The Yankees could use more two home run games from Alex Rodriguez. The same day SI’s Jon Heyman quoted a scout that said A-Rod “looked 40,” the great one blasted two homers off James Shields. Despite a much needed win against the first place Rays, things are far from perfect in the Yankee Universe. Jeter and Posada look old at the plate, and are acting like a couple of shop stewards trying to hold on to the last bit of overtime due to them before retirement. Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, and even Robinson Cano look like they could use a jolt of life out there. Andruw Jones appears to have no life left in his game. The kind of malaise we have seen the last two weeks is not conducive to success over the long term. Why not pull out an old Brian Cashman blueprint and start to incorporate some of the hungry kids from Triple-A into the roster.

The Yankees looked similarly dead in 2005, and Brian Cashman rolled the dice incorporating Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Cano into the roster. Both played huge roles in helping the Yankees win the American League East. In 2007, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Shelley Duncan, and Andy Phillips played a similar role as the team charged back from a large Wild Card deficit.

Jesus Montero is the obvious choice to come up, and bring some excitement to the clubhouse. What better way to get the media to forget “Posada-gate” than the shift the focus to the best prospect in baseball. He may not hit .336 in the big leagues, but surely can put up better results than Posada. Unless, of course, you believe his two hits last night are the start of something big. If not Montero, perhaps Jorge Vazquez can be given the chance to be the DH. His numbers are even better than Maxwell (14, 38, .297), and what a great story the Mexican League product would become.

Another possibility is replacing Andruw Jones with Justin Maxwell. In 27 games Maxwell has 13 homers and 27 RBI. He is crushing left handed pitching to the tune of a .389 batting average. These players could inject some life into the clubhouse, and divert the attention away from the current negative cycle.

You don’t have to cut Posada to make something like this happen. Release Andruw Jones and bring up Maxwell. You could send Francisco Cervelli to Triple-A and replace him with Montero.

The Yankees need to find a way to get the attention away from the declines of Jeter and Posada. There needs to be fewer stories about Alex Rodriguez’s hip, and more about the play on the field. Incorporating some hungry minor leaguers into the mix might be the right tonic.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Jesus Montero, Jorge Vazquez, Justin Maxwell, New York Yankees