From: nss3@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Noel Steere)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: YANKEE REFLECTIONS ANYONE???
Date: 25 Jan 93 18:54:30 GMT
Reply-To: nss3@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago

In article <C1E68G.JM9@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> Timothy.J.Young@dartmouth.edu (Timothy J. Young) writes:
>In article <1993Jan22.213722.12327@cs.cornell.edu>
>tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer) writes:
>
>> I wouldn't count on it.  Remember Jack Clark, Wade Boggs, Mike
>> Schmidt, and others.  With any player over the age of about 32, there
>> is a significant risk that they will suddenly and entirely cease to
>> produce.  Von Hayes.  Jack Clark.  Wade Boggs.  I can't really say
>> that Stewart or Morris or Molitor *will* be a total failure next year.
>> But when you have those three *and* Carter *and* Borders *and* White,
>> and no real depth to replace any of them (not that I know of, at
>> least...  Unless Domingo Martinez is able to play the OF?), the
>> probability of catastrophic loss at *some* position is pretty high.
>
>   Exactly. The Yanks, just like in the mid-80's, are trying to buy the
>pennant. It doesn't work, especially in the cases of the Red Sox, the
>Mets, and the Dodgers last year. 

Uh, Tim, I think Valentine was referring to the Blue Jays.

As for the Yankees trying to "buy a pennant" (and remember folks,
"once you buy a pennant, it's yours to keep" :-)), I'd have to, on the
whole, disagree.  Granted, the Yankees aren't afraid to spend money,
but on the whole, they're spending it well.  Danny Tartabull at $5
mil. has been working well.  Jimmy Key at $4 mil is a little too much,
but not really.  The only boneheaded signing they made was Spike Owen.
Also, they're not just throwing money at establised players, but
they're getting young talent as well.  Melido Perez (27) was accquired
in a trade, as was Jim Abbott (25!).

BTW, what do you mean by "buying a pennant"?  Do you mean spending any
money at all on free agents?  In that case, even if they're not
spending the money now, the Yankees will be "buying a pennant" a few
years from now when Perez and Abbott come up for free agency.  Judging
by the examples you state above, though, I'd say that what you
consider to be "buying a pennant" could more accurately be called "bad
baseball decisions".  They spent a lot of money on a lot of players
who *had* great careers, instead of spending money on players who most
likely *will* have great careers (like, oh, Barry Bonds, say?).

I'm sorry if this comes across as a flame, but I get a little annoyed
when people imply that spending money on free agents can't bring a
pennant.  It can, but, like with anything else, the money needs to be
spent well, not like Imelda Marcos at a shoe convention.

N.Y. does have a good farm system, but
>after a few years of King George we'll see if that's still the case.
>They're over-rated : they could be weak in the rotation this year if
>their young pitchers don't make it. 

With Abbott, Perez, Key pencilled in for 35*3=105 starts (barring
injury), I'd say that they're *already* stronger than any other top 3
in the AL East, and possibly the entire AL.  In addition, they have
Sam Militello for an entire year.  "But Militello might bomb", you
say?  Very unlikely, IMO.  A good measure of future success in the
Majors is K/9 inn.; over 6 at the MLB level and you're looking good.
Last year, Militello was ~6.75 for his stint in the Majors.  More
importantly, though, is the fact that *he's struck out more than 9 per
9 inn. at every minor league level he's pitched at*.  Not even the
highly touted David Nied has done that.  Oh, one more thing,
Militello's only 23 (a year younger than Nied, BTW).  This guy's
destined for greatness.

So that's 4 spots in the rotation that are filled by top pitching
talent.  Pitching is almost impossible to predict from year to year,
but I'd say the Yankees have a better chance than anyone else but the
Braves of having a great year pitching-wise.  Put another way, if the
Yankees had signed Maddux and still made the deal for Abbott, they'd
have a stronger rotation than the Braves.

>Tim Young, Dartmouth College, Class of '96
                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^
So, Timmy, how does it feel to have your own TV show? :-)

Noel Steere (Class of '9?)   |...of the Dave Rossing fan club
GM/Manager, New York Knights |Knights' Final Run Total: 806 Runs
Internet Baseball League     |
nss3@midway.uchicago.edu     |Hector in '96!
Make outs, not walks!        |Cal Ripken, AL Gold Glove?  Well, at least
(well, Joe *said* I said it!)|  we got rid of Bush and Quayle...