Running Yankees trickier than giving good quotes

To Cashman's enduring credit, he could point to devastating injuries throughout the lineup all season long, but hasn't. Maybe because the Red Sox have suffered just as many, and while they haven't kept pace with surprising Tampa Bay, they've clung to a wild-card spot with jerry-rigged lineups by alternating stars and fill-ins they developed themselves. The two best position players the Yankees farm system turned up recently have been Cabrera and Robinson Cano, and their long-term prospects are far from guaranteed.

This is where Hank and his brother Hal come in. Hank has learned to yell and flog the team and leave Cashman to take the blame. Hal has been hiding in the background.

What neither has figured out is something the old man learned long ago. When Joe Torre ran the show, George supplemented homegrown talent with free agents and spent the bulk of his payroll on a succession of Hessians like Roger Clemens on the mound. Lately, they've opened the checkbook to land a string of high-priced sluggers for the batting order and tried to get by with bargains in the rotation.

George may have only so much say about the direction his sons take the franchise from here, but these few words of advice should serve as the family's motto: "It's the pitching, stupid."

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Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org