Steve Lombardi's blog waswatching.com had become a staple in every Yankee fan's internet diet. Lombardi mixes personal observation with a hearty dose of sabermetric analysis to bring his readers up-to-date information on New York City's varsity baseball team. Steve isn't afraid to express his point-of-view, and to that end, I don't always find myself agreeing with him. (Case in point, I view Brian Cashman as the savior of the franchise; Steve wouldn't trust Cashman to run his fantasy baseball team in the Yahoo casual league.) Nevertheless, if you're not reading Steve's blog, you should be; it's Yankee information you can't do without.

How did your blog come about? Why do you write it?

SL:  I started WasWatching.com on April 20, 2005.  I had been writing about baseball in general at various Internet outlets since 1997.  In the past, some have shared that they thought my writing, at times, was too Yankees-centric.  I suppose that I couldn't help it.  I've been a diehard Yankees fan since 1973.  It was during that first month of the 2005 season that I decided "Hey, maybe I should start something where I can focus 'just' on the Yankees and go in the direction where I seem to be headed most of the time anyway?"  And, that's how the blog started.  Since then, writing WasWatching.com has become an outlet for me.  Baseball, especially Yankees baseball, is one of the things that I'm most passionate about in my life.  Doing the blog is just another way to exercise that passion.

Are the Yanks crazy to be counting so much on the kid pitchers this year?

SL:  I think the Yankees are well aware of the risk involved of asking three pitchers, so young, to cover as much as one-third of the team's total innings pitched this season.  It's even riskier when you throw in the Mussina factor as you have no idea how Moose will pitch this year.  Is it crazy?  Look at it this way:  They're going to sell out every game this season, and next season too, and have great TV ratings, even if they finish in third place this year.  So, while there's risk here to the season, there's little risk to their product's value.  So, I don't think the Yankees are crazy for going with the kids.  Sure, the season might be a bust because they're counting on them.  But, if that happens, it's not going to hurt the franchise, at all, thanks to the interest and demand now for Yankees baseball.

Who do you feel has the highest ceiling out of Chamberlain, Kennedy and Hughes, and why?

SL:  In terms of tools, you have to rank these three, top to bottom, in this order:  Chamberlain. Hughes, and Kennedy.  In terms of skill, it's the opposite order.  Who of the three will be the best?  It depends on what you think is the best thing for a pitcher to have?  If it's tools, then Chamberlain has the highest ceiling.  If it's skill, then Kennedy has the highest ceiling.  If you think it has to be a little of both tools and skill, then Hughes has the highest ceiling.  Me?  Stuff is great.  But, I think skill is most important thing.  So, it would not shock me, despite what many scouts think, to see Kennedy end up being the best of the three for the long-term.

Does Chamberlain in the bullpen bother you at all?

SL:  Not really.  There's enough statistical study out there that suggests it makes sense not to escalate his innings too much this season compared to what he threw last season and in college before that, given his age.  Plus, there's a need in the Yanks' bullpen this season.  And, of all the kid pitchers in Yankeeland, he's probably best suited to help out there at this moment.  In terms of this being a long-term assignment, I would have to think about it after this season.  There is something very attractive about throwing a guy on the mound once every fifth day where he can own the game, assuming he has the talent to do it.  This would be like Johan Santana now or Roger Clemens in his prime.  Many think Joba has that type of potential.  If it's true, I think you have to get him into the rotation after this season.

Are you upset that Johan Santana isn't in pinstripes?

SL:  It would be great to have Johan Santana in your starting rotation.  This is true no matter what team you're talking about.  For the Yankees, his impact would have been tremendous as he would have been their ace and that pushes Pettitte or Wang down to your number three starter.  Getting Santana this season would be like when the Yankees picked up Catfish Hunter for 1975.  He's a horse and a leader.  Now, that said, you cannot ignore the cost of acquiring Santana.  It would have required the Yankees giving up some great prospects to get him and a really big chunk of cash to sign him.  I could live with one or the other.  But, to have to do both is too much - even for Santana.  So, while I would have been thrilled to see him in pinstripes, I understand why it didn't happen and I'm not overly upset about it not happening.

Who are your darkhorse bullpen candidates?

SL:  I like TBD from the right-side and PTBNL from the left-side.  Truly, outside of Mo, Joba, Farnsworth and Hawkins I think the rest of the Yankees bullpen, as it is at the start of the season, will not be the same as it is at the end of the season.  Someone will come up during the season from the minors and will emerge as a right-handed middle innings guy.  As to who it is, it's anyone guess at this point.  When I say it could be anyone, I mean it.  Shoot, come August, if needed, it might even be Carl Pavano.  You never know.  And, I believe that the Yankees will make a trade for a left-handed reliever.  It could happen at the close of spring training or during the season.  But, it will happen.

Steve, you said "Pavano." Do you really want me to print that?

SL:  [Laughing]  Yeah, I know.  That one sort of came out of my mouth like the last shot out of a roman candle.  But, the point I'm trying to make here is that the right-hander to be named could be anybody…like Brett Smith, Scott Patterson, Jeff Marquez, Dan McCutchen, Mark Melancon, Humberto Sanchez, J. Brent Cox, or, yes, even, Carl "Don't Forget I'm On A Salary Drive" Pavano.

What do you think Wang will give the Yanks this year? Will that low K rate come home to roost?

