Posted by Bonn1997:

If you get rid of Rivera, A-Rod, Posada, and Pettitte, this off-season, you're in it for the very long haul and you have to be willing to live with a 75 to 81 win season next year and a few bad seasons after that. You're not gonna get comparable players via free agency. I'd rather keep the veterans and gradually replace them with younger players.

Arod is already gone. posada is a 36 year old catcher. Mariano is old as well. Petitte doesn't know what he wants.

I believe any yankee fan can take a few years being mediocre. 26 world championships? Come on. Yanks don't need to be concerned with making a select few guys happy. Posada can be easily replaced at catcher as well as arod at 3rd. Mariano and andy are already replaced with hughes/kennedy and joba.

Yanks are in a prime position to rebuild and bring in guys who are hungry for a title. Hungry to win. Dreaming everyday for the chance to be a yankee. To me its a lot easier cuz of the resources available to the yanks....

I agree with this. I don't think you bring back Posada and Pettite. A-Rod is already gone only one i think about bringing back is Rivera thats about it. The team needs to take a new direction bring in younger players who are hungry. I liked getting rid of Joe Torre. I thought he was finished as a manger for the Yanks after they let the Red Sox beat them and the Red Sox won the championship a few years back.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Vmart:

I agree with this. I don't think you bring back Posada and Pettite. A-Rod is already gone only one i think about bringing back is Rivera thats about it. The team needs to take a new direction bring in younger players who are hungry.

What about Posada and Pettitte suggests that they're not hungry for more championships?

I personally think that Posada isn't a good game caller. His defense has been getting worse I would rather go younger and try new things and yes I think Posada and Pettite aren't hungry anymore they seem to be fat on the rings.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Having rings doesn't mean you're not hungry. And as a corollary, not having rings doesn't mean you are hungry. Everything I saw from Posada and Pettitte on the field suggests they're as hungry as anyone.

Posada was playing for a contract very unlikely he puts up those numbers again. And you have to remember he is a 36 yr old catcher the wear and tear is fast and happens in a heart beat so I would think twice about offering him a 3 or 4 year contract. I personally wouldn't touch him right now and would let him go in FA. Petite doesn't want to be a Yankee I think he is going to exercise his player option if that is the case then I would let him walk also. Mariano I still think he has 3 good years left in him I would make him a nice offer and might give him an extra year. But if he feels disrespected then good bye. For all the talk these guys are doing they didn't even win the division last year and to me being a Yankee starts with winning the division.

I hope mariano realizes that in Yankeeland if your not feeling 100% they got guys that can carry the load. In yankeeland as long as your on track to make hte post season you can preserve your body. Mariano on another team would be pitching every day to earn that money!

The only reason he is still viable is we were able to preserve him, other wise he would have broken down earlier.

Who is going to give posada 4 years?

We (Mets) will give Posada 4 years. But I'm still cool with LoDuca coming back for a year or 2. Instead of Dik-Rod, I'd go after Mariano and Posada. Then I'd dump Billy Wagner.

Posted by EnySpree:

36 yr old posada. Nuff said. Can't sign a catcher for 4 years at that age. His defense isn't all that and his managing of the pitchers is overrated. His bat only pops during the season. He's overrated period. Again testing the free agent waters?.....good luck mr. 36 year old catcher.

if u can come up w/some better younger options than Jorge, I'm all ears... there isn't anything close to a better option out there for us to pursue... there's names like Kendall, Lo Puke-a & Barajas currently on the FA market... those guys can't sniff Jorge's jock, let's be real here... i agree w/not giving a 4th year, but the Muts will be in play here & i do see them offering that 4th year cuz they're so damn desperate to add a catcher who's actually good, so if it comes down to it i say the Yankees have to match.

I don't like what mariano has to say. Yeah he can pitch....he is an immortal....but he's pulled the cash card. That rubs me the wrong way. Iike I said us fans would chip in ourselfs to pay him. He doesn't need to talk to the media about money.

Mariano gave the Yankees every opportunity to negotiate a contract extension a year ago & the Yankees held firm that they wouldn't entertain any contract negotiations until his contract expired... then the Yankees reversed their team policy when it came to the ARod contract situation last year... how do you think that would make you feel when you'd given your heart & soul to a franchise & helped them win 4 championships & was considered the best closer to ever play the game, & yet the Yankees give you the hard stance & just a few months later are willing to bend over backwards to accomodate a guy like ARod midseason who hadn't helped them win any WS rings at all? i have no problem at all w/Jorge or Mo trying to get as much money as they can out of the Yankees... Cashman knew what could happen if he allowed them to get to free agency... this is purely business because the Yankees made it clear to players like Jorge, Mo, Bernie & others that it always is just purely about business... why should the players be deferential to them & give them a home team discount to stay if the team doesn't have any qualms about saying good bye to them if they feel they are no longer needed?

