I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about whether or not the Yankees should fire Joe Torre. On one hand, I believe that Torre is the best coach in the league and it would be silly to replace him for what amounts to an offensive collapse and the inability of our pitchers to perform. At the same time, I believe that some fresh blood would do the Yanks some good.
The fact is simple: the Yankees first 50 games or so were a disaster. They lost about 30 of them, for one and they looked piss poor as a unit. As fans watched some of the most expensive players in baseball tank, other, smaller, less expensive ball clubs succeeded with young prospects.
Now, I have maintained for about 3 years that the Yankees need to purge some of the their older veteran superstars and invest in some young talent; they have to expect to trade 2-3 years of post-season appearances in order to season their players with experience. But George Steinbrenner wouldn’t ever do something like that. And that is why the Yankees are a $200 million plus club with no ring since the millenium.
As a result, I advocate taking a backwards step for the future of the club. Every dynasty ends and must be rebuilt. Now is a good time to let that payroll wind down a notch.
So, while I think the best choice is to keep Joe Torre, installing another coach would not break my heart. And if they allow Rivera and A-Rod to go, they might as well dismantle most of the core team and start over with your young stars: Cano, Hughes, Joba, Shelley Duncan, Melky, even Jeter. But might as well refresh Posada, Abreu, Mussina, Pettite, Giambi, etc.
Some will say a true fan would never agree to a plan like this, but I would ask them what’s more embarassing: rebuilding, conceding a few years of postseason play, or losing 6 years in a row with a payroll almost twice that of every other team?
I agree. As a Yankee fan, I’ve been saying for awhile now that they need to get rid of the older veterans and start fresh. You can’t have a $200 million budget and lose 12-1 by the Royals of all teams.
You’d think that with a $200M+ budget, the Yankees could dominate the league by developing better steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Come on, hear me out…
These are professional athletes. Their job is to entertain us by being absurdly good at playing a sport, and they get paid a tremendous amount of money to do so. I don’t buy into the whole “let’s preserve the integrity of human accomplishment” nonsense. We expect our corporations to drive more profits each year, so we should expect our athletes to drive more runs each year. We don’t care how they do it.
If the athletes don’t like it, they can find a job that doesn’t require them to push their bodies to extreme levels of physical performance. Many professional football players can hardly walk by 55, and they played before such drugs were popular. These occupations are inherently hazardous to their health, and that’s why they make a lot of money.
Put some sperm in a freezer just in case, pump yourself full of testosterone, go out there and entertain us! Go sell hamburgers, beer, and sneakers. Break your bat over your head and roar after hitting a 600-foot home run. That’s good-old American fun.