From Jacob Luft of SI.com:
For Yanks, winter success hasn't yielded much silverware
Unfortunately for the Yankees, you don't get a ring for winning the Hot Stove. As much as Yankees fans may think these signings somehow guarantee a playoff spot, or even a ring, recent history tells a different tale.
These hired guns merely represent the latest in a long line of Mr. Decembers the Yankees have been so successful in acquiring. What they need is the next Mr. October. (Here's a hint: Whoever he is, he's not wearing No. 13 in pinstripes.) What they need is an answer to why they consistently fall short at the hands of younger, hungrier teams that feature dominant pitching, something called "defense" and a 40-man roster buttressed by another mysterious baseball contraption known as a "farm system."
He has a point. Those certainly were weaknesses of Yankees teams in recent years.
However, it's not like the Yankees have much of a choice. They drafted poorly for years, then traded away all their best prospects. That means they pretty much have to buy players now if they want to win. And being the Yankees, of course they want to win.
But the reason I'm highlighting Mr. Luft's article is this part:
2005
Hot Stove haul: Johnson, Pavano, Jaret Wright
Ring haul: Zero
What happened?: Sheffield crashes into Bubba Crosby in the outfield in Game 5, allowing a weaker Angels club to pull off the first-round upset. Pavano shows up to work for a little while, then decides it's just not his thing.
Yes! Finally, a mainstream sports reporter gets it right. Bubba didn't crash into Sheff, Sheff crashed into Bubba. Bubba was set up under the ball, fer cripes sake.
