ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote an excellent article Tuesday detailing how the Yanks went from being the scariest team in baseball to the middle-aged middle of the pack team they are today.
One of the most telling quotes:
The Yankees … began relying almost solely on free-agent spending to augment the team, to paper over weaknesses, and the Yankees sacrificed draft picks along the way. From the fall of 2001 through 2005, the Yankees sacrificed nine high draft picks to sign free agents Jason Giambi, Steve Karsay, Rondell White, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth and Johnny Damon.
There might be one player in that entire list you’d want to trade good, up and coming talent for. And I’ll grant you that I’m writing this in retrospect. But I’ll take Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill, Scott Brosius, or any young player of their ilk, to that pile of goombahs every day of the week.
This also, by the way, slams the door on the argument that the Yankees are able to “buy championships.” Looks to me like you build championships and “buy” yourself vacation time starting in October.