the yankees weren’t going to the playoffs forever.it had to end.

they are not far from being the best team,hands down.

who’s bullpen has even close to the debth that their’s does?,nobody’s.

i just hope they don’t hold on to their prospects to long while they all lose their value.

most of their minor leaguers will not make it and need to be traded for the right young players.

package hughes and a few minor leaguers for the perfect center fielder,do it once and do it right,package cano and kennedy for a good young pitcher,package more minor leaguers for 2 corner outfielders,try to keep ajax,brackman,montero,trade most of the rest.also get a first baseman.

some very tough decisions need to be made.i just hope cashman knows what he is doing.

a combination of some minor league prospects and the right trades is what needs to be done,a lot of homework needs to be done on wich players to bring in.

make a list of a young pitchers you wan’t and call to see what it will take to get them and keep doing that for all three outfield spots,first baseman,pitcher and then sign a free agent pitcher or two to go with wang and joba.

Don’t worry. Minnesota isn’t going to the playoffs either!

The World Champs win the Division and Tampa knocks off Cali in the 1st round. (They’ll, in the end get that old Yankee Feeling: One and Done).

Then experience wins over (very)inexperience and Boston REPEATS against whatever bone-head NL team makes it!

…..much to your dismay!

You’ve made my point for me –

“That’s an example of a team with great baseball minds and owners”

and that’s what the Yankees used to have, until they started to believe that spending money on the Arods, Pavano’s, and Randy Johnson’s would be easier than spending money on player development and good scouting. They got lazy and it cost them.

This next statement is where we part -

” with no guts to spend money.”

What does “guts” have to do with spending money? Any jerk can spend money! What I want, and I believe you want too, is for this franchise to go back to spending money on player development, scouting, instructors all through the organization, and hiring solid baseball people to make baseball decisions.

Then, and only then, will I feel comfortable with spending money on free agents. Because it won’t be done by looking at stats (cf. Arod), but on whether or not this, or that, player can help us win. Whether or not this, or that, player will sacrifice ego for the team (like a Brosius, O’Neil, Tino, and Boggs). Anyway, IMO great teams are built by a combination of good player development in the farm system, and smart trades, and not on free agents.

I think we agree on more than we disagree.

Minny is the perfect example. It’s an example of a team that can actually scout and develop their own and other teams systems enough to get to the post season or pretty close, but can’t win a WS and has to sell of it’s stars year after year.

What has Minny done against our big payroll in the playoffs? They got annihilated.

You actually want the Yankees to be run like the Twins?

That’s an example of a team with great baseball minds and owners with no guts to spend money.

If they spent some money, they’d have Tori Hunter in CF right now and Johan pitching game 1 of the playoffs.

The next closest team was Baltimore at 55 million and the Braves at 53 million. Cleveland was 4th with 47 million.

The top payroll teams all were the top teams in the league that year.

BTW–Boston that season had a 38 million dollar payroll and Mr. Selig’s Brewers? They had an 11 million dollar payroll.

The Yankees were always leading the league in payroll when they were winning with Jeter, Mo, Pettitte when they first came into the league and worked very cheap.

Oh, yeah, Minnesota….hmmm…looks like they’re going to the playoffs and not us. And…ummmm…the Angels, the Rays, the Diamondbacks.

Big spenders like the Yanks and the Tigers – and probably the Mets – will be staying home this Oct.

I wouldn’t use Minnesota as an example if I were you, since they barely bring in enough money to field a team. Their farm system is better than ours, and has a brighter future than ours.

One other thing, the reason the Yankees won all those championships (1976-1978; 1996 – 2000) is because they had a nice mix of homegrown (Munson, Guidry, Jeter, Mo, Bernie, Andy, Posada, et.al) with smart trades (Rivers, Figueroa, O’Neil, Brosius, Wetteland, Nelson, et.al.), not because they spent huge amounts of money. Oh, I’m sorry, they did do that from 2004 till 2008, and haven’t won a pennant since.

He HAS TO do both of those things. HAS TO.

I just hope his eye for talent improves and he makes it a point to do some background on the guys and make sure winning a world series is paramount to their goals in addition to getting paid.

He has to be a good poker player to know if they are lying or telling the truth there.

But that has to be the single most important work done this off season. Find guys who want to win no matter what the cost.

I still can’t forget how Tino and Cecil Fielder both had to share 1b in the playoffs as well as Boggs and Charlie Hayes in order to make the team stronger and win the title.

They all checked their ego’s at the doors.

This current crop of Yankees carry their ego’s as chips on their shoulders.

It’s a difference.

I hope Cashman can find guys in this league who still just want to win.

And I also hope he can distinguish between the right players to keep, sign and trade.

I’m all for homegrown guys contributing, but this whole idea that we’re going to concoct an entire pitching staff out of the minors in the next 2 years is ludicrous.