Late Innings

I can’t remember how many times in the past two years where we’ve heard interjections between the Steinbrenners and either Joe Torre or Brian Cashman. I can recall the 2007 playoffs, where George Steinbrenner came out and essentially said Torre’s ass was grass unless they advance past Cleveland. That obviously didn’t happen, they were gone in the first round in 2007, and Torre ultimately took an offer to manage the Dodgers.

Yes it is ironic that Torre is now in the playoffs, and the Yankees failed to make it (for the first time since 1996 nonetheless.) The reasons why they didn’t make it in 2008 were NOT Brian Cashman’s fault.

I’m obviously writing this because the Steinbrenner brothers inked Cashman to a three year deal this evening. Cashman simply put is an outstanding GM, one of the best. I’ve always respected the work he’s done, and assembling a team with an essentially infinite budget is not as easy as it seems.

Earlier this year, Hank Steinbrenner gave the word that they’ll be spending money this offseason, and return to the true Yankee way. There’s no reason to believe that they won’t. They have over 80MM in “toxic” assets coming off the books in November. Players such as Carl Pavano, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite, Mike Mussina and Ivan Rodriguez are free agents. Some will return, though not at the salaries they were paid in 2007 (Mussina is a close bet to be paid the same as what he was.)

What the Yankees need to do is evaluate the free agents and see who would be the best fits. I made my suggestions, and I feel as though they should sign C.C. Sabathia (especially since they lost out on Johan Santana.) They should offer salary arbitration to all of their Type A free agents as well, and collect the supplemental draft picks that are offered to them after (and if) they leave. The team has been drafting poorly of late. This is one way to address that problem. The other way, improve international scouting.

Back in July, I honestly thought that the Yankees would be a playoff team in 2008. The reason why, it’s simple: Joba Chamberlain. It seems that once he went down, all the energy and momentum that this team had seemed to evaporate. Having young pitching is a good thing, relying on it too heavily is not. I have no doubt that Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes (who pitched very well in his last start of the season) will be solid parts of the Yankees’ rotation in the future, however Cashman should bring in a veteran starter or two to stabilize the rotation and provide competition. Chein Mein Wang is back, and Mussina and Pettite should hopefully be back as well. Pitching is crucial, and bringing in someone like Sabathia would be clearly huge here.

I honestly expect the Yankees to be back in the playoff picture in 2009. What happened to them this year was a fluke. They were be riddled with injuries, including Wang, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez. Still they still are a solid core. A few more parts and they could be deadly. In closing I like the Cashman signing. I also like what Boston did with Theo Epstein and what the Mets did with Omar Minaya, that is by locking up each long term. It’s an interesting strategy. These GMs are under constant pressure all season long simply due to the markets that they play in. By doing these moves, hopefully some of the pressure is alleviated.