Hey, Better, Better!

By ROSS NEWHAN

March 3, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

TAMPA, Fla. —

Sure, the New York Yankees won a record 125 games and their second World Series title in three years, and now boast the intimidating Roger Clemens in the American League’s best pitching rotation.

Yes, they are deep in revenue, crank out talent through an overlooked farm system, have traded chaos for calm under Manager Joe Torre and a warhorse named George Steinbrenner, and--from top to bottom--are a model of stability and proficiency, were anyone in baseball to admit it.

But perfect? Get real.

The Yankees, after all, have to decide which of three candidates will start in left field, would like the luxury of one more lefty in the bullpen and, perhaps, have to find one more utility infielder.

Then there’s this business of a merger with the New Jersey Nets into something called YankeeNets to maximize the sale of cable television rights, sponsorships, luxury suites, tickets and advertising--as well as contribute to the possible renovation, relocation or renaming of Yankee Stadium.

The Nets?

“I wish they merged with the Knicks,” shortstop Derek Jeter said. “I’m a Knicks fan.”

No, maybe not perfect, but the Yankees aren’t exactly dealing with a list of spring questions, either.

“On paper, we’re as strong as we can be,” veteran pitcher David Cone said. “I mean, only one lefty in the rotation [Andy Pettitte] and one in the bullpen [Mike Stanton] is kind of unheard of in Yankee Stadium [with its short right field], but I guess when you add a Roger Clemens [at the expense of left-handers David Wells and Graeme Lloyd] it doesn’t matter which arm he throws with.

“Of course, I remember 1987 with the Mets, when we were coming off the 1986 World Series and at one point lost every one of our starters with injury, myself included. It was unreal. We all know anything can happen.”

In the American League East, however, only that kind of train wreck is likely to stop the Yankees, who are under the same microscope as Mark McGwire.

“The goal is to get back to the World Series, and we’re starting from scratch again,” Torre said. “People are going to be comparing our pace, but we can’t concern ourselves with winning more than 125 games.

“In fact, I think McGwire or someone will hit more than 70 home runs before a team wins more than 125 games, simply because it’s harder to keep 25 guys on the same track.”

For most teams, perhaps, but reliever Stanton, who pitched for championship clubs in Boston, Texas and Atlanta, said he has never seen a tighter, more single-minded group, that the Yankees “won’t accept anything less than winning” and took each loss last year as “a personal affront.”

“We don’t have any troublemakers here, only some former troublemakers,” Stanton said.

Torre agreed. He is blessed, he said, with a team of professional workers--”special, self-motivated talents who feed off each other” with almost “machine-like determination and inner conceit.”

Cruise proof, in other words?

“Last year, with our big lead, I never had to remind them of anything,” Torre said. “They played as if it was April all year.

“However, we won because of the consistency of our starting pitching, not because the guys liked each other.

“That just helped us live together. Winning creates chemistry, not the other way around.”

The Yankees blended patience at the plate--they led the league in runs, walks and on-base percentage--with flashes of perfection on the mound.

In the hit-happy American League, they were the only team with an earned-run average under four, 3.82.

But on the first day of their spring encampment, lest anyone get too comfortable, they accepted the Toronto Blue Jays’ proposal and traded Wells, Lloyd and reserve infielder Homer Bush for Clemens, arguably the best pitcher of his era.

While Clemens was producing a 20-6 record and a league-leading ERA of 2.65 and winning his fifth Cy Young Award, Wells had his best season in 1998. He was 18-4 with a 3.49 ERA, and his perfect game against the Minnesota Twins so epitomized the Yankee season that a picture of his exultant pose, with his right arm raised in celebration, is on the cover of the Yankees’ pocket schedule.

Amid the Yankee symphony, Wells marched to heavy metal, at odds with Torre at times, but a Babe Ruth historian and look-alike who loved being a Yankee and was distraught at being traded.

“We loved Boomer,” Cone said. “He was a gamer and unique part of the clubhouse. He came ready to pitch and gave everything he had. The only way you could trade a guy as popular as Boomer was for a legend like Clemens.

“I mean, if you can’t welcome a five-time Cy Young winner, who can you welcome? If a Roger Clemens doesn’t make you even better, who does?”

Clemens has also been known as an individualist, currying favors in travel, schedule and family arrangements, but Torre doesn’t see that as a problem--”He’s under Yankee rules and he’ll obey Yankee rules.”--and views Clemens’ work ethic and tenacity as one more beacon.

“He’s a throwback,” Torre said, comparing Clemens to Bob Gibson, his former St. Louis Cardinal teammate. “He brings an intimidation factor. He’s a presence on the mound and in the clubhouse.”

For all of their 125 victories last year, the Yankees were respected but not feared. Clemens generates fear.

Jeter and Chuck Knoblauch, for instance, playfully wore full catcher’s regalia when they faced him for the first time in batting practice the other day--mindful of his willingness to deck any hitter at any time.

