The Buhner.com Blog

NOTE: This is a work in progress. It may never be finished, but if I don’t publish it, it’ll just sit there and take all my energy when I want to write something else. This rambles, doesn’t necessarily go anywhere, but I swear at one time it had a purpose, and ended up growing like a tumor, and completely out of control. It was originally started on 9/3/05.

The most frightening thing to come out of Friday’s Yankee game wasn’t the 12-0 shellacking the team took at the hands of Oakland - it was the lineup card Joe Torre submitted that evening.

The Yankees, fresh off of acquiring outfielder Matt Lawton for the stretch run, left him on the bench, instead choosing not only to put Hideki Matsui back in left (he had been playing center with Lawton in left), but to take Bernie Williams, whose appearences in the outfield appeared to end with the acquisition of Lawton, start in center field. Why not DH Bernie?

Because Torre favorite Ruben Sierra had returned. Sierra, who was never that great of an outfielder in his prime, is almost completely immobile in the outfield at the age of 39 (Sierra actually turns 40 next month), but in order to get Sierra in the lineup, Torre went back to one of his original lineups, putting Matsui in left and former gold glover Williams in center, despite everyone from baseball analysts to Sherpas in the Himalayas knowing that Bernie neither has the wheels nor the arm to play center field anymore.

While it may sound like blasphemy to some Yankee fans, the time for Torre may need to come to an end soon. On a local sports radio show, someone (I swear it was Michael Kay, but I could be wrong) asked which managers you would rather have than Torre right now. Kay could only mention two off the top of his head, because Torre was such a good manager.

I’ll get to those managers later. For right now, let’s look at “all-time great” Torre.

Torre began his managerial career with the New York Mets in 1977, where he was already playing (although his career was quickly ending, and he retired as a player 18 days after he became Mets manager). The team finished 86-76 in 1976, but under Torre, the team failed to win 70 games during the five years of his tenure. Torre’s winning percentage for the Mets: .419 (an improvement over Joe Frazier, whom he replaced his first season, who started .333), .407, .389, .414, .398. Torre was fired after the 1982 season after finishing in last place four out of his six seasons with the team. The club was handed over to George Bamberger, who could do nothing with the team, then under the guidance of Davey Johnson became the dominant Mets team of the mid to late 80s.

Torre was scooped up by Atlanta, who was starting to come to respectability under Bobby Cox, in Cox’s first major league managerial position. Cox was fired, however, and replaced by Torre. Torre led the Braves to a division title (only to be swept in 3 games by St. Louis), then two second place finishes (the second a tie) before being fired by Atlanta after the 1984 season. Torre’s winning percentages with Atlanta: .549, .543, .494.

Torre went on to broadcast for the Angels after his Atlanta stint, and came back 6 years later with St. Louis, a team he had previously won an MVP for in his playing days. Torre went 24-34 for the rest of the 1990 season, and the Cards finished in last, after an 86-76 finish the season previous. Torre’s Cardinals teams were small ball teams, with little power but lots of stolen bases. After 3 80+ win seasons which saw no first place finishes, Torre went 53-61 in the strike shortened 1994 season, then went 20-27 in 1995, where he was replaced mid-season by Mike Jorgenson. The Cardinals replaced Jorgenson after the end of the season with Tony LaRussa, who led the Cards to a division title the following year. Torre’s winning percentages with St. Louis: .414, .519, .512, .537, .465, .426.

The Yankees, who had just let Buck Showalter go as their manager, turned to Torre. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was not a Showalter fan, despite his development of a Yankees team that was over .500 three of the four seasons he managed them (after a stretch of three seasons under .500, their worst stretch since the mid 60s, including a 67-95 record in 1990, their worst winning percentage since 1913.) Showalter, Gene Michael, and Bob Watson (and a convienent banning of George Steinbrenner in 1990) allow the Yankees to run the franchise like a “normal” franchise - developing young players while giving other players the opportunity to play. Within two seasons under Showalter, only 4 regulars remained from the ‘91 Stump Merrill squad: Don Mattingly, Pat Kelly, Bernie Williams, and closer Steve Farr. That 1993 team saw several surprises:

- catcher Mike Stanley, a non-roster invitee in 1992 who made the team as a backup to Matt Nokes at 29, put up .305/.389/.534 numbers in 1993, his first year as a full-time starter - at the age of 30.

