The team should focus on the young. Mike Musina has one more year and Kei Igawa has a contract. Igawa's role must be figured out for next year. Is he going to be a starter or is he a reliever. Make a decision and stick with it. Kyle Farnsworth should be dumped. I'd offer him to the Pirates. It's a perfect team for a veteran player who needs to pitch regularly and get his game back. He'd be given plenty of opportunities to pitch on a team like Pittsburgh.

Behind Musina and Chien-Ming Wang, the three remaining starter slots should be given to the young guys: Chase Wright, Joba Chamberlain, Tyler Clippard, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. I would go with three of these guys and send the others back to triple A. Rather than bring in another veteran starter, I'd look for veterans to fill the relief staff. One veteran long reliever/spot starter to come in if a rookie faulters once in a while and two veteran arms, one lefty, one righty, to fill in the middle innings.

In the outfield, I would buy out Bobby Abreu's contract. The Yankees have too many big name players on their roster. Only nine men can be on the field at one time, so the other five or six bench players need to be role players. With Abreu gone, you'll still have Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon to patrol the outfield. The Yanks also have Shelley Duncan who could prove to be a valuable righty bat from the bench.

By setting up their outfield with three primary candidates and letting four or five players battle out for the final two back-up slots, the Yanks can begin rebuilding for the future. Cabrera is young and has shown he can take a full 162 game season. Duncan is also young and by giving him the fourth or fifth outfield spot, he has an opportunity to prove he can stay on the major league roster through an entire season. If one of the starting outfielders goes down, he can also be given the chance to work in the outfield full-time.

If I was Brian Cashman, I'd extend a contract to Bernie Williams to audition in spring training as a fourth or fifth outfielder. Williams is a switch hitter, has pop in his swing and is a fan favorite. A one year contract for his return would be a nice gesture after letting go of all the players I list in this entry.

Lastly, the infield can get a major payroll cut simply by letting Alex Rodriguez walk. I'm not too comfortable letting Wilson Betemit play third full time, so this is the one position the team will have to search for a replacement. Mike Lowell will be on the market and I see nothing wrong with the Yankees making a push to bring him back. It may be smart to bring in a Chone Figgins or an Alex Gordon. I'd also say if they can trade Jason Giambi, do it. If he stays, he should be back as full time DH. Also, with a posibility of no more A-Rod, it also makes Giambi the only "power bat" in the line-up, so keeping him may be a must.

Andy Philips should be the starting first basemen and either a Doug Mientkiewicz or another lefty hitting first basemen can fill in as back up (Let's not forget Shelley Duncan can also play some 1B). Robinson Cano & Derek Jeter will obviously remain in the middle infield. That leaves us with catcher. There isn't a catcher out there that could replace Jorge Posada. In addition to Rivera, Posada is the only other player with walking papers that I'd turn around and offer a deal to.

So that would be my new team. I haven't even thought of a batting order yet.