Low spark of high heeled boys
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Nov 07, 2010 
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I had a friend tell me recently that she owns more than 200 pairs of shoes. I smiled through the obvious exageration, only to discover she was being perfectly serious. I have a little sister, so I understand that there’s a gender gap when it comes to shoes, but 200? Seriously? That’s 400 individual shoes. How is there even room for that many in a New York City apartment?
I’m betting even she doesn’t have a pair quite like this.
A pair of Yankees autographed high heels are being auctioned for a terrific cause. One hundred percent of the proceeds go toward sending a Multiple Sclerosis patient from Canadian to New York for MS liberation treatment.
You can get in on the auction through eBay.
The shoes have been signed by Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Phil Hughes, Curtis Granderson, Mariano Rivera, Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira, Dave Robertson, Chad Guadin, CC Sabathia and Robinson Cano. That’s a pretty good group.
I’m pretty sure that I haven’t owned 200 total pairs of shoes in my life.
If I bought those shoes, which I probably can’t afford, I would erase Gaudin’s name. (half kidding)
Rich,
What happened with A-Rod is irrelevant because Hank isn’t the guy orchestrating this train anymore.
It’s all Hal and Cashman.
Giuseppe Franco
I’m not convinced that Hal didn’t share Hank’s desire to give A-Rod that contract (it’s hard to believe that Hank was given that much autonomy in light of the huge dollars involved), nor am I convinced that Cashman’s input will be that important in these negotiations.
Love the Traffic reference, Chad!
I’m a long time reader, rare poster. So I hope that everyone will excuse this one time only overly long post. Over the years I’ve enjoyed all of the commentary from all sides of debates, even if I disagree with a position. My sole regret in reading here is when people start becoming personal with their remarks about others. That just seems uncalled for between true Yankee fans. I can’t imagine any of us doing that it we were sitting around, face to face. Then again, maybe there would be a regular old donnybrook!
As for the current big disagreement: personally, I couldn’t care less if Derek Jeter gets 50 Million a year – provided the Yanks are drawing that money from a special “Jeter compensation fund.” And not from money they would otherwise use to strengthen the bench, shore up the pen, etc. – and sign Mr Cliff Lee.
And provided that they don’t sign DJ for more than three more years. 39 year olds that are still viable SS at that age are few and far between. Derek Jeter does not figure to be one them. The NYY will almost certainly need a new SS in 2014 – at the latest. It’s just a fact of baseball life. I’ve seen Joe D, the Mick, Whitey, Yogi, Roger, Stott, Gator, Reggie and numerous other icons and near icons come and go. And you know what? The Yankees keep going on.
I’ve been a Yankee fan since the early 50’s and take a back seat to no one in regard to my admiration for Derek Jeter. That admiration was shared by the NYY to the tune of 189 million dollars ten years ago. In fact the Yanks overpaid in their admiration. DJ has made a small fortune on and off the field and the respect of baseball fans everywhere. Three years and 45 – 50 mil more should be a perfectly adequate send off – well beyond what he’d get anywhere else.
Finally, I find it a bit strange that folks in the real world, many of whom are struggling with paying their own bills, should be so upset with what kind of compensation that a multi-millionaire is going to be making and by supposedly “insulting” DJ by paying him far above what he’s currently worth. In any case, I repeat, if the NYY are disposed to dispose of an enormous amount of money to pay DJ for his icon status, that too should not be a concern of any of us, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the short or long term ability of the club to field a winning team. That, and the number of years he gets, should be our concern. In any case, I’m confident that a deal will be worked out, one way or another – and I suspect that once reality sets in that it will be a sane deal that works for everybody involved.
The Network boys (Randy, Lon & Goldman Sachs who own 40% of YES) convinced Hank & Hall that Arod’s HR chase would be a ratings bonanza….. so they ignored Cashman and re-signed Arod to that ridiculous contract expecting to hit the goldmine in 4-5 years.
Why are people still whining and slinging snot over Rodriguez’ contract? It certainly hasn’t put a screeching halt to team spending or going after players they want.
