[新聞] How to fix the Yankees: Keep A-Rod

[leddy (耿秋)]

How to fix the Yankees: Keep A-Rod
BY JIM BAUMBACH
Newsday Staff Writer

October 15, 2006


As the Joe Torre "I'm staying!" news conference neared an end Tuesday,
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman stood up and returned to his Yankee
Stadium office smiling.

Now starts the fun part of the baseball offseason.

It's Cashman's job to improve the roster, to make the Yankees more than just
a perennial regular-season force that falters in October. The Yankees won 97
games this year, tied with the Mets for the most in the major leagues, but
all anyone will remember is their shocking collapse in the Division Series
and their sixth straight year without a world championship.

Before the Yankees' team of baseball officials convenes for the club's annual
organizational meetings, here's our guide to what we believe would be the
best course of action to take this offseason:

1. Keep A-Rod. Resist the urge, Yankees. Sometimes these things just don't
work out, and the Rodriguez-Yankees marriage is dangerously close to the
point that it would be best for both sides to admit it and move on. But it's
worth another try, one more year.

Yes, Rodriguez will have to mend fences with Joe Torre, who dropped him to
eighth in the lineup for Game 4 of the ALDS and didn't even explain it to him
before the game.

But Rodriguez is far too talented to be as bad as he has been in the
postseason -- he has no RBIs in his last 12 games and is 4-for-44 dating to
2004 ALCS Game 4 -- so the Yankees might as well give it one more go-around.

Last week A-Rod reiterated his intention to stay a Yankee with this entry on
his Web site: "I don't want to play anywhere else. I never have [and never
will] run away from the responsibility I have to this team. I believe I am
part of the solution to winning a championship here. I want to finish my
career in New York."

2. Sign Daisuke Matsuzaka. Having to pay for the negotiating rights and
negotiate a deal with agent Scott Boras will be costly. But to those who have
seen Matsuzaka pitch, they say the price will be worth it.

There are two reasons for concern: Matsuzaka is an unknown (see: Hideki
Irabu) and he has had a heavy workload (he once threw 250 pitches as a high
school senior during a title game). But the Yankees have done more than
enough scouting, even hiring a Japanese scout who attended the same high
school as Matsuzaka.

The Mariners paid $13 million for Ichiro's rights in 2000, and they gave him
a three-year, $14-million deal. But the cost for Matsuzaka will be
significantly higher, perhaps about $20 million for the rights and then maybe
a five-year, $50-million deal for the pitcher himself. Expect the Mets,
Mariners, Red Sox and Dodgers to show interest.

3. Keep Sheffield from Red Sox. Gary Sheffield's time is up with the Yankees,
and he knows it. So what better way is there to get back at the Yankees than
to sign with the Red Sox, who likely will be in the market for a rightfielder.

But the Yankees can keep it from happening by taking advantage of their early
postseason exit. They can call around to find a team willing to pay $13
million for one year of Sheffield.

The Yankees do not have to make a decision on Sheffield's 2007 option until
Nov. 5 or five days after the World Series ends, whichever comes first. Even
if the Yankees get only a low-level prospect for Sheffield, it's still better
than letting him go to Boston.

4. Melky stays, and plays. Melky Cabrera has no obvious starting role on next
year's team, but the Yankees shouldn't be in a rush to trade him. With three
outfielders over 30, the Yankees would be best served to use Cabrera one day
a week in each outfield spot, giving him at least three starts a week and the
regulars a needed day off.

If Cabrera continues to improve and clearly is worthy of a starting spot
after next season, the Yankees could let Bobby Abreu walk after next season
and let Cabrera take over.

5. Give Hughes a shot. At least one Yankees minor-league coach who has worked
with Phil Hughes watched Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman beat the
Yankees and told himself, "Hughes could be doing that!"

Hughes will be only 20 years old in spring training, but the hard-throwing
righthander was so dominant in Double-A this past season that he deserves a
shot at joining the Yankees' rotation.

The Yankees took care of Hughes in 2006, limiting him to five innings per
start in the last two months. Cashman already has said Hughes will start in
Triple-A. But he has earned a shot.

"I stress we'll look at our youth, look at what's available and maybe provide
opportunities for some guys, without a doubt," Cashman said. "Those are
things we are going to talk about."

--
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◆ From: 220.132.198.21
推 alcpeon911:要簽松土反牛阿....
推 leddy:不讓Sheffield被紅襪簽走,是想避免變成另一個Damon嗎?
→ kenro:老薛被放掉的可能性是有...
推 bigsun0709:我覺得洋基會先跟老薛簽個1~2年，之後再看狀況..等到
推 qaz2004:基本上老薛火力還不賴  選球差了點  防守和速度還好
→ bigsun0709:季中再交易出去.老薛應該也算大物可以吸引到蠻多球隊的
→ qaz2004:所以就算先發沒有排他防守也有可能做DH
推 bigsun0709:明年先發順序不會是 MO.小王.RJ.松坂.萊特.痛痛人~
推 YANKS:MO 要先發??? XD
推 leddy:別鬧了, 下一篇是建議把Proctor拉去先發
→ leddy:但牛棚就又要補人了
推 eilgreen:應該是指Moose吧~~ 請問Karstens如何?
→ Tzylu:Karstens不會是洋基要的那個人...
推 leddy:Karstens真的是球威不太夠
推 hyuchi0202:老薛選球差...?
推 leddy:Beam,Henn,Rasner,Kennard都送去冬聯了,Karstens沒去怪怪的
→ Nasty:qaz2004 你看大聯盟幾年阿?老薛選球差，有沒有搞錯
推 Datow:老薛的生涯IsoD大約是0.1 哪裡差？
→ Nasty:最好是只看2006年最後那10場就說他選球差 ....
推 DesertEagleX:老薛選球差 技安速度快 卡農選球王
推 ZzzBa:再加一個 Mo球路多
推 tampabay:第一次聽到老薛選球差 跟技安比嗎？
推 secaep:看到有人說老薛選球差耶...真屌..
推 EvilCerberus:就拿NYY在ALDS最後一場來說吧,老薛很少揮空的,很多
→ EvilCerberus:Swing strike都是主審判的
推 EvilCerberus:Bonderman的球引老薛出棒過半不少次,但都很少揮到底
→ EvilCerberus:當中有一兩個慢動作重播是可以判沒出棒
推 cuteship:qaz2004  ????
推 joke1:有勇氣XD