FOREVER YOUNG

It really does baffle me. Again the Yankee Universe finds itself watching October baseball, and again I continue to see “Let’s get Hanley to play short!” or “We need to pull the trigger and go get Tulo!” and “Shoulda paid Cano!” Look, this isn’t the answer in my opinion. It is NOT the formula to win. We saw the formula work in the 90s and yet we somehow find ourselves back in the 1980s, when the organization traded away the farm and spent on aging stars. It doesn’t work!

Both Ramirez and Tulo are pricey and often hurt. I get that Troy is a big Jeter fan, but is that enough of a reason to bring him in? No, no it isn’t.

Look at the Royals. Yes, it’s taking them a long, long time, but they had Hosmer, Moose and even Wil Myers in the system together. They have nowhere near the money New York has and yet they let the kids play it out and arrive in the Bigs together (a la Jeter, Jorge, Mo and Andy).

When they saw a trade that would help the staff they dealt Meyers for Shields. That’s building a team. Playing it smart. Staying younger, paying for pitching. Keeping a core together. The Yankees used to do that. Now, well it’s “let’s sign Beltran and hope his knees heal and he can be the player he was as a Royal or an Astro.” It is a recipe for a lot of baseball-less Octobers.



I love the movie “Miracle”. I’m a big hockey fan and the story of Team USA in 1980 is a great one for any sports fan…or underdog fan. One of the most outstanding lines uttered by Kurt Russell (playing Coach Herb Brooks) came when he was interviewing of the job. He said that All Star teams fail because they depend solely on the individual’s talent. But what he was proposing would be to take the player and put him in a system that would help the team. In short if you spend to have a superstar at every position you will end up with a lot of old, once great players who make a ton of money and yield little in return…like Tex.

I am fully aware that the New York Yankee fans demand a winner every year. I appreciate that the front office tries to bring a great club to the Bronx every year, but two things NEED to happen. We, as Yankee fans, need to find a hint of patience. And the powers that be have to be smarter. Let the kids play down on the farm. We always hear the Yankee farm system is weak…how do we really know? They are given up on almost instantly.

I don’t want Hanley. I’d rather let the kids in the system earn it. We all root for the rooks. It can happen like it did with Bernie.

If someone champions a young player and let’s them grow the floodgates can and will open. I believe in always using money on pitching if the need is there (though I like Shane Greene and hope there is more where he came from). If there is a chance to get Lester or Max…go get them. We have NO CLUE as to how CC will be, if Tanaka is destined for the knife or if Nova comes back.

The youngsters also bring the fan base in. I truly believe that we want to cheer for our homegrown guys. We just need to allow them to mature and develop into stars. It can and does happen. The game is no longer ruled by big market spending. It is a young man’s game and intelligent moves will win the race. Let’s go back to the days of Stick Michael and the Core 4 and stay forever young.

** Not a fan of the song, but not a fan of the current formula in the Bronx either **
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 --Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21




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