Lupica: 2009 Is Referendum On Cashman
Via Mike Lupica today -
There is a lot to like about this Yankee team, to make Yankee fans think this team might be different from the all the ones since 2000 who haven’t been able to win the World Series, who haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2004 despite continuing to have the greatest financial advantage in professional sports.
The Yankees once again scare the other team to death – as long as the other team isn’t the Red Sox or Angels – in the late innings, make no lead seem safe against them, make the eighth and ninth innings at the new Stadium sometimes seem tougher for the opposition than the Tour de France.
But are the Yankees good enough to win the AL East from the Red Sox and Rays and go on to win it all? Or at least make their first World Series since 2003? We will begin to find out over the last 74 games of the season, the first of which are against the first-place Tigers this weekend.
Or is the question Yankee fans ought to be asking:
If Brian Cashman actually does need Roy Halladay the way he needed CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and Teixeira, then exactly how much Yankee money does he have to spend and how many stars does he have to acquire to put the Yankees back on top?
Once the Yankees won four World Series in five years. Now they win one playoff series in five years. It is why the rest of this season is as much a referendum on Cashman as it is on Joe Girardi.
The rest of the regular season will at least start to tell us if these Yankees can overcome the kinds of things that championship teams are supposed to overcome. Or whether the Yankees have become conditioned to thinking that the best way to overcome things is just wait for another big hitter or big pitcher to walk through the clubhouse door.
“I’m staying and I’m going to change the story,” Cashman said after he signed his new contract, back when he was so chafed that he thought he was getting a bad deal from the media.
Now we find out if his team can change the story, a team that picked up nearly $250 million worth of starting pitching last winter with Sabathia and Burnett, a team that with the acquisition of Teixeira has an infield that is worth around $95 million in ’09 salaries. You would think a team like that would be relatively complete by now, requiring just minor tinkering, not a reinforcement like Roy Halladay. We will see about that.
As much as many often like to get on Lupica for what he writes, in this case, is there really anything in here that’s not true? What are your thoughts?
The rest of the regular season will at least start to tell us if these Yankees can overcome the kinds of things that championship teams are supposed to overcome.
———————————-
No, not really, as evidenced by the 2005-07 seasons. Success in the regular season does not ensure success in the postseason
I’ve never understood this line of thinking. Lupica seems to be saying that the Yanks shouldn’t get Halladay because they shouldn’t need him. There’s no dollar amount or total number of “stars” that gets you the magic 11 wins in October in order to be named World Champ. Furthermore, Mark Teixeira shouldn’t even enter the conversation since we’re talking about the pitching staff.
The $30.5M that Sabathia/Burnett are earning in 2009 have, thus far, been good investments. It’s the $10.9M that Pettitte, Wang, and Chamberlain are making in 2009 that’s been the problem. No one — not a so-called idiot like Cashman or a so-called genius like Terry Ryan — could’ve predicted that Wang’s career would be so badly derailed. I personally had very low expectations for Pettitte based on how 2008 ended up for him but the fact remains that the back end of the Yankee rotation needs help.
Now, I’m not 100% certain that the way to address this issue is blowing the farm system for Halladay, but I just don’t see how Lupica’s logic works here.
The Yanks are spending $12.9 more than the Red Sox in the starting rotation. It’s worth noting that Halladay is making $14.25M this season. Should Boston acquire Halladay, their starting rotation will actually be more expensive than ours. I’m certain Lupica won’t mention that when he starts talking about how the Yanks’ money is so corrosive.
I certainly agree with the last thing he says. They do not need Halladay. They have an ace and a number 2. They need a 3, someone like Washburn, although I like the Lee idea, even if he is more than a 3. They need a solid guy to soak up innings and be a good choice to start a playoff game. Blowing the farm on Halladay would be overkill and a waste of resources.
I know you loathe Cashman–and I’m sympathetic to that view–but I have to say quoting Lupica to buttress your case is beneath you. Lupica can’t stand the Yankees and never has a good thing to say about anything they do. Complaining that they don’t need to acquire someone because they already have a high payroll and should win every year anyway is part of the same tired m.o. he’s relied upon to fill columns since the late 70s. Anyone masochistic enough to submit himself to Lupica’s pot-stirring nonsense on a regular basis knows he has zero integrity when talking about baseball in New York. I’m just waiting for the Mets to win four games in a row so he can turn in his annual “The Yanks No Longer Own This Town” column.
