Yankees need a change and its gotta start with Torre.  As painful as it may be.  Below is the Top 10 reason why Torre should be fired.

10.  Yankees are 21-29 after 50 games.  Dead LAST in the AL EAST a ******** 14.5 games behind the Red Sox.  This is unacceptable.

9.  The Yankees have already had a 7 game losing streak, a 3 game losing streak and currently a 5 game losing streak.  To date only a 3 game winning streak twice. 

8.  Okay, starting rotation was devastated when the season started, but its stable now.  Injuries have declined all nice excusess early on.  So how does that explain a current 4-10 record in the past 14 games or worse 5-13 in the past 18 games.

7.  Against Mets, Red Sox and Angels in 9 straight games, the Yankees when  a painful 3-6.  Not a good sign when all three teams are poised to be in the playoffs.

6.  The all-star line-up currently features steller batting averages of .265 (damon), .255 (giambi), .254 (cano), .233 (abreu), .224 (mientkiewicz) and .215 (cabrera).  Naturally this explains why 4 teams have scored more runs than the Yankees and why three more teams are in striking distance.  Other ranks - yankees rank in () - hits (8)  doubles (15) triples (23) HR's (12), OBP (5), SLG (13) and OPS (6).

5.  Bullpen ERA is horrendous:  Villone 4.50, Farnsworth 4.87, Henn 5.19, Rivera 5.94, Vizcaino 7.27.  Not to mention a few starters who have posted Pavano 4.76 and is now done for, Mussina 5.86 way to earn that 11 mil moose, Igawa 7.63 demoted to the minors. 

4.  Errors or more simply a lack of concentration, Jeter now has 9 on the season, Cano 6, A-Rod 5.  Sure the OF's don't have that many, but then again, they can't even get to the ball and even if they do, the arms are so weak the throws don't even stand a chance of even being an error in the first place.  The Yankees rank 19 in team assists and 27th in putouts and rank 11th in over all fielding percentage.

3.  The Yankees currently have the 23rd best record in baseball, tied with the Devil Rays and barely squeeking by teams like the Nationals, Reds, Royals and Rangers.

2.  The Yankees are 9-16 on the road and even worse only 12-13 at home.  Double worse is the fact the Yankees are 2-9 in 1 run games just a tad better than the MLB worst team in 1-run games the Cubs who are 2-12.  Heck the Nationals even have a 10-7 record.

1.  Finally, to only highlight the under-performance of the 2007 Yankees and why Torre needs to be fired... the Yankees expected W-L record is 26-23 (49 games).  Instead the Yankees were 21-28.  A difference of 7 games. 

So there you have it... Torre needs to be fired.  I like to see who has a counter arguement.  To come on and try to change my mind.

The short and sweet

2007 Pre-season Predictions

AL EAST
1.  New York Yankees
2.  Boston Red Sox
3.  Baltimore Orioles
4.  Toronto Blue Jays
5.  Tampa Bay Devil Rays

AL CENTRAL
1.  Cleveland Indians
2.  Detroit Tigers
3.  Chicago White Sox
4.  Minnesota Twins
5.  Kansas City Royals

AL WEST
1.  Oakland Athletics
2.  Los Angeles Angels
3.  Texas Rangers
4.  Seattle Mariners

NL EAST
1.  Atlanta Braves
2.  NY Mets
3.  Philadelphia Phillies
4.  Flordia Marlins
5.  Washington Nationals

NL CENTRAL
1.  Chicago Cubs
2.  St. Louis Cardinals
3.  Milwaukee Braves
4.  Houston Astros
5.  Pittsburgh Pirates
6.  Cincinnatti  Reds

NL WEST
1.  Los Angeles Dodgers
2.  San Diego Padres
3.  San Fransisco Giants
4.  Arizona Diamondbacks
5.  Colorado Rockies

AL PLAYOFFS

Oakland Athletics vs New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Indians

Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees

NL PLAYOFFS
Chicago Cubs vs Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres vs Atlanta Braves

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves

2007 World Series

New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Dodgers

2007 World Champions

New York Yankees

2007 Awards

AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez Yankees
NL MVP - Andrew Jones Braves

AL CY - John Lackey Angels
NL CY - Roy Oswalt Astros

AL ROY - Alex Gordon Royals
NL ROY - Kevin Kouzmanoff Padres

AL MANAGER - Joe Torre Yankees
NL MANAGER - Bobby Cox Braves

Milestones achieved

Barry Bonds shatters Hank Aarons HR record
Sosa passes 600 HR's
A-Rod, Sheffield, Thome pass 500 HR's
Biggio collects 3000th Hit

Milestones Short
Randy Johnson misses 300 wins
Frank Thomas misses 500 HR's
 





 

TIME FOR SUPERBOWL XLI

Personally, what's up with the logo?  I don't like the nice happy light blue?  Somehow, it does not really give me a picture of a gridiron battle to come, but rather a something you would see to get you to go to Disneyland or something.  Oh well, I am sure the NFL marketing genisus would disagree with me and talk about how it's family friendly, nice, cute and attractive for the millions of fans who will be watching the game.  Blah, blah, blah.  At least MLB hasn't gone down the super cheezy marketing route yet, even if they have come close.

Despite the pathetic logo, this is about two teams.  The 15-4 Indianapolis Colts against the 15-3 Chicago Bears.  We still have a week and a half of betting, talking trash and planning super bowl parties to go before the warriors get it on in Miami.  In the meantime, here is my analysis of these two team. 

Scoring the positions

QB - Manning vs Grossman
Is there any doubt about who is the better QB?  Manning has a 65% completion ratio vs Grossman's 54.6.  Manning has thrown for 4397 yards and 31 TD's to Grossman's 3193 yards and 23 TD's.  More importantly, Manning has only 9 INT's vs Grossman's 20.  Advantage

RB - Addai/Rhodes vs Jones/Benson
This is a tough one, both teams featured two backs using one primary and one secondary.  For the Colts, Addai averaged 4.8 yards on 226 carries for 1081 yards and 7 TD's.  Jones for the Bears averaged 4.1 yards on 296 carries and 1210 yards and 6 TD's.  Pretty even numbers, so then you look at those number two guys and you see a slight ege going to the Bears with Benson who has 6 more yards rushing than Rhodes despite 30 few carries.  Slight Advantage

