The 2010 ALCS taught us a very important lesson: Homegrown talent wins championships. The Texas Rangers are finally seeing the maximum performance expected by many of their young players when they were drafted.
Homegrown players do not even need to play for your team for a long time to have a lasting impact on your franchise’s success. General managers can trade top homegrown talent for superstars at the trade deadline; that can make the difference in the post season.
Justin Smoak, a Rangers top prospect, was the centerpiece in the Cliff Lee trade, which has turned out to be one of the best midseason acquisitions ever.
The Yankees know how to win with homegrown talent. Their dynasty of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s was built on great homegrown talent like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.
The Yankees need to revert back to that format, because the best way to build a perennial winner is to build it yourself, and not reach out to outside sources, such as free agency.
Now we will look at several reasons why the Yankees need to copy their strategy from the early 1990’s if they want to build another Yankee dynasty.