Do you believe in life after dynasty?
This is not a question for the philosophers. This is not a question for the masses. This is not even a question for Joan Collins or John Forsythe.
This a question for a gentleman named George M. Steinbrenner III. And we already know how he'll answer it.
For the New York Yankees, there is no such thing as a rebuilding year.
"Every year, after the season, we meet in Tampa," says Yankees GM Brian Cashman. "And every year, the question the Boss asks is: 'Is this team good enough to get to the World Series and win?' He doesn't ask: 'Are we good enough to win the division?' Or, 'Are we good enough to win the wild card?'
"It's always: 'Are we good enough to win the World Series?' That's part of being a Yankee. The bar has been set. That's our mission statement every year."
Winning a Subway Series over The Boss' favorite obsession, the Mets, isn't going to change that. No mere threepeat is going to change that. Winnning four out of five World Series isn't going to change that.
We hate to break this to the rest of the world, but even as the champagne is drying and the tickertape is floating through the Manhattan sky, the Yankees are already thinking about how to win another World Series.
And by next opening day, they'll have agreed to the largest local-TV deal in baseball history. So more than ever, even after inflating this year's payroll to a record $112 million, money will be no object.
The last threepeaters -- the '72-74 A's -- were blown up by the first eruption of free agency. But the Yankees won't be destroyed by free agency. We know that. They're the kings of using free agency.
So as they head into this pivotal winter, with 10 potential free agents, they don't see that as a bad thing. They see it as another chance to reshape and recreate their Big Pinstriped Machine for a run at fourpeating.
"You're never the same from year to year," says Joe Torre. "Last year we lost (Joe) Girardi and (Luis) Sojo and Chili Davis. There are always a certain amount of graduates who don't come back. And if some of these guys don't come back next year, there's some sadness in that. But there's also a sense that while you were together, you made the most of it."
And they did. But they've also been evolving throughout it all:
Over these last three postseasons, 18 different position players have started a game for the Yankees on at least one October day.
Over that same span, 15 different men threw a pitch for them in a postseason game.
Nine different Yankees pitchers won a game over those three Octobers.
And a total of 38 different players found their way into at least one postseason box score -- even Homer Bush, Randy Choate and Luis Polonia.
So the Yankees understand the theory of baseball evolution. And they will apply it again this winter. Here's a look at their possible changes:
The manager
Despite rumblings that Steinbrenner has begun to question Torre more than ever, this is one manager who isn't going anywhere, barring something extremely unforeseen.
Torre has one year left on his contract. He has shown no signs of not wanting to honor it. And after the Yankees had finished off the Mets, Steinbrenner gave no indications that he had any plans to force Torre out the door.
Asked if he has given any thought to how much longer he'll want to manage, Torre replied: "Hopefully, when it's time, I'll know that. But I do know one thing. I'm 60 years old. So when I do decide to walk away, I'm not going to walk away for a couple of years and then decide to come back.
"When I walk away this time, this is it. So when I do it, I've got to be sure that's what I want to do."
Even Torre isn't sure when he'll make that walk. But it won't be this winter.
The pitching staff
Certainly gone: Denny Neagle.
Probably gone: David Cone.
On the fence: Jeff Nelson.
On the shopping list: Mike Mussina, Pedro Astacio.
It was hard to envision Neagle turning into Kenny Rogers when the Yankees traded four prime-time prospects for him. But when Torre yanked him out of two postseason games in which he was leading in the fifth inning, it told you just how little faith the manager had in him. So if Neagle still wants his four years, $40 million, he'll have to get it elsewhere.
Cone wants to keep pitching, even though he'll turn 38 next year and he's coming off the worst season of his career (4-14, 6.91). So it's impossible for the Yankees to commit to him. But Steinbrenner, amazingly, left the door open Thursday night, saying: "David and I are going to sit down after the season and talk." One possible destination: the Mets.
Nelson is a free agent who has made noises about wanting to go back home to Seattle. He also is looking to become the highest-paid set-up man in history, asking for a reported $4 million a year for three to five years. But he dodged questions about his future Thursday, saying: "I think I owe it to myself to become a free agent. And I don't want to say anything more than that. It might hurt my bargaining power with Mr. Steinbrenner."
Remember this: If Neagle and Cone are gone, that's $16.75 million in payroll dollars freed up for the Yankees to plow back into reinforcements.
The Yankees almost certainly will pursue Mussina. But he's looking for Kevin Brown dollars and would seem to prefer a slightly less-turbulent scene.
