The Bronx Should Burn Real Good

Anyone who's read my previous entries knows I harbor a rather special hatred for the Yankees. Mind you, this is not directed at the franchise. I have a healthy respect for the pin strippers and their history. No, this near blinding rage is directed more at the way George Steinbrenner has chosen to run the team in the last seven years. Years of flushing young talent in favor of older, high priced mercenaries has finally caught up with New York, but believe it or not, this is good for the organization.

After nearly a decade of spending to solve their problems, the Yankees now find themselves in an interesting quandary. Their best player, Alex Rodriguez, can opt out of his contract. Scrap iron catcher Jorge Posada has made it clear he will leave if Joe Torre is not brought back to manage the team. Ace closer Mariano Rivera has echoed those sentiments, while the future of Mike Mussina remains in question. Moose is under contract for another season, but his lack luster performance this year makes you wonder if the Yankees will want to keep him around while Roger Clemens has pitched his last game with the team.

To further complicate matters, the Yankees have promised young fire baller Joba Chamberlain that he will join the starting rotation next year, leaving a massive hole in New Yorks bullpen. Let's face it, outside of Chamberlain, Rivera and occasionally Vizcaino, New Yorks relievers have hovered somewhere between bad to atrocious. And should Rivera leave, to whom will they turn to shut the door?

Thing is, all is not lost in New York. All that is needed is a change of attitude. In the 1990s the Yankees were the dominant team, returning to the glory days of old. Now just how did they get there? Simple really. After a lousy decade in the 1980s New York saw what other teams were doing. The dominant teams of the 80s and early 90s were Oakland, Minnesota, Toronto, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Those teams had gotten to the top by smart drafting, patient development of talent and making the occasional big trade or free agent signing. The Yankees saw this and new it was time to go back to the basics. This led to New Yorks re-birth in the 1990s, with four World Series wins in five years built on the backs of players like Jeter, Williams, Rivera and Posada. They were the team to beat by 2000, but then things changed.

Starting in 2001 the Yankees began to spend unheard of amounts of money. Starting with the 7 year, 120 million dollar contract for Jason Giambi New York began their current habit of excessive spending in an effort to win another title. Following Giambi, New York spent amounts of 50 million plus on players like Hideki Matsui and Garry Sheffeild. However, none of this translated into a World Series win. But instead of looking inward, the Yankees once again went outside the organization. Alex Rodriguez , Johny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth, all brought in to put the Yankees over the top. All have not.

To make matters worse, the arch-rival Boston Red Sox have been making strides to put themselves ahead of New York. Oddly enough, Boston has mimicked the Yankees to a degree, but in a completely different fashion. While the Yankees focused on veterans, Boston went young. New Yorks last major trade for a pitcher was acquiring creaky, not mention cranky, Randy Johnson. Boston went after regular season work horse and post season fiend Josh Beckett. This past season New York spent nearly 20 million bringing back Roger Clemens, who promptly put up some of the worst numbers of his career. Boston spent 100 million on a pitcher, but it was for 27 year old Daisuke Matsuzaka who, despite a slightly shaky year, has shown the ability to pitch long into games and still over-power batters.

And so now we have todays current situation. Napoleon Steinapart has made it clear Joe Torre will not be returning, several key players are not happy and their MVP may decide to go elsewhere. But this is all correctable. New York has the ability to get back to their roots and once again become a dominant team. Instead of spending money on bats, they need to once again focus on scouting. Rather then bringing up young pitchers and throwing them to the wolves, New York must patiently wait for their young arms to fully develop. Hughes and Chamberlain could be 20 game winners, but only if the Yankees take their time. They have good young fielders like Cabrera and Cano, now they need to go out and find more. If Steinbrenner can check his ego for a few years his team will once again be the model franchise. Sadly it doesn't appear that he will, and as a baseball fan I shake my head.