Here's a franchise that throws 28 million dollars at a washed-up, once was, part time pitcher. They spend millions and millions on Mr. September who posts MVP numbers during the regular season and chokes evey year. They've got a once-dominant closer who's about at the end of the line. They nickle and dime their manager like the no-class franchise they are. 5 million might be a lot of money for most of us but for Yankee personel, it's chump change. Torre may or may not win another WS before his successor but he undoubtedly will have a more satisfying contract and situation than he would have had in NY.
I'd love to see Tito bring Torre on board, but he's very loyal to his current bench coach, Brad Mills. They played together in college at Arizona and in the pros at Montreal.
Well the fat lady is going to sing tonight one way or the other, but I don't like the Indians chances as well as when it was 3 - 1.
Bear Down Rick, Thanks for the kind remarks towards the Indians. The best team won the right to advance to the World Series. I am not a huge baseball fan, but was rooting for the Indians in that it had been so long (1948) for the tribe to be in the finale. I went to bed when the score was 3-2 and was surprised to see the margin of victory this morning. Good luck to Boston. I am sure Joel is happy as well. Don
My hope for tribe fans <t>is that the GM keeps the core of this young team together and continues to build for the future. They really are close to putting this all together. Sometimes when young teams make a jump at the ring a year or two too soon, owners and GMs get too greedy and pull the trigger on deals that will help them when today... I hope the Tribe avoids those pitfalls.<br/> <br/> That is a very good young team.</t>
Hey Don, have you forgotten that Cleveland was in the World Series against Florida a few years ago? They lost a very though 7th game.
Congrats to the Red Sox, Jif, and Rick...I don't care how many games Colorado has won in a row, they are going to have their hands full. Corey, IIRC the Tribe had some chances to make some trades of their prospects this year for help in the pennant race and declined to do so. The biggest hurdle, as always, is the discrepancy in budgets. I have mixed emotions about it...the large market teams should be rewarded for having larger interest, but at some point everybody else is just a sparring partner. If you took Cleveland's entire payroll (bigger than Colorado or Arizona's by the way) you wouldn't have enough to pay for Clemens, A-Rod, and Jeter. Boston isn't quite as dramatic but their payroll is still more than double the Tribe's. I guess baseball isn't hurting, though. Bill, I went to one of those series games against the Marlins...it snowed!
Thank you belatedly, Don and Stu. Your team had a great run through the second half of the regular season and into the LCS. They can hit from top to bottom, and I was amazed at how well they hit with two outs and with runners in scoring position. The last two games just got away from them. My biggest thrill from the series was watching the Sox finally, finally hit Betancourt. The guy was just lights out in each prior appearance. The AL Central should be a war next year, highlighted by the Indians and Tigers games. After the Red Sox and White Sox got their WS wins in '04 and '05, respectively, it would seem only fitting for the Indians to cash in as well. I agree with Stu that there has to be more parity among team salaries. I know the players' union will fight it, but it has to be done, not only for the long-term health of the game, but also to diminish the notion that the World Series can be purchased.
I'm a diehard Yankee fan, but I gotta say Boston is darn near indestructable. I still remember the days they wanted to get rid of Manny and thinking they were out of their minds. Manny and Ortiz is the best back to back combo in the league in the regular season, and more importantly the postseason. They also have alot of "heady" players to fill out their lineup which is a perfect recipe for offensive success. Their pitching has been shaky at times, but when it comes down to it there isn't a staff I'd rather have when in a clutch, must win situation. Personally speaking, the Yankees got away from that strategy which is why they can never seem to string together enough games to win a playoff series. Pitching aside, when your entire lineup consists of superstars who can't or won't play small ball and bunt a runner over or try to manufacture runs, you will inevitably run into scoring droughts. When their hitting is on, the Yanks are nearly unbeatable. The problem is big hitters are streaky. When you fill an entire lineup with streaky hitters you tend to be a streaky team.
A MEN, Andy jr. Also please remember the Yanks have a terrible curse hanging over them. THE CURSE OF PAYROD is more of a curse then THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO>! No team will ever get a ring with Payrod..its just the way it is! jiffer
I don't buy that at all. The key for the Yankees is to shore up their pitching, first of all. Enough with signing 40+ year old pitchers for big money ala Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens etc... We need to bring youth with an upside and develop it. As for the offense, I just don't like the fact that we have ARod, Abreu, Giambi, Matsui, Jeter, Posada all in the same lineup. Personally spreaking, I would like to see them dump Giambi and either Abreu or ARod (one or the other). Keep Damon and Jeter 1st and second, have ARod/Abreu bat 3rd, Matsui 4th, then start filling the rest with players that can make things happen by playing small ball. Just my opinion.
Mike, If I had to say bye-bye to two players in that lineup it would be Giambi and Matsui. In spite of my friend Jiffer's belief in the supernatural, we definitely want to hang on to A-Rod if possible. And Mariano. And most importantly, Posada. You're right on about the pitching and the youth movement is well underway. We'll be rid of Clemens and probably Mussina as well. I 'd love to see Pettitte stay another year ( he pitched 200+ innings, just like I said he would six months ago ). If we get the right manager and pitching coach we'll be fine. Torre leaving is a blessing in disguise. He was TOO close to the players.
I agree, I can live with ARod staying. My suggestion was simply to even out the roster to allow for more small ball to manufacture runs rather than constantly relying on HR's. Also some guys who can regularly steal bases. As for Torre, I think he was a fantastic coach. He will be very hard to replace. That being said, sometimes a change is a good thing. Torre was around for 12 years which is a lifetime in NY. I don't really like how it went down, but I don't mind that it did. If you really think about it, the way the top Yankee brass let Torre go was probably the classiest way they've ver let a coach go (which really isn't saying much for the Boss). Usually it's fire and brimstone and very little regard at all.