- 35 year old 3B Wade Boggs, given up for dead by the Red Sox after a .259 batting average in 1992, putting up .302/.378/.362 in 1993 and more importantly giving the team a steady third baseman. The Yankees had started 9 different players at third base the previous two seasons. Boggs’ 1993 numbers would actually be the worst numbers he would put up for the Bombers.

- right fielder Paul O’Neill, acquired from the Cincinnati Reds for Roberto Kelly. The trade of Kelly, who had been one of the steadier bats during the Yankee lean times looked questionable at first (O’Neill, a year and a half older than Kelly, was coming off a .246/.346/.373 season with Cincinnati) gave not only a sign to Bernie Williams that the center field job was his alone, something that would not likely have happened in the Steinbrenner years, but also gave the Yankees O’Neill, who turned out to be more productive of a hitter than Kelly ever would be, and one of the emotional leaders of the later teams.

- Jimmy Key, the low profile free agent that normally would have been heralded as the “savior of the Yankees”, as pitchers such as Ed Whitson and Andy Hawkins were painted as by the media, then taken apart after their failures. While higher profile names as Doug Drabek, John Smiley, Chris Bosio, Greg Swindell, David Cone, and Greg Maddux were available, Key turned out to be the starting pitcher free agent that the Yankees got right. The 32 year old Key, who for years had been a #2 starter behind Dave Steib in Toronto, became the #1 starter in New York and felt comfortable in the role - maybe because less was expected of him.

Would Torre even have gotten a shot had baseball not gone on strike in 1994? The Yankees had the best record in the American League in 1994, a comfortable 6.5 games ahead of Baltimore at the time of the work stoppage. When baseball came back in 1995, the dynasty Yankees began to appear. Among them:

- Derek Jeter, the 21 year old phenom who got a 15 game cup of coffee with the big club. The Yankees had no reason to rush Jeter, having vet Tony Fernandez at short already and vets Randy Velarde and Kevin Elster hanging around in case Fernandez got hurt, which tended to happen.

- Jorge Posada, a September callup who got into one game, without an at-bat. The 23 year old switch hitting catcher would spend another full season in AAA and the season following that as slap-hitting veteran Joe Girardi’s backup before getting the opportunity to start for the Yankees… at the age of 26.

- Sterling Hitchcock, who had cups of coffee with the Yanks in ‘92 and ‘93 and spent time in the bullpen in 1994, spent his first real time int eh Yankee rotation in 1995. While he was never greatly impressive as a starter for the Yanks, he becomes important for other reasons.

- Andy Pettitte, the big lefthander who got the opportunity to start thanks to injuries and failures of other starters. Pettitte makes his Yankee debut at the age of 22, making him the youngest pitcher on the staff, and becomes an anchor of the Yankee rotation for years to come.

- Mariano Rivera, the small righthander a season removed from A-ball, who was put into the rotation after posting good numbers in AAA earlier in the season. Rivera would post a 5.51 ERA in 1995 with the Yanks, then ended up in the bullpen, where he ended up becoming the dominant closer he is today.

Despite the talent starting to come together on the ‘95 Yankees squad, they were still a year away. The Yankees made the playoffs as the first ever “wild card” team from the American League, and took on Seattle in the first round of the AL playoffs. After winning the first two games, the Yankees dropped the last three to the upstart M’s, including losing game five in extra innings.

That offseason, Steinbrenner, who had been relatively quiet since his return to the club in 1993, reportedly met with Showalter, where the Boss informed Showalter that he woould have to let go two members of his coaching staff. Showalter refused and resigned as manager of the Yankees.

