As of August 9th, the Yankees are 7.5 games back of the Rays in the AL East and 4 games back of the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card race. This bad stretch began for the Yankees on Sunday, July 27th, when the Yankees played the Red Sox on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Since then, the Yankees are 5-8 and have played the Angels, Orioles and Rangers. The Angels have owned the Yankees since 1996 and the Orioles (who are 7-5 against the Yankees in 2008) are on their way on owning the Yankees. In that bad stretch, the Yankees have went down from 3 games to 7 games in the AL East. But they are still in the hunt for the Wild Card. The Yankees have struggled because of bad pitching starts and bad situational hitting. Andy Pettitte has gotten tired and struggled against the Angels and Rangers. Joba Chamberlain went on the DL with shoulder tendinitis. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano have struggled offensively. A-Rod is hitting nearly .105 in the past several games. If the Yankees want to make the playoffs again, they have to pitch well and begin hitting again. The road to October will be tough for the Yankees, the Yankees will play 25 road games and 19 games at home for the rest of the season. But the Yankees have the best road record in the AL East and and the 2nd best in the American League. So if they do succeed, you can call them "road warriors" like the NY Giants of the NFL. The Yankees are lucky to be 63-54 on August 9th, with all of their injuries and inconsistencies. It shows that the manager Joe Girardi has managed this club well and handled the bullpen better than Joe Torre. The Yankees have a bullpen ERA of 3.97, and it was way lower in recent weeks. So don't count out the Yankees, YET! Joba might return and take the Yankees to another wild card berth. If the Yankees make the playoffs, they will a better team than the 2006 and 2007 Yankees that made the playoffs. If they dont make it to October, people's jobs will be in jeopardy and look for an off-season full of changes.

After since Manny Ramirez joined the Boston Red Sox in 2001, he has been a Yankee killer dooming the Yankees with his bat. But those days are over, Manny is a Los Angeles Dodger and won't face the Yankees. The Yankee pitching staff is probably throwing a party in the clubhouse. Meanwhile, Yankee fans feeling very content are dancing in the streets of New York City. The Yankees are clear winners of the trade deadline, by "stealing" Xavier Nady, Damaso Marte and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. The Yankees are loaded to make a huge run at the AL East division crown. Meanwhile, the Red Sox look weaker with Jason Bay batting in Manny's old spot behind DH David Ortiz, and also did nothing with their bullpen.

ESPN is reporting that the Tigers have traded catcher Ivan Rodriguez to the Yankees for setup-man Kyle Farnsworth.

C.C. Sabathia's stay in Milwaukee will not be long, as the Brewers cannot afford to re-sign him for the 2009 season. The Yankees will be heavy contenders for Sabathia during the off-season. If Brian Cashman returns for next season, he will persue him and other big free agents, because he won't have to trade any prospects for them. The Yankees will be also intrested in first baseman Mark Teixiera, relievers Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes and Damaso Marte. If the Yankees acquire those players, they will be heavy favorites to win the World Series in 2009. The Yankees have a chance to sign them, because about $87 million will come off their $207 million payroll. Jason Giambi, Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins will be free agents. Giambi might return for a big discount. Pettitte will most likely return to pitch in the new Yankee Stadium. Abreu, Mussina and Farnsworth have a small chance to return.

Cynthia Rodriguez will file for divorce on Monday, in wake of the A-Rod-Madonna affair rumors in the tabloids. A-Rod and Cynthia have been married since 2002, the couple has two children.

Brian Cashman's contract with the Yankees will expire at the end of the 2008 season. As we look back at his tenure as general manager, we see that Cashman has been a bad general manager. Here are the bad signings by Brian Cashman:

Jeff Weaver (Acquired July 2002 from Tigers) Weaver was 12-12 with a 5.35 ERA for the Yankees and blew Game 4 of the 2003 World Series, which turned the series around.

Jose Contreras (Signed December 2002 to a 4-year deal worth $32 million) Contreras was 15-7 with a 4.65 ERA for the Yankees and had problems handling the pressure of New York.

Kevin Brown (acquired December 2003 from Dodgers) Brown was a disaster in New York. Brown brokes his left hand by punching the wall because of anger. Was part of the Yankee collapse of the 2004 ALCS. Brown went 14-13 with a 4.95 ERA for the Yankees.

