With the Yankees winning the World Series Wednesday night, the 2008 season comes into sharper focus. The New York front office took a step back that year to be able to put themselves in a position to win in 2009. The decision not to trade for Johan Santana paid off. Brian Cashman allowed the older players on the team to play out their contracts, while keeping his younger players and prospect intact. They tried to win with that group, but the young pitchers weren’t ready, and some of the veteran just didn’t perform. Rather than make desperation moves to try to catch the Rays and Red Sox, the Yankees stuck with their plan to take the money freed by expiring contracts and plow those dollars into younger, better players. They ended up with significant contributions from two of their three young pitchers, and help from Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena and Brett Gardner. It was a nice combination of free agent pickups, home grown veterans, and Yankees youngsters.
The question now is can they do it again. Pundits keep talking about keeping one of Damon or Matsui but it’s time to let them both go, and sign Bay or Holliday to play left.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:26 am | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 3 Comments
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November 5th, 2009 @ 11:55 am
I agree with Damon and Matsui, but at least Matsui couldn’t have left on a higher note. I hope he stays in MLB for a few more years, maybe playing on the West Coast.
And as Damon pointed out, its pretty rare for a player to win championships with both the Yankees and Red Sox. This also turned out to be a good free agent signing for the Yankees.
November 5th, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Hoping for Bay over Holliday, but would be happy with either.
Also remember that Xavier Nady will probably be back next year. Unless he had a 1-year contract. I wasn’t too familiar with him.
November 5th, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
Is ARod a real Yankee yet?