Yankees were too cheap to sign Scherzer, and now we're floundering to the finish line

Last winter, many people assumed that free agent pitcher Max Scherzer would end up a New York Yankee. I bet even Max assumed it. Why not? The Evil Emps had gone two seasons without sniffing the playoffs. We'd fallen to the second highest payroll, ($217 million), a vast drop from the Dodgers's $271 million, (accordting to Cot's Baseball Payrolls site.) Why wouldn't the Yankees chase an ace?

Unfortunately, Hal "I'm Not Cheap" Steinbrenner never picked up the phone. He spent $5 million each on Chris Capuano and Stephen Drew, then threw about $30 million at the Dominican Republic BOCES class of 2020. When the big free agents hit the market, "I'm Not Cheap" hid under the bed, counting his gold dubloons. More amazingly - the courtier Yankee media and loyal blog enables snapped into line and hailed the New Frugality, as if Yankee fans were receiving all that free money, instead of the Steinbrenner brood.

Let's forget that the Yankees right now look like the worst team in baseball, as they stumble toward the one-game playoff. Let's forget our multitude of problems - as deep as the GOP's interest in Benghazi - and let's celebrate all the money that "I'm Not Cheap" saved by not pursuing Max Scherzer.

Imagine 2015 if we had Max. We might have witnessed two no-hitters, Yankee Classics to be rerun on YES for the rest of eternity. We might be watching a future centerfield plaque, or surely a retired jersey. We might have won the AL East, because instead of being seven games behind in July, Toronto would have been 12 games out, and they might not even have chased David Price. We wouldn't have watched Ivan Nova piss away an entire second half and keep returning like a ghost, or GOP investigations of Benghazi.

Remember when "I'm Not Cheap" claimed the Yankees would have a warchest to be used at the trade deadline? Lett's celebrate that he saved all that cash - mainly because nobody wanted to sell us anything. Other teams preferred young prospects, so "I'm Not Cheap" kept his extra stack. The '15 Yankees made a playoff - they're calling it "the post-season," but they need to win the playoff to make the actual post-season. "I'm Not Cheap" pocketed more millons. Hoo-ray for him.

Word is that "I'm Not Cheap" will sit out next winter's free agent market, waiting until CC, Tex and A-Rod are off the books, so he can pursue that Dream Fantasy of Yankee fans: the $187 million, no-luxury tax payroll! I can't wait! That will be the greatest time to be a Yankee fan, knowing that "I'm Not Cheap" has achieved his goal. Won't it be great that kds like Severino and Bird save the team money, which they don't have to spend on other players.

Once upon a time, the Yankees were the gold standard of baseball, the team everybody hated and everybody watched. They might stink, but they were never boring. Then "I'm Not Cheap" took over. This week, they will be New York's other team. But, hey, let's celebrate the reality! THE TEAM SAVED MONEY! Hoo-ray.