Fink Thinks: Off-Season Opinions
by: Zachary Finkelstein
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
I've always liked the aforementioned passage about striving for excellence without the fear of failure. It's a motto followed by 29 Major League Baseball franchises. While winning it all should always be the goal, no club can finish at the apex of the professional baseball mountain each season. Not even the New York Yankees.
The Yankees do not set modest goals. Rather, they despise them. Winning 27 World Series titles and 40 American League pennants will do that to a team.
Most Major League clubs would be thrilled to have won the World Series, like the Yankees did in 2009, only to fall two games short of the following year's Fall Classic.
Not the Yankees, who have several key questions to examine this winter.
Joe Girardi's Contract: Joe Girardi was hired as Yankees skipper prior to the 2008 season, having already earned one Manager of the Year award with the Florida Marlins in 2006.
While some feel that Girardi is too focused on data, supporters rightly point out that he has excelled at managing the 25 personalities in the clubhouse. Joe's boss, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, is one of those supporters.
"He's absolutely coming back," Cashman said following the Yankees defeat in Texas.
Although he has yet to ink an extension, all signs suggest that No. 28 will be calling the shots from the Yankees' dugout in 2011.
In my mind, Girardi is deserving of a new deal. Under his watch, the Yankees have compiled a Major League-best .591 regular-season winning percentage while winning the 2009 World Series. When you've been that good, over a three-year span, you've become a hard guy to knock.
Verdict: Re-sign Girardi for two or three years.
Issue No. 2: Three of the four patriarchal Yankees, with the exception of Jorge Posada, are eligible for free agency. There's no question in my mind that the Yankees should and will re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The future of Andy Pettitte is somewhat uncertain.
As the face of the Yankees, Derek Jeter is arguably the most heralded player to don pinstripes since Mickey Mantle patrolled center field during the 1950s and 1960s. From a statistical standpoint Jeter ranks at or near the top of many meaningful offensive categories and, barring something unforeseen, will become the first Yankee to record 3,000 hits in 2011.
Derek is a rare talent whose value cannot be analyzed solely by statistics. The Yankees' brand is one of the largest in the world and Jeter is largely responsible for that fact - he is a future Hall of Famer and an outstanding ambassador for a team that has won four World Series titles and fourteen playoff berths in fifteen years.
Verdict: Sign the 36-year-old living legend for $100 million over four years or lock him up with a lifetime personal services contract.
Although Jeter is the undisputed face of the franchise, an argument can be made that Mariano Rivera has been the most important factor in the Yankees' success since 1996.
This past season, the indomitable closer again defied nature by recording 33 saves and a 1.80 ERA – at the age of 40. In doing so Rivera again boated through uncharted waters, as history has been quite unkind to older relief pitchers.
Verdict: With no signs of a decline, the Yankees should re-sign Rivera for 2011 at $15 million. If Mo wants "mo' money," a two-year deal would be appropriate.
Unlike Jeter and Rivera, Yankees' southpaw Andy Pettitte has not spent the entirety of his career in pinstripes. As a result, his departure would be tolerable to the residents of Yankees Universe.
In fact, there is no guarantee that Pettitte wants to pitch in 2011. In discussing his future earlier this year, the Louisiana-born lefty told Jack Curry of the YES Network that "there are so many things going on back home and I'm not there."
Pettitte also told Mr. Curry (my all-time favorite baseball writer) that he can't keep asking his wife "to take care of everything."
If Andy wants in next year, the Yankees should oblige. He can still pitch, as evidenced by his 2010 All-Star nomination and first-half stats: An 11-2 record with a 2.70 ERA. However, in his first start following the Mid-Summer Classic, he aggravated his groin and missed two months. Would a younger Pettitte have recovered quicker from a similar injury? He did in 2001, missing only 15 days.
Age aside, the Yankees should re-sign Pettitte because of his proven postseason prowess.
As Baseball's all-time leader in playoff wins, Pettitte dazzled again this October, going 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA. His lone loss came against Texas in the American League Championship Series. Besting him was Cliff Lee, who limited New York to two hits over eight scoreless innings.
Verdict: Pettitte has risks because of his age and injury history, but is still a valuable asset. Furthermore, there aren't a lot of options on the free agent market. Re-sign him for one year.
If You Can't Beat Him, Sign Him: Back in July, it looked like the Yankees were going to acquire Cliff Lee from the woeful Seattle Mariners. However, to the surprise of many, Lee was ultimately traded to Texas.
There are two reasons the Yankees need Lee, who leads this off-season's free agent class. The first one is obvious: he's one of the best pitchers in the game.
Over his nine-year career, Lee has compiled a regular-season record of 102-61, a 3.85 ERA, two All-Star appearances and a Cy Young Award in 2008. Impressive during the regular season, Lee's been literally unbeatable during Baseball's postseason dance.
In eight career playoff starts, Lee is 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA, with 67 strikeouts and seven walks. This October, heis 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA, with 34 strike outs and one walk allowed.
That's not a typo. A 34:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
While pitching in the 2009 World Series for the Phillies and against New York last week, Lee has gone 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA. He has the Yankees' number.
When free agency opens, the Bombers will surely be shopping for pitching. After Lee, there is a precipitous drop in pitching talent.
Verdict: Lee will sign somewhere for five years and at least $20 million per season. I'd guess that when it's all said and done, Lee lands in the Bronx. There aren't many teams willing to shell out that type of coin for a 32-year-old pitcher, however talented.
