Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star takes a shot at the Yankees and Hank:
Note to Hank and Hal Steinbrenner: These are not your father’s Bronx Bombers … and unfortunately for the team’s forever premium-paying fans, it’s a Damn Yankee shame.
In the most recent Bomber heyday as the Yanks were dominating the majors from 1996-2000, then even into the early 21st century, when they were still winning the AL East, owner George Steinbrenner and manager Joe Torre were always masters of the house. As such, even if they believed it, George and Joe never would have considered waving the white flag as Hank has.
Yes, here in mid-August with more than a month to go, the Boss Jr. – Hank Steinbrenner – has shrugged, citing injuries as the reason the Bombers won’t win. Wow!
What woes cost them, according to Hank? Yankee injuries include starting ace Chien-Ming Wang, catcher Jorge Posada, outfielder Hideki Matsui and young hurlers Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Humberto Sanchez. What the young Hank should know is every team has injuries, but when you spend $200 million (U.S.) on a roster, you should be able to absorb injuries better than anyone. The Yankees haven’t.
So if the Steinbrenner brothers, who seem to be fast becoming the Ernest and Julio Gallo of the American League, are whining about being out of it due to injuries, then how about the Jays, whose management forever refuses to throw in the towel while still trailing the Yanks by two and ranking fourth in the wild-card race with 38 games left? Is this a tease, a mirage? Well, yeah.
Let’s examine the numbers.
Consider there are 46 extra wins in the AL left over from interleague play hanging around to be distributed, especially among the post-season contenders. That would mean, given a combination of history and basic math, that the AL wild-card winner will need at least 93 wins to be still dancing in October. Even giving Cito Gaston the benefit of the doubt with regard to his record as Jays manager, excluding his first 25 games at the helm starting June 20 in which he was 13-12, he is since that time 16-9 in 25 games heading into tonight.
Consider also that there are 38 games left on the schedule, meaning that in those final 38, given the same very generous winning percentage Gaston has had in his last 25 contests, the Jays would end with a record of 89-73 – which would at least knock Tim Johnson’s ‘98 season off the books as the Jays’ best since they won their second World Series in 1993.
Note to Hank Steinbrenner: The Jays have had injuries, too, but the difference is that you and the Yankees have no reason to whine when you spend twice as much money on payroll and yet, here in August, have Sir Sidney Ponson as your No.3 starter. Yikes!
Humberto Sanchez?
Granted, Griffin has a point in some of this. But, Humberto Sanchez? Bringing him into the discussion suggests that Griffin is clueless as to who the Yankees were counting on this season – and not.
11 Responses to “Griffin: Yanks Whine, Jays Persevere”
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August 19th, 2008 at 9:24 am
He’s certainly clueless and a Yankee basher. Yes, all teams have injuries but there are certain players you can’t afford to lose. The Yankees have dealt with those injuries well in my mind. I would bet most teams who lose their # 1 pitcher, an All-Star catcher, and an All-Star OF wouldn’t even have a .500 record. Also, the high payroll doesn’t equal wins because in case this guy didn’t notice, it’s been 8 years since the Yankees won the World Series and they had the highest payroll each year. If that was the case then they wouldn’t even bother to play the games. Anyone who uses that logic, I usually ignore what else they have to say. It is an advantage? Yes, but you still have to play the games. Look at the Tigers, high payroll isn’t helping them.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Gotta love it when beat writers from other cities take their potshots. JP Ricciardi’s tenure in Toronto has been a total disaster. I suppose Toronto journalists are tired of that topic and decided to pick on the big, bad Yankees instead.
August 19th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I guess it sucks to be Canadian these days.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
when you spend $200 million (U.S.) on a roster, you should be able to absorb injuries better than anyone.
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What an idiotic statement.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Griffith actually makes some interesting statements.He got one thing wrong, the Yankees’ payroll was 209 mill and now 218 after the trades. Antone , the Tigers spend about 140 mill which is second, with that extra 70 million do you imagine what they could do? They could have added Arod, Posada and deepened their bench. Antone, if money doesn’t mean anything are you willing to give up Arod , Jeter, and Posada before this season started to get the payroll below the luxury tax? C’mon this team as is at 140 mill would be in last place as currently constructed(as made by Cash). My major point is that when a team spends that much money ,I really don’t want to hear excuses that the payroll doesn’t guarantee wins and championships. I want the Yankees to spend money BUT spend it wisely on roleplayers, a bench and drafting NOT 209 mill on a team of aging/underachieving superstars.
Raf, his statement wasn’t idiotic but rather intelligent BECAUSE the Yankees should have a very deep bench they are spending 209 mill a year which dwarfs everyone else’s payroll. They should be able to absorb injuries because the bigger payroll allows them the ability to craft a better bench. The Yanks can also take salary dumps because of their large resources. That is the bane of being a Yankee fan these days because when the 90s dynasty began the Yanks spent money BUT spent it wisely. The Os were the number 1 team in terms of salary at that time. But now they are spending absolutely obscene amounts of money, have very little depth benchwise and are even getting castoffs like Ponson and Co. In essence, that is the worse part about defending the Yankees: the payroll. It is too much AND because of putting too much money in superstar players.
MJ , Ricciardi’s tenure is a disaster because they have only made it to second place once during his tenure and have never sniffed the playoffs. Trust me, they rip JP in Toronto and the fans can do it every week because he has a weekly radio spot and fields calls. Wouldn’t it be great if Cashman took calls from us every week.The Toronto writers give no quarter to JP, nor should they. He promised them contention and they keep on being a team on the fringe.