Are we really going to state conclusively that a 10 year contract won’t have any negative impact when evaluating it in Year 3?
If A-Rod had been paid say $5m less a year, that’s $5m more that could have been spent on another productive asset, maybe one that could have supplemented him at 3B, and made him even more productive by providing him rest without as much loss of production as say Pena.
A pattern of overspending can have consequences.
To use license with the late Sen. Dirksen’s famous quote:
“A million here, a million there, pretty soon, you’re talking real money”.
Does anyone know why the Yanks are waiting to drop Lee an offer ?? Are they waiting for other teams to bid first ??
How do you know whether or not they’ve made Lee an offer? A little bird perhaps?
“If Jeter leaves and the situation is bad, you’ll end up with a Berra, Ralph Houk and Stottlemyre situation again. That’s too ugly to contemplate. You already have a situation with Bernie Williams and Joe Torre. Like him or not, Torre is a huge part of the history of this team.”
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The example of Bernie Williams shows that sometimes an ugly ending is unavoidable. During the 4 years 2003 – 2006, Bernie had -2.4 WAR (per fangraphs). He was worse than a replacement level player. Even though the Yanks kept him 4 years longer than his play justified, and at big bucks for 3 of those years, the Yanks still got blamed for dumping hiim. Think how much better off they’d have been dumping him 4 years earlier. At least they could have gotten a quality CF in exchange for the bad PR.
Its 3:00 on the first day of free agency……id expect then to wait until at least 5 or 6 to place a bid.
Oh GreenBeret7 — I’m not sure .. i’ve going all over the place to see if they did . I found nothing . .But your right . .maybe they did
GreenBeret7 November 7th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Why are people still whining and slinging snot over Rodriguez’ contract? It certainly hasn’t put a screeching halt to team spending or going after players they want.
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I rdisagree. Spending $26 to $30 million dollars a year on one player most certainly is an impediment to going after other players they may want.
gottcha Blake .. . I’m just getting a little impatient . and these “just in case the yanks don’t get Lee” articles are making me nervous
When has Rodriguez’ contract stopped the Yankees from getting a player because of money? I’m not talking about players and money….just the money.
Mike,
Don’t worry….I really don’t see the yankees letting this one get away unless Lee just opts to take less money to stay in Texas. He just makes too much sense and makes their offseason much less complicated…plus signing him.gives them the stability to break in their young starters in the coming years. They have been after him too hard for too long to stop short of what it will take IMO.
Blake — I hope your right . . Thanks
“When has Rodriguez’ contract stopped the Yankees from getting a player because of money? I’m not talking about players and money….just the money.”
That’s like asking to prove a negative.
What we do know is that they have a budget of around $200m.
We also know that they max out that budget because Cash has said that Hal has occasionally declined further expenditures.
So it doesn’t require much of a logical leap to surmise that that they had $5m more to spend that they would likely spend it.
Since the Yankees apparently operate on a budget these days, A-Rod’s $26-30 million a year would do just that. If his contract were less, they would have more to spend. It’s also a long-term obligation with luxury tax ramifications. Seven more years is an albatross around their necks.
Yanks61,
You are so right. Icons come and go, but it is November and the beginning of the Hot Stove conversations. I too have seen all those icons, most of whom were over paid for the time in which they played. When Mickey made 100,000 dollars, that was big time money.
We are talking about paying the present Yankee icon whose been the most consistent and best player at SS for many years. His offense and defense were impeccable. He has been the face of the Yankees for almost 15 years. I haven’t the remotest idea what they end up paying Jeter, and yes this will be his last contract with the Yankees. I have said numerous times on here that it is my opinion that he will not play if he is not the player he wants to present to the public. He is a rare bird…and I love him for it.
The budget’s set at $200 mil and they spend $210-213 Mil. Yep…Really tightening those old purse strings.
Mickey Mantle hit finished his career with a .298 lifetime batting average. He said many times that he regretted that he didn’t hit .300 and that he played a year or two too long.
A good lesson with the context being obvious.
Mantle played for 2 reasons. The first was that he was flat broke and needed the money and the other was because the Yankees asked him to play to draw crowds.
