King: Yanks Will Struggle To Make Playoffs
Via George King -
When Alex Rodriguez opted out of his Yankee contract during the World Series, the Bombers had a chance to rebuild around the young pitching that has prompted premature adulation.
They should have let Rodriguez dance out of The Bronx, thanked Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera for wonderful careers and sent Bobby Abreu away. They will surpass 4 million in attendance this season, the final year at Yankee Stadium. Next season, the new ballpark will be filled with corporate stiffs. So, the Yankees should have taken a shot at 2010 when the pitching Hank Steinbrenner believes is the best in baseball would have had two years experience.
Instead, the Yankees took back Rodriguez and gave him a raise to $275 million, dumped $52.4 million on Posada, $45 million on Rivera and picked up a $16 million option on Abreu. With spring training starting this week, the Yankees are worse than they were that October night when the Indians ushered them out of the postseason in the first round, the third straight season the Yankees have endured such a fate.
Going into camp, there are more than a dozen issues facing a flawed and expensive Yankees team that won’t make the playoffs.
…young pitching that has prompted premature adulation…
…next season, the new ballpark will be filled with corporate stiffs…
…there are more than a dozen issues facing a flawed and expensive Yankees team that won’t make the playoffs…
It’s nice to see that King reads WasWatching.com.
Steve
Are you predicting the Yanks are not going to make the playoffs this year?
Because if that is your prediction, you might want to remember that you predicted the same thing last year…
http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2007/06/its_not_happeni.html#comments
I think that was June 28. And I dont remember any mea culpa being made after we did make the playoffs.
Steve, I would think twice about associating yourself with one of the worst sportswriters around. The Yankees should have let A-Rod, Posada, Abreu and Pettitte go? And that makes them better in 2010? How? King is a moron.
~~~And I dont remember any mea culpa being made after we did make the playoffs. ~~~
If you scroll through various comments made to entries, once the Yankees came back, I’m sure that you will find some from me – - because I remember being questioned on this, quote a bit.
~~~The Yankees should have let A-Rod, Posada, Abreu and Pettitte go? ~~~
Well, I didn’t say that I agreed with all of it.
The Yanks are returning the exact same lineup that led the majors in runs scored the last two years. How does the return of A-Rod, Abreu, Pettitte, Posada, and Rivera make the Yanks WORSE in 2008? Not to mention, all of King’s precious young pitching is still on the team since the Yanks SMARTLY kept their young assets instead of chasing fool’s gold with Santana.
Not only is George King making a totally illogical argument and predicting something that seems, at best, to be an iffy proposition, he’s trying to frame it with the stupid idea that somehow people who wear ties to the ballpark are BAD for a baseball team.
This is one of the dumbest things King has ever written, in a career full of them.
The Yankees are not the Athletics. Their money pit is not bottomless, but they can afford to rebuild and contend at the same time. They don’t need to shed payroll the way the A’s do. I have no idea what King is talking about.
None of what King says makes any sense to me. This team had the most runs scored, best second half record in the majors and we have talented kids who are coming in to replace the likes of clemens/igawa/rasner/wright etc. I would have rather read another story about steroids than that crap.
George King may be the stupidest person holding a job in the New York media. He knows nothing about assessing talent, stats, finance, or the psychology of fans. It’s amazing that he has a job.
King is a thinwit whose only claim to fame was a direct pipline to Steinbrenner — and the scoops that went with it. Except that the scoops were frequently wrong.
So actually he’s left with no claim to fame. Except, of course, for tripping over a little bit of Steve’s schadenfreude.
~~~And I dont remember any mea culpa being made after we did make the playoffs. ~~~
FWIW, after a quick search, I did find this:
http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2007/09/omg_-_its_a_rac.html
Check out King on YES’ Hot Stove. He’s a fat, inarticulate slob. He’s yet another man paid to write about baseball and he knows nothing about it. Listening to him talk about the other teams in the division was hilarious.
What does King’s personal appearance have to do with the quality level of his work?
Nothing, but he looks like a fat bullfrog, and it’s funny to see his giant double chin quiver as he mumbles incoherently.
But if that offends you, just block out “fat” and “slob” and see it as “he’s inarticulate.”
Is that you, Garcia?
Is that you, Garcia?
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Hi Baileywalk. No, it’s not Garcia, I haven’t seen him around for a while.
I used to post as “RICH” but since there’s a “Rich” here also even I was getting confused when reading the posts.