George Steinbrenner would be proud of his sons if he were alive right now. He’d be angry, but proud.
He probably wouldn’t be very proud of them for owning the Yankees; he’d be angry, but he’d be encouraged by their recent desire to spend money again.

Magic Johnson and the Dodgers showed the world that you still can build the best team in the league (yes, they were the best team despite losing in the NLCS) by spending copious amounts of money. The Steinbrenners apparently took notice of this.

They took their plan for cutting the Yankees’ payroll to $189 million and decided to throw it in the trash, proclaiming to the baseball world they were ready to buy a great team again, and try to sign Robinson Cano, their superstar.

With a report months back that Cano wanted $300 million over 10 years from New York, he may have scared off nearly every team interested and gave the Yankees negotiating power to potentially get the offer down to around $200 million. This would make things a bit easier for the team to pay upwards of $100 million for foreign import Masahiro Tanaka and fill needs in the outfield and catcher positions with Shin-Shoo Choo, Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann. With Marlon Byrd getting a blasphemous $18 million from the Phillies, though, who really knows how much that trio will cost?

The Yankees appear as if they’re prepared to get back to their roots that earned them multiple rings and nationwide hatred. They’re going to buy a great team.

Who can blame them at this point? Their farm system, while better than many give them credit for, is still a few years away from making an impact, and they need immediate help almost everywhere. Most importantly, though, they have one of the best managers in the league signed to a new contract.

They shouldn’t have issues building team chemistry with Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi leading the charge. While you can argue that the Red Sox, after spending like this just two years ago, had the same pieces, Pedroia and Ortiz arent’t Jeter. He’s helped tie together groups of veteran castaways and overpaid sluggers before.

For my money (and no, this doesn’t mean I’m posting $50 million), I think Tanaka could be the most important and telling part of this team next year, if the Yankees do indeed snag him.

Much of the team’s success over the past 15 years has included foreign prospects. From Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras to Robinson Cano, whom they signed out of high school in 2001, they’ve all proven valuable. After Kei Igawa, however, the team’s been scared to take big risks.

All fears seem to be a thing of the past, and the Steinbrenners are ready to go all-in this offseason, hoping to reconcile with fans after a poor showing in 2013. With a few instrumental players returning from injury, adding a few nice pieces this winter could turn New York back into a serious title contender.