Record Last Week: 2-3 (30 RS, 35 RA)
Season Record: 9-9 (100 RS, 122 RA), 4 GB
Opponents This Week: @ Detroit (3 games), vs. Anaheim (4 games)

Top stories from last week:

• The Yanks were swept in a three game weekend series at Fenway despite having the lead in every game. It seemed like everything that could possibly go wrong, did.
• Melky Cabrera led the team to a rain-shortened series win over the A’s at home by hitting a homer from each side of the plate, the second of which was a walk-off in extra innings.
• Chien-Ming Wang, CodyRansom and Brian Bruney all hit the DL. They were replaced by David Robertson, Angel Berroa and Mark Melancon. Phil Hughes assumes Wang’s spot in the rotation.
• Alex Rodriguez is close to returning to game action. Help us A-Rod, you’re our only hope.
• The Yankees are worth more money than ever.
• Please take our Reader Demographic Survey if you haven’t already. All the info remains confidential.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Even though the Yankees went 4-3 last week, it seemed like everything went wrong. They lost their home opener thanks to a bullpen implosion, then suffered a historically bad loss two days later when Chien-Ming Wang continued to struggle.

Struggle is probably going a little easy on the Wanger, whose pitches have lacked their usual bite and are being left up in the zone. He was so bad in his second start of the year that Nick Swisher was forced to take the mound. The team is likely to skip Wang’s next scheduled start thanks to Thursday’s off-day, hoping the extra time off will help fix whatever is broken.

The New Stadium opened with an offensive bang, although that shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Even worse is that the expensive seats are practically empty, and that’s pretty embarrassing to be quite honest. At least the team managed to win a game started by old mate Carl Pavano. Xavier Nady’s season looks to be over thanks to an elbow injury, knocking a huge hole in the team’s offensive and outfield depth. I suppose there’s still a chance he won’t be out that long, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

It wasn’t all bad news though. AJ Burnett took a no-hitter into the 7th inning against the defending AL Champs, and Derek Jeter came through in the clutch for a win the next night. Jeter came through big time later in the week, helping the club to their first win in the New Stadium. Alex Rodriguez is getting ever closer to returning, while a cortisone shot seems to have cured Mark Teixeira’s ailing wrist. Things are looking especially good down on the farm, where Triple-A Scranton is off to a franchise record 11-0 start.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

The season kicked off last week in inauspicious fashion, even though the Yankees lowered their Opening Day payroll from 2008. CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang fired clunkers in the first two games of the season, and there was much concern over Sabathia’s use of a heading pad. Thankfully the march to 0-162 was halted by AJ Burnett and a scorching hot Nick Swisher in the third game of the year, and Andy Pettitte followed by dominating the Royals the next day. Sabathia rebounded in a big way in his second start, firing nearly eight innings of shutout ball. Down in the minors, some of the Yanks top young pitching prospects had strong season debuts, none better than Ian Kennedy.

Joe Girardi overmanaged the way out of a sweep of the Royals yesterday, and Mark Teixeira has missed two straight games with a sore wrist. Everyone is concerned, but I’m hopeful the Yanks are just playing it safe early in the season. Let’s not even mention Cody Ransom’s struggles. Poor guy.  At least Alex Rodriguez is closer to returning.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. Long time RABer Bob Stone was kind enough to put together a Fan Confidence Graph which you’ll be able to view anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks to Bob and thanks in advance for voting.

Last week was a pretty uneventful one for the Yanks. Well, unless you count the opening of their new gazillion dollar palace. Derek Jeter hit the first ball out of the park in batting practice, and the team opened the place with a win over the Cubbies in an exhibition game. More good news about the New Stadium: you can actually drink in the bleachers now! It’s not all happy times though, because we might never The Voice of God again.

Aside from opening the New Stadium, the team finalized it’s two remaining roster questions, taking Jon Albaladejo as the seventh reliever and Ramiro Pena as the utility infielder. The Pena move is somewhat significant because it reinforces the front office’s dedication to getting younger, more athletic, and better defensively. Joba Chamberlain put together two strong starts to close out his spring, but more importantly Jorge Posada has seen the light. Brett Gardner was also named the best rookie in camp.

A-Rod’s rehab from hip surgery continues to go well, and it looks like he might even be able to return in late April. Reegie Corona was returned by the Mariners, and Phil Hughes’s strong spring continued in his latest Triple-A outing. All is good in Yankeeland these days.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. At some point in the next few weeks I’ll create a permanent link to a graph showing the change in fan confidence over time, but for now this will have to hold you over. Don’t worry, I’ll pretty it up eventually. Thanks in advance.

This past week was a bit of a slow one in Yankeeland. As expected with hardly a week left to go in the preseason, the New Yankee Stadium dominated the news. He learned about the food selection, the gates opening earlier, a new and easy way to find parking, and about some of the unfortunate TV camera angles. We do know that King George will make the home opener, but Bob Sheppard’s health might cause him to miss the festivities. Sadly, the Old Stadium will start coming down in April.

On the field, the team named their starting center fielder and likely starting right fielder, and made a small but potentially significant change atop the lineup (perhaps at our behest) after Derek Jeter returned from the WBC.  The long reliever candidates battled it out but the team might not carry one anyway. Phil Hughes is continuing to work on his changeup in the minors and CC Sabathia already looks like he’s in mid-season form. Alex Rodriguez is targeting a May 15th return, and the braintrust felt a need to have a heart-to-heart with A-Rod about all of the distractions.

Fangraphs rated the Yankees’ organization the third best in baseball, but the Bombers are still number one in New York. As if there as any doubt.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. At some point in the next few weeks I’ll create a permanent link to a graph showing the change in fan confidence over time, but for now this will have to hold you over. Don’t worry, I’ll pretty it up eventually. Thanks in advance.

Last week was another good week in Yankeeland, as the team rolled to nine straight wins thanks to strong performances from CC Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain. AJ Burnett struggled for the first time in pinstripes, but the important thing is that the members of the rotation are there for each other. Jorge Posada’s return from offseason shoulder surgery continued to go well, as he threw out three potential basestealers on Sunday. A-Rod is ahead of his rehab schedule out in Vail, another plus.

Off the field, we learned that the Yanks are going to open the New Stadium to the Bronx community, and that they really don’t care about A-Rod’s shenanigans. The center field job is apparently still up for grabs, but me thinks it’s not as open as the team wants it to appear.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. At some point in the next few weeks I’ll create a permanent link to a graph showing the change in fan confidence over time, but for now this will have to hold you over. Don’t worry, I’ll pretty it up eventually. Thanks in advance.

Things were much more positive in Yankeeland this past week than they were the week before, even if Robbie Cano and Damaso Marte came back from the WBC with hopefully minor injuries. Jorge Posada returned to action behind the plate and felt good afterwards, and Mariano Rivera threw both a bullpen session and live batting practice. A-Rod is also off crutches as he rehabs from his hyrid hip surgery.

As far as the action on the field goes, CC Sabathia got knocked around a bit but Joba Chamberlain returned to form and AJ Burnett dazzled in his second spring start. Things went so well last week that we even found out that Bryce Harper wants to be a Yankee and Guiseppe Franco will say ci vediamo dopo to YES. All in all, I’d call it a pretty good week.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. At some point in the next few weeks I’ll create a permanent link to a graph showing the change in fan confidence over time, but for now this will have to hold you over. Don’t worry, I’ll pretty it up eventually. Thanks in advance.