The End of the Johan Watch, The Beginning of a Dynasty?

The Hank

The Johan Santana saga will be looked back upon and thought of in one of two ways: as the day the Yankees finally changed their ways and began investing in young talent, or the day the Yankees let the best pitcher on the planet get away. Either way this is clearly a turning point for the franchise. In years past the Yankees would have backed the truck up and given the Twins whatever they wanted for Johan - Hughes, Kennedy, Tabata and how about Joba too? This is clearly a new Yankee era - the Post George era.

We have three top prospects that will determine our season in 2008 and they will be determining a lot more - how the franchise is run from here on out. If they flop, permanent damage could be done to the 'build from within' strategy that Cashman has been preaching. Let's say they turn out to be mediocre, and also the 'bullpen by a committee of prospects' fails, the George will come out in Hank. Hal will no longer be able to control him and with over $60 million + coming off the books after 08 there will be nothing from stopping an old fashion George-like shopping spree. Once again the Yankees could end up an old, expensive, passionless team made of high paid mercenaries.

However, if the big three turn out to be legit players and contribute to Yankee success this year with promise of more, the whole dynamic of the team changes. The Yankees can then spend excessively on free agents that fill a spot of weakness - say a Mark Texiera for first base - and still maintain a young core that plays with passion and allows for some roster flexibility. Instead of watching the Giambis and Kevin Browns of the world play out the end of their overpaid contracts, we can see Austin Jackson and Humberto "The Dirty" Sanchez try and make their mark. Also, without the burden of large contracts you can have open competition and if a player cannot perform someone else will be given a shot. If you have a pitcher that is making $20 million dollars a year he is going to get a spot, even if we all know he can't handle it (see Brown, Kevin and Vasquez, Javier).

So the Johan watch and the fact the Yankees walked away (I guess the deadline was legit after all) is a clear turning point in Yankee history. Now while it might take more then a year to really know if it was the right move, expect the Steinbrenners to make up their minds based on this year entirely. So as we watch the big three this year, remember you are not only rooting for them to succeed and this year's pennant, you are rooting for the future make of the franchise.

The Santana Watch Day 85

The Hank

Ok, now we can't even go a full day without conflicting Johan reports (and The Hank opening his big fat mouth). First ESPN was reporting that the Yankees had pulled their offer off the table and were officially (for real this time!) out of the Johan sweepstakes. Then the story that was posted on ESPN.com quickly morphed into;

TAMPA, Fla. -- New York Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner has not closed the door on a trade for Minnesota Twins left-hander Johan Santana, despite reports to the contrary.

"It's still in the deciding process," Steinbrenner said Monday night outside Legends Field at the Yankees' spring training complex. "We're still discussing it. There's still a little talk back and forth."

The Twins really have no choice but to deal Santana and if they wait till the season starts his trade value will only decrease. However, they continue to try and wait the Yankees out.; they want one more top prospect and I bet they get it.

Joba and Johan

The Hank

The Daily News has an article headlined "Joba Chamberlain may start next season in bullpen for Yankees " but the headline does not jive with the content. Cashman is non-committal to any strategy other then preparing Joba as a starter;

"We're going to prepare him as a starter and we see him as a starter," Yankee GM Brian Cashman said yesterday. "But we have an innings limit that he won't exceed. How we manage the innings limit remains to be seen. The plan is to have him start, but there are a number of scenarios that we'll review."

A non-story.

Also, there is now talk that the Yankees are out of the Johan sweepstakes and this comes a week after Hank said the Yanks were still in it. So now the Red Sox were about to make a deal, then they were the clear leaders, then Johan was not going to be traded, then the Yanks were the leaders and now they are out of it with the Mets in the lead. Got it? Ignore all the talk until something happens. I still say he ends up in the Bronx.

2008 - The Cashman Swan Song?

The Hank

Brian Cashman made some interesting comments at Theo Epstein's charity round table;

On Hank and Hal
"So I’m focused fully on doing everything I possibly can to assist them in their emergence now as decision makers.”

On His future with the Yankees;
"Because of all the work that gets involved with doing the job, it kind of prevents me from really looking ahead past this year,” he said. “I’m just doing everything I possibly can to assist the transition with the new manager, the new owners, with the involvement now with the Steinbrenner sons. And then the rest will take care of itself at another time.”

Now Cashman fought hard to have the final say on all baseball decisions and that power has clearly been transferred to the Brothers. I would expect that at the end of this year we might be looking at another power struggle by Cashman and this one I think he will loose. George was aging in 2005 and clearly needed to get out of the day to day operations of the Yankees Hank and Hal are just getting their feet wet and Hank clearly loves the spotlight.

So the question is will Cashman except less control and if he doesn't do we as Yankee fans have reason to feel concerned?

I can see Cashman walking. He has spent 10 years with the Yankees and is well respected in the game. He probably will have no trouble finding another job.

So do we care? You have to give Cashman some credit for the recent success of the player development program but really the man who deserves the bulk of the credit is Damon Oppenheimer. With Hank at least publicly stating interest in the youth movement and Hal's tight purse strings you can expect Damon to continue to make a large impact without Cashman and for the Yankees to give some of these guys a shot. Cashman has not had a lot of success with his veteran player moves especially pitchers in recent years (Wright, Pavano, Randy, Vasquez, Weaver) and continues to make questionable decisions(1 year of Hawkins instead of 2 with Vizcaino) so in the end I am not sure if this would really be a lose at all.

