Oct 07
Please consider taking the following poll:
Do you feel that the Yankees have the front office "smarts" to keep up with the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox over the next three seasons?
Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section below.
[Hat tip to Ken Davidoff for inspiring the question.]
15 Responses to “October 2008 Survey Question #2”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 7th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Do front office openings now require an S.A.T. test(Sufficient Assessment of Talent)?
October 7th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
The Rays are a year removed from a 61 win season, the Red Sox & Yanks are a year removed from a 96 & 94 (respectively), win seasons.
Lets wait a while before we declare the TB & Boston FO’s to be so smart, and the NYY FO to be not smart…
October 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Who has Bill James? The Yankees? Please ,as much as I hate JP Ricciardi(I’m throwing the Jays cap into that ring as well) look at the job he has done with less than half the money the Yankees have, especially with having the best 1-12 pitching in the AL baseball. As long as Cash Man is GM, the Yanks will be toast. The Hughes-Kennedy experiment was an abject flop. Cash Man was never gonna leave, he has the most money for payroll AND drafting why would he give that up? His decisions leave a lot to be desired since he has taken control of the team. Give a fanboy 210 mill to spend and they can get Teix ,CC and Company. Where are all the homegrown players that Cash Man promised? Other teams have their young guys winning games for them in the playoffs while the Yankees are sitting at home.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Please ,as much as I hate JP Ricciardi(I’m throwing the Jays cap into that ring as well) look at the job he has done with less than half the money the Yankees have
——–
Perpetual 3rd place finishes! WOO-HOO!
The reason the Yanks’ payroll is so high?
Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera, etc, etc, etc.
Any players from that list you think shouldn’t have been acquired?
October 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Raf, like I’ve said before about Ricciardi, he is an idiot savant when it comes to pitching. He has much less draft money AND signing money for pitching. He doesn’t have the money Cash Man has to pay outrageously over slot or to get a CC, but look at the pitching results. JP (who is a dickhead BTW) did a really good job with pitching. He did a great job with hitting until 2007, when everything fell apart. I specifically mentioned pitching not where they came in what place, because they have the top pitching in the AL for the last two years. But that being said, the Jays came in 2nd place in 2006 BTW.
Raf, be careful with your assessment about what place what team comes in BECAUSE the Yanks are starting to look like the new perpetual 3 or even 4th place team. About the money, other teams (even the Red Sox) can’t have a 209 mill payroll so what is your point about the Yankee payroll being tied up in all those players. It is pointless actually BECAUSE all or most of those players couldn’t be signed by 29 of the other teams. If you dropped, Damon, Arod, and Giambi where is your production coming from? Homegrown players like Melky or Gardner? As for the pitching if the Yankees went with more youth, they would be what in 5th this year?
My broader point is that the Yankees still have the biggest drafting and payroll monies yet meager results to show for it. What used to be the so-called mission statement? IN that division they have the worst GM ( Cash Man), I can’t even say that abot MacPhail yet because he has just started. Honestly, the Yanks have all the money in the world but they have very small brains running the show featuring ,Cash Man.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I’m one of Steve’s “Cashman apologists” and I think keeping Cashman was a sensible move for a number of reasons.
Having said that, I do think there’s a brain-drain in New York, as compared to Boston. I won’t give Tampa the benefit of the doubt just yet because they’ve been picking in the top 3 for a decade. But Boston has been picking down at the bottom with us and they’ve done a much, much, much better job of identifying and nurturing talent than we have. It’s got nothing to do with Bill James. It’s got to do with draft strategy and scouting. We’re not doing a good enough job on either front.
October 7th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Raf, like I’ve said before about Ricciardi, he is an idiot savant when it comes to pitching.
———–
http://danjulien.atspace.com/ricciardi.htm
Hardly…
My broader point is that the Yankees still have the biggest drafting and payroll monies yet meager results to show for it.
——–
2008 was the first time the Yanks missed the playoffs since 1993 (the last time the Jays won a World Series, the last time they made the playoffs). Yanks ran off a playoff streak from 1996 to 2007. In that span, the Yanks won 3 World Series, and appeared two other times. They won 90 plus games as recently as 2007.
By harping on the draft, you seem to ignore their efforts on the international front, which have netted players like Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano, Chien-Ming Wang, among others.
By harping on the payroll, you either don’t or can’t recognize that the players mentioned cost money to retain. No GM in their right mind is going to let Jeter, Posada or Rivera walk. No GM in their right mind is going to ignore Giambi, Mussina, Matsui, Clemens, etc, etc, etc.
But, hey, don’t let facts get in the way of a good rant
October 7th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Yes because we have deep pockets. If we didnt have deep pockets, I would be very scared.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I’m one of Steve’s “Cashman apologists”
——-
I just like to argue
October 7th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Yes because we have deep pockets. If we didnt have deep pockets, I would be very scared.
————————-
Boston does too. And if they continue to develop talented, cost-controlled players as they have been doing over the past several years, it won’t matter how much money the new Yankee Stadium can print, the Red Sox will still be in better shape.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Raf, not hardly look at the result the last two years for Toronto. They are a team that has had a horrific offense, yet they only came in 3 games behind the Yankees. Look at the relief and starting numbers for the Jays for the last two years. Long and Damon have said on many different occassions that they have the best 1-12 in the AL. I slag on JP all the time BUT not on pitching, he has built up a great pitching staff that is almost entirely homegrown with the exception of AJ and Ryan.
Raf what you don’t get that DJ does is that the Yanks do have deep pockets so that they can retain successful players. Can you imagine what the team would look like if they spent what Detroit did this year(140 million dollars)? Try 5th place.