And here was Torre, waiting in the wings. While some point to Torre’s quiet leadership of the team bringing the group together, in reality the team was already set. Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill, two of the Yankees best hitters, were already on the roster. Mike Stanley was replaced with Girardi, who was well liked on the team and called a good game. Pat Kelly was replaced at second base by Mariano Duncan, a journeyman who had a career year for the club. Jeter likely would not have gotten the starting job had Tony Fernandez not broken his elbow and been out for the season. The team was skilled, but not the best team in the American League that year - Baltimore’s surprising 3-1 Divisional Series win over Cleveland, who had the best record in the American League, put the Yankess against the team that finished second to them in their division. Add onto that a bit of luck in the hands of Jeffrey Maier and a surprising turnaround after two straight thrashings at the hands of Atlanta, and you’ve got yourselves a World Series champion.

Was it Torre’s leadership that led the Yankees to the championship over Showalter’s 1995 squad? Or was it a combination of several things - veteran leadership on the field (players such as Girardi, Boggs, O’Neill, Charlie Hayes and Tim Raines), the accidential discovery of a 1-2 punch in the bullpen (in John Wetteland and failed starter Mariano Rivera), and the exchange of the albatross of Don Mattingly’s failing health with 28 year old Tino Martinez, who would hit .292/.364/.466 for the club, compared to Mattingly’s .288/.341/.413 the season prior.

Mind you, the 1996 squad was, upon closer inspection, prototypical of the 80s Yankee squads - built to win today. The difference between the 1996 squad and the 80s squads is that the Yankees brought in their veterans without sqandering any of their farm system away. Girardi came at the expence of minor league closer Mike DeJean. Duncan and Boggs were free agent signings. O’Neill came from the beforementioned Roberto Kelly. Tim Raines was acquired for Blaise Kozeniewski. Cecil Fielder came from Ruben Sierra. Charlie Hayes? Chris Corn.

But by 1997, the team that was built for 1996 was showing its age. Duncan and Raines were limited to 50 and 74 games respectively. Wade Boggs was 39 years old. Cecil Fielder slugged only .410. While those players were showing their age, free agent signees weren’t helping. Mark Whiten, signed to compete for the left field position, hit 5 HR in 215 AB and was released in August. Kenny Rogers, who pitched mediocre for the Yanks during the 1996 season, pitched horrible in 1997, going 6-7 with a 5.65 ERA and was demoted to the bullpen in what would be his last year in the Bronx. However the worst one of all, the heavily promoted Hideki Irabu, was hurt a good portion of the season and when healthy, could only manage a 5-4 record with a 7.09 ERA. Still, the team managed to ride the backs of great seasons from Martinez, Williams, and O’Neill, pitching from Pettitte and David Cone, and the best bullpen in the league (even without John Wetteland, who had left via free agency for Texas) to a 96-66 record, good for second place in the East and a wild card birth. The Yanks dropped the first playoff series to Cleveland, and the team was looking at 1998 with a questionable future.

Of course, the 1998 Yankees won 114 games, and Torre basically had job security for life.

Again, is it Torre that can get credited with this upswing, or is it someone else? Perhaps this is where Brian Cashman comes in. Bob Watson, who had his clashes with Steinbrenner ever since the Boss came back into power (including publicly insisting that there was no place for Yankee reclaimation project Darryl Strawberry on the roster), finally quits on February 2nd, 1998, and is replaced by 30 year old Brian Cashman. So far that offseason, Cashman and Watson had seen Wade Boggs and Dwight Gooden file for free agency and leave. Kenny Rogers had been traded away for third baseman Scott Brosius, who was coming off a .203/.259/.317 season with Oakland. Having taken in Brosius, the Yanks dumped current 3B Charlie Hayes to San Francisco. Their biggest offseason acquisition was DH Chili Davis, who found himself competing with Tim Raines and Darryl Strawberry, who were re-signed later.