Carl Pavano (Signed 4-year deal worth $39 million in December 2004) Pavano has been on the DL for most of his career with the Yankees. Pavano was also critizied by his teammates.

Jaret Wright (Signed December 2004 to a 3-year deal worth $21 million) Wright was a pitching disaster in New York, had problems pitching against AL teams and was never in shape.

Kei Igawa (Signed December 2006 to a 5-year deal worth $20 million) Igawa has been a disaster in America, his stuff dosen't get out AL hitters. Igawa has been so far 2-4 with a 6.66 ERA with the Yankees.

Kyle Farnsworth (Signed 2005 to a 3-year deal worth $17 million) Farnsworth has problems pitching against AL teams, blowing leads and games, with inconsistency, and with former manager Joe Torre and catcher Jorge Posada.

LaTroy Hawkins (Signed December 2007 to a 1-year deal) Hawkins was and continues to be knocked around by AL hitters, after having a good 2007 in the NL.

Cashman also missed out on signing David Ortiz and Daisuke Matsuzaka. After 2002, George Steinbrenner wanted to sign David Ortiz, who was released by the Twins, but Cashman didn't want Ortiz. If the Yankees signed Ortiz, history would have been different.

So far, the Red Sox have beaten the Yankees by a combined score of 13-4. The Yankees were so beaten so badly, that you could have heard "Let's Go Red Sox" chants at the Stadium. The starts by Andy Pettitte and Darrell Rasner were awful. Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez left the bases loaded and not driving key runs in. Derek Jeter is having his worst season, hitting around .280, grounding into multiple double plays and showing bad range at shortstop. This bad stretch by the Yankees makes you want to start thinking about the 2009 season. The Yankees have to make several moves to stay alive this season. The "genious" Brian Cashman has cost the Yankees so many times by signing bad players and sometimes overpaying for them. It's time to get rid of Cashman, to save this organization from more failure.

Since Sunday, the Yankees' starting lineup has been awful. They have been hitting .177 since Sunday, when a "reincarnated" Oliver Perez blew them away. The Yankees are also averaging nearly a run per game. These long slumps have occured earlier this year and in the 1st half of last season, so it means it's been like this since the Yankees hired AAA hitting coach Kevin Long. The fans are not the only ones that are concerned. "We've got to start hitting. It's getting ridiculous. They've got to start waking up. They've shown in flashes what they can still do" said Hank Steinbrenner in an interview with the AP. In addition to the hitting, Jorge Posada is having problems throwing out runners. Jose Molina is more effective defensively, but Molina can also weaken the lineup. In the near-future, Posada will most likely play first base and DH. The next several days will be crucial for the Yankees, as they will face the Red Sox and Rays.

The Yankees finished this year's Subway Series with 3-1 loss on Sunday. The Mets won this year's series 4 games to 2. The Yankees won Game 2 of the Doubleheader and Saturday's game on great pitching performances of Sidney Ponson and Andy Pettitte. Yankee killer Oliver Perez beat them on Sunday and won his 6th game against the Bombers in his career. The Yankees will now face their biggest stretch of their season, against the Rangers, Red Sox and Rays.

The Yankees are visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time since Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. The surging Yanks struggled against the young Reds starters during the weekend. Before the Subway Series on Friday, the Yankees will face Tom Gorzelanny on Tuesday, Zach Duke on Wednesday and Paul Maholm on Thursday. Meanwhile, up in Boston, the Red Sox have lost 3 out of the last 4 games. The Yankees are now 4.5 games back in the AL East. Also, all you Yankee fans, please vote for Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada in the All-Star Game vote balloting, because the whole AL lineup at Yankee Stadium will be full with Red Sox players.

According to many sources, Chien-Ming Wang will be out for a long time. Most likely 3-6 weeks with a mid-foot sprain of the Lisfranc ligament of the right foot and a partial tear of the peroneal longus tendon of the right foot. With Wang out for a while, I think the Yankees will persue a starting pitcher outside their organization. C.C. Sabathia is the likely candidate, however the Yankees would have to give up some of their prospects. Because of that, Yankees GM Brian Cashman might not trade for Sabathia during the season, and sign him during the off-season. However, I believe the Yankees need Sabathia now, if they want to win in 2008.