WR - Harrison, Wayne, Clark vs Muhammad, Berrian, Clark
The strange reality here is the two primary receivers and TE's for both teams are remarkably in similar situations with the exception of their QB's and the facts the Colts WR's have proven themselves over a longer period of time.  Both teams have players who can catch the ball and do something with it.  Except, the Colts production blows the Bears out of the water.  Harrison leades both teams with 95 receptions, 1366 yards and 12 TD's. Wayne closely follows with 86 receptions, 1310 yards and 9 TDs.  The Bears top WR is Muhammad with only 60 receptions, 863 yards and 5 TD's.  There is simply no comparison.   Huge Advantage



DEF LINE AND LB's
Defense is a strange story indeed.  For example the Colts average def rank is  26th overal while the Bears rank is just under 5.   The Colts D has only 19 takeaways vs the Bears impressive 36.  Much of this is due to the front 7 for both teams.  In rushing def the Colts average 29th in the rankings and pretty much are dead last in yards per game, yards given up and rushing 1st downs.  The Bears meanwhile, are not supermen but ranked 6th in yards per game and amazingly 2nd in rushing TD's given up.  Huge Advantage




DEF Secondary
This is where things get tricky.  The Colts were minus Bob Sanders and Bethea for good parts of the season.  Part of the playoff success was due to these two players coming back and performing again.  Looking at the numbers the Colts ranked 2nd yards given up to the Bears 11th place.  The Colts only have given up 16 TD's to the Bears 18.  Simply put a healthy Colts pass D is capable of crushing a healty Bears passing game.   Whereas the Bears might struggle a bit.  Advantage

SPECIAL TEAMS
This isn't even a topic for discussion.  In every category the Bears out perform the Colts.  In the kicking game Gould has had a tremendous year, even if the Colts were not that far behind.  But, Gould was 12 for 14 in kicks over 40 yards.  Not bad.  In the return game the Bears ranked number 1 in kick returns for TD's, Punt return yards  and 4th in punt returns.  The Colts were 17th, 32nd and 32nd respectively.  In the punting game the Bears ranked 14th on average compared to the Colt's 31st.  Advantage

WHO WINS???
Tough question.  You could not have two very different teams competiting against each other.  One is a flashy high flying team while the other is a blue collar working class.  What it comes down to, is which team can eliminate the mistakes more than the other.  When I look at both teams there are two essential questions.  1.  Can the Colts D stop the Bears running game and 2.  Can the Bears D stop the Colts passing game?  The Bears run D isn't overly impressive, blow you away kind of game.  The problem they have is the ability to keep up if the Colts get ahead.  Grossman will have to have a great game against a strong passing defense of the Colts for the Bears to win.  The Colts on the other hand can't afford to make mistakes, allowing the Bears to stay in the game like New Orleans did last week.  In the end, Grossman is the weak link of both teams and for that my 2007 Super Bowl Prediction is:




    Indianapolis Colts 23

Chicago Bears 6

    Man, its been two whole days with no real new news with the Yankees.  I think I am going through withdrawl.  Maybe its a good thing we haven't heard anything yet, I really don't want to see us trading Melky, Proctor or somebody who has proven themselves before we get our full first.  Though, you have to admit, Cashman has held the reigns rock tight this year and I am eager for the 2007 season.

    With that, lets look at 10 best free agents who could still help the Yankees assuming we find some space for them on a very crowded team.  The other option is minor league contracts to give some opportunity for those mid-season call-ups that can either make or break your season.

10.  Victor Zambrano SP 31 years old.  I know, I know, injuries, failure to utilize his talent.  But, remember its only been a few years since Zambrano was the highlight of a bad Tampa Bay team.  He is coming off surgery and is reported to be working harder than ever to get back.  Why not sign him to a minor league contract and see how things play out, given the talent is there.




9.  Shannon Stewart OF - 32 years old.  Stewart was hurt last year and played in only 44 games.   Despite the bad news, Stewart is a gifted athlete who has a career batting average of .299 and has good speed and is still relatively young at 32 and can still play.




8.  Eduardo Perez 1B - 37 years old.  Perez is the son of HOF great Tony Perez.  Sure, Perez isn't the first name you think of to fill out a spot.  However, assuming the 1B platoon dosen't work, here you get a decent backup who has a little power and can still add some benefits to a club in a classic PH, Bench Player role.



7.  Aaron Guiel RF 34 years old.  So Guiel isn't a name you think of when looking at quality bench players.  Though, you may be right, let us remember he did perform quite well for the Yankees last year and reguardless of what people might  think, he is a far better option than Miguel Cairo.  Guiel can not only play the OF, but 1B as well giving the Yankees good depth in those areas.


6.  Bruce Chen SP 29 years old.  Chen was a failure at Baltimore.  Then again, haven't most pitchers coming from Baltimore in the past few years struggled?  Chen has the talent, is still young and I believe capable of becoming a good #4 or #5 starter.  Why not take Chen on a minor league contract, work with his control and see how things work.  Worst case is you have another ML ready backup if the starting rotation blows up with injuries or something.


5.  Dan Kolb RP 31 years old.  Talk about a career that rides like a wave in Hawaii.  Sometimes great and sometimes not so great.  However, Kolb is a decent reliever who can get the job done and has some closing experience should God forbid Rivera goes on the DL.  We know how Torre likes to work his bullpen and Kolb would be a nice edition.



4.  Tomo Ohka SP 30 years old.  Tomo is a solid Japanese pitcher who has done a fairly decent job in the majors, despite being on some poor teams.  He is very capable and a lot of teams are looking into his playing on their team.  With Igewa, Mastui and Ohka, why not add another in Ichiro for 2008 when he becomes an FA after this season.  Ohka is definately worth a shot, even if the Yankees have plenty of arms to fall back on.


3.  Darin Erstad OF/1B 32 years old.  Okay, forget about taking Guiel when Erstad would be a tremendous addition to the Yankee line-up.  Forget the CF position, he has been playing 1B lately and doing it fairly well.  Erstad isn't flashy, and isn't going to put up mind numbing numbers, but he is a good, solid veteran who can more than fill in at 1B or even the OF if needed. 



2.  Bernie Williams OF/DH 38 years old.  Um, its Bernie.  Why is he not signed yet?  Okay, so he can't really play the OF anymore, but he can still hit and yes he can fill in once in awhile in the OF.  More importantly, Bernie is a true Yankee who is heading towards the highlight of his career.  He is a great role model for youngins like Cano and Cabrera and I think even if Williams rides the bench most of the season, he presence in the clubhouse is the added benefit.  This is a guy who I can see becoming a great coach for the Yankees in the future and I want to see him one more year.
1.  Roger Clemens SP 44 years old.  Did you have to ask who #1 would be.  Were only talking about one of the greatest pitchers of all time and who owes us Yankees something for retiring only to come back as a 'Stro to pitch three more phenominal years.  Imagine if we had Clemens pitchings a 2.30 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP for us last year.  Clemens is the best pitcher in the game right now and even if for a half of a season, drop $20 mil into his account and bring the future HOF to the team.

