Zimmer's Way

Fixing the Yankees

Moves I'd like to see this offseason:

1. Trade for Randy Johnson - this is a no brainer. The Big Unit is a nasty left hander who can easily neutralize any benefit Curt Schilling confers on the Red Sox. Brian Cashman is as creative as they come and he should be able to make this happen. I also have a funny feeling that the Big Unit would love to go up against Schilling and shut him up for once.
2. Keep Jorge Posada - there has been a conspiracy of idiocy stemming from the meager brains of some sports writers who suggest that the Yankees should trade Jorge Posada. All one has to do is look at Jorge's slugging percentage and onbase percentage to realize this would be a foolish move.
3. Trade Kevin Brown for Andruw Jones - yeah I know Carlos Beltran is the greatest free agent ever. Still, I think trading for Jones is a better move, if for no other reason then he will not require a ten year contract. There's more to why this is a good move though. First of all Jones and Beltran are the same age, they're both excellent center fielders, they both have similar slugging and on base percentages, Beltran's a bit faster, but Jones has flashed better power numbers throughout his career. Beltran is brilliant, but Jones is almost as good and he will cost less.
4. Sign Steve Kline - but don't over pay for him. I'd like Joe Torre to sign a contract promising to never, ever solicit the services of Felix Heredia, Bret Prinz, et al again. With Kline we get an effective lefty who happens to be a ground ball pitcher out of the pen. This means that Torre can restrict (barring an injury) the bullpen to Steve Karsay, Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon and Mo Rivera.
5. Get Jason Giambi healthy - this is of paramount importance. Sure Tony Clark had his moments, and John Olerud had a big homer in the ALCS (hereinafter referred to as the dark times), but neither puts up the kind of offensive numbers a team wants from first base. The suggestion that the Yankees are a better without Giambi is just dumb. The guy is a bona fide masher. When healthy you can pencil Giambi in for 40 homers, 100 RBIs and whole bunch of base on balls. For your reading information compare Giambi's first year with Sheffields: Giambi's first two seasons 2002 - 41 HR/122 RBI/109 BB/120 R/.435 OBP/.598 SLG, 2003 41 HR/107 RBI/129 BB/ 97 R/.412 OBP/.527 SLG. Sheffields first season 39 HR/132 RBI/86 BB/ 126 R/ .419 OBP/ .604 SLG. Okay, so Sheffield had a monster year, but the point is Giambi also had monster years. With Giambi in our lineup the Yanks are just as deadly as Boston at their best. Furthermore, by having Giambi in the lineup Torre can give Posada more days at DH or even to rest because having John Flaherty in the lineup will not be as crippling as it was last season. The return of Giambi also means we can stop having Ruben Sierra run onto the field with that giant fork sticking out of his back.
6. Sign Matt Clement - the guy strikes people out, something that is necessary to defeat Boston. For proof see 2004 World Series.
7. Bring in or promote some useful bench players - there is no need to waste pine space for guys who are never going to play. There should be a concerted team effort to bring in useful role players who can contribute instead of having guys like Ruben Sierra/Tony Clark/Kenny Lofton/Enrique Wilson who possess skills (some are even the kind you want on a baseball team) that are easily replaceable by younger, cheaper players.
8. Avoid the temptatoin to trade for Alfonso Soriano. While we could use an upgrade over Miguel Cairo, although if he does what he did last year and Giambi is healthy and either Mr. Jones or Mr. Beltran are in center field we could live with it, it is hardly a pressing concern. All trade efforts should be used to get Randy Johnson, trading for Soriano would be a poor use of the Yankees meager resources.
9. Sign one live arm out of the Pavano/Milton/Radke crew - anyone who can soak up six innings once every five days without getting their hair lit on fire. This will prevent Torre from abusing his bullpen, meaning they may be able to actually pitch in the post season instead of hurling flat breaking balls over the plate.
10. That is all for the moment.

I'm Baaaack........
It's been a while, so let's have a quick recap on what I haven't written about:
1. The Yankees lose four straight - still unable to form coherent thoughts about this. Although I'm in a state of denial I still find myself cursing Kevin Brown at random points throughout the day.
2. George Bush won, I meant to write cursing Keving Brown and George Bush at random points throughout the day.
3. Paulie O's Warriors finished out of the money. A furious finish could not make up for my midseason swoon.

That's if for now...but updates should appear more regularly.