I needed a midnight snack so I stopped by a Dunkin' Donuts. They were out of donuts so a guy said, "This is worse than the Yankees losing the playoffs." I said, "Nothing is worse than the Yankees losing." :( He said, "Dunkin' Donuts running out of donuts is." Maybe it was the rum and coke, but that cracked me up. :p

Dunkin' Donuts was out of donuts!?!?!?!?!?!?!?:eek:

As do the Boston papers...there really was little talk of a curse until Dan Shaugnessy's book in the mid-80's that referred to the "Curse of the Babe." Maybe NY papers are more malicious about it, but Boston papers/fans/sportswriters talk about it as well.

Listen, through the mid-80's it was the Sox going every year and not the Yankees; if you want to see the reason why the Sox are finally doing it this year, look at the fact that the Sox built a strong lineup, solid top of the rotation and good bullpen. They spent the money and got results, period, as much as I hate to admit it.

They made better offseason moves than the Yankees, and that's that.

I'd say Boston papers are way worse than NY papers regarding the "curse" - and someone should stab Shaughnessy. That dude sucks - on SoSH they call him 'little girl' among other, funnier nicknames.

Shaughnessy sucks. i wish he'd go away. and the people on SoSH make me laugh!

Who do you think George S. is gonna take this all out on?

-Rudey

I'd say, the following players are gone:
Kevin Brown, Tom Gordon, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Quantrill, El Duque, Felix Heredia, Tony Clark,Kenny Lofton,John Olerud, & Ruben Sierra.

I got a feeling Cashman will be under pressure and he'll get an aging superstar to make the boss happy.

Well Cashman should feel lucky given that he's not being discarded like a used tissue.

-Rudey

The team is getting older and they need some new blood. Unfortunatley I don't see anybody comming up from the farm system that can excite the team. From the Free Agents, I would like to see the Yanks gunning for Varitek or Beltran. The farm system is depleted and the Yankees youngest player is 29 years old. Belive it or not, its time for rebuilding. Another player I would like to see is Radke.

ETA: Remember the Stanton->Nelson->Rivera combo. Once it gets into that motion, the game is done.

Cashman won't be fired, probably just emaciated from a power standpoint.

El Duque is a Steinbrenner favorite, and he's cheap - not going anywhere.

Heredia, Clark, Lofton, Olerud, and Sierra are all out of contract, no chance at getting resigned - although Steinbrenner loves guys like Olerud. No idea why.

If they get someone to take the contracts of Loaiza or Brown, I'll pee in someone's mouth - they are both albatrosses at this point, and Loaiza was an obvious 'career year' case. Still, I think he's serviceable if they can get him used to NY (same w/ Vasquez).

Personally, I think they'll keep Gordon and Quantrill but overpay for some other relievers - Torre had to rape the bullpen down the stretch b/c of chaff like Brad Halsey and the injuries to starters etc. Look for Chris Hammonds-style overpaying for dudes like Buddy Groom, etc. Quantrill is hurt, and Gordon threw a billion innings - if they keep their workload down, they're still solid relievers.

My prediction? Unless something insane happens, the Cubs will drive the price up out of the Astros' range for Beltran, driving him into center for the Yanks. They'll make a passing run at Pedro to drive the price up on the sox and angels, but they'll wind up spending the cash on relief pitchers instead. I'd predict they sign a first baseman as a backup plan to Giambi, who is iffy at best right now, and they'll grab a defensive-oriented 2B after Jeter's errors in the postseason. Something along the lines of "NL 2B, Buddy Groom, random japanese reliever taking a flier on, Beltran, then a Daubach-type at first"

Just a thought.

Cashman has already been told he's staying, although I'd venture to guess that Steinbrenner will have more say in player decisions (NEVER a good thing).

They will most likely try to trade/dump Brown, Loaiza and Vasquez. I'd have a hard time believing that any of the three are safe. Gordon's choke during the postseason (he was reportedly so nervous he got sick before one of the playoff games) won't sit well with George, so he may even be in danger despite his solid season.

The Yankees are going to throw a TON of money at Beltran; his playoff performance has guaranteed that, and they need to get Bernie out of center. Reports are that Giambi will be healthy by spring training, but the question now is, how good is a healthy Giambi? I wouldn't be surprised to see Clark back as a bat/glove off the bench, especially if they keep Giambi around. They need a starting pitcher, but Pavano is very interested in Boston (my fellow CT native wanting to come back to New England). I could see them overpaying for Clement. I'd like them to get Pavano (even if he went to a rival high school of mine), but who knows how good he really is. Was this year a once in a career year for him?

Willie Randolph may be off to the Mets as their new manager...if that happens look for Donnie Baseball or Bucky Dent to be the new bench coach (and possibly next in line to replace Torre when he leaves).

It will be a big offseason for the Yankees though.

Collin

I also see Donnie being groomed to replace Torre. The farm system is depleted. Yes, next year, if Cashman is smart and the big boss let him do his job, should be rebuilding. youngest yankee player is 29 years old. Not a good future.

Rumor is that either Mattingly or Dent will be next in line if Randolph is hired by someone else. Bucky had his chance with a HORRIBLE Yankees team in the early 90's (the Stump Merrill/Dallas Green era). Both are favorite sons of Steinbrenner, so who knows.

They need a farm system again, you're absolutely correct. They only have a handful of legit prospects.

They're in the boat with both feet, though - every time they sign someone they lose a top draft pick. If they get Beltran, there's the first-rounder. Milton? Second round pick gone. It's tough to recover the farm like that - it's a vicious cycle.


It looks like they're shopping Giambi under the radar, maybe they can flip him for a couple prospects from, say, the Dodgers, then go from there. It will be interesting to see what happens.

True...the compensation picks really kill them.

Their farm system (with the exception of Jeter) really was based on rookie free agents, guys like Rivera, Bernie and Soriano. I can't think of a 1st round pick other than Derek to do anything solid for the Yankees (Carl Everett and Eric Milton were both first rounders but did their damage elsewhere). They've drafted good athletes, but not good ballplayers; the anti-Moneyball approach, if you will. Just a lot of things wrong with the Yankees system on the scouting/player development front.