I will say something that most Yank fan will not say...

[moe.ron]

it is time for the club to go through its rebuilding phase.

[blueGBI]

[KSigkid]

Next year will be a rough year for us Yankee fans. You're correct in that some things have to change; the team is getting eerily similar to the teams of the 80's, where Steinbrenner and company crippled the club by signing aging players to ridiculous deals. All it did was strip down the team, from the farm system to the big club.

The big indicator will be how big of a role George plays in offseason dealing...the more he lets Cashman do his job, the better, but we know that won't happen.

[mmcat]

perhaps a fire sale, of sorts?
it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know george is mad.

[KSigkid]

Originally posted by mmcat
perhaps a fire sale, of sorts?
it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know george is mad.

I'd say just the opposite...he'll throw money in so many different directions, it'll get kind of ridiculous. They'll be giving a couple of players away (Brown comes to mind), but I see them going after any and every mid-range free agent out there.

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by mmcat
perhaps a fire sale, of sorts?
it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know george is mad.

No, I don't see this happening really - first of all, it will take something serious to even convince SIAS that rebuilding needs to happen, and second he hates losing . . . it's his absolute best quality, but also his potential downfall in this sort of case.

I don't see a lot of these players really being desired by other teams - they want to move Giambi according to reports, but even the Dodgers can't afford his contract (still something like $72MM remains). Kevin Brown has been mentioned in a few deals, most notably w/ Sammy Sosa, but honestly are they a better squad? Even if the cubs make the money work out, I don't think carrying another DH solves anything, these guys scored a ton of runs this season. Vasquez may not be able to handle NY, and the Moose is getting on in years.

Cashman knows all this, but by signing a ton of free agents this season they'll kill the farm system further by eliminating key draft picks, and with no real tier-1 free agents leaving, they won't have any way to recoup these.

The answer, honestly, is to make intelligent picks in those 4th-8th rounds that they will have picks in, and also to spend their money on useful, desired parts - instead of blowing a ton of money on a couple guys, they should seriously look into a bunch of one-year contracts for relievers and roll the dice on a couple starters. This would allow them to ship some of these excess parts for prospects at the deadline, while still solving their biggest problem (an overworked bullpen by the time the postseason came around). They need to decide how far away their two or three remaining b-level prospects are, and if necessary they need to ship off Posada and bring up Dioner Navarro while Posada still has value (he's declined mightily in the last two years).

If they can get something for Brown and Giambi, they absolutely must make those deals. If they can get Vasquez straightened out, he's the real deal and will immediately make them the best team in the league again (they were that close).

Finally, they need the professionalism of Torre, Mattingly, and Jeter to rub off on the new Yankees players. Gone are the Tinos and O'Neills, players who turned it on in crunch time and made other players better just by being around. Sheffield buys into it, and Matsui appears unaffected by pressure at all (if he doesn't in fact thrive on it) - but ARod, Giambi, and etc? They seem to disappear anymore. Gone are the days of Luis Sojo rapping a two-out double to win . . . the tide was turning, and if these three true professionals can stem it, they'll be back. If they get overwhelmed, you're right back to 1987.

The Yankees are 100% the most interesting team to watch this postseason, no lies.

[KSigkid]

The greatest fear is that this team becomes the early-80s Yankees; one where prospects never reach the majors (see Doug Drabek, Willie McGee, Fred McGriff) or draft picks are wasted (see John Elway, who never was going to seriously play baseball). Do the Yankees go back to the time of Steve Kemp and other high-priced space-fillers; I think a lot just depends on how much control Steinbrenner assumes this off-season.

They do have to find out whether guys like Navarro (their only top-50 prospect) and Robinson Cano are the real deal. If Cano is anything, then he could be the 2b of the future, and as Rob said, Posada is starting on the decline that nearly every catcher has. If Navarro can continue to improve his defense and keep hitting, he merits a look sometime soon. Another main prospect is Eric Duncan, who won't get a look anytime soon (as he plays the same position as A-Rod).

This will be one of the most important off-seasons in many years.