The Yanks made two very important moves under Cashman’s reign, within his first two months with the team. First, within a week of taking over as GM, he traded top prospects Eric Milton and Christian Guzman to the Minnesota Twins for four time all star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch had demanded a trade from Minnesota, and the Yankees were an ideal fit, with the team plugging the hole the previous season with the four-headed combo of Luis Sojo, Pat Kelly, Mariano Duncan, and Rey Sanchez. They also signed Cuban refugee Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. Hernandez, who had several questions surrounding him regarding his age and health (and the previous success rate, or lack thereof, of previous Cuban refugees), was considered a risky pickup, but with the Yankees looking at Hideki Irabu and Ramiro Mendoza pitching in the 4 and 5 slots (and Steinbrenner looking for the angle just as he had done the previous year with the Irabu signing), it wasn’t considered to be that bad of an investment.

Everything fell into place for the ‘98 Yankees. Posada finally took over for the 33 year old Joe Girardi and went .268/.350/.475 at the plate, Brosius put up .300/.371/.472 numbers as he was a serious candidate for AL Comeback Player of the Year, Bernie Williams put up MVP-like numbers, the Davis/Strawberry situation was settled with Davis got hurt and Strawberry DHed the majority of the time and did well - even Irabu pitched decent, going 13-9 with a 4.06 ERA. Everything clicked, and the Yankees went on to set a record for wins.

How much of it really was Torre though? This wasn’t a mishmash of players coming together under the leadership of Torre. For the mostpart, one could argue that the team didn’t need any outside leadership. Players like Girardi, Martinez, Jeter, Williams, O’Neill, Davis, Raines… these are all “character” guys who could be left alone without management. The ‘99 squad was basically the same team - the only real difference was Davis taking over for Strawberry at DH and Roger Clemens coming in via trade for David Wells, which can only be considered more of a “character” improvement.

In 2000, the Yanks dropped to 87-74, and had the 5th best record in the American League, but still won the AL East. The 2000 club might not have even made the playoffs if not for several moves in June - holding off Boston by less than 2 games at the time, the Yankees picked up veterans Jose Vizcaino, David Justice, Denny Neagle, and Glenallen Hill. While the Neagle experiment failed (he went 7-7 with a 5.81 ERA and went 0-2 in the postseason), the other three players proved to be very important to the Yankees playoff run. Vizcaino would back up (and eventually take over) at second for the sudden defensive liability Knoblauch, Justice (who was in the midst of one of his best seasons) steadied the left field situation that couldn’t be claimed by Ricky Ledee, Shane Spencer, Luis Polonia, Ryan Thompson, Felix Jose, or even Yankee retread Roberto Kelly, and would hit 20 home runs (and slug .585) in 78 games for the Yanks. Hill turned out to be the biggest surprise, though. In just 40 games for the Yanks, Hill hit 16 home runs, putting up a .735 slugging percentage during his tenure with the Yanks. The team managed to pull out victories over Oakland (3-2), Seattle (4-2), and eventually the New York Mets (4-1) for their final World Championship.

2001 would come close (one game close - one out close), but from 2002 to 2004, the Yankees could be considered a group of underachieving players operating under several people who all seem to be thinking different things. Money aside (and we all like to talk about the money-to-wins ratio), the Yankees are run by three people - Torre, Cashman, and Steinbrenner. Take a closer look at the three seasons:

2002:

- The Yankees say goodbye to Chuck Knoblaugh, Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez, Sterling Hitchcock, and Paul O’Neill, meaning the team has to find a new starting 1B, 3B, LF, RF, and 5th starter. The Yankees have promising 1B Nick Johnson awaiting a full time job and Ted Lilly (who had started 21 games in 2001) on the roster. The team trades Dave Justice to the Mets for Robin Ventura (3B), signs Rondell White to play LF, signs big ticket free agent Jason Giambi.

So far, so good - the team had Johnson to play first, but Giambi was coming off an MVP season.

