Hank Steinbrenner: Don't Expect A World Series in '08

Huh? Hank Steinbrenner is gonna give me agita. I thought as George faded into the sunset that perhaps the sanity and decency and baseball smarts of Brian Cashman and Joe Torre might in fact come to dominate the Yankees completely. It seemed like it until Swindal disappeared.But clearly Hank is going to carry on the worst of George's noxious traits.

In a breathtaking statement, Hank prudently told everyone: F

ans would need to be patient with the new manager.

“I think the most important thing is whoever we hire, give him a chance because he’s not getting the ’96 Yankees,” he said. “He’s getting an even younger team or for the most part a team in transition. Give him a little while.

“We want to win the World Series every year. We’re not stupid enough to think we can do it. Of course, we’d love to win the World Series next year.”

Wha? Joe Torre was fired for not winning the World Series and now we're told the next manager is NOT expected to win the World Series? Do we expect to win the pennant? Joe Torre was fired for not winning the pennant. Isn't that the LEADT they expect? And the team has been in transition for TWO YEARS. In fact, putting aside the question marks of who else returns, the new manager will have a much STRONGER team than Torre thanks to a rotation bursting with exciting young talent, as opposed to Pavano and six game winner Roger Clemens. You should expect MORE from the 2008 team because the team looks stronger.