[Highlander]

OK...I am a Yankee fan, and have been since I first started watching baseball during the beginning of the Reggie era. I suppose I should say something to defend them!! I can't see how there can be much complaint with how the Yankees run their team. They generate a huge amount of money and they use it to be successful....isn't that what you are supposed to do? In any other business, that is the goal, so why not here?? Are the financial rules for the game messed up? Definitely, but what do we suggest the Yankees do....stop trying to field the best team they can? Then everyone would be trashing them for not spending the money they have.

Someone mentioned the Yankees having marginal prospects in an earlier post, and I guess I always have a problem with how the Yanks are characterized as just being a bunch of high priced free agents put together to win. No, things have changed a lot this year, but let's look at the recent Yankee championship teams. Their lineup includes: C-Jorge Posada-a product of the Yankee system, 1B-Tino Martinez-traded for a number of years ago, and certainly nowhere near the best 1B at that time or now, 2B-Alfonso Soriano-a product of the Yankee system, 3B-Scott Brosius-another trade but again nowhere near the best in the game....he hit about .201 before they got him!!, SS-Derek Jeter-a product of the Yankee system, RF-Paul O'Neill-traded for in the early 90's....again, nowhere near the best OF of that time, CF-Bernie Williams-a product of the Yankee system, LF-Chuck Knoblauch-traded for Eric Milton and Christian Guzman....not marginal prospects in my book. They also played Shane Spencer(a Yankee product), Luis Sojo(Ooooo, BIG star!!), and Clay Bellinger(a Yankee product). Pitching is a little different, but Pettitte, Mendoza, Rivera, Hitchcock, and Choate are all Yankee products. That leaves players like Justice, Mussina, Clemens, Cone, and a few others as the big free agent signings/trades. None of these players is ever in the league leaders for HR, RBI, etc....but they know how to win. Now, compare this to any number of other teams, and I think the Yankees come out pretty good. There are many teams (most a lot less successful than the Yankees) who have signed bigger, more expensive free agents-Texas, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Baltimore just to name a few, and I think they have 1 World Series ring among them over the last 10 years+. Most of the Yankee players have come from their system, or from trades where they got middle level players like O'Neill, Martinez,Stanton, etc. who were able to come together as a team. Then, the Yankees did reward those players with some big contracts, but they way they played together, who wouldn't!?!

I know this was a bit of a rant, but I think the image the Yankees have and they reality of how they are is quite different. They did live up to the stereotype this year with Giambi, White, Ventura, etc.....but other than Giambi, did they really get any players that anyone would consider superstars?? I don't think so. Will this new version of the "Evil Yankees" keep on winning?? Only time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised!