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Originally posted by Arrian
I don't know about an en masse exit. I could see Pettitte deciding against excercising his option if Torre goes, but that's it (though that would hurt). The others will come back if they're paid to come back.
I suspect the 2008 Yankees will look a whole lot like the 2007 Yankees in the end. The team doesn't really have much choice. Letting ARod go = no playoffs in 2008, almost certainly. They cannot replace that production, and while I think the pitching will be better next year, the offense will regress even WITH ARod. Without him, it would drop dramatically, and the pitching won't be able to make up the difference. The Yanks would be fighting to stay ahead of the Blue Jays.
I'd be fine with that if there were position player prospects in the pipeline ready or nearly ready to replace ARod and/or Posada, but there aren't. The Yanks have some prospects in the low minors, but nobody is close to ML ready. Their system was very pitching-heavy, which is great and all since it produced Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy and some other possibly useful guys, but Wilson Betemit would be the replacement for ARod if he left and GAPING HOLE OF NOTHINGNESS (Jose Molina, probably) would replace Posada.
So they must pay through the nose, while continuing to work on developing a new core of position players, which will take years. I'm on board with that, because this core is still excellent. Improve the pitching some and you've got a championship-level teamk, even with the inevitable regression from the veteran players.
-Arrian
I don't know about an en masse exit. I could see Pettitte deciding against excercising his option if Torre goes, but that's it (though that would hurt). The others will come back if they're paid to come back.
I suspect the 2008 Yankees will look a whole lot like the 2007 Yankees in the end. The team doesn't really have much choice. Letting ARod go = no playoffs in 2008, almost certainly. They cannot replace that production, and while I think the pitching will be better next year, the offense will regress even WITH ARod. Without him, it would drop dramatically, and the pitching won't be able to make up the difference. The Yanks would be fighting to stay ahead of the Blue Jays.
I'd be fine with that if there were position player prospects in the pipeline ready or nearly ready to replace ARod and/or Posada, but there aren't. The Yanks have some prospects in the low minors, but nobody is close to ML ready. Their system was very pitching-heavy, which is great and all since it produced Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy and some other possibly useful guys, but Wilson Betemit would be the replacement for ARod if he left and GAPING HOLE OF NOTHINGNESS (Jose Molina, probably) would replace Posada.
So they must pay through the nose, while continuing to work on developing a new core of position players, which will take years. I'm on board with that, because this core is still excellent. Improve the pitching some and you've got a championship-level teamk, even with the inevitable regression from the veteran players.
-Arrian
For Boras and A-Rod, they've certainly got to be thinking about A-Rod's relative worth in another long contract now vs. in three more years.
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