- Then, unsatisfied with the team’s bullpen situation, the team signs middle reliever Steve Karsay to a four year deal worth $20 million. The signing of Karsay allowed the team to give away reliever Jay Witasick, who proved to be only “average” in his half season with the Yanks. Half season? Sure - the Yankees traded former top middle infield prospect D’Angelo Jimenez (who was returning from a lost season where he was in a life-threatening car accident) for the hard-throwing 28 year old Witasick, who was thriving in his role in middle relief for San Diego after not having an ERA under 5.57 any season in his major league career. Witasick, who has since put together a decent career in middle relief, was dumped to San Francisco six days after signing Karsay for John Vander Wal. Vander Wal, who would turn 36 the first week of the season, came to the Yankees as (at best) a platoon outfielder, but Vander Wal made his career as one of the best pinch hitters in the game. A poor fielder, Vander Wal had only one season in his career where he started over 100 games in the field - the season previous to this one, where he spent the majority of the season with the 62-100 Pittsburgh Pirates, and was coming off a career year with the Pirates the season before. Remember Vander Wal - he comes into play later.

- The Yankees say hello again to Sterling Hitchcock, offering the former Yankee farmhand a two year deal, worth $12 million. Hitchcock, who pitched worse than Witasick in his half season with the Yankees in 2001, was welcomed back to the team with open arms, despite Hitchcock’s injury history (he had made only three starts for San Diego returning from Tommy John surgery quicker than expected when the Yankees traded for him), and the fact that there hadn’t been a spot in the rotation for Hitchcock. The signing of Hitchcock sent a direct message to previously projected 5th starter Ted Lilly - the team had zero faith in the 26 year old lefthander.

- Almost a month to the day the team inked Hitchcock as their 5th starter, the team signs former Yankee David Wells, who had been traded to Toronto to acquire Roger Clemens back in 1999. Wells, who had previously pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in his last stint with the team, was a conservative 2 year, $5.5 million signing (due to his age - 39 - and the fact he was coming off a season ended prematurely by arm trouble). However, Wells was not coming in to pitch middle relief, meaning that Hitchcock, who was scheduled to make $6 million that season, was going to the bullpen, giving the team two middle relievers at $11 million going into the 2002 season. It also meant that Ted Lilly was buried so deep in the Yankee bullpen that he’d likely never see a start - at least in pinstripes.

- To address the right field issue vacated by O’Neill, the Yankees signed… no one. The Yankees instead brought in a motley crew of outfielders who would be randomly selected to play right. Cashman brought in Ruben Rivera to compete for the right field job. Rivera, the former top prospect in the Yankees system and cousin to Yankee closer Mariano Rivera, had come off three mediocre seasons with San Diego and Cincinnati showing great power and defense, but the complete inability to hit for average or take a pitch. Rivera then stole Derek Jeter’s glove out of his locker and sold it to a collectables dealer, earning him a cut from the roster. In the end, the Yankees ended up keeping five outfielders on the roster: Williams, White, Vander Wal, Shane Spencer, and Gerald Williams - another former Yankee farmhand who the Yankees signed in 2001 after being released by Tampa. Torre gave the right field job to the platoon combo of Vander Wal and Spencer - two veterans whose performances could be predicted (in that both would play the field badly and hit only one type of pitcher). Left in AAA was Juan Rivera, who was 24 years old and coming off a half season with Columbus where he batted .327/.378/.603 with 14 home runs in only 55 games. As it was with Lilly, the veteran gets the nod over the younger player.

- Interestingly enough, once the season started, Lilly would get his opportunity - if only through necessity. Hitchcock, who was signed on to be the 5th starter for less than a month, only ended up pitching 20 games thanks to injuries. Andy Pettitte and Orlando Hernandez spent time on the DL as well, so the team turned to Lilly to spot start in the rotation, which he did skillfully. Lilly pitched 16 games (11 starts) for the Yankees during the 2002 season, and put up a 3.40 ERA and holding batters to only 56 hits in 76 2/3 innings. However, through bad luck and bad run support, Lilly went 3-6. Lilly’s 2 complete games were as many as Mike Mussina pitched that season in 33 starts, and his 3.40 New York ERA was second best among Yankee starters, only behind Andy Pettitte’s 3.27. Despite this, Lilly didn’t finish his season as a Yankee.

