11/09: Yankee Youth Movement
Posted by: James
Well, now that Tino's gone and it looks like Andy Phillips is going to get a shot, I started thinking about the Yankees as a team and just how old they were as a team. Last year, they were the oldest team in the majors, coming in just ahead (or is it behind...) the Red Sox, who averaged 29.6 years. Now, obviously, the average age of the team isn't an indicator of a great team by any stretch, but it doesn't seem likely that you'll be building many dynasties when you have a ton of older players on the roster. In that case, most of your guys hit their peaks (normally thought to be around the age 28 season) and while they may still perform at a high level, the decline phase of their career looms ever nearer.
Take Gary Sheffield for example - 2003 MVP: 3rd place - 2004 MVP: Runner-up, 2005: .291/.379/.512 - probably a top finisher in the MVP voting... and yet, it looks like there are some chinks in that armor. His 2005 numbers, while very good, were less than his career averages and Gary will be going into his age 37 season next year with 2,190 games and 7,886 at bats under his belt. With the way that he plays and how hard he swings that bat, that's a lot of wear and tear on that (in my mind) Hall of Fame body and you have to wonder if and when the wheels will start to come off. Will he experience a slow decline and still be of use to the club? Or will we be looking at a Bernie type fall, where we see the seemingly overnight transformation of a baseball superstar into someone that can and should be easily replaced. I'd pick the former for Sheff (he's still got that bat speed and that keen eye that very, very few players can match) but still, after what happened to Bernie and with the age of the roster - Sheff, Randy (42), Mussina (36), Posada (34), Giambi (34) and even Matsui and Jeter (31) are on the wrong side of 30 - it's hard not to think about and would be foolish to ignore.
However, Cashman is on the job and it seems that Andy Phillips (no spring chicken at age 29 next season) and Colter Bean (also 29) should get an opportunity. Who knows, with some prodding, we could see the likes of Kevin Thompson (26), Matt Smith (26), Ben Julianel (26) and maybe even Matt DeSalvo (25). At this point though, the roster is very much in flux so we won't know for a little while yet what the Yankee roster will end up looking like. It should be an interesting couple of months.
Take Gary Sheffield for example - 2003 MVP: 3rd place - 2004 MVP: Runner-up, 2005: .291/.379/.512 - probably a top finisher in the MVP voting... and yet, it looks like there are some chinks in that armor. His 2005 numbers, while very good, were less than his career averages and Gary will be going into his age 37 season next year with 2,190 games and 7,886 at bats under his belt. With the way that he plays and how hard he swings that bat, that's a lot of wear and tear on that (in my mind) Hall of Fame body and you have to wonder if and when the wheels will start to come off. Will he experience a slow decline and still be of use to the club? Or will we be looking at a Bernie type fall, where we see the seemingly overnight transformation of a baseball superstar into someone that can and should be easily replaced. I'd pick the former for Sheff (he's still got that bat speed and that keen eye that very, very few players can match) but still, after what happened to Bernie and with the age of the roster - Sheff, Randy (42), Mussina (36), Posada (34), Giambi (34) and even Matsui and Jeter (31) are on the wrong side of 30 - it's hard not to think about and would be foolish to ignore.
However, Cashman is on the job and it seems that Andy Phillips (no spring chicken at age 29 next season) and Colter Bean (also 29) should get an opportunity. Who knows, with some prodding, we could see the likes of Kevin Thompson (26), Matt Smith (26), Ben Julianel (26) and maybe even Matt DeSalvo (25). At this point though, the roster is very much in flux so we won't know for a little while yet what the Yankee roster will end up looking like. It should be an interesting couple of months.
