Never Say Never With Yankees

It's early January, and after what some critique as a "slow" hot stove season, many of the big player deals have already been put on paper, although not technically etched in stone, given that some team required physicals still linger for some before the ink finally dries.

Yet there are still some worthy free agents unsigned and players looking to be moved, such as first baseman Carlos Delgado, outfielder Magglio Ordonez, and pitcher Derek Lowe. But by February 24th, the MLB deadline to report for spring training, we will know to which teams these players will belong. For possible trades such as one involving Sammy Sosa, they may wait until the regular season starts. But since the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes has wrapped up with the Mets, it sets the stage for several teams to get going fast with their other pressing needs.

It appears, however, according to Yankees management, that most of the New York Yankees' work is done. Given their decimated pitching corps that they finished with in the 2004 postseason, the Yankees appear substantially better off for 2005, but doubts still remain for the long haul for centerfield and first base.

Many new faces will be showing up to the Yankees' Legends Field in Tampa this February, so much so that combining this offseason with last year's offseason, even an avid Yankee fan may have to think twice to name the entire place setting at this point.

While the deal the Yankees made with pitcher Randy Johnson received the most notoriety, (as it has been waning since this past July when the deal could not be accomplished and again this past December when the Los Angeles Dodgers begged out of a three-way deal) it will only be a part of the impact of the total player moves made this winter by the Yankees.

And as any well-schooled baseball fan knows, games are not won on paper, with so many other intangibles playing a factor in coming out a winner. Given three new starting pitchers in the rotation with several new faces in the bullpen, in a way the Yankees will be starting anew. Randy Johnson will join veteran Mike Mussina along with new acquisitions, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright, as well as the returning Kevin Brown.

Not returning to the Yankees rotation will be Jon Lieber, a formidable pitcher for them in the 2004 postseason, Javier Vasquez, sent packing to Arizona in the Randy Johnson trade, and Yankee favorite, Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, picked up by the Chicago White Sox.

Now no one can say Randy Johnson is replaceable if he pitches when healthy, but the rest of the rotation remains suspect given the many past health problems of a 39-year-old Kevin Brown who spent a good portion of 2004 on the DL as well as the past arm and knee troubles of Jaret Wright. Wright only rehabilitated his career this past season in Atlanta with pitching coach Leo Mazzone, and is untested in the NY market.

While Carl Pavano has similar stats to Vasquez' prior to Vasquez' trade to NY, he is also untested in a big market town, let alone the Yankees. And given the arm problems of Mike Mussina from last season which had him on the DL for a couple of months, he is not the pitcher he was a couple of years ago. And not enough can be said of El Duque who came on for the Yanks at the end of the 2004 season after reconstructive arm surgery in 2003. He went 9-1 just prior to the post-season, but because of his great effort, did not leave enough in the tank for the playoffs. Always a big game pitcher when healthy, his presence will be missed from that rotation.

Then we come to the infield and the big question about first baseman Jason Giambi. The first priority is for the Yankees to assess his health and ability to produce when he gets to spring training. Given that George Steinbrenner will probably not get involved in the Carlos Delgado lottery, most likely the Yankees will keep Giambi for the interim, because he is now damaged goods physically and image-wise and is owed a balance of $82 million on his contract.

Rumors have been flying that the Yankees have consulted with legal eagles to somehow move Giambi or buy him out of his contract since the leaked grand jury testimony of his admission to using steroids and human growth hormones prior to and after he signed his Yankees contract. But for good measure and as insurance, the Yankees were able to resume a relationship with and acquire fan favorite Tino Martinez from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, whom Giambi replaced after the 2001 season.

In the long-term, the Yankees can only hope that Giambi returns to the player he once was without benefit of illegal substances and that his health does not fail again. But given the "pride of the Yankees," he will eventually turn out to be a flash in the pan and dismissed, and another example of one of several "gotta have it" overpriced and lengthy contracts dictated by Steinbrenner himself.

The outfield remains the same as 2004 with a big question mark in centerfield given Bernie Williams' career winding down over the past three years and his physical problems now chronic. It is not a knock against Williams, but because the Yankees did not use him enough as a DH over the past year as promised, and given the luxury of having Kenny Lofton as a backup. It actually had initially been thought there would be a problem giving Williams enough opportunities at DH since they fully expected to use Giambi in that role.

But as Giambi went down, replacements Tony Clark and later John Olerud were used just as much for their fielding capabilities and required a hitting spot, which would have cleared the way to use Willliams as a DH. However Lofton saw more and more a limited role as well as being on the DL himself, necessitating Williams to play in the field on an almost daily basis and Rubin Sierra was used as DH much of the time. We will see what Williams has left this season. But given the circumstances, it looms large how much the Yankees could have used the services of Carlos Beltran, and did not aggressively become a part of the equation in a contract bid.

The Yankees' bullpen has been fortified, as it desperately needed to be since the 2004 bullpen had the most collective appearances in all of MLB due to the failed efforts of its rotation. Mike Stanton, a part of all four Yankees World Championships in the '90s, comes back after a retreat to the Mets the past couple of seasons. He was the quintessential setup man to Mariano Rivera back then, but this time around, will probably be used more discriminately given the choice of the returning Tom Gordon, Tanyon Sturtze, and Steve Karsay, who hopes to be able to contribute as he did prior to surgery in 2003. The Yankees also picked up the services of Felix Rodriguez from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade for Kenny Lofton.

Yankees fans can be certain of a couple of things to still occur prior to Opening Day against the Boston Red Sox on April 3, 2005. They are that concession and ticket prices have risen and that management will continue to tweak the roster not only now and in the early season, but throughout 2005. Manager Joe Torre will have his hands full in once again creating a new and working dynamic with arguably more a roster of all-stars rather than a dependable winning team at this point.

But for now, all will have to settle for what appears on paper, rather than too closely analyzing what is expected to happen. As there are never any guarantees in baseball, only that you can never say never, and especially when it comes to the NY Yankees.