When Garbage Island Becomes Dick Cheney's Summer Retreat....

I hate to say it, but El Duque is dreaming.

He has this fervent wish that Cashman recognize 2011 as a transitional year for the Yankees.

I would call it a re-building year, but that is against the Yankee code.

In such circumstances, the Yankees must not trade their prospects for worn out engines. Duque is right on this.

Everyone that is human knows the Yankee success since 1996 was due to keeping home grown young guys and giving them a chance. We had Bernie, Andy, Mo, Jorge and Derek. We kept them and we have had a winning/highly competitive franchise since then.

Sorry to say, but time is catching up to everyone and we must now repeat the strategy responsible for our success. Don't trade anyone under the age of 31 for anyone else.

Don't get caught up in the fact that the Knicks won a game after pulling off a blockbuster trade for Melo. Their previous blockbuster trade ( Pat Ewing for garbage ) put the Knicks in last place for 20 years, with no chance to get better because every draft pick was traded also.

The Melo deal is nothing more than a Ewing trade in reverse. The Knicks may rise to first round playoff losers for a few years, but then they'll go right back into the tank. They traded youth, spirit, potential, energy and high ceilings for one guy and some throw-ins that no one thinks play to the value of their contracts.

And, as always, they trade away top draft picks in the future.

So the Dolans have again mis-read their fans. They have delivered a nice, short-term glow at the expense of the next two decades. Mark my words.

Cashman, unfortunately, has these same tendencies. He has a lot of James Dolan in him lately. "Get me some old guy who used to dominate, and I'll give up all these young prospects in a flash, " he says in his sleep.

The Yankees really now think that a player has to be over 30 to be major league ready.

How and when did the Yankee leadership crawl into that hole? If we had had Doc Gooden at 19, he wouldn't have pitched in the bigs until he was 32. Can someone calculate the cost of not having a talent like that pitch in the majors during all those years?

Duque is right and he is going to be wronged.

Cashman has lied every time when he says we are going to " re-stock our minor league system;" or, "we are going to build from within;" or, " our best players are always those who come up as Yankees."

Cashman can't be trusted.

He will, before the year is out, trade at least two of our most exciting young players. Likely three.

Book it.