Other intriguing free agent options - Steve Trachel SP, Aaron Sele SP, Ron Villone RP, Miguel Perez C, Tony Armas SP, Ronnie Belliard 2B, Mike DeJean RP, Alex Gomez OF, Rick Helling SP, Fernando Tatis 3B, and Jamey Wright SP.

 










  Time for a little change of pace as the winter season has slowed down some.  Recently, I purchased a new CD from the Viking Death Metal group Amon Amarth who hail from Stockholm.  Formed in 1992, the group has remained true to themselves and continue to reign using Viking history as their guide.  Prior to With Oden On Our Side, Amon Amarth has released Burning Creation (1994), Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds (1995), Once Sent From The Golden Hall (1997), The Avenger (1999), The Crusher (2000), Versus The World (2003), Fate of Norns (2004) and With Oden On Our Side (2006).

The CD actually includes a bonus disc which is always a nice bonus given the immense cost of CD's today.  The songs include

grown on me.  Now, this is the point in a CD were we teeter on either having a nice little gem for your listening pleasure or something you forget about rather quickly.  The question was how Hermod's Ride To Hel - Lokes Treachery Part I, will spell the picture out.  As the song starts, the melodic guitar riff kicks in and I knew immediately this song was going to  kick some serious ***.   
Gods of War Arise takes you on a Viking trip to a village about to be conqured.  The musical procession takes you for an amazing ride carrying you along for an epic adventure.  The name sake of the album paints a bloody picture of the aftermath of the Viking conquest, the lyrics, brutal drums and scorching guitars drive the picture home. 

Cry of The Black Birds and Under The Northern Star clearly demonstrate the growth Amon Amarth has seen over the years by putting together a very strong album from beginning to end.  Under The Northern Star is amazing to say the least and is a very good lead into the final song on the album.  The pace slows a tad on this song as it is about as close to a soft song as your going to get.  What really sets this group apart from other Death Metal bands is the obivious musical talent involved.

Of course this leads up to the final song title Prediction of Warfare and with the blow of a Viking sword, it planted quite a shot.  It is one of the best songs I have heard in a long time and I enjoyed it immediately.  Similar to Susperia's Chemistry or Immortal Soul's Man of Sorrow, Amon Amarth outdo themselves here.  The song is addictive like no other and the soothing pounding of wave generating melody really sets this song above the others.

Death Metal isn't for everybody and Viking Death Metal is even for a smaller group.  But, there are some very talented bands out there who display amazing skills.  Guitarists Johan Soderberg, Olavi Mekkonen, drummer Fredrik Andersson, bassist Ted Lundstrom and vocalist Johan Hegg have put together an amazing work of art  on With Oden On Our Side.  Even if your not into the gutteral vocals, the musical journey is still worth a listen too.  Here the music is about more than just speed and pounding pain into your ears, it is about real talent, catchy tunes with a solid dose of melody while still containing its hard edge. 

Amon Amarth - With Oden On Our Side earns $$$$$ out of $$$$$ a definate must for any musical collection.

Well, its been a few months since my last post.  You could say I kinda went into winter hibernation along with MLB when the season ended by the suprising Cards pulling out an impressive victory to the over-hyped Tigers.  Naturally, this is my opinion, 'cept it was nice to see the media's favorite Tiger darlings get taken out by a team who became the second worst record team in MLB World Series history to actually win the series.  Too bad out Yankees were not there, but the past few months has done much to clean rectify the issue. 

So, the question is, has anything happened during the past few months?  And before you answer, no I was not dropped head first into the frozen tundra of Antartica.  Fact is, I have been paying much attention with a big smile on my face.  In the next few posts, I will discuss the ongoings of baseball in general and make my 2007 predictions.  Before, I do that, we should talk about the greatest team in history and we all know who that is.  In the following, here are my grades for the various actions our beloved Yankees have completed since the end of the 2006 season.

Jan 9th, 2007 - Yankees acquired Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson and Alberto Gonzalez for Randy Johnson.  Essentially, the Yanks get one veteran reliver and three MLB potential prospects while letting a dissappointing Johnson and his $16 salary go.  Vizcaino is a nice pick up for the pen and can eat up innings for the Yanks.  Most importantly Ohlendorf is a backend of the rotation right hander who is nearly ready to make the leap to the bigs and Steven Jackson is a prospect with tremendous upside who finally began to shine in 2006.  Yanks also get Gonzalez who will be a good bench player for the Yanks and very capable of jumping in and filling out a spot should injury occur.  However, what really sets this deal appart is the fact in losing Johnson the Yankees rotation may have actually gotten stronger and for that this deal earns an A+

Jan 5th, 2007 - Yankees sign Doug Mientkiewicz to a 1-year contract.  Its getting a little crowded at 1B with Giambi, Mientkiewicz, Phillips and Phelps, not to mention the possibility of a couple good young prospects in the Yankee farm system.  However, Giambi will take over the full-time DH role and Phillips (who I believe is going to be good) is still questionable offensively.  Phelps has the ability, but regressed since being in Toronto.  Mientkiewicz won't set the world on fire from the plate but he does have a .996  career fielding percentage and the Yanks need defence more than offence at this point.  While I would have preferred signing Bernie to one more year, this deal isn't all bad for the Yanks so a B- will work here.

