Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Yankees Without A Franchise Player

With Cano signing with the Mariners, and the Yankees picking up Ellsbury and Beltran it got me thinking.  For many Yankee fans, we never experienced a franchise that didn't have a franchise player.  Even when we weren't winning, we still had at least one iconic player that represented the brand.  We have been extremely lucky to have several over the years, and since 1996 we have had some combination of Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera.  The players we picked up who supported them also became core Yankees (the Paul O'Neil's, David Cone's, Tino Martinez etc.) but we always took particular pride in the core four.  Before the dynasty Yankees, we had Don Mattingly through the 80's and early 90's to put our hope in.  I bring this up because Derek Jeter is likely to retire after the 2014 season.  He will be the last of the core group to go, and will mark the end of an era for the Yankees.  So when we return for the 2015 who will be the face of the franchise?  Ellsbury?  Beltran?  Sabathia?  McCann?  Teixeira?  Let's say Robertson and Gardner are still around, will they stand out as the next line of franchise players?  I think the Yankees are in for a new era of their history, where their most iconic players will be hired hands instead of home grown guys.  Even when the Yankees have been bad (and they've had their stretches) they've had a homegrown guy the fan base could support and get behind.  With Cano gone, we are going to see the culmination of the Yankees team-building strategy: a team without a face.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention Jorge Posada, the face of angry Yankees for years. I miss him.

If I have to pick a player from those you mentioned, it would be Robertson. He has the personal qualities to be the face of the Yankees, though not necessarily the skills of Mattingly or O'Neil, but that is the legacy of Cashman to the team; a team with no significant player to care for. The 20th century was the Yankees' century in baseball history. They built the teams or at least had the players everyone wanted to watch. I wonder if the 21st century will be Boston's century. Right now, they are building the teams that win world series and that is all that matters in baseball. We'll see; though I do hope I'm wrong!

Rich Mahogany said...

I'm guessing the whole point of the big contracts given to Sabathia, Teixeira, and especially ARod was to ensure that the Yankees would have franchise players for many years to come. But that plan didn't work out too well.

Now look at the Red Sox. They have one player signed through 2016. That's Pedroia, who took a contract less than half the size of Cano's even though the two are comparable players. Besides Pedroia, they have only three players with contracts of at least four years: Lackey, Lester, and Buchholz. The Lester and Buchholz contracts are obviously good deals for young, talented pitchers, and are just the kind that the Yankees tend not to make. Lackey's deal is an aberration compared to the rest of the team, and even that contract might turn out ok if he repeats his 2013 performance.

The rest of the players are useful pieces brought in on one to three year deals, like Napoli (now resigned for two years), Uehara, and Victorino. And then there's Ortiz, who somehow exists as a franchise icon who signs two-year contracts.

So this might be Boston's time because it realized that you don't create franchise players by signing elite players in their thirties to $200 million contracts. You bring in the right players at the right time, on terms that make sense, win championships, and hope you find guys like Pedroia and Ortiz who would rather stick around than test the market.

Korean Cartman said...

hahahah "the face of angry Yankee"! Awww I miss that angry Jorge's face...
Who shall be the next angry Yankee?

Rich Mahogany said...

McCann is the heavy favorite.

Fernando Alejandro said...

Ah man, how could I leave out Jorge! That just solidifies the point even more. Before Cashman, we had a farm system!

I think the Yankees need to get in touch with the times. With the exception of 2009, you can't buy your way to a championship. We thrived through the late 90's on smart signings, and developing our own players! That's how Boston has won their championships as well. The Yankees team building philosophy has proved to be ineffective, and costly. At some point I hope they'll finally figure it out, but it may take having a super expensive roster, with a half empty stadium for them to realize that this is getting boring.

And yes, my money is on McCann being the next angry Yankee!!

Rich Mahogany said...

Well that's what we said before. When you can't develop a single quality player internally, it's impossible to field a championship team no matter how much you spend. You end up with a bizarre mismatch of really expensive free agents and scrap heap guys because you can't get anyone good from the minors or trades.

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

Is he heavily favored or the favorite who is also heavy?