Yankee Recap

The Batavia Yankees finished the season with a 73-89 record. They were a bismal 33-48 (.407) at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees also did not fair well against left-handed starters where their record stood at 12-22 (.353)

Some of the statistical leaders for the Yankees include a fine season by Jorge Posada. Posada hit .323 with 53 doubles, 26 home runs and 101 rbi's. Posada had a .956 OPS. Derek Jeter also had a fine season hitting .316. Robinson Cano hit .285 with 24 home runs and 95 rbi's.

The pitching staff was anchored by Chin Ming-Wang's 13-10 record and had 4.32 ERA. The bullpen was the one bright spot for the Yankees as Mariano Rivera had 35 saves and set-up men Jonathon Broxton was 8-4 with 1 save and a 1.63 ERA and Joba Chamberlain was 4-0 with 1 save and a 0.54 ERA.

The Yankees turn their focus to next season. It will be a difficult off-season with so many fan favorite players eligible for free agency and ownership's insistance on youth and the future. The Yankee fan based who is used to a win-now approach will have to deal with plan for the future plan set forth by the ownership. Regardless, it should be an entertaining off-season for the Yankees.

Yankees Have Decisions To Make

With the regular season winding down and the Yankees out of the playoff picture, the Yankees will turn their focus to the offseason "hot stove" time and face themselves with some serious decisions to make. General Manager, Dan Thurston, has been quoted as saying, "We need to get younger. Period." The Yankees appear to be starting a 2-3 year plan of rebuilding with youth through trades and the draft. This has already been evident with the trading of right fielder, Bobby Abreu to the Sycamore White Sox for outfielders Delmon Young and Rocco Baldelli and left handed starting pitcher Aaron Laffey.

The Yankees face themselves with difficult decisions on expiring contracts for fan favorites Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada. "We obviously would love to have all of these players back, however, does that make the best sense for where we are and where we want to go? That is what we will be deciding at our off-season organizational meetings." Rumors are flying that Thurston has had trade discussions with more than one franchise that are interested in these experienced players. "We will be looking at all possibilities to acquire talent to make the Yankees a better franchise."