Bench coolers

By Austin Amoroso

This was the lineup Joe Torre sent out to face Johan Santana on Wednesday:

1. Melky Cabrera
   
2. Miguel Cairo
3. Derek Jeter
   
4. Alex Rodriguez
   
5. Hideki Matsui
   
6. Andy Phillips
   
7. Robinson Cano
   
8. Kevin Thompson
   
9. Wil Nieves

Conceding the loss to the best pitcher in baseball, Joe?

The Yanks (shockingly) lost that game 6-2, but the loss isn’t what’s troubling. What is is that on a day when Torre was looking to rest his starters, anybody outside of New York would be saying ‘Who?’ when they saw the box score the next day.

When the Yankees optioned utility infielder, and 28-year-old rookie, Chris Basak to AAA on July 1, and brought up reliever Edwar Ramirez, it left the team with just three players on its bench: Nieves, Thompson, Cairo. And Thompson, a career minor-leaguer, as the team’s fourth outfielder.

So the next question is: Where is Bernie Williams?

Cairo has subbed in nicely after the injury to Doug Mientkiewicz and the demotion (did you really not see that coming?) of Josh Phelps. But Cairo is still a guy who has spent his career on the bench, serving as an injury and late-game defensive replacement. So this is the state of the Yankees bench: A fourth outfielder, who at best is a AAAA benchwarmer; a back-up catcher with an on-base percentage of .154 (.154!); and a guy that hasn’t homered in 486 at-bats.

Anybody could recognize that Williams would be a welcomed addition to a bench that is as bad as any in baseball. But Bernie might not even want to come back. He didn’t report to spring training after Torre told him he wouldn’t be guaranteed a spot on the roster, certainly a blow to the pride of the four-time World Series champion outfielder. But the decision was a business one and it’s hard to argue. There was a better, and younger, player that had taken his job as the fourth outfielder. And now, with Johnny Damon looking more like 43 than 33, Cabrera is starting in center.

Williams claims he’s working out and staying in shape, probably at his Armonk home, but he’s certainly not, at 38, baseball-ready. But when is that phone call going to be made? How long do Yankees fans have to watch the 28-year-old Thompson take the field? (It should be noted that the Yankees are 0-3 when Thompson starts and 4-6 when he enters the game.)

The four-time Gold Glove winner Williams isn’t a good outfielder anymore, but then again, none of the Yankee outfielders are. Matsui has the intuition, Cabrera has the speed and Bobby Abreu has the arm. Fuse them together and you get Ichiro. Cabrera is obviously the best outfielder the Yankees have, but how much of a downgrade in the field would Williams be over Thompson? Or even over Matsui and Abreu?

What the .297 career hitter gives you over Thompson at the plate more than makes up for the difference in the outfield. Brian Cashman should have been knocking on Bernie’s door a month ago when the Yankee bullpen was looking like the worst in the Majors and it was clear that Torre would need to keep eight pitchers back there.

Williams obviously needs time to get baseball-ready, and probably time to mend his shattered ego, but the Yankees need him back in The Bronx. Sooner rather than later. If the Yankees have any realistic shot at making a run at the postseason, they are going to need a bench that doesn’t consist of two career minor-leaguers and a career benchwarmer. Bernie has been there before; you know he can handle the pressure.

Pick up the phone, Cashman.