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Here’s a little piece of advice for Brian Cashman: make sure to build a real bench when you put together the 2007 Yankees. You would think that $190 million would mean you don’t need to rely on Kelly Stinnett or Miguel Cairo in key situations, but that is what the Yankees are about right now.
Not that their missing players would have made much of a difference in New York’s 9-5 loss to Boston, but a team with those resources should be able to do better. It is a joke that the Yankees have signed Carlos Pena, Richard Hidalgo, Jason Romano and Erubiel Durazo in the past few weeks in an effort to find spare parts for the major league roster. And, let’s not forget the potential for a certain 43-year old pitcher with a penchant for retiring who could be in pinstripes later this summer.
The biggest difference between these Yankees and the dynasty of the late 1990’s is their reliance on stars. Those teams didn’t need an All-Star at every position, they had players who could do a lot of the little things and find a way to win. This team seems more about the sizzle than the steak and now it’s legitimate to question how they will overcome the injuries that have inevitably occurred to an aging roster.
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There is no great mystery. This year's Yankee team is simply a 2nd place team. They just aren't as good as the Sox.
No contraversial view here, just boiling this down to a basic view.
It's still mostly the same first place Yankees team from last year, plus one Johnny Damon. Some ESPN writers, when listing their season predictions, didn't even have the Red Sox making the playoffs. I agree with Mr. Trinkle. The Yankees have NO farm system, which is what brought them Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera. They overpay for aging players - Johnson, Pavano - or they overpay in general. (A-Rod.) As sad as it is, it probably won't change. This is the way Steinbrenner runs a ball club. Torre hates it, Cashman hates it, but that's how it goes. I'm hoping Steinbrenner's son-in-law handles things differently.
Cheers to that..!
You gotta have depth, and for a number of years the Yankees have been a thrown together bunch of all stars. You need some scrappy players in there to do the little things as well. Jeter can't do it all any more..
I agree that Steinbrenner's version of Moneyball is to throw as much money at aging stars as they will demand, but...
the baseball season is long and, as we see every season, "anything can happen." The Yankees, hopefully, have gotten their injuries out of the way early. By July, with a healthy Sheffield, we can expect their bats to wake up (you hear me ARod, the world's most overpaid "clutch" hitter?).
The only question that remains is the pitching.
Every indication is that Randy Johnson has the yips. As a professional, he should be able to find his strike zone again. Unless he is playing with some as yet undiagnosed injury.
The season is equally long for the Red Sox and Blue Jays, who will have their share of woes.
A three-way tie for first at the All-Star break?
Don't rule it out.
The majority of the great Yankees of the past came from a very deep and rich farm system. Getting free agents may be good for the here and now, but leaves the problem of a weak pool of talent to draw from in case of injury. What Steinbrenner needs to do is let all the big name players contracts expire and build a team the old fashioned way - through a good farm system and some strategic veteran player procurement. There may be a few losing seasons, but the future would be better.
Case in point...
2006 Detroit Tigers as of May 23rd (30-14)
Wang and Cano came from our farm system. Once Melky stops looking so scared out there in the field, people will notice that he is a serious hitter (doesn't drive the ball that much, but he'll hit for very high average).