THERE IS THOUGH A PONY IN THERE:

Stumbling Yanks Keep Taking Steps Backward (TYLER KEPNER, 6/24/07, NY Times)

There is more than half the season remaining. But if the Yankees continue to sputter and wheeze, the seventh inning of Sunday’s game might have been their last stand.

In the top of the inning, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu came off the bench in succession. In the bottom of the inning, Roger Clemens came on in relief. Yet the Yankees were worse off when the inning ended than when it began.

The pinch-hitting parade produced nothing, Clemens allowed a run, and three more rumbled home in the eighth inning as the Yankees made two errors. The dreary result was a 7-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants that sent the Yankees back across the country in third place, one game below .500 and 11 ½ behind Boston in the American League East.

The reality is that the best use of Roger Clemens at this pint would be as the 8th inning setup guy for Mariano Rivera. It might add a couple mph to his fastball, getting him into the low 90s, and he has fairly little value as a 5 inning starter. The Mets should do likewise with Pedro, who could have a nice second career as an Eckersley-type, but they too are unlikely to do so.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 24, 2007 11:23 PM