Curtis Granderson

As part three of a six part series, the biggest underachievers in Major League Baseball this year are being called out. The AL East is no stranger to the disappointment that a handful of players have brought to their team.

The AL East has had its own battles. There's a close division race, a team struggling with plentiful injuries, and a home run happy club. Each has seen their fair share of those who have not been producing like they have in the past.

Here are eight beasts from the East who seem to have been tamed for most of the 2010 season.

New York Yankee fans have been waiting patiently for Curtis Granderson to figure himself out and it was well worth the wait.

Presently, the hardest stretch of the regular season is well underway for teams in contention, making the Yankees timing for heading into crisis-mode a serious concern.

At the beginning of the month Curtis Granderson was in the middle of one of the worst slumps of his career. Over the span of 11 games from July 30th through August 11th, Granderson was three-for-29 (.103 BA) with just one extra base hit.

At that point, Granderson went to Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long and, figuring things couldn’t get much worse, asked for his help. So K-Long and G-Unit went to work on his swing.

It’s been about eight months and 114 games now.

Raise your hand if you’re over Curtis Granderson.

To those with arms unraised: what on earth are you waiting for?

Curtis Granderson, the smiling cherub now with the evil New York Yankees, isn’t coming back. So stop the pining.

The Yankees were facing the Royals with CC Sabathia on the mound, so you knew it was going to be a good night, and it was, as the Yankees got a good start and just enough offense to win 4-3.

Here are some notes:

The Yankees have a four-game weekend series against the Royals in Kansas City this weekend with CC Sabathia starting tonight against Bruce Chen. So not only will the Yankees get to face a weak team in the Royals, but since Zack Greinke pitched yesterday, they won’t have to face him this weekend.

Here are some notes:

The New York Yankees lost a heart-breaker to the Texas Rangers in the 10th inning, final score 4-3.

It’s no big secret that the Yankees are losing, winning only 4 of last 11 games and falling fast.

The Bombers first place lead is dwindling down, now just a half-a-game over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox are playing catch-up sitting at five games back and also making the AL East a three-team event again.

It was supposed to be a matchup built for national television.  AJ Burnett vs. Josh Beckett, two hard-throwing, old-school pitchers facing off in Yankee Stadium.