- Only a game and a half up on second place Boston on July 1st, moves had to be made, and the Yankees made two of them in five days. The first was done to shore up the right field situation. Instead of turning to Rivera, who was still doing well in AAA, the team turned to Raul Mondesi, a famed malcontent and talented player who never seemed to put up the statistics to match his skill. Mondesi, who signed a huge contract with Toronto in 2000 that he didn’t live up to, was shipped to the Yankees, who were desperate enough to take on half the contract for the remaining two seasons (the Yanks received cash equal to half of Mondesi’s contract in 2003, having already paid half of it in 2002 at the time of the trade). Mondesi’s numbers weren’t much better than VanderSpencer in right at the time (perhaps a bit more power), but Mondesi had the “upside” of his talent and was a much better right fielder. Mondesi was also run out of Toronto by management after openly criticizing team management after being benched for one game for missing a team meeting.

- Four days later, the Yankees sent Lilly and top prospects John-Ford Griffin and Jason Arnold (note the prospects going again - just like in the mid 80s) to Oakland in the three way deal that netted them Detroit starter Jeff Weaver. Weaver was an acceptable dealoff, because he was 25 at the time, so it wasn’t the typical “dealing prospects for old vets” thing - Weaver was a young promising pitcher who two better than average seasons was really starting to come out on his own - at the time of the trade, Weaver had a 3.18 ERA and three shutouts in 17 starts, putting up a 6-8 record for a horrid Tigers team. Weaver likely would not have been available if Detroit ownership wasn’t tightening belts all around the team, and Weaver’s potential paydays in arbitration (and later free agency) was cost prohibitive. The deal turned out well for Detroit, as it netted them Carlos Pena and Jeremy Bonderman in the deal. New York… well, we’ll ge to that in a moment. Weaver signed a three year deal with the Yankees upon landing with the team, and was put into Lilly’s spot.

Note that I said “Lilly’s spot”, and not “the rotation” - remember, Ted Lilly was the 7th starter on the Yankees team, and even with the injury to Hitchcock, Lilly was the #6 man when the rest of the rotation was healthy - which it eventually became. When Hernandez returned to the Yankee rotation (it was his spot that Lilly was occupying at the time of the deal), Weaver was placed in Lilly’s previous role, which was mopping up blowout wins or losses, and waiting for an injury. Never mind that Hernandez was battling injuries and would not pitch a complete game all season (Weaver had pitched three by midseason), or that Weaver’s ERA at the time of the trade to New York was better than every member of the Yankee rotation - Weaver was new and young, and Torre banished him to the bullpen, just as Lilly had been before, despite performances. Again, just like Lilly (and in a way the right field situation), Torre chose to go with the known product and to not upset the veterans, no matter what their performance. Weaver’s final numbers with New York for the 2002 season were not as impressive as his Detroit numbers, but still not bad - 5-3, 4.04 ERA. But the signal was sent to Weaver, just the same as it was sent to Lilly - we’d rather not have you start for us.

The 2002 team ended up pulling away from Boston, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Anaheim - a team much younger than the Yankees. Torre was outmanaged by Mike Scioscia, and the Yankees were left to figure out how to correct their problems.

2003:

- The Yankees go into the 2003 season with most of their roster intact, but with question marks. The roster still has seven starting pitchers (if you include Hitchcock), the bullpen is believed to be faulty (thanks to the group’s underwhelming performance against the Angels in the playoffs), the outfield has moody salary albatross Raul Mondesi in right and injury-prone Rondell White in left, coming off his worst season as a pro.

- The Yanks sign Robin Ventura to play one more season at third, eagerly awaiting uber-prospect Drew Henson. Henson, a former college football star, has shown mediocre numbers at the minor league level, but has great “tools”, just as Ruben Rivera before him and Raul Mondesi has in right field at that very moment. Ventura, a class guy and a good defensive third baseman, would sign a one year deal for $5 million, and wouldn’t finish the season with the Yanks.

