As he heads to Philly, the Daily News takes a nasty swipe at David Robertson

Among the working stiffs of the Yankiverse, it's hard to find haters of David Robertson. The guy grew up a Yankee. He studied under Mariano. He runs a well respected charity. He's plied his craft through two Bronx incarnations, through thick and thin. And if he signed with Philly yesterday, well, it's because that city is mortgaging the Liberty Bell for 2019. You can't blame Robby for - at age 33 - chasing the last big contract of his career. Besides, the Yankees have the money to keep him. They chose not to open their wallet. That's baseball. That's business. That's China Town, Jake. 

Apparently, though, some Klingons in the front office do not like Robby, as evidenced by a bizarre hit job in today's Daily News. In it, Wallace Matthews takes some parting shots at Houdini, based on a source within the brain trust. Of yesterday's signing, the Gammonite writes:

It was a great day for the Yankees, who rid themselves of a player some in their clubhouse had come to regard as a negative presence.

Huh? Negative presence? Robby? Okay, you might remember a mini-controversy after the playoffs, when the team voted to dole out postseason bonuses. Supposedly, it jettisoned peripheral players and employees, pissing off a few lug nuts. Robertson, as the team's union rep, oversaw the crime. Writes Matthews:


The Yankees no longer have to deal with a player rep who made more than a few enemies when it came time to divvy up the postseason money in November, a man who many tell me seemed like a different person after returning to the Yankees from the White Sox last year, and a teammate who was especially disliked by some of the younger players in the Yankees clubhouse.

Huh? Disliked? Robby? I don't know what to make of this. I'm sure Matthews talked with someone; a writer doesn't make that stuff up. And I can't judge the team's decision on doling out its money, but I'm sure a vote was taken. Still, I think there are some interesting aspects to this.

1. The front office just got rid of the team's union's rep. That's got to be a thankless job, and my guess is that Robby took it seriously. That probably put him in the cross-hairs of management, and Yankees - with their bans of facial hair - don't like to be challenged by the help. Good luck to the next team rep. Instead of a number on his back, he'll be wearing a bull's eye. 

2. The front office just got rid of a player who - instead of being represented by an agent - was personally negotiating his next contract. I don't know the dynamics between GMs and sports agents, but my guess is that there is more than enough acrimony to go around. Robby, by representing himself, surely pissed off somebody in management who would have preferred a professional negotiator, cut from the same MBA cloth, someone who knows the right fork to use on lobster.

3. It's delicious, wondrous irony that the front office chooses to rip a player for being cheap. Wow. This is a brain trust that watched Boston spend $40 million more on talent last year, cruising to a championship, while the Yankees squeezed thin dimes to escape paying luxury taxes. And now, they're whacking Robertson for being tight with the purse strings? That's a good one. 

There's one more clue here. Matthews writes:

Robertson talked himself off the team by stiffing the traveling secretary, the clubhouse kids and other “low-level team employees’’ in that infamous playoff share meeting, 

So there it is. The traveling secretary. Yep. That'll piss off the suits. One of their own got ditched. 

Listen: I'm not saying Robby was right or wrong in doling out the bonuses. You hate to think of "low-level team employees" getting stiffed. But it's a team vote, we weren't there, and my guess is there were other dynamics involved. It's just weird to see the Yankees anonymously ripping a respected veteran player on his way out the door.

The upshot of Matthews' article is that the Yankees, rather than chasing Robertson, have honed in on Zach Britton for the bullpen. And frankly, I think Britton - at age 31 - is a better bet than Robby. But if I were Britton, I'd read the Daily News carefully today, because of all the loaded messages in the column, one comes out most clearly: Rile the front office, and this can be you.