October 5, 2006

TWINS, A’S PROVE THAT SMART MANAGEMENT CAN SUCCEED YANKEES AN ABOMINATION; ARE A DISSERVICE TO THE GAME

       With player payrolls in the $60 million vicinity—placing them somewhere from the middle to the bottom third of all major league baseball teams—the Oakland A’s and the Minnesota Twins continue to prove that smart management can actually succeed in today’s billion dollar sporting arena.  Knowing that their margin for error is extremely fine both organizations continue to field contending clubs, and are able to slowly turn over their rosters and stay competitive without taking a natural fall in the standings.  They do this with smart drafting, solid player development and clever trades.  At the other end of the spectrum are the New York Yankees who do not need to use intelligence (and they don’t) to succeed—they simply use their size and their riches, throw money around and steamroll through the game, ignoring the values associated with sportsmanship and fair play.  They don’t care about anybody else—they only care about themselves.  They are the Yankees.

       There are three separate instances that show the difference between these three organizations.  Three years ago the Twins had a small problem.  Their catcher, A.J. Pierzynski, was due a raise through arbitration and was likely to command an annual stipend in the $3 to $4 million range.  The Twins also had a young catcher named Joe Mauer that they wanted to try to develop and thus he needed game action.  They decided that they couldn’t afford Pierzynski, that his money would bet better spent in other areas, and they packaged the catcher off to San Francisco for three young and unproven players.  It sounded like a salary dump at the time, but while discarding the salary and opening room for their young catcher the Twins also acquired future pitching stars Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser.  The Yankees, on the other hand, NEVER let anyone go because of money. 

       Two years ago the Athletics had a difficult decision to make.  The backbone of their success in past years had been their pitching staff—more specifically the starting trio of Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito.  The problem was that both Mulder and Hudson were one year away from free agency (Zito was two years away) and the club had to decide whether to continue in their attempt to win a championship or perhaps take a step back and deal one, or both, of their free agent pitchers.  They were not going to be able to afford to keep the trio together.  So they made inquiries around the majors and monitored the interest other teams had in their pitchers.  They came away shocked and surprised that two National League clubs, St. Louis and Atlanta were willing to part with quality young pitching in an effort to acquire the veterans.  The A’s decided to make the deals and spend the money elsewhere to solidify their club.  While the Hudson deal has not paid dividends yet for the A’s, outside of being able to use the money to plug other areas, the Mulder deal produced Dan Haren and Kiko Calero two important pieces in their pitching rotation.  The Yankees, on the other hand, would simply have thrown bucketfuls of money at Mulder and Hudson.  They don’t need to be clever…they just need to spend.  And it doesn’t matter if their signings work out—they have Carl Pavano making about $12 million sitting on the disabled list.  It doesn’t matter—it’s only money.

       The third deal came this year.  The Yankees, having lost both Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, felt they needed another proven bat and went out and bought Bobby Abreu from Philadelphia.  Did it take a great deal of intelligence and forethought to make this deal?  Not a bit.  Abreu was an established hitter with a hefty contract and the Yankees were the only club in baseball able to make the deal and absorb the contract.  It’s easy to look good when you have the biggest and fattest wallet.

       It may be hard to believe but there actually is a salary cap in baseball.  It’s high—about $125 million—buy it’s there to try and keep just one team from consistently buying their way to the top.  It hasn’t worked.  The Yankees not only don’t care about the cap they don’t care about the luxury tax and don’t care how much it will cost.  As long as the club is successful it will draw 4 million fans to Yankee Stadium, and will earn mega-millions from advertising rights, from broadcast rights, and from ancillary rights (like merchandise sales etc).  The Yankees don’t care about any other team, they don’t care about competitive balance, they don’t care about fair play, and they don’t care about the game of baseball.  They just care about the Yankees.

       In the early nineties after years of poor play and high draft choices the Yankees were able to produce and develop four players that would play essential parts in their succeeding championships.  Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada came up through the Yankee farm system and have been the core of the successful teams this past decade.  But that success has taken the organization down a gilded path.  Look at this year’s club.  Outfielders Matsui, Abreu and Johnny Damon—all were bought.  Infielders Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, starting pitchers Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson and Jaret Wright and reliever Kyle Farnsworth all were bought.  The majority of this $200 million club was put together at a bank, not a ballpark.

       If there is a baseball god then the Yankees should never win another baseball title no matter how much money they spend.  And when Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera retire then the organization should rightly suffer the way they suffered in the eighties and be the most expensive club in history to wallow around the bottom of the standings.

       Baseball fans should unite and put a curse on the organization.  If the Curse of Ruth worked against the Red Sox for nearly a century, if the Curse of the Black Sox worked against the White Sox for nearly as long, and if the Curse of the goat (or cow) continues to work against the Cubs then perhaps a curse against the Yankees can work for a lengthy period of time as well.  Let’s call it the Curse of Self-Indulgent Bloated Opulence.