This winter, does Hal "Food Stamps" Steinbrenner intend to spend his hard-inherited money on free agents? Or does "I'm Not Cheap" intend - once and for all - to get the payroll below that magical $189 million luxury tax threshold? (Actually, the threshold could rise in the new players union agreement; but the question still stands: Cheap or Not Cheap.)
I have yet to see this question answered, and yet - frankly - it's the only one that matters to the short and long term future of the team.
If Hal plans to pull out his fanny pack and spend - well - then we're in the chase for an Aroldis Chapman, a Rich Hill and/or maybe even an Edwin Encarnacion. We could fill a bunch of holes, maintain our youth movement and legitimately contend for the 2017 pennant.
If Hal has alligator arms on the check - well - then we're chasing Boone Logan and Chris Parmelee, and playing for 2018 - or ditching the youth thing and trading our farm system for the likes of Chris Sale or Sonny Gray. (I am of the opinion that this would be a terrible idea, but I know some of you disagree. It's all in the details, I guess.)
Listen: We can debate the whos, whats and whys until Lady Gaga's next album. But until we know what Hal wants, we're yelling at shadows. And I hate to think this way, but I have yet to see a solid reason to have faith in Hal Steinbrenner's ability to make the Yankees a winning franchise in the grand tradition of the organization. It's now been eight years. His one success came from a huge spending splurge. Everything since has been a mating dance with mediocrity.
So what's it going to be?
HAL NEVER SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO MAKE UP HIS MIND...... AND WAITING ON CASHMAN TO MAKE DEALS TO FREE UP THE PAYROLL ALWAYS TAKES TOO LONG.......REMEMBER, YEARS AGO HE REFUSED TO PART WITH DAVID ADAMS IN A DEAL THAT WOULD HAVE BROUGHT US CLIFF LEE IN A TRADE.....CLIFF LEE BEAT US IN THE PLAYOFFS THAT YEAR...... WE WERE 1 STARTING PITCHER SHORT THAT YEAR, AND I ALWAYS TELL MYSELF NOT PARTING WITH DAVID ADAMS (WHO MAY BE AN INSURANCE SALESMAN NOW), PROBABLY COST US THE WORLD SERIES...........NOW, KID CASH IS AT IT AGAIN....TAKING FOREVER AND HOLDING OUT FOR AN EXTRA "NOTHING BURGER" PROSPECT OR 2, TO FREE UP PAYROLL, AS KENDRY MORALES DISAPPEARS...NEXT, ENCARNACION WILL DISAPPEAR, THEN FINALLY CESPEDES WILL GO.....AND WE WILL BE CLOSED OUT ON ALL THE IMPORTANT BATS THAT WE DESPERATELY NEED.
ReplyDeleteSo true, all-caps; perhaps we should start calling him Prince Hamlet, instead of Prince Hal (he doesn't seem like a Hotspur, anyway)....
ReplyDeleteand, Duquito, I may have tweaked a gonad, but I think it was because of the multiple articles I saw suggesting that we were heavily pursuing Boone Logan - - not because of the politics-arguing - - or maybe it's just becaue I'm 70 years old now....ulp.
Hey, all-caps, I would LOVE for baseball to be our savior - - my passions are baseball & music - - but thank goodness that the music is a constant pleasure, becausee the past few years under Hamlet Hisownself, have been a dull,dreary disaster, from this fan's POV. I am also a masochist, so I have been making myself watch game after game after game, when we juuuuust couldn't push across even the 1 or 2 runs we needed; and then, to hear Joey Binders arrogantly insist that he was right to "save" Dellin, or Andrew, until the 9th (by which time, we didn't have a chance)....We need fresh blood, and we need a pure hitter who is NOT named Miggy Gonzales....and until we get that, baseball will feel like my ball-and-chain (or perhaps, my balls-in-chain). I hope it dramatically improves in my lifetime; but until then, I guess I'm going to have to get my positive feelings from Mark Knopfler, Tom Petty, the Stones, the Beach Boys (or what's left of that gang), and Brahms & Rachmaninoff, Mahler, and Scriabin, Prokofiev, & Liszt.
C'MON HAMLET, WE NEED ANOTHER MATSUI!!! Someone who's smart, knows the game, and can be depended upon to hit the ball where he needs to hit it - - and we need management who CARES about moving runners over, and will teach & preach situational hitting! Until then, well, pardon me, but I can't hear what you're saying, Hamlet, I have my headphones on - - sorry. LB
OOps - - sorry - - make that Miguel Cabrera above, not Miguel Gonzalez - - and, FGFS, NO MORE Javy Vazquez's, no more Pavanos, no more Kei Igawas (arigato, for nothing), and NO Boone Logans, please. LB
ReplyDeleteHal ain't spending any money. Hal is into mediocrity but wants all us Yankee fans to believe him (and C-ASSman) when he says the Yankee goal is to win the World Series. With what?!!! The jury should be out on C-ASSman too...the trades he made in August have not created any major league players...so far JUST good minor league players.
ReplyDeleteI'M WITH YA anonymous.....THE BOONE LOGAN INTEREST SURPRISES ME....DO WE REALLY HAVE TO COUGH UP BIG MONEY TO GET HIM BACK???...... HE ISN'T BAD, BUT WE LET HIM GO YEARS AGO BECAUSE HE WAS DUE....BIG MONEY!.....ONCE AGAIN, HAL AND CASH ARE NOT MAKING SENSE....... GET A BIG HITTER DAMMIT!!!!!...... KENDRY MORALES COST THE JAYS 3 YEARS AND $33 MILLION DOLLARS.....WE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO PAY BOONE LOGAN $21 - $24 MILLION OR MORE FOR 3 YEARS......PRIORITIES!!!.....WE CAN'T HIT!!!....SPEND THE MONEY ON THE BIG ESTABLISHED HITTER FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE LINEUP!...WE DON'T HAVE ONE!
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