Coming Soon to Pinstripes Near You

Gotta love Filip Bondy's piece in today's Daily News.

I was intrigued by the teaser headline on the main sports page, which reads "Bondy: King Felix will make a good Yankee". Clicking through to the article, I was greeted by the incredibly reasonable-sounding fuller headline: "It's only a matter of time before Mariners ace Felix Hernandez becomes a New York Yankee".

Bondy's piece sounds like something Sip might have written once upon a time. A few choice quotes here:

• "Sometimes, you just know these opposing pitchers are auditioning to become Yankees down the road."
• "Everybody's aces become Yankees, sooner or later, for better or worse... when you stop to think about it, there are very few of these guys who escape pinstripes, or the contracts that come with them."
• "Mere months from now, Cliff Lee will be coming to New York, and then next year we will be greeting Roy Halladay, etc., etc."
• "Word to Hernandez, who is only 24: Become a Yankee sooner than later. Accept the inevitable quickly. You're better off leaving a day team while you still have a live arm."
• "Hernandez is way too good to be pitching for anybody but the Yankees. There ought to be a rule against it, when you think about it. Bud Selig should order every major league team to hand over its best pitcher to Brian Cashman, each Nov. 30. Steinbrenner Day. Sort of a reverse expansion draft."
• "The Mariners are renting Hernandez, prepping him for his Yankee debut. He could start the home opener in 2015, ahead of Halladay."

I mean, is there a single word of the above that sounds off base?

What amazes me more than anything is how other big market teams, like the Mets and Red Sox, never seem to have a chance when they bid head-to-head against the Yankees.

I get that the Yankees have the whole Yankee mystique going on for them, but if it's about the money, and it often is, why is it that the Yankees always take these guys down?

Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Yankees routinely sign the best players available, so the best players available want to play there both for the validation it provides them of being the best, but also because they know management's commitment to winning doesn't begin and end with them.

It's kind of the baseball equivalent of the Miami Heat. Why not play somewhere where you don't have to shoulder the entire burden?

It's easy for me to be critical, but if the goal is winning it all, it's hard to contest the history, both recent and ancient, suggesting that the Yankees are your best bet.

Sigh. Happy Saturday!

- A.F.O.M.G.