Let's stay together? Team singing new tune
Break up the Red Sox.
A similar cry could be heard from beaten rivals when the Yankees dominated the World Series half a century ago. Now that the Olde Towne Team has won its second October Classic in four years, how many of last night's champagne-spattered champions will be back next spring?
Enough to keep this embryonic dynasty going. Virtually all of the starters and most of the key pitchers are under contract, many of them through at least 2009. Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is wrapped up for five more years, right fielder J.D. Drew for four, designated hitter David Ortiz and shortstop Julio Lugo for three. Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, the two rookie stars, and closer Jonathan Papelbon will be wearing scarlet stockings for at least six, five, and four more years, respectively.
By contrast, the Yankees, who haven't won a Series in seven years, are going through a major upheaval. Joe Torre, their manager since 1996, won't be returning; his successor will be named this week. Their elderly pitching staff needs to be rebuilt. Mariano Rivera, their longtime closer, will be a free agent, as will starters Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte and catcher Jorge Posada. And during last night's game, Scott Boras, agent for Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, announced the slugger had opted out of his $250 million contract, possibly ending his career in New York.
For Boston, the biggest question marks involve third baseman Mike Lowell and pitchers Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield, who'll be free agents. All of them have said they'd like to stay. The questions are, for how long and at what price?
"When you have veteran teams, you're going to have some turnover," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "If you have good veteran teams, there are going to be free agents, other teams are going to want them. You can't keep everybody."
Seven of the 25 players didn't return after the Sox won their first Series in 86 years in 2004. Pedro Martínez, the staff ace, decamped to the Mets. Derek Lowe, the winner of the clinching games against the Yankees and Cardinals, went to the Dodgers and shortstop Orlando Cabrera joined the Angels. Only eight members of that club collected a second championship ring this time.
The front office's stated goal is to build a club which perennially plays October baseball, as the Yankees have done for the past dozen years and 47 times since 1920. "Giving us a chance every year to have a chance," Francona said. The method is to have a planned turnover, a baseball version of capitalism's "creative destruction."
"[General manager] Theo [Epstein] has done a great job of turning over our ball club, not becoming old and still being competitive every year," said Francona. "That's not easy to do."
The roster has been age-grouped by design, with a growing emphasis on developing young talent. There are the players at the beginning of their careers (like Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Papelbon), those coming into their prime (Josh Beckett, Kevin Youkilis, and Matsuzaka), those at or past their peak (Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Manny Ramírez, Jason Varitek, and Lugo) and those nearing the end (Schilling, Wakefield, and Mike Timlin).
The lineup the Sox fielded in the Series was a pragmatic blend of all four groups and except for Lowell, all of them are locked in for next season. For the front office, the major offseason decisions involve pitching. Wakefield and Timlin are 41, Schilling turns 41 Nov. 14. With Jon Lester, who started last night's game, and Clay Buchholz, who pitched a no-hitter this summer in his second major league outing, the club has two 23-year-olds ready to step into the rotation.
That was the secret of the Yankee dynasty, which always had a star-in-waiting. Are the Sox, who were royalty's footmen for nearly nine decades, finally creating their own dynasty? "You've got to look at the length of the sample before you reach any cosmic conclusions," owner John Henry cautioned during the playoffs.
Henry's commodities trading instincts make him wary of random events. History tells him that the Yankees, who've won 26 crowns, will be back and will have to be reckoned with. That hasn't changed since the pinstriped people bought Babe Ruth in 1920. "Year after year," Henry said, "the Yankees will be
John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com.