- The Yanks bring in situational lefthanded reliever Chris Hammond, who somehow managed a 0.95 ERA during the 2002 season with Atlanta. Ignoring the fact that Hammond’s season is likely a result of him being “situational” and coming in only in ideal situations where he can pitch, and ignoring that Hammond is coming off a three year absence, the Yanks sign him to a 2 year, $4.6 million deal. Hammond would last one season in the Bronx.

- Coming off the glory that Ichiro had received since he was signed in Seattle, and ignoring the Irabu experiment in the late 90s, the Yanks sign Yomiuri Giants centerfielder Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui to a three year, $21 million deal. The attention is great, but two questions remain with Matsui - will his power translate over to American baseball, and where will he play, since Bernie Williams is already planted firmly in center?

- The team signs 37 year old Todd Zeile to a one year deal to come off the bench and back up at third and first base. Zeile would state that he looked forward to playing for the Yankees and especially Torre, whom he played for in St. Louis earlier in his career. He ended up being cut by the Yankees in August, and made comments that implied that he was promised more playing time by management but was never given the chance to start on a regular basis. When approached by reporters about the potential of going back to the team the following season when the third base position opened up, Zeile said “(e)very day is potentially the end-all. It’s whatever they need that day. It can sometimes be unsettling for people in role positions there. I don’t really have a desire to get back into that mix,” another hint that perhaps Torre’s managing style is doing more harm than good.

- The Yanks trade Orlando Hernandez to the White Sox for reliever Antonio Osuna. This mood would seemingly straighten out the Yankees rotation issues, placing Weaver firmly in the rotation, while giving the Yanks another reliever for their bullpen makeover. Seemingly.

- The Yankees, three weeks after dealing Cuban defector Hernandez, sign Cuban defector Jose Contreras. Contreras is thought to be the best pitcher from Cuba since… Hernandez. You can almost hear Weaver groan and wonder what he ever did to piss off Yankee management. One year removed from being the ace of the Detroit staff and one of the best young pitchers in baseball, Weaver is told that he, once again, is battling for a rotation slot. Weaver promptly looks for the largest building to jump off of.

- The team signs Jon Lieber to a two year deal, looking ahead to 2004. Lieber, a workhorse who won 20 games for the Cubs in 2001, had Tommy John surgery midway through 2002 and wasn’t expected to pitch in 2003. Lieber signed with the club at a discounted rate to get a guaranteed 2004 contract, something a 34 year old pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery (and an 18 month layoff) wasn’t likely to get.

- The team trades away White, who had one year left on his contract, to San Diego for outfielder Bubba Trammell in a classic case of save today, pay tomorrow. White, who was clearly a better player than Trammell, was owed $5.5 million in the second year of a two year deal with the Yankees. Trammell was signed through 2004 and was owed $7.25 million over the next two years, plus an option for 2005 at $4.75 million (with a $200k buyout). Trammell would go on to play in 22 games for the Yankees that season before being taken off the roster and having his contract terminated. White would bat .289 with 22 home runs for San Diego and Kansas City that season, and never bat below .270 the two seasons following.

The 2003 season saw a team whose management constantly kept their finger on the panic button. It was classic Steinbrenner-run activity, bringing back memories of the mid 80s. Weaver, much to Steinbrenner’s dismay, ended up in the #5 starter’s spot after Contreras looked poor in spring training. Contreras was put in the bullpen to begin the season, and when he struggled there as well, was demoted by the team to AAA. However, Steinbrenner overruled the move and assigned Contreras to work at the team’s Tampa facility to work with coach Billy Connors. The move pissed off Torre, and understandably so. Torre, however, backed off when pushed by the media to say something directly against Steinbrenner, something Showalter likely wouldn’t have done.

While the rotation was overloaded, the bullpen was being held together by duct tape, and one false move meant the unemployment line. 17 different pitchers pitched out of the Yankees bullpen in 2003, including: