Back in the early 90's, George Steinbrenner was suspended indefinitely as an owner from Major League Baseball. No one knew truly when he would be back. Honestly, looking back on things now, that suspension was a great thing for the organization. The right people were put in place. They drafted well, signed key free agents and had the right management.
1994 was the first year that this really took to fruition. If there was no strike, the Yankees were playing like champions. We never know what could have happened. In 1995, some more of the core four were brought up and the Yankees made it to the first ever ALDS, losing to the Mariners in thrilling 5 games. In 1996, Derek Jeter was officially a starter and the Yankees went on a roll winning 4 out of the next 5 World Series.
In the next decade or so after losing the 2001 World Series, George Steinbrenner seemed to kind of revert back to his old ways. How so? He kept on having to go after the big name and spend more money. Yes, most teams now(like the Mets) would kill for owners to want to spend like George wanted too. Once he passed away, things slowly started to change. His sons took over and they started focusing on drafting players, even though they handed out bad contracts from time to time(i.e. Jacoby Ellsbury).
My thought is if George were still alive today, would the Yankees focus on bringing their salary down and focus on getting more athletic and younger? We all know George was stubborn as a mule. He hired and fired Billy Martin 5 times! At least he cared about putting a winning team on the field. Truthfully, as excited as I was about the mid 90's dynasty, I am more excited about this potential dynasty. The Yankees have so much potential and they are just so much fun to watch.
If George was still alive, I think there would be a shot the he listens to Cash and his son, Hal on how to go about running the team. Do I hate the analytics approach? Hell yes I hate it. Do I like the getting younger and more athletic approach? Hell yes I do. I believe George would have come to a compromise, he would have said get younger and more athletic but screw the analytics!
