The Yankees continue to invest
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Dec 11, 2008 
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About every 45 minutes or so, somebody sends me an e-mail explaining why the Yankees should spend more many to sign Mark Teixeira and/or Manny Ramirez.
Many times, they insist that George Steinbrenner would do it were he still running the team, or they question the commitment of Hal Steinbrenner.
Do a little addition. Since the end of the 2007 season, the Yankees have invested $613.45 million in eight players (CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Damaso Marte, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Andy Pettitte) who were either given new contracts or acquired by trade.
That number will start to approach $725 million once they sign another starter and either sign or go to arbitration with Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady.
————
Journal News columnist Sam Borden wrote a terrific piece on the Sabathia signing, by the way.
gotta spend money to make money
Matsui’s contract is movable because it pays for itself from the Japan revenue.
you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet
Also, let’s actually consider Wang and what he will end up getting in arb. The injury shortened year really shouldn’t hurt him. I think he should likely just get the same deal as this past season.
Only 735 million?
Bunch of cheapskates!
Although it’s still my contention that if Boston signs Teix the Yankees will sign Manny. Payroll be damned!
cole hamels has a funny voice!
Nearly 1/2 the standing amount committed to one player. I really need to get over that.
I wanted to slow down the spending and build from the farm, but I’m kind of enjoying the shopping spree.
I don’t care what Gammons, ESPN, or any other organization and their fanbases say. We’re the Yankees and we do what we want. We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. We should be so lucky to hear the words, “They bought another championship.” We’ll worry about that bridge when we cross it.
Q:
what were the rule 5 draft situations with other teams? who had the most players taken/what was the average, etc? is it true that the yankees don’t have a farm if in fact this many players are going in the rule 5 draft?
Who cares Pete . . Lets Get AJ and Manny !
Bret, at what point will you drop your Matsui fantasies? Opening Day? All-Star break? Trading deadline?
Pete,
Don’t underestimate the fact that Damon, Matsui, Nady (30 million) comes off the books after next season. The Yankees could spend more this season knowing they are knocking another 30 million plus off the books if they deem Tex or Manny better than the replacement players they would need next season.
I tell you what having the Straw on the show here is absolutely MAKING Mike’s week.
yes but come 2017, a-rod’s 30 mill comes off the books. so…
next November, when Matsui’s a free agent, Nick.
and…
Pete obviously does not like Tex or Manny and does not want to interview them next year or watch them play every day. I can accept opinions that differ from my own, but I do wonder what it is that he doesn’t like about their baseball abilities or manners with beat reporters.
(and does anyone on this blog really worry about the Yankees budget? aren’t there enough “real” budgets in this world to worry about?)
Bob Kalpisch needs to be taken to task before he goes on national radio he needs to have his facts correct. he is on with Charlie Steiner on XM175 right now and just said that the seats in Yankee stadium are outrageously priced that the bleacher tickets are $100 this is 100 per cent not true. Yes we all know that some of the seats are way overpriced but the bleachers are not 100 per ticket.
This is why Yankees get a bad rap when someone who should know better goes on a national broadcast and just gives total mis-information.
Nick in SF,
Until Manny signs here or somewhere else, anything’s possible (including moving Matsui’s contract that pays for itself with Japan revenue).
PS,
I guess CC was willing to come here for the right price.
By the way, does anyone know if the opt out after three years on the Sabathia deal is just from his side or can the Yanks opt out as well
The Yankees didn’t make the playoffs this year and the whole economy started to fall apart. Is that what Gammons and ESPN really wants?
AROD Fan— Aside from the money aspect of things talking about Manny last night how could you root for the guy who put the dagger in your team’s collective heart so many times? It’s still hard for me to root for Damon after the 2004 grand slam. And he was never a punk the way Manny is. Only way I could possibly cheer for the guy is if he hit a walk off homer to win game 7 against the Sox, or the Mets.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand how Matsui’s contract paying for itself translates to it being moveable. Don’t the Yankees receive that benefit in an indirect manner? How would the new team receive those moneys to pay for his salary? Hideki and the Yankees have a unique synergistic (is that a word?) relationship.
