tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Yankee Rumblings

Congratulations to the St.Louis Cardinals for winning the 2011 World Series. Now that it is over, it's time to begin the yearly winter ritual of determining what the Yankees need to do in order to win the 2012 World Series. It is apparent that the Yankees will announce the re-signing of Brian Cashman as General Manager. I suppose the Yankees have no choice. While I agree with Cashman's desire to build up the farm system, he has had free reign since 2006. It's time to see the fruits of farm system. They have screwed up Joba Chamberlain, need to get Phil Hughes on track and have not had a legitimate power hitting outfielder come from the farm system since Bernie Williams. To his credit, we do have David Robertson and Ivan Nova. In addition, I truly believe that Jesus Montero can be a big-time power threat for the Yankees. He's the type of young blood that they desperately need.

Positional Players

The Yankees are stuck with ARod and Mark Teixeira. Someone needs to get into Teixeira's head. He is turning into a better fielding Jason Giambi. I've seen too many home runs hit in blow out games and nothing when its really needed. Giambi hit home runs when it mattered. He's fallen in love with the short right field porch. His average has gone down every year since he's been a Yankee. Hitting genius Kevin Long needs to get Teixeira to go the other way particularly when he is batting left-handed.

With respect to ARod, the Yankees need to hope that he can get healthy. Some numbers to consider: in 2007 ARod played 158 games. The number of games go down every year after 2007: 2008 - 138 games, 2009 - 124 games, 2010 - 137 and 2011 - 99 games. The Yankees are faced with the fact that ARod may have to DH anywhere from 35-45 games next year which could end up taking at bats away from Jesus Montero unless they feel comfortable with Montero behind the plate.

With ARod and Derek Jeter both needing spells at DH, the Yankees need to decide if they are prepared to allow Eduardo Nunez to be their back-ups. Nunez was the piece that Cashman would not part with in order to get Cliff Lee from the Mariners. I think Nunez has offensive ability. He has some power and good speed. However, the kid was a defensive liability when he filled in for Jeter and ARod. He also seems to lack some baseball sense. This year will be the second year of Jeter's new contract. He will be 38 in June. The Yankees need to decide if Nunez is the heir apparent.

There is no question that the Yankees will pick up the club option year on Robinson Cano. Despite Scott Boras' comments about wanting an extension, the Yankees have no reason at this time to do that and Boras has since backed off his comments. I also don't think Cano has any desire to move from the Yankees. It is being reported that the Yankees will pick up the club option on Nick Swisher. Swisher has been a good fit for the Yankees. He has produced in the regular season and is a great guy to have in the clubhouse. If you don't think having a good clubhouse presence is important go ask the Red Sox. Of course he has not produced in the playoffs and that has led many to say that the Yankees should get rid of him. It's being reported that the Yankees will pick up the option and possibly try to move Swisher in a trade. I'm not sure what they would be looking for in a trade but Swisher is marketable based upon his age (31) and his contract ($10.25 million) Depending upon what the Yankees would get I might not be opposed to a trade. However, we should be clear about something: the Yankees did not get Swisher to carry this team. In fact, in one of Brian Cashman's better moves, he got Swisher for none other than Wilson Betemit. Wilson "freaking" Betemit. For me Swisher stays. His contract is up at the end of the year and if you don't want him back you let him go. It's nice to acquire someone from another team that truly appreciates being a Yankee.

What they should do: They need to bring back Russell Martin and commit to Jesus Montero. The only way I would trade Montero is if they were going to get King Felix and I don't think that is going to happen. With Eric Chavez probably not coming back next year, they need to consider picking up a guy like Ty Wigginton. He can play multiple positions, hit for power and knows what it is like to play in New York. If they can I think they should bring Andruw Jones back. Jones came up with some big at-bats against the Red Sox late in the season in Fenway and I think Girardi screwed up by not giving this guy more at-bats during the playoffs. I would not sign Carlos Beltran. Beltran will be 35 years old next April. He will be looking for a 3-4 year deal at around $20 million per year. The Yankees don't need another aging injury prone player who may need to DH when they have ARod under contract until he is past 40. There are many that point to Beltran's post season stats. But a closer look makes you wonder. In 2004 at the age of 27 he hit .435 with 8 HR's and 14 RBI's. Two years later, at the age of 29 he hit .270 with 3 HRs and 5 RBI's. At the age of 35 he is more likely to match the 2006 numbers than the 2004 numbers. That is if he stays healthy.

Next week I will take a look at the Yankee pitching staff and Manager Joe Girardi.