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Not getting younger It will be hard for Yankees to keep roster intact for 2000
Posted: Thursday October 28, 1999 10:20 PM
The Atlanta Braves especially were impressed with what they saw out of the Yankees. John Smoltz had to ask, rhetorically, "Did these guys make a mistake in this series?" They played almost perfect baseball and that’s not surprising. We’ve seen it time and time again in October. They remind me of the Chicago Bulls in that they just don’t win series, they keep teams from extending series. When they have a chance to put teams away, when they have the foot on someone’s throat, they step down and end it quickly. I think the Braves really have to look hard at this team and the formula that they used. Several pitchers said after Game 4 that they really have to re-look at the formula for this team. They rely so much on pitching and three-run homers in the regular season that when they have to manufacture runs in the postseason, they are unable to do it. That is a major difference between the Yankees and the Braves. I thought one of the great things about this Yankees’ championship was that they pretty much brought the same team back and won with the same players. That’s going to be more difficult to do in the year 2000. They face lots of payroll questions -- beginning with trying to get people like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera signed to long-term contract extensions. David Cone is their No. 1 priority as a free agent. There’s just not enough room in the payroll to bring everybody back. I think the Yankees would like to get a little bit younger, but it’s going to be very difficult. I think we are going to see more changes after this season than we did last.
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