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December 06, 2007

Hank: We Got Pitching Out The Yin-Yang

From Tyler Kepner -

“We’re going to be in beautiful shape,” [Hank] Steinbrenner said Wednesday, a day after declaring that the Yankees had dropped out of talks for Santana. “I’m telling you, I’m very excited. I hope we can challenge this year, and I think we can. But the future looks even brighter.

“If you own a sports team and you’re serious about winning, you’ve got to strive for dominance — and to be dominant, you’ve got to be self-sufficient. The Yankees had that before, and the Patriots have that now in the N.F.L. There’s no reason we can’t do that again.”

“That was an experience from the ’80s, and there’s no question it was painful,” said Steinbrenner, who resisted taking a position of influence for his father then. “The bottom line is, I’ve got to be happy with what I’ve got. We’re all happy, and it’s only going to get better and better.

“Our goal is to be self-sufficient,” Steinbrenner continued, repeating a theme, “like the Yankees used to be, and do it through the draft and Latin America. Our guys are the best scouts in baseball, and they’ve proven that over the last few years. It’s unbelievable the job Damon Oppenheimer and his scouts have done. That’s what’s got to continue.”

“We have a lot of good young pitching in the minors — better than anybody, I guarantee you,” Steinbrenner said. “We’ve got the best young pitching in the majors and in the minors. It’s not even close. It’s pretty obvious, and we’re not the only ones who think so.”

“People keep saying, ‘Do we really have a No. 1?’” Steinbrenner said. “I’m telling you, we’re going to have three No. 1’s three years from now, and we may have two or three great closer prospects, too.”

Just like his dad humming Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker," I can now see HankdeStein Jr., pacing the halls inside Yankee Stadium, singing "We will, we will, rock you...."

Posted by Steve Lombardi at December 6, 2007 09:31 AM

Comments

Is there a single day when this Frankenstein lookalike doesn't open his yap? Can't he just STFU for once? Even when he's being non-controversial, I still would like a moment's peace from his incessant chatter. Talk is cheap and the book on Hank is quickly becoming known that the more he talks, the more he's anxious and worried. He'd be easy prey at the poker table.

Posted by: MJ [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 6, 2007 11:41 AM

Hank Stein is certainly entertaining ,if anything!I like the hubris coming from Stein and the honesty as per these statements.Is he 100% right?No, but his comments are becoming prime media fodder.As it stands right now ,the Young Three are question marks BUT their upside is quite good....in the long term.Look do they have the best pitching prospects?I look at the Jays and the Red Sox in the same division and I see some pretty good pitching prospects,so that is hype.Although,the homegrown pitching ethos is the smart way to go,given the cost and risk of getting free agent pitching and the such.

Posted by: butchie22 [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 6, 2007 11:43 AM

The regular season should be "interesting".

Will Hank crack after a 3 game losing streak or before a clutch series with the Royals?

Will he have the stamina for a 6 month season?

I'm looking forward to see in what ways he's like and unlike his father when he was in his prime.

Posted by: Basura [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 6, 2007 01:07 PM

His dad traded virtually every pitching prospect they had, and didn't invest much of their resources in the minor league system. From that perspective, Hank is a welcome change.

Posted by: Rich [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 6, 2007 06:35 PM