Six Reasons Why the New York Yankees Are Missing the 2008 Playoffs

There is plenty of blame to go around on the New York Yankees for their shoddy performance on the field this year. About to miss the playoffs for the first time in fourteen campaigns, the New York Yankees can fall back on the excuse that injuries to key players are the culprit, but those who watch the Yanks on a regular basis know better. Despite the loss of Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada, Joba Chamberlain, and Hideki Matsui to various ailments the Bronx Bumblers still had the horses on paper to garner a playoff berth. Here are the five main reasons the New York Yankees will be watching the 2008 playoffs.

1.Lack of clutch hitting- New York simply does not hit with men on base. They squander one opportunity after another with men in scoring position. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi are the parties guiltiest of leaving men stranded. A-Rod always is coming up with runners on and he so rarely produces this year that it is actually news when he does. Giambi had a mini hot streak earlier in the season but he too cannot drive in key runs. Both men opted out of this year's Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, saying that it would possibly hurt their batting swing, yet both swing from the heels and for the fences every time up.

2.Bullpen failings, including Mariano Rivera's- The pen was getting by on smoke and mirrors for a good part of the season against lesser clubs but has recently imploded. The lack of a set-up man after the trade of Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers has been obvious. Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, David Robertson, and even Hall of Fame- bound Rivera have come up way short with games on the line. Although Rivera has but one blown save, he always seems to give up a run or two when he comes into tie situations. Bringing in lefty relief specialist Billy Traber is the equivalent of giving a fireman napalm to put out a blaze.

3.Counting on unproven starters Hughes and Kennedy- Brian Cashman has made enough mistakes in the last few seasons to have been fired time and again by the "old" George Steinbrenner, none bigger than thinking Ian Kennedy had major league stuff. Hughes has been hurt for most of the year but before he was he was no bargain. Only Chamberlain has panned out thus far for the Yankees. Kennedy's stock is so low now that he may find himself being a player to be named later in some miniscule deal.

4.Robinson Cano's off year- The Yankee second baseman had a horrible start to the season, hitting .151 in April but he seemed to be turning the corner. He hit .327 in July but in August Cano is batting just .250 with a paltry five runs batted in. His lackadaisical defense and tendencies to try to catch pop-ups that outfielders have a bead on is most frustrating for manager Joe Girardi to watch night after night.

5.A bench of bums- Past Yankee squads had reliable players coming off the pine but this year's version has a bench that is almost laughable. Cashman has depended on the likes of Richie Sexson, Shelly Duncan, Morgan Ensberg, Brett Gardner, Chad Moeller, and Justin Christian to get things done; those six have a combined 38 runs batted in for the New York Yankees in 2008 and the first three have since been released by the team.

6.The inability to beat bad teams- Clubs like the Royals, Orioles, Indians, Pirates, and Tigers have all given the Yankees more than they can handle. These also-rans are the teams you need to beat up on but this year New York has had all it can do to take games from these inferior opponents. New York is 5-7 in its dozen affairs with the pathetic Orioles, a big reason why they stand on the brink of having no post-season for the first time in more than a decade.