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

Jeter Responds With Class

When questioned today about Hank Steinbrenner's comments, Derek Jeter as usual took the high road. Acknowledging that as owner Hankenstein can say what he wants, Jeter said he wasn't upset and that he was planning on being ready for the upcoming season.

Jeter is the ultimate team player and personifies Yankee tradition. That's why George made him the Captain. Maybe Hankenstein should think about that the next time he opens his mouth.

Hank: Shut the Hell Up!!!

Well he's at it again.  Hank Steinbrenner decided he needed to become Boss Jr. again by delivering a shot at his Captain by stating that the reason for the Yankees not winning last year was because they were too busy resting on their laurels and building mansions.  Since Jeter was the only player who was building a mansion (it's 30,875 square feet!!!) it is evident that Hankenstein was taking a shot at Jeter.  The question is: why???

Does Hankenstein really believe that Jeter needs more motivation to bounce back from a bad 2010???  I'm not sure that there isn't a baseball player who is more motivated than Jeter every year, particularly after coming off of an abnormal season.  Jeter has plenty of pride and if you don't think he wants to prove his critics, his GM and ownership wrong then you are off the mark.

For Hankenstein to believe that his pot shots are somehow going to motivate these guys is really laughable.  These guys are millionaires.  Do you think they really care what this spoiled rich kid thinks???  If Hankenstein is looking for answers as to why the Yankees didn't win in 2010 he needs to look at what happened to his pitching rotation after Petitte got hurt, Arod's hip issues, Texiera's slow start, Jeter's struggles,  the reluctance on the part of Cashman to include Eduardo Nunez in the Lee/Seattle deal and the decision by Cashman & Girardi to take their foot off the gas pedal at the end of the season to qualify as a wild card.

Hank was on a roll yesterday as he was squawking about Major League Baseball's revenue sharing arrangement.  Once again, Hankenstein speaks without thinking.  Does he honestly believe that the current arrangement is going to change??  From a Yankee perspective, it could only change for the worse: a hard salary cap.  In other words, no more luxury tax.  You only can spend so much, similar to the NHL.  So then Hank you won't have to worry about the tax and spreading the wealth and moving teams from minor markets (his term not mine).  Then Hank you will have to rely on your farm system, something that this organization can't do because of the market which you have created.

Hopefully we have heard the last of Hankenstein this spring.  Unfortunately, I doubt it.

Heat’s on Mr. Cashman

As the Yankees begin spring training down in Tampa, questions abound over their starting rotation, which has been an issue since last year when Andy Petitte went down in July, A.J. Burnett imploded and Phil Hughes wore down.  It's apparent that the Yanks put all of their eggs in the Cliff Lee basket only to have the big guy from Arkansas spurn Pinstripe dollars for Philly.  The winter was further thorny for the Yanks as their blood rivals made two big acquisitions in the off season.  While Brian Cashman was having  dinner with Carl Crawford, Crawford's agent was working out a deal with the Red Sox to have his client join with Adrian Gonzalez to make the Red Sox lineup very formidable.  Talk about being played!!

Cashman had a bad winter.  He openly questioned the signing of Rafael Soriano, publicly feuded with future Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter and lost out on Lee.  It's been reported that Cashman resents the notion that he's nothing more than a money manager for the Yankees.  There are some who believe that Cashman may want to go somewhere else to prove he can build a winner without Steinbrenner dollars behind him.  If that's true, Brian must have hit his head when he was repelling down that building in Connecticut.

Cashman, and rightly so, has stressed the importance of building up the farm system.  But what has the farm system produced during Cashman's tenure as GM?    The last first baseman that the Yankee farm system developed was Don Mattingly.  Robbie Cano is obviously a success story for Cashman, though the truth be told Cano was not a top prospect in the Yankee system.  Derek Jeter goes back to the Gene Michael days.  Third base???  Are you kidding, the last Yankee bred third baseman of note may have been Clete Boyer!!!

But for Bernie Williams, Yankee raised outfielders are far and few between.  Austin Jackson was traded to Detroit but it remains to be seen whether he could reach Bernie status and as for Brett Gardner.  Please.  As far as pitchers go, Phil Hughes is a bona fide keeper.  Remember the young guns of three years ago: Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain.  Kennedy has proven to be a serviceable starter and quite frankly the Yankees have messed up Chamberlain to the point that the best thing for the kid may be a change of scenery.  Oh and by the way, who on the horizon is going to step in when that fateful day finally arrives and the greatest closer in the histoty of the game calls it quits??

If Cashman is committed to the farm system, then why sign Russell Martin when you have extraordinary young talent at the catching position??  With Jorge Posada there as a mentor,(by the way Jorge was from Michaels era) similar to the way Girardi was with Jorge, let's see if Montero or Romine can pull it off.  If these young guns on the farm are as good as they say they are why sign Colon and Garcia??  Let Nova pitch and let either Dellin Betances or Manny Banuelos battle it out for the 5th spot.

You see Cashman wants it both ways.  He wants a good farm system but he also knows that he needs Steinbrenner money to make sure the Yanks are a winner.  He would not be able to come out to this fan base and say, "we are going with the kids because we are building for the future."  Yet, he doesn't want to be a money manager.

The heat is squarely on Cashman.  He must hope that Garcia or Colon (mini Andre the Giant) can nail down a rotation spot.  He must hope that Ivan Nova can slot in the rotation.  He must hope that AJ Burnett shows he's worth the $82 million they signed him for.  He must hope that Sabathia and Hughes pitch to the Yankees expectations for them.  And if any of these don't come to pass, he must hope that his offense and re-tooled bullpen will be able to carry them through while he is able to make a trade to bring in another top line pitcher.  A trade that will certainly involve talent from the Yankee farm system, a system that Cashman holds dear but doesn't have the courage to use to start the season.  By the way, he also better hope that Eduardo Nunez is the eventual replacement for Derek Jeter because if he had included him in the deal with Seattle for Lee, the Yanks may have won a World Series last year.  Some pressure for the kid, replacing a legend and being the reason why the Yanks may have missed out on a championship in 2010.  Heat's on Brian!!!