THE MANIFESTO OF HANK

Big surprise! The Yankees are making a splash in free agency once again. After a disappointing 2008 campaign, New York emptied it's (extremely) deep pockets to free agent starters CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, paying them a combined $243.5 million over the next few years. And they aren't done yet. The Yanks appear to be in the bidding for Ben Sheets and (possibly) Mark Teixeira, although the latter may just be to drive up the price for the Red Sox, among other teams.

But why exactly is Hank Steinbrenner paying the GDP of a small nation to make his Yankees the team to beat in baseball once again? The answer is simple: He wants to prove a point. Hank is essentially saying that failure will not be tolerated. Last year's team failed miserably, so he is looking to improve it by doing something the Yankees know how to do well. Spend money.

As a Red Sox fan, this delights me. No, it's not because CC Sabathia weighs a metric ton, nor is it because AJ Burnett if often injured and has never had an ERA below 3.30. It's because Hank is taking the exact wrong approach to turning the Yankees around.

If he were smart, Hank would invest more into his farm system, and only fork over the dough for free agents that fit in perfectly with his team. Look at the Red Sox. A large number of the club's starters were drafted by Boston, and came up through the Sox farm system. Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Jacoby Ellsbury, Manny Delcarmen, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia are all homegrown talents that were found through great scouting by Boston, and have all helped the club win two World Series titles in four years.

Now that's not to say the Sox haven't spent their fair share of money in the past couple of years. JD Drew, Julio Lugo, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka are among the high priced players brought in through either trade or free agency. Finding the right mix is what wins down the line, and hopefully, Hank will learn that the hard way.

Remember just a few years ago, when the Yankees said they were going to pay more attention to the players down on the farm? Well, they failed miserably at it. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are still in the minors (maybe they should have traded them for Johan Santana...), Melky Cabrera is being used as trade bait, and Robinson Cano is another boneheaded play or mental lapse from giving the entire city of New York a heart attack, and he may soon be headed elsewhere as well. It seems that out of their entire system, only Joba Chamberlain has given them substantial results, and will continue to do so down the road.

Maybe instead of buying players, Hank should consider buying a competent scouting department. But hey, it's not like that formula has ever worked in New York before. Oh wait, the great Yankees teams of the 1990's had homegrown players like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, and Jorge Posada.

I guess Georgie's son just hasn't learned. So he is going to continue to spend and spend and spend daddy's money until the Yankees are unstoppable. Unfortunately for Hank, it usually doesn't work out that way.