Bleacher Creature Feature

#35 Cold Winter, Hot Stove

30 December 2002

That adjective ("devoted") is important. I have no room in my congratulatory words for the bandwagon-hopping, stick-banging, rally-monkey-worshipping yahoos who suddenly became Angels fans in August 2002, but who a year ago would have identified Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus as, respectively, a fish and ice cream dish at the local theme restaurant. No, I'm referring to the real Angels fans, who have stuck with their team for upwards of four decades despite a history of relentless mediocrity, punctuated by occasional bursts of almost-relevance. I'm referring to the people who suffered through Gene Autry's goofiness, Buzzie Bavasi's incompetence, the heartbreak of the 1983 and 1986 postseasons, and the abject cluelessness inherent in being owned by Disney.

To those people, I offer my heartiest congrats. There is no greater feeling than having your team win it all, and I'm glad you all got to experience that.

The Yankees have certainly been busy. I was hoping to comment on things as they progressed, but I've been busy with deadlines and other things. However, the Yankees have now made several big moves, and right now the 2003 team is starting to come into focus. So here are my thoughts on the various and sundry Hot Stove activities of the hometown team as we end 2002 and look ahead to 2003.

Why I Hate Sportswriters #1098341: A New York Times writer noted in an article that Jorge Posada was the only Yankee presently tied up in a long-term contract who didn't have a no-trade clause, and speculated that this might make him trade bait. The logic here was specious at best, but it was a slow news day, and it was only a speculation. However, someone then asked Yankee GM Brian Cashman about it, and he gave just the right answer: he'd consider any offer made, but, he said, "if someone wants to inquire about him, they'd better come with frankincense and myrrh and make me an offer I can't refuse." This was a wise answer -- Posada's the best catcher in the league. Who, exactly, do you trade him for? Who do you replace him with at catcher? The pitching staff loves him, he's one of the offensive leaders on the team with the best offense in the league -- what could you possibly get in exchange for that that would be worth losing him?

Somehow, this dumbass speculation mutated into Posada being on the trading block, to the point where he was seriously listed as trade bait in articles on the subject. Not based on any actual facts, just because some writer noticed that he had a no-trade clause.

Unbelievable.

With the signing of Jose Contreras and the resigning of Roger Clemens, the Yankees now have seven starting pitchers, plus the urn holding the tattered remains of Sterling Hitchcock. Let me be blunt: if the Yankees can't trade Hitchcock (and honestly, who'd want him?), he should be released. I don't care how much it costs -- the Yankees have already proven that money is no object with the Contreras and Hideki Matsui signings -- he's taking up a roster spot that would be better used by a dead rabbit.

In any case, casting Hitchcock aside (please!), that leaves the Yanks with two more starting pitchers than the norm. Some might say this is a bad thing, but I am not one of them. The Yanks last year had an old rotation. This year, they have an older rotation. There are two solutions to this sort of problem: get some younger pitchers, or stockpile a bunch more older ones. The former is better for the long term, but for the short term, the Yankees now have two highly talented backups for the inevitable injuries that will ravage this staff. Remember, we've got a 40-year-old with hamstring problems (Clemens), a 30-year-old with elbow problems (Andy Pettitte), a chronically overweight 39-year-old with back and foot problems (David Wells), and two Cubans of indeterminate age who are wild cards at the best of times (Orlando Hernandez and Contreras), leaving only Mike Mussina (coming off an off-year that could be the start of a decline) and Jeff Weaver (still unproven on the big stage). That's a lot of question marks, and the Yankees are better off keeping them all around to back each other up when one or more of them goes on the DL or gets an owie that may necessitate a missed start or three or age catches up to one and we live through a repeat of David Cone in 2000 (and nobody wants that).

The other good thing about bringing in Contreras and Clemens is that it's fairly likely that the Yankees are out of The Bartolo Colon Sweepstakes. If the rumored deal -- Colon for Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Hernandez -- had gone through, I was going to renounce my season tickets, and would have seriously considering boycotting the team for abject stupidity and reversion to everything that was wrong with the team in the 1980s.

Colon is a B+ pitcher. Hernandez is a B+ pitcher. You don't give up a B+ pitcher and two A prospects to get another B+ pitcher with only one year on his contract. Johnson and Rivera are the Yankees' future. To give them up along with a near-exact pitcher exchange is insane on pretty much every level.

The signing of Todd Zeile could be beneficial, if he is, in fact, there to replace Ron Coomer, since Zeile does everything Coomer does, only better, plus he's more versatile defensively and can serve as an emergency catcher if needs be. Robin Ventura ain't gettin' any younger, so it's good to have a better backup for him.

If he's there to replace Johnson so they can trade him for something less useful (because, honestly, there ain't much out there that the Yankees don't already have that'd be more useful than Johnson), then it's incredibly stupid, because Johnson does everything Zeile does (except play third base), only he's younger, cheaper, and will do it for longer.

Let me be succinct: Johnson and Rivera should be untouchable as trading commodities unless it's in exchange for someone like Sammy Sosa or Alex Rodriguez. Otherwise, there's really no sense in getting rid of them. They're too valuable to the long-term health of the franchise. This dynasty has been built on homegrown talent that the team has groomed -- Pettitte, Posada, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Alfonso Soriano, etc.

Speaking of homegrown talent, it would seem that Ramiro Mendoza and Shane Spencer will not be back, which is a pity. Ditto Mike Stanton, who will be missed. In the case of Spencer, he was the odd man out of an already-way-too-crowded outfield (one that needs more purging, to be honest). As for Mendoza and Stanton, I suspect that they, like so many before them (Tim Raines, Mariano Duncan, Jimmy Key, Luis Sojo, Ricky Ledee, Scott Brosius, etc.), are being let go before they can outlive their usefulness. Chris Hammonds is a risk -- probably an expensive one -- but if he's even half as good as he was last year, he'll help, and with the extra starters, one can take Mendoza's long role fairly easily.

The biggest worry factor is the Yankee outfield, which presently has six people (Williams, Matsui, Rivera, Raul Mondesi, Rondell White, and Marcus Thames), none of whom can play center field. Williams is done as a center fielder. The Yanks would be wise to spend spring training seeing if Rivera can take over center, because otherwise they've got a problem. Thames is still a fourth outfielder, Mondesi is an overpaid defensive replacement (which is exactly how he should be used, I don't care what he's making, he doesn't hit well enough to be an asset, especially in this lineup; his only use is that cannon of an arm). Matsui, Rivera, and White are currently corner outfielders. Something needs to be done. Not sure what, but something. (Finding somewhere to send White and/or Mondesi would be a good first step.)

Still, this is looking like a good team. There are problems, but you know, other teams have much bigger problems with weaker solutions. I mean, hey, we could be the Mets....

NEXT: Spring has Sprung

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