Yankees Editorial: The Yankees Should Start Fresh

Chad Jennings of Lohud is reporting that the Yankees’ problems aren’t that they are passing on players this offseason—it’s what they’ve done in past offseasons. Missing out on Max Scherzer or James Shields isn’t their main concern. For now, their roster is full of old, broken down players, who they overpaid.

The Yankees are notorious for paying players salaries in which they deserved four or five year’s prior. For example, Carlos Beltran received a three-year $45 million dollar salary. Was he worth that compensation? At one point in his career, yes, he was worth every penny. Was he worth it last offseason? No.

Every cent the Yankees dished out in the past on players who are on the backend of their careers, will haunt them. Committing lengthy deals, packed with millions of dollars is the Yankees’ forte. They were born big spenders, ever since the days of Jacob Ruppert.

Alex Rodriguez didn’t work out for them after he re-signed in 2007. Mark Teixeira has been a disaster. CC Sabathia has been miserable. There’s no escaping these contracts, too. They’re stuck in a period of turmoil, and there’s no fleeing in the near future.

Personally, I believe they should just stop. Stop everything—start over. Dump these bums, and start fresh like teams in the past have. Maybe, they should take the Mets’ approach: develop within, and wait until their young players are ready. And believe me, the Mets’ baseball methods are going to work very soon. Their ability to develop young pitchers—and a lot of them—will come out on top, once they acquire the hitting to complement it.

Yes, the Yankees have that option, too, but it’s not for them. They’ll struggle until they adapt a developmental strategy. But, when they do, things will start falling into place, reviving the team’s legacy. When that day comes, A-Rod will be long gone, Sabathia will be yesterday’s news and Teixeira will be coaching somewhere.

For now, the Yankees are stuck with a bunch of unwanted contracts; they are stuck with players they don’t even want. Is there a bright side to their roster? I’m not entirely sure about that, yet. They possess talented players, but there are too many holes that need filling.

At the start of the Core Four dynasty, not everyone was convinced the Yankees were getting on track. Today, they are struggling, hosting a small supply of young players, itching to break out. It’s possible that we see resurgence, and another Core Four evolve—starting a new dynasty all over again. But, it’s possible the Yankees’ dynasty will stay buried, until that one Luke Skywalker-type player brings balance to team.

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