Some people just don’t get it…. Cash Man spent over 200 million dollars on payroll this year and they still have needs? I love how certain people are parsing things to make Cash Man look good. To be fair,It also irritates me when callers mention how the Mets have had injuries this year and start crying. They Spent over 140 million this year ,have a mediocre farm system and people are still crying about how badly they are doing? That is Omar’s fault in that he hasn’t drafted well relative to other teams and misspent the biggest payroll in the NL.
MJ, you miss a very important point regarding the payroll of the Yankees. You bring up a point about how they are spending vs the Sox on starting pitching. They outspent the Red Sox by over 75 million dollars overall this year! Even if the Red Sox add Doc Halladay, they are spending 140 million and way under the luxury tax.The Yankees gave a quarter of a billion dollars to two pitchers and now they need to add Halladay? It’s gluttonous in lieu of the fact they spent all this money AND they still have holes!!?? No matter what, the Red Sox are still the better team and spent less money.
Ultimately, Cash Man has outspent every other team by leaps and bounds AND he needs to add another yet piece? And no one feels sorry for a team that outspends them by leaps and bounds AND signed the top 3 free agents in the off season. Poor Wang, Pettite, and Joba are not meeting expectations…BOO HOO HOO! Cash Man is the architect of this team and its under his charge, if you spend that much and have to get a Halladay in the end, what does that say about how the team was constructed?
With regards to Halladay, JP would be nuts to trade him to either the REd Sox or the Yanks. The fans up there despise both teams. Doc is what Don Mattingly was in the years when the Yanks didn’t make the playoffs and the stadium was less than half filled at times. You don’t trade the face of your franchise to two teams that your fan base can’t stand. And before anyone talks about getting the best package, how would Yankee fans have reacted if Donnie Baseball was traded to that championship Blue Jay team of the early 90s when they were rebuilding? It would have been heartbreaking because Donnie was so much the face of that team in the same way the modern day gunslinger, Doc, is to the Jays…..
Lupica isn’t saying anything new — a number of us wrote here last fall after the free agent signings that Cashman had taken his best shot and should be held accountable in 2009 if the team failed to make the postseason.
The Yankees gave a quarter of a billion dollars to two pitchers and now they need to add Halladay?
—–
No, they don’t need Halladay. Lupica thinks they need Halladay but any rational Yankee fan knows they don’t “need” him.
butchie22 wrote:
Jeter, Posada, Rivera & Rodriguez don’t work for league minimum anymore…
Some people just don’t get it…. Cash Man spent over 200 million dollars on payroll this year and they still have needs?
—–
I’m sorry, but if you’re upset that a team in the New York market is willing to spend upwards of $200 million to help the team win, you’re going to be disappointed.
Problem is that people tie salary to performance.
Hanley Ramirez 2009: $5.5M
Derek Jeter 2009: $20M
Is Jeter the better player because he makes more?
MJ wrote:
outstanding comment, mj. spot on.
Raf wrote:
Or, is Larry Beinfest just a better GM than Cashman because he has a better hitting SS at $15 mill less?
Gosh, that’s easy. Using Lupica to buttress any argument suggests a level of desperation best kept quiet. And yeah, everyone here knows about your Cashman obsession. But do you own work, and spare us thinwits like Lupica.
I think alot of us can agree that the Yanks need to sure up the back end of the rotation, but I am far from fully convinced they need to do that with Halladay. To destroy the farm system on a hired gun is just the type of knee jerk reaction that has put us into deep holes in the past. Some believe just the mere fact that we need to sure up that back end is Cash’s fault. IMO, it is to a certain extent. Like MJ said, absolutely no one could have predicted Wang’s derailment, but I personally think that Joba and Andy were calculated gambles to some degree. I don’t think Cash was wrong in taking those gambles, but he is ultimately reponsible for their outcome. I’m not going to hang the guy for taking a calculated risk and getting burned, but it’s tough to support someone who does this over and over again with the same negative results. Basically I’m willing to let 2009 play itself out before I get the noose ready.
Or, is Larry Beinfest just a better GM than Cashman because he has a better hitting SS at $15 mill less?
———-
Nope. Unless GM’s get rated on how cheap their teams are. In that case, there is no better GM in baseball than the one that works for a cheap-ass owner that likes to pocket profits.
Will Beinfest become stupid overnight when Hanley is making $15M in 2012 or $16M in 2014? I don’t understand why people confuse salary and talent all the time.
@ Pat F:
Thanks Pat
Steve Lombardi wrote:
You mean, like Cashman was a brilliant GM in 1999 because Jeter was in his 4th major league season, and not eligible to be a free agent yet, and made $5 million that year; that sort of brilliant?
