Yankees Better Lock Them Up

There is never a shortage of topics to discuss on the subway in New York City, truly making it the "City That Never Sleeps". Well, the Yankees may be the "Front Office That Never Sleeps" pretty soon as a few major roster decisions loom ahead after the conclusion of the 2007 season. We all know about Alex Rodriguez and his opt-put clause after this season. Will he go? Will he stay? That has been talked about endlessly over the past month.

Frankly, everything having to deal with A-Rod, and unfortuantely his wife, has been scattered around the Bronx lately. It is only natural, not only in baseball but in all entertainment venues, to focus the majority attention to the biggest star and their situation even if the topic at hand is rather irrelevent. When that happens, many other important issues are lost in the shuffle.

The Barry Bonds homerun saga has been on the front of every sports issue for over a year now. The baseball world stopped for a millisecond to recognize Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas as they passed major career milestones. That is exactly what is happening with the Yankees right now.

All the talk is about Rodriguez and trying to renegotiate a contract extension to keep him from opting out. This is an important move for the Yankees as it would be a huge move for any other team simply because Alex Rodriguez is the best player in baseball. It would be huge to lock up that bat for another eight years. But, believe it or not, this is not the most important contract negotiations taking place in the Bronx.

Two major cornerstones of this franchise will also be made available to the free agent market this winter. The first one is catcher Jorge Posada. Posada has only known Yankee Pinstripes and is one of the few players that you honestly cannot picture playing in any other uniform.

The Yankees need to take his situation seriously. He is still in great shape for the stage in his career that he is at. He is very productive- currently hitting .326- and is arguably the best defensive catcher in baseball. Not only will Posada put up steady seasons for another 3-4 years, but he knows what is liek to win and he will be a staple for the Yankees in the postseason.

But the production is not even Posada's most valuable trait. That would be the leadership and toughness that he brings to the clubhouse and the pitching staff. The Bombers are holding on to a few veterans in their starting rotation while they are trying to slowly insert prospects one by one. They need Posada to help Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain take over the Yankee rotation. He will be a great influence for them among the other crop of high-ceiling arms they are stockpiling that are only a year to three years away from the big leagues.

The other piece that is vital to the Yankees success for the next three seasons is closer Mariano Rivera. Rivera will retire as the best closer in postseason history without a doubt. The overall best could be argued, even though it would be tough to take away from Trevor Hoffman since he has the all-time record and is still piling on the saves in San Diego. Rivera is cold as ice when it comes to pitching in October, where the pressure is so great in New York that even Lady Liberty tends to wilt during the span of seven games.

The signing of Rivera wouldn't be such a huge deal if they had a young kid groomed to take over that role for the next decade. The problem is that they don't have any bullpen pieces to take over any role for even the remainder of this season. Farnsworth is at the end of his run and I am not sure how long the Yanks are going to keep running out aging lefthanded specialists in Mike Meyers and Ron Villone.

The only piece that has had any value to the Yankees in front of Rivera is Scott Proctor and he has had his share of problems as well. The Yankees await the emergence of their young prospects, but the majority of them are starters. That is not a bad problem at all because the Yankees will need all of those arms, if not to fill out the rotation, to use as trade bait to address the bullpen issue.

These are only a few things that George Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman will be forced to face this winter. As big a deal as Alex Rodriguez is being made out to be, he is not the biggest concern. The Yankees can replace a power bat, as they have used their bottomless pockets to do so plenty of times in the past. If winning championships is really in the cards for Steinbrenner's club in the near future, they need to lock up the heart and sole that has shown the city nothing but winning. That begins with Posada and Rivera, who only know how to wear Yankee pinstripes.