Dec 27th, 2006 - Merry Christmas Yankee fans and for our present we get Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa to a very reasonable 5-year contract.  Igawa is a decent #4/#5 option and comes fairly cheep by Yankee standards.  If he keeps the era under 4.50 and wins 13 games, this is a good deal and garnes a B+

Dec 22nd, 2006 - Yanks sign Juan Miranda to a 4-year contract.  Who?  Exactly, but mark my words, keep an eye on this kid and for my reasons why, check out the Yankee's page at Scouts.com.  Grade B

Dec 21st, 2006 - Yankees sign Andy Pettitte to a 1-year contract with a 1-year player option.  YES WE GET PETTITTE BACK!  This is most likely the best Yankee deal all winter.  We all know about Pettitte and he's back, do I need to say more?  A+

Nov 27th, 2006 - Yankees sign Mike Mussina to a 2-year contract.  This is a good deal for a number of reasons.  First,  they get the Moose at a discounted price.  Second, the Moose had a tremendous year in 2006 meaning there is life still in that arm.  Finally, he becomes the senior on a increasingly young staff which is a great benefit for the youngsters.  Naturally, he will be another older which is the only draw back, but this is still a good deal for the Yanks.  B+

Nov 12th, 2006 - The Yankees trade Jaret Wright to Baltimore for Chris Britton.  Let's see, we move a injury prone, 5.00 era pitcher who couldn't get into the 6th 98% of the time for a 24 year old reliever who has MLB experience and tremendous upside.  Can we just call it for what it is... a steal and this earns the Yankees a A

Nov 10th, 2006 - The Yankees ship Gary Sheffield to the over-rated Tigers for youngsters Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett who all have MLB potential with Sanchez being the key.  Look deeper into the deal the Yanks get rid of potential trouble in Sheffield whose defensive ability has slipped Sanchez who is one of the better pitching prospects in the game and is nearly MLB ready and two more young pitching prospects who have a lot of upside.  This was a tremendous deal for both teams and deserves an A+

As for the Yankees in general over the winter

A+ goes to Steinbrenner for keeping his cool by keeping both Joe Torre and Brian Cashman.  But, these two have the Yankees clearly on the right path and Steinbrenner is once again allowing the baseball guys the room to do their jobs.

A+ goes to the yanks for money management.  First they rid themselves of two expensive contracts for aging players with minimal return for a slew of young talent with tremendous upside.  They sign two of the better pitchers in the game for short term, relatively inexpesive deals.  More importantly, the Yankees didn't go nuts on the FA market in a year when big salaries for mid-level talent was being doled out like flies to rotten hot dogs.  Take Boston, they paid gazillions for a pitcher who has never spend a day in the bigs and then dumped another $70 million for a OF who has spent more time on the DL than off.  KC spent $55 million for a pitcher with a 5.00 era and .500 record and the Giants ******** punched themselves in the nose by signing Zito who is at best 10-20th ranked pitcher in the bigs.  What this means is that Johan Santana and Carlos Zambrano are becoming Free Agents in 2008 and the Yankees are not tied into big, ill-producing contracts on two pitchers who some are now saying will command $20 million per year to just even start talking.

C goes to the decision to go with Mientkiewics and Miguel Cario for rounding out the infield.  Granted, its not the worst thing you could do, but seriously better players were available for the taking.  Players such as Green, Guiel  who would have come pretty cheep and even better, the Yankees could have stuck with a couple  of youngsters from the system.  Defensively Cario and Mientkiewics might have a slight edge, but offensively, its hard to do a worse job and Cario kills more rallies than starting them.

C- falls upon the failure to address the backup catcher situation.  Wil Nieves isn't a horrible choice, but you can't tell me the Yankees don't have questions about a player who will be turning 30 and who has only 82 career AB's for a quiet average of .198.  They did invite Raul Chavez, Ben Davis, Peter Pilittere and Todd Pratt to spring training, which only heightens the issue.  Not counting Posada, the back up cather spot is being fought over by 5 players with little upside.  The issue isn't so much the the fact these backup are not much of a threat, but the fact that Posada will turn 36 on August 17th which is old for a catcher who has played as many games as he has.  Since 2000 Posada has played in: (note for catchers)

151 games - 2000 - 2nd most in MLB
138 games - 2001 - 3rd most in MLB
143 games - 2002 - 3rd most in MLB
142 games - 2003 - 5th most in MLB
137 games - 2004 - 5th most in MLB
142 games - 2005 - 3rd most in MLB
143 games - 2006 - 4th most in MLB  

Only a few other players have sustained the number of games track record Posada, being Jason Kendall and Roberto Hernandez.  However, Hernandez spent a lot of time at DH while in Oakland and in San Diego didn't appear in as nearly as many games he normally did while in Oakland.  Kendall is the closest player who resembles Posada in the number of games played for a catcher since 2000 and Kendall is 3 years younger than Posada.

Don't get me wrong, Posada is a great player and a tremendous component for the Yankees.  But, at the age of 36 can we expect him to continue averaging 140 games a year given the historical track record for catchers?  The issue is, Possada's shoes are big shoes to fill and none of the 5 invities batteling for the backup job can fill them in and while the Yankees do have a couple prospects, they are a couple years away.  The point is, they should have made more effort to get a catcher worth something in case the great Posada were to happen to find himself on the DL for any length of time.  As a result, this is naturally the only real issue the Yankees didn't address very well this winter.

All in all though, the Yankees did a tremendous job and Cashman should be applauded for his efforts.  He not only made the Yankees younger, but better and even cut costs in the process.  This should be a fun year in the Bronx and I am looking forward to it.  I think the chemistry will be strong and the prospects of possibly having Roger Clemens back in Pinstripes is like telling a kid to wait to open presents on christmas day.

And until next time...

GO YANKEES








 

  

Yankees winning awards:

On October 24th, Mariano Rivera was named the DHL Delivery Man of The Year for the 2nd consecutive year.  Congratulations Mariano.  For more on this story you can go to See:  Rivera is DHL Delivery man of The Year

Today, October 25th, Derek Jeter was named the AL Hank Aaron Award winner.  So Congratulations to Derek and hopefully, we will be saying Congrats again on November 21st when the AL MVP is announced.  See:  Jeter Adds Aaron Award to honors

Yankee News:

ESPN is reporting A-Rods agent Scott Boras was informed by Brian Cashment there is no intention to trade A-Rod during the off season Boras: Cashman says Yankees won't trade A-Rod.  This is good news in my opinion.  I know this is not the popular view among Yankee fans, but lets face it, A-Rods off year is still a career year for a majority of big leaguers.  I guess 2006 really only proved one thing... A-Rod is actually human after all.  Give the guy a break folks.  Were not going to find a better third baseman out there anywhere unless somehow Steinbrenner discovered out how to clone human beings.

Whew!  No tension in the Yankee clubhouse.  The Associated Press published an article that in my opinion is only meant to try and stir things up for the Yankees offseason Jeter:  No tension lingers in Yankee Clubhouse  For as much as A-Rod is getting nailed in the press, Jeter is being peppered just as much concerning why he dosen't speak out more for A-Rod.  Folks, this is going to be a long winter if we have to listen to this over and over again.  A-Rod had a down year, Jeter is the captain who from what I understand isn't suppose to be a special cheerleader for A-Rod, not that A-Rod needs one.  This seems to be me more of a media wish to create tension than actual tension existing.