Hey, if you guys don’t think that having $200 million to blow on a payroll, when many other teams are able to build winners on half that, doesn’t help mask a G.M.’s lack of ability to spot young/good talent and his lack of ability to evaluate talent in general (via being able to buy his way out of mistakes), then I’m not looking to try and change your mind. If you really want to feel that way, hey, wear it proud. Me? I do think that money spent matters – esp. when you seem to need to spend twice as much as other good teams. But, that’s just my opinion.
It depends.
It depends on where you are in the developmental cycle, and it depends on the ownership philosophy.
Beinfest is an outstanding GM/President because he builds creditable teams despite being given little payroll to work with. On the other hand, though the Marlins have won it all twice, they havn’t made the postseason since the 2nd title. The organizational philosophy is such that any time they do make it, odds are their key players are all reaching upper abitration right around that time, and so the team must be disassembled just as its getting good.
The Yankees were a team in their prime when Cashman was named GM. That core had its run, started to age and decline, but the price of the ones who stayed among the best at their position had to climb higher. That meant re-signing aging players to long-term deals at big money. The “rational” decision two years ago would’ve been to let Mariano and Posada go, and not to re-sign Matsui four years ago. No “rational” organization would’ve given A-Rod a 9-year extension when he opted out in 2007.
The organization philosophy was to contend/win the the Series every year. That meant filling holes with free agents, whose salaries went up as their performance would decline in the long run. (Can anyone say Jason Giambi) It meant benign neglect of the farm and prospects for a long, long period of time.
So: putting this altogether
1. An ownership that must contend every season
2. An aging team that won everything several years in a row, raising expectations beyond sky-high.
3. A fallow farm system.
4. A luxury tax system in place that allows small market teams a better chance to retain their top young players.
5. Better management people taking over front offices on many other teams.
What else is ANY general manager going to except spend a lot of money for players who, because of market forces, will be overpriced, either via free agency, or the inevitable dump trade.
The Yanks cannot trade Hanley Ramirez for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell because 1) they have Jeter and A-Rod, and 2) they don’t have a Hanley Ramirez to offer because of the farm.
The Yanks cannot gamble on “buying low” on a guy, because ownership is demanding “certainty”. So, no Matt Joyce for Edwin Jackson trades, either, because Jackson has a proven record of mediocrity. If you want to make a “steal” trade, you have to trade for a guy whose stock is way down at the time you trade for him. Someone like Nick Swisher.
=====================================
And then, there’s the luxury tax, which, when combined with the need for paying through the nose for front-line talent above, means that the Yanks’ self-imposed season-starting payroll cap of roughly $200 million means a very low-priced bench and bullpen, which means no more Strawberry’s, Raines’, Curtis’ on the bench, and no high-priced set up men in the pen. Which has resulted in a weaker pen and bench, an erratic pen as well.
I posted this in another thread earlier in the week:
1998: $63 million
1999: $88 million
2000: $93 million
2001: $112 million
2002: $126 million
2003: $153 million
2004: $184 million
2005: $208 million
2006: $195 million
2007: $190 million
2008: $209 million
2009: $201 million (so far)
The Yankees’ payroll has been essentially stagnant since 2005. In this year’s $201 million, as I’ve pointed out a number of times earlier, the top 14 guys take up about $190 million, depending on the bonuses Andy Pettitte eventually earns. That’s 14 million for the last 11 spots. About $4 million to Marte, $2 million to Molina, $1 million to Bruney, $1.5 million to Melky (arbitration eligible, no choice), and more than a million in bonuses credited to Miranda and Brackman. That means the last 7 spots on the roster can earn no more than $4 million, combined. And that means 7 minimum wage players on the roster that have to come from the farm, or from dumpster-diving the waivers and free agent lists. And that means an erratic pen and a weak bench. Can’t be helped, if you want to hold the line at $200, AND retain the core from the old dynasty, and sign AJ, CC and Tex.
=================================
Which is not to say that Cashman hasn’t made serious mistakes, outright blunders. He has. But that’s for another post. Or maybe another thread.
A typo in the last post. It’s not $14 million for the last 11 spots, it’s $11 million.
MJ wrote:
C’mon man, Steve was just jivin
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Trade Rivera! Trade ARod! Trade Jeter! Trade Posada!
Fact of the matter is, in a case where Rivera, Jeter & Posada are career Yankees, retaining your players costs money. There’s no hometown discount. I suppose they could’ve let these players (and Rodriguez) go when they were FA’s or not extended them, but why?
Meanwhile, 2008 was the first time the Yanks missed the playoffs since 1994. How many other teams have accomplished that?