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How to fix Yanks

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Posted by: min0 lee

BY T.J. QUINN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
So the conclusion was reached that whatever ails the Yankees, Joe Torre isn't the problem. At least not so much of a problem that another manager is the solution.

It will be Torre's charge to confer with Brian Cashman and the rest of the brain trust to find out what the problem is with a lineup of All-Stars and MVPs, and a pitching staff filled with escapees from a rehab hospital. Some old ones, at that. Something in that assembly of 25 was enough to let the Yankees overcome a year of injuries to earn the best record in the American League, yet something was still missing from the sum of those expensive parts. To determine what the difference is between the most expensive division winner in history and the most expensive World Series winner, the Daily News turned to a series of experienced, accomplished, but mostly anonymous experts for their take. Here are some of the suggestions they came up with.

Posted by: min0 lee

1. DUMP A-ROD. REPLACE HIM WITH A HARD-NOSED PLAYER

‘New York is a tough town and A-Rod is such a lightning rod, it's almost like the Mets when they had Roger Cedeno and the fans booed him every single time he came to the plate. It affects the whole team," a rival GM says. "(Derek) Jeter obviously doesn't like A-Rod. It's so clear. So get rid of the guy: they don't need him. Go get a team guy. They don't need a guy who cares about his stats and his image. Go get a Scott Brosius. Go get Mark DeRosa to play third base; that guy can bat eighth or ninth."
DeRosa would be an interesting pickup, as close to a Brosuis as you'll find. The 31-year-old Passaic, N.J., product played his first full season this year with the Texas Rangers and put up respectable numbers, finishing with a .296 batting average, .357 on-base and .453 slugging percentage. He spent the season splitting duties at second, third and in right field, and committed a total of five errors. He'll be a free agent, and made only $675,000 this season.
A former Yankee agrees that A-Rod has to go: "Alex is the one who separates himself from the rest of the guys. He doesn't let anybody in."
Rodriguez shouldn't be hard to move. With an average of $16 million a year coming to him from the Yankees over the next four years, he's a bargain. The Rangers still pay the rest of his $25 million-a-year salary, so the Yankees should be able to rid themselves of most, if not all, of the money they owe him.
Another executive said he has heard rumblings of an A-Rod for Pat Burrell deal, but says he doesn't think those rumors are coming from the Yankees or the Phillies. "It could make sense," he says. "A-Rod did well with (current Phillies and former Seattle GM) Pat Gillick."
What most of our experts agreed on was the need for some players with fire in the belly, or any part of the anatomy that will inspire the rest of the lineup.
"They need guys like Paul O'Neill, like Joe Girardi, like me," former Yankee World Series hero Jim Leyritz said recently. One American League executive disagrees, however.
"Those guys all play hard. Jeter plays hard, (Gary) Sheffield plays hard, (Robinson) Cano plays hard, (Jorge) Posada plays hard - they all do," he says. "I don't know what happened in the playoffs, but it wasn't effort. They don't need guys to get loud, they just need guys who fit together." Those fans who have looked to Jeter for fire and brimstone, all agreed, have been looking in the wrong place. "That's not who he is," Leyritz says. "That's never been who he is. He's a quiet leader who leads by example."

Posted by: min0 lee

2. GET HELP FOR JOE TORRE
When Torre's Yankees were great, the two men next to him on the dugout bench were vital components. Bench coach Don Zimmer was the unquestioned master of strategy, while pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre had the complete confidence of his staff.
"Zim was the strategic genius, and Joe was perfect at managing people. It was a great combination," Leyritz says.
For all Torre's ability to motivate and mitigate in the clubhouse and dugout, he has never enjoyed the reputation of a tactician on the scale of Tony La Russa or Bobby Valentine. That was part of the front office's thinking when Larry Bowa and Tony Pena were brought in as coaches.
"They're good baseball guys, but I'm not sure how much (Torre) listens to those guys," a rival executive says.
It can't be that much because they're the third and first-base coaches. Lee Mazzilli is the one sitting next to Torre on the bench. Torre has faith in Maz, but our panelists don't.
Our panelists also want to see a pitching coach Torre that will listen to, whether it's Ron Guidry or not. Gator has the confidence of his staff, but either Torre didn't listen to him or Guidry wasn't aware that Scott Proctor and Ron Villone were headed for a meltdown.
Proctor led all AL relievers with 102.1 innings and 83 games pitched this season, while Villone was sixth with 80.1 innings and tied for eighth with 70 appearances. This season was only the second time that Villone made at least 70 appearances. He had 79 in 2004. And those were only the games he appeared in. Villone threw 40-60 pitches every time he was told to warm up but didn't get in the game. Those throws might not end up on a pitcher's stats, but they take something out of his arm.
"He probably got up 120 out of 162 games," one executive says.
Team sources say Cashman spoke to Torre about Villone's overuse. The 36-year-old lefty hit the wall sometime after he left the mound against Toronto on Aug. 1, when his ERA was 2.01. His ERA in August was 6.04, and in September it was 27.00. In two months, his ERA ballooned from 2.01 to 5.04. There is no reason to suspect that the Yankees' baseball operations office is unhappy with Guidry, but the highly respected Dave Wallace, the former Mets pitching coach and executive, was just fired by the Red Sox. Wouldn't it be just like the Boss to punish a coach and replace him with an ex-Red Sox coach whom Red Sox pitchers are sure to miss?