Check out ESPN's rumor central MLB RUMOR CENTRAL (access required)  It was reported the Yanks might actually pick up Sheffields extension and then trade him off to one of several teams needing a power hitting outfielder.  Supposedly Cashman wants to get something for Sheffield rather than just letting him walk, which I can understand.  But, the extension is for $13 million in 2007.  Do we really think were going to get equal value for an aging OF who missing most of 2006? 

Another interesting rumor coming out of ESPN is the possibility of Freddy Garcia coming to the Yankees.  Naturally, this story should have been given a couple of question marks because in an article immediately following, you learn A-Rod would most likely be part of any deal, which I would be really suprised.  Think about it.  Why get Garcia when you can potentially get guys like Zito and Schmidt off the FA market.  Secondly, why on earth would you trade one of the greatest players of all time to a team you would most likely battle in the playoffs and who already have a very potent offense.  A trade like this just dosen't make sense to me.

From CBS Sportsline website, the rumor mill indicates the possibility of Joe Girardi coming back to the Yankees in order to be Joe Torre's bench coach.  Naturally, the suggestion goes further and explains the intent would be to have Girardi take over managing once Torre leaves.  But, if that were the case, what would you do with Don Mattingly?  Read about it here Rumor Mill

The offseason injury report for the Yankees is a little scary Yankee Notes  First off we all know Jason Giambi had surgery on the wrist that was bothering him at the end of the season.  (What's with it with the Yankees and wrist injuries this year)?  Andy Phillips a player who I have always like has arthroscopic surgery on his knee.  Randy Johnson is having back surgery tomorrow and Scott Proctor will be getting his elbow examined after he heard a clicking sound.  I suppose if something is wrong, all were going to hear is about how Joe Torre abused his arm.  Never mind the fact that as short as when the Goose was playing he threw on average  over 100 innings a year.  Still sitting on the DL is Carl Pavano and who know when he will ever come back and Tanyon Sturtze who we could use back.

Btw here is a list of Yankee Free Agents and whether or not if I had the power, would try to sign or let go...

Gary Sheffield - would sign if less than 8 million (extension for $13 mil is on the table
Mike Mussina - extension for $17 million is on the table would like to settle for $12.
Jaret Wright - extension is available, would exercise and turn him into a long reliever/spot starter
Sal Fasano - Bye, time to give the kids a shot, like Wil Nieves, though he's not a kid exactly.
Miguel Cairo - Bye, can't hit a lick
Octavio Dotel - Sign, big arm and should be better in 2007
Tanyon Sturtze - Sign, keep price low add more incentives
Ron Villone - Sign, did a great job, just ran out of gas
Nick Green - Sign, good bench player and better infielder than Cairo anyway
Bernie Williams - Sign as player/coach, league min.
Craig Wilson - Sit tight and see if a 1B is availble, if not then Sign, if yes wait until last possible moment.

Note: about the previous article there was a comment, a rather rude one to say the least, pointing out the fact I mentioned Ponson becoming a hot pitcher for the Cards.  I meant to say Suppan, but Ponson seem to just pop into my thoughts instead, so the error in names was mine, but the intent is still present.  As for the comment, I know a lot of Cardinal fans and most act with respect, its one thing to point out and error, but to do so in the negative tone the complainer had is pretty much pointless.  Like A-Rod, I am human even if some might disagree.  Either way, I have no problems admiting to an error that I make and for all those who I may have confused by using Ponson instead of Suppan I apologize for the mistake.  As we all know Ponson was a bust for the Cards and the Yankees this year.  Great talent, series issues.  Hopefully, he can figure it out before its too late.  Oh and for the complainer... WHATEVER!!! lol

Ah, its the month of October, College Football is in full swing and the baseball playoffs are at the pinnicle of their season.  Typically, we should be sitting back watching our beloved Yankees winning another championship.  Unfortunately, it is not the case this year and hurts the pre-season prediction of a Yankees vs Cards World Series. 

However, the Cards did make it and are facing off against a tough bunch of youngsters from Detroit.  In looking round at the "experts" predictions Detroit should simply walk away with the series.  Take a look:

WhatIfSports.com  St. Louis  4 – 1 (computer simulation)
FOX  Ken Rosenthal St. Louis 4 – 3
FOX  Dayn Perry  Detroit
FOX  Kevin Kennedy  Detroit 4 – 2
SI.Com  John Donovan  Detroit 4 – 2
CBS  Scott Miller  Detroit 4 – 0
CBS  Charlie McCarthy Detroit 4 – 1
CBS  Adriane Rosen Detroit  4 – 1
CBS  Eric Mack  Detroit 4 – 2
ESPN  Steve Phillips  Detroit 4 – 1
ESPN Buster Olney  Detroit 4 – 1
ESPN Jim Caple  Detroit 4 – 1
ESPN Jerry Crasnick  Detroit  4 – 2
ESPN Keith Law  Detroit 4 – 1
SPORTING NEWS  Stan McNeal  St. Louis 4 – 2
SPORTING NEWS  Tom Gatto  Detroit 4 – 1
SPORTING NEWS  Chris Bahr  Detroit 4 – 3
SPORTING NEWS  Kyle Veltrop  Detroit 4 – 2
SPORTING NEWS Ryan Fagan  St. Louis 4 – 3
SPORTING NEWS Erin Farrell St. Louis 4 – 2 
MLB.COM   Mike Bauman  Detroit 4 – 2
MSNBC.COM  Tony DeMarco   Detroit 4 –2
USA TODAY Bob Nightengale  Detroit 4 – 0
AP News  Detroit 4 -2

Basically it came down to this
Detroit wins in 5 - predicted by 7
Detroit wins in 6 - predicted by 7
St. Louis wins in 6 - predicted by 2
St. Louis wins in 7 - predicted by 2
Detroit wins in 4 - predicted by 2
St. Louis wins in 5 - predicted by 1
Detroit wins in 7 - predicted by 1
St. Louis wins in 4 - predicted by nobody

Essentially, Detroit was predicted to win by 18 "experts" with St. Louis getting the call only five times, one of which was a computer simulation.  And its not hard to pick on those "experts" who selected Detroit to win.  First, they took out our vaunted offense of our Yankees 3 games to 1.  They then mowed down Oakland in four straight games.  The Tigers were also one of the hottest teams of the year, minus September. 

