Yankees fans respond
07/10/2002
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Last week I wrote about my hatred for the New York Yankees, citing as my reasons their ungodly payroll and resulting financial advantage over every other team in baseball. I stated this hatred not as a knee-jerk reaction to George Steinbrenner's trade for Raul Mondesi or even my own team's apparent collapse. No, these feelings didn't sprout from the ashes of the Cleveland Indians, former AL Central tyrant; rather, they've been fostered over years of witnessing Steinbrenner outbid everyone in the game for prized free agents and top trade targets, and last week those feelings simply boiled over.
Then, just days after I wrote my column, the Yankees did it again, landing Detroit starter Jeff Weaver in a three-way deal that also included the Oakland A's. Unbelievable.
Now, I figured the column would get some Yankees fans riled up, claiming it's the system and not their team that's ruining the game, that other owners should "want to win" as much as their owner does, that we're all just jealous of their success. Anti-Steinbrenner talk and whispers of "buying a championship" always seem to spark the nastiest of reactions from all those pinstripe supporters out there, and in this case I assumed those nasty reactions would come in the form of some defensive e-mails.
Boy, talk about hitting the proverbial nail on the head... .
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From: Justin Marsling
Subject: Boo-hoo with your freaking NY Yankees
So your problem is HOW the Yankees win every year.....I do believe the Mets blew a ton of money over the past offseason and, oh yeah, they SUCK! This year, the Texas Rangers have blown a boat load of money and, oh yeah, they are a JOKE!!! Shall we jump to the NHL...the NY Rangers spent a boat load of money and, oh yeah, they SUCKED LAST YEAR...I am so sick of people saying that the Yankees buy their championships....bull.....you still have to go out on the field and play the 162 regular season games and then the games in the playoffs.
Baseball is a business just like any other and yeah, I don't agree with the salaries these guys make.....but don't slam the Yanks......the Yankees have probably some of the best scouts in the business and how can you say the Yanks rebuild by buying....hey, Posada, Jeter, Soriano, Rivera, Williams, Pettitte....yeah, I do believe they are from the farm system. Yeah I am sure it is George's goal to put a losing team on the field....and the Yankees have rebuilt. Do you remember the late 80s into the early 90s....cause as a Yankee fan I certainly do...we SUCKED! Just like any other team the Yankees have signed free agents.....yeah George's pocket is deep, but there are a handful of other owners out there that have the money as well, they just choose to spend it on players like Ted Williams' son.... George is a smart businessman, plain and simple, and is just playing by the rules.....so don't hate the Yanks...hate BASEBALL and free agency cause that is the real problem here.
You're absolutely right, Justin. Something I neglected to mention last week was that the Yankees certainly deserve credit for their incredible scouting -- while many teams in baseball waste money on guys like Denny Neagle, Darren Dreifort and Carl Everett, the Yankees somehow manage to get All-Star numbers from seemingly washed-up veterans like Robin Ventura. While the Dodgers and Rockies throw heaps of cash on free agent busts like Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton, the Yankees wisely invest tens of millions in Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi.
So yes, Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman (is there a more appropriate name for a Yankees GM than "Cashman," by the way?) without question should be commended for making intelligent baseball decisions, the kinds of decisions that lead to champagne in October and World Series rings.
But the fact remains, Justin, that the Yankees have more money to play with, meaning more so than any other team on the planet, they can afford to fully take advantage of their magnificent scouting by snatching all the top available talent. So one year after giving Mussina $11 million per season, George still had enough cash to turn around the very next winter and offer Giambi more than $10 mil a year while also agreeing to multi-year, multi-million dollar deals with Rondell White, Steve Karsay, David Wells, Sterling Hitchcock and John Vander Wal.
Hmm, Mussina and Giambi -- I don't think it takes a genius scout to realize that these guys are good players and therefore deserve top-dollar. Unfortunately for Baltimore and Oakland, though, their top-dollar figures simply couldn't keep up with George's, so in the end they lost their marquee players. To put it another way, you can have the best scouts in the world, Justin, but if you've got a $50 million payroll, you'll still have to settle for third- and fourth-tier free agents while the Yankees continue to restock their superstar inventory.
Plus, Cashman knows he has more margin for error than ay other GM in the game -- while one bad contract has severely handicapped teams like the Dodgers (Brown), Rockies (Hampton), Mets (Jeromy Burnitz) and Blue Jays (Carlos Delgado), with his immense payroll Cashman can take more chances without fear of eliminating his team's financial flexibility. On the exact opposite end of that spectrum, the Blue Jays were buried underneath a couple terrible contracts, which is why they were forced to deal Mondesi to the Yankees for a career minor-league reliever and some monetary freedom.
And the Yankees were just about the only team in baseball that could afford to take that chance on the unhappy right fielder. Cashman knew it -- that's why he only offered Toronto Scott Wiggins in return. The Blue Jays knew it -- that's why they accepted the deal.
