I think, though they'll never admit it, the core players on this team are still haunted by last season's total meltdown. They just don't believe in themselves anymore and I don't know if anything is going to turn that around this season.

I think it's more along the lines that the core players now realize that except for Matsui and Sheffield (and Tino, who has made it obvious he should have never been let go), nearly every damn move the Tampa Mafia (spit!) has convinced Darth Boss George to make since 2001 has blown up in their faces, because those players just haven't shown the balls required to stand up to the heat wearing Pinstripes brings down on a player. The only move that has panned out anywhere close to successfully was picking Tanyon Sturtze off Toronto's roster.

Or maybe the "core players" need to realize they're not playing with the 96-00 teams anymore.

That's sort of my point, Angel. I think guys like Jeter, Mo and Posada realize that "stars" like RhoidBoy, A-Hole, and the Big Unit Asshole just don't have the stones that guys like Paulie, Brosius and Pettite possessed. The problem is those jackasses in Tampa think gaudy numbers on the back of a baseball card will translate into success in the Bronx. The Yankees didn't go insane gobbling up every big name free agent on the planet when they put together the '96-00 teams; the biggest "name" move was swapping Boomer for Clemens. But they've gone totally frickin' nuts since losing that seventh WS game in '01, and have jack shit to show for it.

I know.. Yankee Mafia has failed learn the lesson that has been shown around them for those years. That with the exception of last year's Red Sox.. winning a World Series is not directly a result of the free agents you acquire or the amount of money you spend on putting a team together. The D'backs, Marlins and Angels are proof of that.

Y'know something? I think Boston finally running Nomar's ass out of town had more to do with their team getting its act together than getting Schilling. Nomar was clubouse poison after the whole A-Hole thing unfolded. (And how that asshole is leading in NL All Star voting at SS when he hasn't played in what, two months? is mind-boggling. Did somebody dig up the old Mayor Daly to oversee the vote stuffing campaign?)

Yeah, I think it had more to do with them getting their acts together than the Varitek/Arod dust-up benches clearing brawl or acquiring Schilling. Nomar just LOOKED like he was poisonous after that whole deal went down. You could see it on his face everyday. Probably the smartest thing they ever did, was trading him. That move took guts - although he probably wasn't going to resign with them anyway.

I dont watch the All-Star game anymore.. it's a joke. A popularity contest - the most deserving players often dont get to start or even go. Even though Tejada based on his production deserves the starting spot more than Jeter this year - his little self-pitying outburst about how he'll hever be an All-Star starter in order to get votes - is the reason why the All-Star game is a joke - that and its in the hands of fans.

Hello, Jason Giambi coming second (even though its a wide margin) behind Ortiz for the DH? There's something very wrong there.