The Double-Edged Sword

It really would be too easy to jump on the Yankees for giving up all their best pitchers bullpen or not, for young prospects, especially after their pitching meltdown last night and the likelihood that Nathan Evoldi's career could very well be over after his latest injuries; Sabathia's really hurting and their rising star Severino is imploding too. What the heck let's do it anyway. I wrote an article a week ago questioning the Yankees complete abandonment of this season efforts to try to make the playoffs and give away tremendous talent for prospects. Of course I believe in prospects and developing your farm system. No one plays forever and your farm system keeps a team " forever young ". The Yankee farm sysyem was a big reason for their historic run through the 90's and into the next Century. What I don't believe in is depending 100% on the development of prospects because we all know that's a real crapshoot.  Recent weeks have shown the Yankees talent is for real and they will definitely have a chance to put together a real solid foundation of talented players. The future looks bright but in the meantime you need to be competitive and no matter how bright your future is or how good your offensive players are you can't win if you can't stop the other team from scoring. Baseball is a game of pitching, always has been and always will be. The best pictures usually lead their teams to championships. Some of baseball's best cliches are about pitching. We all know them "momentum is only as good as your next day's pitcher", " good  pitching always stops good hitting" and on and on. Pitching is always at a premium, and finding a position player is always an easier job than finding an Ace for your staff. As I've said before getting younger and more athletic is a Sports Axiom .The Yankees are moving in the right direction, and if you're a baseball fan you can sense the excitement building. They may put together a foundation that starts another run at greatness. In the meantime I don't think they needed to give up the ghost. They still need pitching and it may take a while but once you build a strong foundation and usually last for very long time.. Go Yankees...

Some Gods Have Lead Feet

Shooting stars are beautiful, exciting, powerful,  dangerous and ultimately self-destructive all at the same time. To call Alex Rodriquez a shooting star is underestimating his longevity and his impact on the game for better or worse. He came out of the Miami area as a teenager and is probably the greatest baseball player that we have seen in recent times. Like it or not that's what his numbers say. His potential was quickly fulfilled and he became a superstar before he even knew what the game was all about. As his career developed he clearly took some wrong turns and some Dark Paths. His talent  always bailed him out and his celebrity although controversial always seem to be a good selling point for team looking to market a superstar. His numbers are more than Hall of Fame worthy they are historic. He is fourth all-time in home runs and they're are only two men in the history of the game that have more RBI's. 3000 hits became just another roadblock that he pushed out of the way has he continued to break records. At his best he was in a class by himself. Yes Bonds, Pujols and others had their day in the Sun but they never performed at the level that Alex Rodriguez did for 20 years and they didn't do it as a 19 year old kid. God surely bless him with talent, but not the confidence to deal with the public in a way that was beneficial to him. For those who really know him they understand he's a nice guy who was insecure and unaware of how to deal with the Limelight and the Celebrity that poured over him on a daily basis.
       The steroid use is indefensible and certainly changed his career profoundly. To say he was part of  the steroid era and doing what everybody else did does not excuse it. But for him to become The Whipping Boy of Major League Baseball when dozens of other players  who were busted not only once but twice got a complete pass is not only prejudicial but completely hypocritical. How does David Ortiz become a hero in Boston after two failed drug tests. Ryan Braun was welcomed like a Conquering Hero in Milwaukee after lying through his teeth and having the biggest failed drug test in history, and in addition costing the technician that took the sample his job. The list is big and the hypocrisy even bigger. Selig figured he could cleanse the hypocrisy of baseball looking the other way during the steroid era if he could only get Alex. Which he did. Rodriguez's good looks, Bonanza type contract, and seemingly superior attitude didn't help his cause either; but like him or not his career statistics are matched only by a few in the history of the game. He is a flawed hero, a damaged star, an insecure celebrity. But no one can ever say he couldn't play the game.

