WHY CASHMAN BRILLIANCE DELIVERS RESULTS

I'm sitting here thinking about the State of the Yankees and while I'm not concenred about Jeter and the Yanks getting a deal done, I am thinking about the "soft" spots of the roster. For instance, I'm loving the outfield right now, but I sometimes feel like having Gardner as leadoff is better than batting him in the 9th spot. Let's face it, Jeter's a great lead-off, but he's not technically a lead-off hitter. Gardner is. Speed and a singles hitter is someone you want there. The 2 man can hit you over with a base hit or sacrifce automatically.

The 4th outfielder is something that is sticking in my mind, as well as other things. I'm thinking someone cheap but solid can be much better than a big fish free agent like Crawford or Werth.

Would the Yankees be better with one of those 2? Yes. We would kick ass, but can we afford them? Hell no. Let's be smart, let's blow our load on Lee, Jeet, Mo and a few solid lefty relievers and bench players. You know what I mean? Back to my thought though... I just read that Podsednik is now a free agent. Is he a good 4th outfield option? I like that dude. Scrappy. But, what would he cost? Is he someone who would be good off the bench? Would he WANT to be on the bench? Would he rotate with the others? How about a Pat Burrell? Can we pry him away from San Francisco? He loves it there. See what I mean? There's names but at what cost. Cashman needs to be smart with the dough.

Look at the DH role? Who is a good replacement for Marcus Thames? Pat Burrell again? Maybe Adam Dunn or Rocco Baldelli. Oh, I got it... Jim Thome... That lefty bat at Yankee Stadium would be incredible. Thome such a throwback, he'd be bad ass in a loose fitting Yankee uniform. Can you picture it? But again, at what cost? Can we get these guys cheap?

Then you have to look at the catching situation. You can look at me and say "Yo, Mighty Casey, we have Posada, we're good!" Try again, 39 year old Posada is not as good as he used to be. I love the guy, but age is a bitch. Face facts, Posada can't catch 162 games anymore, maybe not even 140. Plus, what I've been hearing is that the Yanks like Cervelli but don't love the guy, and, he can't hit homeruns. Look, I'm the first to tell you all that I love enthusiasum and the fist pump, Cervelli provides that. But the dude doesn't hit home runs. I like my catcher hitting home runs. Posada hits home runs, not Francisco. So what do you do? Do we bring up Jesus Montero? Do we look at free agent backup like a John Buck or a Matt Treanor? Would that be a cheap, yet solid fix?

And what about our bench? I know Garrett Atkins, Jorge Cantu and Melvin Mora are out there, and they can also play 3rd and maybe even first. But... and there's a but... Would they also ride the bench and perhaps platoon to give our regulars a rest once in a while? (By the way, I love Cantu. I always wanted him in New York.) Or maybe the bench is someone like a Brad Hawpe who helped Tampa Bay down the stretch this year. (BTW, he's the Austin Kearns for this post, I just can't see him a Yankee). OR do we reunite with Johnny Damon? Both Hawpe and Damon are outfielders and could platoon to with our regular outfielders to give them a rest.

Then you need to look at our bullpen, we need lefty help. And we lost Kerry Wood, but can we get Wood back at a decent price? He's the obvious choice for the 8th inning guy and he's 33 years old and kicked ass for the Yanks this year. Boone Logan was a good lefty for us, but not great when push came the shove. Scott Downs is a lefty from Toronto. He's an obvious, awesome choice. J.C. Romero? Maybe. Again, money is a factor. How much are these guys going to cost, and if it's expensive, how do we get the guys we really want up top in Lee, Jeet and the like?

As you can see, it's a tough Free Agent market out there. While we may be able to get a few lower level free agents, trades will be key as well as home grown talent. But don't worry Yankee fans, Cashman's on the move. He was on the move during the playoffs and ready to pounce... Hal insists the Yanks will have a Championship team next year. Let's hope it all goes our way.

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