Rick Sutcliffe almost has a point!

What people forget is that the Yankees championships' were built through their farm system and the draft.

Perhaps. But every since they abandoned that approach and tried to buy their titles, they have not done so. In fact, this article (brief as it is) is an indictment of the Yankees' present approach, not a compliment to it. If Sutcliffe didn't have his nose so far up Derek Jeter's, um, leadership, he'd be able to see that.

Now, let's look briefly at the record. In 2000, the last of the Yankee championship -- all of which occured in the 20th century ...

1st base, Tino Martinez --> Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Jim Mecir and Jeff Nelson to the New York Yankees for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock.

2nd base, Chuck Knoblauch -->Traded by the Minnesota Twins to the New York Yankees for Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, Danny Mota, and cash.

3rd base, the greatest ever at bare-handing a grounder --> Signed as a Free Agent.
Rightfield, Paul O'Neill --> Traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Joe DeBerry (minors) to the New York Yankees for Roberto Kelly.

DH, David Justice --> Traded by the Cleveland Indians to the New York Yankees for Ricky Ledee, Jake Westbrook, and Zach Day.

SP, Roger Clemens --> Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Yankees for Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd, and David Wells.

SP, David Cone --> Signed as a Free Agent.

SP, Orlando Hernandez --> Signed as an amateur free agent.


This is NOT a team that was built from within. They took other teams' most expensive players and built around them. There is no way that David Justice -- who was absolutely vital to that year's team -- ends up on the Yankees if there's a salary cap. There's no way the Twins trade Chuck Knoblauch away if they could have afforded him.

There's no shame in any of these things. What is a shame is perpertuating the myth that because Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera were once Columbus Clippers, that this franchise values building from within. They don't, and they never have.