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The Marcus Thames Affair, or why the Yankees are Dead

By ericlincoln, Section MLB
Posted on Sun Oct 22 2006 at 3:13 AM EST
More on: (all tags)

By C. Eric Lincoln

Dim the lights on the greatest sporting franchise in American history. Say Goodnight, Babe. Thanks for the memories, Mr. October. And even though its crowded. Yogi, no one wants to play there anymore. The Detroit Tigers ---bless you boys--- are in the World Series, proof that a new day has come to baseball, and the Yankees and George Steinbrenner`s money don't count for much any more. The king is dead. Long live parity. Long live Marcus Thames.

So now we all head off to the mid-market, midsize World Series.
No Yankees. And sorrowfully no kindly Mr. Met. No big money empires, as a trend toward downsizing, smart-sizing baseball continues. It's a good thing. Good for the grand old game.

A 14 million dollar Met, Carlos Beltran, struck out on three pitches thrown by a Cardinal,Adam Wainwright, making a little less than $400,000, who threw a million dollar curve ball to end the National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium.

And it was only three seasons ago that the Detroit Tigers---- bless you boys---- lost 119 games, one shy of the 1962 Mets mark for utter silliness.

When the Tigers lined up for the first game of the World Serious it was their first appearance in the grand finale since 1984. The Cards made their 17th Series showing, second only to the hallowed Yankees.

No matter, this will be the seventh consecutive season a different team will be crowned world champion. Can the Twins or Pirates or, oh my, the Royals be far behind?

According to a few major league scouts I spoke with over the past fortnight, the Yankees have "spun out of control" while the aformentioned suspects will be "in the hunt for years to come."

How did this happen?

How come the Yanks aren't marching into the World Series with their flashy players, Roman payroll and stretch limos? Isn't it their stage, their October right? The Boys from the Bronx have captured 26 remarkable championships. Growing up in New York, most of us kids really believed that the World Series, by law, had to be played in Yankee Stadium. Come 1959, we thought we had been mugged by folks in Chicago.

The Yanks once ruled and reigned over American sport.

The Yanks are dead.

How come? The Marcus Thames Affair.

The slide of the Yankee empire into a state of non importance can easily be traced to June 7, 2002, a night when Yank general manager Brian Cashman decided to pull the trigger on a trade sending Marcus Thames, then a 24 year old career minor leaguer to the Texas Rangers. In exchange, the Yankees received Ruben Sierra, an aging outfielder who played very little role in the Yankee post season history.

A typical Yankee deal. An aging player traded for a good, young prospect. Trading up and out. A foolish trade. George Steinbrenner has trusted Brian Cashman with Gene Michael working in the background much too long. Cashman will say yes to just about everything George says. And George says jump.

George Steinbrenner hasn't so much as thrown around his lucre as he has ordered his minions to throw around his minor league prospects. Off with them. Bring me some veteran jesters.

And that's what the evil empire has become.

Court jesters.

Meanwhile, Marcus Markey Thames wore number 33 for the Detroit Tigers as they stood for the National Anthem on opening night. And Thames has made a significant contribution to the Tigers arrival into October baseball. Thames went 0-4 versus Oakland in the Division Series, but he finished the regular season with a career high 26 homers, and has averaged one homer in every 14.42 at bats in the last three Tiger seasons.

On the night he was traded for Sierra, Thames was playing for the Double A, Eastern League Norwich Yankees in Connecticut, and had already that season hit 13 home runs in 107 at bats. The year before, Thames led the Eastern League with 31 home runs and a .321 batting average.

"He was a talented kid. Good enough to have been in Minnesota the next year," says one Twins scout. "No question. Everyone saw his power back then."

"The Yankees have basically traded away the young talent for a shot at the future. And the future is over.

"Everyone in baseball knows the Yankee (farm) system is dead. Their minor league is filled with guys 29, 30 years old just hanging on while they trade up for a big bat or a strong arm. They are absolutely depleted."

Says an Oakland scouting advisor: "The Yankees are done. And no one will trade with them. There's nothing of value left."

When Steinbrenner bought the Yanks in 1972, he decided to rebuild the Yank farm system. Other clubs coveted Yank talent, but Mr. Steinbrenner eventually traded it all away. In a way, very sad.