They tried to trade for Astacio before the trade deadline in July and might renew that interest. But Torre said Thursday that any team with El Duque, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens on its staff doesn't need another No. 1 starter. It just needs "somebody who could maybe win 12 games in that No. 4 or 5 slot." So they easily could bring in a middle-level starter and then see where they're at come midseason.
The infield
All four infield positions represent intriguing offseason challenges for the Yankees, for different reasons.
Derek Jeter. There's more chance of Steinbrenner leaving the Yankees than there is of Jeter leaving. But the shortstop is just a year from free agency. And since the Boss never did OK the seven-year, $118.5-million extension the two sides tentatively agreed on last winter, Jeter now can sit back and let A-Rod, Jeff Bagwell and Sammy Sosa set his new market for him. If you had 10 percent of that market, you could retire to Maui the minute the t's are crossed.
Chuck Knoblauch. He has $6 million coming next year, another $18 million through 2003. And how do you trade a second baseman in that tax bracket whose team was afraid to put him in the field in the entire month of October? It would seem next-to-impossible. But the Yankees are expected to float Knoblauch's name and see what happens.
Tino and Brosius. At the corners, Scott Brosius and Tino Martinez both have another year under contract (assuming the Yankees, as expected, pick up Martinez's option), at $5.25 million and $6 million, respectively. But consider that they combined for only 32 homers and 155 RBI this year -- 31 fewer homers and 71 fewer RBI than the Indians got out of their first and third basemen this season.
So the Yankees wouldn't mind upgrading. But Brosius has more value to the Yankees than he would as a hot trading-block commodity. He's also a Gold Glove third baseman.
And he's a .391 career World Series hitter who always seems to play best when the games mean the most. So forget those Scott Rolen rumors. Brosius figures to be back.
And so does Martinez, whose clubhouse stability grows in importance as other cast members depart. The Yankees may entertain thoughts of Mo Vaughn, whom the Angels will shop. But Anaheim wants a big-time starting pitcher in return, and the Yankees have none they can afford to trade. There are always the free-agent options: Andres Galarraga, Will Clark, David Segui. But the Yankees would have to be able to trade Martinez before they could go that route.
So after finding his stroke and hitting .364 in the World Series, Martinez should return, unless a more attractive alternative somehow falls into the Yankees' laps.
The outfield
Going nowhere. Bernie Williams and David Justice can sign the lease on their spring-training condos in Tampa. Williams is a fixture, and Justice was the Yankees' second-half MVP. But he'll spend a lot more time DH-ing next year, as Shane Spencer returns and the brass looks around for outfielders.
Going, going ... but not necessarily gone is Paul O'Neill. The Yankees clearly covet Manny Ramirez, who has just about priced himself out of Cleveland. But Torre put in a good word for O'Neill after his 9-for-19 renaissance during the World Series, saying: "If he's not here next year, it would be a big hole in it for me." So O'Neill, who will be 38, still could wind up getting a David Cone-like one-year offer to stay, either as a left fielder (if Ramirez joins the fun) or a part-timer.
Optional: Glenallen Hill has a $1.5-million option. The Yankees are believed to be leaning toward picking it up. Jose Canseco has a $4-million option. No chance they'll pick that one up.
On the shopping list: Ramirez grew up in nearby Washington Heights. His withdrawn personality might not be the perfect fit for the tabloid capital of the world. But if he's looking for A-Rod type money, the Yankees are one team he won't be pricing out of his market. And even if he signs elsewhere, there are numerous outfield alternatives: Johnny Damon, Jeffrey Hammonds, etc.
The bench
Hill and Jose Vizcaino both would love to return. If the Yankees can convince them to take minor-league deals with a shot to make the team next spring, they will.
One spot the Yankees clearly want to upgrade is backup catcher. And since two dozen catchers normally float around looking for work every winter, that should be no problem.
The outlook
After all of this tinkering is complete, the scary thing for the rest of the sport to contemplate is this: Jeter is still just 26. Pettitte is 28. Mariano Rivera is 30. Williams, Martinez and Knoblauch are all 32. So the core group of this club has many miles of tread left on its tires.
If there's a worry, it's that the Yankees traded away nine prospects this summer to get Neagle, Justice and Hill. So their supply of tradeable young players has dwindled to its lowest level in years. But this is a smart, creative group with pockets deeper than the Grand Canyon. So they always find a way.
And they'd better, since Steinbrenner has no plans to let someone else get a turn at spraying that champagne next October.
Asked in the winning locker room how long he thought this team could keep on winning these World Series, the Boss didn't sound like a man conceding it was the end of any eras.
"Forever," he said. "I hope."
Jayson Stark is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
ALSO SEE
Jayson Stark archive
Klapisch: Taking inventory of Mets
|
