NEW YORK (WCBS 880)  -- I waited a day to write about the first Yankee-Red Sox series this weekend because I wanted to draw some conclusions in the cool light of day, rather than in the midst of emotional turmoil brought on by poor hitting and dubious managerial decisions.

No dice. (No getting to Dice-K either, as it turned out.)

Last night, after the Yanks stranded their 753rd runner in scoring position, I thought to myself: “Remember last year when Robby Cano threw a ball of his foot against the Mets... (It’s really hard to do; try it sometime)…you wrote an article questioning his moral character. You caught hell for it and rightly so. So settle down and go to sleep. Write something tomorrow when you’re supposed to be writing that ad campaign for Stanley Tools.”

Yes, I do talk to myself during Yankee-Red Sox games….I sometimes demolish radios too. I save the fetal position for September match-ups, however, so I am one up on Eric Van.

In any event, after a fitful night, I awoke in a foul mood and I still feel the same way about things. First off, as everyone knows, Joe Girardi made a major blunder on Saturday when he let Mike Mussina throw to Manny with runners on 2nd and 3rd, 2 out, and 1st base open.

No person alive, I am quite sure, saw the logic in this move. Even some destitute, illiterate, Mongolian steppe herder subsisting on yak dung, if given a moment to reflect on the situation, would concede that Girardi pulled a Fred Merkle type blunder here.

It was Girardi’s first major mistake, so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that he learns by it. After the game Girardi indicated that he “trusted” Mussina when he said he could get Manny and he’d rather try that rather than go after Kevin Youkilis  with the bases drunk with chowderheads.

Memo to Girardi: Of course Mussina wants to stay in. Pitchers don’t get 251 major league victories without being confident and competitive. It’s up to you to realize that Mussina was actually getting shelled in the game. Many of the outs were line drives right at various fielders. Moreover, one more out…just ONE MORE OUT and the Yanks go to the 7th inning with a lead. That’s means it’s Joba for 2, Mariano for 1 and then on to the happy post-game recap.

Because of Girardi’s foolishness, the Yanks were not able to use Joba or Mariano for the entire series.  Again, I don’t want to go too nuts here. (For example, Bill Madden’s comment that Girardi’s mistake was on par with Grady Little’s Pedro decision in the 2003 ALCS is the epitome of mongoloid reasoning.)

Also, Girardi would have to make four years of such gaffes to equal Joe Torre’s hideous reign. (By the way, I see where Torre is playing Juan Pierre over Matt Kemp…I am so sorry for Dodger fans.)

What baffles me more than the Moose miscue is this reluctance to put Jeter or Posada on the DL, thus forcing to Yanks to play with a depleted roster and only one catcher.

It’s hard to know if these personnel decisions are more Girardi or more Cashman. But this must be remedied immediately.

Posada clearly will not be able to catch for awhile. His throwing shoulder is “dead.” When he entered the game Sunday night after Jose Molina pulled his hamstring, he was ordered to not even attempt a throw. Unlike Joe Torre, who was “too classy” to run on Jason Varitek with Tim Wakefield on the mound in the 2004 ALCS, Terry Francona seized the opportunity to run all over poor Posada in a most ugly fashion.

The Yanks needed to do one of two things this past week. Either DH Posada and bring up another catcher to back up Molina, or, keep Posada at DH and bring up another catcher to back up Molina.

Instead, Jose Molina had to catch every game and he eventually pulled a hammy in the glacially cold night air. (Thanks, ESPN.)

Now the Yanks will be forced to bring up Chad Moeller, and perhaps even Chris Stewart. There simply needs to be two catchers who can throw. Of course, Moeller has only pegged out 25% of runners is his career, so that’s a relative term.

The Yankee brass’ decision to not DL Derek Jeter is also curious. It’s April, he pulled a quad, why not let it heal for 15 days and keep the roster stocked? Jeter has already been out for a week now, which is half a DL stint, and the Yanks have been playing with just 24 men. (23 ½ if you count Posada.)

When you take into account that Girardi seems to have lost all faith in Wilson Betemit’s ability to play 2nd or SS, it’s as if they are playing with 22 ½ men.

22 ½ men.

If Betemit can not play 2nd or SS unless it’s an emergency, he doesn’t belong on the roster. The man is in dire need of laser eye surgery. He is completely lost at the plate. Hopefully, the Yanks will acknowledge this soon.

The player who needs to get back to the big team is Shelley Duncan. He’s tearing up the Triple A: 8 for 18, .444/.500/.1.167.

Here the Yanks are in dire need of some offense, and Shelley gets sent down simply because he has options.

Someone (Cashman?) has to make some difficult decisions here.
DL Betemit…Bring up Shelley. DL Jeter if he can’t play in the next few days; it will be retroactive back a week anyway. Heck, DL Posada if need be.

Play with a full roster and treat these April games as if they are important. While they are at it, bring Jonathan Albaladejo. Let’s not wait until September to put the best team out there.

Last I checked, April games count in the standings the same way that September games do.