St. Louis on the other hand did a pretty good job manhandling a tough San Diego group and then took out the NL's best team in a life or death cage match against the Mets.  The Cardinals were lucky to even be in the playoffs let alone the World Series.  Lucky for them they play in the worst division in baseball.  Their pitching outside of Carpenter was something you'd see out of a Texas Chainsaw movie and yet, they found a way to sneak into the World Series.

So when making my prediction, who do I go with.  The majority of the experts or streak along my own path?  Before the playoffs I often said the AL wins the series reguardless because the NL just cannot compete.  This pretty much stuck in my mind right up until the Cards knocked out the Mets.  It was then something happened.  I am not sure what it was, but for some reason, it just seemed like the winds shifted.  **** might have gotten quite a bit colder and a blue moon must have appeared, because for the first time during this entire season, I have to side with the NL and those pesky "shouldn't be there" Cards.

I have five good reasons to justify why. 

1.  The Tigers are coming of a 7-day vacation.  I know everybody will say the Tigers will be well rested and their young pitchers would benefit the most from the time off.  I say, it ruins a perfectly good momentum swing.  Simply, its too much time.  Maybe they should have let the A's win a couple instead of embarrasing them.

2.  The Cards have Albert Pujols,  a superstar in the middle of his prime and who could very well win his second MVP in a row this year.  The Tigers have some good players, but nobody of a Pujols caliber.  Players like Pujols shine on the big stage and often times are the key ingredient to winning a championship.  Just like Derek Jeter for the Yankees.  These players carry a special something.

3.  The Cards actually have pitching outside of Carpenter.  Who would have thought that trouble make Ponson and former Yankee mud flop Weaver would seem to find their game just at the right time.  These two have been actually better than Carpenter who lost both of his games against the Mets.  Where was this Weaver back during the Boston series?  Then, you'd think the cards would be hurting when their All-Star closer goes down for the season and yet Wainwright seems to be the next big thing.  Go figure!  The fact is, while the Tigers have that amazing staff, the Cards pitchers seem to be a roll and momentum is a key in October.

4.  Tigers offense was not really all that special to begin with.  Sure they started out fast, but you know they hit a wall when they decided to trade for Sean Casey and send Chris Shelton down to AAA.  Its about this time, the Tigers decided to try and survive on the homerun ball rather than driving up pitch counts and getting players on base.  They were lucky the Yankees bats seem to dissappear during the first round, because there was no way the Tiger bats would have been able to keep up.  The Tiger bats were quiet against the A's who we all know have no bats outside of the Big Hurt.  The fact is, the Cards offense is better than the Tigers and when Ponson and Weaver decided to become the big time pitchers everybody talked about at the beginning of their careers, the Tigers were finished.

5.  Tony LaRussa.  Yeah I know the Tigers have that other old guy, but lets face it, LaRussa is still the better Mgr. of the two.  The fact he kept the Cards from imploding at about 162 different points during the season is amazing.  Sure they won only 83 games and they played in a horrible division, but what counts is in the playoffs and the Cards were ready and that means their fearless Skipper got them ready. 

So with my five reasons, I must admit this will be a close series.  Then again either team is capable of a sweep.  But, I think in the end the Cards have all the planets lined up just right and as a result they will take out the Tigers in a very wild 7-game series. 

    Okay, so were at home watching the Tigers take out the A's.  Maybe the Tigers were for real?  I guess we won't know for a little while longer, but while were watching teams other than our Yankees, I thought it might be time to address some key questions the Yankees should address during the off season, heading into the winter meetings and spring training.  And boy do we have some questions to answer.

    First and foremost the issue of Joe Torre has already been resolved.  George Steinbrenner cooled his jets and will give Torre one more year.  I think this is a fair response and given the abundency of issues Torre has had to face the past couple of years, he has earned one more year.  While I have already talked about this issue in my previous post, I think this is clearly a good sign of how things have changed during the past few years and the "right" direction the Yankees as an organization are moving forward.

    Like I said, there are some key issues to deal with.  Some of the suggestions may be fairly realistic, some may be considered a nice wish list.  The point in either case is to offer up some ideas in the hopes this time next year we will be cheering the Yankees onto their 27th world championship.  So without further delay...

Suggestions for 2007

Starting Rotation

First and foremost the Yankees must address the pitching, both the starting rotation and the bullpen.   The past couple of years, the importance of having a solid starting rotation and bullpen has been quite clear.  The Yankees seems to have had half the picture in place with the other half being a horror show waiting to happen.  This year, Wang has clearly demonstrated even though he dosen't have the over powering, blow you away fastball, he is clearly a winner going 19-6 with a 3.63 era.  After two years in the bigs, Wang has an impressive record of 27-11 and a 3.77 era pitching 334.1 innings.  After Wang, Mussina clearly showed he deserves to have his contract extension picked up.  His record of 15-7 with a 3.51 era was impressive and when given a little rest, can still be quite effective.  Mussina could also be considered the elder statesman of the team. 

After Wang and Mussina, things get a little fuzzy.  Sure Johnson won 17 games this year and flirted with a no hitter on several occasions.  However, Johnson also sported a hefty 5.00 era which is the highest of his career since 1989 with the Expos.  Johnson has also been one of my favorite pitchers, but in 2007 he will be approaching 44 years of age, no knees and a bad back that has now been reported to need surgery.   Sure he can be effective... at times.  But, he also ineffective nearly half the time.  If I were the Yankees, it would be time to sit down with Johnson and talk about retirement.

Except we still have three openings in the rotation after Wang and Mussina and Johnsons retirement.  Cory Lidle should be the 5th starter in the rotation.  His numbers have never been impressive, but he can put in a good game and eat up innings.  Though, he should be warned if his numbers dont improve, we have another option (discussed in a moment).  The next suggestion is to go after Barry Zito who is a free agent when the A's finish their season.  This year Zito went 16-10 with a 3.83 era.  More importantly Zito's career record is 102-63 and an era of just 3.55.  He also has pitched over 200 innings since 2001.  He has never missed a start and will only be turning 29 next year and is in his prime.  Zito is as about as sure as you can get now days.

