your overdue rant

As a die-hard Yankees fan, this was quite the roller coaster year. Considering how strange it was for them to be under the radar because of all the Red Sox hype, they did well winning 97 games and the AL East. Nova and Robertson brought great excitement and bright futures. Granderson and Cano led the way with the bat. Rivera did what he does best.

Then there was A-Rod, too gimpy to do anything, incapable of playing more than five days a week. Mark Teixeira, who didn't have one month where he hit at least .270. Russell Martin is a favorite of the rotation, but his hitting declined for the 5th straight season. Swisher, Gardner, and Jeter were hot and cold. Rafael Soriano did his best Carl Pavano impression, missing half the season with a phantom injury. Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett were dreadful. Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon had nice starts but the final results were sub-par.

And when it mattered most, August/September/October, Sabathia couldn't get a win. The bullpen turned Evan Longoria, Dan Johnson, and Jacoby Ellsbury into legendary heroes. Swisher, A-Rod, and Teixeira couldn't get a hit, floundering in the most crucial moments.

The biggest confirmation I gained from this season was how special those 1998 New York Yankees were, the greatest TEAM of all time. They weren't stacked with perennial All-Stars, big-name celebrities snatched off the free agent market after a bidding war. The team was led by home-grown talent, smaller-named free agent heroes, clutch and impact players on the bench, intelligent and solid winners in the rotation, and a great bullpen.

- Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Jeter, Posada, Scott Brosius, Chuck Knaublach, Chad Curtis, Darryl Strawberry, Shane Spencer, Tim Raines, Homer Bush, and Chili Davis
- David Cone, Andy Pettitte, David Wells, Orlando Hernandez, Ramiro Mendoza
- Mariano Rivera, Graeme Lloyd, Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton

Two years later (2000) the Yankees had practically the same team on the field (with additions of Roger Clemens, David Justice, and Alfonso Soriano; thank you, I'll take them all). Is it any wonder this team won 3 straight World Series, 4 out of 5, and made it to Game 7 in the 6th year?

This year the team was stuck with ARod (six more years!), Burnett (two more years!), Tex and Swisher (AWOL in the postseason, every postseason), Jeter (great player, but he's 37 and the last time he had a big hit was about 8 years ago), and a patchwork pitching staff full of hopefuls (AJ Burnett: two more years!).

I root for the Yankees to win the World Series but am I surprised that they lost a first round matchup? No. This is not a great team and they have few heroes left.

What I vote for moving forward:
- If C.C. Sabathia opts out and wants a raise, don't make another Alex-Rodriguez'-size mistake.
- Go after C.J. Wilson instead.
- Give Eduardo Nunez an opportunity to play everyday.
- If Hughes can't keep his velocity up, move him to the bullpen and make room for the young Yankees' in the minors.
- Keep Jesus Montero in the lineup.
- Give Brett Gardner a chance to be the best leadoff hitter in the league.

I'm sick of all the fuel the front office keeps giving Yankee haters. ARod and his bad contract are here forever. Jeter is overpaid and replaceable. Burnett is a liability. Rafael Soriano is a a 7th inning guy getting paid $12M. C.C. Sabathia is a workhorse, but he's a fat workhorse with a ton of mileage on his arm and will likely ask for more than his largest contract ever for a pitcher. The Yankees' bench is nonexistent. Rotation depth is very shallow. A high payroll guarantees that they will be competitive but it does NOT guarantee success once you get to the postseason.

Where are the heroes? Who is the replacement for Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Bernie Williams, and Tino Martinez? Robinson Cano can't do it all himself. They had some heroes in Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui but they gave them away. Who in the rotation has the heart of David Cone, El Duque, or Pettitte?

I'm a die-hard Yankees fan, but the management has forgotten how they became a dynasty. And it's been so long you can't blame them.

** The one consolation from the end of the season is that the Yankees were far from having the greatest meltdown. Those honors go to:
1. Red Sox: best team for the middle four months, dreadful when it mattered most.
2. Phillies: take that Cliff Lee. (He would look much better in pinstripes).
3. Braves: owned the greatest collapse in baseball history for about 15 minutes.
4. Giants: had a 4 game lead on July 28 and made a deal acquiring the best trade-deadline hitter Carlos Beltran, only to finish 8 games behind the Dbacks.

(By the way, if C.C. doesn't opt out and keeps his contract, I'll love him for the next four years.)