Posted by: min0 lee

4. GET MORE STARTERS, NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES
Most of our experts mentioned starting pitching in the first sentence when asked about the Yankees. Most Yankee fans would do the same. To what is sure to be the great lament of the rest of the major leagues, the Yankees will be driving the market for Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt and Dontrelle Willis, even while the Marlins are adamant that Willis is untouchable.
In 1998 (yes, it's unfair to compare them to what might have been the best team they ever had, but so what), five starters pitched 9521/3 innings out of the team's 1,4561/3, a hefty 65%. That's a solid staff. The 2006 staff's primary five, beset by injuries and disappointment, pitched 823 2/3 innings, or 57%. It's a difference between 5.9 innings per game and 5.1, almost a full inning. That meant an inning a game more for the 2006 bullpen or other starters to work, which put a strain on the entire staff. Chien-Ming Wang is becoming a true ace, but the experts agree Mike Mussina shouldn't be higher than the team's third starter for them to be World Series-worthy

Posted by: min0 lee

5. DEVELOP YOUNG TALENT - CHANGE IS A COMIN'
There is some serious turnover on the way. Mussina has an option for $17 million next season, but the Yankees will probably take the buyout and then offer him a smaller deal for a year or two; Randy Johnson has one year left; Bobby Abreu has one year and a $16 million option left in 2008; Gary Sheffield has a $13 million option for next season, which they may also decline; Rivera and Posada are at the end of their contracts and have options next year; Jaret Wright has one year left or could be bought out; Proctor, Villone and Bernie Williams are all at the end of their contracts. And other clubs think the Yankees may try to move Jason Giambi.
The point is the Yankees of 2008 could look vastly different than the 2006 or 2007 models, and this upcoming year is almost certain to be Torre's last. Whatever pieces they pick up, Cashman and company need to find players from within or from without who can be the core of a new era to go with a new manager, possibly Don Mattingly.
It has been a while since the Yankees developed a top pitcher from within their system. Philip Hughes, all of 20, might surpass Andy Pettitte's accomplishments, but with the Yankees there is always the concern that a sure-fire ace in the minors will react differently to the fish bowl that is Yankee Stadium. Eric Duncan, the 21-year-old infield prospect touted as one of the nation's best since he signed in 2003, regressed this season when he went to Triple-A, hitting .209 with a .255 slugging percentage. The future might rest in young men only die-hard fans would know, like pitcher Tyler Clippard and outfielder Jose Tabata.
Our experts have never had Steinbrenner's money to throw around, but they agree that the key will be the kind of players the Yankees get, not the price tags on them.
One reason the Yankees of the late '90s were so good, some of our experts point out, was because they had homegrown talent in Jeter, Williams, Posada, and Rivera, and their key role players, O'Neill, Brosius and Tino Martinez, were good players, occasional All-Stars, but not MVPs. They became better than the sum of their parts. Steinbrenner's fascination with getting the best players from other teams has not translated to success for his own. If the Yankees are to be the Yankees again, they need Legos that snap together, not jewels that shine on their own. "Everyone knows, this All-Star at every position thing," a GM says, "that's a recipe for disaster."

Posted by: Triple Threat

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

1. DUMP A-ROD. REPLACE HIM WITH A HARD-NOSED PLAYER

In case they can't dump ARod, here is something that he can wear during the playoffs next year. If he's going to hit like one, he should dress like one.

Posted by: min0 lee

Posted by: Triple Threat

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

5. DEVELOP YOUNG TALENT - CHANGE IS A COMIN'
Gary Sheffield has a $13 million option for next season, which they may also decline;

Just what the Yankees need, an angry pissed-off player.

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Source

Report: Sheffield's option picked up by Yankees

October 26, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gary Sheffield was told Wednesday that the New York Yankees will pick up his $13 million option for next season, according to a newspaper report.

Sheffield said he was hoping to test the free-agent market and get another three-year contract, USA Today reported in Thursday's editions.

"This will not work, this will not work at all," Sheffield told the newspaper. "I don't want to play first base a year for them. I will not do that."

Sheffield, sidelined from May 29 to Sept. 22 with an injured left wrist that required surgery, hit .298 with six homers and 25 RBIs in 39 games this season. He played first base for the first time in his major league career after he returned in September.

"I don't know what they're (Yankees) going to do," Sheffield said. "Maybe they picked it up just to trade me. If they do that, if I just (go) to a team for one year, there's going to be a problem."

A message was left by The Associated Press seeking comment from Sheffield's agent, Rufus Williams.

Posted by: min0 lee

[quote=Triple Threat;1486817]Just what the Yankees need, an angry pissed-off player.

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That's expected from this jerk, he's always been a me, me, me type of player.

Posted by: min0 lee

We have Abrue, he can go.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

4. GET MORE STARTERS, NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES

Isn't that what they've been doing? You know, overpaying for injury prone and over-the-hill pitchers?

Carl Pavano
Randy Johnson
Jaret Wright

Posted by: Triple Threat

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Isn't that what they've been doing? You know, overpaying for injury prone and over-the-hill pitchers?

Carl Pavano
Randy Johnson
Jaret Wright

Let's not forget Kevin Brown.

Posted by: min0 lee

All 4 sucked ass, 2 over the hill pitchers, 1 pitcher more interested in not playing and the last one just plain sucks.

Posted by: BigDyl

A baseball thread... I think I'm falling asleep...

Posted by: min0 lee

Nope, that's just your penis setting into rigamortis.

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