“Collectively, we had the best staff in the league last year, but we didn’t have that real thump at the top of the rotation,” Cone said. “We all had good years, but I always had the feeling that teams felt they could beat us. The [Cleveland] Indians felt it and almost did [win in the league championship series]. I sensed it even in the World Series with the [San Diego] Padres, and part of their thinking was that they had a thumper in Kevin Brown.

“Now we have one as well. We know teams are going to be geared up to beat us, they always are, but Clemens raises the intimidation level and gives us more of a swagger.”

Guaranteed $16.1 million over the next two years, Clemens has also helped raise the Yankee payroll to about $87 million, replacing the Dodgers as the highest in baseball. By the end of the year, with incentives and benefits figured in, the Yankee payroll could top $95 million.

Last year’s winning carried rewards beyond championship rings:

* Free-agent center fielder Bernie Williams was re-signed for $87.5 million over seven years, and free-agent third baseman Scott Brosius, the Series MVP, was re-signed for $15.75 million over three years.

* The Yankees picked up Cone’s option at a renegotiated $8 million, and generously agreed to pick up the option of backup catcher Joe Girardi for $3.4 million.

* Jeter went from $750,000 to $5 million in arbitration, and closer Mariano Rivera went from $750,000 to $4.25 million.

* Torre was given a two-year extension for a reported $4 million, and General Manager Brian Cashman got a three-year, $1.1-million contract.

* The Yankees haven’t announced it but haven’t denied reports that second baseman Knoblauch will be receiving a two-year, $18-million extension--and all of that is besides the one-year, $6.1-million extension that right fielder Paul O’Neill received during the Yankee victory march of last year and the three-year, $6-million contract given Chad Curtis, now vying with Ricky Ledee and Shane Spencer for the left-field job, last summer.

The payroll makes winning imperative, but Yankee resources also leave more room for errors of investment and judgment.

Said Cashman, “I don’t think George would say that we’re allowed to make more mistakes, but, sure, we have an easier time surviving mistakes than a small-market team does.”

The Yankees, however, have made fewer mistakes in recent years because they have refocused on their farm system.

No longer are they about free agency as much as development.

Steinbrenner said the other day, “People like to say, ‘Oh, the big-market Yankees, they can afford to buy any player they want.’ Well, we set out with a five-year plan and you can see the results. [Former major league executive] Gabe Paul used to say that a team was lucky to produce one major leaguer every few years. We’ve done a lot better than that.”

Among the players obtained through scouting and development are Pettitte, Rivera, Williams, Jeter, Ledee, Spencer, Jorge Posada, Ramiro Mendoza and Orlando Hernandez.

And the Yankees used farm products in trades for O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Brosius, Hideki Irabu and others.

The Yankees of the ‘80s were a tumultuous lot, but stability and continuity are their hallmarks now, with Torre providing steady, consistent leadership.

There are always land minds in the Bronx, but Torre has helped build what Cone calls “an aura of calmness” while avoiding the detonations that claimed so many predecessors.

“Joe was an MVP-caliber player and has the respect of players on that front,” Cone said. “He was a broadcaster for several years and understands the media. He’s an outstanding businessman, so he can deal with Steinbrenner on his level. And he’s a true New Yorker. Put all of the factors together and he’s the perfect man for the toughest job in baseball.”

For Torre, undoubtedly benefiting from a mellower Steinbrenner at 68, the goal has been to eliminate the small stuff before it festers.

The goal has been to convince his players that the boss is the boss, has a right to do and say what he wants, and their job is to keep playing, to stay focused.

“This job was a bonus,” Torre said. “I didn’t expect to manage again, and I didn’t approach it with the type ego that demands I be right or that I be the boss. I’m not trying to pretend I’m the final word, although I insist that I am on the field. George and I have a mutual respect. No one wants to win more than he does, and that’s fine with me. The Yankee manager knows he’s going to have the tools.”

Will the tools rust in the aftermath of a historic 1998?

“I just don’t see guys like Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez getting complacent,” Cone said. “It’s not in their nature, and if there was any doubt, Roger Clemens will probably answer that.”

Torre agreed, of course.

“Winning a second time was verification of the first,” he said. “And considering [the sense of accomplishment] was that much better than the first time, I would have to think three has got to be spectacular. I mean, that’s what this is about. It’s all about seeing how good you can be.”

RESTING: Todd Hundley will sit out the first week of exhibition games to protect his reconstructed right elbow. Page 8

JIM DANDY: Center fielder Jim Edmonds hit two home runs, giving him three homers and two singles in six intrasquad at-bats. Page 8

HONORED: Orlando Cepeda, passed over by the writers, was elected to the Hall of Fame by Veterans Committee. Page 8

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Yankee Green

The 1999 New York Yankees’ projected payroll:*

Player Salary

Bernie Williams: $9,857,143

Roger Clemens: $8,250,000

David Cone: $8,000,000

Paul O’Neill: $6,250,000

Chuck Knoblauch: $6,000,000