All season the Yankees have had problems scoring runs and lately that problem has been magnified by the absence of Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada from the lineup.

After scoring just four runs over their last three games, part of the problem has been the lack of any decent offensive replacements for the pair of star sluggers. Jose Molina and Morgan Ensberg have been as close as you can get to an automatic out lately which is making a bad situation worse.

Molina has an OPS of .525 so far this season, but for the month of May its a disastrous .366. Ensberg is hardly better sporting a .536 OPS this year and a paltry .478 for May. The story gets worse with runners in scoring position, Ensberg has a .438 OPS in those situations and Molina has become the Hank Aaron of killing rallies with a .000 batting average with two outs and runners on second or third.

Sad to say its not just the replacements who are killing the Yankees. Take a look at the lines of some of the starters over the past eight games (Since May 5):

Name H-AB BA

Damon 5-32 .156

Jeter 8-33 .242

Abreu 6-30 .200

Cabrera 5-31 .161

Molina 2-17 .118

With all of these players struggling what can the Yankees do to fix their offense? Well, not much. It is possible they can recall Posada back from the DL early and use him as the DH, after all he was healthy enough to DH when he initially injured his shoulder. Rodriguez is also expected back next Tuesday which will be a big help.

Hideki Matsui is having a good season and Jason Giambi is even beginning to put up modest numbers, but both could be seeing less at bats against lefties. Giambi has a .851 OPS against righties versus a .673 against lefties. The difference in Matsui is even more pronounced, he has a 1.001 OPS against right-handers and a terrible .575 facing southpaws.

The answer to this problem could be Shelley Duncan, but after exploding on the scene last season he has been having a sub-par 08. Since the Bombers don’t have any real right-handed offensive threats in the minors that are major league ready they should begin to look outside the organization for some answers.

Looking around the league here are some hitters who might be available and could fit a platoon for the Yankees: Richie Sexson (.874 career OPS against lefties), Wily Mo Pena (.827), and Austin Kearns (.851). One other name to keep an eye on is Scott Hairston of San Diego. Hairston has been a forth outfielder most of his career for the Padres and Diamondbacks. He hits well against lefties and best of all the Padres are in need of relief help. Maybe they’d be interested in LaTroy Hawkins or possibly even J.B. Cox.

One other possible, but unlikely move they could make if Johnny Damon or Melky Cabrera fail to turn their seasons around could be for Ken Griffey Jr. Junior is in the final season of his contract and playing for a team that is going nowhere. This move only makes sense if the Yankees are desperate though as they already have players at each position Griffey could fill. Adding another lefty bat to a lineup which is already stacked with left handers makes little sense, but this is a move a younger George Steinbrenner would have pulled off. It could be the first major deal Hank Steinbrenner could pull off if he panics.