At one point in time, the New York Knicks and the New York Yankees had quite a bit in common.
Late in the 1990s, New York was the place to be if you were a sports fan with two of its major teams being the model of success in their respective sports. The Knicks traveled past the first round of the playoffs nine consecutive years and appeared in the NBA finals twice. Although the Yanks were late bloomers in the '90s, they have made the playoffs every year since 1995 and tallied five World Series championships in that span.
The modern day reflections of the two franchises might seem quite different on the outside, but a closer look details that they still have many similarities.
Solely examining at the bottom line, the win-production of both teams is utterly disparate. The Knickerbockers are in basketball's basement and among the worst teams in the league, while the Yankees are still riding high and competing for first place in the American League.
While the records have no semblance whatsoever, the front office decisions certainly do.
It is clear that the Knicks of today are not the successful Knicks of the '90s. Not only are they a cellar-dweller, their hopes of a bright future have been pawned off on a string of implausible roster decisions such as the signings of Jerome James and Jamal Crawford and the acquisitions of Eddy Curry, Steve Francis, and Quentin Richardson.
The Knicks, with the loftiest payroll in basketball, have a roster full of overpaid underachievers and have accumulated very few tradable assets (outside of their annual expiring contract).
Which brings me to the Yankees. They, too, can claim the title as their sport's most lavish spenders, but they, like the Knicks, are not built around their '90s blueprint.
The Yankees of yesteryear — more specifically, the late-1990s — were pieced together through shrewd front office decisions. The roster was constructed of a harmonious mix of cultivated, home-grown prospects and canny imports.
Domestic products included the likes of Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter, significant signings included Wade Boggs, Jimmy Key, and Tino Martinez, while astute trades brought in Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius, and Joe Girardi.
The decisions made nowadays by the Yankees brass are more Isiah Thomas-like than Yankee-like.
Bloated contracts to Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright, and Carl Pavano have led to dead-ends, while the Bronx Bombers' farm system has been all but traded away.
The trade deadline used to be the time that the Yanks would find a diamond in the rough, but exchanges from the last couple of seasons have only provided a cheap form of zirconium in the form of Matt Lawton, Tony Womack, and John Olerud.
The Pinstripes also used to have this Atlanta Braves-like aura about them. (To briefly explain: every year, the Braves take some average pitcher off the scrap heap and make him above average. For example: Jaret Wright, Damian Moss, Jorge Sosa.) Average players used to go to New York and overachieve. Now players head to New York and fall apart (Jeff Weaver, Esteban Loaiza, Jose Contreras).
No, the Yanks are by no means in serious trouble. They are several games above .500 and there are about 20 other teams who envy their position.
But going forward, the Yankees, similar to the Knicks, do not have many tradable assets and do not have an overly bright future. For starters, most of their players are past their best years.
Nobody is inquiring about the services of a clean-shaven Randy Johnson or a savvy Bernie Williams.
Even their top-level talent, at an exorbitant price, would not appeal to most teams. The number of takers for Jason Giambi with a $20m price tag or even a .290-hitting Alex Rodriguez at $25.6m are few.
With a healthy hitting lineup, the Yanks will continue compete for a top spot in the American League, but it has to be pointed out how much Knick-like financial waste this team has accumulated.
Who knows, maybe at the turn of the millennium, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Knicks general manager started sharing ideas.
The New York Knicks and the New York Yankees mix like Mondays and me.
"The more furious the pace, the more diminished the spirit." — Henry Miller
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