It's amazing that a flawed team made it as far as it did. Some can argue they shouldn't have been in the position they were in and maybe that is true. Personally, I felt losing to Minnesota would have been better than the possibility of losing to Boston. As usual my hunch was correct.
So, here is the Yankees brass, probably meeting in Tampa today, if not, certainly tomorrow, now facing another late October without games played in Yankee Stadium and another opening day without raising a championship banner. This doesn't go over well in New York.
The flaws:
Pitching, starting and relieving. The starting staff consisted of 5 right handers all year, with the exception of the games started by Alex Gramman and Brad Halsey (more on him later). Kevin Brown broke down during the year and should probably look at becoming a setup man out of the bullpen. Javier Vasquez showed that he is nothing more than a #3 starter. Orlando Hernandez showed guts and pitched great ball but is nothing more than a #3 starter. Mike Mussina stepped up, but he broke down during the season and isn't a legitimate #1 anymore, although he has shown he can handle starting the big game and pitching well doing it. Jon Leiber was a great acquisition and pitched great during the playoffs, but he is a #4 starter not a #2. The bullpen had it's ups and downs, literally, with guys getting shuffled to and from Columbus and to and from the disabled list. They don't have a solid lefty, although Felix Herredia did a good job in the LCS. However, he is not dominant and actually gets righties out better than lefties. Mariano Rivera is the best closer in the game, when he doesn't pitch against the Red Sox. Tom Gordon is a great regular season guy, but can't perform when the chips are on the table. Paul Quantrill broke down and isn't the type of guy you throw in half of your wins anymore. Steve Karsay is recovering from shoulder surgery so they don't know what to expect of him. Tanyon Sturze was a blessing in disguise but it's unlikely he'll repeat this year's performance. Bret Prinz was up and down too often to make an impact on the bullpen, but it's unlikely he can be counted on for too long during the season either.
As for next year, here's what I think should happen to the Yankees pitching staff.
1) Re-sign Orlando Hernandez. We will need the pitching depth next season
2) Sign Eric Milton. He is a lefty who can be dominant. You need lefties when you play in Yankee Stadium, plus he's hard to run on and he's a #2 starter.
3) Acquire Randy Johnson, some way, some how. Trade whoever it takes to get him
4) Get Javier Vasquez squared away. If it means dumping Mel Stottlemyre then do it.
5) Keep Brad Halsey in the bullpen. Use the Earl Weaver theory of rookie pitchers
they belong in long relief their first full year
.
6) Release Kevin Brown. He is done. The best he can be is a five inning #4 starter and our bullpen isn't that strong anymore.
7) Stay away from Pedro Martinez. The guys on the team don't like him, especially Jorge Posada and they don't want him around, especially if Boston wins the World Series.
8) Get a lefty from somewhere and stick with him. Just because he fails in April doesn't mean he's going to fail in October.
For the offense there is only some tweaking that needs to happen. There are plenty of bats, maybe too many to be effective but start using the hit and run again and start playing small ball. If Jeter and Rodriguez lead off the inning with hits, Sheffield should bunt them up one base. If he wont, then he hits ninth.
Other offensive moves to make:
1) Dump Tony Clark. I'd rather have John Olerud or Travis Lee than him. Mr. Strikeout is finished
2) Absolutely keep Miguel Cairo. He should be hitting second because he will lay down a bunt and will move up a runner with a ground ball to the right side.
3) Jason Giambi is a designated hitter which means...
4) Ruben Sierra is gone
5) Kenny Lofton is gone because...
6) Bernie Williams will be fighting for playing time with
7) Carlos Beltran who will be hitting clean-up next season
8) Drop Jorge Posada to the eighth spot in the batting order unless the ninth place hitter is actually hitting and then he should hit ninth.
9) Dioner Navarro needs to start seeing playing time because Posada is almost finished as a hitter
10) Retain Don Mattingly as hitting coach
For the coaches, Torre will be back as should Mattingly. Willie Randolph will probably get the Mets job (best of luck to you Willie). Stottlemyre is done; the game has passed him by the last three years. Luis Sojo should remain the third base coach but Roy White needs to be replaced with someone like Tim Raines. They should also hire Wade Boggs to at least throw knuckleball BP when facing someone like Tim Wakefield. I think he would make a great bench coach and he would certainly preach small ball with Torre and Mattingly (plus it doesn't hurt to have two great hitters as coaches).
I think these changes will keep the Yankees on top for a few more years, but just like everything in life not everyone can stay on top forever. Ideally, I would like to see the Yankees downfall start by not making the playoffs instead of losing to Boston next year in the LCS.
