The Worst Team Money Can Buy

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October 11, 2006

So, Yankee fans are upset and whining again. Whaaah! The act is getting old. Face it - your team just wasn't good enough. Again. It doesn't matter how much money you spend and how many all-stars you have; if the chemistry on the field isn't right, you don't win in the playoffs. Oh yeah - if you don't have any pitching, you don't win either. And that was the problem with the Yankees - not enough pitching. When you have to start Jaret Wright, you're in trouble. Period. Heck, his old man, the former Angels' lefthander Clyde "Skeeter" Wright would probably have had more success than his kid had with the Yanks. And he's about 60. The 2006 Yankees did overcome a ton of injuries, adversity and public criticism -hello, ARod - to win another division and advance to the post-season for the 11th time in Joe Torre's 11 years as Yankee manager. But they just weren't built to win in the playoffs, where pitching and defense usually decide outcomes. The Detroit Tigers had everything, and they won. Which is truly humbling to the unrealistic legion of Yankee fans, who cannot accept the fact that they haven't won a World Series in six seasons, and they were trounced by a team that three years ago lost 119 games. In one season.

What happens immediately after the Game 4 ALDS loss? Owner George Steinbrenner calls it "sad", and it's reported that he made the decision to fire Torre. Bill Madden of the Daily News, a Steinbrenner confidant, said Joe's out, and Lou Piniella was back in. Turns out Boss George was talked out of firing Torre, and he'll be back for one more try in 2007. But you can be certain he'll be on a very short leash.

Lucky Joe gets to come back and try one more time.

All of this leads me to ask an obvious - to me, anyway - question: Why does Brian Cashman get to skate away from all the criticism? He's the man who put the team together, a team, which dies an early death in every post season now. He's the guy who keeps making the wrong decisions on pitchers - Wright, Carl Pavano, Randy Johnson - decisions that keep costing the Yankees playoff victories. He's got the only unlimited checkbook in sports, but he buys the wrong pitchers. But, like his shortstop, he's bulletproof. Derek Jeter. Brian Cashman. The Teflon Men of New York.

I'm not saying they haven't been great. Jeter, in fact, still is. But as the team captain and supposed team leader, he let Alex Rodriguez twist in the wind when the fans were destroying him during the season. All it would have taken was a few words of support from Jeter-the-Supposed-Leader, and the fans would have backed off and given ARod some room to breathe. Same with the Torre situation. If Jeter - who professes to love and respect his manager - went public and said Torre had to stay, it would have been all over. Joe wouldn't have had to roast for two days on the Steinbrenner spit. It would have basically forced George to immediately say Torre would get another chance. Those are the things leaders do. But not Jeter. Yet in the eyes of the Yankee fans and most of the media, Derek can do no wrong. Same for Cashman. When it looked like he'd be leaving the Yankees, it was like a deity was departing and leaving his flock with no leader. If a city could have cried, Manhattan would have been awfully wet. But he stayed, the Yankees continue to lose in the playoffs, and he's pretty much Teflon Brian. Absolutely amazing. Rodriguez and Torre get blasted, but Jeter and Cashman keep rolling along like they had nothing to do with the failures of the past few years, both on and off the field.

To be fair, ARod was horrible in the Detroit series, and Torre didn't manage his best set of games. And he sure didn't help his team's confidence by moving ARod down in the lineup practically every game. But if the Teflon Men can survive on the past, then ARod and Torre should be allowed to as well.

The hottest rumor of October is that Rodriguez will be traded, even though he has a blanket no-trade clause and has said he's staying in the Bronx. Cashman and Torre both came out and said they're all for keeping ARod. Don't be fooled, though. The Yankees need pitching, and ARod can get it for them. The Angels seem to be the early favorites, having tons of young - and good - pitchers for the Yankees to choose from. Ervin Santana, Scot Shields, Jared Weaver, John Lackey and Joe Saunders are some of the names that could be involved in an ARod-to-Angels trade. The Yankees are also reported to be interested in the Angels' jack-of-all-trades Chone Figgins. In any deal with any team, the Yankees will be expected to pick up some of ARod's 25 million dollar per year tab.