"I know it sounds neat when the Yankees talk about getting younger and more athletic, but I keep looking over their roster and wondering where this is supposed to happen, middle relief?
...
Seriously, where is all this youth and speed going to show up, with a new backup first baseman?
A backup infielder?
With this Yankee team, getting younger for the '06 season is a lot easier said than done."
When have the Yankees talked about getting younger and more athletic for '06? Is Mike Lupica confusing his own "Shootin' From The Lip" columns with Yankee press releases?
But since Lupica posed the question, I'll answer it for him. Bubba Crosby in CF instead of Bernie Williams, Andy Phillips at DH instead of Ruben Sierra, and Satchel Paige in the starting rotation instead of Kevin Brown.
All minor adjustments for sure, but all moves that improve the club with addition-by-subtraction.
If Lupica wants to talk about teams that are old and slow, please talk about the Mets. During this offseason, the Mets got older, slower, less athletic, more expensive, and also a whole lot better.
The Yankee could get faster and younger by swapping rosters with the Columbus Clippers. Kevin Reese is young and Melky Cabrera is quite athletic. "E-8" Cabrera has to be athletic to run down all the fly balls that he misjudges in centerfield.
The goal of any baseball team is not to be young, nor fast, nor "athletic" (whatever that means). The goal is to be good.
I don't really know how good the Yankees will be in '06. Johnny Damon couldn't hurt, that's for sure. But I'd prefer if they added a dumb, old, slow, fat, chain smoking DH who could jack 40 dingers.
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