Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a day of love.
In baseball, there is no love. If there was, the New York
Yankees would have bought it all.
The Yankees are evil.
They not only have the power to sign any player they want, but
can also make deals to prevent other teams from getting good
players.
When was the last time the Yankees didn’t get a player
they wanted? Never.
The Yankees even had the luxury of making sure their rival, the
Boston Red Sox, didn’t get All-Star Bartolo Colon by
involving themselves in a three-way trade that sent Colon to the
White Sox.
Think differently? Do you honestly expect me to believe that the
Yankees would trade an established starter Orlando Hernandez (8-5,
3.64 in only 22 starts last season) for an unproven reliever in
Antonio Osuna (3.86 ERA last season)?
The Yankees control how business is done in baseball.
The other 29 owners incorporated the luxury tax basically to
prevent the Yankees from raising their already league-leading
payroll, which was $140 million at the time.
At first, it looked like it might work. The Yankees vowed to try
to get under the $117 million threshold.
Then they signed free agents Hideki Matsui, Jose Contreras, Todd
Zeile and Jon Lieber, and re-signed Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte,
and Robin Ventura.
Their payroll is now estimated to be $164 million ““ $45
million ahead of the next highest payroll (New York Mets).
There is no truth to the rumor that George Steinbrenner told his
players to buy their own steroids to minimize costs. He did,
however, cut his employees’ dental plans, saving him about
$100,000.
I can see how that announcement went.
Steinbrenner to employees:
“We’re having some tough times right now
financially. I’m going to have to make some cutbacks.
*Steinbrenner’s cell phone rings*
“Contreras! I don’t care what it takes to sign him.
$8 million! Sure, if only to make sure the Red Sox don’t get
him. If they get him, you’re fired!”
Not only have the Yankees signed all of these players, but they
didn’t even need some of them.
They have eight starting pitchers on their roster (yes, eight,
count them: Mussina, Clemens, Pettite, Wells, Weaver, Contreras,
Hitchock and Lieber) and all of them have been All-Stars except for
Contreras. This will be Contreras’ first season in the
majors, and is considered to be the best pitcher to ever come out
of Cuba. Scouts project him to be an All-Star caliber pitcher.
Granted, none of those starters is considered to be one of the
best five pitchers in the league. But all of them could be aces or
second starters on every team in baseball.
Contreras and Hitchcock will probably start the year in the
bullpen. Yes, the evil Yankees paid $8 million per year for the
best Cuban starting pitcher in history so that he could pitch in
the bullpen.
The Yankees’ stockpiling players they don’t need
doesn’t end with their pitching staff either.
They have an All-Star or former All-Star at every position on
the field, except for left field, where Matsui, the best Japanese
hitter since Saddaru Oh, plays.
They also have two guys on the bench who could be starters for
most major league teams, Todd Zeile and Rondell White.
Mariano Rivera is probably the best closer in baseball. But the
Yanks still had to sign Juan Acevedo, Detroit’s closer last
year who earned 28 saves.
Despite already having Jorge Posada, they signed two catchers
that could either start or platoon on many teams in Chris Widger
and John Flaherty.
He will be injured for the entire 2003 season but the Yankees
signed Lieber to a two-year contract.
They’ll probably try to buy Luis Gonzalez’s chewing
gum too, just to make sure the Diamondbacks don’t have a good
luck charm to use should the two teams meet in October again.
Even with this endless shopping spree, the Yankees are still
beatable. In the first round of last year’s playoffs, the
Angels beat them in four games.
The Angels, the defending World Series champions, raised their
payroll by $20 million over the offseason. And the Yankees still
have double their payroll.
In fact, the Yankees have a higher payroll than last
year’s other three American League playoff teams
combined.
Being a Yankee fan is different from being a fan of any other
team. The Yankees have taken the fun out of winning. They have to
win, or else heads will roll.
Yankee fans don’t get the opportunity to see their players
come up through the farm system and develop as young players. The
Yankees just plug holes whenever necessary by signing a
free-agent.
No Yankee fan will ever be able to feel as good as Angel fans
felt last year. The Angels had never won a World Series and saw a
team overachieve and play out of their minds during October.
The Yankees are expected to win the World Series. They’re
the best team money can buy.
If the Stat Geek hits .400 on the Daily Bruin IM softball
team this year, the Yankees may sign him just to make sure he
doesn’t go to the Red Sox. E-mail him at
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.