by Kwaziwampo » Thu Dec 11, 2003 9:23 pm
He has ALWAYS been like this unfortunately. A few years back...
From the Daily News:
(Commisioner) Vincent suspended Steinbrenner "permanently" from the game after news surfaced that the Yankee owner had paid a Bronx gambler named Howard Spira to find "damaging information" about Dave Winfield.
This gave time for management to run the team correctly. The name mistake George has always made is trading away the farm system for aging vets. Giambi, et all doesn't seem like it hurts since he's a FA, but most of the time you have to give up a draft pick when you do that, and this takes its toll over time.
The good Yankee teams were built from the farm, without exception. The team he bought i the 70's won championships because it was pretty much in tact (and a different era).
What we're seeing now is just a culmination, I believe of those years of frustration when others ran the team and were successful. Once Bob Watson left, and Cashman was installed, it's been downhill since it's been him pulling the strings. Cashman didn't want Sheffield, and I think a lot of Yankee fans would agree with this.
So what do we have in 5 years? Vasquez, Jeter, Soriano (hopefully), Matsui, and that's it. We have no farm system anymore, it's been traded. We have perhaps 2 legit prospects to me in the whole system.
Whether it's Jay Buhner then, or now, Kevin Brown, Steinbrenner has made horrible trades. The list of original 80's players in our farm system is too painful to bring up, but there were many superstars that were traded away.
If you follow Steinbrenners moves when he was in power, almost all of them have been bad, with the exception of Winfield, and a choice few others.
As a Yankee fan...I hope we can stop the madness of King George. You cannot win championships this way, unless your name ryhmes with Bayne Myzenga.