Daily Jolt: Bronx Bombers Still Boxed In By Steinbrenner Doctrine

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

For a second there in the winter of 2007, it looked like the Yankees were truly reformed. They told Alex Rodriguez to get lost after he shamefully opted out of his mega-contract during the final moments of that year's World Series.

And though Hank Steinbrenner couldn't resist reversing course and welcoming Rodriguez back into the fold a month later for a jaw-dropping $275 million, they went to the Winter Meetings in Nashville and resolutely refused to deal any of their prized arms for very much available two-time Cy Young-winner Johan Santana.

It was an un-Yankee-like moment in a decade filled with the exact opposite. After all, how many times had the Bronx Bombers gone winter shopping since their loss in the 2001 World Series and not come away with the shiniest toy? OK, Carlos Beltran. Anyone else? Still, it seemed like a necessity. Finding success with cost-controlled youth wasn't just some fad. It had become the way to win in baseball. Sure, they gave A-Rod his money, but he was a once-in-a-generation talent, and general manager Brian Cashman was still putting the season in the hands of those prized arms -- Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain.

And then 2008 happened.

The Yankees finished in third place in the AL East, snapping a 13-year run of playoff appearances. Hughes and Kennedy imploded. Chamberlain missed an extended stretch of time with an injury. And the response was swift. Buy. Buy some more. And then even more. CC Sabathia? definitely. A.J. Burnett? Why not? Mark Teixeira? Well since we're here, anyway.

Just like that, the youth movement was pushed to the backburner.

There is no question that the Yankees are much improved heading into 2008. There is no question that it is because of those additions. There is also no question that they are devoted to winning above all else. They put their seemingly limitless coffers to use to please their fans.

But the Yankees are always saddled with buyer's remorse somewhere down the line.

Oh, they sometimes get what they pay for right away -- star-level production -- but they inevitably end up wishing they could be rid of their once-prized addition. Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Jason Giambi, Javier Vazquez, and on and on. And now Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod has a bum hip, a torn labrum in his right one to be exact. It's a worrisome injury because he is going to miss time no matter what, because he will eventually need surgery on it and because there is no guarantee the prescribed rest and rehabilatation will keep him off the operating table and in the Yankees' lineup all season long.

The experts have essentially ruled out any relation between his steroid use and this injury. No, it seems A-Rod's injury has more to do with the fact that he's 33 years old than anything else. Baseball players often break down as they get older. Who knew?

More importantly, who decided paying A-Rod more than a quarter billion dollars through his age 41 season was a good idea, especially when there was seemingly no other bidder even remotely in the same financial territory?

The Yankees never show any regard for the downside of these massive five-, seven- and 10-year deals that they hand out with regularity, probably because they can't. The Steinbrenner Doctrine dictates that a World Series championship is the only way a season can be considered a success. When that is the mindset of an entire organization, it becomes impossible to worry about where the organization will be years down the line. All that matters is putting the best possible team on the field right now.

In the era of three-tiered playoffs and revenue sharing, that's silly. You can't realistically expect to win every year, but the Yankees do anyway and it winds up hurting them over and over again because they push all their chips into the middle of the table relying far too heavily on a few aging superstars.

Of course, in the long view of things, they can afford it. They are so awash in money that if A-Rod were never able to play again, they would be able to find a very talented (and likely expensive) replacement for his production next winter, if not sooner. Then the cycle starts all over again.

In the short-term, the Yankees are in enormous trouble. Cody Ransom of all people is Rodriguez's replacement for the time being. The chronic lust for superstars once again leaves the team with a very soft underbelly. Funny how that doesn't happen with their division rivals these days. Boston's Mike Lowell is recovering from the very same injury, but he is only under contract through next season, and the Red Sox have Kevin Youkilis and Jed Lowrie as capable fill-ins. The Rays have Willy Aybar and Reid Brignac at the ready if Evan Longoria were to go down.

The Yankees, meanwhile, continue to chase instant gratification with big-money deals and seem to ignore the little details along the way.

Enjoy Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett now, New York. Today's difference-making stud is tomorrow's over-the-hill burden you only wish would go away. There's a payoff, but it comes at a heavy price.