“The budget’s set at $200 mil and they spend $210-213 Mil. Yep…Really tightening those old purse strings.”
If $5m or even $10m don’t matter, why have any budget? Why not sign Soriano for $20m? Why not add Werth or Crawford?
The inescapable conclusion is that there is a budget and that $5m matters.
You don’t honestly believe that ridiculous comment really helps you, do you? Nobody said that the Yankees didn’t have a budget.
Why are people still whining and slinging snot over Rodriguez’ contract?
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People are discussing Alex’s contract in a rational manner on a Yankee blog. The only person who consistently label others ‘whiners and idiots’ without any basis is you. If you had only learned to reason and argue like an amiable and rational person that would be great. You incendiary general remarks in representing your own POV are the unnecessary snots that pollutes this place.
“You don’t honestly believe that ridiculous comment really helps you, do you? Nobody said that the Yankees didn’t have a budget.”
Oh, I see, you said $5m doesn’t matter, but my comment is ridiculous. Gotcha.
From 2004-2006 the Yankees had a 200-210M payroll and only 130-140M of actual talent on the field because the roster was bloated old and overpaid. Why is it the Yankees have to overpay everyone?
The point about Mantle is he regretted doing so. Does any Yankee fan really want to see an old Derek Jeter performing poorly out there? It’s another factor to consider regarding the length of his contract.
# JK November 7th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
From 2004-2006 the Yankees had a 200-210M payroll and only 130-140M of actual talent on the field because the roster was bloated old and overpaid. Why is it the Yankees have to overpay everyone?
And the Yankees were only paying A-Rod about 16 million. Crazy.
Why don’t you just present your opinion in a polite and reasonable manner like others are doing GB7? It’s just a discussion about baseball.
Your referring to people as whining, slinging snot and your calling others ridiculous is not necessary is it? I have made that mistake at times in the past and I was wrong.
Here is the thing we don’t know when discussing this stuff…..how do we know.that if Arod’s contract was say 10 million less.per year that the budget wouldn’t just be 10 million less. The Yankees spend what they want to….not neccessarily what they are capable of. There are no guarantees that the budget would be 200 million if they were paying Alex less.
The Yankees could give away every ticket in 2011 and probably still easily make money with their curret payroll from what they make with the YES network…..
Blake
you are correct, the payroll would probably just be around 185-190M. But they would still have flexibility, so they wouldn’t ever be in another Beltran situation where they have to pass on a top 10 player they really wanted. The other thing is who knows what the other owners are going to try to do with the new CBA with Taxes.
They didn’t get Betran because George Steinbrenner wanted Johnson instead and Beltran has never been an $18 mil a year player anymore than Magglio Ordonez is.
Jk,
My point is that the Yankees even now are as flexible as they want to be. They could probably carry a 400 million dollar payroll if they wanted to. I just don’t think we can assume that if they didn’t give the extra money to Arod that they would have given it to another player….
Blake you are right on the money, pun intended. The Yankees have many ancillary revenue streams:
Stadium ticket sales, the YES Network, MLB TV, stadium management company with Jerry Jones, merchandise, sponsorships and advertising, International revenue, premium seating/suites/events, local radio, concessions, catering and more.
They also had a center fielder that they were paying $12.5 mil a year. What were they supposed to do with him, Matsui and sheffield? Bench one of them?
What were they supposed to do with him, Matsui and sheffield?
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Ah yes, ole .249 .321 .367 .688 Bernie Williams. yes they should have benched him. What do you think?? I thought money didn’t matter??
The Yankees Yankees own 38% of the YES network which is worth 3B with around 300M in annual earnings. They could have a 300M payroll but they know what that would lead to in the CBA, so they have a self imposed cap of 200-210M
Whether it is ARod, Bernie Williams, Mantle or Jeter many here just can’t seem to come to grips that when players age and their skills decline it is time to let go not give them another 6 year deal. How many players are still productive into their 40′s ?
Being reasonable and prudent with the number of years so these contracts with older players don’t turn into an albatross like ARods is smart business. It is not about being able to afford them which the Yankees can.