There’s a level of energy and excitement they bring that isn’t quite the same as lining up a group of established guys, mercenaries who have come for the big money and the hope of a ring or two.
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As long as the end result is the same, I don’t think it really matters. While it may be nice to have an up and coming corner OF’er, I don’t think any baseball fan in their right mind doesn’t enjoy watching Manny Ramirez or JD Drew hit.

The other important factor is that when you build your team with free agents, you end up overpaying in dollars and years.
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That isn’t necessarily true. Even if it were, there are ways around it, whether it’s trading the player, or moving him to another position. Those old, tired, declining stars can be replaced with young, fresh, inclining stars. For example, Clemens left, Pedro showed up. Dave Winfield and Reggie Jackson played together in NY for a season. It has been done, it can be done.

I think we’ve kept up with The Sux in developing talent recently with Cano, Wang, Joba, and some of the other young pitchers.

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This seems highly doubtful.

Lester, Papelbon, Delcarmen, Masterson, Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lowrie.

The Yankees are way behind in position players (don’t tell me Melky = Ellsbury – is anyone offering young talent for Melky, are they offering salary dumps like Cameron?), and for all that great potential in the bullpen arms, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and none of the Yankee arms assigned to the bullpen have done anything yet, while Masterson made a very impressive debut, and Delcarmen has an ERA+ in the last two years of 141 and 232, better than anyone in the Yankee setup corps.

Another sign of how the Red Sox are ahead in developing prospects – Lowrie, Masterson and Ellsbury are no longer considered to be prospects, and yet despite “graduating” these guys, the Sox only fell to, I believe, 8 in Law’s rankings.

As for the question of whether it “matters” if a team is stocked with homegrown talent or free agents, this is how I’ve come to look at it: There’s something more exciting about watching young players get to the majors and excel, when they are still hungry, have something to prove, and are working toward goals of both getting that big contract as well as winning championships. There’s a level of energy and excitement they bring that isn’t quite the same as lining up a group of established guys, mercenaries who have come for the big money and the hope of a ring or two.

The other important factor is that when you build your team with free agents, you end up overpaying in dollars and years. One bad season kept that lesson from being learned, and while the Yanks might be well situated to win one or two rings in the next few years, the roster is going to have more than its share of old, tired, declining stars.

Good Point Raf..I just wanna win 27. I Could care less how we do it. If we “Buy a Championship”, so what. Everyone hates the Yanks anyway, right? We would get critized for being too frugal if we didnt spend the money. (Which will be there regardless)

I think we’ve kept up with The Sux in developing talent recently with Cano, Wang, Joba, and some of the other young pitchers.
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To that point, does it really matter how a player is acquired? There have been free agent busts, there have been draft busts. Last I checked, teams don’t get “extra credit” for having players developed from within. There have been teams that won with homegrown talent, there have been teams that won with “mercenaries.”

So I don’t see the big deal. When the Yanks were bad from 89-92, it was a combination of things. While a solid farm system probably would’ve helped, it was a series of bad moves that put them in that position.

Touche about The Pirates..and I know its tough to have both. Also, I think we’ve kept up with The Sux in developing talent recently with Cano, Wang, Joba, and some of the other young pitchers.

That’s not the answer. See the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Agreed. Although even that appears to be changing. Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutcheon look like a nice group of prospects at the top of BA’s top-10 Pirates list.

http://tinyurl.com/cok7z7

“Aren’t these the same buffoons who wanted to sell T-shirts last season reading “Save the Big Three”?”

Buffoons? What exactly is wrong with wanting to see some of your homegrown talent develop? Especially with how rare it is to find a stud on the free agent market for a reasonable price. I love that we have CC, but look what we had to pay for a top-flight starter. You’re telling me the people who wanted to keep Joba/Hughes/Kennedy are buffoons because they’d like to see the Yankees develop their own studs and have them pitch for the Yankees at $300,000 a year instead of $22.5 million a year?

Come on, those guys are 22-24-years old. They haven’t failed, they aren’t a waste…they’re kids. Let them develop and see what they can become. Wanting to give those kids a chance doesn’t make you a buffoon.

~~I guess we could just finish last every year like the Rays did and then have an awesome farm~~

That’s not the answer. See the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Having an awesome farm, and an awesome ML team aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s rare that it happens, but it can be done.
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Exactly. Just look at Boston. They have lots of money to spend (and they do) AND they’ve been producing very solid prospects for the past handful of seasons.

Let the Rays and other crappy teams have an awesome farm.
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Having an awesome farm, and an awesome ML team aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s rare that it happens, but it can be done.