The Arbitrary ChuckJerry

The Yankees signed Al Leiter today because they are desperate for someone who has ever pitched before. Leiter is 39 years old and has looked every bit of it this season. His record with the Marlins is 3-7 and his ERA this season is 6.64. He hasn't been able to pitch his way out of a paper bag this year and there's no way he's going to be a solid pitcher for the Yankees.

This is the most desperate move I can remember the Yankees ever making. They have made stupid moves before, but never desperate. If they hadn't acquired Leiter today, the literally would not have had a starter for tomorrow's game. The loss of Chien Ming Wang has really hurt them. First because he's been really solid and has handled New York well, and also because at this point they just need warm bodies to put on the mound, which is what Leiter is.

Apparently Kevin Brown is going to be activated on Monday. The way he's been pitching this year he also falls in the warm body category. The Yanks desperately need Carl Pavano and Wang to get healthy and would be greatly helped by Jaret Wright getting back and contributing, too.

The Yanks have managed to hold their shit together this season, mainly because of Mussina and Wang, but they won't for long if these guys don't get back. Randy Johnson seems to pitch well to John Flaherty, the back up catcher, so maybe that will be a formula for success. I believe they are 8-0 in games where Johnson pitches to Flaherty, though I may be one game off.

The offense is really coming together and they have been winning the close games recently, but without the pitching there won't be any close games, as evidenced by the 17-1 debacle in Boston last night with Tim Redding on the mound. Who's Tim Redding? I have no idea, but his ERA is 54.00 as a Yankee. Redding's best season was with Houston 2 years ago when his record was 10-14. It's not looking good for the Yankee starters at this point.