Baseball Beyond Boston (Major League news)

The Yankees have a bright future headlined by cheap youngsters such as Wang, Hughes, Sanchez and Igawa.  Regardless, I'm pretty sure that their fans no longer view Randy as a possible savior, but instead see him as what he truly is: a guy taking up a spot in the rotation and clogging up the payroll.  Just because they have money to burn doesn't mean they enjoy doing it.  

That said, I do think that Randy will turn things around, especially in the NL.  I could even see him posting a sub-4 ERA again.

I agree with everything you wrote about. As a Yankee fan I can tell you that I want this bum gone today. I just want to see what the Yanks do with that money. I'm Guessing they turn and give it to Zito. Not sure if thats such a great idea but we'll see.

1) Randy Johnson: they acquired him from Arizona with just 1/16.5 left on his contract and immediately granted him a 2/32 extension.  He'd been a World Series hero (against the Yanks) and a perrenial Cy Young Award candidate for years before coming to New York, becoming too injry prone and unexpectedly faltering.  Now they're trying to return him like a lame Christmas present.  

2 and 3) Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright: they gave those guys 4/40 and 3/21 respectively in free agency after uncharasteristically good seasons in their contract years.  Pavano pitched a miserable half-season for the Yanks in 2005 and was out for all of 2006, so he's been (almost literally) nothing but a drain on the payroll.  Now, they'd trade him for a basket of batting practice balls if they could.  Wright never pitched a full season in New York before being traded this offseason and, judging by the numbers he posted, that was probably a good thing.  

4, 5, 6 and 7)  Chien-Ming Wang, Jeff Karstens, Phillip Hughes and Sanchez: Wang showed the Yankees the benefit of building a pitching staff from within and has managed to maintain his success beyond his stellar rookie campaign.  Karstens had a wonderful 42.2 IP and 6 starts last year and looks to be the next youngster to succeed for the organization.  Hughes is being hyped as an ace (possibly the third best righty in the minors) and Sanchez looks to be another promising young arm.  

8)  Kei Igawa: he had amazing numbers in Japan and should be a starter in America.  At very least, he's young, cheap and plenty good enough to round out a rotation.  

9 and 10)  Barry Zito and Scott Boras: though his agent is marketing him as one, everyone in the know realizes that Zito is not an ace.  Why would the Yanks spend on him as though he is (6/100+) if they know otherwise?

11 and 12)  Roger Clemens and Carlos Zambrano: They can sign the Rocket for a season (they seem to be the front runners for his services, ahead of the pesimistic Astros and longshot Red Sox) and then snag someone like Zambrano next offseason.  

Im not saying the Yanks should sign Zito. BUT he is 84-5 when getting four or more runs a game. That is just an insane stat. Imagine how many wins that would amount to with a line-up like the Yankees. I dont think the Yanks wanted to sign Zito when this off season started. But I've read that they have looked at the up coming free agent classes and they arent that impressed. He's a 28 year old lefty that has already won a Cy Young. So Im not to sure why everyone is so down on this guy.