@ #15:
Exactly! Why did Theo draw a line in the sand for Damon and let him go to the Yankees? It was a difference of a few million a year, for what many in the fan base viewed as one of their franchise players. What it comes down to – how badly do you need/want the player? Not that much? Okay we’ll take him then. The Yankees put their money where their mouth is. That’s their style. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. This past year it worked perfectly.

Botox missed A-Rod by, what, 10 million over 7 years? When he opted out, I do think the Yankees overpaid him. Botox also missed Tex by, what 10 million over 8 years? Raf is right about the Zito and Santana contracts raising the bar.

Corey wrote:

I disagree with the very rarely do they set the salary bar point, however. You can look at A-Rod, Mariano, CC (even tho his extra $$ were “bonus’” it still made him the top paid SP)

Rodriguez’s contract was a byproduct of the one he signed with the Rangers. He wasn’t going to get a paycut after the season he had. Mariano’s going to get his money, he’s the best closer of all time. CC’s contract, all you have to do is look at Zito’s & Santana’s contracts to see why he got what he did.

Raf wrote:

That had more to do with the types of players available. The Yankees m.o. from what I can see is that they’ll spend whatever the market will bear. Very rarely do they set the salary bar

Precisely, if the Yankees don’t need that type of player, the agents can’t play the Yankee name into scoring their clients a higher pay day.

I disagree with the very rarely do they set the salary bar point, however. You can look at A-Rod, Mariano, CC (even tho his extra $$ were “bonus’” it still made him the top paid SP)

#15 wrote:

It’s not how much the Yankees spend, but rather that other teams, with the same or similar revenue potential/market opportunities (like the Mets, the Dodgers, the Angels, the Cubs, the Botox, the White Sox, the Phillies (5th largest city in the country), the Astro’s (4th largest city in the country) and other large cities with only one MLB team), why do they fail to generate the dough the Yankees do and/or, if they are making that kind of money, why do they fail to plow it back into their organizations?

Well said #15. And to further illustrate that point, let’s use the Yankees and any other team on that list above and look at last offseason. A bunch made the playoffs and the Phillies went all the way. Yet with one of the best free agent markets available last offseason, how is it that the Yankees (Cashman) was able to get ALL of the top 3? Where were these teams in any of those negotiations? I can understand why they might not spend $200 million, but what about 10 extra sheckles to make sure Texiera stays? The Angels could have locked up Tex – and they should have. I don’t fault Cashman for paying what it took to sign him, I fault the others for not getting it done.

I’ve been listening for the past several days, weeks, years and decades about the Yankees’ spending habits. To me, the conversation has always been upside down. It’s not how much the Yankees spend, but rather that other teams, with the same or similar revenue potential/market opportunities (like the Mets, the Dodgers, the Angels, the Cubs, the Botox, the White Sox, the Phillies (5th largest city in the country), the Astro’s (4th largest city in the country) and other large cities with only one MLB team), why do they fail to generate the dough the Yankees do and/or, if they are making that kind of money, why do they fail to plow it back into their organizations? I’m the last person to suggest the Yankees aren’t different from the others in this group. They are. But what makes them different is that they are better businessmen with a higher desire to win. The organizations I listed here have markets that can easily generate the revenue needed for $150-200 million payrolls. But either they don’t sell their product as well, or they prefer to pocket the money rather than plow it into players. Take the Dodgers for example. Before the whole divorce mess, they outdrew the Yankees this year, they have a sweetheart deal on a completely paid-for stadium, they have a huge TV market, tremendous revenue from parking and concession sales, etc….and yet they don’t turn that income into a higher payroll that could improve their chances of winning. They should have easily been able to offer CC a similar deal for example. The same questions apply to some of the “smaller markets”. The Rockies and Toronto have, in the past, put 4,000,000 fannies in the seats in a given year. The fan base is (or was) there. The Yankees maximize their revenue from their fans through their great legacy, their smarts in building YES, and, most importantly, by spending money to try to keep a very competitive team on the field. Boras is chipping away at this concept when he points out that teams like Pittsburg make $60-70 million before they start selling tickets, yet their payroll is well below that mark. Baseball missed a huge angle on their business when the instituted the luxury tax. If they were going down that path, they should have required a salary floor, and put an attendance minimum to qualify for the tax (say 85-90% of the league average). That would have forced owners to get fans in the seats, forced fans to support their teams or shut the hell up, and kept owners from taking my hard earned money (spent supporting the Yankees) and sticking it in their pockets.

Now… How Cashman and the rest of the Yankee brass spend this money is fair game for scrutiny, to an extent. They are willing to take a chance on an older player or an Igawa, because they also know they are willing to dig into their wallets and correct a mistake. Three cheers for them and us as fans.

Corey wrote:

I think one could argue that the Yankees willingness to spend top dollar has driven up the price for most other free agents. This is evidenced by how the market value on a lot of players whom were not on the Yankees radar in the 08-09 offseason dropped drastically.

That had more to do with the types of players available. The Yankees m.o. from what I can see is that they’ll spend whatever the market will bear. Very rarely do they set the salary bar

@ Raf:
To nitpick, CC actually got 23 mil this year with his bonus, but yea I get your point. I was just pointing out that you weren’t really proving Steve wrong with your statement, that’s all.

I think one could argue that the Yankees willingness to spend top dollar has driven up the price for most other free agents. This is evidenced by how the market value on a lot of players whom were not on the Yankees radar in the 08-09 offseason dropped drastically.

On the flip side, the Yankees more recent hush hush strategy could be an attempt to reverse this trend.

Regardless of the fact of what Cashman has or hasn’t done throughout his regime, the fact that he’s trying to be cautious this offseason should be great news to our ears.

Corey wrote:

Raf wrote:
Even adjusting for inflation, Belle’s $10M salary would be worth something like $13M+ right now. And that wouldn’t make the top 10 list in 2009.
Doesn’t this help Steve’s argument, though? That the Yankees grossly overpay for other teams top players?

Looking @ Fangraphs value rankings (2009 salary in parenthesis);

Rodriguez: $20.0 ($33M)
Teix: $23.2M ($20.6M)
Jeter: $33.4M ($21.6M)
Rivera: $8.9M (15)
Burnett: $14M ($16.5M)
Sabathia: $27M ($15.3M)

Looks like Alex Rodriguez is the only one who would be grossly overpaid, and he was already a Yankee. The contract he signed after he opted out was similar in pay scale to what he already signed with the Rangers.

I don’t know about “grossly overpay” but the Yanks have shown that they will take on salary; From the 1998 top 10 list, Clemens, Mondesi & Rodriguez came over in salary relief trades. Mussina signed as a FA after the 2000 season, Lofton signed after the 2003 season.

Raf wrote:

It’s interesting to see the teams that were involved; the O’s, Rangers & White Sox really aren’t players anymore, are they?

The part, to me, that’s the most interesting is seeing a Tampa player in the top 10 in 2000 (especially since Wilson didn’t play in that year).