Hank speaks, and I don't really care

Mt. Hank Steinbrenner blew following last night's rough loss to the first-place (!) Tampa Bay Rays last night.

Kevin Kernan of the Post had all of the quotes.

Let's try to tackle this piece-by-piece.

"We've got to forget about all the injuries and start playing our butts off," Steinbrenner told The Post. The Yankees were buried by the Rays on Monday. These are difficult days for Joe Girardi's club.

"The bottom line is that the team is not playing the way it is capable of playing," Steinbrenner said. "These players are being paid a lot of money and they had better decide for themselves to earn that money."

Well, with guys like Jose Molina, Morgan Ensberg and Alberto Gonzalez playing every night, I believe the team is playing the way it is capable of playing. There is a reason why they were expected to be role players and not everyday players. There is also a reason why Alex Rodriguez is being paid $275 million over 10 years and why Jorge Posada got a huge contract.

"We have good professional hitters and I have a lot of faith in them," Steinbrenner said from Tampa. As for the team in general, he noted, "I'm not saying they are not giving the effort, but they need to be playing harder."

Again, two of the best and professional hitters have been out since April. Also, Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano, while showing signs of coming out of their respective slumps, have been dreadful. I also don't doubt that the team is playing hard. They are failing in the clutch, but that is not because they don't care.

"There's no question we need to turn it around and we have the talent to turn it around. We've got the team in place, and now they just have to go out and do it.

"This is going to get turned around," Steinbrenner said. "If it's not turned around this year, then it will be turned around next year, by force if we have too."

This is my favorite part. I'd actually like to see him use force next year, because I'm curious as to what he means.

His next quote is about Joba Chamberlain, but that issue is so ridiculous that it doesn't need to be mentioned in this space.

"We'll add whoever we have to add," he said. "We're missing two big pieces, but this is basically the same lineup as last year. I have great faith in all of them."

Yes, it's the same lineup as last year when Posada and Rodriguez are playing. However, when Giambi is playing everyday and Cano is still inept, the lineup is much worse than it was last year. It's also a problem that this is the same lineup last year. At least last year they'd bully bad pitchers. So far this year, they can't hit anyone.


Regarding the Rays: "I'm happy for them, but I wish they were in the National League. They only had 13,000 there (Monday) night," Steinbrenner said. "That place should be packed. They're an exciting young team."

This I actually agree with. I know Florida Marlins' fans always jumped on the bandwagon, but the Rays have a legitimate good, young team that should be around for years.

Steinbrenner needs to just be quiet and let the players play. Does he really think speaking to some reporter from the Post will motivate the team? There is a reason why he was never involved with the team until this past off-season. They are only 40 games into the season and are remarkably only two games under .500. If things get much worse from here, then you can speak. Until then, just keep your mouth shut, please.