The old Yankee core gets another year older. It was kind of symbolic and sad to see Mariano out there pitching with nothing on the line, just kind of out there.
The Yankees are a team in flux with multiple free agents, several of whom are declining or in their late thirties (Jeter, Petitte, Rivera) that are Yankee icons.
Posada can't throw anyone out and is definitely declining defensively with increasing numbers of passed balls this year.
A Rod is now a 30 homer guy who bats .280, certainly massively overpaid.
Joba Chamberlain still can't seem to find his way to consistant performance and doesn't look like a worthy successor to Rivera.
Girardi's status unclear at this point.
Best player is certainly Cano now and while Granderson and Gardner are good players, they are not great stars that you build a team around, although truthfully I do think they at least play with great energy. Same for Swisher.
Berkman is not half the player he once was and may not be resigned.
Sabathia's a horse, Hughes is a fine young pitcher, and Kerry Wood was a good pickup in relief but the reat of the staff isn't that impressive--except the ageless Mariano of course.
I suppose the Yankees will be able to fix some of the problems by throwing money at them, but teams with too many mercenaries often are a dis appointment.
So what do the Yankees do when the crop of free agents may not help them that much, outside of Lee if they can get him.
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