Star Power

Since the middle of the 2012 season, two enormous trades shook the baseball world. In one, the Los Angeles Dodgers (helmed by revered Yankee Donnie Baseball) took from the Boston Red Sox, who were in last place at the time, such luminaries as Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett among others.

In the other, the Toronto Blue Jays received from the Miami Marlins (who were in last place at the time and remain there) a decent number of "Big Names" like Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and John Buck (currently doing quite well--for the New York Mets). During the offseason, they also added Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey and All-Star Game MVP--and admitted PED user Melky Cabrera (remember him?).

The mega deals were supposed to catapult both teams on the receiving end to the very top of their divisions. All that talent all at once? There were calls for Commissioner Bud to cancel the trades in "the best interest of baseball."

Funny thing.

If you check the standings today--and admittedly, it's still only May--the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers share one common trait: They're each in last place in their respective divisions.

Taking a heap of talent from a team that isn't doing well is expecting players who aren't succeeding as a team to succeed as a team because they're in a different stadium. Why would the core of the last-place Red Sox suddenly revert to form and become a cohesive unit because they're in L.A.? Because Tommy Lasorda tells them about "bleeding Dodger blue"? This is the fried-chicken-and-beer crew, folks. A change of scenery wasn't going to help them. Changes of personality, maybe. They have the talent, for certain.

On the other end of the spectrum this past winter were the New York Yankees (you were wondering when I would get to them, weren't you?). Picked by any number of pundits to end up in last place in the AL East--something they might still manage to do--the Yankees added no huge "names" to their roster. They picked up players considered past their expiration dates, like Lyle Overbay and Travis Hafner. Their big free agent signings were Ichiro Suzuki and Kevin Youkilis. There were snickers when they traded for the second biggest albatross contract in baseball (behind Mr. Rod's), Vernon Wells.

This, and they lost Nick Swisher, Rafael Soriano, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Russell Martin to other teams as free agents.

Then the injuries began. Mr. Rod, we knew, would be out because he doesn't know how to use his hips properly (no comment). Derek Jeter was going to come back from his ankle surgery, surely in time for Opening Day. Except he didn't, and still hasn't, having rebroken the same ankle in another spot. This Pineda guy we're still waiting to see was going to be a midseason return. Maybe he will be.

But we weren't counting on injuries to Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Ivan Nova, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Francisco Cervelli. And Eduardo Nunez. Three times, so far.

Even the general manager, whom some fans wanted to ride out of town on a rail, was in a wheelchair, which would have made the rail unnecessary.

Fans moaned. Yes, I was among them (read on). This was going to be an awful season, perhaps the beginning of an awful era. Mariano Rivera is going to retire after this season, and he's going out with THIS crew? Can Jeter and Andy Pettitte be far behind?

Even funnier thing.

If you check your standings again and look up farther than the Toronto Blue Jays, you'll find the Yankees.

In first place.

Again, nobody hands you a trophy for being in first place on May 11. And this doesn't mean that the team won't plummet to earth, remember they're all scrapheap acquisitions, and fold their tents somewhere along the line. But it doesn't look that way right now.

Today, when the Yankees take the field, there isn't an All-Star at every position. There are All-Stars at two positions on the days Suzuki plays. Other days, there is Robinson Cano.

They keep winning. Wells is proving to be more like his Toronto self than his Anaheim self. Overbay doesn't hit often, but he makes his hits count. Jayson Nix (!), filling in for Youkilis (!!) is hitting and fielding well. Suzuki has recently remembered that he's a hit machine. Brett Gardner is on the run once more. Kudos to Brian Cashman, who has once again found the RIGHT pieces off the scrap heap. I am ashamed that I ever doubted you.

But if you think that Star Power is irrelevant, consider this: With a team in first place, in a dogfight with both the upstart (are they still upstarts?) Baltimore Orioles and the dreaded Red Sox, there's something really interesting going on at Yankee Stadium the Theme Park.

It's half-empty most nights.

Fans can complain about the truly outrageous prices of tickets, parking, and concessions in the Bronx, and they'd be right. They can say that it's still way early in the year, the pennant race hasn't really picked up at all yet, and this team doesn't hit tons of home runs, which is apparently the only thing people come to see anymore. And all that would be true as well.

But we know the real reason the seats aren't all filled, and it's not because New Yorkers don't have enough money or because it's May. There have been full houses in May before. You can even say that there's more competition for the sports fan dollar in the city than usual: The Knicks. The Rangers. The Islanders. Until recently, The Nets. Even the Mets, on days this Harvey kid pitches. And no other time. You can say all that. But you'd be wrong, and you'd know it. Seats in Yankee Stadium are empty for one reason, and one reason only. And it's a reason that must surely stir fear in the heart of every Yankee executive, because it's something that sooner or later will be a permanent condition at the Theme Park.

Derek Jeter isn't playing tonight.