So there's no pressure playing for the league championship unless you're doing it for a New York team?
It gets crazier by the minute. Sheffield is gone, Arod is being run out of town, Giambi is gone after next year and the pitching sucks. I see another Mattingly era shaping up with Cashman in control.
I think its pretty well agreed that there is no more pressurized place to play baseball than New York. The media coverage and scrutiny is not comparable anywhere else. That is a given. You must have heard players themselves say that 100s of times. The Daily News, New York Posts, New York Times, Newark Star-Ledger, Newsday, Bergen Record each have about 3 reporters each covering the teams, Channels 2,4,7,5,11,WFAN,SNY - non-stop coverage. Are you serious?
It still doesn't change the fact that playing in a LCS, in front of sold out stadiums and 20 or so million people watching on TV, is a pressurized situation. You don't negate the post-season statistics of anyone who plays outside of New York, or Boston.
The Yankees didn't start building from within until Steinbrenner was banned in '90. That's when they started drafting and developing their own players like Jeter, Bernie, Posada, Rivera, Pettitte. It took two bad years in '91 and '92, and then in '93 they finally turned it around with key signings like Key and Boggs, the Kelly-for-O'Neill trade, and keeping their top prospects, not trading them for over the hill high priced players.
They wouldn't have won anything if Steinbrenner didn't bring in Key, Cone, Irabu, elDuque, Nelson, Stanton, Clemens, Wells however. It was all pitching that won those 4 rings.
You act like Steinbrenner is responsible for bringing in all those guys. Michael brought in Key, Michael/Watson brought in Nelson and Stanton, Wells signed here because everyone was interested and he was a Babe Ruth fanatic, El Duque was an organizational move stemming from a Michael belief (that Cashman strongly believes in) to spend fiercely on Latin American international talent. Cashman was the guy who put the Clemens trade together. Steinbrenner was intrigued by Irabu, and wanted him. And given his fascination with former Mets, I guess we'll give him credit for Cone. Point is, most of those pitchers you mention were brought in by Michael and Cashman. And if pitching is what you want, then why not give Cashman credit for what he has built in terms of young pitchers? I bet a number of scouts would tell you that the Yankees have the best pitching depth in all of baseball, in their organization.
You know as well as I do that not a single move was ever made that Steinbrenner didn't want. (until now maybe)
Of course he has to sign off on it, he's the owner. But you're fooling yourself if you think he was the one who had the idea to bring all of those guys in. Michael ran the show during Steinbrenner's suspension, and put a plan in place, so when Steinbrenner came back, all Steinbrenner had to do was sign off on moves that the organization wanted to make.
I can't speak for any of the others but he surely was the only person involved in bringing Wells here. Most of the others were done because he told them to do it too. Nah, I just totally disagree with that. Nothing was done unless Steinbrenner said to do it. He was in total control of personnel decisions then.
They probably have the best overall depth, but definitely not pitching. Yankees are #1 there, and if not, at worst top 3.
Fine, if you want to believe Steinbrenner told Michael to bring in guys like Key, Stanton, Nelson, and told Cashman to make the Clemens trade, go ahead.
Yeah, I do believe that. I'm sure they made the suggestion to him along with other suggestions that we will never know about but he decided who came and who didn't. He held absolute power. In fact Watson has been public about how much it irked him and Cashman almost didn't come back because of it.
That's what I was saying this entire time. Of course he has absolute power, but ever since he returned from his suspension, he has had people advising him. For a number of years, they were smart people (Michael and Cashman, and their executives), and then the last few years they haven't been smart people (Tampa contingent). Luckily now, one of the smart guys got it in his contract that he has power to do what he wants with the organization on the field, and we're better off for it.
And Cashman made sure he had absolute power with all on field matters, which is why he returned, and we're better off for it.
