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The big topic of discussion on Monday, and for the foreseeable future, was Andy Pettitte’s injury. Would it motivate the Yankees to go after a starting pitcher? The Yankees were quick to issue a denial. Nope, said Brian Cashman, we want to bulk up our bullpen and bench.

Now, it is swell for the Yankees to make statements like this, but you have to consider them with skepticism because this was the same team and the same general manager that wasn’t in on Mark Teixeira, nuh-uh, no room at the inn or the budget, we can’t even squeeze another locker into our super-sized new clubhouse, no way. More recently, the same front office, despite possessing a rotation that would seem full up by the standards of even great teams, made a stealth run at Cliff Lee. Thus, though it is clear

OH ME OF LITTLE FAITH
I never stopped watching, never looked away (in my position you can’t), but I had mentally resigned myself to another Yankees loss Sunday night. Andy Pettitte didn’t have his best stuff, and Joe Torre wisely exploited the American League’s more laid-back style of play by going all bunt-y on him. Clayton Kershaw was dealing. Brett Gardner’s injury had shortened the bench and put the game in the hands of Chad Huffman and Colin Curtis at critical junctures. The bullpen inspires little confidence aside from Mariano Rivera. Kershaw was cruising and Jonathan Broxton hadn’t blown too many saves. You know what happened next: pretty much every reasonable expectation was upended.

The key moment was Jorge Posada’s incredible 10-pitch at-bat

THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY
I’ve always been a big supporter of David Robertson’s. His Minor League track record was exemplary, featuring the killer strikeout rates he carried over to the majors. Last year, I felt the Yankees were too slow to embrace him and too conservative when it came to challenging him with appearances in critical situations. I remain enthusiastic about his Major League future. However, it seems like that future is not now.

In nine games this season, Robertston has yet to have one perfect appearance. His walks have been acceptable, his strikeout rate still good, but his mechanics and command seem to have gotten completely out of hand. His last three appearances, each spaced four days apart from its predecessor, have been disastrous. He’s allowed

Robinson Cano is now hitting .407/.444/.790 with eight home runs. It’s as if he has been possessed by the ghost of Rogers Hornsby, albeit a smiling, likeable Rogers Hornsby whose time in the afterworld has taught him that should he receive a second chance it would probably be more fun if he just got on with the hitting and stopped being so mean to everyone. As we discussed in a previous entry, Cano has had hot openings before—last year in fact—before losing the thread. That said this is a whole other flavor of hot. Cano has been more disciplined, and the results have been unworldly, or afterworldly, or any other –ly you’d like to use, and if he maintains his disdain for first pitches and pitcher’s pitches and trans-fat pitches and all the other bad-for-you

COFFEE JOE’S CANDOR
Credit Joe Girardi for coming clean in a way that was uncomfortable to watch in the aftermath of Sunday’s non-intentional walk to Kendry Morales. The good news for Girardi’s conscience is that the blast didn’t lose the game, it simply put it out of reach. The question is why he second-guessed his decision in the first place. Marte used to be the kind of lefty who could do more than spot work, but that doesn’t seem to be the case after his injuries. Morales, a switch-hitter, is a better hitter from the left side than the right, and normally you would want to turn him around. The forgoing should be inoperative when turning him around means letting him face a lefty who is no longer prepared to retire right-handed hitters regardless of their

You can’t argue with a 4-2 season-opening road-trip. The Yankees have to earn their way through a tough early schedule, and so far they’re doing it, hitting and pitching well against two of the best teams in baseball. They’ve seen Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, David Price, Wade Davis and James Shields. There isn’t a pushover in the bunch, in fact the opposite—it wouldn’t surprise if in three months five of the six were on the All-Star team. If the Yankees can average six runs a game of offense against these guys, what happens when they get to Kansas City?

Of course, it helps to be taking swings off of the Rays’ bullpen, which again looks desperate. You have to feel for former Yankee Randy Choate, who is a fringy pitcher at the best of times

The Yankees have an unusual bullpen. Due to their collection of pitchers like Chan Ho Park, Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves, and Sergio Mitre, who are not only viable starters but conditioned to be starters, Joe Girardi can, if he so chooses, dispense with the match-up-based relief tactics that have come to dominate bullpen strategy in the age of Tony LaRussa and reinvent the long-man -- a pitcher who simply throws a few relief innings instead of jogging in and out to face one or two batters. These pitchers had seemed to be ticketed for extinction, having been outcompeted by specialists, but whether by plan or by accident, the Yankees are well-positioned to ignore this frequently counterproductive strategy and just let their best relievers pitch for as long as they can.

Rather than rush

You could be forgiven if you thought a flock of turkeys had taken over Joe Girardi’s postgame press conference on Tuesday.

“Joba! Joba Joba Joba!” was the sound emanating from the pack of assembled media types who surrounded the Yankees manager, as one in their agenda. Did Joba win back the eighth-inning role with his two-batter, two-strikeout performance?

“Nah,” Girardi said (I paraphrase). It was one game, one brief appearance lasting nine pitches. Yet, the media had hit on its story for the day, and every other question brought the turkeys back out: “Joba Joba Joba Joba!” It’s a good thing it’s not Thanksgiving, or none of them would have been safe. Today’s coverage of the game has predictably followed that line.

Look, guys:

Is it yet time to call up Mark Melancon?

In fairness to Chan Ho Park, not only is it too early for me to say “I told you so” on that particular signing, but the debacle of Opening Night had multiple authors. These can be separated into two groups, “likely transient” and “likely permanent:"

Likely Transient
• CC Sabathia’s lack of location.
• Chan Ho Park’s lack of location/nervous overthrowing.

Likely Permanent
• Brett Gardner’s weak arm.
• Curtis Granderson’s vulnerability to left-handers
• Jorge Posada chasing balls to the backstop.
• Joba Chamberlain being wild and hittable.

Of the second list, Gardner’s range should compensate for his arm. Granderson will eventually be treated like a platoon player in