Thursday, December 5, 2019

As the first MLB team to stream games on Amazon, the Yankees will need a marquee pitcher next year

Lost amid this week's back-flow of free agent blurbs and belches was news that the 2020 Death Star will become the first MLB franchise to stream regular games on Amazon Home Video. This could be the Yankees' first cash cow advantage since Old George birthed the YES Network in 1999, letting the team print money for every top free agent (Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, etc.) in captivity.

The question is whether this golden shower will propel Mr. Austerity, the penny-pinching Hal Steinbrenner, to spend what it takes to sign an ace... in this case, Gerrit Cole.

Thus far, we at IT IS HIGH have refused to buy the Yankee narrative of being "all in" on Cole, who could cost the team $300 million. Hal's tightwad record suggests he'll never spend that kind of money on an employee. It's one thing to dine with a player and play footsie beneath the table. It's another to put down actual money and find a hotel room. 

But in the pursuit of Cole, at least three mitigating elements are worth considering:

1. He is everything the team currently lacks. More than anything, the Yankees need an ace pitcher. They have a lineup and bullpen. But if they must trade for a top starter, they will shred that roster. Cole can be had for money - just money. He is a team leader. He is hungry for a ring. He can throw 200 innings and start game one of a series. If they sign him, they become the team to beat. If they sign him, a disillusioned Boston might do something stupid, like trading Mookie Betts. If they sign him, they can trade for whatever else they need. If they sign him, they are lock for the 2020 post-season.

2. The Amazon deal is emerging, and the Mets may have a new owner. Apparently, the 2019 Yankees' ratings on YES plummeted by 17 percent - mostly because thinking human beings want nothing to do with cable TV. This new Amazon arrangement will let people watch games on laptops and phones - for a price, of course. Eventually, this will cover all MLB teams, but the Yankees - as majority owners of YES - have a head start. That should mean a bump in revenues. What better way to cement their on-line presence than by showcasing the best team in baseball?

3. Without a new star, the Yankees will lose New York. Look at the Tabloid Covers race on the left of this page. Over the last two years, the Yankees have easily dominated the back pages, which Old George once considered the real  currency of sports. But as the Mets made a brief pennant run, they actually overtook the Yankees for a few weeks in tabloid covers. Had they made the post-season, the Mets would probably have won the year. Now, with a potential new owner, they could easily bypass a do-nothing Yankee franchise in 2020. The Yankees' once-bright star of Giancarlo Stanton is now nearly a joke, Aaron Judge cannot stay on the field enough to carry the team, Gleyber Torres will be challenged to play SS, and Masahiro Tanaka will be recovering from off-season surgery. Who becomes the marquee Yankee? We love DJ LeMahieu, but does he appear on the program cover?

Listen: Unless the Yankees make a spectacular move, they will lose New York next year. 

As stated above, I'm still not buying the idea that the Yankees will truly be bidders in the Gerrit Cole auction. It's easy to flirt, much harder to find the hotel room key. But there are plenty of reasons for the Yankees to want Cole. Does Hal simply love his money too much to really go "all in?"

13 comments:

JM said...

Instead of Cole, we'll trade some kids with incredible potential for a middling power arm, who will fail miserably. Hal will buy a new yacht. Cashman will talk about how much improved the team has become.

We die a slow and painful death.

It's all so predictable.

Anonymous said...


In the recent past what the team needs fell under a formula. What do we need? What will it cost? What can we get by with?

But the landscape has definitely changed.

Good point about the Amazon deal...

Partners count and have their own agenda. That's why next year John and Suzyn will be doing the games from the "Sinclair Broadcasting Donald Trump For President, Radio Booth"

As to Amazon...

Home run calls will be along the lines of, "Judge is an AMAZON in his PRIME he really DELIVERED that Home Run! Vote for Donald Trump for President! For life!"

Also, good point about the Mets.

With billionaire fan Steven Cohen owning the Mets he's going to George Steinbrenner the crap out of that team. As in, I've got as much money as it takes because winning World Series is important. (Sigh. Ah, for the good old days)

So, What do we need?
A true ace.
What does it cost?
Doesn't matter as much because it's an investment.
What can we get by with?
Not the same old - just good enough.

Equals...

I do believe they are trying. Last year they didn't want to meet with Corbin (STUPID, STUPID, STUPID), brought Manny Machado in for, I believe it was reported, under an hour and I think they made him pay for parking. (As it turned out SMART SMART SMART)

This year Cashman flew out to the coast for a meeting. So there's that.
Plus their fall backs (Like Wheeler) are getting snapped up.

