HAL STEINBRENNER’S GREED…WHY THE YANKEES LACK DEPTH

Bill Madden: HUMBUG! Stingy Yankees are making life difficult for GM Brian Cashman

A cup for Hal’s pennies

  Don’t worry fans, we will make sure the YANKEES ARE ALWAYS COMPETITIVE.

This year there was one no-brainer international signing that the Yankees should clearly have made. This is Yoenis Cespedes, who was signed by the A’s to a 4-year contract averaging $9 million per year.My head almost exploded when I saw this great talent go to a team that the Yankees easily could have outbid. And my poor head still pulsates whenever I look at Cespedes’ excellent rookie stats after watching the ghost of Andruw Jones stumble around the outfield.

If the Yankees were run by George Steinbrenner instead of Hal “Spreadsheet” Steinbrenner, Cespedes would be in Pinstripes, and the Yankees would not be so dependent upon ancient mistake hitters such as Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez.

And since Brian Cashman’s farm system hardly has a ton of outfield prospects in the pipeline, signing a 26-year-old talent such as Cespedes would have deepened an area of weakness: young outfielders.

If Hal were running the team in the 1990s the evidence indicates that the Yankees would have passed on El Duque, and without him the 1998-2000 Yankees likely do not win 3 World Series. The evidence to which I allude is that the Yankees passed up not merely Cespedes, but also
Aroldis Chapman, whom the Reds signed for a relatively modest 25 million, 5-year contract.

George Steinbrenner would have nabbed both of those guys in a heartbeat. George obviously had flaws, but the bottom line is that he ran the Yankees like a sportsman. Unfortunately the Yankees are now run by an owner whose driving interest is not winning but instead is a loathsome form of greed; and that greed is the main reason the 2012 Yankees lack the depth to deal with their injuries.

If the Yankees pull out of this slump and proceed to win a World Series, it will be in spite of ownership, not because of it.

EDB