Who Knows What Tomorrow Brings

Anyone who's been around sports for as many years as I have understands the need to get value while you can, restock your pipeline for talent and make sure your future is as bright as possible whenever you can. Getting younger faster and more athletic is a sports Axiom that holds true for any sports team you can talk about. The question is what's the best way to do it, and at what price. After all,  whether sports fans want to admit it,  the best way for these businesses to survive and thrive is to make sure their product is worth watching and sometimes it's painful process to get to that point. We all root for our favorite players and identifying with their ups and downs as if they were our friends. The reality is it is a business and emotions sometimes take a backseat to Dollars & Sense.
    What the Yankees are doing is something that you very rarely see top teams do because winning is always a relevant concern. I have never seen a team have a player dump like this and although it gives them youth and athleticism it also gives them an uncertain future. There's no question they must have a bigger plan in mind like stockpiling young prospects to package players for a starting pitcher or a big-time hitter which is obviously what they probably are thinking about. If not it's going to be a number of years before these kids even have an impact on their team. A wise man once said prospects are prospects and the odds against them even advancing through your minor league system are very small. The best you can hope for is to use them for trades or possibly help your team at one point in the future. With all of the thousands of kids in the minors think about how many actually make it to the Major Leagues, and we all know the answer to that. The Yankees have dismantled the best bullpen in baseball, gave away one of the best hitters and in essence traded three All Star player for prospects  that may or may not help them, and if at all are couple years away. The Yankees didn't get one player back that can help them now. It's going to be a long process. Supposedly the headliners are the real deal. For all those fans who want to blow up the system and start over to build a new Dynasty you've got your wish and hopefully it comes to fruition.
Yankees were competitive already, that's what .500 means. Were they on their way to the World Series that's a stretch for sure but they started the season 9 under and before the Tampa series they were three games over which means since that time they were -9 they have been +12. As good a record as anybody in that stretch of time. They weren't out of the mix, they were competitive. In my opinion the Yankees could have built with some off season trades some free agent signings with their freed up contract money, and continue to develop their minor Leaguers and not have necessarily blown up their team.Their Bullpen was as lockdown as you can get, that's worth a lot. The Yanks led the MLB in 1 run victories.
     As I've said I assume they will use some of their prospects 4 player upgrades. If all of their prospects  develop the Yankees will be a monster franchise. But history shows that never happens and hopefully  one or two prospects will survive. Evaluating 20 year olds is always a crap shoot no matter how good they look now. Season ticket holders and fans alike thanks for your patience, and  hopefully it won't take too long to get back to even where the Yankees are now,  Sorry George, I hope it works for you....Go Yanks...

Honor Bound

It's not very often you can actually feel good about someone who loses their job, but it just may be the case with Tom Coughlin. Tom Coughlin has been a beacon of professionalism, consistency, and respectability for his entire career. He did not forget how to coach this year, and his departure is indicative of a failure on many different fronts not just his coaching. The Giants problems are well documented and they include a serious lack of talent, a multitude of injuries, and an overall failure by the front office to not only improve the team but keep it competitive while they rebuilt. These issues are not new or a secret, and have been pointed out by more than one analyst. The interesting thing is that Coughlin's departure may be just as much a blessing for him, as it is I'm sure a disappointment. Coaching without significant talent and a lack of front office support is like running in quicksand. You may stay afloat for a while, but you'll never get out. You can't cook a 5 star meal with 1 star ingredients. Coughlin Leaves with the respect of his  players, the respect of the front office, the respect of the fans, and the knowledge that he did a hell of a job overall, and that sometimes "the good of the many out ways the good of the one." Very few if any coaches can leave a job with that many good check marks. His resume is full of nothing but successes no matter where he coached, and his 2 Super Bowl wins speak for themselves. How many 6 and 10 teams have a locker room that still want the coach back. The Hall of Fame may just be his next stop. With Coughlin it was always about the team not himself. He was a tough hard nose no nonsense guy who adjusted when he needed to and learned to deal with the modern day player and the modern day game. To bad the Giant front office hasn't learned how to do that yet...good luck Tom.