good folks at nomaas.org have given up hope.) Three games at home against the Royals might make the Yankees feel better, but this is a real test for Manager Joe Girardi.
有太多的洞需要去補了，另一個有趣的現象值得我們去觀察的是，這一趟客場之旅是否會讓支持洋基的球迷們失去信心如同讓洋基隊一蹶不振一般。（即使是nomaas.org的死忠球迷也已經放棄了今年的洋基）在主場對上皇家隊的三場比賽也許會讓洋基好過一些，但，這才是對老吉真正的考驗。

His lineup on Monday, after the Anaheim sweep, when he sat the team’s hottest hitter in Johnny Damon, was puzzling for many in the clubhouse. There’s clearly a void in the coaching staff, too, with the departure of Larry Bowa.
被天使橫掃之後，老吉在星期一所排出來的打序讓許多球團的人感到困惑，因為他選擇讓球隊中打擊最火熱的大門坐板凳。在Larry Bowa離開洋基後，也明顯的看出教練團成員缺乏的問題。

Players expected to take off toward greatness, like Robinson Cano, have slid back. Players expected to mature into steady contributors, like Melky Cabrera, have not. Bench guys, like Wilson Betemit, have been disappointing.
球員們期待可以朝好的表現邁進，但是像Robinson Cano則是持續走下坡。球員們期待自己可以成熟穩定的對球團有貢獻，但是牛奶弟卻不是這樣。像Wilson Betemit這樣的板凳球員則是讓人感到失望。

And veterans whose prime years are behind them have started what might be a steady downward trend in their statistics: like the 2 and 3 hitters, Jeter and Bobby Abreu (though he’s driving in runs).
另外，一些老將已經過了自己的巔峰時期並且在統計數據上顯現出走下坡的趨勢：像是第二棒與第三棒的打者，Jeter與Abreu（雖然Abreu依然具有得分的能力）。

There are deep problems, but there’s still time to make a run. The Yankees might have one last gasp in them. But there’s no evidence of that right now.
這是很嚴重的問題（指洋基隊得分能力不佳），但現在還不到放棄的時候。可能洋基已經剩下最後一口氣，但目前還沒有任何證據顯示那就是現在。

News source：http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/is-it-time-to-give-up-hope-on-the-2008-yanks/