Keidel: Yanks Are Supposed To Contend, Not Be MLB's Rebuilders-In-Chief
By Jason Keidel
» More Columns
Sweeny Murti, the best guy you'll ever meet in this (or any) industry, has been covering the Yankees for so long he can probably moonwalk into every locker room in baseball -- blindfolded.
But even the intrepid WFAN beat reporter must be jarred by the fresh or forlorn faces in the Yankees' dugout these days.
Indeed, it only feels like the Yankees morphed into the Miami Marlins, holding a baseball flea market that rivals the one sprawled around MetLife Stadium every year.
MORE: Yankees Send Beltran To Rangers; Mets Finally Get Bruce
Many pundits applaud the Yankees today, for bucking their eternal refrain as bulls on the baseball market, hording pricey players in the hopes that they will return to their ancestral home -- the World Series. Or at least get close enough to justify another free agent binge.
But instead of playing they purged. Frankly, it's hard to recall a week when a single team jettisoned as much high-end talent as the Yankees did in shipping Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Beltran, and Ivan Nova for some prospects.
This was no ordinary deadline splurge. The Yankees literally jettisoned their three best players and three most gripping reasons to watch them for the rest of the season.
They did, however, get some glittering bounty in return.
Outfielder Clint Frazier, shortstop Gleyber Torres and pitchers Justus Sheffield and Dillon Tate are considered keenly valued prospects. And thus, the Yankees just sprinkled a big batch of seeds across their farm system, which has long ranked in the lower-half in the majors. Not only will a fertile farm keep the Yankees loaded with young players, but they also have trade chips should they contend next year and need a bat or big arm to nudge them over the top.
According to an article from CBS News (which cited stats from Gobankingrates.com), the Yankees are the third-most expensive experience in MLB. While the average ticket is a little less than $30, we all know how fast you can drain your wallet on River Ave. (And if there really are $3 hot dogs, I'd love to bite one.) We also know that the semicircle of seats around the infield can tickle $2,000.
The difference between the Yankees and the two teams ahead of them (Cubs and Red Sox) is the Yankees just tipped their symbolic caps and ducked into the dugout for the season. No matter how grand their minor league system just became, you don't deal your only .300 hitter and a guy who throws 105 mph if you plan on a pennant. Not to mention the fact that the Yankees ($224 million) had outspent the Sox on payroll by $10 million and dished out $44 million more than the Cubs.
So while general manager Brian Cashman and the Yanks showed some long-term prudence, it does raise one poignant question: Are they allowed to think that way? Are the Yankees permitted to rebuild rather than reload? Using a college football analogy, they've always attacked the free agent feast like Ohio State, not Rutgers.
In this inverted world, where the Yankees forfeit a season and the Cubs are the class of baseball, it makes you wonder how long the Bronx Bombers can live off the faerie dust of these deals.
No matter how keen their collective eyes were for young talent, they are still the Yankees, forever expected to orbit the thin air of title contenders. Not only are they easily the most accomplished team in this (or any) sport, the last 20 years have groomed a spoiled fan base that expects them to have their mail forwarded to October.
So while they clearly hoisted the white flag for this season, you wonder how patient the pampered masses will be next season.
As a good friend and former Associated Press writer once told me, prospects are exactly that until proven otherwise. Meanwhile, the Yankees detonated perhaps the best bullpen the sport has ever seen. And with such a premium placed on relief pitching, it would be reasonable to wonder if the sell-off was worth it.
Only time will tell when the Yanks will win again. Unless fed up fans tell them it's time to win again.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
