Can The Yankees Be Fixed?

So, I was doing a little research for this post today.  I was trying to figure out who were some nice bargain free agents that can come in and help the Yankees next season.  I was trying to figure out if they can really afford to pay Robinson Cano all the money he wants.  I was trying to figure out how to fix the pinstripes without breaking the bank that much.  The answer to all of these conundrums?  I have no idea.

I am not sure how to fix the Bronx Bombers.  I am in my late-20s.  The Yankees have been good pretty much my entire life.  And let's not pretend that they are a horrible team.  They have 82 wins right now.  But they aren't THOSE Yankees anymore.  Pettite and Mariano are retiring.  Jeter might as well retire soon because he seems to be made of glass now.  How can they possibly recover from losing their franchise's faces?  Plus, you have to deal with A-Roid, a suddenly struggling CC, and the departure of many players (and possibly a manager).  There is no easy answer.

Here is the one thing I am sure about if I am the Yankees, though- There is no way in hell that I am giving a 2nd baseman $300 million dollars.  I know that Cano is the best player on that team.  I know that the Dodgers are going to be willing to pay some massive amount of cash like that to make one of the best infields I have ever seen.  But the Yankees can't afford to do that right now.  I mean, they can obviously AFFORD to, but they shouldn't.  At some point the old Steinbrenner way needs to change.  You can't always buy a title.  Hell, look at the Angels.  They can't even buy a playoff appearance, and they have (probably) the best young player in baseball on their team.  The new way to build a franchise is with home grown talent.  That is what was the core of those great Yankees teams.  They don't have that right now, and their minor league system is apparently garbage.

That brings me to one of the only fixes I can think of for the Yankees- Qualifying Offers!  Cano, Curtis Granderson and Hiroki Kuroda are all free agents that the Yankees wouldn't mind having back at the QO price of $14 million for one year.  Kuroda may sign that, and that's fine.  The other two won't, which means that the Yankees will get two compensatory draft picks for their loss.  If you are a team looking to rebuild, this is a great thing.  The Yankees did this last year after Rafael Soriano signed with my Nationals (over 40 saves, which I like, but it was never easy).  They ended up with 3 of the top 33 picks in the draft, a solid move in rebuilding your minor league system.  The move could work!

Or maybe I am wrong.

The Yankees are kind of dependent on Cano.  They don't even have another 2B on the active roster, and only one more on the 40 man roster, but still in the minors.  He leads them in every offensive category.  Do the mini-Steinbrenners really want to stop paying all the money to star players, putting butts in the ridiculously expensive seats?  No clue.  Can they resist signing Cano, Brian McCann and Tim Lincecum in the offseason?  No idea.

I just know that, if I was in charge of the Yankees, I would look hard at the talent I have available. It may be worth it to be not-so-great for a year or two in order to build another potential dynasty on your own players.

The NFL vs The WWE: AFC West

Well, it has come to this.  Here is the last installment of the series comparing NFL teams to WWE Superstars.  I hope you have enjoyed it.  Maybe I'll dust it off again before next year.  Here we go:

- Denver Broncos: The Rock
          Are the Broncos on the older side of things?  Well, their QB is.  Peyton Manning is still one of the best in the business, even if he is close to NFL AARP age.  Same goes for The Rock.  Good old Dwayne came back for a little bit, won the WWE Title, and even main-evented Wrestlemania for the second straight year (I was there, it was pretty cool to see him).  He suffered a pretty bad rib injury at the show, and may not come back ever again, but if he did he would still be at the top of the list of WWE Superstars.  We weren't sure how good Peyton would be when he came back with a different team, but he was amazing last year.  The Broncos could pull a Rock themselves this season, following Peyton on one last ride to the top.

- San Diego Chargers: Fandango
          Oh, Fandango.  I'm not entirely sure how his gimmick is still working after a few months.  I don't really think anyone cares about a wrestler who pretends to also be a ballroom dancer.  He has the look of a wrestler though, and a beautiful woman to accompany him to the ring.  It helps distract us from how unimpressive he has been in the ring.  The Chargers play in San Diego, the city with the best weather in the country.  Their powder blue uniforms are the best jerseys in sports.  Their helmets have friggin lightning bolts on them!  All of this to distract you from a sub-par team.  Maybe they will be able to continue the streak of teams in the Eagles' home opener winning the Super Bowl (last 3 years) or teams that lose to the Skins winning it all (last three years).  But, more than likely, they will dance around, leave you feeling silly after their games, and frustrate real fans.

- Kansas City Chiefs: Christian
          Christian is one of the best workers the WWE has.  That being said, he hasn't always been a Main Event guy.  His tag team partner Edge had the it factor to push him over the top and make him a WWE Hall of Famer.  Christian kind of got left behind, though he has had a bunch of good streaks.  The Chiefs have been good in the past.  They have a Super Bowl.  They won a ton of games with Priest Holmes and Trent Green.  But then they fell on hard times.  Now, they have a new coach in Andy Reid, a new QB in Alex Smith, and some new optimism.  One big push in the AFC could get them to immortality, just like how one big push for Christian could cement him as a Hall of Famer.

- Oakland Raiders: The Big Show
          This is kind of unfair to the Big Show, who is one of the most impressive big men ever in the WWE (Him, Andre, Kane and Undertaker are a class above everyone else).  However, there is this thing that the Raiders love- MEASURABLES!  Big Show is 7 feet tall and 500 pounds!  He would be the perfect Al Davis pick, God rest him.  While Show is getting a mini-push in his current storyline, the Raiders seem to be one of the worst teams in football. Still, with that size and that athletic ability, he would be an ideal Raider.



Well, that's all.  Hope you enjoyed it!  Thanks for reading, and enjoy the season!