In this piece on FoxSports, Ken Rosenthal hits us with the information that the Yankees could very well be in trouble again next year. Anyone really surprised?
Every team has to go through a rebuilding process, but the Yankees have the unfortunate problem of never really being allowed to do that. With the overly demanding fans and the fierce media presence in New York, the Bombers never have a year when they aren't expected to win.
Rosenthal says in the article that acquiring CC Sabathia would give the Yanks one of the top rotations in the game. I have to agree. Can you imagine this rotation? Sabathia, Wang, Chamberlain, Moose, and Pettitte? Obviously Mikey is a question mark as noone knows if he'll be able to repeat this year and its also questionable whether or not the Yanks will be able to bring him and Pettitte back. I don't think they should have a problem, losing both of them would not be good. That rotation would cause the Hughes and the over valued Kennedy to fight for their spot in the rotation or start in the bullpen or AAA where they can develop a little more. BTW, can someone trade Kennedy before everyone realizes how little value he has?
In the same article, some of the mistakes that Cashman made in the past year are listed. Complain as you will, Cashman is still one of the best GM's in baseball (save maybe Epstein in Boston and Friedman in Tampa.) He's made unpopular decisions to develop young talent when the fans would most likely prefer big name free agents. The Yankees should keep him, if not - he won't have a shortage of offers.
The last thing I want to look at is the discussion of Jeter and his future in pinstripes in the article. First off, Jeter is signed through 2010 and I think the Yankees should and most likely will re-sign him after that. He's the face of the franchise and the captain; it'd be wrong to see him in another uniform. The question is whether or not his offensive decline this year is a 1 year thing or a sign of things to come. Also, will they be able to justify using him at shortstop if his defense gets worse than it currently is. Rosenthal suggests a possible move to center as first base wouldn't work out as his bat doesn't make sense there. I think center would be a good move if they didn't have so many prospects in the system with Melky, Gardner, and Jackson waiting to play. They can trade Melky, and they probably should to get something solid in return. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how the Jeter thing turns out.
So, the bottom line, the Yankees are totally out of it yet this year (except for the fact that they pretty much are.) With the right amount of exceptional playing and luck, we may see them come October. Next year..........let's hope for some major free agents and a few miracles.
Comments