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Monday, October 13, 2008

YESNetwork: Pepe: The Red Sox and Rays will not be going away anytime soon

The Elvio That Men Do…

All of a sudden, it feels like 1964, when the Yankees were completing a run of five straight World Series appearances — 15 in 18 years — and heading for an 11-year pennant-less drought, or 1981, when the Yankees were completing a run of five postseason appearances in six years, heading for a drought of 13 straight years out of the playoffs.

As presently constituted, the Yankees have 10 players (Pudge Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui) who will be past the age of 35 next season, six of them (Ivan Rodriguez, Pettitte, Posada, Giambi, Rivera and Mussina) past the age of 37.

It’s no great revelation to point out that the Yankees must get better and they must get younger, and they have to do it quickly. It’s also no secret that their farm system is relatively bereft of big-time players ready to help next season. There are no Lesters, Lowries or Longorias coming along, so it falls to general manager Brian Cashman to fix the problem by getting creative with trades or falling back on an old standby, signing free agents, a risky and expensive alternative.

Repoz Posted: October 13, 2008 at 09:40 PM | 15 comment(s)
Related News: General, History, Boston, NY Yankees, Tampa Bay

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1. Dock Ellis on Acid Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:07 PM (#2981117)

Oh Repoz. You and your YLT references...

2. Halofan Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:17 PM (#2981124)

John Henry will go bankrupt soon.

3. Misirlou's fighting force of extordinary magnitude Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:28 PM (#2981142)

s presently constituted, the Yankees have 10 players (Pudge Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui) who will be past the age of 35 next season, six of them (Ivan Rodriguez, Pettitte, Posada, Giambi, Rivera and Mussina) past the age of 37.

The Rays and Sox may not be going away soon (well, one of them will by Sunday at the latest), but many of those above are as good as gone.

4. Chip Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:38 PM (#2981155)

John Henry will go bankrupt soon.

Dow rallies 900 points! Hedge fund saved! (Maybe?)

5. Dan Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:49 PM (#2981176)

Hedge fund or not, I'm pretty sure that the Red Sox and NESN make more than enough money to keep Henry solvent, even with $150M payrolls.

6. Dock Ellis on Acid Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:53 PM (#2981184)

The Rays and Sox may not be going away soon (well, one of them will by Sunday at the latest), but many of those above are as good as gone.

Well, Pepe said, "as presently constituted." Since it's not the end of the season yet, those guys are still Yankees for the purpose of his article. Sometimes sportswriters like this guy have to hide behind technicalities or use selective endpoints because they can't come up with a better way to make their point.

7. TVerik fondly recalls Todd Palin's facial hair Posted: October 13, 2008 at 10:55 PM (#2981191)

As presently constituted, the Yankees have 10 players (Pudge Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Jason Giambi, Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui) who will be past the age of 35 next season, six of them (Ivan Rodriguez, Pettitte, Posada, Giambi, Rivera and Mussina) past the age of 37.

Wah!

Free Agent
Free Agent
On the team
Free Agent
On the team
Free Agent
On the team
Last year of contract
Free Agent
Last year of contract

I can't begin to calculate the odds of all of these guys returning. The Yankees are old, but this is no way to argue it.

8. Hugh Jorgan Posted: October 14, 2008 at 12:35 AM (#2981329)

Ah Halofan...still bitter aren't you?

9. 1k5v3L Posted: October 14, 2008 at 12:54 AM (#2981343)

John Henry will go bankrupt soon.

But there will always be Flood and Lincoln and, at worst, Severe Tire Damage.

10. Baseballing powerhouse Crispix Attacks Posted: October 14, 2008 at 02:40 AM (#2981365)

No Schilling...no Lowell...Beckett injured...Ortiz injured...JD Drew injured...and they still seemed virtually unbeatable, until tonight. The Red Sox are the team to beat again next year no matter what happens over the next couple weeks.

11. buddaley Posted: October 14, 2008 at 05:52 AM (#2981379)

I think it misses the point to note that the Yankees' old players are probably mostly gone soon. The point is that it is those older players who form the core of their offense and a substantial part of their pitching and once they leave it is questionable whether there are adequate replacements. NY certainly has some very promising young prospects, but the difference between them and both Boston and TB is that in the latter two those young players are already producing at a pretty high level in the majors. For the Yankees, aside from Cano and Chamberlain, and by stretching a point Hughes, nobody has demonstrated they are quality major leaguers yet, and some like Cabrera and Kennedy seem to be demonstrating quite the opposite.

12. RMc is the President of the United States Posted: October 14, 2008 at 09:42 AM (#2981447)

John Henry will go bankrupt soon.
But there will always be Flood and Lincoln and, at worst, Severe Tire Damage.

And the untitled "answering machine" track on Miscellaneous T...

13. Cowboy Popup Posted: October 14, 2008 at 10:17 AM (#2981479)

NY certainly has some very promising young prospects, but the difference between them and both Boston and TB is that in the latter two those young players are already producing at a pretty high level in the majors.

Who are the plenty of young Boston players producing at a pretty high level? I see Pedroia and Lester, who else? Masterson had a very good 88 innings, so you can add him, but Ellsbury and Lowrie had an 89 and a 91 OPS+. This does give them a lead on the Yanks because the Yanks had exactly one good impact young player this year (Joba), but it's not the difference between the two teams. The difference is that Boston understands how to put together a starting rotation and a defense, not because they're way superior (they are superior, but it's close) in teaching talented young players how to produce in the Majors.

14. Smiling Joe Hesketh Posted: October 14, 2008 at 01:01 PM (#2981595)

But there will always be Flood and Lincoln and, at worst, Severe Tire Damage.

The Else was excellent.

15. Marc Sully's not booin'. He's Youkin'. Posted: October 14, 2008 at 01:16 PM (#2981607)

but Ellsbury and Lowrie had an 89 and a 91 OPS+.

Ellsbury led the AL in SB's and had a very good success rate. Of the top 15 MLB shortstops in OPS+ with at least 300 PA's, only HanRam is younger than Lowrie. Stating their OPS+ alone without context (position, sb's, etc) is inadequate.

"Pretty high" gets it just about right for those two; average at the plate and both plus defenders at a young age.

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Monday, October 13, 2008

YESNetwork: Pepe: The Red Sox and Rays will not be going away anytime soon

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