If there is any resonance in Twinkie Ball, or Money Ball in Oakland, or even the Smart Payroll of thecash rich St. Louis Cardinals, a new age has arrived, with a rekindled hope for Kansas City and Pittsburgh and beyond.

The Tiwns scout tells me that the team Marcus Thames played on in Norwich might well be challenging now for a world title. It was that good a team. That talented. And it was all Yankees. And now all gone.

As for the 6-2, 220 pound outfielder, Thames spent one undistinguished season with the Rangers before the Tigers collected him for a pittance as a free agent in December 2003.

"It just took time for the kid to feel comfortable," Tiger manager Jim Leyland says. "You've got to feel that someone wants you."

As for the Yankees, they go on collecting ancient veterans, mortgaging the future for a last grasp at a tarnished brass ring. But clubs like Boston and Toronto are playing Twinkie Ball, and as most scouts agree, are now vastly ahead of Steinbrenner's learning curve.

The Yankees are done. Long live the king. And long live Marcus Thames.

C. Eric Lincoln is a former sports writer for Newsday and The New York Times.

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The Marcus Thames Affair, or why the Yankees are Dead | 10 comments (10 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

They Remind Me of.. (#1)
by matt Jordan on Fri Oct 20 2006 at 12:59 PM EST

The Colorado Avalanche. They pulled the same stuff, bringing in aging superstars at the expense of their young talent. Now that Old Mother Hubbard has to go to her cupboard, they find it bare.

i entirely disagree. but maybe i'm just biased. (#2)
by GuessWho on Fri Oct 20 2006 at 10:15 PM EST

the yanks are dead?

call me crazy, but the fact that you call them dead b/c we havent won in 6 years kind of shows how good a team they are. that it's surprising it's been 6 yrs since a championship.

the yankees continue to dominate the AL East even with seasoned veterans. when it comes down to it, the veterans - matsui, bernie, giambi, sheffield - have shown tremendous ability in the field and at bat, despite their age. now they have bruney, wang, melky, cano, who have plenty of time left in them, and plenty of talent to build on. even players like farnsworth, jeter, arod, abreu, while slightly older, will still be playing the game, and keeping the yankees in the postseason for years to come. It's the combination of rookies and veterans that allows them to win year after year.

we may not take the world series for granted anymore, but the fact that we can continue to rely on october baseball shows the true strength and, really, superiority, of the New York Yankees.

Call me crazy but... (#3)
by Anonymous Fan on Fri Oct 20 2006 at 11:37 PM EST

I don't think you can say the Yanks ae dead until they stop dominating their division.

not dead, just not dominant (#4)
by Vtknowitall on Sun Oct 22 2006 at 8:34 AM EST

Is the modern Yankee dynasty over? Yes. Teams have become smart and figured out ways to build a team without the extravagant spending. But are the Yankees going to be middle of the pack or lose 100 games any time soon? Not in my opinion, and I am a Red Sox fan.

what? (#5)
by Anonymous Fan on Sun Oct 22 2006 at 9:12 PM EST

You cant possibly say the Yankees downfall has anything to do with who? Thames? come on now, no. You know better than that. If their All-Stars would have performed like All-Stars, they would have gone all the way. I just wish My A's were here. Good Article though.

Um... (#6)
by mw2828 on Mon Oct 23 2006 at 4:50 PM EST

Well, let's see. If they sign Daisuke in the off-season [26] and bring up Hughes by... let's say June next year, if/when Johnson gets hurt again, and bring back Mussina... the rotation is:

Wang [26]
Daisuke [26]
Mussina [Old]
Johnson [Old]
Rasner/Karstens/Hughes [All young]

Robinson Cano is the second baseman for the next 5 years, at least. Melky will get a ton of at-bats next season.

How is the Yankee farm system done when they have a top three pitching prospect, and Jose Tabata, who held his own at high A at 18 years of age?

Brett Gardner is tearing up the AFL this season.

People love writing "The Yankees are Dead" columns for some reason, even if they really aren't based in much reality. Thames was never a big prospect and wouldn't crack the Yankees starting O.F. next season. I took him YEARS, YEARS after the Yankees traded him to blossom. So the point is, arguing that they were impatient with Thames just isn't very factual.

The Yanks are dead? Really? They have at least five good years left from A-Rod. [They aren't trading him, get over it] Ditto for Jeter, who will age well because his swing isn't tailored toward pulling the ball anyway. Posada? He's good for another solid season or two. I got a great scoop for ya: the Yankees picked up the best catching prospect in the world this summer.[ Jesus Montero] Trust me... it was all over the papers.

