The Yankees’ run since the mid 1990s has been historic in
its consistency and success, but to a cerebral baseball mind, the time has come
for a house cleaning. The run that began
with young, home-grown talent, led by the ‘Core Four’ and Bernie Williams, has
evolved into behemoth contracts for older, run-down veterans and players who
were paid based on limited elite level play that has not continued in the
pinstripes.
The likes of A-Rod, Teixeira, Sabathia and McCann have
simply aged quickly in a steroid-less era that results in injury prone veterans
who’s skill sets have declined rapidly.
Teixeira, as an example, has always been an elite ‘clubhouse guy’, great
defender, powerful hitter and solid on-base switch hitter. Over the past few years, he has repeatedly hit
the disabled list with a wide array of ailments.
Additionally, while his defense has remained
solid, changes in baseball strategy – notably the tendency for defenses to play
extreme shifts – has severely diminished his success at the plate. While Teixeira has continued to hit homeruns,
his batting average remains well below .200 as the season nears the trading
deadline.
Jacoby Ellsbury and Chase Headley fit neatly into the
‘limited elite level play’ bucket. Both
players had a single elite power season at their respective former clubs, the
Red Sox and Padres. The Yankees wished
similar success in pinstripes, but both players have played on par with the
remainder of their careers and have never been able to replicate the elite
power of their single, pre-contract success.
It is not the Ellsbury and Headley have been terrible, but their
skillsets make playing up to their contracts nearly impossible.
Predictably, when the above noted athletes make up the majority
of your core team, mediocrity will ensue.
While competitors like the Orioles, Blue Jays and Red Sox have hovered
between 10 and 20 games above .500, the Yankees seem to be stuck within a
couple of games of .500 – defining mediocrity.
Ownership is largely at fault for the current conundrum because the
legacy Steinbrenner way has been to outspend every other team as a means of
aggregating superior talent.
Brian Cashman knows better.
He understands that buying championships doesn’t work in an era where
the Arizona Diamondbacks can offer Zack Greinke a mega-contract or the Seattle
Mariners can outbid the Yankees for Robinson Cano. Winning requires young talent and convincing
ownership that trading aging veterans for an infusion of youngsters is a step backwards
towards future success.
All Cashman needs is a few more losses before he can
convince ownership that a complete sell off is in order. If reports are correct regarding the Cubs’
offer for Chapman, step one of the sell off is brilliant. Trade for a rental before the season and
obtain better prospects for him after his suspension is over – genius.
If the Cubs’ offer is real, what can the Yankees get for
Andrew Miller? Anyone want a switch hitter
having a great year with historic post season numbers? Carlos Beltran, anyone? Anyone want Gardner? Anyone want Nova?
Cashman, and realist Yankee fans, are collectively looking
for losses in late July to make this dream of future, sustained success a
reality. Enough of this feckless,
overpriced, mediocrity and take a step back towards the future.
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