I'm not quite ready for my typical State of the Yankees style post with player grades and prospects, but I'll reply to yours with some of my hopes for the upcoming season...
There is too much age on this team. I would begin cutting ties with several players, including Damon and Giambi (especially those two), in favor of younger talent. I would certainly eat salary to move either one. Damon's durability and his bat is still enough to turn him to a team that needs leadoff talent. Aaron Rowand will likely be available, and would replace Damon's clubhouse spirit.
Giambi is an albatross with a Tampa-era contract. I'd give him away for just about anything. Preferably bullpen help.
Matsui has a full no-trade clause, and the revenue from Japan is too great for the Yankees to dump him. The problem is that he is either a.) still hurt or b.) aging incredibly fast, which is not a good sign for a team that already has too many DH's.
It is quite hard, because there are still no solid options to replace our aging players. Kudos to the Tampa group (hence why I would NOT get rid of Cashman). Torii Hunter, despite his injury history, is the best center fielder available. The question is whether you want Rowand or not for his intangibles. I don't know. I'd probably go with Hunter, but if we're trying to build a '96 team, I'd go with Rowand. Either way, Shelley Duncan can play a serviceable left field (no worse than Matsui...).
I'd pick up Abreu's option in a heartbeat, simply because of his turnaround, as well as his great performance in the playoffs (one of few Yankees).
Melky stays, and is an untouchable. He is the next Bernie Williams (better, I'd say, fielding, probably slightly less at the plate, though he does have potential, and showed poise at the playoffs).
As far as the infield, A-Rod is gone. Pure and simple. He wants the money, and while I would love to have him back (he didn't have a horrible postseason, and did better than other Yankees), paying him in the neighborhood of $40 million per year is just ridiculous. That being said, he does have incentive to accept the Yankees offer, since it comes with the Texas money. However, I doubt he'll be back, and I'd expect him in Chicago next year, with San Francisco being the dark horse.
That brings us to Wilson Betemit, who is still young enough to be thrown in with the prospects, surprisingly enough. He can hit for power, and has soft hands on defense. He could grow into an everyday player for this team, if needed. Betemit had been on the Yankee radar for ages, so they are high on him. Go forth and prosper, Wilson.
Jeter stays. But his clutch is missing. Someone should call the FBI, it's missing.
Cano is a phenom, and they need to get him locked up as soon as possible. He could legitimately win the batting title next year in the AL, as he continues to show his plate discipline, hit for more power, and improve his OBP. His defense is great.
Mientkeiwicz and Phillips both play a great first base, though Phillips had a much better bat this year before he got hurt. I give Mientkeiwicz the edge in defense, however. While their bats leave a bunch to be desired, neither was horrid at the #9 spot.
Posada is an enigma. His defense has arguably lost a step (should have stopped one of those Joba pitches in the Bug Game), though he still has a decent arm. His batting didn't come into question until the playoffs, when he resembled A-Rod at the plate, and looked totally lost. Let's pray Jesus Montero is developing quickly. Maybe we can falsify his birth certificate and say he's 18 or 19 (I believe he's 17 right now). Now you know why I pushed for us to acquire Jarrod Saltalamacchia earlier this year, even though it would have probably cost us Kennedy or Melky. Molina is serviceable, and probably could start for some teams in baseball, but will be a decent backup. There are virtually no free agent options out there at catcher.
For the rotation, Pettitte will probably come back. If not, it's a shame, but it will only further the youth movement (read: rebuilding, which I am in favor of). Hughes should be back to Toronto-game form, and develop into the ace of the rotation. Wang showed in the playoffs why he is probably suited to be the #2 pitcher. Joba will move to the rotation (unless Rivera doesn't resign, which I doubt), he is considerably more valuable there. Kennedy will join the rotation as well. Rounding it out will be Mussina, who really does not belong on this team. You have to wonder if they couldn't circumvent his 10+5 NTC and send him on his merry way, along with Kei Igawa, to the National League for some talent.
The bullpen needs Vizcaino to resign, and needs Ramirez and Britton to take (be given?) more prominent roles. Farnsworth has to get some even dorkier glasses, and pitching lessons from Charlie Sheen. Rivera needs to last another year. I wonder if they won't promote some more minor leaguers (Alan Horne?), and possibly develop Ohlendorf. He was supposed to start anyways, and was HORRIBLY misused by Torre against Cleveland in the playoffs. It could have ruined him for life.
The plus side is that we have some very nice position prospects coming down the line that I'll discuss in my long post sometime in the next week or so. I realize the cliche is that the Yankees don't rebuild, they reload, but I think that if we could nix Torre, get Girardi in here, with a small core of veterans mixed with the youth movement, we could have the makings of another '96 at the very least, certainly the basis for a dynasty.
