DUE TO MR. MONEYBAGS…YANKEES ARE PINCHING PENNIES…AND BORING AS HELL….
Yankees uncharacteristically thrifty
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Where the hell are the Yankees?
WINTER MEETINGS
Not at the winter meetings. At least, not in any place where there is news other than a 37-year-old third baseman breaking down.
Oh, the Yankees will tell you they have their pitching in order after re-signing free agent Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera for a combined $37 million.
But that would be Kuroda, 37; Pettitte, 40; and Rivera, 43 — and Rivera is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.
Meanwhile, the catchers are all backups. The right fielder is a player to be named. And the left side of the infield — shortstop Derek Jeter, 38, and third baseman Alex Rodriguez, 37 — is about to be condemned by the City of New York.
Ah, that’s unfair to Jeter, who is expected to return from surgery on his left ankle by Opening Day; Rodriguez, preparing for surgery on his left hip, will be out until at least May and possibly July.
Whatever, the Yankees are in the process of building a team that could prove not only unsuccessful but also unwatchable — a double whammy in an era in which regional television networks are the lifeblood of big-market teams.
Frankly, I’m waiting for some right-minded Yankees executive to stand up and shout, “HELLO? IS ANYBODY HOME? WHY ISN’T JOSH HAMILTON ALREADY IN PINSTRIPES?”
If there isn’t debate in the front office over the Yankees’ self-imposed austerity kick, there darned well should be.
The late George Steinbrenner would spend his offseasons money-whipping the rest of baseball, then blather on about Yankee pride, Yankee tradition and Yankee excellence.
Steinbrenner’s son Hal, on the other hand, seems intent only on getting the Yankees under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold by 2014 and realizing a series of significant financial benefits under the new labor agreement.
Never mind that the Yankees, after winning 95 games in the regular season, were swept by the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series.
Never mind that the Toronto Blue Jays made a blockbuster trade last month, or that the Boston Red Sox are also acting “uber-aggressive” in the words of one rival executive.
Someone print up new T-shirts: “$189M or bust!” — and sell them for $65 as official Yankees merchandise.
It’s not as if the Yankees are experiencing financial difficulty — they recently sold 49 percent of the YES Network to News Corp., the owners of FOX, for $500 million. After three years, News Corp. may acquire an additional stake that would raise its ownership to 80 percent. EDB
Thanks
SD Yankee Report 