As for the rest of your e-mail, let's take a quick look at the payrolls for the other teams you mentioned.
New York Mets: $94.6 million
Texas Rangers: $105.3 million
Yes, the Mets and Rangers have spent a lot of money the past few years and have very little to show for it. But here's the kicker: the Yankees' payroll is still nearly $40 million higher than the Mets', or about two Jason Giambis ($20.8 million), one Mike Mussina ($11 million) and a Mariano Rivera ($9.4 million). The Rangers trail the Yanks by almost $30 million, which equates to roughly one Derek Jeter ($14.6 million) and a couple Jorge Posadas ($14 million). In fact, the closest team to the Yankees, payroll-wise, is the Boston Red Sox, who currently stand more than $25 million below their AL East rivals.
And let's not forget that this $134 million level I'm using for the Yankees was computed before the trades for Mondesi and Weaver, which added about $6.5 million to the payroll this year and another $13 million next. No other team in the game could've added those salaries -- why do you think the A's, trying to win now while also looking toward the future with a payroll that currently sits under $40 million, were willing to send Weaver to the Yankees for lefty Ted Lilly and his $237,000 salary? Don't you think Oakland GM Billy Beane would've rather had Weaver, a 25-year-old right-handed hurler who owned a 4.08 ERA last year in 229 innings and a 3.18 ERA in 121 innings this season, all for a terrible Detroit team? He just couldn't afford him.
But Cashman and the Yankees could. Done deal.
Finally, Justin, it's true that Posada, Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, Rivera, Bernie Williams and Andy Pettitte were all products of the Yankee farm system, but name me one other team that's been able to hang on to so many of their high-priced, homegrown products. Those six players make a combined $53.4 million this year, a total that exceeds the payrolls of 10 different teams in the league. Face it, if we're talking about any other team in any other market, you'd be lucky to still have two or three of those guys, let alone all six.
Thanks for the feedback, Justin. Too bad you sound like every other damn Yankees fan in the country who just can't admit that your owner's greed is dragging down the rest of the league. "... you still have to go out on the field and play the 162 regular season games and then the games in the playoffs." No kidding, but if you can afford to field an All Star at practically every position on the field, your chances of winning those regular season and playoff games increase exponentially. Wake up.
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Just six minutes after getting Justin's e-mail, I received Wally Zappa's message, this one with the simple subject head of "yanks." Wally, I hope you don't mind, but I had to kinda "clean up" your e-mail so that my readers could actually comprehend what you were trying to say. (A word of advice: There's a big difference between "there," "their" and "they're," and "were," "we're" and "where." Look 'em up.)
The Yanks didn't start this free agency crap, and as I remember 30 or 40 years ago you hicks still hated the Yankees, even when they were losing you people loved it. If your teams can't compete sell them to someone with deep pockets. George isn't the only person with money. Tell me why the Cubs lose so much -- I'll tell you, they're cheap and as long as their fans show up the Tribune is satisfied. Not in New York -- if you don't win, we won't come. We are not in the Bronx to be seen by other yuppies, we're there to see winning baseball.
Very inspiring, Wally. It's great to see that you've resorted to the "he started it" argument as well as clever name-calling. And I love this statement: "if you don't win, we won't come." Way to show that team loyalty, Wally -- if you suck, we won't support you.
So what you're implying is that Steinbrenner, who surprisingly isn't the only owner in baseball with money, spends so much cash because he knows his fans not only deserve the best, but they expect it too? Hmm, then I guess that means fans in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Detroit don't deserve to see "winning baseball," huh?
Thanks for your kind words.
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Finally, this masterpiece, with the subject of "yur Yankees article," was sent to me courtesy of John Sanderson:
You suck and so do your column!!!!!!
Yanks RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, John, I see your point.
You freaking moron.
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It's time to wrap this thing up because, as I've said in past columns, writing about the Yankees actually causes me physical pain. But I'll close by saying that I'm not looking forward to this probable work stoppage -- summer days and baseball are supposed to be synonymous, kinda like the WNBA and extreme boredom. But when you look at what's happened the past couple weeks in the Bronx and where this game appears to be headed, there's a big part of me that wonders if a strike or lockout wouldn't be in the best interest of baseball and its fans. Whether it's with a new revenue-sharing plan, some sort of luxury tax or (gulp) a salary cap, there has to be a way to level baseball's playing field.
Yankees fans point to the success small-market teams like the Expos, Reds and Twins are enjoying this season when they try to tell everybody that the gap between the haves and have-nots isn't as vast as we believe. Of course, what they don't want to talk about is, while the Twins and Reds may compete for a division crown this season, their window of opportunity will only be open for as long as they can afford to hang on to their young talent. And when those windows slam shut in another year or two, Cashman and Steinbrenner, who manage to keep their own window propped open with stacks upon stacks of hundred-dollar bills, will be ready to pounce with their multi-million dollar contracts and promises of fulfilled October dreams.
It makes me sick.
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