SL:  Wang will give you 30 starts and 200 innings and at least a dozen wins.  It would be nice if the Yankees could figure out a way to get his road performance to match his performance in the Bronx.  If that happened, he could be a legit Cy Young candidate.  I'm not really worried about his low K-rates.  Chien-Ming Wang's average fastball speed was 93 MPH in 2006.  And, last season, it was somewhere between 90 and 93 MPH.  I like to believe that Wang has the stuff to whiff hitters, via 90-plus MPH gas, it's just that he prefers to get outs quicker with grounders.  The low K-rates for him does not indicate a lack of "stuff."

What's you take on the loquacious Hank Steinbrenner? Does he pose a threat to the team's sanity?  

SL:  I'm still waiting for the real Hank to please stand up.  So far, it's been feast or famine with him.  Sure, Hank will say something that's shocking and/or amusing.  But, then, he'll go two or three weeks without so much as a peep.  It will be interesting to see how much we hear from him during this season.  I think that will be a guide as to how much of an impact he'll have on the team's peace and quiet.

Over the years you have been fairly critical of Brian Cashman, or at least you haven't given him the love that most bloggers have. Can you tell us why?

SL:  Ah, the Cashman question.  O.K., first, a deep breath.  Now, exhale.  And, count to…  [Laughing]  Point blank., here's the deal.  I just don't get the crowd who thinks Cashman is one of the best G.M.'s in the game and who feels the need to genuflect at Cashman as if he's the messiah.  Most of the time, that group likes to point towards the direction the team has taken since 2005 with respect to their focus on young pitching and cite what a genius Cashman is at building a team.  Me?  I've yet to see him build anything that resembles a championship team.  Yeah, I know what people are thinking when they hear that: "What about 1998 through 2000?"  The answer there is simple:  Gene Michael and Bob Watson built the cadre of that team and it fell into Cashman's lap when he took over in 1998.  And, that group was pretty much done around 2001 to 2003.  What's happened since then?  Yeah, the Yankees have continued to win a lot of games each year - and, that's great. But, the way Brian Cashman has built his teams is the following:  Spend about $200 million on great offensive players and pitchers that are either over-hyped or past their prime. And, during the regular season, when those mega-batters are matched-up against the bad pitching teams in the A.L., it covers for the weak Yankees pitching and then New York starts to pile up win totals.  But, come the post-season, when you face teams with good pitching, or you face a team in a format where they can use their best pitchers and hide their duds, your great hitters get shut down and then your weak pitchers get exposed, and you lose the series.  This has been the Yankees story for the last four seasons.  That's basically half of the time Cashman has been in charge.  So, while I see the point where folks want to give him credit for the Yankees plan, now, going forward, I cannot ignore the fact that Cashman was lucky to inherit the team that he did when he started and then had a flawed game plan after that and rode it for four years.  Hence, sorry Brian, I'm not sending hugs and kisses.

What could Cashman have seen in Kei Igawa?

SL:  I would say the question here should be "What should have Cashman looked at when considering Kei Igawa?"  And, he should have looked for the same thing that he should have looked for when he picked up Jeff Weaver, Jose Contreras, Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano, and every other bust of a pitcher that Cashman has acquired through the years.  And, that thing is:  Is this someone who can handle life as a Yankee and be successful pitching for this team?  For pitchers, due to the nature of their position, in this town, you need to evaluate the person in addition to the numbers in order to see if he can post those same numbers under the glare of the Yankees spotlight.  You need guys like Jimmy Key, David Cone, Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson, John Wetteland, etc.

What do you perceive Gene Michael's current role is with the organization?

SL:  I think he still has some input in an advisor type capacity.  As long as Cashman is the G.M., that should be the case for a while.  Cashman needs guys like Michael to help him with talent evaluation.  Do you know that Stick Michael will be 70-years old this year?  How did that happen?  I watched him as a player.  I can't believe that someone I saw play, back in what doesn't seem a long time ago, is now seventy.  The Yankees better get Stick one of those Dorain Gray type deals to keep him young so that he can be a continuing asset to the organization.

Is it true that you're a cranky old man?

SL:  [Laughing]  I think I've seen that posted at a particular message board.  Actually, the person who started that thread also frequently posts comments at my blog.  I know they're the same because his handle at that forum is the same as the e-mail address he used to register at my site.  He disagrees with me often at WasWatching.com, so, at least he's consistent.  You know, fellow Yankees blogger and an incredibly nice guy, Sean McNally, once called me "irascible."  [Laughing again.]  So, I guess I have that type of rep, I suppose.  It could be worse.  There are worse things that people could call me.  I'd rather be known as a cranky old man than be known as an acquiescing dullard, for instance.

What difference do you think Joe Girardi will have on the team this year?

I'm a huge fan of General Joe.  With Girardi you get the tactical-edge seeking of Billy Martin, the ensured preparedness of Buck Showalter, and, the politically correct demeanor of Joe Torre - all rolled into one.  Plus, Girardi has tons of energy and is hungry to excel at this assignment.  I like to think that he's going to weave some magic and make all those potential issues on this Yankees roster turn out to be moot.  And, the Yankees will win close to 100 games this season.  I'm not saying that they'll win 100 games.  I just saying that I hope Joe can make this happen.  Now, I can't tell you that Girardi will last a long time, like 12 years, with the Yankees. And, it would not shock me to see him bolt for the Cubs after his Yankees gig if there's an opening in Chicago.  But, for now, I'm thrilled that he's here and I think he's going to make a huge difference for this team because of his fire, drive, and intelligence.