Brian Cashman outlines the Yankees' longtime strategy: the Perpetual Wild Card

Yesterday, Brian Cashman explained what differentiates the dynastic New York Yankees from the rest of modern professional sports.

Hubris.  

Yes, the "H" word. (Which he didn't use. In the Yankiverse, "hubris" is nearly as banned as "Kei Igawa," a naughty word that results in children being sent to bed without supper.)

Cashman said this, of the Mets:

“They have an amazing collection of talent right now, but what they had to do to get there, we can’t do that. We can’t take seven years or whatever and pick in the top 12 of the draft. That’s not part of our ownership’s culture. I’ve had those discussions. … We can’t do what the Red Sox do and gut the team. I’m not allowed to do that.”

In one way, you cannot help but appreciate this noble utilitarian gesture. A burgeoning sickness in modern pro sports is that the path to success has become horribly simple and cynical: Finish last for two or three years, cut your budget, screw your fans and draft a couple future superstars. Then, when your team is a powerhouse, you can threaten to move unless you get a new stadium.

Nope, the Yankees won't do that, (they have a new stadium) so let's appreciate their old-school, seat-of-their-pants, up-from-their-bootstraps, don't-cry-for-me-Argentina philosophy. But, unfortunately, that's where their new-found nobility ends.

Once upon a time - not long ago - the Yankee ownership didn't go along with the happy white crowd. The team spent outrageously to sign the best talent. If an internation star emerged on the horizon, even if he was a crap shot, the Yankees would get him. If a star on another team expressed admiration for the Yankees - and many did, because they saw the team as always playing to win - it was just a matter of time before he'd be wearing midnight blue.

(By the way, that franchise is now the Dodgers - the team that betrayed New York more than any other in history.)

So let's appreciate this amazing dedication to hubris. Rather than a controlled meltdown, we will chase the Perpetual Wild Card. If we can be six wins above .500 - we can always contend for the one-game playoff. And this will come with the same edict as all corporate structures demand from the paid staff:

Simply do more with less.

You see, the Yankees won't spend more. They won't win more. They''ll just contend more. Maybe they'll get lucky. Hey, they're the Yankees. They have 27 world championships, including two in this millennium! Why spend more money, when you have hubris? And we have our share. We have a rich vein of the green blood that connects Wall Street to the Kansas City Koch brothers, that runs from Trump to Soros to Murdoch and now to Jerry Hall, that flows from Goldman Sachs to Nabisco in South America and to the Chinese currency - we have wonderful, golden hubris. And whether the Yankees win or lose, one thing will be sure: The owner will make more money. Have a nice day.