Bret, your PS confuses me as I never doubted that CC would be a Yankee — was that for general consumption?
Anything is possible, in theory, but the things you say about Matsui (he is free because “Japan revenue” pays for his contract or that he would want to go to Seattle because he comes from a prideful culture and would not accept the possibility of losing [yes, Bret the Hitman said that]) sometimes veer towards the fantastic.
“Kepner says the Brewers have actually been asking about Igawa.”
WTF is still doing here !!! SELL HIM ! SELL !
I just bought four seats in a RF bleacher seven game pack at $12 a seat.
I know there is another section of bleachers closer to the field in right, but IDK how much they are going for?
I agree with Mel here. If Matsui’s contract is paid for by Japanese revenue, wouldn’t the Yankees lose that revenue stream if they traded him?
I think the Yankees deserve some much needed praise for going out and spending the big bucks!
The media constantly tries to paint this as a bad thing. Even when the Yankees were winning WS titles, they kept saying the Yankees were “buying them.”
So what? As a fan what more could you possibly ask for? We have owners who are willing to do whatever it takes to put a winning product on the field. We need to applaud their commitment to winning. Especially when compared to other teams like Minnesota that have he dough but gave away Johan to the Mets anyways. Even the Angels aren’t that committed. They just let Krod walk and don’t appear serious about bidding for Tex. Looks like we can cross them off the list of serious contenders.
Not only do the Yankees sign the best available free agents, but we also kept our own. Last year we resigned Arod, Posada, and Mo when many though we’d lose at least one of them.
To further put this into perspective; I appreciate the Yankees that much more when I compare them to my football and hockey teams: the Bills and Sabres. There you have 2 small market teams that are cheap as hell. The Bills gave a ridiculous 3 year extension to their incompetent coach and their owner is too cheap to eat the money to fire this clown. The Sabres went from being a Cup contender to letting their best players go: Drury, Briere, Brian Campbell. Both teams cry that their small market, but both teams are making money while still spending under their respective salary caps.
All things considered, it makes me appreciate the Yankees commitment to winning that much more.
lol.
Steiny (NYC): You said that J.J. Putz is a better closer than K-rod. Can you explain please?
Keith Law: (1:09 PM ET ) Well, he has better stuff, misses more bats, and has far better control. Does that cover it?
The Japanese money the Yanks get is from deals they have made over there. They don’t just get paid for playing Matsui. They make side deals with lots of companies that are interested in doing business with them because they have Matsui. But those were all independant deals that wouldn’t necessarily go with Matsui should he be traded.
There is still work to be done
Sign CC and Sheets.
Nick, it’s well known that Matsui would be forced into committing hara-kiri if traded. It’s part of his contract.
“Matsui’s contract is movable because it pays for itself from the Japan revenue.”
Yup that’s how it works. Works in reverse too. Tuffy Rhodes was gold in Japan because his contract paid for itself with USA revenue.
“That number will start to approach $725 million once they sign another starter and either sign or go to arbitration with Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady.”
and this is all well and good, but on the flip side, how much did they make as an organization thru satdium deals, ticket sales, concessions, tickets, merchandise, etc?
in the same breath that you look at the FA pitchers this year and then spend this offseason knowing that there wont be many quality FA pitchers on the market like this for a while, Cashman needs to evaluate the offensive market in the same way.
someone should tell Cashman the next time a 1B like Tex will be on the market, and then tell him to bite the bullet and do it.
if you spend it this offseason on a perfect fit, you dont have to waste money on a less than perfect fit next offseason, or the one after that.
you’d think he’d have learned his lesson with Carlos Beltran, and Johnny Damon.