They drafted Ian Kennedy from USC in the first round this past draft, but the real steal will be Joba Chamberlain, a righty with fantastic stuff who's also doing great in AFL.

Look, I'm not trying to be condescending or talk down to you. But it seems to me that you took a real narrow viewpoint with this, to further an agenda that you refused to be flexible about through the course of the story. Cover all the angles. If you really think the Yankees are dead, get some differing opinions in the piece that claims they aren't, and then proceed to debunk them. It'll give more credibility to your entire story. Just be more even-handed in the future, I thought the writing overall was pretty solid

: Your response is in review... (#7)
by ericlincoln on Tue Oct 24 2006 at 11:12 AM EST

First, read carefully the Yanks minor league organization book and, after reviewing age and experience, respectfully, review your opinions once again.
Second, please do read carefully through the aforementioned column and please re-read comments from major league scouts, top level people and the only people who would even speak on record about the demise of the Yankee empire.
Marcus Thames is merely a metaphor for every young Yankee prosopect that was shipped off.
Read carefully, again please, the Twins scout who suggests that Thames and many ohters like him could have been in the majors in somebody's outfield long before he actually appeared in the show.
Put it another way?
The Yankees are holding back kids who could be producing good numbers at millions of dollars less than the aging cast of players currently employed in the Bronx.
Third, read carefully again your own remarks regarding Mussina and Johnson returning to the Bronx. Their time, most sadly, is up. You have a fine list of propects, indeed, but if fact follows form, they'll be gone by March. Gone to green fields everywhere.
I thank you, most importantly, for taking time to read through 1100 words with such a fervent reponse, considering that for Yankee fans this is the best of times, the worst of times. The messenger of such is bound to be be-headed by such wonderfully loyal fans.
C. Eric Lincoln

[ Parent ]
: Your response is in review... (#8)
by ericlincoln on Tue Oct 24 2006 at 12:07 PM EST

First, read carefully the Yanks minor league organization book and, after reviewing age and experience, respectfully, review your opinions once again.
Second, please do read carefully through the aforementioned column and please re-read comments from major league scouts, top level people and the only people who would even speak on record about the demise of the Yankee empire.
Marcus Thames is merely a metaphor for every young Yankee prosopect that was shipped off.
Read carefully, again please, the Twins scout who suggests that Thames and many ohters like him could have been in the majors in somebody's outfield long before he actually appeared in the show.
Put it another way?
The Yankees are holding back kids who could be producing good numbers at millions of dollars less than the aging cast of players currently employed in the Bronx.
Third, read carefully again your own remarks regarding Mussina and Johnson returning to the Bronx. Their time, most sadly, is up. You have a fine list of propects, indeed, but if fact follows form, they'll be gone by March. Gone to green fields everywhere.
I thank you, most importantly, for taking time to read through 1100 words with such a fervent reponse, considering that for Yankee fans this is the best of times, the worst of times.
Remember, this is a column, full of fact, research and most importanlty, bias. Re-read please as if you were speaking wiht someone who was biased against you.
Lastly, the messenger of such is bound to be be-headed by such wonderfully loyal fans.
C. Eric Lincoln

[ Parent ]

To be Fair (#9)
by mw2828 on Tue Oct 24 2006 at 5:19 PM EST

You are right about one thing: The Yankees system has no depth at all. They DO have a few high-end guys, which is all I wanted to point out to you, but if the blue chips crap out for any reason, yes, they are screwed.

However, Hughes' minor league numbers are better than Verlander's at the same points in their respective careers, so I really do think he'll pan out.

Also, Big Ruben Sierra got some huge hits in the playoffs for the Yankees. The triple against Florida in the World Series [in a game they lost because of Jeff Weaver... a guy they acquired to get younger... that's ironic] There was also the huge three run jack off Rincon in the last Post-Season series they actually won.

I respect your opinion and hope I didn't come off as to much of a jerk in criticizing the article; I just highly disagreed with it.

: with my thanks (#10)
by ericlincoln on Wed Nov 01 2006 at 11:06 AM EST

Spirited disagreement makes for spirited writing and is a part of what we do. cel

[ Parent ]

The Marcus Thames Affair, or why the Yankees are Dead | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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