More than a decade ago, I wondered why it was so difficult for the Chicago Bulls to keep its championship nucleus together. I only read of salary cap concerns and re-tooling. That soap drama continues for four years until the off-season of 1998 when most of the players never did go back. Didn't management think that this club wasn't going to win a fourth straight title? Jerry Krause and other basketball analysts point out to the Boston Celtics of the 1980's; a team that was kept together longer than need be, they opine, until they were broken down and had no trade value.
The was definitely more to the issues than what was let on. Some of it surfaced early on when Krause's obsession with winning a title without MJ was revealed as well as problems with PhilJax and the others.
I guess the operative term here would be, management can be "boldly unsentimental."
Cut to today as I sifted through the day's early news reports, with no real intention of writing anything, I did think back to the Bulls and two unrelated points to ponder.
One, the New York Knicks are trading Nate Robinson to the Boston Celtics for La Casa Eddie House. And two, why did the Detroit Tigers trade away Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees?
Granderson might have not had a stellar year with the Tigers but what did the Yankees see in him that they were obviously not willing to keep World Series hero Johnny Damon? Detroit might think that Granderson didn't hit very well last year. Might I remind them that Damon didn't hit too well two years ago for the Yankees. In fact, he was well on his way to retirement without even finishing his contract with New York until he came alive last year. It was possibly a bad year in Detroit and with all the penny-pinching, they save on several cool millions. But does this mean that mediocrity will continue in Motown? After all, they did finish 88-77 and lost 6 of their last 10 games.
Granderson, who doesn't have an ego the size of the Empire State Building, on the other hand, will fit well with these good vibe Yanks. He does excellent off field work in the community. But again. Detroit is not New York.
So much of the Yankees' title team was not re-signed. Hideki Matsui, Chien Ming-Wang, Melky Cabrera, Jerry Hairston Jr. and now, Damon. While in Hong Kong recently, one media person asked Yankees GM Brian Cashman why they went to Japan and China, an Asian Tour, when none of their Asians were going to be kept on their current roster?
Cashman's answer was nothing was set in stone. But if ever, the two players would pave the way for more Asians into the team. Pundits called it an act of hypocrisy.
I thought some more and wasn't Hideki Irabu the first Japanese player on the Yankees team? Boo Boo as he was called by the players after the Hannah Barbera cartoon character didn't last very long. So did Kei Igawa who came in with much fanfare. And Wang, their ace for two seasons until that base running injury that kept him on the shelf for the past two years, is gone too.
The point here being was (and unlike the dysfunctional player-management relations in Chicago in the 1990s) that it wasn't a simple matter of money but they were evaluated on whether they would be able to contribute to the team's quest for a 28th World Series title. Johnny Damon played a great season last year but before that, he was miserable in the last couple of years. After reading Joe Torre's The Yankee Years, it made me understand why. There was on and off field issues including health, focus, and of course money.
Granderson was an upstanding citizen and player in Detroit yet he was traded. I figure they didn't think that first baseman Miguel Cabrera's issues with alcohol were a big problem.
So did the Yankees fleece Detroit in its acquisition of Granderson? Time can only tell more so since the Yankees haven't had a really good record in its acquisitions in recent memory until the past year.
And so what about Nate? If Eddie House was that much of a favorite of Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix so why was he let go to the New Jersey Nets after one year? It was a mistake, rued D'Antoni. Casa was and has always been a positive albeit a sensitive presence in the locker room like Cliff Levingston when he was with the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls. "Good News" was how they called the athletic but awkward forward out of Wichita State. So House can maybe give that dour Knicks locker room a breath of fresh air. But I do have to ask this, although it just crops up now --- does Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni honestly believe that the oft-injured Tracy McGrady is the answer to their problems? The crisis continues at MSG long after Isiah Thomas. Reality show. Reality bites.
What I am thinking of here is that maybe it has D'Antoni isn't really much of the aww-shucks-but-I'm-not-a-saint manager when he was with Phoenix. Got that right. Maybe we should have paid more attention. He has been a little more ruthless in New York. A Player's Coach? Not at all in NYC. So is it a case of "when in Rome..." here?
It does free Robinson from the doghouse and as for Casa, he will only live out his purpose as long as he can drain those outside shots of his.
This season will answer all those concerns about Nate, House, D'Antoni, Granderson, and Detroit.
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So how do I see New York's batting order?
LF Curtis Granderson
SS Derek Jeter
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
C Jorge Posada
RF Nick Swisher
2B Robinson Cano
DH Nick Johnson
CF Brett Gardner
Does Granderson move to CF so Randy Winn starts at LF? Or are they willing to go with Brett Gardner who doesn't have that hot bat but can throw the ball some? Remember CF is the most hallowed piece of real estate in Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees didn't issue the uniform numbers this spring worn by two key members of last year's World Series championship team, Damon (18) and Matsui (55), who both left as free agents. Other numbers not in use include those of former manager Joe Torre (6) and former players Paul O'Neill (21), Mike Mussina (35) and Bernie Williams (51).
But Brian Cashman, you should have signed this guy.
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