Wednesday, December 4, 2013

A Second Opinion On The Ellsbury Signing


by Larry Shiman, FN Board

I'm having a tough time getting worked up about the Yankees signing Jacoby Ellsbury. This doesn't feel the same as Johnny Damon, for a couple of reasons: First, I really like Ellsbury. He's put his time in, and never did anything obnoxious. I never felt a big ego coming from him. In other words, he doesn't feel like a traditional Yankee to me. From a personality standpoint, he's not Jeter, he's not ARod, he's not Clemens. So when the Yankees threw a ton of money at him, he took it. I don't blame him, and I hope when he visits for the first time, the fans cheer all he's done for us, rather than boo him for taking the cash. We can always boo him later if he helps the Yankees finally win a post-season series. Second, these aren't even the Yankees anymore. Jeter and ARod are washed up. Teixeira may be done. Mariano and Pettitte are gone. They've won exactly one championship in 13 years. They don't have an All-Star at every position - not even close. Their players - at least the ones young and healthy enough to stand without the need of a walker - are bland, and kind of hard to hate. For years, Sox fans were more into this rivalry than Yankees fans, because the Yankees always won, and it's hard to really hate a team that never wins anything. Now the shoe is on the other foot. The current team playing in the Bronx just isn't Yankee enough for our scorn. Especially if Cano leaves (please, please, please!)