C.C., just say no!

As expected, the scoop from ESPN indicates that the Yankees have made the latest in their recent string of misguided and exorbitant offers to free agent stars. In this case, they’re angling for former Cy Young winner and Brewer savior of last year, C.C. Sabathia. 

First of all, here’s to hoping that C.C. declines the offer (he has indicated that he wants to pitch in the National League, and that he’d prefer to play on the West Coast — needless to say, neither of those things are true in Steinbrennerland). Secondarily, he should avoid the Yankees in the interest of his own career, because New York has recently been a dead-end for big-name free agents in the middle of their careers. Everyone from Carl Pavano and Jason Giambi (remember when Giambi was winning batting titles in Oakland?) to Randy Johnson and Andy Pettite have been entirely mediocre in the Bronx. A few exceptions are inevitable — ARod has pretty consistently put up ARod-like numbers, winning two MVPs with the Yanks, and Mike Mussina has maintained the precision and consistency he developed in Baltimore. However, neither of these men have helped the Yankees win a championship. It’s very interesting to me that as the practice of buying high-priced all-stars on the free agent market has grown more commonplace with the likes of Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman (an apt name, no?), so too have the World Series titles become more elusive.

Back in the mid-to-late 1990s, when the Yankees were dominant, the team was built on solid role players and team cohesion, with a roster filled with the likes of Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams, and Tino Martinez, among others — in short, low-profile players who you don’t hear about anymore. Sure, the Yankees made trades to fill out their roster in the 90s, and occasionally purchased a high-priced free agent, but such tinkering was never essential to the team, and never messed with the team’s core group of players. Nowadays, it seems every year the Yanks operate based on the idea that team building and the valued presence of lesser-known ballplayers is less important than the headline proclaiming the arrival of New York’s next super-star.  

I think that refusal to rely solely on the world of free-agent signing is a fairly consistent thread in the history of successful baseball teams. Boston won in 2004 by formulating a team built largely of all-stars — big-name players Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz were all added years before their eventual championship run – however they’d played together for more than just one year and the team relied also on lesser-knowns like Mike Timlin, Mark Bellhorn, Kevin Millar, and others. Above all, they were built to and had a history of playing together, the opposite of the patch-work collection of arms and bats that the Yankees piece together every season. Of course, history has begun to take its course with the Red Sox, who this year were usurped by a true collection of no-names, the Rays. If Boston’s not careful, it could be headed down the same path…

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