Quote:
Originally Posted by packs
I just find it funny that people are upset at the Yankees "buying" championships, which is absurd once you start talking about the teams who won. The Core Four were entirely home grown players, and that doesn't include Bernie Williams, another home grown player, or bit players like Ramiro Mendoza, who were also home grown players.
So, what was bought when three of your best hitters were signed out of high school and your two best pitchers were signed as an international free agent and a 22nd round draft pick?
Even if you look at 2009, 5 out of the 9 starting players had only played in a Yankee uniform. In the rotation, 2 out of 5 starters were drafted by the Yankees and the bullpen was anchored by Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, David Robertson, and Phil Coke, all guys who had never worn another uniform.
|
Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett were key parts of that team, and they were all signed as free agents the previous offseason in a massive spending binge. They took a team that had missed the playoffs the year before and won a World Series. Even in the 1990s/early 2000s teams, David Cone, Roger Clemens, Paul O'Neil and David Wells (just off the top of my head) came to New York either as free agents or in trades.