Living a charmed Bronx life
07/03/2002
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I've always thought that "hate" is a profoundly ugly word. I mean, when you say that you hate something, you're not talking about a general disliking or even a mild aversion. No, when you hate something, you detest it, you despise it, you loathe it, you wish it never existed and you're repulsed by the mere mention of its name. And although you'd probably never admit it for fear of public scrutiny, you may even want terribly dreadful things to happen to the objects of your hatred.
Not exactly a pretty four-letter word, is it? For that reason, I don't use it very often. Sure, I hate things, some for more obvious reasons than others, but I try to limit that classification to the absolute worst this world has to offer. I hate rug burns and sunburn, sinus headaches and hangovers. I can't stand losing and I hate "The Golden Girls," "Roseanne," Teletubbies, flat pop, skunked beer, people who don't clean up after their dogs, canker sores, the Backstreet Boys, *NSync, R. Kelly, Osama bin Laden, paper cuts, computer viruses, Rosie O'Donnell, "Major League III," term papers, pop quizzes, strep throat, poison ivy, inaccurate drive-thru orders, sauerkraut, lima beans, Art Modell, blisters, water up my nose, poor grammar, vanity plates and that stupid little Toyota Echo. That may sound like a lot of things, I know, but when you consider just how many idiotic and deplorable people, places and things there are in the world, my list seems pretty reasonable.
Oh yeah, and I absolutely and unconditionally hate the New York freaking Yankees. Forgot about that one.
I know all you pinstripers out there are rolling you're eyes right now, thinking that I hate the Yankees because they win the World Series practically every year. But you're wrong.
I don't hate the Yankees for winning. I hate the Yankees for how they win. It's as simple as that.
You see, with the way Major League Baseball is currently set up, nearly every team in the game has to rebuild at some point in time. Some teams rebuild more often than others, some seemingly rebuild every year, the good teams rebuild quicker than the bad ones and the bad teams rebuild upon a foundation of questionable young talent. But the bottom line here is, most teams at some point in time are faced with that dreadful rebuilding phase.
Not the Yankees, though. They rebuild through free agency. They rebuild by trading for the high-salary players that other teams can't afford to keep. They rebuild by outbidding every other team in the entire league for a prized acquisition during the winter.
The only problem is, that's not technically rebuilding -- that's just retooling for another World Series run. And damnit, that really pisses me off.
Take the Cleveland Indians, for instance. Since 1994, the Tribe has unquestionably been one of the best teams in baseball. Period. Sure, they haven't won a ring since 1948 but an impressive string of AL Central titles, two World Series appearances and a consistent level of championship-caliber play placed them in the upper-echelon of the baseball hierarchy for nearly a decade.
But faced with aging veterans, a desolate farm system, plummeting fan interest and a mandated payroll cut the past couple years, sadly that winning era has come to an end at The Jake.
It's now time to rebuild.
So gone is Bartolo Colon, sent to the Expos for three prized prospects. Gone is Robbie Alomar, shipped to the Mets this past offseason for Matt Lawton and two more youngsters. Juan Gonzalez wasn't offered a free-agent deal last winter. Neither was Kenny Lofton.
The team that found itself two outs away from a world championship in 1997 is no longer looking at veteran leadership to carry it to the postseason. Instead, the Indians are looking at guys like Brandon Phillips, C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Alex Escobar to carry them into the postseason.
Circa 2004, of course.
And the Indians aren't alone. The Philadelphia Phillies, just two games away from the playoffs last year, apparently are ready to move Scott Rolen, Travis Lee, Robert Person and anybody else not named Burrell or Abreu for the right package of prospects. The Milwaukee Brewers would probably unload everybody but Richie Sexson and Ben Sheets for some young studs. The Tigers and Royals are in a perpetual rebuilding phase, meaning Jeff Weaver, Paul Byrd and Roberto Hernandez could change locations before July 31, and the Rangers, who still haven't figured out that Alex Rodriguez alone can't win 100-plus games, are on the lookout for young arms.
Then there's Toronto. The Blue Jays are in the same boat -- their season is lost, meaning it's time to think about 2003 and beyond. So earlier this week, the Jays, desperate to unload some of the hefty salary they've taken on the past few years, finally found a taker for right fielder Raul Mondesi.
The New York freaking Yankees.
