At this point in the offseason, it's hard to know where exactly we are going. When we see the Matt Holliday contract, the Jason Bay contract, the John Lackey contract, there isn't an extensive rollback. Now it may be there are some really good players who get squeezed between Feb. 1-15. I think that might happen, because of the economy in between the two coasts. It is apparent, and it worries me. One thing Major League Baseball has tried to do with revenue sharing is to level the playing field. But like one general manager said to me today, it's almost getting to be British Premier Soccer. Barring either a miracle from Tampa or a bunch of injuries, we know the Yankees and Red Sox are going to be in the postseason. It's a little dangerous. It's very hard to be able to change the system any more, but if you're in Cleveland, or if you're in Pittsburgh, you just can't operate with mistakes that you can have with a big-revenue team. You have to treat things very different, you have to take a long view. Some Indians fan said to me this winter, "Well, they let the last two Cy Young Award winners go." I said, "You think they wanted to do that?" If you've been to Cleveland in the last few years, you know.While Gammons makes good points about the league -- points we've heard before -- there really isn't much they can do about it and I think people are starting to overreact since the Yankees just won. What people have already forgotten is that it was their first since 2000, and since then seven different teams not named the Yankees have won a World Series. In that same time five different teams have been crowned NBA champs, six different teams have won the Super Bowl, and seven teams have won Stanley Cups championships. So maybe all this complaining about a lack of parity is a little overblown. It's hard for bad teams to win in any league, with or without a salary cap.
It's something the game has to address, and it's become more and more evident. Last year the Yankees were able to go get the best pitcher and the best player in CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. They got one of the three best pitchers in A.J. Burnett. And they won the World Series. I think you see those big-market teams really pounding after those players now. It's troublesome to me. It's something that I hope people in Cleveland, Pittsburgh -- places where they are really trying -- don't get too discouraged. Another example, look at what Tampa Bay did the year before -- got to the World Series. Fun team, some just great young players, and they barely got any rise in attendance. They all of a sudden have to think, "OK, is our window closing on us?" And that's one of the best-run teams in sports, period.
Yankees GM Brian Cashman wasn't afforded the opportunity that Theo Epstein was when he took over the Red Sox, in that they were still playing for the model. Epstein has always balanced what he calls "the bridge" -- between the immediacy of having to contend and being competitive every year, which is building the farm system and investing a lot in scouting. I think it really paid off for the Yankees this past year on both levels. They did it both ways: They pared a lot of payroll, then they added the big names. They've also done a great job developing their farm system. That's where a lot of these small-market teams can't compete. If you took probably the two best prospects in Boston's farm system, both were guys they were able to draft. Casey Kelly they were able to pay $3 million to, Ryan Westmoreland $2 million. If you're the Kansas City Royals, you can't pay Ryan Westmoreland $2 or $3 million in the fifth round. He's probably one of the best prospects in baseball, certainly the best in Boston's organization. And that scouting and development, some of the big-market teams are figuring that out now, and using that even more as an advantage. That's too bad. I don't have the solutions. I'm guessing that for all revenue-sharing has done, it pains the commissioner to see the dichotomy.
I don't think there's any question that the Yankees have been winners this offseason. Javy Vazquez is a tremendous pitcher. Curtis Granderson gives them defense in left field. You put Vazquez and Granderson in there with Derek Jeter and Mo Rivera and you just keep building that core of real character, that's important.
Anyway, I do agree with him that the Yankees have had a good offseason, although they could still use one more piece.
