Schadenfreude 172 (A Continuing Series)

Rany Jazayerli, Grantland:

After winning their third World Series in a decade, the Red Sox appear well positioned to keep their success going. They're not a particularly old team. ... Boston's farm system is one of the game's best ... The melding of money and talent, the "$100 million player development machine" that former Boston GM Theo Epstein talked about more than a decade ago, continues unabated in New England.

Things in the Bronx are ... not as great. As tempting as it might be to label 2013 a fluke ... the evidence points in a different direction. Last season wasn't a fluke; it was the new normal for the Yankees, and nothing they've done this offseason changes that. If anything, the moves the Yankees have made this offseason seem guaranteed to perpetuate that reality. ...

The Yankees were not a good team in 2013. Their Pythagorean record, an estimate of what their win-loss record should have been based on their runs scored and runs allowed, was 79-83. ...

The Yankees knew they needed to add hitters this winter, and they've done that. The sheer amount of ground their lineup has to make up, however, is staggering. ...

Jeter will return for one more year at shortstop, and aside from turning 40, missing almost all of last season with an ankle injury, and playing poor defense for the last decade, this should go great. ...

This is a lineup in decline, and parts of it weren't that good to begin with. ...

There also isn't enough talent on the way. You'll notice that, in this entire article, I've yet to mention a single prospect or rookie who's ready to step in for the Yankees, giving them upside and youth in a nice, payroll-cleansing package. That's because they don't have any. ... By comparison, the Red Sox's farm system is so deep that, according to Baseball America's Ben Badler, they may have as many as 10 of the top 100 prospects in baseball. ...

The Yankees dug their own hole by making mistakes in drafting and player development. They're even worse off now, however, because the ladders they used to climb out of a similar hole 20 years ago have been removed.

There are again two great teams in the American League East, but they're the Red Sox and the Rays. The Blue Jays and the Orioles ... are better than they used to be. Right now, it doesn't look like this story will have a fairy-tale ending for New York.

The culprit in the Yankees' downfall is mundane, but real: They're simply not talented enough to contend. Talent was something the Yankees could always buy in the past, but no one's selling it anymore. With few ways to acquire that ability, it looks like the Yankees will be living unhappily — if not ever after, then certainly for a lot longer than their front office and fans are prepared to stomach.