One last thing, it would be embarrassing if the Jays ,Red Sox and Rays all land in 1,2,3 before the Yankees at season’s end. The Yankees spend so much more money on drafting and payroll that they should have the best team by far, instead Cashman throws out excuses.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Absorb injuries? Sorry the really good players don’t want to sit on the bench or sit in the minors on the off chance somebody gets hurt. Every guy will take a starting job over more money to be the injury backup. This guy is a fool. I wouldn’t expect Canadians to know much about baseball.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Raf, his statement wasn’t idiotic but rather intelligent BECAUSE the Yankees should have a very deep bench they are spending 209 mill a year which dwarfs everyone else’s payroll.
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The bulk of the payroll goes towards the guys who are starting. The bigger payroll is tied up in guys who would normally play 150 games a season.
I don’t think the Yanks are looking to dump ARod, Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Matsui, Pettitte, Mussina, etc, etc, etc.
It’s an idiotic statement, because a well compensated player doesn’t become less injury prone because they make a lot of money.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Antone , the Tigers spend about 140 mill which is second, with that extra 70 million do you imagine what they could do? They could have added Arod, Posada and deepened their bench. Antone, if money doesn’t mean anything are you willing to give up Arod , Jeter, and Posada before this season started to get the payroll below the luxury tax? C’mon this team as is at 140 mill would be in last place as currently constructed(as made by Cash). My major point is that when a team spends that much money ,I really don’t want to hear excuses that the payroll doesn’t guarantee wins and championships. I want the Yankees to spend money BUT spend it wisely on roleplayers, a bench and drafting NOT 209 mill on a team of aging/underachieving superstars
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You pretty much just proved my point because we don’t live in a perfect world where the team is always going to spend their money wisely and get a proper return on their money. Mistakes are going to be made and injuries are going to happen.
By your logic, the more money you spend, the better the team should be. So if the Tigers are second in payroll then why aren’t they the second best team? It just doesn’t work that way.
I never said that payroll doesn’t matter. I said that the money helps and is an advantage but it doesn’t guarantee anything. You know nothing about baseball if you think the team with the highest payroll should win all the time. This has been proven to not be true..look at the 2003 Marlins for proof payroll isn’t the only thing that matters.
You say this team would be in last place with 140 payroll and again you prove the point that this Yankees team is playing well considering the losses to injury they have had. Only a $200 million payroll team could lose the players they lost and still be just 5 games out of the wild card. Most teams would be in last.
If you give the Yankees all their injured players back for a full season, they would probably have at least 5 more wins.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
look guys, my point is quite simple : the Yankees are spending too much money and spending very unwisely. Are far as absorbing injuries go, how deep has the Yankee bench been this last few years? Spotty at best. When a team spends this much money they should have the best bench in baseball, period. The problem is that Cashman , Steinbrenner have made pennywise and pound foolish decisions that are ridiculous.Raf, their bench should have people that are the creme de la creme of baseball, instead we have been treated to Gardner, Nieves and Co the last few years. Yankees’ backups should be other team’s starters when the team is spending 209 mill.
Antone, by my logic if you spend a lot of money wisely you can win. The Yanks have a payroll of 209 million( not 200 million as you note and even more with added payroll from the trades) and are battling for 4th place, that is a case of a team spending money quite stupidly. I’m all for paring down the payroll and building from within and spending what the other teams are. Many Yankee fans are apologists for this bloated and obscene payroll and that is sickening. Antone if this team had a 140 million dollar payroll there would be no Arod ,Posada, etc so on. Can you imagine if they couldn’t keep certain players? Melky would still be in center and Gardner would be the left fielder with injuries that would have happened.
That line that money doesn’t buy championships is more the exception than the rule. It’s great to see the Marlins and the Rays do so well when they spend next to nothing. For the most part, the big money teams like the Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers can trade for a player in crunch time because they can take the salary. What did Tampa do during the trade deadline? Nothing, because supposedly Sternberg and Co are not really making money even when spending 42 mill on payroll. Yeah, they could get Bonds but hey Bud doesn’t want him to play. In essence, the defense of “money doesn’t help”is negated by one factor. The Yankees are losing 80 mill next year, keep the same team and don’t sign CC and Texeira and then tell me how they do when they have a payroll at 130 mill. IT is Cashman’and Steinbrenner’s fault because it is not only that there is so much money spent but the team is so horribly constructed for 209 mill and would be if they cut certain people out and went down to 130 mill.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Who can’t win if they spend their money wisely? It’s not as easy as you think though. You still have to get lucky sometimes and good players have to be available to sign. The Yankees shouldn’t spend money just to spend it.
I really don’t think the Yankees bench is an issue. You can only play so many guys and if you have All-Star caliber players in the line up every day then they have to perform. There’s no point in having a backup SS or 3B on the Yankees who could start for another team when he isn’t going to play.
Now if you said they should have better pitching depth then that is something I would agree with. I don’t think they need to spend tons of money on a bench that isn’t going to see much playing time besides a backup 1B/DH(Betemit) and C(Molina).
August 19th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Raf, their bench should have people that are the creme de la creme of baseball,
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If they were the “creme de la creme” of baseball, they’d be starting.
Instead of having the “creme de la creme” on the bench, they have them in the lineup.
Here are the contracts
http://tinyurl.com/gnkk2
Who should they move from there?
Here are the guys that are causing the Yanks problems;
RCAA
Justin Christian -1
Ivan Rodriguez -3
Brett Gardner -6
Derek Jeter -7
Wilson Betemit -8
Jose Molina -18
Robinson Cano -19
RSAA
David Robertson -2
Billy Traber -2
Darrell Rasner -7
The only big $$ player listed above is Jeter ($20M). He ain’t going nowhere.
Matsui ($13M) & Posada ($13.1M) are on the shelf, they ain’t going nowhere.
ARod & Giambi are making over $20M, they aren’t the problem.
Right there, you’re talking $94.1M in salary. Who gets moved, who gets cut?