Now, I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with this had it been your typical rebuilding move. But it wasn't. Instead of having to cough up some prized outfield prospect or someone like promising lefty starter Ted Lilly, the Yankees shored up their "hole" in right field, and all they lost was 26-year-old reliever Scott Wiggins, a seventh-round draft pick... in 1997.
Let the rebuilding in Toronto begin!
The Blue Jays pulled the trigger on this deal, not because they were getting a career minor-leaguer in return, but because they were unloading Mondesi's bulky contract in the process. Sure, the Jays still have to pay nearly half of his $13 million salary next year, but they were still able to erase a total of $12.5 million from their books.
And because the Yankees are just about the only team in baseball who could take on that kind of financial commitment -- despite a team salary that already approached $130 million -- they won the Mondesi sweepstakes.
It's a joke.
With just another small hike in his gargantuan payroll, George Steinbrenner took care of his team's one perceived weakness by adding another former All Star to his roster. Funny thing is, that perceived weakness, a right-field platoon consisting of John Vander Wal and Shane Spencer, had contributed a .260 combined average with eight homers and 40 RBI. Sure, that's not Hall-of-Fame material, but a weakness? How many teams would be satisfied with a regular right fielder hitting 16 homers and driving in 80 runs with a .260 average over the course of a year? Plenty. In fact, Trot Nixon, Boston's everyday right fielder, is currently hitting .255 with eight bombs and 30 RBI while Cleveland RF Matt Lawton owns a .245 average with nine homers and 30 RBI.
But those numbers don't coincide with Yankee greatness, so Steinbrenner opened up his wallet and added yet another slugger to his potent lineup, a guy who last year jacked 27 homers and stole 30 bases. Oh, and let's not forget that Mondesi has one of the best outfield arms in baseball.
Said Steinbrenner after his latest purchase, ''... the way our fans are supporting us day after day, I've got to step forward for them.'' Ah, to be a Yankees fan... .
Should we have expected anything less, though? I mean, after coming up short in their bid to win a fourth-straight World Series last year, New York brought in Jason Giambi, Steve Karsay, Robin Ventura, Rondell White, David Wells and Vander Wal during the offseason. And how did the champion Arizona Diamondbacks retool for another run? They signed Rick Helling and Jose Guillen and watched Reggie Sanders accept an offer with the Giants. It's almost enough to make even the most devoted baseball fan welcome a work stoppage this summer, hoping for some sort of financial reform to help save the game we've loved for so long.
So while the rest of the league has to rebuild on a regular basis, the Yankees continue to simply restock their All Star shelves with even more expensive merchandise. And because of Steinbrenner's willingness to overspend for certain players, he's been able to hang on to his organization's few prospect gems throughout his seven-year run -- how often did we hear Alfonso Soriano's name mentioned in trade rumors in 1999 and 2000? Lilly reportedly was on his way to Florida for Cliff Floyd this year and you can bet every team in baseball wants to pry Drew Henson away from the Bronx. Don't count on it.
Most fans don't understand the whole rebuilding process. They look at the Yankees and can't understand why one team can continually play at such a high level while others have to tear it all down and start over again from scratch. I wrote a column last week defending the Colon trade, and because of my stance I took a lot of heat from some readers in Cleveland and a bunch of my friends who've followed this team for years. But I understand how it all works now: When your run is over, when your farm system is empty, and when your franchise cornerstones are on the wrong side of 30, it's time to look toward the future. Even if that means trading those lovable fan favorites, and assuming you target the right minor league talent, it'll be a move that pays off in the long run.
There's no such thing as team loyalty anymore, and players no longer care about spending their entire careers in one city either -- that went out the door for good when Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn hung up their cleats last season. In today's game, the quickest way to become a contending team again is simply to tear it all down, showcase your veterans and start that rebuilding process as early as possible.
Unless, of course, you're the New York freaking Yankees.
In the Bullz-Eye
The St. Louis Cardinals. Now that the shock of Darryl Kile's death has worn off a bit, it's time for the Cards to figure out how they'll recover, both on and off the field. Kile's loss certainly hurts St. Louis on a personal level, but they somehow have to replace him on the mound too. A 16-game winner last year and a 20-game winner in 2000, the Cards find themselves just one game ahead of the Reds in the NL Central, meaning it's probably time to pull off a big trade.