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Originally Posted by Suffolk Shippers
Yankees will definitely be back, probably next season. They are behind the curve on the young players, which is the developing trend in the AL East. Obviously, the Rays have everyone whipped on that front, but the Sox have stockpiled a lot of young talent.
I see this '08 season for the Yankees a lot like 2006 was for Boston. They had to fall back a little before they could move forward. They'll be back soon.
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I disagree with the notion that the Yankees will be back next year. They have major problems behind the plate, at first base, in the starting rotation and bullpen. They really dont have many impact minor leaguers ready to contribute and are tied up with huge contracts to guys that cant go anywhere. Plus they are an old team with many guys in decline or coming off of career years. Mussina and Pettite are on year older and though Mussina was very effective this year he is one season removed for being pretty useless and the probability of him regressing is huge. Hughes will probably be a contributor next year and I'm sure they will add at least one free agent pitcher. I have no idea what Chamberlain will do (start or relief) but he did have some arm troubles and there is no guarantee he can pitch a normal starters innings without trouble. Kennedy has issues and was terrible as is Rasner and Ponson. Wang will be back and he is solid but the rest of the rotation is shaky. The bullpen is a mess with the exception of Rivera (unless Joba is the 8th inning guy) Bruney is another health issue guy whose season may have been a mirage and Ramirez showed promise but still walks a lot of guys. Forget the rest.
ARod was hurt and not quite as good as usual though he has a really high standard to live up to. (Not making any assumptions here but will the steroid policy mean that players will go back to aging normally as opposed to the last 10 years where guys played at high levels well past the usual slipping point???)
Jeter had a off year for him and his range is not getting any better at SS. Cano was a big disappointment and supposedly they are looking to move him. Giambi is a FA and though he had a pretty solid year with the power numbers he really should be a DH and with Posada and Matsui and Damon all aging and providing less than stellar defense he is forced to play the field. The Yankees outfield is old and crowded. If they bring back Abreu to play right, they still have big problems with Damon in CF and Matsui in LF. That is a horrific and old OF. Melky was awful and I doubt he gets another shot at CF unless there are injuries which there surely will be with a bunch of mid 30's guys. There is no reason to believe that Matsui and Damon wont regress and it would be considered an upset if Damon repeated his year last year. I know Matsui was hurt but he is really not a great player, he hits for decent average, he has a bit of power, he walks a fair amount, he is not fast, his defense is not great and he is a 35 year old coming off knee surgery. the catcher position is sketchy because Posada obviously cant play 145 games a year there and Molina is SO bad at the plate that it really hurts the team to let him start more than 2 games a month. I'm not sure what they do with Nady but he is also coming off a career year and probably wont repeat that especially when there is no available spot unless they dont resign Abreu. He would be a big drop off from BA.
They are not a good defensive team, they dont have much speed, they really dont have a lot of power, and they are old (outside of Cano no starter in 20's)
Add in the fact that they play in the same division with Tampa and Boston, neither of which figures to slip much and Toronto which has the best pitching staff in the league and a bunch of young players that are most likely going to get better and it looks like a tough task. Assuming they make a splash in the FA pool, things will change but they really need change in areas where it is really hard to find it.