I suggested moving Cano a few days ago and got skewered.  But you only move him if you've given up on the season, cause Miguel Cairo ain't gonna cut it.
You know why the role players are role players?  Cause they're not good enough to be the main attraction.  (I'm looking at you Shane Spencer).  The players we have now are better than the players we had then, they're just not acting like it.
This team will always be built via the checkbook because I don't think any of these guys would play for free (ok, Viz might, but only if he realized how bad he is at baseball and decided to buy every fan a beer with his salary).  The Yankees will always outspend the competition, hopefully we starting outspending them in scouting and drafting as well as free agent signings (come here CC Sabathia).

The late 90s dynasty is dead and it isn't coming back.

Everyone would like the same type of core players again but the Yankees were very lucky in that sense because they found the right combination of players.

The Yankees haven't really changed their strategy that much over the last decade.  They've always opened their checkbooks to get free agents or traded away their own youngsters to find stars or solid players elsewhere.

Paul O'neill, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch, David Wells, Roger Clemens, David Cone, Jimmy Key, Scott Brosius, John Wetteland, Wade Boggs, Charlie Hayes, Cecil Fielder, Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton, Joe Girardi, Tim Raines, and a boatload of other key players during that era all came from other clubs via trades and free agent signings.  

The list goes on and on.

In reality, the Yanks had a host of big-game starting pitchers and that was one of the biggest reasons for their run of championships.

I also think too much is made of Damon's arm in CF.  Sure, it would be great if he had an arm like Vladimir Guerrero, but he doesn't.  Damon won a ring in Boston with the same arm he has now and the Yankees won four rings with Bernie Williams patrolling CF and wouldn't have scared an 85-yr old lady from taking an extra base on him.

You obviously don't like Damon, Giambi, Abreu, and others because of their big contracts and "all-star" status but you then advocate signing Andruw Jones.  Which is it?

Signing Jones would be a mistake because they would have to sign him for big cash and a lot of years and he's clearly on the downside of his career.  

Have you seen Jones play this season?  He's turning into Preston Wilson more and more by the day and striking out all the time.  Andruw Jones has never won a ring as far as I know.  His defense and arm would be irrelevant if the guy is only hitting .230 and striking out every 3 ABs as he is this season.  

Keep in mind that Jones is only a .265 career hitter and has hit above .300 just once in his 11 seasons.

I also disagree on Cano.  You seem to put a lot more emphasis on his first 50 games of 2007 than his rookie season of 2005 and his huge season in 2006.  Why is that?

He has the tools to be a superstar, but I don't know if he'll ever hit .340 again.  I do think he's a .300+ hitter that sometimes tends to dog it out there much too often like Soriano did.  However, he's a far better Second Baseman than Soriano ever dreamed.

If you get rid of Cano, you have to find a replacement from somewhere.  If there is nobody at the minor-league level to take his job, you then have to sign someone or trade for a new Second Baseman.  That doesn't make sense to me when you've already got a 24-yr old kid who has all of the tools to be a great player.

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of your argument?

We all would love the late 90s dynasty to return.  Unfortunately, that time is over.  That kind of dominance comes around once in a generation and it was the most dominant team since the Big Red Machine of the mid-70s.

We were just damn lucky that the stars were aligned just right and it happened in the Bronx.

Sorry, it's not my intention to pick on you or give you a hard time.  Come back and post as much as you like.

After last night, you have to wonder where your logic is. Is Cano a star? Certainly not to the degree of Jeter, Arod, but at 24, he's an up and comer who is still learning the game.

You also said "Cashman has turned this team into a bunch of whining babies." What the hell are you talking about? Giambi (and I'm no fan of his) plays hurt. Damon plays hurt. I frankly don't hear alot of whining. I do see alot of losing, but not whining. Believe me, if you read PA regularly you know that I'm not an advocate of Cashman's. He's done alot of things wrong, but he hasn't created whiny players.

You also talk about big contracts in one breath, and embrace the notion of signing Andruw Jones. I guess he's not going to be asking for the moon, right? Do they have a different pay scale in the South? Last I checked the going rate for a top shelf, five tool centerfielder with Ruthian power was going in the neighborhood of 15-18 million per. Andruw is pushing 30, and has already slowed some. Yeah, signing him to a 3-5 year deal wouldn't bite us in the ass in years 4 and 5.

Can't agree with much of what you said, but welcome anyway. It's always good to have fresh meat.

He's freaking cheap for what you get. He competely ticks me off with his lack of discipline, but he'll mature. When he does, and gets those walks up to 90+, I believe we're looking at a .330 hitter with 20+ power.

Just adding my two cents on some of the things said, thanks for the feedback.

On Cano, he never was a linedrive hitter in the minors, and was more of a suprising star than an elite prospect.  He's not the biggest of issues, Although I don't see him near 340 again, and most likely under 300, I do expect some more HR's, even 20 and up.  

As for the whining and the star replacing stars idea, playing hurt is overrated.  Playing hurt and sucking is worse than not playing at all.  There are plenty of teams that have more injuries than the yanks, and are doing it with coaching, and fundamentaly sound baseball.  Jones has always been a favorite player of mine, so discount that if you will, but I think Zambrano has star potential, and someone who could potentially light a fire under this team.

As for the manager dilemna, I don't want Torre to be fired, but who would be the replacement?  I hope its not Boa.