Meandering Thoughts: On the Yankees and Johan Santana

I'm not going to discuss the Yankees and Johan Santana at length (I would refer you instead to excellent sites like Peter Abraham's Lower Hudson newsblog, or to the phenomenal River Avenue Blues), but I did have one thought on it that I thought I would be doing the entire blogosphere a disservice if I didn't put it out there.

For the first time with Yankees prospects, I feel like the Yankees are in a better position without the marquee, big-money player. Santana's great, but they should not mortgage their youth movement (not just the great young pitchers, but also sparkplugs like Melky Cabrera) for any player - not even the great Santana.

I'm reminded of the quote with which Vin Scelsa begins his great radio show on WFUV - which he himself took from the music writer David Fricke. It goes like this: "Respect the elders. Embrace the new. Encourage the impractical and improbable, without bias." I want to see the Yankees continue to embrace the new. It might be impractical for the Yankees, given their business model, to go away from the veteran with the track record, but I think it'll be more exciting.