The international draft? UNh?? Those players aren’t even in the same mix as other draftees. From what I understand, they didn’t develop Wang and that’s the least I know. It’s OK be a Yankee homer and let the Red Pox fufill the Yankee mission statement. The last pitcher they developed before Joba of any note was Pettitte.
MJ the Red Stockings have relatively small pockets compared to the Yankees. The owners are paying off the debt servicing for buying the team AND the repairs for Fenway. They along with the Mets are still behind the Yanks in revenues, so they have to rely more on the draft than free agents. In some way, that moneyball philosophy married with smart drafting has chumped the Yankees. The Red Sox can’t absorb a mistake like Igawa, so they have to get it right the first time.
Lastly, the Yankee mission statement is to win the World Series every year. Just when is the last time they accomplished that goal? 2000 and they have spent over a billion dollars since that time for what? To fill the coffers of Yankee INC or to win a championship. Evidently the former because that mission statement goes to the wayside. Yeah, I know that they are putting the money back into the business, BUT they are not spending that prodigious amount of cash wisely.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
MJ the Red Stockings have relatively small pockets compared to the Yankees. The owners are paying off the debt servicing for buying the team AND the repairs for Fenway. They along with the Mets are still behind the Yanks in revenues, so they have to rely more on the draft than free agents. In some way, that moneyball philosophy married with smart drafting has chumped the Yankees. The Red Sox can’t absorb a mistake like Igawa, so they have to get it right the first time.
————————
You’re mistaken on the business points. Forbes has the Red Sox ahead of the Mets, and only trailing the Yankees in terms of revenues. Further, they had only the 15th highest debt/value ratio.
http://tinyurl.com/4sq7dn
The Red Sox can’t absorb a mistake like Igawa, so they have to get it right the first time.
————————
Not true. They’ve easily absorbed Julio Lugo, Matt Clement and others over the years. They are currently absorbing Mike Lowell.
They’ve got nearly as deep pockets and can afford the same stupid mistakes (and they’ve made plenty of them on Theo’s watch). The point is simply that they have been better at the drafting and developing than the Yanks have.
October 7th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Raf, not hardly look at the result the last two years for Toronto.
——-
Problem is, JP’s been there since fall of ‘01.
They are a team that has had a horrific offense, yet they only came in 3 games behind the Yankees.
——-
You know why they came in 3 games behind the Yanks? Because the Yankees potent offense scored 200 runs less than they did a year prior. The Yankee offense PLAYED DOWN to the Jays’ level.
http://tinyurl.com/54ez88
I slag on JP all the time BUT not on pitching, he has built up a great pitching staff that is almost entirely homegrown with the exception of AJ and Ryan.
————-
Which was good enough for a 4th place finish. Bravo, Bravissimo!
Can you imagine what the team would look like if they spent what Detroit did this year(140 million dollars)?
———-
About the Tiggers payroll;
07: $95.1M
08: $137.7
The salary jump is more relevant than the total cost. Teams are constructed differently, have different needs and such.
From what I understand, they didn’t develop Wang and that’s the least I know.
———-
?
The time Wang spent @ Staten Island, Trenton, Columbus don’t count? He spent 4 years in the minors…
October 7th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
MJ, I’m not mistaken I’m right. The REd Sox and the Mets trail the Yanks in revenue, that’s what I said. That is a true statement. The Yanks made 400 mill this year, while the Sox made 230 mill. Next year the Yanks will supposedly make 800 mill from the new Stadium. So they will make what more than 3 times the value. AS for the debt equity etc. YOu mean to tell me that Werner and Lucchino actually own their piece outrightly? Only 15th? Spare me, that is enough so that the team is not making pure gravy.
MJ, you totally lose me on the “mistakes”. Lugo is injured right now, so how does he equate to Igawa? Matt Clememnt was injured for the duration of his tenure with Boston and I remember him pitching decently in his first year with Boston, so another injury like Pavano with the Yanks. Lowell is a mistake? Lowell was being courted by the Yanks last year to play first, what are you talking about? He got injured this year. He was MVP of the World Series last year and got a fat contract from the Pox. MJ, the Yanks spent over 50 million for Igawa AND his major league tenure was terrible and he is pitching in the minor leaugues. THAT IS A MISTAKE! You have to be kidding me on both counts, but Igawa is a big black hole that hasn’t done jackshit for the Yanks. The last time I checked Lugo and Lowell have Rings, unlike Giambi, Mussina, Arod,Cano and Co. If I used your nonsencical logic , then Posada is a mistake! Nice try , no cigar.
Raf, the Bluebirds of the Great White North have no lethal hitters, just look up and down the Yankee lineup. Damon, Jeter, Arod, Matsui, Giambi to name a few that actually have great production and are feared hitters. Wells, Rios, Rolen are chump change in comparison. Did they even have someone who hit 20 homers? To say that the Yanks underachieved is an understatement!
October 7th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
*sigh*
You forget Lowell was a salary dump by the Marlins, and and has been league average 2 out of the 3 years he was with the Sox.
Matt Clement pitched 2 years with the Sox, both below league average.
Lugo and Edgar Renteria were terrible acquisitions. So was Julian Tavarez.
Speaking of nonsensical logic, what is your point regarding the Jays? The reason the Yanks finished where they did is because of the offense. They underperformed at C (Posada injured), 2b (Cano’s regression), 3b (ARod injured), SS (Jeter injured), CF (Melky’s suckiness), & DH (Matsui injured).
THAT’s the reason the 4th place Jays got within sniffing distance of the Yanks.
I’m glad you acknowledge the Jays pitching, but how bout they not finish double digits in the GB column before they enter the equation?
Did you even take a look at the link I provided?