Replacement Level Yankees Weblog

Disclaimer: If you think this is the official website of the New York Yankees, you're an idiot. Go away.

One Win
by Larry Mahnken

For a team that's had pretty much everything going wrong lately, last night was a night where everything pretty much went right.

Hideki Matsui started things off with a long home run in the second, and ended up with two hits before leaving the game in the sixth, and the team collected 12 hits in total. Jason Giambi hit a two-run double off the centerfield wall that was nearly a home run, and Mike Mussina was the star of the night, taking a perfect game into the fifth and finishing with a 5-hit shutout.

In a normal season, last night's game would have been a fun romp, the kind of game you expect against a team like Pittsburgh at home. This season, it was a welcome relief, an easy win for a team in desperate need of wins of any kind, against a team that, going into last night's game, had a better record than them.

It doesn't really change much, the Yankees are still below .500, still 6½ games back (although at least they're tied for third), and one good hit doesn't mean Giambi's a slugger again, a long homer doesn't mean Matsui's out of his slump, and one win doesn't mean that everything's all right, or even close to all right in Yankeeland.

Even after the win, there's talk of trades coming soon. The immediate question that comes to mind is, even if everyone on the major league roster but A-Rod, Randy Johnson and Jeter is available, what can the Yankees really get that will help them compete in 2005? What is there in the farm system to deal that they can get something useful for, and will they be better off with Wang and Cano or the unexceptional talent they'd get in return for them?

Of course, should this homestand turn out poorly, it might be fair to ask what kind of prospects the Yankees would be able to get for these guys. I doubt that Steinbrenner would be willing to accept defeat in that manner, but it may be the best thing for the future of the organization.

Unfortunately, I don't see Steinbrenner ever making a backwards step in order to put the team on good footing in the future. I don't see the team learning from the mistakes of this past offseason, I see them continuing to overvalue a player's most recent season, their won-lost record, their batting average, their steals. I see them signing other Tony Womacks and Jaret Wrights, I see them choosing veterans over talent, I see them wasting millions of dollars on teams worth a fraction of that money.

The Yankees are, have always been, and will continue to be, in win-now mode. The chances of getting better through trades if the losing continues is slim, the chances of them giving up on this season and building for the future are almost nil. There is only one way that anything good can come from this season. They have to win. Now.

--posted at 10:41 AM by Larry Mahnken / |

Larry Mahnken and SG's
	Replacement Level Yankees Weblog
"Hey, it's free!"