If I was George Steinbrenner

Now that the New York Yankee season is over, it's time to look at what they have and what they can get rid of. In a sense, the team should be blown up where possible and rebuilt. It's not as if George doesn't spend money, so dumping what you can and getting something in return, then signing some Free Agents isn't out of the question.

Here's what I'd do:
Operations and Coaching Staff
1. If Brian Cashman wants to leave, then let him go. Another GM willing to work with the Boss should be brought in and take a new approach to the team.
2. If Joe Torre wishes to stay, he will need to reassemble a coaching staff. Stottlemeyer is gone. Joe Girardi is likely going to be hired as a manager in Florida.
3. Mazzilli can certainly be brought back as bench coach or Don Mattingly can be promoted to bench coach and Mazzilli can be Third base coach.
4. Louis Sojo can be moved to First base, which could leave Roy White the odd man out.
5. I would defintely hire Chili Davis as hitting instructor. A former switch hitter, he would have a better approach to both left and right hitters.
6. Ron Guidry could be used as pitching coach, unless there is a more experienced one available.

Pitching
Trade or do not resign the following: Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Al Leiter, Scott Proctor and Alan Embree.
The team is stuck with Randy Johnson, so there's nothing you can do with him. I'd hold onto Aaron Smalls, Shawn Chacon, Chin-Ming Wang, Tom Gordon, Mariano Rivera (of course), Tanyon Sturtze and Carl Pavano. Jaret Wright may not be movable, but if he is, I'd move him. I'd also try to bring in a young lefty starter or long reliever. Scott Kazmir, Ted Lilly or Glendon Rush. Any trades should be for replenishing the Farm.

With the impressive performances from Wang, Chacon and Smalls, and by trading Mussina, the Yankees have five starters behind Randy Johnson. If there's a chance to sign Jarrod Washburn, then certainly a Wang, Smalls and Chacon can be traded, but for the most part, I'd focus on pitchers 6-10 that fill in the bridge from starter to Rivera. I'd also start looking for a future closer now rather than later. Rivera has one, maybe two exceptional years left and a young lightening arm needs to be brought in and develop into a premier closer for the Bronx team.

Hitting
Trade, Release or do not resign the following: Gary Sheffield, Bubba Crosby, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Tony Womack, Ruben Sierra, Hideki Matsui, John Flaherty, Matt Lawton and Rey Sanchez.
Keep (some reluctantly because of untradable contracts) the following: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Mark Bellhorn and Andy Phillips.

The Yankees need to clear themselves of their DH problem. Sheffield is a soon-to-be full-time DH. Ruben Sierra already is. Jason Giambi is expected to be the full-time DH next year maybe filling in at first on occasion. Womack, Lawton and Sanchez need to be replaced with better defensive players who are ten years younger. I know I say let Bernie go, but I would. I am open to resigning him as a part-time outfielder, part-time DH (for the rightside of the plate), but that offer wouldn't come until the rest of the roster spots are filled. The team needs to be younger and also another team may sign him up before you extend a one year contract to retain him. Letting Williams go to another team may be the only thing to rebuilding this team.

As for Matsui, I was for trading him mid-season for someone and perhaps try to resign him during the off-season. But now that his contract is up, I think the team needs a better defensive fielder. Matsui can hit, but his fielding is poor. I'd go for Mike Cameron for center field and try to fill the corner positions with high average hitters. Cameron can hit home runs and is great defensively, but you need to get a good outfielder who can draw walks, have minimal strikeouts and a high On Base Percentage.

The Yankees also have to steer away from the home run hitter. They still will have Rodriguez and Giambi. Posada is always dependable for a good dozen dingers along with Jeter and Cano. If they pick up Mike Cameron, he has the potential of 30+ round-trippers. A low strike-out/high BA player for back-up catcher, First Base and the corner outfield positions is key to future success. The team also needs some small-ball players. Players that can bunt for singles, steal bases, wrech havoc on the base path. Jeter is one of the only members of the 25 man roster that still thinks small ball in key situations. Your one-two and nine hitters need to be about getting on base and moving over on sac flys, bunts or singles.

If George Steinbrenner looks back at his team from 96-00 and looks at his team from 01-05, he'll see he didn't have a team made up of superstars. It was young players, trusty (and crusty) veterans and moderately priced stars. Girardi, Leyritz, O'Neil, Brosius, Knoblauch, Davis and Boggs were solid players that weren't looking for the big contract. They wanted to win as a team. At the time, the big pricetag players were Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter. But they came up through the Farm and had proven they were winners. As soon as George started throwing money around to Mussina, Sheffield, Giambi, Vazquez, Brown, and Rodriguez (or I can say as soon as New Yorkers voted in Cubs fan, Hillary Clinton), the Yankees can't seem to win again.

Here's hoping Mr. Steinbrenner has someone cross my blog and read my thoughts on bringing back a winning team.