Fransworth-less

Your are Joe Torre for a minute. Coming off a 1-7 road trip, desparately holding on for dear life in the playoff race, clinging to a one run lead in the eighth inning with two runners on. Do you stick with an unreliable, inconsistent, proven failure in Kyle Farnsworth, or bring in a rested Mariano Rivera? If you thought about it for more than a second, there is a problem.

Farnsworth is a microcosm of everything wrong with this edition of the Yankees. He is overpaid and underperforming, erratic on his best days, downright awful in other outings. Worse, Farnsworth comes off as selfish. The antithesis of the late 1990's squads. The only Yankee player to publicly speak out against the Clemens arrangement. Last night he shows up Torre on the mound, walking off before Joe could even get there, before proceeding to slam his glove into the dugout wall while his teammates and coaches waited to pat him on the butt. Did I mention the Yanks actually led 2-1 at that time.

Farnsworth does not get it. The old Bull Durham quote applies here, he has a million dollar arm and a 10-cent head. Now we see why he has failed to harness his talent. Also, why he cannot stick with a team. Holding that lead was immensely important to the team, yet Farnsworth put his personal feelings for being replaced in mid inning ahead of the team. Perhaps Fransworth should be as concorerned about improving his 4.88 ERA and 1.66 WHIP, or take notice that the greatest reliever in baseball history replaced him.

Torre put it best when asked if he spoke to Fransworth, "You can talk to him if you want." That's right, only Fransworth can explain Friday night. Cashman needs to make one move, jettison Farnsworth. Get a bag of balls, quarters for the parking meter, a gift certificate to Steinbrenner's favorite Tampa restaurant, just get him out of here. Addition by subtraction.