Rebuilding the New York Yankees

The Problem.
The New York Yankees are old and need some youth injected into it. Unfortunately, Joe Torre isn't known to put his cards in young players. He'll try out one or two, but for the most part, he puts his faith in veterans and their experience.

The Solution.
Well, for one thing, never lock up all eight position players and seven pitchers to long term contracts. You need room to move the pieces around. You can make four position players and three pitchers the faces of your franchise, but when you start spending money on the entire 25-man roster, you get stuck spending a lot of money on untradable players.

Drastic times means some drastic measures. It's time get rid of players who may be fan favorites, in order to bring in some youth and new talent. To rebuild the farm system and to put the team in position to win a championship by 2008.

You got that right. Not next year. Joe Torre's last season should be viewed as another season without a win. George Steinbrenner has a "win-now-at-all-costs" mentality and unfortunately, that doesn't work even with $200 million sunk in aging players.

The 40 Man Roster

The Outfielders
Bobby Abreu
Melky Cabrera
Johnny Damon
Aaron Guiel
Hideki Matsui
Kevin Reese
Gary Sheffield
Kevin Thompson
Bernie Williams
Craig Wilson

Damon was just signed so let's consider him a lock next year. Everyone else is expendable. Personally, I'd keep Cabrera, because he's young and shows some promise in being a dependable everyday outfielder. I like Abreu as well and would consider keeping those guys as the outfield. A Guiel or a Wilson could be kept as a fourth or fifth string outfielder, but everyone else should be let go. It's time to move on. If some young talent can turn up, then Guiel and Wilson won't be needed.

There is another possible move that would be drastic, but may be neccessary. That is, move Derek Jeter to the outfield, while Alex Rodriguez moves back to his natural position of shortstop. Yankees have done it before. Mickey Mantle was a shortstop. Bobby Murcer was a shortstop. Both were converted to centerfielders.

The Infielders
Miguel Cairo
Andy Cannizaro
Robinson Cano
Jason Giambi
Nick Green
Derek Jeter
Andy Phillips
Alex Rodriguez
Sal Fasano
Wil Nieves
Jorge Posada

Giambi will probably be designated as the designated hitter. Moving Jeter to centerfield or rightfield would put Alex Rodriguez at shortstop and with Cano at second base, the Yanks will have a chance to fill in the corner infield positions with some new blood. Some youth, hopefully. The Yankees won with a player like Scott Brosius at third base, not a power hitter, but a hitter with some pop in his bat. Tino Martinez was an above average defensive first basemen and a player that could give you a clutch home run, but wasn't a .300 hitter. He did know how to draw a walk. Posada has a contract and has been a very good backstop for the Yanks, but it's time to find and groom a successor. I wouldn't trade Posada, but I wouldn't be surprised if we start hearing his name thrown around. The role players should be traded or released. After filling in the starting positions and then the back-up infielders, the role players from this year can then be looked at for next year.

Pitchers
T.J. Beam
Brian Bruney
Matt DeSalvo
Octavio Dotel
Kyle Farnsworth
Sean Henn
Philip Hughes
Randy Johnson
Jeff Karstens
Cory Lidle
Mike Mussina
Mike Myers
Carl Pavano
Scott Proctor
Darrell Rasner
Mariano Rivera
Tanyon Sturtze
Jose Veras
Ron Villone
Chien-Ming Wang
Jaret Wright

I'm looking at these names on the 40-Man Roster and with the pitchers, I'm thinking, "Who are these guys?"
This is not the pitching staff that won four world championships.
I like Dotel and think there's some life for him next year. Randy Johnson has another year and is untradable. Unless he retires, the Yanks are stuck. Pavano is a contract the Yanks are stuck with as well. Rivera is a given to stay and there is no reason to get rid of Wang, since he's a very good pitcher and he's a young pitcher. Proctor has been fairly reliable. The Yanks may well be stuck with Sturtze, but beyond that, it's time for some new arms
So far, I'm keeping Johnson, Pavano, Wang as starters (not because I want to but because I may have to) and Sturtze, Proctor and Rivera in relief. Everyone else can go bye-bye.

You have eight position players and only four should be locked into contracts. The others should be rookies or tradable contracts if they don't work out in a given year.

You have five starting pitchers and only one of those starters should be over the age of 35. You can have two in their early thirties, but the last two should be in their twenties. And you need two or three young 20-something starters available if one of the big five get injured or have to skip a start during the year.

With relievers, you have a good trio in the Proctor, Dotel, Riveral crew, but you'll need a couple of solid lefties. Meyers would be worth keeping, but another would be useful.

If Brian Cashman can get rid of all the extra weight on this team, the payroll should go down considerably. And if he has any power under his new contract, he should let George Steinbrenner know he insists on getting youthful and not spending money on players past their prime.