My take - thanks for time serve Cashman turn off the lights on your way out.

The Santana Watch Day 74

The Hank

Tyler Kepner has a piece in the times today echoing a line we have heard before;

Hal Steinbrenner would try to do it with the existing payroll of roughly $200 million. Hank is more inclined to add Santana, largely to keep him away from the rival Boston Red Sox.

On the surface this seems reasonable, 200 million is already a ton of money. But Johan is signed for 13 million for next year and the year after Pettitte, Abreu, Giambi and Farnsworth come off the books which will reduce the payroll by over 60 million dollars. Also, the new stadium revenue could boost already sky high revenues significantly. So the financial question really only applies to 2008 and are the Yankees really going to nix trade for baseball's best pitcher over 13 million?

Your Johan Fact of the Day

The Hank

Johan Santana had a 3.33 era last year, his worse performance since 2001. The last Yankee to start 30+ games and have a better era was Mike Mussina in 2001. As the Hank says today in Newsday about the Cashman;

"He'll [Cashman] tell me that one day he wakes up and wants to do one thing, and the next he wakes up and wants to do the other thing," Steinbrenner said, "and I'm kind of the same way. I think that we're not exactly panicking thinking that we have to have anything at this point, but it's still a possibility. He's a great pitcher, and it has to be seriously considered."

I feel the same when I see statistics like this I want to make the deal but the thought of the holy trinity dominating for 10 years makes me hesitate.

Johan Santana to Yankees, Crawls Along

The Hank

The Johan Santana saga has gotten to the point were it is almost as annoying as the Randy Johnson to the Yankees talks. Anyway, there was a big of news out of team Hank. First, two of the three won't be traded according to The Hank;
"I am not giving up two of the three," Steinbrenner said of Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Hughes, the Holy Trio of the Yankees' pitching-rich organization. "That's not going to happen."
Wait so Joba is one the table? I hope that is not the case and this is just an off the cuff comment that doesn't mean Joba is a possibility.
Second, moving Matsui would increase the vigor with which the Yankees went after Santana according to the Newark Star Ledger;
"A person who has spoken to Minnesota management and asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak for the team said the Yankees told the Twins they would get back into the Santana talks if they can shed the contract of left fielder Hideki Matsui"
So now we wait for this painfully long saga to play out.

Johan Deal STILL Won't Die

The Hank

Not that is a shock but the Johan sweepstakes continue and the Yankees are very much involved. I have written here before that, in the end, I think Johan will be a Yankee and that they will give up what I consider to be too much. I also fear with the steroids report hitting the Yankees hard they will try and act fast.

But perhaps the biggest concern from the recent news that the talks were not dead were the following Hank quotes;
"I'm still thinking about it."
"That's something that I'll have to decide,"
If there was any doubt there shouldn't be anymore, Hank is the new boss same as the old....

Johan Deal Won't Die

The Hank

Yesterday we get word the Yankees were tryign to unload Matsui, possibly to clear some salary and then today the Ny Post is reporting Hankdestein is back tracking on his ultamatum;

"While Hank Steinbrenner acknowledges that he hasn't slammed the door on a potential blockbuster deal for Johan Santana, several possible trade chips the Twins might want are "as close to untouchable as you get," the Yankees' senior vice president said Friday."

Jeez, and I thought this guy said no more interviews?

""Like I said, I feel I have a duty to let our fans know as much as I can with their team, although sometimes I do go too far," he admitted. "In the respect of being the front guy, that's gonna slow down now. This is my last interview."

Guess not.

The New York Fan Myth

The Hank

A constant reason given for the lack of patience of New York franchises is the fact that the fans simple won't accept rebuilding. Apparently we are too stupid and impatient to allow for a team to do something for the future and we will forever turn to some other passion like bowling or canasta. It is the excuse the Knicks give for Isaiah disaster and the Rangers for years used it as an excuse. Now there is some truth to the fact that fans won't show up to games if the team sucks. We won't, but that makes us no different then any other city. However, after the Johan non-trade the fan reaction should show that we are smarter or at least more patient then we are given credit for. I ran into two polls one on River Ave Blues and this one on newsday.com

Both are landslide victories in favor of keeping the kids and not getting Johan. Meanwhile the move has been killed in the press by the Bergen Record , the Post, and Peter (Theo’s Secret Lover) Gammonds said he thought the Yankees would change their stance after the backlash of negative publicity. Hank apparently missed that backlash. He mentioned about the positive feedback he has gotten from the fans;

“They’re the ones that buy tickets and watch the YES Network. I like the way they get attached to homegrown Yankee players, just like the rest of us do in ownership and the front office. I was actually kind of surprised. But the fans seem to be in favor of keeping Hughes, and that’s a good thing.”

What is clear is the PRESS are the ones who can't handle a little youth movement. They want the big trade and the big flop ala Randy Johnson, it sells. The fans on the other hand are more intelligent then that. We can and will wait for our team to do things the right way. So please can everyone stop saying us New York fans won't tolerate smart baseball decisions like investing in youth ? This is the one thing I think the Johan situation should prove once and for all.