THE YANKEES & BYB GIVE ME REASON TO SMILE

Let’s take a time out this off season from the serious speculations and prognostications about the Yankees and briefly inject some light-heartedness into our lives.  All too often I find myself cringing at the arrogance of GM Brian Cashman and the cluelessness of Manager Joe Girardi, but that can grow old – not only to me, but to you my readers and BYB fans.  So, in light of our founder Robert Casey’s recent article titled: CAPUANO SIGNS & SKINNER POPPED CHAMPAGNE SOMEWHERE, I can’t help but smile and start my day with a better outlook.

I admit, last season I completely ragged on Cashman’s re-signing of both Chris Capuano and Stephen Drew.  Not a week went by when I had something to say about those two “mannequins” on our roster.  I grew frustrated at the continued attempts of our GM to make lemonade with those two old, dry lemons.  Yes, I’d have to say that my irritation had become an obsession (as the esteemed Mr. Casey points out in his article).  I wanted to grab their supporters by the shoulders and shake them to wake them out of their stupor. 

I got sick of hearing how Drew was going to be so much better because he’d finally have a full Spring Training under his belt, and that Capuano was an “innings eater”.  Did I want to gloat at the end of the season when what I had been saying all along proved correct?  No.  It just made me angry that those at the top of the Yankees food chain were either too arrogant or too clueless to see that Capuano and Drew weren’t worth roster spots for an entire season.

Reading Robert’s piece did my heart good on two fronts.  One, it meant that, like Drew, Capuano couldn’t return to the Yankees.  That’s instant relief.  Two, it meant that there is no one on the current roster that I can’t root for with all of my Yankee-loving soul.  Sure, I might not agree with some decisions that are made by Girardi (or Cashman), but I can genuinely get behind any player in the lineup and hope for the best with every at-bat and every pitch.  I’m not sure I could say that for Drew or Capuano.  To me, neither had the “fire” in them to ever be true Yankees.  Both merely represented attempts by our GM to rehabilitate careers long since deemed unrecoverable, and they were occupying two roster spots better suited for baby Bombers more capable of contributing to our success.

Now, Cashman has finally given us some youngsters, and with them, a future full of promise.  Players like Luis Severino, Starlin Castro, Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, and Slade Heathcott represent the future of the franchise.  That makes me smile. 

Each of those, as well as other up-and-coming minor leaguers like Aaron Judge, Rob Refsnyder and Bryan Mitchell who might see action in the Bronx this season, make up what our team will look like once ARod, Tex, CC, and Carlos roll off the payroll.  It’s a bright road that lies ahead if we can hang on to those young stars, I am sure of it.

I deserved Casey’s “poke”, but at the same time I don’t regret my laments.  If I see roster injustice being done to my beloved Yankees, I’m gonna point it out – repeatedly – until it has been eliminated.  I only want what’s best for the team I’ve rooted for since birth.

Thank you to both Brian Cashman and Robert Casey.  Today you have both given me cause to smile and hope.  Now, Robert, about that champagne…


    

--Steve Skinner, BYB Senior Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1

 




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