But in economic terms the “invested” money is a sunk cost. Aside from a trade or buyout clause you can’t get that money back, so when figuring what to do you have to ignore that. I’ll admit that’s psychologically tough to do, but it should be done nonetheless. Its not just the Yankees that do this, but I have seen teams continue to play people just because of their “investment” in the guy. Its a mistake unless trying to pump up his trade value, and lets face it, if he was worth that much to begin with you’d likely not want to trade him.

I was also commenting on a general philosophy within the Yankee organization to always look outside in the offseason. While it might seem like a huge risk to promote from within and hope someone does well, I’d argue its a large risk to hope a veteran continues to perform and adjust to playing in NY. Its a difficult balance to find, one I think the 90s Yankees had and this present incarnation is lacking.

I have actually said similar things about Phillips as well. I’ve loved the guy since spring training and he has a great attitude. What I find interesting about the Yankees is that they will give veterans the benefit of the doubt but not rookies in their own system. If a rookie had come up and pitched as badly as Brown in his first three outings we would have never heard from him again. I can list a few dozen hitters who have hit as badly or worse than Andy did in the small sample size.

I understand that with veterans you have past performance to expect them to turn around, but the snap judgements on rookies is unfair and I believe seriously hurts the team in the long run.

More to the point, pinch hitting is really difficult even for veterans. BP just can’t get your timing to what it needs to be. To expect a young guy with little experience to PH or play once every 10 days and suddenly have great timing is asking too much. Bubba probably won’t go out and hit .300, but again he’s there for his defense. If he walks a few times, bunts some guys over and steals a few bases, consider it a bonus.

Agreed, a more established hitting CF would be more than welcome, but I still argue Bubba can do the job. He can field and run the bases well. True he hits for shit (though he’s never really gotten much of an extended look, Cano hit for shit the first few weeks), but he can at least put the ball in play and most importantly, he can bunt. I’ve seen Womack miss so many bunts and then strike out or hit into a DP its frustrating.

Most teams can get by with a 9-hole guy hitting around .250 or so and I think the Yankees can too.

The real question is: If Jeter and A-Rod were allowed to beat the crap out of each other in a caged ring, who would win? They are both such pretty boys. A-Rod is totally passive aggressive so I’d bet he has a mean streak a mile long. Jeter is so bland and seemly even tempered, but can cut cold people who offend him as A-Rod has found out. A-Rod is physically bigger, but Jeter is agile. I’m going with Jeter. He doesn’t mind getting dirty and would like some payback for A-Rod’s comments all those years ago. Plus, Jeter wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in front of his boys which is the motivation to do well for just about every guy I’ve known. I’m pretty sure that A-Rod doesn’t have a crew to worry about.

I believe as of Friday Crosby can be brought back up again, thereby giving them another potential OF.

You mean his 8-man staff.

Torre wants to go back to an 11-man staff so they only need one more pitcher. An article in the Daily News mentioned Colter Bean, but who knows. Looks like Felix Escalona could get called up as a back-up infielder since Sanchez isn’t coming back any time soon.

As for another outfielder, I can only assume that Cash is working on something (needless to say we all hope it involves Woemack.)