Nick in SF,
In your very first post to me, you made a sarcastic comment when I speculated that CC would be willing to come here for the right price. So that was to remind you that my inferences and inclinations shouldn’t be cast as fantasies. Besides, it’s insulting. You seem like the type of person that gets off on insulting people from the safety of your computer desk. There’s no way you talk like that to me in person.
mel, I’ll let Bret answer for himself, but what I *think* he means is that team X would be happy to take on Matsui’s contract because it will pay for itself with added ‘Japan revenue’ thus not actually costing them anything.
I’m not sure what his answer will be to the question of the Yankees *losing* ‘Japan revenue’, also I have it on good authority that Manny has deep roots in the Washington Heights section of Tokyo.
“Kepner says the Brewers have actually been asking about Igawa.”
A man and A van is ready if Igawa wants a ride to JFK,LGA, EWR or any of the nearby airports..
*although* I have it on good authority, I meant to say.
“A man and A van is ready if Igawa wants a ride to JFK,LGA, EWR or any of the nearby airports..”
Tell him to get the engine started.
lol mel, That’s the funny part.
When healthy, Putz is superior to K-Rod as a closer.
Okay, so if Matsui goes in a trade (IF), who pays his salary?
Nick in SF,
Matsui’s contract pays for itself in Japan revenue. Haven’t fans been using that phrase, at least partly, to justify Matsui’s value to the Yankees. Why doesn’t that value translate to other teams?
Because you don’t want a real clutch hitter like Manny on this team?
“seats in Yankee stadium are outrageously priced that the bleacher tickets are $100″
There is some truth to this. Bleachers in the new Stadium are set back vs. their current location. The front section of where the bleachers are in the current Stadium will be replaced by $100 seats in the new Stadium. It is plain as day on the new Stadium seating chart.
go critisize our goverment for overspending & taking money from us to cover it or businesses going bankrupt or being bailed out by the taxpayers.
the yankees are spending within their means.
that is the american way.
better yet that is the way of the world.
what would everybody say if the yankees had a 50 million dollar payroll with 350 million in revenue coming in????
how about the yankees destroying their revenue so they can lower payroll & make some people happy.
can they have a little lower payroll??? yes & they are trying but they are playing within the rules.
“you made a sarcastic comment when I speculated that CC would be willing to come here for the right price. So that was to remind you that my inferences and inclinations shouldn’t be cast as fantasies.”
And what an astute inference it was. Who’d have thought that money would be the X factor in the decision. Brilliant.
“Because you don’t want a real clutch hitter like Manny on this team?”
Matsui give his 1000% everyday no matter what, unlike Manny gives the team 10% whenever he feels like it. Matsui is our guaranteed RBI machine!
Bret,
Have you looked at Matsui’s abilities with RISP? I’m betting that he is and has been one of the best in the AL. Your plan entails getting rid of a team first player with excellent #’s w/RISP for another player who not only will make $10mill more, but has a reputation for letting his team down whenever the mood suits him.
…and no that 1000% isn’t a typo.
Mike R,
Actually there were plenty of fans ready to jump off the cliff at the time of that particular exchange. Some fans even wanted to pull the offer for CC Sabathia and sign Teixeira since they thought that the money didn’t factor in at all.
Rob NY — 2009 The Road to Redemption
December 11th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
AROD Fan—- Aside from the money aspect of things talking about Manny last night how could you root for the guy who put the dagger in your team’s collective heart so many times? It’s still hard for me to root for Damon after the 2004 grand slam. And he was never a punk the way Manny is. Only way I could possibly cheer for the guy is if he hit a walk off homer to win game 7 against the Sox, or the Mets.
—————-
Thanks Rob NY, that is seriously the first good answer to the hate manny question I’ve seen posted on this blog. What gets me is that all the other Manny haters care more about what Manny did to the Red Sox than what he did to the Yankees–its as if Manny suddenly turns hard-core Yankee fans into Red Sox fans. And that is what I really don’t like, the idea of Yankees fans suddenly converted to the cult of RS nation. So thanks, Rob in NY for your pro-Yankees contribution to anti-Mannyhood.