After Zito, its time to bring the Yankees number prospect up and into the bigs full time.  Of course were talking Phillip Hughes.  He has dominated at every level in the minors, sports amazing control and three strong pitches.  With the Yankees scoring behind him Hughes should have a pretty strong rookie year.  Its time.  So the starting rotation would look like this:

Zito
Mussina
Wang
Hughes
Lidle

What about Pavano?  He hasn't played in over 18 months and sports more injuries than a punching bag.  Pavano, lets face it has been a major bust of prolific portions.  Who knows if he will be back next year, I wouldn't count on it.  Dotel who had Tommy John surgery can back faster than Pavano.   The other suggestions is to work Steve White and Tyler Clippard into the rotation here and there.  These two have done nearly as well as Hughes in the minors with Clippard even throwing a no-hitter.  Its time to get their feet wet.

Bullpen

Ah, the bullpen.  Rivera is good as gold, but he is getting a little older and could use a little more rest now days.  The problem has been having somebody strong enough to get through the 8th without having to bring Rivera in to clean up the mess.  Farnsworth is a hit or miss guy and this year he was 3-6 with 6 saves and sported a not to clean 4.36 era.  Though, I think Farnsworth and Dotel splitting time working the 8th inning would be a fairly good option.  Don't look at Dotel's numbers this year and frown, he was just coming back from Tommy John surgery and it takes time to get your groove back, plus I got the feeling the Yankees were being very cautious this year in the games he did appear in. 

Scott Proctor a starter turned reliever is a great 6th/7th inning guy who can also come in the 8th if Farnsworth is giving up too many homeruns.  Proctor this year went 6-4 with one save and an era of 3.52 while pitching 102.1 innings.  I have always liked Proctor and I think he is an essential key for the Yankees in the future in the RP role.  I would also think about keeping Villone who peformed well most of the season, but worn down along with Brian Bruney who I think suprised some people this year and has a lot of great potential.  Now here is the kicker, Jaret Wright should be a long relief pitcher.  He was lucky to get through 5 innings this year and has been inconsistant.  I don't believe he is starter quality any longer, but would be a nice innings eater if one of the starters leave early or if you need a spot start here and there.  The next thing I would do is bring up and keep on the roster Sean Henn has a long reliever and JB Cox who should start working towards being the setup man for Rivera with the thought that one day he takes over the closer role.

Defense, First Base and Sheffield

Heres the thing.  How much offense does one need?  It was clear despite having an all-star line-up in the playoffs, you still may not hit.  One of the painful issues affecting the Yankees over the past 3-4 seasons has been defense and errors.  Lets face it, Giambi can't play 1B effectively any longer, but I like his bat.  This would make him a great full-time DH canidate.  So who plays 1B?  Sheffield is the name people have brought up because of the Abreu trade.  Sure having Sheffs bat is nice, but he is over 38 now and at $13 million would be an expensive 1B who may not be too strong in the field.  Unless Sheff is willing to accept a much lower salary, I think the Yankees should let him go and work on finding a strong defensive canditate.  Personally, I wouild hand the job over to Andy Phillips.  He has earned it and can hit, even if he dosent match Sheffields numbers, the Yankees don't need him too.  His role will be a defensive one.   The point here is, don't worry about the offense when the defense is what is lacking right now. 

The Outfield and Bernie

Ironically, one nice problem the Yankees have is too many outfielders.  Let's be blunt, unless an unfortunate injury occurs, the starting outfield will be Mastui, Damon and Abreu.  This leaves Cabrera, possibly Williams and possibly Sheffield.  As I stated its time to cut the string with Sheffield.  Williams is a Yankee and he was a tremendous asset for the Yankees this year.  But, unfortunately years of hard playing and injuries have taken a toll on his OF abilites making him more of a liabiity than anything else.  With the DH spot going to Giambi, where does Williams fit in?  I say offer him another year, min salary and turn him into a player/coach.  He is a great role model/teacher for Cabrera, Cano and other youngsters.  Williams can spot DH and spot the OF position when needed, but his biggest role will be the coaching part.

With that I think Cabrera is your 4th outfielder who should play on a daily basis rotating between Matsui, Damon and Abreu giving them each rest.  Cabrera really came through this year and has earned a full-time spot, unfortunately, their are some very talented veterens ahead of him, but that dosen't mean his role should be dimished any.  After Cabrera its time to give Kevin Thompson some time in the OF.  In only 19 games, Thomson hit .300 and pulled out a HR.  Another young kid who I believe has earned his shot with the big boys.

The Bench Players

The bench is nearly as important has any other position.  Where the bench needs to be addressed is the infield now.  I believe five players could fit this role of infield and even some of backups.  Youngsters Andy Cannizaro and Nick Green both performed well when given the shot, Aaron Guiel who seem to find himself once he put on the pinstripes, Craig Wilson who can play both 1B and OF and Will Nieves at catcher.  I know some will wonder about Miguel Cairo, but Miguel has never been an offensive threat and actually cost the Yankees more runs than help.  I don't believe there will be any real FA's worth paying the money they will want who would be any better than the ones I have mentioned. 

When its all said and done

I don't think the Yankees need to rewrite the books on having a successful 2007.  In fact, there are many positives from the past two years to show we are headed in the right direction.  The Yankees have a lot of the right pieces to complete the championship puzzle.  Primarily, the focus should be on getting younger by cutting the old weight, improving the defensive and sticking with the youngsters.  If they do these simple things, the Yankees should have a great 2007 and that elusive 27th championship is all but guarenteed.

    Joe Torre is coming under fire as a result of the latest heartbreaking punch to the Yankee gut by the Detroit Tigers.  Of course, managing the Yankees sort of always keeps you under fire and somehow Torre seems to have survived under owner George Steinbrenner since 1996.   Which is something concidering how often Steinbrenner likes to go through coaches.  In Fact Since Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees, the following have all coached under Steinbrenner...

Ralph Houk - Bill Virdon - Billy Martin (several occasions) - **** Howser (two occasions) - Bob Lemon (three occasions) - Gene Michael - Clyde King - Yogi Berra - Lou Piniella - Dallas Green - Bucky Dent - Stump Merrill - Buck Showalter  - Joe Torre

    Joe somehow has lasted 11 years or typically 2-4 different managers under normal Steinbrenner's standards.  But, the question now after another failed post season is whether or not Joe should go.  There is no doubt George is fuming as we all are and the target of our wrath is always the manager.  The question is, now we have had a few days to recover from defeat, whether or not its time for Joe to go. 

    Do I have the answer?  No, I am torn between the yes and the no.  So, instead I have decided to look at both the reasons why Joe Torre should be fired and the reasons why not. 