Maybe we will get Cole in our stockings for Christmas.

Doug K.

13bit said...

We all know the drill.

Is Hal capable of surprising us? Has he heard the rumblings? Does he care? How much money is enough?

I heard some guy yesterday having a "discussion" with a woman. He was not a bum, but he was clearly not doing well. Austerity has not been good to him. He was kind of obese and carrying more bags around than he needed to have. I was thinking "SRO," but what do I know? Anyway, he was screaming at this woman: "YOU CAN'T MONEY AWAY FROM THE RICH. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO MAKE THE JOBS." And I thought how effective the campaign has been to make people vote against their own self-interest. Think about it: the idea that really needy people are arguing that the rich need their money because, hey, it'll trickle down to them. We were talking about Voodoo Economics and Voodoo Baseball last week in these hallowed pages. I say the Ferret Mole, I mean Gerrit Cole "talks" are just a smokescreen. The boys in the backroom, led by Randy Levine as he dangles from a strippers pole in nothing but a baby leopard print thong, are all shouting "JUST MEET WITH THE FUCKER, then we can SAY we talked to him." We all know it's bullshit. THEY know it. WE know it and, most likely, THEY know that WE know it.

But they don't care.

Anonymous said...

NOT ONLY SHOULD WE GET COLE, BUT WE ACTUALLY NEED ANOTHER GOOD STARTER AS WELL...

TANAKA AND PAXTON ARE FREE AGENTS NEXT SEASON. (SUPPOSE ONE OR 2 OF THEM LEAVE)?

MAYBE HAL AND COOP REALIZE IT MAKES NO SENSE TO HIT ALL THESE HOME RUNS, AND HAVE ALL THESE YOUNG "STARS" LIKE GLEYBER, JUDGE AND SANCHEZ, WITHOUT ANY PITCHING.

MAYBE....

GET READY FOR....

MIKE MINOR!

HoraceClarke66 said...

I like the the way you're thinking, ALL-CAPS! They should try to grab up Strasburg, too! Or Bumgarner!

"MUTTS TO SELL METS" is a Daily News classic—and the best news in quite a while.

A combination of ambitious partners and a looming, crosstown threat are about the only combination of circumstances that MIGHT, just MIGHT get HAL to open the purse strings again.

Powerful new partners prodding him with a bayonet will help. And HAL is a man who hates to see money on the table go to someone else. The idea that a new, deep-pockets owner might tilt all that extra revenue over to Flushing...

It may be time to unleash the Kracken Cashman, last seen buying up everything in sight prior to the 2009 season. That worked out pretty well...

JM said...

Best case scenario: Hal offers Cole the money he's looking for and Cole signs with some team on the West Coast.

I doubt the offer is forthcoming, but I don't think Cole would take it, regardless.

Remember when guys wanted to play for the Yankees? Good times.

Anonymous said...

"Cole in our stockings." Hilarious. Thanks, Doug.
Brett

13bit said...

Dog and pony show. If they made Cole a competitive offer, I'd be shocked. I'd LOVE to be shocked, but I don't see it happening.

Carl J. Weitz said...

Duque, I think you know the answer to your question. Yes, Hal does like his money too much. In his mind, why spend a dime of all that extra revenue? That's for sentimentalists and suckers. Speaking of which, grifters and con men don't change their stripes (unless it's prison garb we're talking about). Hal Steinbrenner is doing the same thing he's done since Old George tried to make his portrait of Frank Sinatra Yankee president and had his dad legally declared incompetent. Namely, lie through his Brite Smile teeth and pull the same free agent con job every year. That's what fraudsters do until it no longer works.

All good points, Doug except for one: Amazon would never promote Trump. Bezos despises Trump especially after he directly intervened to have the gazillion dollar military computer cloud contract plucked from Amazon and go to Microsoft.

Anonymous said...

Carl,

I know. I was just adding another Sinclair promo. 😊

Doug K.

Anonymous said...

UPDATE!

YANKEES READY TO OFFER COLE 8 YRS. $300 MILLION.

NO DEFERRED MONEY. PLAYER OPT OUT AFTER YEAR 4.

PROBLEM THOUGH.

ANGELS OFFER LOOKS LIKE 10 YEARS. $325 MILLION.

POTENTIALLY DEFERRING MONEY INTEREST FREE AND PROVIDING SERIES OF OPT OUTS.

$37.5 MILLION PER SEASON (YANKS OFFER) MAKES COLE THE HIGHEST PAID PLAYER IN BASEBALL.

HOLY SHIT.

13bit said...

Hmmmm.....🙏🏼.....,

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