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New York Yankees: Changes for 2013 are a must

The Yankees have to find a way to get younger and more athletic prior to the 2013 season.

By Ed Valentine
The Star-Ledger-US PRESSWIRE

I really, really hate it when I agree with ESPN's bombastic Stephen A. Smith. When it comes to the New York Yankees and what they need to do moving into the 2013 season I couldn't agree more with Stephen A.

Something definitely has to change with the Yankees. Here is part of what Smith wrote recently about what the Yankees need to do this offseason:

The Yankees need to shake things up. Change is necessary when one star (A-Rod) is reportedly flirting with women in the stands during a game, and your starting right fielder (Swisher) is too busy complaining about reaction from the fans to remember he was 1-for-36 with runners in scoring position in his postseason career in pinstripes.

Clearly, a youth movement is necessary when this type of nonsense is going on. So is some accountability beyond A-Rod saying, "The [Tigers] outplayed us in every facet of the game. They were the better team."

Now what's needed is something that tells us the Yankees know modifications need to be made.

Smith doesn't really get into specifics beyond letting Nick Swisher go and exploring the possibility of trading Curtis Granderson. Those, incidentally, are ideas I whole-heartedly support.

Do I have a five-point plan for fixing the 2013 Yankees? No, but I might start with seeing if the Arizona Diamondbacks are serious about trading 25-year-old outfielder Justin Upton, the kind of talented, young, athletic player the Yankees don't really have anywhere else on their roster. I might turn over every rock on the planet in an effort to find an ace to add to the starting rotation, or at least a young pitcher with the potential to become an ace. I might cut away as much disappointing dead weight as possible (Andruw Jones, Joba Chamberlain) and open a few roster spots.

I don't know exactly what I would do, or who I might target beyond Upton. I do know, however, that bringing back almost exactly the same group that was historically bad in the 2012 postseason, and really hasn't gotten anything done in the postseason since 2009, is not acceptable.