Yanks don't NEED these guys as much as they need the yanks.....as far as posada and mariano go. 4 years from now both will be retired. Yanks need to make the movement happen now.

they already are making the movement... we have a ton of youth coming up in the system, but they're not ready yet... Tabata's got at least 2 more years of growth ahead of him before he's a viable fulltime option... same with Austin Jackson... Umberto Sanchez is coming off TJ surgery, so it'll be at least another year before we can expect to see him at this level also... same goes for Andy Brackman... meanwhile we already have Joba, Hughes, Kennedy, Melky, Cano & Wang contributing right now & probably will have Duncan seeing time in the lineup also next season.

none of this means they have to let Jorge, Mo or Andy P go to make room for them... we have no one who can close games for us if Mo leaves, Joba will be a starter... we have no better option to catch games for us if Jorge leaves... we have no better starting pitcher option to be our #2 guy behind Wang next season if Andy P leaves either... the 3 kids will all have their innings carefully monitored next season, so to expect any of them to give us the 220+ innings that Andy P could provide us is unrealistic, not to mention the ability to come through huge in the clutch in big games either (though Hughes did show some signs last year)

3rd base, catcher......hope pettite comes back and get mariano signed cuz the fag is going nowhere who is he kidding.

There is a lot of pop available out there as well as far as outfielders.....yanks could go that rout as well.

Who should the yanks be trying to pick up? What should they do with shelly duncan? Giambi? Moose? Relief pitching? 3rd?

i posted a plan on the Yankees Talk thread offering some thoughts on this... let me know what you think

Revamp the Yanks Plan:

here's what i would do if i were Cashman:

1 - trade Johnny Damon for Joe Crede - White Sox will be looking for a leadoff hitter because Posednik is just too weak a hitter to be a viable option, & Crede fills our need for a righty hitting 3B w/some pop

2 - trade Wang & Hughes for Johan Santana - yeah, i know it's alot to give up, but come on, we're talking about the best pitcher in baseball here, & a lefty at that... he'd be perfect for YS & gives us the ace that we desperately need... it's a no brainer... a starting rotation of Santana, Pettitte, Joba, Kennedy & Moose matches up with any other rotation in baseball including the Red Sox

3 - sign Torii Hunter to play CF & move Melky over to LF - good character guy, still in his prime, & steals bases w/some pop from the right side (will lessen the blow from losing Damon & ARod's stolen base production... we need to have some guys who can run the bases on the team so we can play a more national league style ball next year under Joe G)... & we all know about his stellar defense & range in the OF... he'd save runs w/his ability to run down balls that other guys can't get to in the gaps... w/ARod off the books, we have plenty of money to spend this offseason... why not use it? an OF of Hunter, Melky & Abreu looks pretty damn good to me.

4 - sign Jeremy Affeldt for the bullpen - big, hard throwing lefty reliever will add some nice depth to our setup corps

5 - obviously bring back Mo & Jorge

6 - let Giambi, Betemit, Phillips & Duncan fight it out for 1B in ST - if 1 guy clearly outperforms the others, then i make him the fulltime starter... if there is no clear cut winner, i go w/a platoon of Betemit & Duncan at 1B, make Phillips my utility guy on the bench, & bite the bullet using Giambi as a lefty power hitting pinch hitter/backup DH option for the season until his contract runs out.


there's a team built on pitching, defense, & a well balanced lineup of youth & vets w/no 1 player being looked upon to carry the offensive load, pretty much the same formula we used to win all those championships in the 90's to begin with.


[Edited by - TMS on 11-06-2007 10:55 AM]

but what if the Muts or some other team wants to offer Jorge 4 years, you let him walk? what then, do u go w/Jose Molina as ur fulltime C, a guy who's never caught more than 78 games in a season? do u sign an old washed up Lo-Puke-a or Jason Kendall to be the starting C? do u offer up a premier prospect in a trade to go after some team's top Catching prospect? what is a better option than just holding on to Jorge & biting the bullet on that last year? it's only money, which the Yankees have plenty of. at worst, Jorge becomes a switch hitting DH/1B option for us in his last year or 2... that's not all that bad a thing to have.