Reasons Why Joe Torre Should be Fired

1.  For the third straight year the Yankees appeard to be flat.  Let's face it, with the except of a certain Derek Jeter and maybe a couple of other players, the Yankees seem to have been asleep at the wheel for the past three post seasons.  How on earth does the most dangerous line-up the game has seen, not score any runs, let alone get people on base.  The managers job is to light a fire under the players if they are sleeping and for whatever reason Torre, who is a players coach, seems to have lost that ability to get under the players nails and light a stick of dynamite to spark some assemblence of life. 

2.  Joe Torre has made some highly questionable decisions in the playoffs for the past couple of seasons.  This year, in game four he moved A-Rod to 8th in the line-up.  Sure A-Rod was stinking up the place, but to move him to 8th is a massive slap in the face to quite possibly the greatest player who has ever played.  Torre would have been better off to bench A-Rod to make a point, not put him 8th on the list.  Pitching Wright in game four is another questionable decision.  Wright has been lucky to get past the 5 inning this year, Lidle hasn't done much better.  Torre would have been better off to throw Wang in on short rest or at least Karstens who has proven himself over the past month and a half.  Using Sheffield at 1B  would be a questionable move  and while Sheffield gives the line-up another bat, its a painful excuse for defensive purposes.

3.  Joe Torre is mis-used the relief staff for the past couple of years.  This may be a pretty good debate about the over use of the relief staff.  Proctor this year logged in just over 100 innings pitched, which is a lot for this day in age.  Villone was beginning to show signs of slowing down after a great start and we can't forget the over use of Small and Sturtze in 2005 which lead to their injuries this year.  Rivera is getting older and was still being asked to pitched two innings several times throughout the season, which may or may not have caused the elbow pain.  Then again, much of this over use could be blamed on the ancient pitching staff and the struggles the old timers have had.  Either way, Torre still makes the final decision on the bullpen and some believe he has blown out a few arms over the years through over use.

4.  Torre who did so well managing the Yankees during the 96-2000 season, has struggled with the high profile and quite expensive players since.  The whole A-Rod issue this year is a sort of microcosom of the problems Torre has had with a $200 million dollar salary.  While we don't know the whole story of what went on behind the scenes, Torre's job is to fix it, one way or another on the field.  And as I stated in reason number one, the players don't seem to be "with it" during the post season.  Granted, Torre is limited by how much he can do.  You can't bench $150 million in players for youngsters with more fire in them, but at the same time, something needed to be done to wake this team up.  Compared to the Tigers or A's, the Yankees seemed to be very oh hum about the entire playoff approach. 

5.  Simply its time for a change.  11 years is 3 lifetimes worth managing in a Yankees uniform.  Torre has done a great job for the Yankees and brought us 4 championships and 9 straight division crowns.  However, much like the old college football coach, there comes a time where the effectiveness wears off and a change is needed to respark the desire and winning spirit.  Thank Torre for a great job and move on.

Reason Why Joe Torre Should Keep His Job

1.  Okay, the man has one over 1000 games in 11 years, including four seaons with over 100 wins.  He has guided the Yankees to five world series, winning four of them.   I can think of 29 other teams who wouldn't mind a manager with this kind of record.  Success stands for itself and given the issues this year with injuries and what not, the fact the Yankees even made the playoffs is demonstrative of Torre's ability to keep things rolling.  Look at Baker with the Cubs.  He loses a couple of players and they become the worst team in the NL, I mean, come on... worse than the Pirates?  Joe loses nearly every player at some point and yet still carries the team to 97 wins.  That is impressive.

2.  Joe Torre isn't paid $20 million plus to throw a ball and hit it once in a while.  The players are.  At some point, the players on the Yankees need to be held accountable for forgetting what got them to the playoffs in the first place.  This year, it seemed only Jeter remembered and proceeded to hit .500 during the series with Detroit.  Giambi, A-Rod, Sheffield, Damon, Matsui, Cano and Abreu all forgot basic hitting concepts and the fact this was suppose to be a patient line-up who could drive up pitch counts.  In game four against Bonderman, after 5 innings of work Bonderman has thrown less than 50 pitches.  The bullpen seemed to prefer giving up runs rather than stopping them and nobody seem to have any fire.  As they say in football, 3 up, three down and that was the Yankees in games 2 - 4.  With the exception of a very small group of players, these are well-versed veterans who should know better and blame should not be placed on Torre for their inaction.

3.  Steinbrenner should take some heat for making some bad decisions, tying Torre's hands from having the kid of players he would prefer.  Sure, its great having an all-star lineup, but they still have to field the ball.  Remember Scott Brosius a tremendous defensive player, but not exactly a top  of the line hitter.  Which, didn't matter, the Yankees still had Jeter, Williams, O'Neill, Strawberry, Martinez and Posada in the line-up.  Brosius didn't make errors and got the job done in the field.  Pitching has been in shambles since the Yankees let Pettitte and Clemens go.  Torre has somehow had to find one replacement start after another to put together some sort of patchwork rotation in order to win games.  Its hard to blame Torre when the the weak rotation dosen't peform in the playoffs along with the other "all-stars".

4.  Like it or not, Torre is a great buffer between Steinbrenner and the players.  Half the problems during the 80's was a direct result of hiring managers who were just as worked up as Steinbrenner.  Torre is cool, calm and collected under fire.  The players respect Torre because he is a staple of collected strength to get the job done.  Torre has worked with what he has been given and after trading away some great talent for over priced and aging vets, one cannot really blame Torre when the owner over rides solid baseball decisions.  Torre deserves another year to work in some more of the young talent while shedding some of the dead weight picked up in the past few years.  The players love him, the fans love him and he has earned the right for at least one more chance.

5.  Is there anybody who can really step in and do a better job?  A major component of the Yankees problems the past few years stems from too many aging, high priced super stars who's production is going down.  The fact is, the Yankees are in transition to refocusing on youth again and 2006 clearly demonstrated why.  When you have a team of grandfathers, they are not going to have the same spirit a team full of youth will have.  This isn't something Torre can control.  What he does control is the maintaining inflated egos and weathly millionaires from exploding into a segment from The View.  The issue here is the fact that you need somebody who has the respect of the players, who can remain calm and understands the environment everybody is working in.  Sure you can bring in a fire starter like Sweet Lou, but how would a Sheffield deal with Lou telling him he needs to kick it into second gear?  Or how about a now fragile Johnson who is giving up homeruns in bunches that he needs to miss a start because his body is actually old?  Lets face it, million dollar egos don't handle fire breathing managers very well and this is why Joe Torre is the perfect man for the job until at the very least some young blood is brought in.