Diss Mantle? You don't do that in Yankeeland!

Steve Goldman, writing for the New York Sun, is not sanguine about the Yanks in 2009. He thinks it's time to dismantle the Bombers sooner than later:

The Yankees also have their trio of 34-year-olds who, to paraphrase Casey Stengel, have a good chance of being 35 next year. Therein lies the problem. Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon have hit well when healthy, while Derek Jeter has had a season that has so far been disappointing by his own standards, while falling short of outright disaster given the general weakness of the shortstop position; AL shortstops are hitting just .264/.316/.371, so Jeter is still an offensive plus relative to the competition, even if he isn't the MVP candidate of old. The problem is that another year older means an even greater likelihood of one, two, or all of these players disappointing due to age-induced decline, injury, or both. Just ask Jorge Posada, also under contract, about that. Nor will the defensive skills of these three players, which currently range from questionable (Damon) to tolerable (Jeter) to excused with a doctor's note (Matsui), get any sharper. The Yankees and top-flight defense have been estranged for a long time, with the club currently ranking toward the bottom of the majors (tied for 24th) in turning balls in play into outs. There won't be a reconciliation next year...

With next year's pitching staff likely to be at least as unsettled as the current edition, the Yankees are in a difficult spot. If baseball teams don't decide when to rebuild, the gods of baseball tend to decide for them. There's a penalty to holding on too long, to having the issue forced: Your team might turn into the Baltimore Orioles (in the Yankees' case, Jeter standing in for the aging Cal Ripken). Hence, the Yankees should be broken up now, by Brian Cashman, with the veterans sent out of town by August 31 for the best offers available.

I can't imagine that Goldman seriously thinks the Yanks can or will trade Derek Jeter. This probably deserves it own post, but the political (for lack of a better word) conditions for such a deal are not there. You might argue that this shows the Yanks lack the boldness of the Sox, who first sent Nomar packing and then Manny, but I'd argue there are differences in each player's situation. Again, that's a whole other discussion.

But Goldman's point, which he doesn't flesh out due probably to column-space issues, is interesting. If the Yanks sign Teixeira and Sabathia, and keep vets like Matsui and Damon on board, is the resulting team good enough to make the post-season? I'm not so optimistic. This is because there is a team called the Rays, and they're probably going to be better next year. That's scary because there's also a team called the Red Sox, who will probably remain elite in 2009. In other words, to be good, even very good, might not be enough next season. That's not to say the Yanks shouldn't sign Sabathia and Teixeira. Those players actually will help the team in the long run. But Damon and Hideki are likely gone after 2009 (or, at least, they should be). Shouldn't Cashman try to get young talent for those types of players, if indeed 2009 is going to be another 2008?