NY YANKEES: 30 DAYS

Hey baseball fans and more importantly Yankees fans ! Today's theme is thirty days. Thirty days you ask ? Well it's been about thirty days since my last blog and pitchers and catchers report to spring training in about thirty days.

     I'm sorry to report that not much has changed in the past thirty days and the Yankees haven't done anything to improve this team during the off season. Every team seems to be making moves to improve their club. The Toronto Blue Jays have stacked up. Heck even the Red Sox made some moves. The Red Sox have a deal in place with catcher Mike Napoli but it's been at a stand still for a little while. The two sides are having trouble ironing out some terms of the contract.

    Wait !! Why am I talking about the Red Sox moves ? Let's talk about the moves the Yankees have made....Hmm let's see. Catcher Russell Martin signed with the Pirates. Outfielder Nick Swisher signed with the Cleveland Indians. I know in my last few blogs I said this team needs to get younger so if they were going to lose " Swish " and Martin I could leave with it as long as there were decent replacements. I said to get younger not get nothing !! Come on what are we doing here ? They resigned an older outfielder in Ichiro Suzuki. Okay I can live with it. They signed an older third baseman Kevin Youkilis to fill in for the injured Alex Rodriguez who is due to have hip surgery on January 16th, stay tuned for an update. Bang right there third base !! They should have found a young third baseman for now and the future. And yes I did have a suggestion in a previous blog. Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager. Check it out.

     In my last few blogs I was throwing Yankees GM Brian Cashman under the bus for not making any moves. It's becoming more apparent to me that owner Hal Steinbrenner desperately wants to cut payroll. Why ? To make more of a profit ? At first I would say yes. But if the team starts losing nobody will go to the games therefore profits will be the same. But if he can cut payroll for the next couple years the team will most likely still be competitive so tickets will still sell. Do you know where I'm going with this ? Lower payroll means higher profits which looks better on paper when it comes time to sell the team. That's right I said sell the team !! I hate to say it but I feel that's where this is headed. Is this a typical senario where the father George Steinbrenner busts his but for years building a billion dollar (evil) empire LOL and the kids who grew up with silver spoons in their mouths don't know what it's like to work for a living. It's to much pressure, it's to much work, waaaaaaaaa let's just sell it and kick back. Let's sell it so our kids kids can kick back. Owner Hal Steinbrenner says he's " committed to fielding an elite ball club" but I'll believe when I see it. 

    It's been a slow off season in Yankeeland so thanks for letting me blow off steam. I certainly hope the Steinbrenner boys don't sell the team but we'll have to wait and see. What I would like to see are some last minute moves to improve this club. Right now if you ask me to predict where the Yankees will finish in 2013 I'd say third place if their lucky. But once pitchers and catchers report next month I'll be waving my pinstripe pom poms excited about making another playoff run. ( I hope ).

     Come on back for any updates and a close look at spring training once it gets underway. Looking forward to another exciting 2013 season ! Let's go Yankees !!