Bret, I don’t recall what my very first post to you was (I’m sentimental about some things but not that), but I’m sorry if it gave you the impression that I wasn’t pro-CC or that I didn’t think we would get CC. I have maintained that CC would be a Yankee from the get-go. You can ask around.
As for whether I only have keyboard courage, you’re right to some extent; if we were sitting in some bar and I thought you were some sort of lunatic that couldn’t be teased about some goofy baseball idea without flipping out, I would probably keep mum; your Matsui notions aren’t really worth a fistfight. But if you came across as a reasonably sane person who could handle criticism in a conversation, I think I would say pretty much the same stuff.
Trisha, on the other hand, would have me cowering with fear. In person it would just be “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am” with no smart talk at all.
Peter proves that the Yankees continue to spend,( even after Big George has left the stage) albeit in a patronizing manner to those emailers who have not checked the facts and are just emoting.
update >>
Without Manny, one could argue the Sox would still be under the curse and we could all be chanting 1918.
I despise him for that. I don’t care about him taking a bathroom break in the outfield the middle of an inning or as Hank put it…don’t give a (expletive) about his hair. He’s a terrible left fielder and sometimes a lazy baserunner. But his makeup is such that he can get a big hit in a big game regardless of the pressure. Say what you want about his character, he is mentally tough. The Red Sox bring in players like him, Pedroia, Lowell, Varitek. I hate them all but I look on this team and I see a softness all around and centering on Alex the sorority girl scarf wearing Rodriguez. If I’m locked in a tight playoff series I want Manny Ramirez on my side. The off the field stuff doesn’t mean squat to me. He’s clutch and you need clutch hitters to win World Series rings and break curses.
How much have ticket prices gone up this season? YES revenue? The last thing I want to hear out of the Yankees is that they did not make a move for financial reasons. If it doesn’t make baseball sense, then fine. But if money is the only hurdle, clear it!
They passed on Beltran in CF in favor of Johnny Damon, who is now an average LF. Beltran was even offering them a discount.
Take the money they want to spend on Burnett and give it to Tex. Burnett only pitches well against the Yankees anyway.
Nick in SF,
When someone insults me the way you did during that whole CC exchange and now here, I don’t forget it. I know you don’t care but I don’t like your personality at all and here’s why. Yankees fans like myself visit this blog because we want to talk about baseball and share our ideas. In this forum it’s socially inappropriate to treat ideas and opinions as fantasies or insanity. It really diminishes the quality of conversation in here and creates bad vibes.
So, if this is the way you want to talk baseball with me then I would appreciate if you never comment on any of my posts and ignore me altogether. If you can do this, I don’t have a problem ignoring you. Thanks in advance.
Um, Bret, you might be taking this all a little too seriously and personally. but I do apologize if I hurt your feelings, as it seems I have.
Again, I don’t remember what it was I said about CC, but it was not about doubting that he would end up with the Yankees, as I’ve always thought and said he would.
In this forum, people go back and forth with ideas and opinions all the time. People also razz each other quite often. Most of the time the best response is to defend the idea, not attack the person. You’ve posted a lot of things that were quite reasonable, and I never meant to imply that you were insane.
So I respectfully submit to you that, while the notion of wanting Manny is understandable, some of your stated ideas about Matsui are unrealistic. That doesn’t mean that trading him would be impossible, just that the rationales you gave are inoperable.
It makes sense to sign Texiera. His OPS, BA, RBIs/9, BYOB and AFL-CIO stats are a perfect fit for the Yankees lineup. Also his Midichlorian count is exceptionally high, possibly as high as Jeter’s. And he’s Hank Steinbrenner’s secret Santa. If Hank doesn’t want another McDonald’s coupon for Christmas, he’d better sign the Tex up.
And it doesn’t matter whether Manny signs with us. In Manny’s own odd world he’s already a Yankee and has won a world series. But that’s just Manny being Manny.
He also thinks he’s the pope.
If my math is correct, the Yankees could sign Sabathia, Burnett, Sheets AND Teixeira and still be under the 88 million that came off the books for 2009.